The Buffalo Bills are in the final week of organized team activities (OTAs) before next week's mandatory minicamp.
Here are four things to know from Tuesday's practice.
Christian Benford and Ed Oliver rejoin OTAs
Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver and cornerback Christian Benford were back on the field Tuesday.
"Yeah, I'm fully 100% ready to go," Oliver said last week. "I got a little oops, oops, but it's fine."
Oliver had two separate surgeries during an injury-riddled 2025 surgery and looks to bounce back in his age 28 season.
"It was hard, it was different. That was the first time I had two surgeries in one year," Oliver shared. "I'm just happy to be healthy."
Benford had been absent the last two weeks for "personal reasons", but the veteran CB participated in both team and individual drills Tuesday.
"It feels great. Honestly, it feels like I didn't even leave, to be honest. The way we were talking out there," he said.
As the veteran now in the cornerback room, Benford is making sure to pass along any little advantage he can to the younger players, particularly the rookies. Benford spent time with undrafted free agent corners Kani Walker and Jordan Dunbar going over techniques after practice.
"They asked me, they talk ball with me, I just try to help better them for their games," Benford said. "It helps win on Sundays. The more plays we make, the more games you're going to win."
Deone Walker shares the key to building on his impressive rookie season
A fourth round pick in 2025, the Bills uncovered a hidden gem in massive defensive tackle Deone Walker. Named to the All-Rookie team by Professional Football Writers of America last season, Walker has the makings of a foundational piece for Buffalo's defense.
The Kentucky product isn't resting on last year's accomplishments, though. He has two areas in his game that he wants to improve.
"Just pass rush and weight," Walker said. "I want to be the best player that I can for my team. I want to be a three-down player. I want to be on the field as much as I can with my team and feel like I'm at 100% still. So just working on that competitive stamina and working every day."
Walker will have to be patient to see the fruits of his labor as far as pass rush productivity goes, but he already feels in better playing shape than he did his rookie season.
"The weight room was a big emphasis for me this offseason. I can lose a couple pounds of fat, build on some muscle, and still look slim," he said.
Walker slightly trimmed down from playing at 338 pounds last season to currently 328 pounds, citing the need to "build up my stamina."
"There was games where I played, a lot of plays. We had guys go down, we were light, and it doesn't matter, next down mentality, just put the ball down. That's coach [Joe] Brady's mentality right now… So that for me is my stamina, being able to play the 7, 8, 9, 10 down drives, still being able to give the team what I need to give," he said.
Walker played in a 3-4 system at Kentucky and believes he is well-positioned to make the switch back to it under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. So far, Walker has received reps at multiple positions along the defensive line.
"They've made a big emphasis on nobody's accustomed to just one position," Walker said of the coaching staff. "So I play one, three, and 4i [technique]. Landon Jackson plays three and 4i. TJ Sanders can play one, three, 4i. The main goal is to keep rotating guys, not get the offensive line used to one person."
Michael Hoecht giving "as much effort as possible" into Achilles rehab
Seven months removed from his Achilles injury, Bills outside linebacker Michael Hoecht is making steady progress in his recovery. As OTAs stretch into the third week, Hoecht has been working off to the side by running sprints and going through personalized drills with trainers. Slowly but surely, his patience is starting to pay off.
"It's been a roller coaster, but you know the NFL, if it teaches you anything, it teaches you persistence," Hoecht said.
Hoecht's resolute mentality helps him see the light at the end of the tunnel. His first goal is to be ready to practice with the team by training camp with the ultimate goal of being ready for Week 1.
"[The Bills] really don't want me to put timelines on it, but I can put as much effort as possible to do it," he said of his ambitions.
Pete Carmichael not reinventing the wheel as Bills OC
After two decades spent under head coach Sean Payton, Bills offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael has a change of scenery this season, joining Joe Brady's staff in Buffalo.
"That was really a lot of the excitement about coming here, was something new, something different after having been pretty much in the same system," he said.
Brady, of course, heavily draws his philosophy from also working under Payton — but still has put his own stamp on it.
"I'm not going to say a different system, but different terminology," Carmichael shared. "For me initially getting here there was some different stuff… There are some new wrinkles that he's done over the years that I'm learning. And as we're going out and practicing seeing them happen and understanding, oh I get it now. But overall it's been great. Joe's been awesome and just hearing him talk, you just sit and listen and you realize how great he is."
A Bills offense that is consistently one of the top units in the NFL, the offseason has been about self-scouting to both fix correctable mistakes and finding new avenues of growth.
"Joe was really big on making sure we looked at the things that were done last year and what changes do we have to make — or maybe minor adjustments. Then there is also looking at some other teams in the NFL as well because this is the time to do it," Carmichael said.
The offensive coaching staff has been deliberate with what they are installing and/or changing so far.
"If it's something that the quarterback's positive with or feels comfortable with, great. If not, then by the time we get to training camp, we'll be moving on," Carmichael said.
