Buffalo Bills want urgency ahead of Steelers preseason game

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WHEC) – The NFL preseason is heading into week two and the Buffalo Bills are looking for a much different result than they had against the Chicago Bears.

Although preseason scores don’t necessarily matter, the Bills were handled by the Bears, 33-6 at Highmark Stadium.

On Tuesday, Josh Allen talked about the changes that need to happen against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“We have to have urgency in this building. No doubt about it,” said Allen. “Obviously the score is the score, it’s preseason, but our standard shouldn’t be conditioned by the result of what’s going on.”

It wasn’t just one side of the football that played below average against the Bears. Bills quarterbacks were sacked eight times, Shane Buechele threw a pick-six, and Chicago outgained Buffalo by 140 total yards.

“Continuing to try and make sure that the people who haven’t been here, whether it’s rookies or new faces that are veterans understand how we do things and what the expectation level is and what the standard is,” said head coach Sean McDermott.

While results aren’t necessarily the focus in preseason, the Buffalo Bills have had a good history of winning their tune up games in the McDermott era. Since he took over in 2017, the Bills are 14-8 in preseason games.

While McDermott’s philosophy hasn’t changed, the veteran presence at One Bills Drive isn’t the same as it used to be. Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Tre White, Mitch Morse, Stefon Diggs, and Gabe Davis used to be leaders, but are no longer on the team. The changing of the guard means new players have to step up.

“It’s gonna take guys that are gonna have to step up and fill those types of roles and guys that may not even know it yet and just naturally transition to being a leader in their room,” said Allen. “I’m excited to see who steps up in those spots.”

Of course, it’s a long road ahead and some roles – especially leadership – may not be solidified until midseason. But for now, the day by day approach means improving during practice with eyes on the Steelers on Saturday.

“It takes every single one of us and the leaders in our rooms are speaking up more and we’ll be ready to go (for) the next one,” said Allen.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday.