Bills T-Camp: How new HC Joe Brady is challenging Josh Allen
Also, there's one very important distinction to make with this new Jim Leonhard defense. Who's standing out at camp? Who's struggling? Rundown of notes inside...
ICYMI:
PITTSFORD, NY — One day, it’s downpouring. The next, rookies are instigating fights. It’s tempting to dismiss this time of year as worthless to a star of Josh Allen’s status. Especially when the only thing that seems to matter for this edition of the Buffalo Bills is whatever happens in January.
The 30-year-old is an MVP winner, a new Dad, a Hall of Fame-level talent with 340 touchdowns to his name (and counting).
There are many benefits to Buffalo hiring a new head coach. Near the top of that list this time of year is the reality that Allen is staring at a completely different defense each day in practice. The quarterback who’s feeling reborn with all the changes in Western New York can still be pushed.
Joe Brady wants Allen to “absolutely dominate” every practice.
But he’s also conspiring with new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard to make life difficult for the Bills quarterback.
“I’m purposely putting him in tough situations,” Brady said. “I get to Jim and we do some coverages and I’m like, ‘This is the worst possible look for this play. Run it. Can I get this for this?’ Because I want to see Josh handle it and progress and have to move off the pocket. And sometimes I want Josh to miss some throws because it gives him opportunities to talk through and see it.
“But I want him to come out ready to absolutely dominate our defense every single day. Not saying that’s ever been an issue with him, but it’s just a challenge to him every time when he misses a throw. It’s subtle jabs. We know his greatness. He doesn’t get comfortable, but it’s my job to also make sure he doesn’t ever get comfortable.”
We’ll see how this season plays out for both head coach and quarterback. Allen sat in on all nine head-coach interviews — for good reason. This relationship needed to get right. The Bills also did not want to slam the reset button with a total stranger.
The 36-year-old Brady promised back in the spring that he’d be hard on Allen.
There are coaches who go too soft on players, and it backfires. There are coaches who are militant, and that also backfires. Finding a middle ground isn’t easy, but Brady is trying to cultivate genuine relationships with everyone he can. Build up sincere trust and you can be hard on a player. Players know it’s coming from a healthy place. Maybe guard Alec Anderson referred to the coach as a “fun uncle.” Honestly, he’ll be operating more like a father who knows he can’t be his kid’s best friend.
How Brady treats the team’s best player, of course, is most important.
There’s the off-the-field dynamic. The last eight years, the head coach and QB central to everything at One Bills Drive had completely different approaches to the sport.
On the field, Allen is now facing a defense that disguises its intent far, far, far more often. Gone is the stagnant 4-3 alignment. Brady wanted a defensive playcaller who’ll muddy up the picture after that headset communication cuts out. Leonhard was hired to put stress on the opposing quarterback.
This camp is keeping Allen mentally sharp in ways the last eight did not.
“There’s a lot of nuances that Josh hasn’t figured out yet,” Brady said. “And it’s his challenge to like, ‘Man, I want to get it’ and ‘man, I should have taken the protection that way.’ Any time we can keep him challenged, that’s part of our job. And so that’s where it’s trying to get him the toughest looks possible to make him have to progress and work through it as opposed to, ‘Hey, this is a Cover 2 beater.’”
After Tuesday’s practice, I also caught up with backup quarterback Kyle Allen.
He confirmed Leonhard’s scheme is no joy to face.
“They disguise a lot,” Kyle Allen said. “They throw you a bunch of different looks, a bunch of different personnels. So I mean, personally me going against it, it’s tough and you’ve got to work through everything and you get used to the plays against these new defenses. And I’m sure for him, it’s a good challenge to see something different.”
Sean McDermott’s defense didn’t disguise much by modern standards. When the Bills were searching for a new head coach, this became somewhat of a theme.
Leonhard is deploying different players in different spots. Five defensive linemen might line up with a hand in the dirt with one or two dropping into coverage. Defensive coordinators throughout the NFL are ramping up the chaos after the play clock hits 15 seconds. A goal all along for Brady.
“It’s moving towards that,” Kyle Allen said. “When I first got in the league in ‘18, there was a lot more basic coverages. Teams would do a couple things on first and second down, and then they’d have their third down packages, and it wasn’t as much disguising. You knew what you were going to get. Nowadays, you’re reading a lot of stuff post-snap when the ball’s snapped. So that’s why it’s hard to do big side reads or coverage reads, like a lot of pure progressions now where you’re just working through it and then you’ve got to eliminate stuff versus what covers they’re bringing.
