ORCHARD PARK — The Buffalo Bills seemed relieved to hit their summer vacation when the final day of mandatory mincamp finished Thursday. There’s only so much that can be done in T-shirts and shorts, after all.
But it gets real in 41 days.
That’s the amount of time the Bills have before training camp opens July 24 at St. John Fisher University and that’s when they will offer the first real glimpse as to whether all of the offseason roster turnover will impact their status as one of the AFC heavyweights.
There was little resistance during minicamps, but it’s clear the offense still has some tinkering to do as it shifts from forcibly feeding a few guys to spreading the ball around. Quarterback Josh Allen showed no reason to be concerned, but there weren’t many dazzling throws during minicamp.
Perhaps some of it is adjusting to new receivers and some of it’s Allen maturing and realizing he doesn’t have to be Superman every day, including practice and that he can conserve his arm a little bit after suffering injuries the last two seasons.
Allen did acknowledge Tuesday that he has tinkered with his throwing mechanics a bit during the offseason, and while he was on target most of the time, he did have some errant throws, including an overthrow of a streaking Curtis Samuel down the sideline Wednesday and a few miscommunications throughout the last four weeks.
“You show me the perfect throw, I’ll tell you something wrong with it probably,” Allen said. “So just making sure I’m crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s there and going back to last year, obviously a couple little tweaks whether it was in the shoulder, the elbow — whatever it was — it changes how you throw it just a little bit because your body is shielding itself from pain. So making sure that I’m just kind of getting back to how I’m supposed to throw and what my body is capable of doing.”
Defenses frequently play two-high safeties to negate Allen’s deep balls last season, but there was a noticeable dip in accuracy after falling on his shoulder during a game against the New York Giants six weeks into the season.
Prior to the injury, Allen went 18 of 38 on passes that traveled beyond 17 yards in the air and then went 29 of 88 with 11 interceptions on such throws the remainder of the season, according to Pro Football Reference. His total completion percentage also dropped from 73.1% to 63.6%.
Allen’s completion of 37.3% on deep throws was down from 45.3% the previous three years, while his 15 interceptions last season were two more than he threw on such throws from 2020 to 2022 combined.
So Allen returned to working with Biometrek founder Chris Hess to map his throws, using 16 cameras that gave Allen a 3D digital blueprint of his throwing motion on every throw in the route tree. When Allen first went to Hess before the 2020 season, most of his throwing motion came in reverse, relying purely on arm strength.
After working with Hess, Allen went from completing 58.8% of his passes for 3,089 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2019 to 69.2%, 4544 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2020, still the best statistical season of his career.
“I wouldn’t say this time I’m changing, I’m just kind of refining or tweaking and just trying to make better,” Allen said. “What happened last year and some pain or discomfort, whatever you want to call it, just kind of changed how I was releasing and delivering the ball. That’s what the video showed, that’s what I was feeling. You could kind of see it on tape, I was getting pretty low and wide with the ball.”
Now Allen is trying to rejuvenate his mechanics while breaking in a new group of receivers. Nine receivers got reps with Allen during 11-on-11 sessions in minicamps, but that number is likely to go down once training camp begins, but focus was clearly on second-round pick Keon Coleman anyhow.
Allen looked toward Coleman often and typically the rookie responded well, showing he’s got sticky hands and is smoothing coming in and out of his breaks. Even during red zone walk-throughs without a defense, Allen targeted Coleman just to build some chemistry.
“I think Keon’s worked hard,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “College versus the NFL playbook — big difference. The verbiage, where he’s lining up, the sight adjusts, all of the variances he’s got to do, even all we ask in the run game. … He’s got to be involved in all phases of our offense, but I see who’s working hard and competitive. … He’s a rookie and we all need to understand that.”
Bills fixated on linebacker depth, still battling injuries
In addition to overhauling the wide receivers, the Bills have also made it apparent they don’t ever want to wind up in a position like they were in at linebacker last season in the playoffs.
Because the Bills play five defensive backs more than 97% of the time, the Bills have gone light at linebacker in recent years. Five linebackers were on the Week 1 roster last season, compared to seven when Rex Ryan was head coach in 2016.
So ravaged by injuries in the playoffs, the Bills only had four healthy linebackers in the AFC divisional round against the Kansas City Chiefs and practice squad call-up A.J. Klein had to start the game. Three of the linebackers in that game — Tyrel Dodson, Klein and Tyler Matakevich — are gone, but the Bills brought in a bunch to boost depth.
They signed veterans Deion Jones and Nicholas Morrow, while drafting Edefuan Ulofoshio in the fifth round. They also brought in Shaquille Quarterman — who was a special teams ace for the Jacksonville Jaguars the last four seasons — and Stephen Hillis for tryouts during minicamps.
Unfortunately, it was hard to get a look at how the group is shaping up. All-Pro Matt Milano returned to practice in a limited fashion, while Dorian Williams was also limited with an injury and Morrow, Ulofoshio and Baylon Spector sat out all of mandatory mincamp with injuries.
Beane doesn’t rule out joint practices
Half the NFL teams have announced they will see some fresh blood in training camp practices this season for joint sessions. More are likely to be announced in the coming weeks as joint practices have become a common occurrence over the last decade, typically pitting two teams ahead of a preseason game or teams in close proximity.
The Rams announced joint practices with the Cowboys, Chargers and Texans, while the Colts and Bengals have multiple sessions scheduled, including one against each other. But the Bills have refrained from joint practices over the years, with the closest they’ve come was a scrimmage against the Cleveland Browns in Edinboro in 2003.
Buffalo doesn’t have any joint practices planned thus far, but Beane said the Bills could “possibly” set something up.
“We’re not against it at all,” Beane said. “We’ve had things in the past that were tentatively lined up. We’re not against it and it doesn’t mean we’re not going to do something.”
Minicamp participation is strong
The Bills had a light practice Thursday, with many of the veteran starters sitting out 11-on-11 sessions and no new injuries seen. Right tackle Spencer Brown, safety Mike Edwards and linebackers Matt Milano and Dorian Williams were limited.
Running backs Ray Davis, Reggie Gilliam and Ty Johnson again did not practice, nor did wide receiver Khalil Shakir and Morrow, Spector and Ulofoshio. Cornerback Christian Benford and center Will Clapp had excused absences.
Overall attendance — including those who were injured, but present — for mandatory minicamp and voluntary minicamps was 95.8%.