ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — More than 39,000 fans filled Highmark Stadium on Friday for the Buffalo Bills' open practice in Orchard Park. It's a day circled on the calendar by the fanbase, but also for the players, as it marks another step closer to the regular season.
It's an especially surreal day for the rookie class, as they got their first taste of NFL action inside an NFL stadium, albeit in practice.
"Man, it's awesome to walk on the field and hear 9-4, 9-4," rookie third-round pick Landon Jackson said. It's great to have a fan base that loves you and loves this team. It's awesome."
"I can feel that for sure," rookie fourth-round pick Deone Walker said. "There were times I was looking up at the crowd, and they were doing the wave. I never saw that even in the SEC environment. They're on a way different level."
But this isn't just an exciting day for the rookies. Even for NFL veterans from other teams, this is a chance to check out their new stadium and what it's like on the home sideline.
"I love that we practiced here today," newly added wide receiver Elijah Moore said. "Being in front of our own teammates in a practice setting can get kind of repetitive, but having the fans here, being on the game field, it just makes it more fun and that's what we want."
Moore isn't the only veteran wide receiver the Bills added in the offseason. Joshua Palmer, a native of Brampton, Ontario, was also signed as a free agent. He had his family in Orchard Park for the open practice as he got his first real taste of Bills Mafia.
"Yeah, it's a day to get close to the fans," Palmer said. "And I know a lot of fans travel to training camp, but just to be in the stadium, it's the last year for the stadium before we go into the new one, so just to be around the fans is an amazing feeling."
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