Orchard Park, NY (WGR 550) – With the Buffalo Bills getting their roster and practice squad settled on Wednesday, general manager Brandon Beane spoke on an assortment of topics.
The most important topic was the decision to leave veteran pass rusher Von Miller on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. This means Miller will not be available until the game in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the earliest.
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Beane says the decision to keep Miller on PUP was a very tough one.
"We debated round-and-round, but ultimately it’s a long season. We want Von for the stretch run," said Beane in his discussion with the media.
According to Beane, there were many factors went into the decision with Miller.
"There’s a chance he would’ve been practicing soon, but we don’t think he would’ve been ready to immediately start the season," Beane explained. "We’re going to give him some extra time.
"Von was ready. He’s ready to play ball, so you can put that one on me."
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It'll be interesting to see if the Bills pick the London game as the week to put Miller back on the field.
"We’ll see where he's at and what we need, and if he’s confident and we feel he’s had enough in pads," Beane said. "We’ll see how he feels, and see how he looks.
"I know he’s going to want to play in that game, and we’d be crazy not to want him out there."
The Bills will soon add veteran linebacker Christian Kirksey to the practice squad. Kirksey has spent nine years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans. While Beane says he’s agreed to terms, he still needs to pass a physical.
Beane also says he’s working on a quarterback for the practice squad, adding, "It’s in motion."
The practice squad did end up being finalized on Thursday with Kirksey and quarterback Shane Buechele being the final two additions to the 16-man group.
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When the Bills signed veteran pass rusher Leonard Floyd this offseason, it meant A.J. Epenesa, Kingsley Jonathan and Boogie Basham would have to step up to make the team. It ended up being Basham who got traded to the New York Giants before the final roster cut-down on Tuesday.
"We tried to go with where we thought the best group was," Beane said. "You never not want that to work when you draft a guy as high as we did Boogie (61st overall in the 2021 NFL Draft), and sometimes it just doesn’t mesh at the right time."
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Kyle Allen had a very up-and-down preseason and training camp under center. The Bills saw enough to keep him as the No. 2 quarterback behind Josh Allen.
"Kyle did some good things. Not everything was perfect, and in fairness to Kyle, it’s his first year in the system," Beane said. "These guys will design a plan (Ken Dorsey) each week that suits Kyle’s skillset more than just running our generic playbook so that if he comes in the game, he’ll fit that."
Beane added later they wouldn't have kept Allen if they didn’t think he could do it.
Terrel Bernard is back on the practice field, but played very little in the preseason due to a hamstring injury. He’s still in a battle with Tyrel Dodson at middle linebacker.
"You have to make decisions at times, and with paying a quarterback's salary the way we are and [Stefon Diggs], sometimes you have to let some lesser expensive players see if they can compete, and see if the answer is on your roster. We’ll just take it one game at a time," Beane said.
Bills safety Damar Hamlin had a very good preseason and and has made the 53-man roster. There are some folks out there who think Hamlin only made the team because of his story, but Beane says he absolutely earned his way on the roster.
"Players know players, and if I’m keeping players that can’t play, I’m not going to have a lot of respect from those players in the room, and probably the coaches either," he said. "As long as Sean [McDermott] and I are running this, we’re not going to be just keeping players to keep them. It doesn’t add up, and it’s not the culture that we’re trying to build."
Beane wasn’t going to talk about the depth chart, but did mention he’s seen improvement in Kaiir Elam, and thought he had a good training camp.
Gabe Davis was named as one of the Bills' eight captains for the 2023 season. I know some fans are surprised by that, but Beane isn’t.
"Gabe is very valuable to our team. You want to talk about a pro from Day 1 when he got here," Beane said.
"Gabe is mature beyond his years, and you see that in his work ethic. That’s cool that his teammates see him in that light."
Beane repeated on Wednesday that a high ankle sprain in Game 2 last season really hindered his performance throughout the year.
