Skip to main content
Advertising

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENTS

'Connect, compete, condition' — Recapping Day 1 of Bills minicamp

BW1_1407

The Bills kicked off their three-day mandatory minicamp Tuesday with a team practice at One Bills Drive. Themes of the day included personnel updates from head coach Joe Brady, how the team is building chemistry and looking ahead to the opening of Highmark Stadium.

Personnel updates: Attendance, injuries and a position change

Bills head coach Joe Brady said Tuesday he's "really pleased" with the team's offseason, sharing that all players on the active roster reported this week for mandatory minicamp.

"Everybody's here. We've had great attendance this whole offseason. I'm really pleased with our just the way the guys are competing, and excited for these next couple days," he said.

Linebacker Dorian Williams and safety Cole Bishop were among a handful of players that did not participate in practice. Brady confirmed that both players are working back from undisclosed injuries and the team is being cautious with them.

"I feel like he's in a good place, and I anticipate him being there," Brady said of Williams' availability for training camp.

As for Bishop, Brady said the third-year safety has been "in and out" of team practices this spring.

"He's kind of rolling with it, but he's in a really good head space," Brady said. "It's unique for guys right now — it's like we want everybody to be out there, but I want everybody out there for training camp, too."

Brady detailed the team's approach to managing injuries in the offseason.

"We got to be smart about how we're going with some of the guys," Brady said. "There's guys that, if it was game day, you guys would be seeing them practicing, and they'd be playing in the game. But we're trying to build a tough football team, but also be smart with some of the guys. Cole's a great example of that."

Last week, offensive lineman Travis Clayton officially switched positions from offensive to defense. The now-defensive lineman worked with the interior DL group Tuesday as the Bills look to harness Clayton's rare athletic ability.

"He might be the biggest freak of an athlete on our football team," Brady said. "You see him move around, you see him do some things, and you see the type of the skill sets that we're looking at from a defense perspective. It's not anything that he was doing wrong on the offensive ball — he was progressing. But it was more of like, man, I'd love to see what this guy can do going forward, and he was all about it."

How the Bills are building bonds

OTA and minicamp practices are no pads and no contact sessions, but that doesn't mean the competition factor among the players is any different.

"We're competing at a very high level, guys are flying around, we've done a good job of connecting," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said.

Building a connected team is high on Brady's first-year head coach agenda, and it's done in subtle ways.

"At this time of year I'm focused on a lot of things outside of this game.. how guys respond after a mistake, or how they respond after a big play, or how their teammates respond to a guy making a mistake," Brady said. "Just challenging guys from that perspective. They might be considered little things that maybe everybody else doesn't care about, but we do."

Allen shares that same mindset.

"A couple of the things that Joe had wanted for this OTA period to be is connect, compete, condition. Then come out here and just have a lot of fun and play some football," the QB said.

The Bills have been known to have tight-knit locker rooms over the last decade and that gets attention from other players around the league, especially when they experience it first-hand.

"We have a rapport that the rest of the league knows — like they're a tight group of guys in Buffalo," left tackle Dion Dawkins said. "Then when guys come here, and then they really see that — yeah, we are a freaking tight group of guys, and then it just keeps developing in the right way. So, the tight group is definitely still going, and I'm happy about that."

'On the right track' | How LT Dion Dawkins is gearing up for Year 10

While there's been plenty of change at One Bills Drive this offseason – new coaches, new players, a new stadium – left tackle Dion Dawkins has been a constant. He was drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft and still calls Buffalo home after nine seasons.

As the 'Shnowman gears up for his 10th season, he's adjusting to a new coaching staff and new concepts on offense as an NFL veteran.

"(I've) never been in that change, so I don't know," Dawkins said of having a new HC for the first time in his NFL career. "It's only been what, seven or eight weeks (of offseason training), so the first eight weeks have been great. Joe Brady has been doing a great job. And I'm proud of him because to be a head coach in this league, it's extremely hard…

"He works us hard, we practice hard, we lift hard, and he demands a lot out of guys. We are all adapting for a different type of way that is going on here, but it's been fun. A lot of guys are hype, guys are still able to be themselves, so I love it."

