- 7/25/2024
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane addresses the media following the first practice of training camp on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.
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00:00All right, real quick, want to thank everybody here at St. John Fisher. We
00:03love coming to camp. I think you guys know that by now and another beautiful
00:08day. Got one practice in and thank our staff as well. Andy Major, Emily Kearns,
00:14Brendan Rowe, Ryan Moore, Matt Worswick. A lot of people help so we can just walk
00:21out there and do this. We know it doesn't just happen. So again, thanks to all the
00:24St. John Fisher people for being so welcoming and thank our staff for
00:28getting it set up. After that, I'll take questions. There was a NFL executive who
00:33reportedly called Josh Allen overrated. Thoughts on that? Josh, I don't know where
00:40to start. It's frustrating. You try to ignore this stuff, but Josh is
00:48going into year seven and there's still the naysayers. I don't get it. If I was
00:55gonna use rated, I would say underrated before I would say overrated. And I know
00:59I'm biased. He's our guy and love him every single day. These things that come
01:06out there, I know people love the rankings of whoever, but when you don't
01:09put your name to it or and you make comments like that, like who is this
01:13executive? Executive is a loose term. I was probably referred to as executive
01:19well before I should have been. And so I just say if you're not gonna put your
01:24name on it, we really shouldn't validate it. I know it gets validated because it's
01:30on ESPN and you know I'm not a fan of that style and you know I wish I wish
01:36the writer wouldn't include a comment like that. I just I don't think Josh
01:40deserves that. And again, I'm biased, but I'm tired of hearing it.
01:45Why would you think anybody would think that? I mean, I know you can't put yourself in the guy's shoes, but what would lead anybody to believe that he's overrated, given what he's done?
01:55Sal, there's idiots everywhere. I, you know, I don't know. I, till you put your name on it, I
02:04don't know. I just, I think he's done plenty, but I think part of it, Sal,
02:10truthfully is there are people that did not, we all are well aware when Josh
02:16came out, there are people that thought he was a bust or would not make it for
02:21all the reasons that they've listed over the years. And I just think anytime
02:27someone thinks they got a crack, they're gonna say, see I told you so. See, they're
02:32looking for things. You can look at any player in any sport and point out
02:38negatives. No one is is God or a robot, but Josh's positives don't even come
02:47close to the negatives. And so for what he's done for this team, for what he's
02:51done in this league and his own accomplishments, to say he's overrated
02:55and to point out a flaw here or there is, it's ignorant.
03:04As much as you don't like the comment, knowing what Josh is made up of, how much does it help, maybe not even help, but just as a reminder that there's
03:16still some people out there that think this? Yeah, I mean the good thing about Josh is he's always felt the naysayers. I don't think there's a
03:24year in the league that I know of where someone doesn't want to point out
03:29something with him. I mean even going back to some of his early games, if he's
03:35a rookie or second year guy, he would make plays in a game, but if he made a
03:40a dumb throw or something like that, he could have helped us
03:46win the game, but that's the highlight or lowlight that they want to show
03:49because that validates their thoughts and views on him. I don't
03:55know. Again, we've ignored it for so long, and I think the local media, you
04:00guys have all seen Josh and realize not only is he a hell of a player, how great he is
04:06in his role. It's so hard to be a quarterback and have his status, and he
04:11stays after and signs every freaking autograph, and he's perfect
04:17in the role. We're lucky as hell to have him, and I get frustrated with it, but
04:24Josh has a natural chip, John, and I don't think whether this person
04:29said this would change that. I think he's coming in this year with a chip. He wants
04:33a title. He wants it. Every year that we don't win it, it's digging a deeper
04:39chip, and I think that's what motivates him.
04:43More broadly as a team, how aware, how much do you care to put a chip on? Maybe the way a lot of outsiders are
04:48talking about your team and the expectations for what they could
04:52possibly accomplish this season in particular. Yeah, I mean, I think it's similar, John.
