By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
By their nature, National Football League training camps are a drag.
That’s why 24 of 32 franchises no longer leave their team’s facilities but rather stay at home.
One of the eight exceptions, though, is the Bills who have made a summer home of Pittsford’s St. John Fisher University for 24 of the past 26 years, excluding the camps during Covid.
THIS YEAR is dramatically different as Buffalo will be the host team for HBO’s “Hard Knocks” which begins a five-week run in August as a prelude to the regular season.
Quarterback Josh Allen admittedly doesn’t like to be mic’d up, even though this is not the first time the MVP’s voice will be heard. NFL Films’ cameras were positioned around the field during practice as camp opened Wednesday. This will be the norm for the Bills during the production of “Hard Knocks,” the docuseries that will follow them throughout training camp. Nobody seemed bothered by the cameras or microphones.
“We’ve got nothing to hide,” general manager Brandon Beane said. “We want to make this a very positive experience. Will there be an intrusive thing here or there? Of course, but it’s all in the preseason, and I don’t expect any issue. We’ll all work together and make sure it’s a good product for our fans.
Beane admitted that competition in practice may be even better because no one wants their mistake to make the final cut.
Camp opened with the obligatory minor injuries as four players missed practice.
Bills tight end Dawson Knox was put on the non-football injury list after he tweaked a hamstring last week, and right tackle Spencer Brown was placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list because his back “flared up,” coach Sean McDermott said.
Backup center Sedrick Van Pan-Granger (calf) and wide receiver Laviska Shenault (lower leg) also were unable to practice Thursday.
BUT THE best news was that elite running back James Cook, in the midst of a contract extension disagreement, not only showed up, but also participated in opening workouts.
He went public this offseason with his desire to become one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL. His $5 million cap hit for 2025 ranks 18th at the position, well below the market rate for someone so productive. The 2022 second-round draft pick led the league last season with 16 rushing touchdowns, and ran for 1,009 yards. Cook became the first Bills player with 20-plus rushing touchdowns, regular season and playoffs, since O.J. Simpson in 1975.
No one expected Cook to skip training camp as he’d be fined $50,000 per day, and holding out could prevent him from accruing a year toward free agency. Most veterans show up for camp but skip much of the heavy work – Cook opted to participate in every drill.
“James is a competitive dude,” Beane said. “He’s a stud; he’s a great teammate; he wants to be here; he loves ball – so many of the things we learned about James through the scouting process. … Of course, who doesn’t want to get paid?
“That’s the hard part of this job is, I do want to pay them all. I really do – especially the ones who are working hard, they’re producing on the field, their teammates love them, the fans love them. James fits Buffalo, but sometimes you can’t get on the same page, or sometimes you’re trying to fit it in.”
To which McDermott added, “I couldn’t be more pleased with James and him being here on time and ready to go,”.
Beane added, “I can tell you I’m hopeful when we’re sitting here at next year’s training camp that James Cook (will be) out there practicing and still representing the red, white and blue.”
OF COURSE, Allen, the defending NFL MVP, is the player charged with getting the Bills’ their first-ever Lombardi Trophy.
“Ultimately, we probably know it runs through (the Chiefs) in the playoffs like it has for the last 6-7 years,” said Allen, 0-4 against Kansas City in the playoffs.”
Of training camp he added, “I’ve always loved it. It’s just being away and coming here … every moment you’re awake you’re around your teammates, around your friends, around the strength staff, getting worked on and there’s no better way to get better at football than here. If you love football, you should love camp, just hanging out and being around the guys.”
“Just put your head down and work,” Allen said. “It’s two-and-a-half weeks in camp. They go quick, but you can really show who you are as a person, as a player, over these next two and a half weeks. Everything that we do is centered around the team and building this team
“It’s different than college, everybody knows that, but just hearing that from some of the guys, just like, hey, like, there’s no distractions here. Like, let’s tune everything out. Give me two-and-a-half weeks of everything that you got, and we’ll go from there,” Allen added.
Beane added “We have a group of competitive dudes … you go down the list of players who’ve been here through some of these painful moments. I’m a firm believer you keep swinging the sword. You don’t get in? You work harder and you use that frustration. I can tell you, of course, Josh Allen was happy to win the MVP, who wouldn’t be? But he’d would trade that all day, every day to hoist that Lombardi. He’s the tip of the spear for us and we believe in that, his teammates believe in that, and we believe in this coaching staff and we believe in our organization and the plan.”
