Buffalo Bills vs Giants Preseason Recap: Key Takeaways, Standouts & Concerns

Buffalo Bills vs Giants Preseason Recap: Key Takeaways, Standouts & Concerns

[Music] Dive into the pulse of Bill’s football with Turf to Tape, where veteran sideline reporter S K Capacio and film room guru Eric Turner deliver a one-of-a-kind podcast experience. Combining S’s unparalleled access to players and coaches with Eric’s razor sharp film breakdowns, the show bridges the gap between casual fans and hardcore enthusiasts. This is Turf to Tape. This is Turf to Tape presented by Thin Man Brewery. I’m your host, Eric Turner. As always, joined by the man that lives at the intersection of Access and Insight. Also a very busy man, S. Good morning, brother. Uh good morning to you. Yeah, it’s a uh Sunday morning here and thankfully the preseason game was on a Saturday because Saturday night turned into a Google Dolls concert. been talking about it for months. Big Goos fan. Went to that last night and because of that, a lot of the things that are normally on my plate on a after a postgame kind of had to be pushed. So, here we are this morning though. But a chance to kind of digest it over the weekend. Yeah, it gave me a little more time to to kind of dive into some of the tape. So, I watched a replay late last night and then as the AL22 dropped this morning, I I dove in at 6:00 a.m. But we’re here to recap the Bills and Giants preseason game, the last preseason game at Highark Stadium. The Bills lose to the Giants 34 to 25. So, Sale, you were down there on the sideline for this game. Kind of set the stage for this last preseason game at Highark. Yeah, it was the final ever preseason game at Highark Stadium, this current stadium as you just referenced, Eric. And you know, always to me is something to note that some people who go to the game might be their first time ever and their last time ever. Maybe it’s the only time you ever visit the game, especially for your young child. A lot of people don’t want to take their kids to a regular season game for different reasons. So maybe this is the only time they get a chance. So the stadium was packed with kids, lots of kids. It was great to see. Might that might be some kids only chance to ever be in that stadium. might be their first time and maybe they’ll go later, but if they don’t, their parents could say 20 years from now, you know, see that thing across the street used to be a stadium there and you know, you went to a game there. Um, you know, so it was a picturesque day for it. It was very hot down on the field. No doubt about that. Um, but overall, you know, um, the Bills are trying to hit all the right tones this year for the final season at Highark Stadium. There’s going to be a lot of laughs this year. This was the last preseason game. So, set the stage now for some of the players that participated, notable guys that maybe sat out. And then give us a quick update on Cook and that whole process, the beginning of that preseason game. Yeah. So, James Cook warmed up. He came out of the tunnel. He warmed up. He was in uniform. A lot of the guys who have been injured also warmed up, right? So, you saw Cole Bishop out there. Uh, a few other guys who have not been, you know, participating in practice injury. Curtis Samuel warmed up, I believe, if I remember correct. trying to check off the names. There’s some guys who did not uh warm up that have been injured obviously that a little bit more severe. Uh but yeah, several guys did and James Cook most notably though he’s not injured of course he’s going through a contract situation. He did not um play at all in the game. He did take one rep during the pregame team warmup as well. Right. And then after the game, Shawn McDermott said they had good conversations. They had a good conversation and he said he wanted James to play. That’s what he said during the postgame press conference. But because of James situation, he wasn’t going to play. He decided not to play. But I think it’s really interesting that Shawn made note that he said he wanted James to play. Uh he also made note, speaking of the injured players, but I would put James in this bucket obviously, um that it’s kind of go time and guys got to start getting back and being available and he’s really interested and excited to see who’s available and who’s practicing this week. So I just think this is kind of becoming a bit of a crossroads moment here where with James Cook and I want to be clear here that I don’t think there’s any animosity from the Bills organization with James Cook personally, right? They’ve been very very steadfast and true about how much they love James and Brandon Bean talks about that all the time. I believe this is agent driven. I believe this is James Cook getting advice from his representatives and I also think James Cook would love to be out there with his team, but because of the advice he’s getting, he says, “Okay, I’m going to listen to my reps and this is how I’m going to play this.” So, I’m getting a lot of questions on social media about is he being punished when it comes to game checks or anything like that? uh you’re a little more versed in this type of stuff than I am. So, is there anything any repercussions for him not participating in deciding not to play in these preseason games and it versus maybe a regular season game? Yeah. So, right now preseason players, if you’re on the roster in the preseason, you get if you’re a veteran, it’s I think 32 $3,500 a week, I think it is. Uh first year player, I think now in the CBA is $2,000 a week. So, like that kicker they signed gets like two grand because he showed up and he plays in the same nice check, right? Get it. I think being on the roster for a day might constitute a week, but I have to look at that. But either way, uh that’s how it works. And the team cannot find him or suspend him um for being there and not participating in practice because of this situation. I guess in some situations they could probably really take it to the wall and probably do that. That’s not happening. Um the CBA allows players to be as long as they’re there, you can’t find them. This is collectively bargained. What they could do is find him if he was not showing up at all. If he’s not at the facility, we know he is though. We know he’s there at the facility. He’s working out. Once it gets to the regular season, that’s game checks. That becomes game checks where if he’s supposed to be on the field and he’s not, then the team says, “Well, then you’re not getting paid for your game check.” And let’s remember he has to be on the active or inactive roster but on the game on the game roster the 53 or IR for six games to get an acred season and that would count towards his free agency. We’re a long way from that right we’re a long way from that but you know once you get to the regular season the rules start to change. All right so let’s get to some of the game overall. Give me your you know top down thoughts on the Bills versus Giants. uh you know again high level thoughts on what happened in that game and we’ll get to some of the players standouts arrow up and down type stuff later but what were your overall thoughts on the the first preseason preseason game between the Bills and Giants? Yeah, I’ll give you that. I just want to maybe I didn’t state it right. Charlie Charles says I thought McDermott had an agreement with Cook to warm up and not play. Yes, that’s the what they came to but I’m telling you he said after the game he wanted James to play but then they talked and then he said he wasn’t going to play. So they came to an agreement to warm up. So hopefully that explains exactly what I was trying to say. Uh my initial thoughts are um in going back to what Shawn McDermott said yesterday on something different. Matt Bo asked him from a scale from 1 to 10 how much you game plan or don’t for a preseason game. One being you don’t at all, 10 being you do a lot. What is it? He said between zero and one, which was interesting, right? It kind of looks that way too, right? Yeah, for sure. Um what did we learn from from this game? Um, I think we learned that we do have a true backup quarterback battle, but probably M. Trabiscy is a little bit ahead of ahead of Mike White. That doesn’t mean that Mike White can’t eventually win that job. I think there’s some guys pushing for roster spots we haven’t talked about enough like Lisa Chenalt. I think Lisa Chanel, given what they what they’ve been giving him, uh, putting some on his plate. Uh, we’ll see where it goes. He actually returned a punt. He’s never returned a punt in the NFL or in college in a regular season game. He actually did return a punt in this preseason game. I don’t think that puts him ahead of Brandon Codington, who’s the team’s number one punt returner, but I think they want to see the more you can do because of all the roster spots and the way they shake out. We know Joe Andre is clearly in the middle linebacker now for this team. He really looked good yesterday. And boy, how how great did Matt Milano look? I’ve been singing his praises as a lot of people have, Eric, um throughout the um throughout the preseason and throughout training camp, I should say, and he looked really good. The safeties are a concern right now because they don’t have their two top safeties, Cole Bishop and Taylor Rat. Right now, they have to get those safeties back. They have to get those guys back on the field. Jordan Hancock hit a nice interception. He’s been playing mostly safety. Um, but they they have to get guys healthy and playing because that is such a critical spot for this team. Yeah, I think overall what stood out to me, especially you’re talking like the first and second wave of the depth chart early in the game. I thought the Bills lacked the physicality that they usually play with, especially up front when you’re talking on offense. The pretty much a starting offensive line minus Spencer Brown. And so that kind of stood out to me. the Giants defenders at the linebacker level and the DB level, they weren’t letting the Bills wide receivers cross the field. They were getting physical with them. That physicality stood out to me from the Giants defense and they were just taking the fight to the Bills offense for the first couple of drives until Trabiscy and the offense kind of settled in and kind of switched their philosophy. So, it was good to see that, hey, they took the first couple punches of the Giants. And let’s not kid like that Giants defensive front, especially Abdul Carter, that dude is going to be a problem. Yeah. At the NFL level, he took the fight to Osiris Torrance when he bumped inside on a high leverage situation. He worked Dawkins a couple times as well and created some quick pressure. Trisky got outside the pocket and made that throw on a crosser to Josh Palmer to kind of get Dawkins out of a bind there. But let’s let’s not kid here. I think the the Giants defense overall kind of took the fight to the Bills offense early. No doubt