04:56There's been some years where they said we're the favorite or we're
05:01supposed to win. That doesn't mean anything. It really doesn't. Every team is
05:05a new team, and I know that's coach speak or GM speak, whatever you
05:10want to say, but this is a team that has a lot of new faces, both sides of the
05:18ball, but this is what camp is so important, so I love being here.
05:23This gives us a chance to obviously, we can work on any game or practice
05:26field, but we can bond here, and I think that's what Sean and I really value
05:32about going away and sitting in the calf, you know, just walked out of the
05:35calf and there's guys sitting there. They're not rushing to get to the
05:38meeting and do honey-do-list or get home. Their focus is solely on doing
05:44their job and getting better, and this is a new team that will have to define
05:48itself, so whether people predict us to be, you know, 6-11 or 11-6 or
05:56whatever it is, it really won't matter. Once games start, that's what you guys
06:01are going to be writing and reporting about.
06:03How excited was it for you to evaluate all these new faces and so many different variations?
06:09It's always fun. I mean, camp has a different feel. There's an agent here
06:14that I was talking to after practice, and he was like, hey, you know, what camp is it,
06:18and how do you like this? I'm like, it's totally different from years ago
06:23when you come out here and we would do nine-on-seven hitting drills, you
06:28know, 30 minutes off of vacation, like just as coaches wanted to see who had
06:32been working and who hadn't, but the rule is probably for the better from an
06:36injury prevention standpoint. We do a ramp-up. I mean, today's probably the
06:39shortest practice we'll have until we do a mock game before we play whoever
06:44opener is, Chicago maybe, but so to me this is just a continuation of the OTAs
06:51until we can get into pads and evaluate the nine-on-seven drills, the one-on-one
06:57pass rush, you know, because football is, this is not flag, this is tackle, and
07:03so there's a lot of evaluation coming up once we get through this acclimation
07:07period. From this, from the point you handed in the card to now, and I know
07:11it's only one practice here, has anything surprised you about Keon and what you've
07:15seen of him? I didn't know he was as funny as he is, but he's, I've had more texts
07:21from people all over the country I'll talk to. I don't know how good your guy
07:24is, but I sure love watching his interviews and I'm like, well hopefully
07:27his game matches his interviews, but he's smart, he works hard, he's
07:32competitive, and again, I think that he will bring a physical element. He's got
07:38size. I think that'll be part of his game. I know they've been working a lot even
07:42at the end of OTAs on, you know, red zone stuff, jump, you know, fade balls, you know,
07:49obviously he'll have some chances to win on third and five, a slant or a, you
07:55know, whatever route, you know, Josh and Joe dial up, but I think hopefully as
08:01the pads come on that we see some of that versus what you're gonna see in, you
08:07know, maybe you've got a speedster or a super quick, you know, Cole Beasley type
08:13or something like that. Was it deliberate on your part at all the way that you
08:16attacked cornerback this offseason to come in here with Rasul and Christian,
08:21Kier working his way, and we see a lot of Jamarcus Ingram out there today, not
08:25that like maybe veteran depth player that you've had in camps past. Was that
08:29deliberate to kind of get a look at Kier and Jamarcus a little bit more, maybe some of the other young guys?
08:34Yeah, I mean we think we got some guys and yeah, it's a big year for
08:38Kier and Christian both going into year three, our first full year with
08:43Rasul, but you know, I think having Rasul as a cagey veteran who's, he's seen the
08:50highs and the lows of this league, you know, from being drafted where he was
08:55drafted a, I think, a third round pick to being released on a practice squad and
08:59then working his way back up into a nice contract and a starter status
09:05and, you know, obviously a guy that we traded for. So, I think, you know, you got
09:10two guys there that are third-year players that they know everything to
09:13expect and and we're looking for them to both take another step and then having
09:17Rasul here and and then some young guys around it, but listen, if we see a veteran
09:22that we think we need to add and, you know, we can fit them in, we would do that,
09:27but we like the competition too that we have right now, Matt.
09:30Jamar was out there getting some reps with the ones today. Aside from what happened, just as a player in his
09:36development in year four, what have you seen from him?