Beane added of Allen, “You see a calm, confident dude, he knows what he has to do in the offseason. He’s always prepared when he shows up. He’s not coming here unprepared, and I think his teammates, when he’s in the huddle, they’re as calm as ever just having Josh Allen in there.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
Read more from Chuck:
• Not many teams leave their practice facility like the Bills going to St. John Fisher
• We lost a gem in Frank Layden
• A trip through a sports writer’s office
• A look back at Bradford’s Stew Barber who protected Jack Kemp’s blindside
• The Portville comeback story with the Pittsburgh Steelers
• A retirement at the Buffalo News, update on the Bills
• A look at the late rounds of the draft and NFL sleepers
• Beane kept his promise during the draft for the Buffalo Bills
• Bills stay true to their needs in Round 2 and 3
• A look at the Bills’ first pick in the 2025 draft
• Bills need a cornerback, but they don’t need to pick one in the first round
• Part 1, a look at the 2025 NFL draft for the Bills
• The Bills have plenty of holes to fill in draft
• Catching up with Hornell’s Gene Mastin and the years before three-straight state football titles
• A look at Terry Pegula’s beginnings in Olean and his competitive drive to win
• Bill Walton was must-see basketball when he played in Buffalo for the Braves
• Mark Schmidt and St. Bonaventure Bonnies men’s basketball team looking at a rebuild
• Good news, bad news on high school hoops; thoughts on George Foreman
• Why the Bona NIT loss took place
• An embarrassing week for Beane who was perfect in free agency
• An interesting look at St. Bonaventure’s A-10 matchups
• St. Bonaventure joins $2.8 million settlement to get past and current student-athletes paid• St. Joe’s is looming as a big test for the Bonnies
• Part II: McDermott is building a team to win the Super Bowl, not beat the Chiefs
• It was a different McDermott this season
• A look back at the ‘Super’ Bowl
• Pollock prediction on the Super Bowl and his annual quiz
• Part 2: What does Brandon Beane have to do to make the Buffalo Bills better?
• Part 1: Buffalo Bills’ GM Brandon Beane discusses 2024 season
Don Scholla, the passing of an Icon
• The Chiefs still have the Bills’ number
• Pollock Prediction: Chiefs 28, Bills 25 (actual score 32-29)
• Allen and the Bills heading to the AFC Championship game
• Josh Allen wants to hear Mr. Brightside against the Ravens
• Win over Richmond gets St. Bonaventure Bonnies ready for A-10 matchup with Duquesne
• Offensive line of the Buffalo Bills knocked out the Broncos
• Pollock Prediction: Broncos loom as a threat but the Bills will win
• Where the St. Bonaventure victory over VCU ranks in program history
• Josh Allen showed why he should be the NFL MVP
• Pollock Prediction: Bills will beat Jets in a must-win game for playoff seeding
• What happened during those six lost days
• Bills didn’t play with a sense of urgency against the Patriots
• Bills passed a big test against the Lions
• The media missed the point with questions of McDermott
• We did not expect the Rams-Bills results as Josh Allen sets major records
• Will the Bills be motivated against the Rams?
• Schmidt doesn’t want the Bonnies to get caught up in 12-1 talk
• A look at the rise under Sean McDermott
• The snow and the Buffalo Bills were too much for the 49ers
• St. Bonaventure Bonnies put unbeaten hoops record on the line in ESPN Tournament
• Pollock Prediction on San Fran at Buffalo Sunday night game
• A look at McDermott’s smart play-calling and why aren’t we talking more about James Cook?
• Can the Bills do this to the Chiefs in the playoffs? Josh Allen touchdown run seals victory
• Pollock predicts a one-point Kansas City victory
• What happened to this being a rebuilding season for the Buffalo Bills?
• A dominating performance by the Bills
• Pollock predicts a Bills victory over the Colts on the road
• Thoughts on the 61-yard Bass field goal and where the Bills sit
• Solid win to open the season for the Bonnies
• Bass vindicated by 61-yard field goal to beat the Dolphins
• Bills don’t own the Dolphins but have an option to buy; prediction 27-20 (final was 30-27)
• The season is here for St. Bonaventure basketball
• St. Bonaventure speaks out, “We got Woj”
• Mark Schmidt on the NIL deals and the Bona NIT mess
• Pollock on the passing of St. Bonaventure legend Paul Hoffman
• Pollock on listening to the radio and the days of Willie Mays
• Houghton’s Phil Stockin gets Cazzie Russell to the Castle in Olean and then a title for the Knicks?
• The right hire for St. Bonaventure to lead the athletic department
• The inside story on why WPIG left the Bonnies after 74 years and a Gary Nease update
