Bills
Bills’ second-year C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger got an opportunity to practice with the first team in minicamp with Connor McGovern out with an injury. Van Pran-Granger is trying to emulate McGovern and make sure “everybody else is confident” with him on the field.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just making sure that I make everybody else confident,” Van Pran-Granger said, via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. “You don’t want to come in, and they’re different, and they’re trying to learn about you. No, you need to learn how to do it the way that Connor does it. You learn how to make those guys feel safe, feel comfortable. So it just keeps running like a well-oiled machine.”
- Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN names Bills LB Joe Andreessen as a player under the radar going into 2025 after “turning heads” in OTAs and minicamps.
- Getzenberg notes that Andreessen received increased playing time during team drills this offseason and made some notable plays, including intercepting a pass by Josh Allen.
Dolphins
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel said WR Jaylen Waddle‘s production this offseason has reinforced faith within the organization that he is what they drafted him to be.
“I think he’s shown his teammates who he really is,” McDaniel said, via ESPN. “I think one thing that you can’t really minimize is from a receiver’s perspective, having quarterbacks that you didn’t even practice with in training camp — that’s a difficult task. The way he worked on his game during the season has transferred into what we need to see from him, from every player.”
Waddle admitted that he didn’t accomplish what he had hoped to last season.
“After watching the film, definitely a lot of hand-eye (coordination) — I feel like I’m trying to move without the ball too much,” he said. “And just the simple things, just timing, getting smoother in and out of my routes. Pretty much that.”
McDaniel is impressed with Waddle’s willingness to accept accountability for his shortcomings last year and has a plan in place to improve upon them.
“I think therein proves who he is — where he doesn’t make it a thing because it wasn’t,” McDaniel said. “His game is growing and he is going to find ways to exceed each and every year as he knows to be the standard now. … It’s kind of like a badge of honor in that he doesn’t see it that way, nor should he, and he’s a secure player that is working on his craft and the returns on that, he knows with his life wisdom that the returns will be very favorable.”
Jets
Jets QB Justin Fields said he is focused on bringing energy to the team and being a more vocal leader.
“I try not to get too high, too low. And kind of what I want to work on is getting hype,” he said, via the team’s website. “I think today out at practice I was pretty energetic out there and I think the guys feed off of me. So just seeing that in me out there today. I’m going to try to be more vocal with the guys but usually I’m pretty even- keeled. I don’t really get too high or too low, but I think this year I’m going to try to turn it up a notch and really just try to bring that energy each and every day on the practice field and of course in the games, too.”
Fields has set the bar high for himself and believes that he can be a quarterback who elevates everyone around him.
“I think I can be a player who has no limits, a player who can help everyone around him better, a player who can lead a team, a player who can be that guy,” he said. “I’m just striving to be that player each and every day and really for everybody to know that I am that player. I know within myself I am that player, or I can get to that point, but I think it’s more for me showing everyone else and proving not only to myself but proving to the world. … You look at guys like Pat [Mahomes], you look at guys like Josh Allen, guys like Lamar [Jackson] where everyone knows they are elite quarterbacks. At the end of the day, that’s kind of my goal and that’s kind of where I want to get by the time I get done playing this sport.”
Fields added that it won’t be the same offense as the Lions had in 2024 and that there will be different wrinkles in the system that make it their own.
“Of course, we’re bringing in some of the same concepts from Detroit but like you said we have different players on this team, so it’s not going to be the exact same as what they did in Detroit,” Fields said. “In Detroit, they were 3-4 years in that offense. It’s going to take some time, but we don’t want it to take too much time. Of course we set a standard for ourselves to be great, to be competitive, be disciplined but in terms of how our offense is going to look — I think Tanner is going to tailor it to the guys we have on the field and trying to get them the ball and kind of get a feel for what they do best in terms of a guy might run a certain route better than he does another route. Just finding what guys do best and utilizing them in a specific way to get them the ball and help our team be most successful.”
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