The NFL has suspended defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis for the first three games of the season for violating its substances of abuse policy.
Mathis can practice and play in the preseason, with his suspension starting on Aug. 30. He becomes eligible for reinstatement on Sept. 28.
The suspension stems from an alcohol-related incident in spring of 2025 when Mathis played for the Jets, Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN reports.
Mathis had 13 tackles in six games for the Bills last season and also appeared in one playoff game.
Mathis appeared in 23 games over three seasons with Washington before signing with Buffalo. He had 25 tackles and a fumble recovery during his time with the NFC East squad.
Bills Clips
The new Bills stadium has multiple seats with obstructed views. After Saturday’s practice at the facility, some of the customers who purchased PSLs attached to seats with obstructed views complained to the team, which is evaluating the concerns on a case-by-case basis.
As the architect of the stadium explains it, the obstructed views were part of the design.
“You will find some level of obstruction in every stadium in the world,” Jonathan Mallie, global director and managing director of Populous’ Americas practice, told Michael Petro of the Buffalo News. “The goal was to bring everybody closer to the field and create an upper deck with an incredible proximity and presence within the bowl to help create a next level experience for Bills Mafia.”
The Bills have said that less than one percent of all PSL account holders took issue with obstructions, many of which were the result of safety measures associated with the installation of staircases to the upper levels of the building. (Specifically, glass barriers and handrails.) The situation was a direct result of a desire to make the seating more vertical, so that the fans — and the noise they generate — will be closer to the field.
Petro pegs the number of seats associated with the complaints at roughly 500. The real question is whether the obstructions were properly and accurately disclosed before the commitment to the PSLs was made.
The team believes that any obstructions were “clearly indicated through the virtual experience” that was used to market the PSLs.
“However, if anyone felt differently, we’re having those conversations, and we want to make certain at the end of the day that they’re satisfied with their seat,” Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli told Petro.
That’s the heart of the issue. Did the virtual view of the seat match the actual view? Obviously, there’s an obligation when selling PSLs to ensure that the view from the seat being licensed is accurately disclosed to the customer.
Yes, all stadiums have some seats with obstructed views. Yes, someone will still buy those seats. But no one should be led to believe that the obstruction isn’t as bad as it really is.
And, frankly, there wouldn’t have been roughly 500 problematic seats after the first event at the stadium if those who bought the PSLs for those seats knew exactly what they were getting, when they agreed to buy it.
Josh Allen will be on the field for the Bills’ first preseason game.
Head coach Joe Brady told reporters in his Thursday press conference that as of now, “everybody that’s healthy is going to be playing out there on Saturday.”
That includes Allen, whose style of play could inherently lead to some reluctance from his head coach to put him on the field in a game that doesn’t count. But Brady is embracing the opportunity, particularly as it’s the first game in new Highmark Stadium.
“I mean, you guys have had conversations with Josh and know how he plays. There’s only one way that he plays, right?” Brady said. “And I think that’s a message to the whole football team. … Like this is NFL football. Guys are fighting for their lives and there’s a physicality. If you just dip your toe in, that’s when I think bad happens with that. So, if we’re out there going, we’re going.
“I would hope that he’s mindful of [it being the preseason], but I want him to be competitive and be Josh Allen. I hope everybody else kind of embraces that same mindset — wake up and let’s go play some football.”
Brady did not specify how long the starters will be out there. But it stands to reason that Allen will be on the field for just a series or two.
Kickoff between the Bills and Panthers is slated for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in Orchard Park.
The Bills are dealing with injuries at cornerback, so they signed a healthy player to bolster the group on Wednesday.
They announced the signing of Anthony Kendall to their 90-man roster. Defensive lineman Kody Huisman was waived in a corresponding move.
Kendall signed with the Titans after going undrafted in 2023 and played in 16 games as a rookie. He had nine tackles while seeing almost all of his playing time on special teams. Kendall has also spent time on practice squads in Baltimore and Cleveland.
Maxwell Hairston and Kani Walker have been out of practice for Buffalo recently. The Bills play their first preseason game against the Panthers on Saturday.
Bills co-owner Kim Pegula played an important role in the development of the team’s new stadium. Among other things, she was instrumental in pushing for a switch from artificial turf to grass.
When the new stadium unofficially opened on Saturday night, Kim Pegula was present.
It was a rare public appearance for Kim Pegula following a 2022 cardiac arrest and ensuing brain injury due to lack of oxygen. Via Ryan Miller of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, she had not been seen at any team events in more than two years.
Kim Pegula had attended a training-camp practice in 2023 and another one in 2024.
