The Bills and defensive tackle Ed Oliver had decided not to announce that Oliver’s young son had died in late June. The news was reported on Friday. It forced the Bills to acknowledge it on Saturday.
After Saturday’s preseason game, coach Joe Brady addressed the situation.
“I’m a parent, right?” Brady told reporters. “And ever since I found out, it’s really hard and I can’t fathom what he’s going through. There’s really not words to describe it. As a coach, as a father, it’s my job to be what he needs right now, and that’s loving him and giving him the privacy that he deserves. Whatever it looks like, no matter how someone might want to handle it, it’s however he wants us to handle it, and go through it.”
The apparent justification for reporting the development before Oliver or the Bills could announce it arose from the perception that the Bills possibly were attributing his absence from the team to a phantom injury.
"[H]e’s not here right now because of an injury and he’s dealing with that,” Brady said. “This wasn’t the reason why he’s not here, but it’s unfortunate, the way that it came out, but I respect a lot of you guys and you might have known about it, and [the way you] handled it. That’s part of journalism as well, but I appreciate your guys’ hearts and understanding the human elements of it. It’s hard. You know, it’s hard when I see him and I can’t imagine. I haven’t had the words since, and I don’t really have the words, but all I can do is just be there for him . . . in whatever way that he needs.”
In situations like this, everyone has to make a decision as to whether the details of a player’s personal tragedy will be reported before the player is ready to share them. The problem is that, even if every other reporter who knew about it decided to give Oliver the time and space to announce it on his own, it only takes one to decide to handle it differently.
That’s what happened here. Absent evidence that it’s anything more than a personal tragedy, it’s hard to justify going there. Which perhaps explains the attempt to make the news relevant by suggesting that the Bills weren’t being truthful about Oliver’s absence. Regardless of whether Oliver actually is injured.
Bills Clips
Many were aware that Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver’s young son died earlier this summer. The vast majority of those who knew decided to wait for the Bills or Oliver to announce the development when they were ready to do so.
The news came out on Friday before the Bills or Oliver announced it. Bills quarterback Josh Allen isn’t happy about that.
“How it came out makes me very, very sad and angry at the same time,” Allen told a group of reporters on Saturday after the preseason game at Cleveland, via Matt Parrino of NewYorkUpstate.com. “Obviously, very unfortunate what happened, and as a teammate of him, and as someone in this locker room, all we can do is love on him.”
Allen said that many of the team’s players knew what had happened.
“What we’ve been doing is giving him his space and time, but at the same time being around him, loving up on him,” Allen said. “But not trying to do anything to to reopen that. . . . Just guys being around him and putting their hand on him and not having to say too much, but ‘I got your back.’”
Although someone decided it was newsworthy to share the story before the Bills or Oliver could do so, most decided that the nature of the tragedy called for discretion.
“It’s very hard to wrap your mind around a teammate going through a situation like that,” Allen said. “Because you have kids, you understand what that could be like and what that could feel like. You never want to put yourself in that situation or those shoes. He’s a strong man.”
Every reporter and/or content creator has to make a decision for themselves as to how they’ll handle situations like this. For most, the right move is to wait. For some, a different decision is made.
And when that decision is made, it opens the person up to scrutiny and criticism by those who believe that the right thing to do was to say nothing until those directly impacted by an unimaginable loss choose to acknowledge it.
At a time of increasing online chatter regarding a personal tragedy experienced recently by defensive tackle Ed Oliver, the Bills have issued a statement acknowledging the situation.
“On behalf of the entire Buffalo Bills organization, we want to publicly express our condolences to Ed Oliver and his family on the devastating loss of his son,” G.M. Brandon Beane said in a statement. “It’s an unthinkable tragedy for any parent. We will continue to support Ed and his family as we all grieve this tragic loss.”
We extend our condolences to Ed Oliver and his family. The loss of a child is a nightmare that no one should ever have to experience. We hope he and his family will eventually find peace and comfort.
Shedeur Sanders’s opportunity to make a closing argument for the starting job in Cleveland has been delayed.
Four snaps into the Bills-Browns preseason contest, with the Buffalo offense on the field, lightning in the area stopped the action.
As of this posting, the game has not yet resumed.