about it. And um I I’ll just say I remember even in years past where especially this first preseason game that’s kind of happened a bit with this Bills team which is okay, they’re out there, they’ve had this preseason, they go out there and say, “Okay, it’s a chance to kind of, you know, get into some game rhythm and they just didn’t really have the kind of performance that you’d like to see initially in a preseason game.” It happened last year, Eric. Yeah, the Bears just beat the heck out of the Bills last year at a lot of different phases. Um, the offensive line did not acclimate itself very well yesterday, the starting offensive line. Now, everybody except for Spencer Brown, of course, is the normal starter. Uh, was out there. Ryan Vandermark was the starting right tackle, but, you know, there were a couple times Deion Dawkins, you know, got beat, Interior got beat, David Edwards got beat, and Mr. Bisy is getting rushed with some throws. You know, I didn’t think Mr. played a bad football game. There were times it just wasn’t anything he could do about it, right? Because he he was rushed on some throws. So, yeah, I agree with that. And then they just couldn’t get the running game going because of that. I expect a little bit more of the physicality to come out when they play the Bears uh Friday and their joint practice. Those are always a little bit spicy. Hopefully nothing happens where you’re talking more about that than the actual performance and then that will carry into Sunday. So, I expect a little bit more of an uptick in the physicality on both sides of the ball. I like the physicality of the defense. I do. Uh I thought that they got after it. I thought there were some big hits. Um, obviously a couple of tackling issues. That’s going to happen, especially early in the season. No doubt about that. Um, I like the physicality on that side of the ball. You need to see more from the offense, though. I I thought once they kind of settled in that second and third drive, and kind of went to more heavy personnel early on, they’re like, “Hey, we’re going to do 12 personnel, one running back, two tight ends with Knox and Concaid, and they’re trying to run the ball.” And the tight ends kind of struggled in the run game. Knox struggled as a blocker uh in the run game in this game. Haw different story. We’ll get to him later, but I thought once they went to heavy with Gilliam in there, whether it was 12 with him as a second tight end or 21 personnel with him in the back field, I think they settled in and they started to control the line of scrimmage and slow down the speed of that pass rush of the Giants. Especially when you’re talking about running those counter trays, but then running play action off of it to get those D linemen to have the process run the pass and allowing the Bills offensive line to get their hands on those guys then work. And the play action game I thought really stood out and really slowed down the Giants defense. Again, when we’re talking like the first and second level of the depth chart, Trabiscy’s always been a good play action quarterback. It’s just something he does very well. He has some mobility as well, and I think that’s a a feather in his cap when it comes to the backup quarterback job. Did a nice job to get him moving. Nice job to roll out of the pocket. Look, I mean, the first play of the game, Dawson Knox goes off sides. And this is not an excuse. It’s on Dawson, but Eric, you know, he’s been with Josh Allen in the first team offense all camp. You get another cadence and another rhythm in there and it just it it timing is a little off. Sale, I look back at it and what he did. He’s looking at the ball. All right. And then he does this kind of like what centers do. He’s like he’s looking at the ball and then right before the snap goes like this. And I think that’s what they called him on. And so yeah, look, he didn’t like he like jumped. He he didn’t move. That’s why I think he was fighting. He just kind of moved his head and again that can trigger. You saw the D lineman over him kind of trigger and and hesitate there. But yeah, I’m with you. I I think missing some time obviously has something to do with that, but also the cadence is also a huge thing when it comes to snap, especially, you know, regardless whether you’re at home or on the road. That cadence, that rhythm, it’s something that he’s probably working back towards. Yeah, and I like your point about heavy. I noticed that, too. When Reggie’s out there with Jackson Haw, you’re like, man, they have options here. They can kind of pound the ball at you. And I think the Bills really want to go to that set, right? And that would open up guys like Daltton Concaid. You know, if you’re going to go with a little heavier personnel, we saw that early on. Unfortunately, a 10-y pass doesn’t get the first down because of the penalty. Dalton does a nice job to catch it. He bounces off a tackler. He gains 10 yards. That’s a first down in a normal situation, but because they were behind the chains after the penalty. It didn’t work out like that. So, I I thought the offense started to get things moving a little bit. Um yeah, not game planning necessarily, but understanding like, hey, let’s get into some things that we want to do that we think we could do well. And they started doing that baseline type concepts. And I think that’s when you saw guys in the running back room kind of start to carry the load. Ty Johnson on a couple of those counter trace had some really