Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - Perhaps the biggest question on every Buffalo Bills fan's mind this preseason has been how much will the starters play? "Bills Mafia" typically finds themselves in one of two camps in regards to this question:
A.) Play them a good amount to avoid coming out rusty in Week 1.
B.) Don't play them at all to keep them healthy for the start of the regular season.
Week 1 of the preseason saw no starters playing against the Indianapolis Colts, whereas Week 2 had the starters play only one or two drives against the Denver Broncos before exchanging their helmets for baseball caps.
That brings us to the final week of the preseason game, as Buffalo gets set to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina to face the Carolina Panthers. The good news for Bills fans was head coach Sean McDermott wasted no time getting to the question on everybody's mind.
His answer? "No."
"Most of them won't play," McDermott told the media on Wednesday. "We're going to ramp it up pretty good today in practice and leave that opportunity Friday night for some of the twos and threes to get in there again and show us what they have."
McDermott went on to say that part of his decision to play his starters last week also had to do with the fact that they would have had more time to come back for opening night against the Los Angeles Rams, in the event anyone went down with an injury. No starters left Saturday's game against the Broncos with an injury.
With the burning preseason question out of the way, the conversation quickly turned into the difference between offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey coaching from the field versus coaching in the press box. Dorsey told the media on Wednesday that was something he was still getting acclimated to.
"I used to coach games up in the box when I was the defensive coordinator in Carolina." McDermott said. "The more I was up there, the more comfortable I became with it and was able to see the advantages. It's all personal preference, but I think there are some huge advantages in being up top and getting a different view than when you're on the field level."
McDermott went on to elaborate on the atmosphere of being in the coaches box, saying it's a static feeling, like you're in a library.
"One of the challenges I faced up there is when things aren't going well, you want to be around the other coaches and players and be able to look them in the eye, settle them down, or even motivate them," he said. "You have to establish that trust where you know the guys on the field are going to make the proper adjustments."
The Bills take on the Panthers this Friday with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET on WGR.
More from McDermott's meeting with the media on Wednesday is available in the player below:
