ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — As the Bills get ready for their second preseason game this week against the Steelers, they’re looking to avoid a repeat of how their opener went.
“We have to have urgency in this building, it’s no doubt about it,” said Bills quarterback Josh Allen. “I feel like guys understand that urgency now, going back looking on film.”
An urgency not just because of the score in the 33-6 loss to the Bears, but because of how the team performed overall.
“Our standard shouldn’t be conditioned by the result of what’s going on,” Allen said. “We have to continue to uphold what we do and that’s playoff caliber and that’s what Coach McDermott has taught in this building the last eight years that he’s been here.”
The battle in the preseason is finding the balance between looking to win and testing out what needs to be tested out.
As Allen called it, it’s about "keeping the main thing the main thing" and making sure the team is ready to win games when it matters: in the regular season.
That was a sentiment echoed by his offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
“There’s always mixed emotions in preseason, it’s like hey, what’re you trying to get out of each game,” Brady said. “I’m a competitor, don’t get me wrong, I want to win everything I ever do, every play, but there’s also bigger pictures and things. There’s some intentionality in terms of we need to make sure we see some of these runs, some of this type of thing versus this type of look or with this person, that in a game, it’s like hey, we need to get a first down… Obviously you want the end result a little better, but the how is way more important to me right now.”
And Allen is confident that the how is getting better for the Bills as they move forward in this preseason.
“The leaders in our rooms are speaking up more, and we’ll be ready to go the next one," Allen said.
The next one: Saturday night in Pittsburgh at 7 pm.