good runs, stiff arms there. Evans on option route over the middle, the mesh swing for the touchdown where he wheeled out of the back field and and hit the front pylon for a touchdown. And then Frank Gore Jr., we’re talking arrow up or down. He looks good. Elusive quick feet when they he was an outlet in the pass game. He quickly transitioned from catching it and getting up field, making guys miss, shaving angles to make guys miss, you know, the tackle. I thought the running back room kind of carried things when the offense started to settle in. They really stood out to me. This is two years in a row Frank Jr. has popped in preseason already, right? Last year he’s a rookie and um you know, he winds up on the practice squad all year. He’s making a case to you know, be showcased by another he’s making a case for another team to say, “Hey, you know, we could use a guy like this.” But it’s tough. It’s tough to crack those 53man rosters. And of course, if he is released at the end of uh preseason at the 53, some team could claim him, but they’d have to put him right on the 53. So, you still like your chances to get him back, but what else is a guy supposed to do when you have a running back room like the Buffalo Bills do, right? And they really do have a nice running back room. So, the James Cook situation plays out and then you still have Ray Davis. You still have Ty Johnson. Heck, Darren Evans to me is like Tai Johnson light, right? You just do a lot of different things to help you out. So, I really like the game that Frank Gore put together and especially in the passing game, like you said, it’s not just running with the ball in his hands. That’s an area of the game where, as we know, third down’s important. Leaking out of the backfield is important. So, I like what the running backs did in this game, especially as the game went on. So, let’s switch real quick. Top defense. It seemed like the Bills struggled in this game against the screen game, especially in some high leverage third and long situations. A third and nine and third and 12. They’re caught in some deep zone coverages, worrying about being top down. And obviously the defensive line, especially some of those younger guys, they’re like, “Oh, this is third and long. let’s pin my ears back and go get the quarterback. But there’s also got to be some awareness by those Dlinemen to peel off when there’s a soft set from an offensive lineman. The Bills really struggle against the the screen game to running backs and it’s something I’m sure they don’t see a lot of in practice when they’re playing against the Bills offense because the Bills as much as we talk about they run a lot of screens. A lot of it’s to Khalil Shakir 42% of the time last year in the screen game. So they’re not running a lot of screens versus running backs. But again, that’s not an excuse. They have to be prepared for it. More importantly, it comes from the shoulders up and being aware and sensing that that screen’s coming. But they struggled yesterday. Shawn McBur said after the game, you know, going back to his comment, zero to one. So, you know, there’s no game planning. I felt like the Giants kind of game planned a little bit for screens, but that’s okay. They’re just it’s what they do. Not a big deal. Not that they, oh, we’re going to game plan and, you know, specifically for the Bills, but hey, we want to see our screen game. We get in long yardage situations. Let’s do it. So, you know, they’re preparing for that. They probably worked on it. They probably run the screen game more. But what Shawn McDer did say and to your point of being right about you have to be better here is, you know, you want to see your players play. You want to see them understand what they’re supposed to do without having necessarily that game plan and just go around play football. And that’s where you got to be better, Eric, which is, hey, you’re a football player. You’re a defensive lineman. You’re a linebacker. You’ve you’ve been taught your whole, you know, football life that when you see certain keys, screen’s coming, right? Go and go and chase it down. Go find the ball. Go see where it is. That’s where maybe you can kind of go into the film room today if you’re the Buffalo Bills and say, “Listen, like you know that if you see the lineman peel off you, that’s going to be a screen. You got to be able to react to that a little bit better. You can’t keep flying uphill.” At the same time, it’s the first preseason game. You have these young defensive linemen, they’re trying to go make a play. They’re flying up field, right? They got that adrenaline pumping. So, no doubt about it. Screen game was a problem for them. Third and long was an issue last year. It was in the first preseason game. I’m not going to make a blanket statement or judgment whatsoever about what third down defense is going to be for the Bills in 2025, but you would like to see a little bit more of a natural reaction to those plays happening to you. Yeah, the Bills last year against screens all together, running backs, wide receivers, everyone. They faced the the most screens all last year, 102. That’s the worst in the league. Their success percentage on screens was ranked the fifth worst. So again, it’s something that should be ingrained in this defense and what they see usually, but first preseason game, again, probably not seeing a lot of those running back screens in practice from the Bills offense and a lot of young guys just trying to make plays, so we understand