At the recent ribbon cutting for the stadium, co-owner Terry Pegula said this about his wife: “Kim, I wish you could have finished this project with the same passion and hard work that you started with.”
Last month, former NFL defensive end and former ESPN/Fox broadcaster Marcellus Wiley was arrested in Florida for domestic violence. Via TMZ, the charges have now been dropped.
In court documents, prosecutors informed the court that the case would not proceed, explaining that “testimonial evidence received is not corroborated by any physical or other evidence and is therefore insufficient to obtain a conviction.”
Wiley’s wife, Annemarie, claimed that Wiley had used “one finger to sternly and intentionally poke her in the cheek.”
Annemarie Wiley thereafter filed for divorce and applied for a restraining order, accusing him of past instances of physical abuse and rape. Marcellus Wiley strongly denied the allegations.
On Twitter, Marcellus Wiley celebrated the latest development. “Welcome to the Real HouseLies of Annemarie,” he said, among other things.
The simple truth as to criminal cases is that most prosecutors won’t proceed unless they believe the evidence supports a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. With no physical evidence or injury and no corroboration of her claims, it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to get a jury to find that her allegations and his denial combine to satisfy the very high burden of proof.
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He worked for ESPN through 2018, and he then worked at Fox Sports until 2022.
When the Bills’ new stadium had a soft launch on Saturday, some spoke hard truths about the size of the video boards.
They are, for now, a work in progress.
Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli told PFT on Monday that they are working through the utilization of the new screens.
Watch one of the clips. There’s space on each side of the videos that isn’t being used. When it’s time to display a replay during a game, more of the total available space can be utilized.
And while the total available space may not be as large as it is in other stadiums, it can become a distraction. In Dallas, for example, the gigantic screen hovering over the field becomes a distraction, drawing the eyes to the video when they should be on the live action below.
Whatever they decide, there’s no denying that it’s an excellent new venue, with an open-air stadium and a grass field and a home for the Bills ideally for decades to come.
The Bills unofficially opened their stadium on Saturday night, with the team practicing in the brand-new building. The event sparked a variety of images of seats with obstructed views.
On Monday afternoon, Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli told PFT that the team has heard from “less than one percent” of the Personal Seat License account holders regarding sight-line concerns. The Bills, per Guelli, will address these issues on a “case-by-case basis.”
The Bills marketed the PSLs with a Virtual Venue model that showed the customers the expected view from each seat. The team believed the virtual images were “pretty representative” of the in-seat viewpoint.
The team’s goal will be to attempt to resolve all concerns.
The Bills have more than 17,000 PSL account holders. Each account holder has one or more seats in the new stadium.
The photos posted on social media show multiple locations from which the full playing field can’t be seen. At least one extreme example, posted by John Wawrow of the Associated Press, was taken from a seat that has not been sold and will not be sold for football games. It could be used for other events, such as concerts. Other seats fall into that same category, we’re told.
Still, some of the seats created concerns that have been communicated by the PSL account holders to the team. Those issues will be explored and, if necessary, resolved.
The Panthers opened their preseason slate in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In one of the most entertaining exhibition games in recent memory, Haynes King had a 5-yard touchdown run on the final play to beat the Cardinals 33-30.
Carolina’s starters did not play Thursday night. The Panthers will play their starters, including quarterback Bryce Young, on Saturday night in the Bills’ first game at the new Highmark Stadium.
“Yes, yes,” Canales said Sunday about the starters playing, via Anthony Rizzuti of USA Today. “We will play this week, for sure. We’ll take it week by week. We’ll get them out there, probably play something similar to what Kenny [Pickett] and that group played in the Hall of Fame Game. So it’ll be somewhere between 10 and 20 plays, depending on how those drives pan out, so we can just get some good work in.”
The Buffalo Bills had a soft launch of their new stadium this weekend, with a practice there on Saturday night.
The team wore their new Nickel City Batman uniforms, which continue to be panned despite Josh Allen’s effort to give them a boost.
The best news for the players was the playing surface. The Bills opted to switch from artificial turf at the old stadium to natural grass at the new stadium.
Here’s the verdict from offensive lineman Spencer Brown: “Perfect. I love it. I might sleep out here tonight, actually.”
Some of the fans may not have loved the view from their seats. Consider this. Or this. Or this.
Then there are the video boards. They’re small. Which prompted one person on Twitter to compare them to Michael Scott’s plasma TV.
The Bills host the Panthers next Saturday for the preseason opener. The official regular-season christening happens on Thursday, September 17, when the Lions face the Bills on Prime Video.