Deshaun Watson started the Week 1 preseason game, with the benefit of the rest of the starters. Sanders will have only left tackle Spencer Fano and receiver Denzel Boston.
Watson is expected to play in the third quarter. If that plan suddenly changes, it will be the clearest sign yet that Watson has won the Week 1 starting job.
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins and Browns right defensive end Jared Verse had some heated battles during joint practice this week, and afterward Dawkins said they brought out the best in each other.
“I’m gonna run my mouth, Verse is gonna run his too,” Dawkins said. “You meet people that match your energy, and I’m one of those that I’m gonna bring it, and Verse is one of those that he’s gonna bring it.”
Dawkins said it was great working against Verse and knowing that even if Verse got past him, Josh Allen wasn’t going to get hit.
“He brings it,” Dawkins said. “Being able to come out here and practice, and practice against him, I know I can try some things because he’s really not going to hit Josh. It feels good. I love the kid. He has a bright future as he keeps going. His bull rush is insane. So talk about that: His bull rush is definitely good, he’s going to rack up sacks all season long. I’m a Verse fan. I’m a Verse fan, and he’s been playing well.”
At a time when joint practice fights have led to some controversy in the NFL, Dawkins and Verse found out how to make a touch competition beneficial to both of them.
The Broncos are adding some depth at safety.
According to multiple reports, Denver has signed veteran Taylor Rapp on Thursday.
Rapp, 28, spent the last three seasons with the Bills. He appeared in just six games last year due to a knee injury before being released in March.
A Rams second-round pick in 2019, Rapp has played 93 games in his career with 72 starts. He’s recorded 12 interceptions with 31 passes defensed in his career.
Denver will host Green Bay for the second week of preseason play on Friday.
The Bills are signing free agent defensive lineman Greg Gaines, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
In a corresponding move, Fowler reports the Bills have released defensive tackle Tommy Akingbesote.
Gaines, 30, spent last season with the Buccaneers. He appeared in all 17 games with four starts, seeing action on 369 defensive snaps, and he totaled 23 tackles and two sacks.
The Rams selected Gaines in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, and he was with the team for four seasons. He signed with the Bucs in 2023 and spent three seasons in Tampa.
In his career, Gaines has appeared in 108 games with 34 starts. He has totaled 186 tackles, 14.5 sacks and 35 quarterback hits.
The Patriots met with a pair of veteran defensive free agents on Tuesday.
Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that they met with linebacker Shaq Thompson and defensive lineman DaQuan Jones.
Thompson spent 10 seasons with the Panthers and signed with the Bills after being released early in the 2025 offseason. He had 56 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in 12 regular season games before adding 13 tackles and an interception in the postseason.
Carolina drafted Thompson in the first round in 2015 and he was a regular starter for most of his run, but injuries limited him to six games in his final two seasons with the club.
Jones was Thompson’s teammate with the Panthers in 2021 and again in Buffalo last year. He spent the last four years with the Bills and started all 51 games he played for the team.
Jones had 22 tackles, three sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble last season.
There is some new information on Bills receiver Keon Coleman, who did not practice on Tuesday and was spotted in a walking boot.
Per Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, Coleman is dealing with a strained foot/toe, suffered in the preseason opener on Saturday.
Coleman will miss more practice time, but early indications are that it should not be much of a concern moving forward.
Entering his third season, Coleman was on the field for 21 offensive snaps in Saturday’s contest. He caught three passes on four targets for 17 yards with a touchdown.
The Bills will have a joint practice with the Browns this week before playing the club in Cleveland on Saturday afternoon.
One of Buffalo’s key receivers has an injury concern.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Keon Coleman is not participating in Tuesday’s open practice at Highmark Stadium and is sporting a walking boot.
Coleman played in the Bills’ preseason opener, catching three passes on four targets for 17 yards. While he got banged up during the game, head coach Joe Brady had said that he expected the receiver to be fine.
There are several receivers who aren’t practicing on Tuesday, with Khalil Shakir also sidelined. But DJ Moore is participating in the session.
Notably, defensive tackle Ed Oliver is out as well.
Buffalo will play Cleveland on Saturday afternoon for the second week of preseason play.
