The Bills’ will travel a few hours south to practice in Pittsburgh ahead of their preseason game with the Steelers
Ahead of the August 17 preseason game pitting the Buffalo Bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, the two teams will meet for a joint practice in Pennsylvania on August 15. Alaina Getzenberg, of ESPN, was the first to share the news that the Bills will head south early to practice with the Steelers.
According to the Steelers’ official website, the two-hour practice (2 p.m. EDT to 4 p.m. EDT) on August 15 will be closed to the public.
Interestingly, the Steelers haven’t practiced with another team since 2016, when they sparred with the Detroit Lions.
NFL joint practices are often viewed as a double-edged sword. Often, you’ll find teams engaged in them where coaching staffs know one another fairly well. Under head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills and Carolina Panthers have often met up to utilize the practice setting as an unofficial extra preseason opportunity.
On the plus side is a more meaningful opportunity to gauge how their players and rosters hold up against unfriendly competition. The very real concern is the increased opportunity for injury due to more aggressive play, and the risk of revealing playbook secrets ahead of the regular season.
The Bills and Steelers faced one another last preseason, with safety Damar Hamlin returning to roaring applause from his childhood home of Pittsburgh. The Bills lost that matchup 27-15, and looked out of sorts the entire afternoon.
Buffalo would later host the Steelers during Super Wild Card Weekend of the 2023 NFL playoffs, a hard-nosed, physical affair that saw the Bills emerge with a 31-17 win. But that victory came with a heavy price, as several key players would leave due to injury.
The Bills head to St. John Fisher University for the start of training camp next week, with the first session on Wednesday, July 24, at 9:45 a.m. EDT. Training camp at Fisher closes following the team’s August 8 morning practice.
