07-24 Brandon Beane

  • 2 months ago
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.
Transcript
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.