Dawkins has played in 143 games and started in 137 over his tenure in Buffalo. He's the second longest tenured player on the Bills next to long snapper Reid Ferguson. He's protected quarterback Josh Allen's blindside for nine seasons and can't wait to make it 10.

As Dawkins adapts to a new leader, he's excited about one crossover that won't be entirely new in 2026.

The Bills have a new offensive line coach in Pat Meyer, but players say he's quite similar to former offensive line coach Aaron Kromer who retired at the end of the 2025 season.

"When I hear Pat Meyer, you guys should think Aaron Kromer," Dawkins said describing his new coach. "They're the same but just different in little ways. They're patient, they understand levels of the game, and the only thing that I ever asked for a coach is just to understand that Spencer (Brown) is not Dion, Dion is not Spencer…When it comes to the actual part of the game, everybody is different in their own way, and the coaches that we have understand that… I'm just blessed that we have similar types of coaches because there's literally no hiccup…we're all on the same road to success the right way."

That's great news because with Kromer's coaching, the Bills led the NFL in rushing yards last year averaging 159.6 rushing yards a game thanks to running back James Cook earning the rushing title (1,621 yards). The offensive line earned that title too because of their ability to block and pave the way for their running backs. In 2025, the offensive line allowed the lowest number of sacks with 14. The offensive line unit strives to be the best in the league, and it'll be no different this season.

Being 10 years into the league, Dawkins knows just how important it is to take care of his body. As he gets through mandatory minicamp and looks to training camp, Dawkins isn't where he wants to be physically but feels like he's heading in the right direction.

"(I'm) definitely on the right track," Dawkins said of how he feels. "Can't you tell, (I'm a) little chiseled. But it's been going well. It's just work. We are masters of our bodies. So every year you put your body through different things, and I chose to put my body through a different thing this year. I got goals, and I want to be in the best left tackle for Josh Allen, and for my team, and for myself."

"Time for something new" | Bills players are eager for Highmark Stadium

It's impossible to avoid the sights of Highmark Stadium off Abbott Road in Orchard Park. If you've blinked over the last few months, it's almost feels as if the stadium has gone up overnight. As construction comes to a close and the Bills open their new home, players are getting excited about what's to come and remembering what they had.

"I think in my mind, my eyes are more attracted to the other one," Josh Allen said. "I see that a little bit more. Obviously, a lot of memories in the old one. I'm not too much of a sentimental guy. This (new) place has got grass and it's going to be pretty cool in there. I've been in there a few times, and I think the fans are going to be very pleased when we get that place rocking."

Someone who has also been over to the new stadium a few times is left tackle Dion Dawkins. The O-lineman loves it so much, he wants to visit every day.

"The new stadium is amazing," Dawkins said. "It's literally like a brand-new Tesla truck in a desert. It's almost like it's not supposed to be here, but it's here…To be able to go in there and just admire it, but also knowing all of the blood, sweat, and tears put into it…It's time for something new…I'm here for it. The locker room is crazy, it's so nice. I can't wait. I just can't wait."

Defensive tackle Ed Oliver hasn't gotten a chance to check out the new stadium yet but is making sure to pay the old stadium respects as it comes down.

"I haven't gone in the new one, but I watched the old one slowly and in the most dramatic way fall down," Oliver said. "They start with one side and are just slowly tearing down everything I know about football. And I see this brand-new stadium that almost looks out of place, it's so beautiful and new. It almost looks out of place."

While Oliver is looking forward to the new stadium, he's viewing former Highmark Stadium as a metaphor for the change he's experienced since last season ended.

"The stadium that I knew football in is slowly falling down, and not just falling down at one time, it's just slowly being tore down," Oliver said. "That's weird but seems like everything I know about football is changing, including the stadium, including my teammates. I'm the oldest guy on defense. Guys that I've been playing with for years are now gone."

"My football life, so to speak, has happened in that stadium, and then just to see it knocked down. I just (think about) some of the good times that were in that stadium. When they played Mr. Brightside at the end of games, just the joy I felt in that stadium."

Scroll to see the best photos from Day 1 of Buffalo Bills mandatory minicamp at the Kaleida Health Performance Center.

Related Content

Advertising