Bills Players Speak on Joint Practice Heading into Steelers Game

After a disappointing performance in their first preseason game, the Buffalo Bills are going into their matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers with a lot more confidence.

Unlike their game against the Chicago Bears, where the Bills only had training camp practices with the team leading up to the affair, Buffalo had the chance to see Pittsburgh in a joint practice days before the game. In the practice, the team had the chance to try out some of their skillsets and schemes that they would normally use in a game against a team other than themselves, which the team found to be very valuable.

Left tackle Dion Dawkins was one of the players who spoke highly of the practice.

"I loved it," said Dawkins. "The best part about practicing in a joint practice is you get to sharpen your pass pro skills against players you would normally have to be your best against without even practicing…it's a beautiful feeling to be able to test your skillset against opponents that you could play and not have it count like you're in a game."

Defensive end A.J. Epenesa spoke on the value of the joint practice leading into the matchup with Pittsburgh.

"You get different looks, different styles of pass sets, different run styles, run combinations, run blocks, all those different things to kind of switch it up a little bit," said Epenesa. "So, it's kind of a refresher, and now we have a little taste for what the game is going to be like on Saturday."

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With the practice behind them, the Bills now prepare to face the Steelers in their second preseason game on Saturday.