Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills have their 53-man roster and practice squad set, as preparations continue for the 2025 regular season and the Sept. 7 opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
Injured cornerback Tre White is among those on the 53-man roster, but general manager Brandon Beane would not rule the veteran out for the season opener.
"We’re rehabbing him as much as we can, and Tre’s got a great attitude. He’s attacking it, and we’re going to take it day-by-day to see where it goes," said Beane on Wednesday with reporters in Orchard Park.
With two weeks between the final preseason game and the regular season, teams don’t need to report injuries just yet.
"As we get into next week, Wednesday I think is the first day where an injury report will be due, we’ll see whether he can practice any or not, or what it looks like at that time," Beane noted.
Safety Jordan Poyer played seven seasons with the Bills between 2017 and 2023 before heading to the Miami Dolphins last year.
Poyer is now back with Buffalo, as Beane signed him to the practice squad on Wednesday. Also signing to the practice squad Wednesday was defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, who in five years, played 61 games with the Bills.
"We’ve had a lot of history with both of those guys. Both of them have had great impact here on the field, as well as culture, character, leadership, all those things. You can’t find enough guys like that," Beane said.
"They’re guys that want to come back and be on the practice squad, and prepare themselves to play if, and when called on, but also mentor guys around them, young guys."
Near the end of last season, safety Micah Hyde was signed to the practice squad but was never activated. He was basically here to help mentor the young guys.
Poyer will have more of a chance of maybe playing, but this will be a huge opportunity for second-year safety Cole Bishop and rookie Jordan Hancock to learn from him.
"I think that’s a lot of it," Beane said. "Jordan and I originally spoke [in May], and I think he talked to Sean [McDermott] and Bobby [Babich] at the same time. We had conversations about what does he want next, does he want to play or not, and we connected again when we got to St. John Fisher. So we’ve had a lot of dialog, and he’s got to make sure he’s in shape to play and be ready if it happens. He’s excited about pouring into the other guys, talking about just what this defense is about."
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Bills first-round pick this year, Max Hairston has been placed on Injured Reserve with a designation to return to the lineup after four games. He got a little bit of training camp in before hurting his knee.
"We knew it would be a decision at the time, and he’s not ready," Beane said of the rookie. "Even if you’re ready to ramp him up soon, he hasn’t played football in over a month. So you say if that takes a week or two, now you’re into Week 3 or 4, so you’re trying to be smart. Let’s give him another month to get that much further healed, and we can start practicing him as soon as Week 5 begins, and we’ll see where he’s at."
With the way wide receiver Tyrell Shavers performed in the spring and summer, he busted his way through the door and onto the 53-man roster. Beane said the third-year wideout earned everything he got.
"'Shaves' has worked so hard, and not only has he continued to improve his game, his feel for our offense, his connection with our quarterback, but special teams," Beane said. "We've really stressed to him since he’s been here, if you’re not trotting out with the starting group and playing starter reps, and you can at least do that and have some type of impact, that helps us get you onto this 53. 'Shaves' has shown that he’s earned that opportunity."
At quarterback, Mike White ended up being the odd-man out, as Shane Buechele was signed to the practice squad. Beane says it wasn’t an easy decision.
"I thought all of those guys had good moments, and I’ll say Mike White can play in this league. We would not hesitate to call Mike White back here," he said. "And just because he’s not here now, doesn’t mean we wouldn’t call him in the future."
Beane adds they want to keep developing with Buechele.
Now that training camp is officially over, defensive end Michael Hoecht and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi have to start serving their six-week suspensions handed down by the NFL. They are not allowed into the building until Week 4 when they can work out and participate in meetings. They're still not even allowed to practice, though, at that time.
Beane confirmed they can return to the field after their Week 7 bye.
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