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What we learned from the Bills' joint practice with the Browns

Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns Joint Practice, August 20, 2026 at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility.
Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns Joint Practice, August 20, 2026 at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Bills participated in a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday afternoon ahead of Saturday's preseason game. For players and coaches, it was chance to go up against someone other than their teammates.

Here's what you need to know from Thursday's practice.

Why the Bills value a joint practice

The Bills headed to Cleveland a few days early, so they could practice against a different team in a controlled setting. Head coach Joe Brady viewed the joint practice as a great opportunity for his team to grow and evolve.

"We're going against different techniques, different schemes, both offensively, defensively and seeing how our guys can handle that and adjust to that," Brady said before practice. "You've been going against the same people every single day, but I still want us to be able to play with the same tempo and intensity."

While the season inches closer, the Bills only have so many days left before their Week 1 game against the Houston Texans. With just two preseason games left, a joint practice served as another chance for Brady to evaluate his starters against a new opponent.

"I think it's critical in terms of your ramp up period for training camp," Brady said. "You try to be intentional about what you're trying to get out of it, when you're doing this joint practice, the volume of plays, the tempo of what you're doing. (You can) see where your conditioning is, your understanding of scheme, your technique, and putting it all together, going against a different opponent. The ones should come out of today's practice with 40 to 50 reps. It's as regular season as it can kind of get, and so that's what's exciting about it."

Players agree with their head coach. It's a nice change of pace practicing against someone other than your teammates.

"It's a new opponent," wide receiver Joshua Palmer said. "You get kind of bored going against your teammates every day. They start to get used to your moves, so you start running out of ideas. But when you play a fresh opponent that doesn't know anything, you can pretty much do whatever you want … So it's always fun."

Quarterback Josh Allen loved the energy he saw from his team as they went up against a defense that features a mix of veterans and younger talent.

"It went good," Allen said after practice. "To get out here and see a different defense, we got a lot of reps in today … Our tight ends, I thought, had a really good day. I didn't get to see a lot of the defense, but it seemed like we were flying around, having a lot of energy. When you go to have a joint practice like this, all you want to see is your guys flying around and making plays on the ball, and I think we did that today."

"We won the day" | Offense puts on a show against the Browns

While the intensity was high throughout Thursday's practice, the Bills and Browns did a great job of not letting things get too chippy. Buffalo's offense and defense made several notable plays at the Browns' practice facility.

Once Buffalo's offense warmed up over a couple periods, they were tough to stop. The tight end unit overall had a day full of highlights. During one team period, Josh Allen found tight end Jackson Hawes over the middle for a touchdown. Hawes was tightly covered but did a great job of outmuscling his defender to come down with the TD. Later in the red zone, Allen found Hawes again for a touchdown as Hawes showcased his ability to be more than just a blocker.

"I think everybody thinks of Jackson as the blocking guy, the blocking tight end," Allen said. "He's got some real nuance to his receiving game. I think his hands are better than people give him credit for."

It didn't stop there. Allen also linked up with tight end Dalton Kincaid for two wide-open touchdowns. One happened in the red zone as Kincaid went airborne to come down with the catch. The second touchdown was a thing of beauty. It happened when Bills were repping a two-minute drill. On the second play of the drive, Allen found Kincaid down the field, uncovered for about a 55-yard touchdown. Allen threw a great ball, and Kincaid didn't miss a beat as he looked over his shoulder to make the catch before running into the end zone.

Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns Joint Practice, August 20, 2026 at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility.

"He opens up so much, he's a tough matchup for linebackers, and I think he's a tough matchup for cornerbacks for that matter," Allen said of Kincaid. "He just continues to make plays and be elusive without the ball in his hands, and then when he gets the ball in his hands, he just finds a way to keep moving forward."

Wide receiver Joshua Palmer also had an impressive day. The WR linked up with Allen on multiple occasions. During one play in the red zone, Allen threw it into a tight window and Palmer came down with it in the end zone as he was covered. During seven on seven, Allen found Palmer again on a nice ball where he threw the receiver open. The two have worked on growing a nice connection throughout training camp and preseason.

"It's just consistency and reps," Palmer said of his connection with Allen. "I feel really good. I'm rolling, and I'm running around."

Wide receivers Mecole Hardman Jr., Ja'Mori Maclin and Quentin Skinner also scored touchdowns in the red zone. Another notable play on offense came when quarterback Shane Buechele tossed it down the sideline to running back Ian Wheeler who did a nice job of finding a hole for a positive gain. Wheeler continued to add yards when he lowered his shoulder against a defender to keep the play alive.

"I think we won the day," offensive lineman Alec Anderson said. "We came out here and we sought out what we were going to do, which was get better, get more conditioned for the season … I think we 100% came out here and we got better."

Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns Joint Practice, August 20, 2026 at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility.

Buffalo's defense had their own slew of highlights as well. On one play in the red zone, defensive back Jordan Hancock was covering his area of the field when Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson tried to fit it over him. Hancock saw the ball coming his way and jumped up to snag the interception out of the air.

During a two-minute drill, the Browns had a chance to score but cornerback Maxwell Hairston wouldn't let it happen. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw a pass to wide receiver Denzel Boston in the corner of the end zone, but Hairston was there to break it up. Hairston did a great job of turning to the football and got his hand up at the right time to knock it down.

Outside linebackers Greg Rousseau, Michael Hoecht and Bradley Chubb made some plays. Rousseau had two sacks. One happened when he beat a tight end to get free, the other came during a two-minute period. Hoecht added a tackle for loss and quarterback pressure. Chubb also had a quarterback pressure during a two-minute drill.

Joe Brady weighs in on the plan for Saturday's preseason game

Saturday afternoon marks Buffalo's second of three preseason games. Last week against the Panthers, we saw many of the healthy starters play for a few series. With a joint practice under their belt, Brady weighed in on the plan against Cleveland.

"The ideal world is that a lot of the ones would get a great day's practice today and we kind of go from there, if I feel like they got the work that they needed," Brady said. "But I'm not going to make any decisions until I see how this practice goes … That's not to say it's all about the production. It's not like, if we don't score a certain amount of touchdowns. It's more about the style at which we play, the mindset, the personality. That's what I'm way more concerned with."

When Josh Allen was asked about his preference for Saturday, the quarterback said he would defer to his head coach.

"Whatever coach asks me to do, obviously, whether I play or not, I'm going to be happy with the decision," Allen shared. "If I don't, I get to cheer on my guys, Kyle (Allen) and Shane (Buechele), going out there and trying to be the best teammate that I can be."

Swipe to see the best photos of the Cleveland Browns hosting the Buffalo Bills for a joint practice ahead of their 2026 preseason matchup. This gallery is presented by Admar.

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