As the sun was rising in Orchard Park on Tuesday, the Bills were arriving at Highmark Stadium for their open practice in front of fans. The free event featured a full two-hour practice as the team gets ready for their second preseason game.
Here's what stood out from practice and what we learned about the Bills.
Open Practice observations
Tuesday's open practice featured over 41,000 fans in attendance, giving the Bills another game atmosphere to acclimate to their new home. The players embraced the excitement in the building early in the morning, flying around and making plays throughout the day.
The wide receivers and defensive backs went back and forth at each other during the 11-on-11 periods, with the receivers making some massive plays on the day. WR Dante Pettis stole the show in the first full team drill, breaking open for an impressive touchdown.
Sprinting past DB Te'Cory Couch and S Sam Franklin Jr., Pettis generated enough separation for quarterback Josh Allen to give him a shot. Allen threw a high arcing pass deep toward the right side of the end zone, dropping it in the bucket for Pettis to run under for a touchdown.
"I just had a deep corner route, and the safety was a little too far inside," Pettis said. "I think Josh just saw that and gave me a good ball."
Joshua Palmer also stood out among the wide receiver room on Tuesday, with the highlight of his day coming on a back shoulder ball during a two-minute drill near the end of practice.
Allen liked what he saw down the left sideline with Palmer streaking down the field on Maxwell Hairston, putting the ball where only his receiver could catch it. Palmer flipped his hips and got his hands wrapped around the ball, picking up a big chunk and getting into field goal range.
Still working on re-acclimating since missing time last season due to injury, making big plays helps Palmer grow his confidence for the upcoming year.
"Running around, running fast, I feel more like myself every day," Palmer said. "… Another year with Josh, another year with the Bills, another year in the scheme. Being healthy, I think, is the biggest thing. I don't have to worry about my health, I just go out and play and do my thing."
The big plays in the pass game got a rise out of the large crowd in attendance on Tuesday, with the players blown away by the amount of support shown at the practice.
New additions to the Bills have now got to see Bills Mafia in person supporting them on a few different occasions. Not even at full strength, the noise level and love that the players have experienced have been better than they could imagine.
Tuesday was another great example of that support, with fans lining up outside of Highmark Stadium before the sun came up, waiting to get in the doors as soon as they opened.
"The new stadium jitters are gone, and you're kind of just back to playing football, so it's fun," outside linebacker Bradley Chubb said. "You get to see the fans out here. They were lined up at 5:30 this morning. It just lets you know what the city of Buffalo is like."
Despite only being a roughly two-hour practice, the game-like environment helped fuel the players on both sides to continue grinding at a high level in preparation for the regular season.
The young players especially understand how much they can gain from days like Tuesday, but as guys continue to battle for roster spots, they know there's still plenty of football to be played.
"We're only in the preseason," undrafted free agent cornerback Kani Walker said. "My mindset is way past just preseason now. I feel like it shows and displays that. But shoot, the job's not finished, man."
Maxwell Hairston and Cole Bishop return to practice
Bills second-year cornerback Maxwell Hairston and third-year safety Cole Bishop both returned to practice Tuesday after missing time earlier in training camp.
Hairston participated in practice after missing the Return of the Blue and Red as well as last week's preseason game against Carolina. Hairston spoke with reporters after practice and said he was dealing with a groin injury, but described it as "nothing too crazy."
"I've been itching to get out here and play in front of the guys, and it was fun today," Hairston said.
Hairston dealt with a training camp injury during his rookie year, an ailment that sidelined him for the first part of the regular season. He described the current groin injury as "nowhere close to" the severity of what he dealt with in 2025.
"Thankful in that regard, and then just honestly doing everything that I can, controlling the controllables, getting the treatments for my body, getting it strong, and I'm just happy I can get back out here," Hairston shared.
Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said Hairston's hurdle now is reacclimating to the tempo of full-speed play and honing in on the details of his technique.
"I don't think you'll have any issues as far as schematically what we're asking them to do or communication on the field. It's just how fast can they snap it back into playing with the right tempo, playing with the right technique. With a new scheme and a new defensive back coach, you'd like him to get as many reps as possible just to lock in that technique," Leonhard said.
As Hairston aims to earn Buffalo's second starting cornerback spot opposite Christian Benford, he said he's been focused on his technique at the line of scrimmage and after the snap, aligning with what Leonhard has preached.
"I want to be more technical this year. We're playing a lot more man, so I've got to be a little calmer at the line. But also, just having that speed in my back pocket whenever I do need to use it," he said. "I've really been slowing myself down at the line and then speeding up as the rep goes on is something I've been working on. It's something that feels comfortable."
A road joint practice on the horizon
Buffalo will depart for Cleveland on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's joint practice with the Browns. The Bills plan to give their starters plenty of reps, providing an opportunity to test themselves against another opponent before Saturday's preseason matchup.
"Number one is physicality," Leonhard said of what he'll be looking for. "You're going against somebody else; that always lifts the intensity of a practice."
One of the challenges of a joint practice is that teams do not game-plan beforehand, meaning players are not necessarily prepared for what they will see from the opposing team. That forces each side of the ball to read and react in real time.
"Anytime that you have a new system and you get guys that have to react on the fly a little bit, because in a practice setting, you're going to see more things than you're going to get in a preseason game," Leonhard said. "That's the biggest thing: can our guys just go out there and play with confidence, react to certain things that they haven't studied, they haven't seen, or they haven't repped for a couple weeks."
Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb echoed that sentiment, saying joint practices are a "my will vs. your will" type of environment.
"I love joint practices. It gives you a chance to kind of gauge where you're at in a controlled setting against another team," Chubb said. "None of the nerves of a game, not all that, just practice and going out there and being the best version of yourself."
A controlled setting not only brings out a different level of intensity from players, but it can also benefit coaches who want to test certain play calls without putting them on game film for other teams around the league to study.
"There's certain things that even with it being a practice setting you might not put on tape, but at the same time, you will do a little bit more in that setting than you would in the preseason," Leonhard said.
