Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - With Ben DiNucci now officially a member of the Buffalo Bills, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and his staff has to get him up to speed quickly.
To make room for him and wide receivers Damiere Byrd and Deon Cain, the Bills put quarterback Shane Buechele and wide receiver Chase Claypool on Injured Reserve, while also placing wideout Bryan Thompson on the waived/injured list.
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DiNucci has played three games in his NFL career, starting one game in 2020 for the Dallas Cowboys. In that game, he completed 21-of-40 passes for 180 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. The game was a 23-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brady will want to be able to get him into Saturday’s preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"There’s obviously limitations in what you can do, but when he’s in the game, he’ll know the plays that he’s in for," said Brady on Tuesday before practice in Orchard Park.
"It’s not like it’s going to be the whole play book. You’ve got to give him a set menu that he can go execute, and the guys have to kind of roll with it."
Before the Bills play the Steelers, they’ll have a joint practice with the Steelers on Thursday. It’s something Brady thinks will be very useful.
"Anytime you get an opportunity to go against another team in practice, we’re at the point in camp where we go against our own guys and we make a call and they know the call. But we’re continuing to work the technique, so when you get the opportunity to go against somebody else in a practice setting, in a training camp controlled environment where you can be a little more intentional that 'I need to make sure I run these plays vs these types of looks,' it’s more intentional," Brady explained.
Things didn’t go very well for the Bills in their first preseason game against the Chicago Bears, especially in the running game. However, Brady says they were also working on certain plays.
"There’s always mixed emotions in the preseason," he said. "It’s, 'What are you trying to get out of each game?' There are bigger picture things, and there’s some intentionality in terms of we need to make sure we see some of these runs or this type of thing vs. this type of look. Because in a game, it’s, 'We’ve got to get a first down.' I say that knowing not much of it worked anyway, so just getting back into the box and getting that comfort level, it’s good for me in a preseason game trying to figure you have this receiver in this spot, so you’re making your head have to roll, which is good for me. It’s focusing on the how of things instead of the what."
Brady adds the preseason is when you really focus on the little things that add up and turn into wins.
"When you’re talking about the positives that you didn’t have a delay of game, but that’s the thing we’re working on the sideline. Just the communication going in and out of the huddle, all the little things that, as a fan and a lover of football, you don’t enjoy what you saw out there on the field. But a lot of the things is to learn and grow from, and some of the communication with a lot of the guys. But we had some illegal formations and that can’t happen. We have to be able to get set, no sloppy feet," Brady said. "But being able to get in and out of the huddle, allow the quarterbacks to be able to ID what’s happening and being able to diagnose, I was happy with that operation the first time going through with it. So the small victories were within the game."
The Bills will head to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to get ready for their joint practice on Thursday. The two teams play in the "Steel City" on Saturday.
