On Tuesday night, the Buffalo Bills were able to show off their team for the first time this season. The Bills were on HBO Hard Knocks, which is a television show that follows the team through training camp.
Cleveland Browns Were Hard Knocks Stars
Every year, HBO picks a team to follow throughout camp, and this season is all about the Bills. Usually, Hard Knocks has a good amount of drama to it. In 2018, the Cleveland Browns were the featured team coming off an 0-16 season. Cleveland had a handful of issues with new rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, receiver Antonio Callaway, who was charged with possession of a controlled substance, and linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who was accused of insider trading.
The Browns were everything HBO was looking for in a team. It brought in tons of viewers with all the drama. However, the Bills aren’t going to be close to the 2018 Browns. Buffalo is one of the best-run organizations in the NFL. The only things going on at Bills camp at the moment are running back James Cook holding in and all the injuries taking place.
Cook has been with the Bills throughout the first two weeks of training camp, even practicing a handful of days. The 25-year-old running back is looking for a new contract and decided on Sunday that he would hold in. A hold-in is where a player shows up to camp but doesn’t practice, unlike a holdout, where the player doesn’t show up at all.
Bills Hard Knocks Called Blah
Cooks is a quiet player and won’t bring much attention to himself, so it’s probably not one of the biggest stories Hard Knocks is going to tackle. The Bills’ first Hard Knocks episode got tons of great reviews, except from a few people in the media. Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk thought the Bills’ first episode was “blah”.
“To no surprise, Buffalo’s Hard Knocks debut was blah,” Florio wrote. “Nothing significant or memorable or remotely viral happened during the first episode of the training camp edition of the show. It was so basic that it could have been created by AI — and for all anyone knows, it was. It’s no surprise. First, the Bills didn’t want to do it. Second, Bills G.M. Brandon Beane witnessed the turmoil that former Bills assistant G.M. Joe Schoen endured after his current team, the Giants, served as the Saquon centerpiece for the one-time-only offseason edition of the franchise in 2024.”
“Things happened during the episode, but not much. It was more show about nothing than anything worth watching. And it steered clear of any topic that would have been remotely controversial (or, in turn, interesting), such as running back James Cook’s discontent with his contract and the team’s decision to circle the wagons around first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston following the filing of a civil sexual assault lawsuit against him,” Florio added.
It’s safe to say Florio wasn’t happy with the first Hard Knocks episode. It’s a good thing if there wasn’t any drama because that means the team has nothing to worry about.
Not every year is going to be great television, and when the NFL forces teams on the show, some organizations aren’t going to give in to HBO’s demands.
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