After seven practices at St. John Fisher University, the Bills are heading back home to Orchard Park. The team took the field for a shorter final practice before tomorrow's Return of the Blue & Red night practice.
Here's what you need to know from Friday's practice.
"A lot of love" | Bills head back to Orchard Park with the right mindset
One reason the Bills begin training camp in Rochester is to build team chemistry with several new players on the roster. After seven practices, players believe they've become a tighter-knit group.
"I think this group from offense to defense is the tightest-knit group I've been around, really since I entered the league," quarterback Josh Allen said after the final practice.
Allen believes that starts with the people in the locker room. He pointed to veterans like outside linebacker Bradley Chubb as leaders helping bring the team together.
"The defense is meshing so well together, just even when you walk in the dorm room, or walk in the cafeteria, guys sitting down, talking and really getting to know each other," Allen explained. "That's one of the things you do when you come to camp is build that team camaraderie. And the way you do it is by doing those things — breaking bread together and sitting outside by the fire pit eating dinner. There's just a lot of love on this team, and that'll show on the field."
Head coach Joe Brady is seeing that chemistry translate onto the practice field and believes they're heading in the right direction as the season approaches.
"I like where the guys are at, the personality that they're playing with, the volume that we're putting on their plates and how they're handling it," Brady said. " … There's intentionality behind everything that we're doing, but everything that we're asking of them they're handling it in the right way."
Allen is also pleased with what he's seen out of the offense and defense.
"Guys (were) getting out, flying around," Allen said. "I thought we practiced extremely well with each other. I know that first day of pads there were a couple of incidents and some fights, but that's to be expected. I thought guys really took care of each other."
As the team gears up for the rest of camp at One Bills Drive in Orchard Park, Brady is challenging the team to bring the same energy home.
"I'm pleased with where we're at right now, but every day is a challenge," Brady said. "We break camp today, what's the mentality, what's it going to look like today? Are they going to think about going back home, or are they going to have the best practice they can today?"
Practice Notes: Bills WRs headline the day
The final day of training camp was headlined by some outstanding performances out of the wide receiver room. Friday's practice focused heavily on 11-on-11 drives, with the receiving game standing out among all the action.
Wide receiver Khalil Shakir set the tone with a touchdown from just outside the red zone on the first drive of the day, receiving a pass from QB Josh Allen out of the backfield in the right flat and immediately cutting up the field.
Quickly after changing directions, safety Geno Stone flew in to attempt to make the tackle. Shakir's agility was on full display, as Stone managed to rip off part of Shakir's undershirt but couldn't keep him from breaking free and finding out the end zone.
The play of the day came at the end of practice, with quarterback Shane Buechele in the middle of a two-minute drill. With pressure in his face from defensive lineman DeWayne Carter, Buechele uncorked a deep ball to the end zone, looking for wide receiver Stephen Gosnell.
Gosnell had cornerback Kani Walker all over him in coverage, but still attacked the ball in the air, bobbling it for a moment before getting a good grip and falling to the ground. The deep shot was the final full-speed play of the morning, capping off camp with a bang.
The only catch to rival Gosnell's juggling act was one from WR Joshua Palmer on a deep ball down the right side of the field. Allen gave his receiver a chance in tight coverage, with Palmer boxing out nickel corner Dee Alford and elevating for an impressive, contested grab.
Wide receiver Trent Sherfield Sr. also flashed from the wide receiver room on Friday, making five catches on the day and getting his hands on two other balls that were nearly impossible to catch.
The other two touchdowns from the final day at St. John Fisher both came from tight ends. Keleki Latu caught a ball from Buechele up the right seam with room to run, crossing the goal line on the second drive of the morning.
Closing out Allen's two-minute drill was Dalton Kincaid, who scored from the one-yard line after motioning right to left and exploding back to his original spot in the right flat after the snap for a walk-in touchdown.
On the defensive side, the interior of the defensive line came to play, headlined by a nice day for Landon Jackson. The former 2025 third-round pick was dominant against the run on Friday, picking up three tackles for loss on the day.
Carter also paired his solid showing against the pass by blowing up a couple of runs up the middle. His highlight of practice came against Ray Davis, who was met by the 25-year-old as he got a handoff, immediately putting a stop to the play.
As the veteran leader of the group, defensive lineman Oliver continued to show how impactful he can be when healthy. On back-to-back plays in the red zone, Oliver created havoc, creating pressure by bulldozing his opponent into Allen on the first, and picking up a sack after darting into the backfield right afterwards.
Players and Joe Brady look forward to Blue and Red
Up next for the Bills is the Return of the Blue & Red at Highmark Stadium on Saturday night, the first time the new building will host the team since wrapping up construction.
While Brady emphasized Saturday will follow a normal practice structure, players admitted it's hard to ignore the excitement of stepping inside their new home.
"It's really cool to be a part of a team that gets to play the inaugural season at a new stadium, a stadium I think that was long-needed here in Western New York," Allen said. "... It's really nice and we're very excited to be in there. And hopefully [on Saturday], I'm assuming it's going to be a pretty good turnout. Excited just to feel the energy in there and get to know our new home."
Saturday will be a night of firsts for everyone in attendance, including players on the team who have still yet to see the finished product.
"I'm just so excited to go out there and just see it for the first time," center Connor McGovern said. "I've yet to be on the grass, so I'm excited to see what that's really like, and then just to be in front of the fans for the first time out there. I know it's going to be an electric atmosphere."
With a little over a month before the regular season home opener, Buffalo's focus is on getting acclimated to the new building and all its intricacies. The team wants the new digs to be a place they're comfortable in by the time games start to really matter, with Saturday kicking off that process.
"The number one thing we have to do is try and get over there as much as we can with our team to make it feel like home," general manager Brandon Beane said. "... We're all very excited about getting in there and getting used to it, and kind of making it feel like our own."
For those who have been inside, the excitement may be elevated even more, only being able to imagine what it would be like with a crowd full of Bills Mafia to this point. Thousands of fans will be in attendance on Saturday for the first night, marking a new chapter for the Buffalo Bills.
"Every time you go in there, you notice something else," Brady said. "It's incredible. It's such a special place for everybody in this community and the city and I think it's going to be a stadium that people don't want to come play at."