that. So with that said, let’s go into our tapped in segment courtesy of Thin Man Brewery. I’m going to pick a player. You can either agree with me on that or pick another player that was tapped in, locked in for this game. I’m going with Michael Hoy. And I know he’s going to be suspended for a few games to start the season, but I thought he was quite possibly the best player on the field in the run and pass game. Nearly had a sack, batted pass, several plays in the back field for TFLs. He just read the spot of the quarterback in the pocket so well and consistently adjusted his line and rush to the quarterback. And then that motor, you could tell he stood out whether he was going against the first or second team offensive lines. He looked like a starter and what a quality, you know, type of player to have as a second wave type player when he comes back to have, you know, in that rotation creating disruption with that motor. He’s just very fluid and never stops. No doubt. Um, super high energy guy. The biggest thing that I’m curious about and excited about with Michael Hoy is how they actually deploy him. He has so many skill sets. He was really interesting after practice um last week, Eric, talking with him about how kind of he he talked about playing three technique or I’m playing on the edge or whatever. It was just something about on the Dline. But anyway, he said, “Why can’t I do that standing up and off the ball? I can do the same thing I’m doing. Then it gives me more options and kind of, you know, feel where to go.” So, the point is this guy can kind of play all over the front seven, right? And the Bills are going to have a plan for him. We’re not going to see that plan in the preseason. We’re not going to see where they’re going to deploy him in the preseason, but he’s got to get on the field. He’s got to try and make plays. He’s the perfect example of just get on the field and see what you can do to react. And I love the way uh that he reacted. I’ll give you a tapped in guy that I liked. I mean, it’s just carrying over from what we’ve seen. Matt Milano was incredible. Yeah. I mean, this guy is putting together what looks to be a a rebirth bounceback maybe allp protype season if he can stay healthy and on the field the way he’s looked. the first play of the game. He sniffs it out and tackle for loss on the sidelines. But Eric, I’m telling you, he’s been doing this every single day at camp basically. I I have to agree with you. He was very his trigger was quick, man. He honestly he doesn’t look like he’s lost a step. No, he he does not look like he’s lost a step. And he was coming downhill. He’s being physical. He was forceful at the tackle point. He’s been standing out all camp. And I will agree. I thought he was locked in and tapped in uh in this game and honestly he probably would have led the team in tackles and plays on the ball if he played the whole game. I think he’s going to have a monster season again if he is available and healthy. No doubt. Um that really, you know, is very encouraging, especially knowing that hopefully another guy who did uh was in uniform on the sidelines yesterday didn’t play Terrell Bernard. Hopefully you have them both together. But let’s give a little love to Buffalo Joe Andrees in here. Joe is really, you know, showing that he can play at the NFL level, handling all the duties. He was calling the defense to start. He was the middle linebacker. He’s calling the sets. I love that production meeting with uh Shawn McDermott before the game, you know, going over some things earlier in the week. I love his quote. What he said to our broadcast crew was, “I’m a big fan of Joe’s. He’s just a football player.” Buffalo Joe definitely a football player. Definitely stood out uh from his linebacker position. So, so again, Matt Milano and Michael Hoy were our two tapped in players uh courtesy of Thin Man Brewery. And Thin Man’s bringing uh some backup this year, not just Pills Mafia, but Mafia Light. It’s your new tailgate essential. Mafia Light hits different with just 3.5% ABV and only 80 calories per 12 can. It drinks like water with notes of beer, which again with summertime being here, uh you couldn’t ask for a better thing. It’s the first craft pillzer of its kind brewed and packaged in Western York. a true game changer for local beer lovers. Keep your eyes peeled. Is out there now. It’s in the Rochester and Buffalo markets. Mafia Light, keep an eye out for that. Thank you to Thin Man Brewery for sponsoring this show for the next year. And we have some big things coming with them. Some, you know, live podcast from some of their facilities. And so uh thank them for uh again being our partner this year. So with that said, let’s get into some stock watch, some arrow up, arrow down guys. We talked about some of them already. Milano Hoy, uh, Joe Andre. Uh, some of, give me some arrow ups, arrow downs from, uh, from this game for you. Well, I wrote about it at wgr550.com. Uh, a couple of guys arrow up, a couple guys arrow down, and different things that happened. Arrow up, arrow down. I’m going to give Joey Bosa an arrow up here. I thought Joey Bosa made his presence known. And you know what, Eric? He was really good against the run. He crashed down really well. Go watch the first series. You see what I’m talking about. And then the things that don’t show up on stat sheets, he forced two penalties. I mean, you know, here’s a guy that because of him being on the other side of the ball, someone commits a penalty, right? I mean, that’s Joey Bosa. Joey Bosa told um our colleague at Channel 7 in Buffalo, my always giving name Buffalo colleague Matt Bo after the game. It’s the first preseason game he’s played in six years. Yeah. Right. I mean, for that to happen, that’s great. So, I’m going to go there. I’m going to give an arrow down to Dane Jackson and Landon Jackson. and the two Jacksons. Actually, I did not think Landon Jackson had a very good game. Um, he did not at all. You don’t look at this doesn’t have to be the end- all beall like I just said, but he did not at all. Eric show in the stat sheet despite, you know, being on the field and he also had a penalty on a play that wiped out negated an interception. Dane Jackson gets beat one-on-one down the field. He did make a play later, but you got to be I mean, you got to be a little bit, you know, closer and better than that on that throw, especially for a guy that’s really fighting to make the back end of the roster. I love your your points on Embosa. It was not just uh in the pass game as a rusher, but it was also as a run defender. His also, you know, his ability to track the ball while keeping your hands up, which we’ve seen those videos of him Neielson at camp, and then tracking the ball, breaking down the line of scrimmage, making the tackle. I thought it was great. His snap anticipation was still there. You saw some of that speed to power. Uh I definitely gave him an arrow up as well. And I want to talk about two guys that were on the third wave at defensive lineman. Uh initially, the first wave was Oliver. We’re talking interior Oliver Jones and then it was Oen Joby and Carter. But the Young Bucks, Deion Walker, TJ Sanders, that third wave of interior defensive linemen really stood out to me. Their speed, especially when you compare it relative to that second wave of Carter and Oaken Joby. Their speed off the snap. That hand usage was violent. You saw some really nice hand usage, inside swipe by TJ Sanders on that play that dart, you know, threw her touchdown on. Yes, Sanders was right. Quick win. He was obviously the ball was out though, but he also he mucked up the run game a bunch at the point of attack, forced to cut back into some of his teammates. And then Deion Walker, the quickness, the size, the length, batted pass. There was also a third down pressure from him on third and seven where he pressured Dart and forced Dart to kind of slide into the pocket and make a throw off platform and it went incomplete and they obviously had to to move on on until fourth down. And so I thought that third wave and young interior defensive lineman of Walker and Sanders really get really stood out and get the arrow up for me. Did you mention I’m sorry I know you said the pressure that he he batted a ball too. Died. Yeah. Get getting the hands up right. It’s great to see. That’s what you want to see. A guy that’s that big guy that’s long. I mean if you think of the wingspan the guy the Bills can have, you know, at defensive end at defensive line. If you put if you put Roso and Epanessa and Dion Walker, I mean come on, right? What are we talking about here? And we saw that, right? We saw that in this game. Like the Giants were going to the quick game and you saw Huer Sanders and Solomon get their hands on pass. Yes, no doubt. Uh let’s go real quick to the offensive side of the ball. I think we should at least start to recognize Lisa Chanel is making a play here, right? And the Bills are giving him opportunity. I still say Brandon Codington is the number one punt returner, but I thought it was interesting that Lisa Chanel got a punt return. He’s never returned a punt in college or the NFL in a regular season game, Eric, but they actually gave him one. He actually did a really good job in kick returns, but that’s what he does. He’s a kick return specialist and you see tackle him. No, I don’t want to tackle him. He’s a running back. He’s thick, right? He’s a thick guy and he’s like a running back right there. I also want to make a point here that, you know, just you tell me what you think about this if this is notable. Something I noticed at practice the other day. Mhm. They’re going through their um their pregame warm-up reps and Josh is just throwing routes, right? And the quarterback, all the quarterbacks are throwing routes to these guys. The receiver steps up, they run a route, they about everybody goes, they go back. Every time Leisca Chanel ran a route, Josh Allen stepped up to throw to him. That’s That’s interesting. Yeah, if he’s he’s probably also Josh is also trying to to figure out and and get a sense for the player himself because he’s an a utility type player. He can he can do a little bit of everything when you’re talking special teams, but also uh as a receiver, but also running the ball. He did a lot of that at Colorado years ago. I know he’s been in league for a long time, but he’s very good with the ball in his hands, which is why he is so good as a returner. The the Bills have been searching for a guy who’s really good with the ball in his hands. It’s why Curtis Samuel was signed last year. Totally. Right. And it hasn’t come to fruition. I again, I sit here now if I do a 53man roster, I don’t think I’m putting Viska Chanel on. But I do think we have to start thinking about Levisa Chanel making a play because of how they envision everything. And I thought it was super notable that Shawn McDermott said after the game yesterday, he was asked specifically like how do you