09:38Yeah, he's, he came back hungry, you know, one of the things he said to me and I
09:43feel like he said it to others is, I got through last year, last year being like,
09:49you know, the first, I mean, right now we were still talking about it's gonna be
09:52different when he puts pads on, it's gonna be different that first hit and
09:55and then got to get in the game in a stadium, you know, where that incident
10:00happened. No one's talking about that anymore. I know you're asking me the
10:04question because of that, but his focus was like, no, I want to go win a job, I
10:10want to, I want to show I can prove that I can start and help and make plays and
10:14and so that's been his focus is, you know, Micah and Jordan are gone, there's
10:19there's new faces around and don't forget about me, I can still do it.
10:25Yeah, I think similarly, you know, last year we were talking about Vaughn's
10:34ramp-up and and and all that, Ryan, I think for him it's just seeing that
10:40explosive twitch that we saw a little bit, I think even Vaughn referenced it
10:44maybe one time this this offseason in the playoffs and maybe that that last
10:48game of the season against Miami, just seeing that that twitch that he's always
10:54had fire, so I think that's what we'll want to see, winning his one-on-ones, like
10:58is he, you know, you would love to see him get back, not only winning his
11:01one-on-ones, but where people are like, hey, we got to have a plan for him because
11:06if if two people have to block him or if they got to chip him, somebody's gonna
11:11get, you know, a single block.
11:14Yeah, Matt's done, man, he always, we've got some, we've had some guys back with
11:26Tredavis, his his rehab and just the way he attacked it and it reminded me of the
11:31way Thomas Davis in Carolina attacked three ACLs and things like that, but you
11:37know, I think he's the same way, he's attacked everything with his with his
11:41rehab and this was probably as good as we could have hoped that he would be
11:47starting camp and we got to manage him, we got to be smart and he's a competitor,
11:51he wants to, he's gonna want to practice every day, I don't think that's realistic,
11:54but it's good to see him out there, like anything, I'm sure he's probably thinks
11:59he's going, man, I used to make that player, I would have made that play if I'd,
12:02you know, but I think over time we'll see him blending back in, but you know, we
12:08missed 58 last year, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that, so it's
12:14good to have him and that edge, you know, he, we all know he's not a, he's not going
12:18to give a long speech or anything like that, but Matt's got a toughness, an edge,
12:22a presence that our defense needs and so it's good to have him back.
12:28You know, I think nothing has really changed from, you know, I think Micah made
12:33some, some straight-up comments around his softball deal about where he was at
12:38and, and we talked and he came out to practice one day and, and we had talked
12:43before that, but I think Micah's in a really good spot, he's enjoying his
12:47family time, but he's staying ready should the right opportunity come, you
12:51know, but we haven't, we haven't done anything in addition to where we kind of
12:56left things off in, in June.
12:58Josh talked about going to Nashville, having some of the offense come to Nashville,
13:02he said it was more than just being on the field, he talked about building
13:06relationships, going to dinner, all that kind of thing.
13:09In the grand scheme of things, what does that mean to you or to the team that they
13:14get together and do things like that?
13:15Yeah, I mean, you, you obviously want them to get together to throw and stuff out
13:19there, but it's exactly what I was referring to here, coming to St. John
13:22Fisher, getting away, that's a getting away from there, because when you're in
13:27your home city, like if, if, if I don't leave when it's time for vacation, if I
13:31don't leave and go somewhere, I said, Buffalo, I'm going to end up in the
13:34office or doing stuff around my house.
13:36This is kind of forced bonding, you know, when they went to Nashville and guys are
13:40hanging out, nobody's trying to get out to, to go do something with someone else.
13:45And, you know, that, that chemistry, that bond that you form off the field really
13:50helps you, especially when adversity hits and every team's going to go through it.
13:54A side of the ball and offense may go through a funk and having that trust and
13:58that camaraderie helps you work through, you know, the highs and the lows.
14:03How does your perception, if, if it changes or not, change or differ from past
14:09camps, knowing that you're coming in with 40, 43 new additions, probably the most
14:14since 2018? I know some of those new additions, some of those, some of the guys
14:18that are coming back are Josh, you've got a quarterback, but how, how do you, how
14:23does your perception, does your perception change at all?
14:25I mean, listen, I, I think John, some year there are going to be some newer faces.
14:30But I think we've also, some of the guys that are here, I think we do have a good
14:35number of guys that maybe weren't in, in, in key starting roles that are here.
14:39And then we have brought in competition.
14:41I think it's so important, find as much competition as you can at every single
14:46position that you can afford.
14:48And, and that will challenge each other to be the best they can be.
14:52But again, every team is also a new team.
14:54You're, you're always going to have new faces.
14:57You know, if you look at most, most NFL rosters four years ago to where they are
15:04today, it's, it's crazy.
15:06The turnover, you don't realize it.
15:08And I think this just happened to be one of those years we tried to, you know, we
15:15obviously 2020 was a heck of a year for us.
15:17We tried to, all right, let's see if we can get over the top in 21.
15:20And, you know, we brought Emmanuel Sanders in a couple of pieces, but we had a lot of
15:24constant, you know, and then we brought in Vaughn.
15:27We tried to add a couple pieces here or there each year and keeping the band
15:31together, you know, but due to age contracts, the business itself, this just,
15:38you know, was one of those years where there was probably a little more
15:42turnover of bigger names and, you know, all the, some of the guys we've mentioned,
15:49but I think we've talked about it before.
15:50It was a lot of guys that had a C on their chest.
15:52And so we are counting on more of our younger players that have been here, what
15:57I was referring to, to step up into some of these new leadership roles.
16:05No, I think the biggest thing that I love now is we've been, we've been
16:10training, we've had these guys since April, May for the rookies.
16:16And as I was saying earlier, Catherine, it's shorts and t-shirts.
16:21And so I am always excited to watch the padded periods, the plays that matter.
16:26I mean, we're not bringing guys to the ground, but one-on-one pass rush, nine
16:32on seven, you know, who's coming in there thumping, just some of those things.
16:35And then I think we're all going to be interested and I don't know how much
16:39we'll be able to tell in practice, but this first couple of preseason games,
16:43how this kickoff thing is going to unfold.
16:47And, you know, I think that's going to determine, you know, some of the final
16:51roster spots on, on all 32 teams.
16:54How has, you know, coach Babbitt, his approach, what are your
16:56thoughts on coach Babbitt's approach?
16:58Just his energy.
16:59I mean, it's, he's able to, he's one of those guys that he's always had to bottle
17:04it up and, you know, he's, he wakes up like he, like he slept with three cups of
17:10coffee.
17:10I mean, he's, Bobby's just, he's, but it's great energy.
17:14It's positive.
17:15The hardest thing for him is probably not being as hands-on at one position, you
17:20know, whether it was safeties or linebackers doing the whole thing.
17:23But I mean, just even our setup here, the way there's the way the defensive staff
17:29is set up, it's right outside mine and Sean's office.
17:32And I had my door open yesterday and he was going through everyone's drills.
17:37I mean, he had all their assignments down.
17:39I was getting off the phone.
17:40I could have, but it was like he was sitting next to me.
17:43I mean, he was, he probably was standing up, like coming out of his seat.
17:46So I love the energy.
17:47I think it's good.
17:48I think our players feed off of it.
17:50Bobby is a super smart guy and, and, you know, he, he could have had some
17:55opportunities to leave and be a D coordinator.
17:58I think he was going to, you know, definitely be offered, you know, at least
18:01a position or two outside of here.
18:02So, you know, we're excited that it worked out timing wise for him to take over.
18:06Are you watching the hard knocks with your old buddy and are you sending
18:11text messages through each?
18:13I have not seen it.
18:14I've seen some snippets, obviously some people on some text threads forwarded
18:17some of those pictures when I looked like I was 12, less responsibility, less gray
18:23hair.
18:24Uh, but, uh, man, I'm better him than me going through that.
18:29Let's just say that
18:33we are not up for hard knocks.
18:35Thank y'all.
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