Last week was a transition week for the Bills and for 'One Bills Live'—the transition to training camp. The 2018 Bills Training Camp has four practices in the books, with more to come this week and more live shows from St. John Fisher College.
'One Bills Live' with John Murphy and Steve Tasker airs weekdays 12 noon – 3 pm on WGR Radio and MSG. The show will broadcast from training camp in Rochester on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Here are the four things you may have missed last week as the team (and the show) made the move to Rochester:
1. ROOKIE QB FEELS THE LOVE
One of the loudest roars from the big crowd at training camp so far came early on the first day last Thursday, when first round draft pick Josh Allen took the field. The quarterback from Wyoming joined us on 'One Bills Live' the next day and said the warm reception left its mark.
"It was fun, for sure," he said. "A little bit of nerves in the locker room before we came out and didn't know what to expect. You know, we've got the best fans in the world and they came out and they showed out, so it was fun to have them. The energy that they brought it definitely affected us on the field and made us want to compete against each other a little bit better and a little bit of added motivation there."
2. LOVE IS IN THE AIR
Last year at training camp, first year Head Coach Sean McDermott talked a lot about love—about his players showing respect and love for one another by the way they practiced and played.
When the 2018 Bills hit the field for the first time last Thursday, love was still a theme. Going into his 13th year, defensive tackle Kyle Williams says love and commitment to the team was an opening message for camp this year.
"We actually talked about it just now," Williams said Thursday morning. "We brought the team in and were like 'Hey, you know, toughness and effort will be our calling card.' But, beyond that, our commitment and undying love and accountability for one another is what the calling card of this team is and if you don't believe it just look around, ask somebody."
"That's going to hold true all year. I think that's a lot of what people have seen or continue to see, and I really think that's how good football teams are built and I think that's the way Sean and Brandon's vision is playing out in front of everyone for us all to see."
3. LATE ROSTER ADDITION, MAYBE AN IMPORTANT ONE
Linebacker Keenan Robinson was signed to the Bills roster two days before they hit training camp. And with five years and 30 starts on his NFL resume, Robinson has a chance to be a factor for the Bills at the weakside linebacker position.
In his first week on the roster, Robinson has noticed a good vibe around his new NFL team.
"I want to be a part of something special and this team is something special," he told us last week on the show. "The Buffalo Bills lost in the [wildcard round] of the playoffs last year but that's something that's a great start. That's a great foundation for this year. I think coming in as a new guy on the team I see that as motivation not only as something we can attain and go past this coming up year."
4. IT'S A BIG MOVE
Ninety players, more than 20 coaches, hundreds of Bills personnel and plenty of equipment. It takes a lot to get the team ready to go to work for three-and-a-half weeks in Rochester every summer. And it takes 18 (18!) tractor trailers.
Jeff Mazurek is in his second decade with the Bills equipment department. He's the team's director of equipment operations. He told us this week how big a job it is moving the Bills equipment from Orchard Park to training camp.
"We came out with 18 total trucks," he said. "You're looking at six 50-foot trailers, about 12 26-foot straight trucks and that's just my department. The video operation, the athletic trainers, sports performance, and then two whole flatbeds. I'm sure people saw them coming down the thruway, with all our sleds for field equipment that the guys hit, the dummies, scoreboards, the big mast cams the video guys use ... two trailer loads of those. So, it took us about four days to get everything [to Rochester]."
