Buffalo announced its initial 53-man roster on Tuesday evening with the practice squad announcement coming a day later. General manager Brandon Beane met with media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the decisions that helped his staff narrow the roster down to 53 players.

Here are the top four things Beane discussed.

1. The University at Buffalo pipeline remains hot thanks to 'Buffalo Joe'

The Bills now have three former University at Buffalo players on their active roster in DB Cam Lewis, CB Ja'Marcus Ingram and LB Joe Andreessen. Andreessen is the latest to join the pipeline of players who played collegiately down the road and are now playing on a much bigger stage.

Andreessen, a Western New York native from Depew, was invited to try out for the Bills in May as an undrafted rookie free agent. The LB was one of 26 players to participate in the try out and was the only player who was signed by Buffalo.

One of Andreessen's biggest opportunities of the preseason came in week two when he started at middle linebacker against the Steelers. The LB led the team with 12 tackles that night.

General manager Brandon Beane thought the rookie did an impressive job of running the defense.

"He really passed the test that day, and that probably gave us a lot of confidence that this guy is trending up and deserves this opportunity," Beane said.

The WNY native gained a couple of nicknames from his teammates after his performance against the Steelers – 'Buffalo Joe' and 'The Lancaster Legend.'

Andreessen played high school football for Lancaster less than 20 miles away from Highmark Stadium and now gets to suit up for the team he grew up idolizing.

"Buffalo Joe. What a real cool story for Joe," Beane said.

Beane said their first interaction with Andreessen was when they hosted him for their local day and every time after that, he kept doing things the right way.

"Every step of the way, (he) checked the box," Beane said. "(He) kept himself in play, never worried about whether he got five reps in practice or 15."

Andreessen continued to get opportunities throughout camp due to injuries at the linebacker position – Matt Milano (IR), Nick Morrow, Eddie Ulofoshio and Baylon Spector all missed practices throughout training camp.

"Some people are ready for their opportunity and others are not," Beane said. "And I think Joe did everything you could have asked for. He's still a rookie, so I don't want to put him in the Hall of Fame yet. But I think we need to give him credit and kudos.

"How can you not cheer for him...He's done what's asked and he earned the opportunity to make our initial 53."

2. Some insight into Mitchell Trubisky's injury and bringing in Mike White

The Bills made the decision on Tuesday to bring in QB Mike White to the practice squad and keep Mitchell Trubisky on the active roster.

White previously spent time playing in the AFC East for both the Jets and Dolphins, including two starts against the Bills, one in the 2021 season and the other in the 2022 season.

"Yeah, I mean we've obviously gone against Mike, I think everybody in here is very familiar with his career with all the time in the AFC East and you know the thing I always liked about Mike and respected about him was whether he started the game or whether he came in the game, like he came in guns a blazing and no fear…," Beane said. "You can tell he's a very smart guy, processes well, loves the game, tough… You never know how it's gonna turn out where guys are gonna land and we recruited him hard to get him on this p-squad and you know Mitch is still working his way back."

Trubisky is currently week-to-week with a knee injury that he suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers in their second preseason game. Although Trubisky has not practiced since that game, Beane said at the moment they have no plans to place him on IR.

"I think Mitch is getting better, he's improving. We are not there at the point to put him on IR," Beane said. "We want to give him every chance. Now, he hasn't gone through a practice yet, so nothing's off the table, but we're cautiously optimistic that we won't need to do that. But until he's back out there and showing that he can do it and do the job, protect himself, and play the position like he's got to play it, it's an unknown."

Whether or not Trubisky is ready to go, Beane is confident that when week one rolls around, that whichever quarterback is backing up QB Josh Allen will be ready to go.

"Truly unknown yet whether Mitch will be ready to play week one so it's great we get Mike in here now, get him up to speed and we feel really good that we'll have a good option or two to back up Josh come week one."

3. A look at how these key position battles shook out ...

RETURN SPECIALIST

The Bills traded for a return specialist/cornerback on Tuesday. The Jets traded Brandon Codrington to Buffalo in exchange for late-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Codrington is an undrafted rookie free agent who played for North Carolina Central. The specialist had a 63-yard kick return during the preseason against the Panthers.

Beane said they decided to bring Codrington to the team because of how his college play translated to the preseason.

"We're going to try to get him prepared as much as we can between now and Arizona but all that goes into it," Beane said. "He did a really nice job at (North Carolina) Central and then backed it up this preseason over there with the Jets."

Codrington ran four returns back for touchdowns, averaged 19.7 yards per kick return and had 61 punt returns for 789 yards during his collegiate career.

