After a long wait following yet another early playoff exit, the 2024 season has finally arrived for the Buffalo Bills. They’ll take on the visiting Arizona Cardinals at 1 p.m. Sunday to kick off the new campaign.
This year will be the eighth regular season under Bills head coach Sean McDermott, in which he’ll attempt to guide his team to the playoffs for the seventh time. But it’s also a different year for McDermott and his team, due to some roster refreshing and future cap cleaning that resulted in several questions heading into the season.
With game day approaching, here’s what we’ve seen from the Bills practice week leading up.
Wide receiver injuries and how snaps could shake out
Near the end of the preseason, the Bills dealt with two injuries to their top five wide receivers. But one was to Curtis Samuel, a more significant player in the Bills offense who likely will get far more playing time than Marquez Valdes-Scantling when all are healthy. Samuel had a turf toe injury, with his first practice missed on Aug. 13. That day, McDermott described it not only as a toe injury but also a vet rest day. That also happened to be the practice linebacker Matt Milano suffered a torn bicep, which is essential for context.From that point forward, starting with the joint practices against the Steelers on Aug. 15, the Bills went into survival mode with injury prevention. They rested plenty of their starters who had the slightest injury limitation because they had the time to do so before Week 1. They could simply play it safe with Samuel and others. He returned to practice on Aug. 28 and was a full participant on Wednesday and Thursday this week. It seems likely he’ll be ready for his full role. But how will the Bills divvy their snaps?
Based on how he fits into their X-receiver role and his skills as a blocker, rookie Keon Coleman could lead the group in time on the field. His only replacement is Mack Hollins, who will also likely fill in at Z receiver and limit Coleman’s time off the field. That may not necessarily mean Coleman leads them in receiving production, but it’s trending toward him seeing plenty of time. Slot receiver Khalil Shakir averaged around 70 percent of snaps after the team committed to him in a full-time role last year, and landing around that mark seems logical, with Samuel slightly eating into his snaps. Samuel will also likely be on the field a great deal, playing in the slot, at Z-receiver and even running back on some plays. It would not be a surprise if Hollins, the clear fourth receiver, gets around half of the offensive snaps.
Damar Hamlin is the starter, but is it permanent?
On Wednesday, the team made national headlines when McDermott announced safety Damar Hamlin as the Week 1 starter. However, it is fair to wonder about the staying power of that decision. Safety has been a massive question mark since the end of the 2023 season, and it has persisted right up to Week 1. Taylor Rapp is the locked-in starter at strong safety, which means Hamlin will most often play the free safety role. However, with offseason investments made in Mike Edwards and rookie Cole Bishop, who both seem better suited for that free safety role, Hamlin’s hold on the job may not be all that strong. After all, Edwards and Bishop each missed considerable practice time during training camp and are only in their first year with the defensive scheme. Hamlin worked hard to be named the starter, though he also has the benefit of three-plus years in the scheme and has been healthy for most of camp.It remains a distinct possibility that the Bills could rotate Edwards in on defense Sunday. If they do, it may not be as frequent as some of their rotational usage in past years at cornerback — at least not to begin the year — but enough to get Edwards in the game to see what he can do. Bishop just returned to full participation this week. He also suffered his injury extremely early into camp, meaning Wednesday marked his first full participation session in full pads as a member of the Bills. The Bills also typically take things slow with a player’s return to playing. Bishop being a rookie also adds another layer. It would not be a shock if the second-round pick was a “healthy” scratch and on the inactive list against the Cardinals. That distinction would be less about his play and more about getting him a full ramp-up period in padded practices before he makes his professional debut. They feel comfortable using Cam Lewis at safety, so he would serve as their fourth if Bishop is inactive.
Mitchell Trubisky has shown improvement with his knee injury, perhaps enough to be Josh Allen’s backup in Week 1. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
Mitchell Trubisky trending up?
In their final week of practices in August, general manager Brandon Beane said they had some cautious optimism over backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky being available for Week 1. At the time, the odds didn’t look great. The knee injury caused Trubisky to walk quite gingerly during the Aug. 28 practice. With just over a week until the regular season opener, it potentially seemed like too quick of a turnaround for him to be ready to play a game.However, the weekend off served Trubisky and his injury well. When the Bills retook the practice field Wednesday, Trubisky sported a sleeve on his leg, but that noticeable hitch in his gait from the previous week wasn’t nearly as pronounced. Trubisky even did some rollout drills where he had to throw across his body, and he did those without hesitation or a limp. It was the closest Trubisky had looked to his pre-injury form, dramatically increasing his chances of being Josh Allen’s backup on Sunday. Ultimately, the Bills must decide if they believe Trubisky can run the offense without limitations while also protecting himself from defenders if he has to play in the game. But this week was a significant step in the right direction, and Trubisky may just be ready to go.
The kick and punt return reps could be an adventure
The Bills attempted to end their ongoing search for a return specialist on cutdown day when they acquired rookie Brandon Codrington from the Jets. However, the early results in practice have not been promising. There have been three practices that the media was allowed to see since cutdown day, and on two of those days, Codrington muffed a catch on a return attempt. He admitted he was nervous during his first practice with the team, leading to three poor reps in a returner role. Then, on Thursday of this week, Codrington let another catch slip through his hands and the ball hit the ground. On all three days, McDermott stood by himself right behind all the returners as they went through their reps. It’s not abnormal for the coach to go over there every once in a while throughout the year. Three days in a row is notable. Once special teams concluded Thursday, whether coincidental or not, McDermott and Beane had a long conversation as positional drills were happening around them.The Bills will likely see what they have in Codrington on Sunday and if the in-game results will be better than what he’s done in practice. He’s very clearly an easy, fluid mover who accelerates well. But the most rudimentary part of the job is to catch the ball cleanly, and if Codrington continues to struggle to do that, the Bills likely won’t wait long to let him figure it out. They still have Daequan Hardy on the practice squad, who has been the most consistent with catching the ball of their primary return specialist options despite some decision-making errors in the preseason. Those reps will be under a microscope on Sunday. If the Bills don’t see what they need from Codrington, there could be a Hardy elevation in the not-so-distant future.
Why the Joe Andreessen story may continue on Sunday
The story of Buffalo native Joe Andreessen was undoubtedly the biggest of training camp and the preseason. Andreessen’s rise from undrafted and unsigned tryout player to signed roster longshot, then to 53-man roster spot as a rookie was a fan favorite tale — and rightfully so. But from how it looked through the summer and as the team approaches training camp, that story has legitimate odds of continuing into Week 1 with Andreessen on the field — and not as an announced game-day inactive.It won’t be in a defensive role, as both Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams will be the starting pair of linebackers. However, Andreessen did more than just impress the coaching staff while playing defense. He stood out on special teams and easily outplayed fifth-round rookie Edefuan Ulofoshio both there and on defense. With so much turnover on special teams from 2023 to 2024, and then with Williams elevating to the starting lineup due to injury, it potentially opened another role on those core units. Don’t be surprised to see Andreessen prominently positioned on fourth downs for punts and kickoffs. He has the makings to be an every-snap core four special teams asset that the Bills are excited to use on game day.
Week 1 Projected Inactives: OL Tylan Grable, DE Javon Solomon, LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, CB Ja’Marcus Ingram, S Cole Bishop