“And you try and pick up on tells, but they have two or three things out of every look. So when they line up in something, they could get to this, that or that. When the ball’s snapped, you got to figure it out and move. So it’s a really good defense. It’s been fun to go against.”
Sure helps to have a 6-foot-5, 247-pound quarterback who can shrug off pass rushers and stiff-arm linebackers and excel on second reaction.
A fresh new challenge may be what Allen needs at this point of his career, too.
Especially if this is where the sport’s heading.
His last playoff performance wasn’t pretty. And the best of the very best — in all sports — find areas of their game to improve. In facing Leonhard’s defense, with Brady stacking the deck against him, Josh Allen has a chance to sharpen his mind.
The Difference on D
One legitimate concern in moving from a Point A-to-Point B defense to more creativity is going too far. The Bills lived this under Rex Ryan. Marcell Dareus dropped into coverage. Mario Williams checked out. Players hated his scheme. A unit that devoured NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers the year prior was lost shifting from Jim Schwartz to Ryan.
Leonhard, of course, is a Rex disciple.
This week, Brady went out of his way to note Leonhard isn’t stubborn. This doesn’t sound like a DC beholden a rigid scheme. Building his defense will take time. Nobody should be surprised if the likes of Detroit and the L.A. Rams put up a lot of points early this season. But the Bills will try to maximize their individual players as much as they can. That wasn’t the case back in 2015.
Be it Ed Oliver moving along the line, Greg Rousseau operating in more space on the edge or the undersized Terrel Bernard, the Bills needs to find unique ways to get the most of personnel in-house.
When Brady interviewed Leonhard, the Bills HC didn’t say he wanted the Denver Broncos defense in Western New York. They discussed plans for specific players on the roster.
“It was, ‘Hey, let’s talk through some of these guys. What would be the best way to utilize these guys? This is my vision,’” Brady recalled. “And just seeing how his brain is always turning and thinking in different ways and knowing, ‘Hey, I haven’t been a part of this in the past, but I think this is something that can be good for our defense. Hey, our guys are handling this. I want to add this to the plate.’ I love that about him. We’re constantly talking. But everything that I had from that interview from the first experience to now, it’s all been positive. And I love having him on our side, that’s for sure.”
Players are taking notice. Defensive tackle Dewayne Carter noted that Leonhard has made a concerted effort to figure out their individual strengths vs. dictating they line up in a spot and follows orders.
“Obviously he has the final say,” Carter said, “and they set the precedent for what it’s going to be, but it’s always a conversation like, ‘Do you guys like this? What do guys like with here? This is what it looks like when we do this.’”
Carter himself put on a ton of muscle while missing last season with a torn Achilles.
It’s been a long road back from surgery on Aug. 29 last camp, from doing abductions with a band to becoming a full-fledged “bodybuilder” in the weight room. The changes in his physical composition are obvious. Landon Jackson, too.
The Bills have invested valuable draft capital on the defensive line. They’ll certainly need two or three of these players to pop for this scheme to work in Year 1.
Rapid Fire
The most impressive player not named DJ Moore I saw at camp? Rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr. He’s a strong 234 pounds. He can shed blocks and deliver a blow. At this rate, the fourth-round pick has a legitimate chance to start at inside linebacker in this 3-4.
Keon Coleman had his way vs. Maxwell Hairston in 1 on 1’s, a troubling reminder that the 2025 first-round cornerback lacks ideal size to spar with physical receivers. The Bills drafted him to stick with speedy receivers and that’s important in today’s game. But they’ll be giving 2026 second-rounder Davison Igbinosun every chance to win a starting spot.
Buffalo had an injury scare with Ray Davis going down during a team drill. But after a quick trip to the medical tent, the running back returned to practice. Safety CJ Gardner-Johnson was walking around with a sleeve over his calf strain. Brady doesn’t seem too concerned. Deone Walker tweaked his elbow and hasn’t done much at practice. Overall? The Bills haven’t suffered the injuries of other teams across the league. As promised, Brady is leaning into his sports science department. While the data’s always been in the system on how best to incorporate various practice strategies to mitigate injuries, that data wasn’t always put to use years past.
Speaking of, whatever the Bills must do to keep tight end Dalton Kincaid healthy is a must. He’s an obvious matchup nightmare. You see it in every drill. After another injury-plagued season, his health is paramount.
Alec Anderson and Ed Oliver nearly teed off on each other during their 1 on 1’s. A fun battle to track. Imagine we’ll see punches thrown in no time.
It still pays to be an “asshole” at wide receiver. Loved what Drew Terrell, the Bills WR coach, had to say about DJ Moore. Subscribers can read it all here.