Since Buffalo signed a return specialist to the 53-man roster, they decided to put sixth-round draft pick RS/DB Daequan Hardy on the practice squad. Beane said Hardy did some good things during the offseason but felt like they ran out of time.

"There's a lot that goes into the punt return and that was probably the main reason that we selected him late in the draft was he had shown some really good things at Penn State as a punt returner," Beane said. "But still probably cleaning up some decision-making, just all the things that go into that…I thought it was arrow up, but we kind of run out of time."

Beane said they still believe in Hardy's ability to be a good returner.

"It's hard because you'd love to just let it go, but still had a little bit of a gap to close from that standpoint," Beane shared. "But we believe in him, and we're excited that we're able to get him back."

Hardy led the NCAA with two punt return touchdowns at Penn State last year.

WIDE RECEIVER

With much offseason conversation around this group, the Bills decided to keep five receivers signed to the initial active roster.

Although the group of receivers did not get much time to play with Josh Allen during the preseason, Beane is confident in this group from what he's seen in practice as they gear up for week one against the Cardinals.

"Like where they're at, great chemistry, knowledge of the offense, Beane said. "They're all smart, they're interchangeable. I love how they're working together. We've seen more of that in practice than games. We have to go prove it. I can sit here all day and say I'm confident, which I am. But we've got to go prove it. Talk is cheap at this point."

Beane also expressed that he likes the development of rookie WR Keon Coleman.

"He's going to learn on the way," Beane said. "But the young man is super competitive he loves ball, he's not afraid, he's working his tail off, his teammates believe in him, he has fun out there… He'll have some good games, he'll have some plays he wants back, like all players, but especially rookies. But I'm very confident that when his number's called, he'll step up and make the plays for us."

SAFETY

Buffalo kept four safeties (Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Mike Edwards, Cole Bishop) and two defensive backs (Cam Lewis, Brandon Codrington) on the initial 53-man roster.

Three of the six are new additions to the roster. Edwards (hamstring) and Bishop (shoulder) missed some time this offseason due to injuries, so the two are doing everything possible to be ready for Week 1.

"I like the depth," Beane said of the group. "Similar to the linebackers, we had some setbacks with guys missing most of camp, notably Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop. So those guys have been doing everything they can – in walkthroughs, meetings to catch up on mental reps."

Due to the injuries, players like Rapp, Hamlin and Lewis have gotten extra reps in a system they've all been in for more than a year.

"Damar's gotten some extra play time in year two off of his situation," Beane said. "Taylor Rapp, having him in year two (here) he seems very comfortable and confident. Then Cam Lewis has been kind of our Swiss army knife back there, playing all sorts of spots for us."

DEFENSIVE LINE

Along the defensive line, edge rusher Casey Toohill also made the initial 53-man roster. Kingsley Jonathan, who made the roster last season was waived, but signed back to the practice squad. Beane said that it was not an easy decision to make, but Toohill's versatility helped him in making the decision.

"Casey's done it, had a good career so far even before he got here," Beane said. "Another tough decision there as far as how many you keep at each spot. I would say there's more decisions like that than not at different positions where you're doing special teams, you're doing guys who can go inside and go out, you're just trying to make sure you've got enough answers when your starters go down, guys that can play different spots, just all the nuances of the game."

4. Matt Milano's injury timeline

During camp in Orchard Park, LB Matt Milano suffered a biceps injury that will see him miss significant time. Milano was placed on IR but has a designation to return later this season.

"It's so early. Obviously, he tore the bicep and had that repaired. It's early stages," Beane said. "Those can range from various times. You're not really doing a lot. Our people aren't putting their hands on him. You're letting the wound heal. Right now, we're just going to let Matt do his thing… If the medical team tells us as we get into the season this is trending well and we think there's a chance. Then we'll start planning accordingly. Ultimately what we did was didn't close the door on the season."

Beane addressed the injury to the All-Pro and Pro Bowl linebacker saying that he cried when he found out about his injury. Milano was working his way back to form from the leg injury that he suffered in the 2023 season and must now deal with another setback.

Despite the injury to Milano, Beane said that he is confident in the group of linebackers that he does have, including Dorian Williams and the two rookie linebackers.

"You build your team, and you always tell guys next man up and you're training every single player," Beane said. "So right now as guys move up a spot on the depth chart, you're training the next guy… We have confidence in our group. We need to get healthy. That's been the big thing… We've got work to do. But we're confident in the guys, confident in the coaches. These guys are getting them as prepared as they can… I've got no doubt these guys will be ready week 1."