What we learned from Bills minicamp: James Cook ‘ready to roll’, Dalton Kincaid optimism, and more
Plus, what Tre'Davious White's struggles could mean for Maxwell Hairston.
www.nytimes.com
After three days of on-field work, the Bills offseason program is officially complete. The team conducted their annual mandatory minicamp and has some new information about their roster to digest before coming back together in about six weeks.
Now, with their minicamp over and some concepts installed, the team can simultaneously prepare for what’s ahead for training camp in late July while also giving itself a chance to recharge for what they hope will be a seven-month journey when the playoffs are all said and done. Along the way through the minicamp, several things stood out that provided more insight into the 2025 version of the Bills.
Here’s what we learned from the Bills at minicamp as their spring workouts concluded Thursday.
James Cook ‘will be ready to roll’ for training camp
The top Bills storyline entering minicamp had all to do with top running back James Cook, whether or not he’d show up and, if he did show up, how much he’d participate. Cook quickly put all of that to rest, as he not only showed up to all three days of the mandatory practices but fully participated in all of them, even without a contract extension. Cook has an incredibly strong reputation with his teammates, coaches and the rest of the building, and some of his comments from this week underlined that putting in the work while he was at practice was important to him.As far as the Bills are concerned, they dispelled some of the popular external theories of a rift between the two sides. General manager Brandon Beane met with reporters at the conclusion of their minicamp, disclosing that the relationship has remained “very good” between the two sides and that their interactions with Cook “have been good throughout” the offseason process. The Bills had been saying all the right things ahead of minicamp as well in regards to Cook, and his skipping the minicamp entirely would have been out of character. For the most part, his absence during the two weeks of voluntary practices was not that big of a deal, especially since franchise quarterback Josh Allen wasn’t even there for one of the weeks following his late May wedding.
The next big question is how Cook might handle the beginning of training camp if there is no deal in place. He made it quite clear that throwing away money on fines was not something he was particularly keen on, so the overwhelming expectation is that Cook will be at camp. He did leave the door open slightly to a hold-in scenario when asked to clarify if he would participate when he reports for the start of camp by saying, “I don’t know, man. We’ll see when camp comes.” Beane’s last remarks on the situation showed optimism that it will be a non-issue at training camp, too. “I believe Jimbo will be ready to roll whether there’s a deal or not,” he said.
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Dalton Kincaid ends with a big day as Bills seem optimistic for his third year
On Wednesday, Dalton Kincaid went without either a target or a catch during 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s. On Thursday, Kincaid was the best pass catcher on the field for the Bills. Working primarily on red zone drills, Allen found Kincaid often in the team’s shortest minicamp practice, connecting with him four separate times out of 15 pass attempts. Two of those receptions really helped Kincaid show off his natural pass-catching skills, as he won two tightly contested catch opportunities. The first was against nickel corner Taron Johnson, with Kincaid corralling a perfectly thrown pass from Allen just past Johnson’s outstretched arms near the back corner of the end zone. Then later in the practice, Kincaid went over the top of safety Darrick Forrest to snatch a pass out of the air from Allen for another short-yardage touchdown.Throughout the offseason, even though he didn’t come through on some lofty, and some borderline unrealistic external expectations, the Bills have defended Kincaid’s second season because of the knee injuries that defined how much he could play once he returned in Week 15 after missing three games. His snap counts were way down from what they were earlier in the season before the injury, which limited the amount of chances he had to make a big impact. The way the Bills defended Kincaid is reminiscent of how they approached the Spencer Brown conversation following the right tackle’s uneven second season. They believed in the talent all along and were convinced injuries did a certain amount of derailing for Brown and were ultimately proven right, now that Brown is one of the best at his position in the NFL. On Thursday, Beane said Kincaid’s 2024 season was “really more of an injury thing and nothing more than that.”
Now with a clean bill of health, Beane remarked that Kincaid has been working incredibly hard throughout the offseason, spending much of his time in Buffalo. One of the areas the GM said they wanted to see Kincaid grow was to get stronger, to which Beane said Thursday that the tight end has added both strength and bulk to his frame in the offseason. The ultimate test will be if Kincaid can increase his snap percentage and stay on the field for more run blocking reps, which would increase his overall versatility. If they can use more of the Kincaid and Knox combination as opposed to the jumbo package of six offensive linemen, it could definitely help their overall offensive environment. It remains to be seen how much Kincaid can grow in that area. If he does and stays on the field a bit more, he has the natural pass-catching skills to get his career trajectory back on track to what it was this time a year ago.
Despite spring injuries, Bills expect to be at full strength at training camp
While the Bills weren’t shorthanded during their minicamp, Beane did admit that they were being precautionary with a handful of their players during minicamp. The newest and one of the more notable names to miss Thursday’s practice was rookie and 2025 first-round pick Maxwell Hairston, after he suffered an injury late into Wednesday’s practice. Beane confirmed it was a minor hamstring injury for Hairston, and the expectation is that the rookie will be ready by the time training camp arrives. Fortunately for the Bills, that timeline is commonplace for all of their injured players, as the franchise escaped the spring workouts without any long-term injuries suffered that could impact the beginning of their season.The list includes defensive end Joey Bosa, center Connor McGovern, safety Cole Bishop, running back Ty Johnson, offensive lineman Alec Anderson, safety Damar Hamlin, defensive back Cam Lewis, linebacker Baylon Spector, wide receiver K.J. Hamler and newly signed linebacker Shaq Thompson. The vast majority of that group, outside of Lewis and Hamler, were able to participate in the walkthrough installation portions of practice before returning to not taking any full-speed reps. Bosa is the biggest name of the bunch, and Beane remarked that Bosa has progressed very well through his calf injury in the weeks since it occurred. They initially expected Bosa to be ready for camp, and the last several weeks have reinforced that notion for the Bills.
Tre’Davious White’s a great story, but had some struggles in the spring
One of the high-profile moves the Bills made this offseason was to bring back long-time starting cornerback Tre’Davious White on a one-year deal just days ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. The signing didn’t prevent them from targeting cornerbacks in the draft, as they used both a first and sixth-round pick on cornerbacks to improve both the starting capabilities and depth of the room with young players. As their top pick, Hairston, has gone through his good and bad moments while getting coached hard by the Bills, it has allowed White to try and put his best foot forward for the starting job in 2025. White has had positive moments, including corralling an off-target pass that deflected off receiver Khalil Shakir for an interception and touchdown.However, the main concern over White’s game was similar to what they had late last year with Rasul Douglas. White’s ability to turn and run with receivers isn’t what it used to be, leading to some real opportunities for Bills pass catchers throughout the spring practices. White is still quite proficient in the zone coverages the Bills generally employ, but if those struggles continue throughout the summer, the concern is about how things look when plays break down and White has to man up against a receiver, or when the team calls man coverage ahead of the snap. It’s not to say that White can’t get himself back to a place, as it would be unwise to write him off after only five viewed practices in the spring. It is just something worth monitoring once the Bills return to the field in late July, and it could be the catalyst toward the job opening right up for Hairston if he shows well enough during camp.
The backup QB job is up for grabs
Minicamp was the first opportunity for reporters to see practices on consecutive days, and from both an opportunity and performance perspective, it appears that Mitchell Trubisky isn’t necessarily a lock to remain Allen’s backup in 2025. When the Bills signed Mike White to a two-year deal late in the season, that was a fairly significant signal that the team could look to replace Trubisky this upcoming season. By staying on the roster through the offseason, $1 million of Trubisky’s base salary became guaranteed, though the Bills can still save $1.5 million on the 2025 salary cap to release Trubisky. However, they won’t make the decision solely by cap space. The Bills are likely going to let the two players battle it out this summer, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they gave each player time with the second unit.Trubisky has been Allen’s backup before and has more mobility to his game than White, which could help the Bills keep a similar playbook to the one they run with Allen in event of an injury. White, however, is a more natural thrower, particularly in the intermediate and deep areas of the field. The counter to that is he’s more unlikely to be able to escape the pocket if things break down. It really may just come down to who has the better camp and preseason, and who they trust the most to steady the ship if Allen has to miss any time, but it appears to be an open competition.
Depth players who stood out
LB Joe Andreessen — The last three days couldn’t have gone much better for Andreessen. With Baylon Spector not participating in team drills, Andreessen received more high-impact snaps behind Terrel Bernard. With that increased time on the field, Andreessen showed enhanced instincts in coverage from what he was during his rookie year, and made several plays on the ball. He has certainly positioned himself to battle Spector for the primary backup middle linebacker job this summer, and given some of Spector’s in-season struggles, Andreessen could easily win it with a good preseason.WR Jalen Virgil — Minicamp is a time for offensive skill position players to stand out, as the non-padded practices generally swing toward receivers in one-on-one battles. But the reason Virgil stood out is his overall versatility. He showed last year, in a short amount of time, that the Bills trusted him enough on special teams to, at one point, sign him to the 53-man roster when injuries struck. Then during team drills, Virgil put together some good reps with all three of the Bills’ top quarterbacks. That included a one-handed grab in the back corner of the end zone over rookie cornerback Dorian Strong. He has an uphill climb to the 53-man roster, but this was a good start.
TE Keleki Latu — At this stage for undrafted rookies, you want to see if someone can show workable traits that hint at potential once you get back to training camp. Latu stood out in that capacity, as the 6-foot-7, 244-pound tight end showed impressive athleticism and route running for his size, and seemed very natural catching the ball. The only thing we haven’t seen to this point is how he is as a blocker, which won’t be accessible until the pads go on in late July. While Latu isn’t a threat to make the team outright in 2025 at this point, if he shows consistency in pass-catching areas throughout training camp, there appears to be enough talent there for him to become a developmental piece for their practice squad this season.
