Orchard Park, NY (WGR 550) – The Bills had their second open practice on Saturday at the stadium and the team said over 18,000 fans showed up. They all seemed very enthusiastic and gave Josh Allen a huge cheer when he strutted onto the field to run his first play. Stefon Diggs said, “It’s fun, it’s a big change compared to last year, so I’m just happy to have them in the stadium and happy to be a part of it.
“I really look forward to the games, this is just a small little taste. I feel like the real taste was the playoffs when it was loud and they were excited we were in the playoffs, so I’m just thankful things are getting back to normal again.”
After practice, Diggs signed a whole box of mini footballs and then threw them up to the fans.
Last year under COVID, training camp was different and there were no preseason games. On Saturday the Bills spent almost the whole practice 11-on-11 which included some light tackling. Diggs said some need this regiment, some don’t, “Last year a lot of people had their best statistical year because of it, some people say you need it, but with veteran guys that have been around the league, you can say that you don’t need it, but with a young guy, they definitely need it.
They need the experience, they need the plays and they need put it on tape, so I think they need it more than we do.”
Diggs suffered an oblique tear in warm-ups of the final regular season game last season. He suffered through three playoff games and he said it’s not an excuse, “I felt it a little bit in practice, but I didn’t think too much of it and then before the game in warm-ups, it really tore and it hurt really bad, but as far as they playoffs, I’m not a big guy with excuses, so I didn’t want to bring it up or talk about it.
“Everybody knew I had a little injury, but they didn’t know the severity of it, so I took the off-season to heal up.”
Josh Allen signed his six-year extension on Friday and Diggs is pleased that Allen is going to be his quarterback for years to come. He said, “I was definitely excited. It was something we talked about a little bit in camp and I was just trying to tell him it’s going to take care of itself and don’t worry about it, but as athletes, it’s hard to focus on your day job when there’s a lot on your mind, but he was spinning the ball so well at practice, he probably wasn’t thinking about it.”
Diggs added, “I was just happy it got done because he’s a helluva quarterback and I want to be with him for a little while, so hopefully that can happen.”
Jon Feliciano is close to Allen and he was overwhelmed that Allen got his new deal, “When I parked I saw the tweet and I started getting teary eyed because Josh is such a good person and a dude that came from nothing. I know his mom and dad and they’re great people and to see what he’s doing now and to get paid like he should, I’m happy for him.”
Feliciano got a heads up from Allen before it was totally signed and sealed. He said he had to let it sink in, “I’m pretty grumpy in the morning, so I didn’t really put two and two together of what him re-signing would actually look like and when I saw the number, I said, ‘ugh, this guy, good for him!’”
Dawson Know spent a lot of the off-season with Allen, but he said they don’t speak about business, “We never even talked about it. That was never really on his mind, I mean he’s just a baller. It seemed like he didn’t care if he got extended this year or next year, he’s just going to go out and make plays regardless. I love how he talks about it too, we didn’t pay him for what he has done, we’re paying him for what he’s going to do over the next few years in Buffalo, so he’s really excited for that.”
The Bills will practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before leaving for Detroit on Thursday to play the Lions on Friday.