New Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady took his place at the podium ahead of Tuesday’s Organized Team Activities (OTA) session, with a notable departure from seasons prior: Brady was standing, point out that he’s “not a sitter.” Though that may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, it points to new routine and a different direction at even the smallest of levels. That’s significant when considering how many have openly wondered what, if anything, can truly change off an in-house hire.
Sure, it’s only May and there’s plenty of room for Bills-focused writers like yours truly to focus on the off-field minutiae. However, we’re that much closer to the start of real football with training camp a couple of months out.
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What did Joe Brady have to offer reporters? Let’s dive into a few key moments from his latest date at the podium.
Expect to see previously injured Bills a part of training camp
Responding to a question asked about the availability of defensive tackle Ed Oliver and linebacker Terrel Bernard, Brady said it comes down to properly managing their return-from-injury plan, which includes giving them days off. That’s also allowed some of the team’s newest players a truly necessary chance to acclimate to their surrounding on the field. Brady went on to say that:
“I think we have a great plan for a lot of those guys. The plan is to have these guys ready to go for training camp. Right? So, it’s good to get Ed Oliver out on the football field, and good to get TB, get around these guys, but we gotta be smart about what we’re doing knowing that training camp’s in a month, two months, and we can’t win it all right now. So, if we overdo them ‘em with a lot of reps, we gotta be smart — and we’re installing a new defense. We need to get a lot of guys reps. We drafted some young guys. So, it’s all opportunity with it.”
And on more generally on the topic of training camp, Brady offered that (whether it’s a point of corporate coaching and company philosophy or not) he’s all-in on going away for camp. Last fall, the Bills and Saint John Fisher University reached an agreement on a three-year extension to keep training camp on the east side of the Genesee River, which begins with this summer’s camp.
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That’s of course fantastic news for those among Bills Mafia who reside in Rochester and its surrounding areas, which certainly includes a large base of fans in Syracuse and Central New York in general. Going away from their typical work setting has many benefits, not least of which centers around how the team is able to bond.
“We have a great locker room, and a great group of guys that want to be here in Buffalo, want to be around the guys. And it’s part of the reason I enjoy going away for training camp. Right? Is… you go away and the guys are together and they’re connecting. And, you know, this is the time of year that a lot of the guys have homes elsewhere, maybe their families might not come, so the guys are around. So I, you know, whether it’s [in] their contract or not, I think the guys enjoy being around here. It helps that we have some of the news schemes and the new (sic) kind of coming around. But no, I’ve been really pleased with our attendance and I think it’s showing out there.”
Whatever you think you understand about Bills’ new defensive philosophy is likely wrong
As a follow-up, Brady was asked about how things may look for both Oliver and Bernard in terms of their fit in the new defense. With so much unknown and many wondering how both players fit into the plan moving forward, it’s natural to be curious what the plan is for guys who’ve played key roles as starters.
Brady admitted that while it’s a different scheme, there are some things that come standard to playing defensive tackle and linebacker, as with any position, going on to state that “I think the calls are different, but the way that, you know, the game is played and how they’re being attacked — once they figure that out at the end of the day, I think it ends up playing the same for them.”
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That doesn’t sound like a lot on the surface, but it does help to explain Brady and the team’s confidence in players like Oliver and Bernard being able to (hopefully mostly seamlessly) transition to a new scheme simply because of their innate abilities as starters at the sport’s highest level.
Brady also tackled the question asked of the team’s focus (or perhaps lack thereof) on scheme, and that it will naturally happen with more intent during training camp. He noted that when he says he’s “not focused on the scheme,” that it’s not him being checked-out and relying on his position coaches to put in the grunt work. Brady said he wants “to allow the coaches to coach right now.” Further adding:
“We’re all in this together. Right? Like, we’re all growing. There’s things that I’m tinkering with the offense that you might go out there and you’re like ‘ah, you know what? Let’s mess with that a little bit more, but I don’t think that’s going to be one that I wanna work on come training camp.’ Or, you know, there’s some things that we kind of, we’re always kind of looking, being proactive in our own development. But, I think you can see when a defense is connected. You can see when a defense communicates right now. And I think that’s what a huge component of the offseason is: them spending time with each other.”
Putting a bow on his intent, Brady made sure to say that:
“I don’t want you to think that we’re just going as basic as it can get right now. Like, we’re flooding them with a lot of things. But we know that we’re gonna dial back and really focus in on the, like, kinda who we wanna be kinda once we get into the season.”
What’s the plan at nickel/slot cornerback?
