INDIANAPOLIS – A decision on the future of training camp for the Buffalo Bills is expected in the coming weeks.
General Manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott confirmed Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine that a return to St. John Fisher College in Pittsford is a consideration. The Bills have conducted training camp at home in Orchard Park the past two years because of the NFL’s protocols put in place to deal with Covid-19.
“That's certainly been talked about, going back to camp at St. John Fisher, and we'll see where that goes,” McDermott said. “There's pros and cons to both, really. I think we've documented those over the years.”
A report last week from Rochester’s WHAM-TV indicated the Bills were in talks with the school to return to camp there for about two weeks. Of course, it’s viable to question whether all the work that goes into setting up camp is worth it for such a short stay.
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“We enjoyed our time there, for sure,” Beane said. “Covid kind of took the decision away from us, so that contract expired, but without getting too deep into it, we're really looking at either going back to Fisher this year or staying in Orchard Park. We've just got to work through that process. If everything works out and they want us and we work it out, we would definitely go there. We've had success, but being here, we've done it twice in Orchard Park as well and that's worked well, so we feel like we've got two good options. We'll let some of that play out."
Beane said because the Bills are comfortable with the operation at Fisher, a long-term agreement doesn’t have to be reached.
“That's an easy one in the sense that we kind of know that set up,” he said. “It's not home, but it'll feel like home, you know, ‘Hey, we just haven't been here in a couple years.’ If we were going somewhere totally new, I would want to say, ‘Let's don't just do this for one year and then leave.’ But at this point, let's say we went this year, we could go up this year and then say, ‘You know what, let's try it back here this year.’ You know, who knows? We know that we can be successful doing it at Fisher. We also know we can be successful staying home in Orchard Park.”
After 19 years holding training camp in Fredonia, the Bills moved to St. John Fisher in the summer of 2000 and returned annually until the 2020 season was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The practices provide an opportunity for fans to get up close to the players, and give families who may otherwise not be able to afford tickets to a game at Highmark Stadium a chance to see the team in person.
Here are four more observations from Beane and McDermott:
1. The Bills will propose a rules change regarding overtime. After the team’s disappointing end to the season in the playoffs against the Chiefs, the overtime rule has been a hot topic in Buffalo. Beane confirmed the Bills will propose a rules change to the league that centers on overtime in the postseason being timed. He did not specify how much time the proposal would include.
“I do think there will be some changes,” Beane said. “I don't know how many proposals (there will be). A GM and I laughed at the Senior Bowl, there was going to be 32 different proposals. But you know, we definitely put our stamp on one. Ours is going to be more, without getting into detail, instead of one possession and then you get the other possession, is a time, you know, similar to in basketball, you play 5 minutes. Baseball, both teams get the top half and the bottom half. So, a time limit and I'm talking about postseason only to have to play it out. That way, both teams will definitely have a chance and maybe even more than one possession.”
Beane said the Bills will propose the change only for the postseason as a matter of player safety, keeping the regular season rules as they are so as to not dramatically lengthen games.
“In postseason, you've worked that long, you've played a 17-game season, you've been working since April or May. You know, everything on the line,” he said. “A coin toss here or there, I just think, let's play it out and a certain amount of time. That's our opinion. I don't know that'll be the final result in March at the owners’ meetings. But I think there's going to be some good proposals and hopefully it at least comes to a point where both teams get an opportunity.”
McDermott is also on board with overtime being overhauled, at least for the playoffs.
“Experiencing what we experienced overall, I think there's a better way out there,” he said. “When you go through experiences like that and you experience those things firsthand in particular, you want to evolve the game.”
2. McDermott is sticking by his “13 seconds” response. The company line regarding the end of regulation against the Chiefs has been that the team failed to execute. That, of course, can be any number of things.
Once again, McDermott chose not to elaborate any more on what exactly happened that led to the playoff loss.
“Like I said before, it comes down to execution, which starts and ends with the head coach,” he said. “So that's really what I said after the game, that's where I am now. I take full responsibility for the execution that wasn't where it needed to be.”
In other words, don’t expect much more of an explanation any time soon.
“I feel like I've addressed it to the point that it needs to be addressed,” he said. “Listen, there's nothing more that I want for our fans than to feel great and win that Super Bowl. That's what I'm getting our team focused on and getting ready to come back. And that's why we're here at the combine to get ourselves better to make another run at it next season.”
3. Tre’Davious White won’t be rushed back. The All-Pro cornerback, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Thanksgiving night against the Saints, continues his rehab. If White isn’t ready for the start of the regular season, it makes cornerback an even bigger offseason need.
“We're not targeting anything,” Beane said of a timeline on White’s return. “I mean, he'll have markers with the trainers. You know, Tre'Davious is going to want to participate in June. I mean, we'll have to hold him back for himself. But we're not going to put a time stamp on it. It's really hard to do that. I don't want to put the pressure on him. I've seen it where guys, they start pressing too hard to get out there when they're not ready. So, we'll follow the doctors and all of our trainers, we'll follow their advice. When they say he's ready to go, we'll get him out there.”
Beane added that team doctors remain very confident that White will make a full recovery from his injury.
4. The Bills would “love” to have Harrison Phillips back. Nevertheless, a deal for the defensive tackle doesn’t sound like a foregone conclusion.
Phillips worked his way back from a preseason knee injury to become a key starter down the stretch and into the postseason, especially considering the Bills lost fellow defensive tackle Justin Zimmer for the season to a knee injury and a bout with Covid negatively impacted Star Lotulelei during the year.
“We counted on Harry a lot down the stretch,” Beane said. “He’s been a great person in the community, great in our locker room, and like I said earlier, getting his chance to test free agency. Yeah, you do have to put your personal feeling aside. That’s my job. As much as you love to bring 'em all back, you’ve got to put a value on them. He and his agency have to do their due diligence. So we’ll see. We’ll see where it goes. We would obviously love to have him back, but it’s got to be at a price that’s fair to him and fair to us.”
