PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Ten seconds into the trailer, you realize this isn’t the same “Hard Knocks” you’ve grown accustomed to seeing each season.
“We’re going to do whatever we can,” quarterback Josh Allen says, “to bring the Lombardi back here to Western New York.”
That’s the assertive tone HBO Max sets with “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills.” The hype video, released on Wednesday, aims to emphasize that this is not a team struggling to find its identity. We’ve come to expect insights into unsure organizations in recent years from the iconic reality sports series produced by NFL Films, but not under the league’s new rules that can compel the best teams to participate.
No, these Bills are an established program, looking to take that last step of advancing to the Super Bowl and winning its first NFL championship.
“This is about hanging a banner,” an unnamed voice says over a barrage of jubilant images.
The 101-second video alternates between snowy Highmark Stadium raptures and summer practices at St. John Fisher University. The juxtaposition hammers home the point that what happens in the heat will determine how much fun Bills Mafia has in January and perhaps beyond. “Hard Knocks” will debut Aug. 5 and run for five episodes.
The trailer ends with a clip of Bills coach Sean McDermott delivering a postgame speech in which he snarls, “Resilient. Tough. That is Buffalo to a core, baby,” followed by Allen’s famous, airborne TD stretch in the snow against the San Francisco 49ers.
HBO Max also unveiled the “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills” poster, and it’s tempting to read into which players appear or do not. Featured are Allen, receiver Khalil Shakir, left tackle Dion Dawkins, edge rusher Greg Rousseau, linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Christian Benford.
Not pictured: running back James Cook. Last year’s NFL co-leader with 16 rushing touchdowns is unhappy with his contract. Cook reported to training camp at St. John Fisher University on Tuesday, but his situation remains one of Buffalo’s most intriguing. A couple of characters seeking to rebound, receiver Keon Coleman and tight end Dalton Kincaid, are almost sure to have featured spots, too.
That said, in a recent interview with The Athletic, longtime “Hard Knocks” leader Ken Rodgers stressed the show’s breakneck production process doesn’t allow producers to lay the groundwork for specific storylines or cultivate narratives. Stuff simply happens too fast.
“You just react,” said Rodgers, the NFL Films vice president and executive producer. “It’s all instinct. You make the show, and then it’s over. You don’t labor over it in your head.”
(Photo: David Eulitt / Getty Images)
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