The premiere episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills introduced viewers to the 2025 version of the Super Bowl hopefuls led by NFL MVP Josh Allen.
Best moment: Blue & Red open practice
I had anticipated Episode 1 ending with James Cook repeating “business” regarding him now sitting out of practice—but we got a more positive conclusion with the Blue & Red open practice showing how close the Bills are to the community. Even with Josh Allen not participating in the live setting (which he joked with the officials about), it was cool to see everyone shine in front of hungriest fanbase in the league. And there will be some complaints about “Mr. Brightside” being labeled the team’s anthem over “Shout”, but the music playing to credits was a goosebumps-inducing moment.
Worst moment: Maxwell Hairston goes down
Thankfully, the knee injury to Buffalo’s first-round pick will keep him out for a few weeks rather than the entire season as feared, but you never want to see a player go down. As head coach Sean McDermott explained, Hairston will be missing valuable reps/time, but the rookie was comforted by prayer from star cornerback Christian Benford, followed by an embrace by mentor Tre’Davious White as he left the field.
Funniest moment: Tre’Davious White wants to get on the menu
Dion Dawkins and Tre’Davious White provided plenty of laughs, but none more so than White trying to push his personal sundae onto the menu at the Pittsford Dairy—handing out the “Tre Day Sundae” (or “Sunday”?) and telling everyone to get it on the menu. Based on appearance alone, I think the former All-Pro has a strong case, so maybe we’ll get an update at some point.
Underrated moment: Spencer Brown waves to the camera
Josh Allen waving to the cameras a couple of times when arriving for camp was great, too, and K.J. Hamler riding the small scooter—saying “I got a little kids scooter, so I messed up with that”—was in contention for the funniest moment. Overall, the scooter scene was perfectly cut by HBO with Spencer Brown giving a stiff wave, followed by a brief cut to another teammate, before going back to Brown in the same position with the same wave.
Best quote: Joe Brady
“Don’t just get caught up in who’s making the plays. I don’t care who’s catching the ball. I don’t care how many catches. I care about you guys doing your job and celebrating together.”
MVP: Josh Allen
Right from the opening scene, you can sort of sense that Allen isn’t exactly thrilled with Buffalo being featured on Hard Knocks—but he’s treated like a rockstar by the fans, with what we saw in terms of greeting kids and signing autographs surely being a very small percentage of what’s he’s done over the past few weeks. Viewers also got to see how humble and personable Allen is, whether it was interacting with anyone from fans to teammates to team owner Terry Pegula.