Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills Episode 5 officially wraps up the preseason, with the NFL’ 25-’26 regular season on its doorstep. The finale is the shortest episode of the season, and although it lacked a long runtime, Episode 5 features sad goodbyes, warm homecomings, very little drama, and emotional dreams that drive a team. As a TV fan, this season of Hard Knocks is a flash in the pan. As a Bills fan, I couldn’t have asked for better.
Hard Knocks: Training Camp Episode 5 Reveals Cuts and Returns to the Buffalo Bills
Part of the reason why I believe Episode 5 is noticeably shorter is due to sparing the audience from witnessing the 27 heartbreaking cuts made, and ultimately preventing the dropped players from reliving fresh wounds. Rejection is painful, and I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time wallowing in it. As mentioned in my Episode 4 review, we already knew most of these cuts. Still, it was hard to see players like WR K. J. Hamler, DT Casey Rogers, and QB Mike White say goodbye to the team. Hard Knocks: Training Camp was such a special time to get to know these bright, personable players. In the words of Rogers, “This camp, it was special.” These players are part of the culture of what makes Buffalo special, even if it was for a little while. Wherever they land next, I hope they’re able to know and believe their stories aren’t done yet. And Hamler, you remain our scooter king!
Speaking of not done yet, the season finale also reveals which cut players got a second chance by making the practice squad. Talk about an emotional whiplash from being dropped on one day and then picked up for the practice squad the next! Of the cut players joining, Hard Knocks fan favorite LB Jimmy Ciarlo made the practice squad. After making an impression in two preseason games, his hunger on defense was enough to keep him in Buffalo. Audiences were treated to another wholesome moment when Ciarlo FaceTimed his dad after making the practice squad. It’s sweet to witness the bond between this father and son. More than that, it’s affirming to see hard work paying off like this. If he keeps this up, we could definitely see him at some point on the field this season.
The Bills’ Team Culture Brings Former Players Back to Buffalo
It’s not just camp favorites making the practice squad roster this year. Former Bills DT Jordan Phillips and All-Pro S Jordan Poyer are back in Buffalo. “Big Phil” is back for a third stint with the Bills; he sacked Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship game just a few months ago. Meanwhile, Poyer had been with the Bills for seven years until he went to play for the Miami Dolphins last season. Most infamously, he injured WR rookie Keon Coleman last season. Prior to the airing of Episode 5, former WR Gabe Davis has also returned to the Bills’ practice squad. Davis, too, had played for Buffalo four years but was with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. To me, these players returning to the Bills speaks to the reputation the Bills organization has built over the last few years. I think Poyer’s words in this episode said it all: “Miami didn’t feel like home.” Buffalo, with its lake-weather winters, has become a home to these football players. Like former Bills coach Marv Levy says, where else would you rather be? More on that later. (Also, Marv Levy just celebrated his 100th birthday!)
Buffalo is known as The City of Good Neighbors. Being a good neighbor means being part of the community, and this team embraces its city. Where else would you see RB Ty Johnson tearing it up on the dance floor at line dancing? Where else would you find OT Dion Dawkins hosting a car show and fellow teammates attending? Who else would take the time to try local wing spots like S Damar Hamlin did when he initially moved to Buffalo? It’s one thing to say you like living somewhere. It’s another thing entirely to immerse yourself in the city’s culture like this. This Buffalo love isn’t just for outward appearances. When you live in a city with harsh winters and a passionate fanbase like Buffalo, the team is bonded with it.
I’ve been saying it for weeks, but there really is something different about Buffalo. I might’ve been biased at the beginning because this is my team. But after a full season of Training Camp, my biggest hope for all the non-Bills and non-football fans is that they’ve seen the evidence to back my claims. From the team dinner the night before cuts to the Connor McGovern pizza parties, this team loves each other, and they love the city of Buffalo. Again, the closest comparison I can make for this team is Ted Lasso’s AFC Richmond after Ted changes the team culture. This is a city and a team that players want to be in and former players want to return to. What more could you want? Well… maybe there’s one thing.
Don’t Stop Billievin’: Josh Allen Tears Up Visualizing a Super Bowl Win for Buffalo
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills started with the reigning MVP, Josh Allen, and I can think of no better person to end my review than with him. First, I think it speaks volumes that the team continues to choose Josh as one of two team captains. In Hard Knocks Training Camp With the Buffalo Bills Episode 5, we see both roster and practice squad players vote on their captains, and it’s him and LB Terrel Bernard. This is the second year in a row that they’ve both been named captains. It says a lot about their leadership on the offense and defense, and the respect their teammates have for them.
Next, it’s wholesome and lovely to see how proud Josh Allen is of his wife, Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld. The way he talks about her as he’s interviewed by Kyle Brandt, the way he tears up recalling her incredible performance in Sinners, the pride he carries of being her husband. Football is a tough, brutal sport, yet there’s an undeniable softness to the quarterback when he speaks about his wife. In a summer that featured the soft kindness of David Corenswet as Clark Kent in Superman as strength, here’s a real-life example that I can’t help but melt over (and not just because of the insane heat in Los Angeles currently)!
Josh Allen has big dreams. He’s proud of his achievements in the league so far, but there’s something else that keeps him striving for perfection — the Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl win for Buffalo. As he told Brandt in his interview shown in Episode 5, he can envision it:
“I can see the parade. I can feel it. Five degrees, brisk, hearing the bus roll over the salt and ice. Thousands and thousands of fans, filling up downtown Buffalo. I can see where we’re going up on the steps at city hall — I see it all. We need to turn it into reality.”
I, with the rest of Bills Mafia, share Josh’s dream. I long for the day that the Bills overcome every obstacle and team in their way to the Super Bowl. I dream of confetti raining down at The Ralph after the Bills win the AFC Championship game after their farewell season in their old stadium. I hope for the day that, once, just once in my lifetime, the Buffalo Bills are crowned Super Bowl champions. Josh Allen carries the weight of expectations, the long-suffering pain of being so close yet so far, and the hope that ignites in the hearts of Bills fans everywhere, believing this could be our year. But if there’s anyone to carry it, we’re lucky it’s him because he wants it just as badly as we do.
As I said at the start of these reviews, I’m quite sports-stitious. I was nervous about letting cameras into the Bills’ space and the extra attention being placed on them. I am nervous and stressed that the regular season is officially here (please don’t forget to update your fantasy football rosters!). Now that we’re on the other side, I’m glad people could witness the magic I see in this team. Honestly, I’m relieved the amazing editor-in-chief Gissane Sophia let me ride this crazy train for five weeks. Yet the best thing Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills did across its five episodes was reigniting my hope. I’m ready to Billieve after the crushing loss at the start of the year. I’m ready to Billieve that Josh Allen and the Bills are about to do something special. I’m ready to Billieve that it is Buffalo’s time. Where else would you rather be than right here, right now? Go Bills!
What are your thoughts on Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills Episode 5? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Warner Bros.