PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Josh Allen was immediately reminded of the added attention on the Buffalo Bills as he stepped into the media tent at training camp and noticed HBO’s “Hard Knocks” crew ready with cameras rolling.
“You guys are everywhere,” Allen joked, smiling as Buffalo opened its camp Wednesday in suburban Rochester.
Allen, no stranger to being in the public eye, recently married actress Hailee Steinfeld in May and signed one of the richest contracts in the NFL back in March. While mic’d up during Wednesday’s 90-minute practice, he joked about having to keep things clean.
“Yeah, I tried not to cuss as much,” Allen said. “Just making sure that anything that I say my mom would be OK with.”
The quarterback is working to keep things family-friendly as the cameras capture behind-the-scenes moments.
Buffalo’s coaching staff and front office aren’t shying away from the exposure either. The team is leaning into the opportunity to show the public what goes on inside a franchise that has made consistent playoff runs under head coach Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane.
“We have nothing to hide. We are who we are,” McDermott said.
Since taking over in 2017, McDermott has snapped Buffalo’s 17-year playoff drought, led the team to six straight postseason appearances, and secured five consecutive AFC East titles.
While some might question whether being featured on “Hard Knocks” could become a distraction, McDermott sees it as the opposite.
“The increased noise, if you will, is maybe in some ways good practice for us to really hone in and get our focus where it needs to be,” he said.
The five-week HBO series premieres Aug. 5. The newly released trailer includes clips that showcase the team’s mindset, with Allen featured declaring: “We’re going to do whatever we can do bring a Lombardi back here to western New York.”