Buffalo doesn’t have an “incumbent” nickel cornerback, someone who locked down the role last season of any prior for the team. What does that mean for 2026? Brady pointed to the team making the position a priority in free agency, stating that:
“We were very intentional about a guy like Dee Alford, you know, and bringing him in and his versatility to be an inside nickel and have the flexibility to play on the outside. Right? And so, one of the perks of being a versatile defense is you’re gonna be playing nickel, you’re gonna play base defense; you’re gonna have a bunch of different packages, and having them — as many guys as we can — move around as possible. And so, you guys’ll see out there today, there’ll be a lot of guys kind of rolling and rotating in that. But, fortunately, we got a guy like Dee that has done that at a high level (going against him) and, [we have] a clear fit and vision for how he’s going to fit in this defense.”
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Keon Coleman’s 2026 offseason
There will be no shortage of Keon Coleman coverage this summer, and likely all season. He’s become a very polarizing a player, perhaps on a level similar to prior criticism levied at Aaron Maybin, or even Donte Whitner. However, Coleman has shown to be productive in spots, and he’s still an ascending talent as a wide receiver.
It may simply be that folks are concerned why Coleman can’t seem to consistently click with an all-world talent at quarterback in Josh Allen. Part of that has been due to off-field concerns by the team, which have landed him in administrative hot water. For his part, Coleman seems like a fantastic young man who wants to be great. The key will be finding the right path that unlocks his focus to take the next step. We know that Brady has gone on record essentially saying that his promotion to head coach was the best thing to happen for Coleman’s Bills career. Still… is Brady ready, and confident?
“Keon, the way that he approaches his day — like he knows that some of the elements that happened last year — he, he owned them. Right? And he knew going into this year it’s another opportunity. Right? Like, I made sure once I got the job I let him know he’s gonna be here and he going to be a part of our offense man, and I’m excited about, you know, him progressing in this offense and getting with Josh and doing those things. You know, we communicated a lot this offseason about what he’s doing, what he’s working on and seeing here, coming here, and working and seeing — it’s been really cool to see the perspective from Pete Carmichael, and Drew Terrell, and Bo Hardigree, and like watching training camp reps from last year, watching some things, and then seeing them kind of all come together. But, love the work ethic, love how he’s kind of been doing it right now. Again, it’s — we just had one day going against the defense, right? So, this is a lot of Routes on Air and just the approach. But that’s been the biggest thing with him, is, you know, establishing, you know, a pro mentality and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him so far.”
Brady was further asked how he “manages” a situation such as what developed with co-owner Terry Pegula calling out Coleman, and also his well-documented attendance record. Brady was able to deflect the bait, realizing that any soundbite willing to meet the specific question’s intent wouldn’t lead to productive discussions.
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Yet, Brady understands how important Coleman is to Buffalo’s offense, and he was quick to praise the young wide receiver after being asked about any magnified pressure, saying:
“I don’t think anybody’s ever had higher expectations for [him] than Keon — for himself. I’m not saying, you know, like I’ve never tried to put expectations on player. Right? ‘Cause sometimes you put — sometimes it’s warranted based upon where they’re drafted — but sometimes it’s like ‘hey man, we might be putting them in a box that [they] actually can probably be better than who they are. Right? Keon understands, you know ,the role that he can have in this offense. I think he understands the things that have happened in the past, but he also has known that ‘hey look, there’s going to be things that are going to be questioned about him and he can’t control that. All he can control is what he’s doing moving forward, and not putting any more pressure on himself. Just go out there, run the routes, do your job, man, block in the run game, you know, make the touchdown blocks; do the things that, you know, that he’s capable of doing, and just uphold that standard every single day. And I believe he’ll be able to do that.”
For his part in this equation, a confident Keon Coleman spoke to reporters after Tuesday’s OTA session, admitting he didn’t play well and that this is a make-or-break season for him.
QB-WR Chemistry 101: What DJ Moore can do for and with Josh Allen
If there’s one thing almost every football fan understands it’s that chemistry is key, especially so between a quarterback and pass catcher. Chemistry like that between Allen and Stefon Diggs (as well as many others) led the offense to prolific seasons. Many want to know how things are progressing on that front between newly added wide receiver DJ Moore and Allen.