balance having a roster spot for guys who aren’t going to contribute as much and he said it’s actually something though that’s changed over the years and you really have to think about that. But certainly you have to try to get them to hopefully contribute in some way shape or form and oh by the way Brandon Codington is playing nickel corner right now. I mean they’re trying to see him and what he can bring there. I think it’s a great conversation we’re talking Chanel because the next guy I gave air up was Tyrell Shavers. Yes, his ability on special teams and his big play on that stutter post to end the first half and that no quit attitude. Um he had a really nice slant route. He stood out all of camp, but it’s interesting to contrast him with Chanel because similar body types, you know, and they’re making plays when they’re given. You saw that that, you know, back shoulder pass from Mike White to Chanel. He snagged the ball, put it into his body, turn his back to the player so he couldn’t make a play on the ball for that um that score there. And so it’s interesting to see that those two kind of go headto head with honestly Kadring who you just mentioned because those guys regardless of wide receiver or DB they’re gonna have to play special teams and I it was interesting to see not only Chanel take a return in the punt game but obviously stand out as a returner as well and like I said Shavers is another guy we see like basically talk about him every podcast we do. He stood out in yesterday’s game as well. A guy that’s Mr. reliable I’ve loved for many years. And every team needs a guy like Cam Lewis, right? I mean, Cam Lewis just provides so much for you and what he can do. He’s so smart. He’s so tough. It’s just it’s every year a conversation with fans about Cam Lewis that I just turn away right away and say, “You don’t understand what they think about this guy and how valuable he is.” Yes. Uh obviously versatile, plays multiple positions, reliable tackler. like the tackles he made were so strong and forceful and technically sound. Always knows his assignments. He did a great job later in the game of uh there’s a crossing route coming and Jo kind of got lost in his zone and that receiver and the crosser got behind him. Cam Lewis cut it. He he went from his post position, cut it, took it away. Quarterback had to move on in his progression. Cam Lewis was definitely an arrow up for me. Another guy, Jackson Haw, who stood out in the run game at the point of attack. We talked about some of those early runs where the Bills kind of settled in with Tai Johnson running those counter trays. Go back and watch Haw and his his hand placement, his leverage. He’s technically sound as a run blocker. He won at the point of attack. Now, he did drop an easy pass obviously. Um, but I don’t think he was going to gain much anyways, but I thought overall he had an arrow up day. I I have to tell you, arrow down to me. I gave Jack I announcer Jinx, I got to tell you the story. Okay, so we come out of the break. So, we’re in the break. I’ll give you a little behind the scenes how it works. So, when we go to a commercial break, uh we’re we’re talking about what, you know, what we’re talking about coming back in, you know, and how to set up the next series or whatever. And I said to our producer and I said to Greg uh to Chris Brown and to our producer’s name is Greg Harvey and Chris Brown, Eric Wood, I said, “Hey guys, if you want me to bring it back, I see Jackson Haw is in the huddle right now. I want to talk about the camp he’s putting together, you know, and everything.” Yeah, sure. So, we come back, I bring it out of the break and I say, you know, Jackson Haw was drafted as the best blocking tight end in this draft, but he is a he has sneaky good hands and he’s really kind of shown them in training camp and I would not be surprised if the Bills throw him a ball or two before this game is over. Eric, that play is when he dropped the ball. It was the announcer jinx. Oh, you mushed him. Oh my goodness. Oh, that’s terrible. Yeah, that is the, you know, the the negative play I’d say from that game. And I would I understand why you’d give him the arrow down on that. I give me the arrow down on that. Okay. All right. Fair enough. Fair enough. I thought he definitely stood out when it comes to run blocking. The tight end room, as much as we’ve talked about him, that that room, that group, they kind of let us down overall with, you know, some drops. I know one of the passes to Davidson on that deep route was kind of underthrown a little bit, but he still had an opportunity to bring that into his body. I thought the tight end group overall did struggle when it we’re talking the passing game, but as run blockers, I thought they did all right aside from Dustin Knox. I said he got blown up a couple times, but he’s still getting up to speed this preseason. Uh just a little clarification here so everybody knows. We had a question from Let me get who it was. Somebody asked about Jammarcus Ingram and Cam Lewis if one of them is a Buffalo native. No, they did both go to UB. Jammarcus is from Texas. Cam is from Detroit area. I believe Joan Dreon is a Buffalo native, of course. Perfect. All right. So, is there anyone one anyone else that stood out to you positive or negative? I mean, we have to talk about Ray Lewis, the kicker. I mean, Ray Davis, the kicker. Kicker. Ray Davis, the kicker. I mean, it looked good. It looked good. Swing. This isn’t something they’re doing just for kicks and giggles, folks. All right. Shawn McDermott mentioned that a few years ago it was the Carolina game. He said, “We were in a situation where we saw the other team lose a kicker in pregame warm-ups.” I remember that. It was against the Carolina Panthers here at home. They didn’t have a kicker the whole game. He said, “So, it’s just something you want to be aware of. And with Tyler Bass’s injury, you want to make sure that you have the ability to have somebody available to go and kick.” And there you have it. Ray Davis, an extra point. And listen, it’s not it it’s not something that you want to see happen in a game. Of course not. But just like you need an emergency long snapper, you need an emergency kicker. And Ray Davis did a great job. He said that he Ray Davis told us after the game in the locker room, this is great. He said he had been bugging his college coaches wherever he was playing college for, you know, five years, whatever he played in college there to be able to do it. No one ever allowed him to do it. Two years in the NFL, finally his head coach allowed him to do it. And look what happened. I love it. It happens every year to a team, at least one team, where the kicker gets injured, he pulls a hamstring in warm-ups, and they got to have a backup plan. And the roster, the game day roster is it’s a tight fit for the strategy and game plan that is in place for these teams. So having a plan B or C like Ray Davis as a RB2, but also a kicker number two is great to have uh for this team. Again, covering all the angles, right? Covering all the angles, even backup kickers in this show. But S, great episode. Give us a heads up on what’s happening this week. What days are they practicing? What days are you attending? What’s going on ahead ahead of us? Yeah, so we’re expecting the Bills to have a walkth through today, but the walkthrough will not include media. So, you don’t expect anything from the media out there and of course there’s no official attendance or official injury report this time of year. So, we’re not going to get anything really until Tuesday because Monday will be an off day for everybody. Uh the way it generally works and Eric, you know how football coaches and organizations work. Generally, the day after games like an injury check day. Let’s get everybody in. Let’s do a walk through, make sure everybody’s healthy. That way they can plan their schedule going into the next week on who who’s going to be able to do the reps and all that kind of stuff. So, that’ll be today. That’s Sunday. Uh they’ll have an off day. And then Tuesday and Wednesday will be practice days. We’ll be out there. Thursday is a travel day to Chicago. I’m really interested in what’s going to happen Friday. Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, joint practice. That’s going to happen on Friday. Saturday will be a day off and then Sunday night will be the uh game. Those joint practices, they can get a little squirly. We know that. But if done right, they can really be valuable. And I thought it was last year with the Steelers and the Bills and um you know, you can’t touch the quarterback in the joint practice setting. It’s not like a preseason game. So, I expect Josh Alen to get a ton of work against that Bears defense. Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see. Again, it’s a little different schedule, a little different wrinkle, and see how the team reacts to playing earlier in the week and just adjusting to a different schedule. It’s something that they’re going to be playing all over the map when it comes to times and days this year. And it’s just another one of those minor tests or obstacles that they have to overcome. And let me let me let me bring this point up too, and I think you’d agree. It’s going to be really interesting to see and I’m excited to see the Bills defense go against a Ben Johnson coached offense right now like early in the season to kind of get a little feel for the the the kinds of wrinkles that he creativity that he has. Yeah, you have to be on your P’s and Q’s with him and and also have different levels and backups when it comes to some of the traditional plays that he runs because he’s very good at layering his concepts to make it look, hey, like the play they just ran on the last drive, but now they have another wrinkle or different route stem by a wide receiver and they’re getting guys open. His offense has been very creative, if not the most creative across the league the last couple years. So, it’ll be interesting, as you said, to see how the Bills defense react to that in that scenario and situation. So with that said, that’s been our recap of the Bills Giants. This has been turf to tape. I’m your host, Eric Turner, along with Sal Kapacio from WGR Sale. Thanks for joining me again and thanks for everyone for joining us live on this early edition Sunday morning. Again, Eric Turner, Sal Kapacio, TA tape. See you in our next visit.

Erik and Sal share their thoughts and observations from Buffalo’s 34-25 preseason loss to the Giants, including:
2️⃣ Mitch Trubisky vs Mike White
✅ Depth at RB
🏈 Screen Game
📈 DL Play

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:30 The Last Preseason Game at Highmark Stadium
2:39 James Cook Update
6:19 Overall Thoughts on Bills vs Giants
13:58 RB Room
15:12 Struggles Against Screens
18:05 Tapped In – Michael Hoecht + Matt Milano
21:27 Thin Man Brewery
22:12 Arrow Up and Arrow Down
33:26 Outro

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