“Just put your head down and work,” Josh Allen said on Wednesday. It was the start of the Bills‘ training camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY, the first of their 11 practices, and no one was happier than the QB. Just months after tying the knot with Hailee Steinfeld, Allen is back for his eighth training camp, but the goals in Buffalo haven’t changed. If anything, the pressure is higher this time, with Hard Knocks’ (HBO) camera crew constantly filming the team.

The filming of the series could otherwise have been a distraction, but Allen has walked into camp with just one goal: Revenge. This season, Josh Allen is coming for the throne, attempting to smash through the ESPN rankings that crowned his rival, Patrick Mahomes, #1, while leaving him at #2. So, the Buffalo Bills are back with their old purpose after finishing last season 13-4 and clinching the AFC East title for the fifth year in a row. Though their playoff run ended in the Divisional Round against the Chiefs, the loss sparked a retooling effort.

Changes came swiftly, especially on offense, with Josh Allen stepping into camp with a revamped receiving corps. On defense, coordinator Bobby Babich has reshaped the trenches. So, as QB Allen enters yet another training camp, it goes without saying that he has certain expectations from his team. What are those? In an exclusive interview aired on RGG’s YouTube channel, Allen made it clear that training camp is about growth.

“Yeah, just continuing to develop our team, adding a couple of new pieces on offense, and adding quite a bit of pieces on defense. Making sure that everybody’s on the same page,” he said when asked about his goals for the summer. With the 53-man roster still taking shape, the front office made more moves, adding WR David White and TE Matt Sokol, while releasing P Jake Camarda and WR Kelly Akharaiyi. Allen acknowledged the shifting landscape, but with a warning for his teammates:

“Obviously, we have Hard Knocks in training camp this year and just making sure we’re relaying and echoing that we got to keep the main thing, the main thing, that’s developing a team and doing everything that we can to try to win football games and not let that part [filming] be a distraction. Because this is something new that I’ve never had to experience with cameras around and being mic’d up for practices, and I think a lot of people are going to feel the same way. But we are making sure that we’re leaning on each other and using this time wisely to develop our football team in the right way.”

With the pre-season matchup against the Giants looming (August 9), the signal-caller wants to pick up wins. And while he focuses on that, HC Sean McDermott is tasked with the mammoth responsibility of re-sketching out defensive plays as two members of the line have been suspended for the first six games of the season.

Sean McDermott will do some patchwork for the D-line…

The Buffalo Bills opened training camp in Rochester with immediate concerns on the defensive front. Head coach Sean McDermott addressed the absence of free-agent signings Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi, who are both suspended for the first six games due to PED violations. He explained that the plan moving forward would depend heavily on managing player health and availability. “It’s gonna be a day-to-day type of deal managing that because there’s probably gonna be some bumps and bruises that come up along the way.”

We all know the Bills build from the trenches. But the early part of the 2025 season will stretch that foundation. Without Hoecht and Ogunjobi, the defensive line faces serious depth challenges. Key matchups against the Ravens and Falcons await before the suspended players return. McDermott was direct about what that means: “If healthy enough, we’re gonna be able to execute the plan that we have at the right time.”

This mess began when GM Brandon Beane announced the suspensions earlier this offseason. He confirmed that both players violated the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. While he acknowledged the setback, he defended the character of both athletes. “It’s not ideal to have two guys with that, but both guys have never had any issues off the field. It’s a tough lesson of where do you get your supplements or whatever happened.”

This setback forces the Bills to look deeper into their depth chart at a time when Josh Allen is attempting to rank No. 1 on the league QB list, especially after the MVP season. But with a series of setbacks, just like in the case of Maxwell Hairston or Joey Bosa’s injury, McDermott, Beane, and Allen have no illusions about what lies ahead.