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Is it wise to expect similar results where Moore aligns as the team’s undisputed WR1 able to take apart a defense at all levels? That’s to be determined, obviously, given the early state of things. It’s impossible to replicate the hostile environment of an actual game, but the roots of production sprout from the acute work in practices. Speaking at length about that chemistry, and what the pair can even meaningfully dive into in OTAs, Brady offered:
“No, it’s huge. I mean, like you guys, you remember the — and I’m not equating it to that right now, they just started — but you know the chemistry that Josh and Stef had, Josh and Gabe had. Like guys, when you’re playing — Josh has with Khalil right now, and, you know, Dawson, Dalton — when you’re playing with someone for a while you understand how they speak to you running routes. Right? The body language, like, ‘hey, when I do this, this is what this means.’ Right? I think a lot of times we take that for granted. Like, we think guys can just come in here and pitch & catch. But there’s nuances to running routes. There’s nuances to, like, how they speak to you. So this is the time of year that we kind of do that. And look, there’ll be times like, I’m sure there’ll be times that at practice you’ll be like, ‘man, I feel like Josh might have forced that throw.’ And then you look and it’s like he forced to DJ, you know, but he might have tried to get a feel of like, ‘hey, kind of let’s sort through that, let’s talk through that; hey I wanted to see kind of how that felt throwing that in-cut to him.’ So, not saying, ‘hey, that’s what I want, him to just force throws,’ but I think there’s some components of him trying to get a feel of, you know, the timing of the routes, the speed in which he comes out of some of the breaks. And, you know, the only way you can kind of get that chemistry is by kind of working at it at a full-speed level — not necessarily just Routes on Air. And so, we try to be really intentional about some of these routes. And some of it is just putting, you know — maybe it’s not necessarily putting DJ at the primary of a play and make, you know, trying to be intentional about, ‘hey, I might put a play down and make sure I got the worst coverage possible for us so Josh has to progress back to it and maybe find DJ from there.’ And so now it’s ‘hey, how do I get my body in a certain position to throw a football? Oh now I’m coming back to DJ,’ as opposed to ‘hey he’s the primary. Good I get the completion. I kept moving forward.’ So, there’s a lot that goes into it, but, you know, I think they have developed so far good chemistry in terms of communication, in terms of ‘hey, this is what I’m looking for.’; ‘hey, how did you know, what did you think there?’ And I think that’s all you can ask for at this point.”
There’s no shortage of injury reports from Dalton Kincaid’s still-early NFL career. Two seasons ago he suffered a knee injury that detrimentally plagued him into the playoffs, notably on Buffalo’s final offensive drive against the Kansas City Chiefs. Kincaid was unable to make the needed adjustment to have a better angle at catching a pass from Allen.
It was assumed all was good for Kincaid following that play and after an offseason that gave reserved but mostly encouraging news about knee. Then team officials began talking about managing his snap count and the injury — that Kincaid was going to have to let them know when he needed rest. So it was that the knee still bothered him, and that it would now be a multi-season issue. Where are things heading into the 2026 NFL season? Brady had a more positive outlook for Kincaid’s knee at this point:
“When you look at Dalton, you can tell that — look, Dalton did everything he needed to do last offseason. Right? I mean, it was part of, it was just trying to get a feel of how he was going to be able to play with some of the injuries and kind of going through it. Right? And, you know, there was no situation last year where he was just like ‘man, like I just don’t want to play.’ Like, he’s a competitive as it freakin’ gets. Right? But this offseason, man, it was a lot of fun seeing him come — it was cool to see him come back and, like, he looks bigger. Right? And I mean, shoot, he was out, we were doing, you know, we do some competitions and he’s out there kind of dominating it. You know, we did a little tug-of-war. Right? He’s the anchor and like seeing a guy like that — you know, when the competitive juices come out — but seeing a guy that you know the confidence, and his strength, and his physicality right now. He’s never going to be — I don’t need him to be a guy that — I don’t need him to be Jackson Hawes and digging out blocks every single play. Right? So, they’re completely different. They might play the same position, but they’re different types of players. But I feel like he’s in a really good head space right now, and you know him and Josh always have great chemistry. And keeping him, you know, healthy and in a good head space is only gonna help us. We know what our offense looks like, or has looked like, with him on the football field.”
Of course, Brady acknowledged what many are truly wondering about Kincaid’s knee related to him anchoring a tug-of-war. It’s a good sign, and to run with the headline: “Dalton Kincaid: Good because he does tug-of-war.”
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Bills reporter Sal Capaccio later added that Kincaid said he’d have had surgery to repair his PCL if recommended by doctors, saying in full that “(a)fter the season ended, I talked to a lot of doctors who know a lot more than I do regarding the PCL and everything that has to do with health and they and they advised against it. So, believe them and that kind of went into setting a good foundation for strength around the need to support it…..got plenty of opinions from people, you know, great doctors, a bunch of team doctors around the league, and so I went with their suggestions and opinions.”
You can check out everything Joe Brady had to say during Tuesday’s media session with reporters via the below-embedded video.
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