It’s a hallmark event of training camp every single year.
Without fail, as the weather gets hotter, the play gets more physical, the players grow a little tired of each other and get closer to their breaking points.
Scuffles, skirmishes, fights, kerfuffles — whichever expression you like best, it’s like clockwork when the full pads go on. It’s no different at Buffalo Bills training camp, with temperatures rising all day on Tuesday.
First, it was rookie outside linebacker T.J. Parker getting into it with a pair of offensive players. Several other instances of scuffling occurred throughout the day. But the main event was when potential starting left guard Alec Anderson got into it with rookie inside linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr.
“Oh yeah. It was great! I love it,” Anderson said of all the in-practice fights. “It gets my testosterone up these days. It gets the blood pumping, everything flowing.”
Anderson is well known throughout the locker room for getting the extracurricular post-whistle activity going. That’s why it wasn’t a surprise that the event didn’t initially involve Anderson, but he made himself one of the main characters.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid caught a pass and fell down with the ball, only to get back up. Instantly, Elarms-Orr didn’t think Kincaid was down, and laid a sizable hit on the tight end that knocked him down to the ground again.
Bills training camp notes day 5: Camp standouts, areas for improvement
Joe Buscaglia
The response was immediate, with Anderson sprinting from his offensive line position to get into it with Elarms-Orr.
“We had a nice little scuffle standing up, then we went to the ground. Shout out to the rookie linebacker Kaleb,” Anderson said with a grin.
Most of the time after practice, players involved downplay the incident or don’t give it much credence. Anderson isn’t one of those people.
“I didn’t enjoy [Elarms-Orr] hitting our guy after the whistle, but I enjoyed punching him in the face a couple of times and choking him out. So that’s always enjoyable.”
In the Bills’ first full day in pads, here’s what stood out from Day 5.
Allen to Moore with the big play of the day
Over the last two seasons, the Bills endured a lot of predictability and, to put it bluntly, a lack of respect from opponents to their outside wide receivers in how they were defended. It’s why splurging for a wide receiver to help change that was one of their most pressing needs in the offseason, and early into camp, Moore has shown what he’s capable of that the Bills didn’t have the last two years.
The big highlight of Tuesday’s practice was a massive downfield catch by Moore from Allen that ended with Moore getting to the end zone for a 50-plus-yard touchdown. It was an impressive play for several reasons. The first is obvious, because it’s a play the Bills haven’t seen much success with over the last two seasons. Secondly, it’s because of who Moore uncovered against. He was able to get behind three defenders — two of whom were their best players in the secondary in cornerback Christian Benford and safety Cole Bishop.
Moore was able to bring the ball in because he didn’t show his hands too early, and even though Bishop was in position to make a play, Moore completed the catch. The cherry on top was that it was a play-action pass rep, which the Bills could certainly use more in 2026 than they had previously.
Moore to come. 👀 pic.twitter.com/uQYxqTxoCN
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 4, 2026
It was a dynamite catch, and an outstanding throw by Allen, which goes to show the type of connection those two players are building early on this summer. For Allen, having a trustworthy boundary target on the field more often than not can help open things up for him and the offense.
Even if that doesn’t mean a massive statistical output for Moore the way Stefon Diggs had upon his arrival, being someone the opposing defense needs to game-plan for is a necessary piece missing from the Bills’ passing puzzle in 2025.
The Bills might have something in Elarms-Orr
The Bills have been waiting to get a true evaluation of some of their players with full pads on, with most of it coming from play along the offensive and defensive lines. But there’s no doubt that the evaluation of an inside linebacker is incomplete without the physical component.
Elarms-Orr, the fourth-round rookie, has passed every test so far early into the physical portion of training camp.
At 234 pounds, he’s got the size they were sorely lacking at the position. He’s got the speed and quickness to play in today’s NFL. He’s got the strength to deal with bigger backs and shed blocks. And early on in camp — even outside of the Kincaid hit — he’s shown he can put that physicality into practical use during his reps on the field. Some of the reps have come in place of players coming back from injuries, but he’s gotten his fair share of time with the first unit over five days, too.
I would not be stunned if Elarms-Orr is an opening day starting inside linebacker for the Bills, though who he’d play ahead of in that scenario remains to be seen. Dorian Williams is the safer bet because he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. However, Terrel Bernard is undersized by inside linebacker standards for a 3-4 scheme, and struggled last season.
At the very least, Elarms-Orr winning some role on defense early in the regular season certainly seems attainable should he continue his positive trend of play. He encompasses everything they have said they were looking for in the position.
Elarms-Orr very well could have the most significant first-year impact of any rookie on the roster.
Hairston’s struggles underscore big questions at boundary CB
As Bills camp has continued, one thing that has become painfully obvious is that the Bills could have some issues at boundary cornerback this season. Benford is a great No. 1 cornerback, and they have a lot of hope and confidence in his abilities — and rightfully so. But what they have after him is the bigger cause for concern.
Second-year cornerback Maxwell Hairston is the biggest question mark on their entire defense at the moment, and a big piece of the evaluation is how he’ll stack up against the physicality of some receivers. There is no doubt that Hairston can run with the fastest receivers in the league, but with so much of the league getting more physical, can Hairston win enough not to have teams pick on him with those receivers in the short-to-intermediate game?
Hairston is listed at 192 pounds, though he is a thin-built cornerback and, as evidenced by the day in full pads, still has some work to do to fight through physical battles. In one-on-ones, Hairston went up against Keon Coleman on four separate occasions. On all four reps, Coleman challenged Hairston’s physicality. And on all four attempts, the receiver brought in the pass from Allen. The first had Coleman climb up over Hairston to rope in a contested catch, and from there the next few saw Coleman run through Hairston a bit to find the separation.
The most glaring rep was the last one, in which Hairston really tried to get more physical with Coleman, who battled him all the way to the catch point and even got a hand on the ball, only for Coleman to run through the contact and complete the catch through Hairston’s best shot. Undoubtedly, that will be the biggest question about Hairston’s starting capabilities this season.
After Hairston is rookie Davison Igbinosun, who has shown that when he gets his hands on the receiver early in the rep, he can win that rep outright. The bigger challenge is when the receiver gets their release off the line of scrimmage, forcing Igbinosun to fight through some tightness and get back in the rep with athleticism. Because he’s so new to the NFL game, translating his skills is undoubtedly going to take some time. The slow starts by Hairston and Igbinosun are why it remains entirely possible that the Bills will make a move to bring in a veteran cornerback sooner rather than later.
Quick injury updates
The Bills haven’t endured many injuries so far through camp, but the ones they have are progressing. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was visible during practice for the first time since his lower calf strain, as he was sporting a sleeve on his right leg but did not practice.
Defensive lineman Deone Walker hasn’t done much over the last two days because he “tweaked” his elbow in practice last week. The team ordered a fitted brace for Walker, which he hopes will get him back on the field by Thursday, the team’s next practice.
Running back Ray Davis had a scary moment on Tuesday, when he limped off to the medical tent, but after getting taped up, he was quickly back on the field.
