Bills news: Edge rusher Michael Hoecht confident he’ll be ready for training camp

from on 2026-06-22 13:06 (#76FK5)

The Buffalo Bills envisioned Michael Hoecht being a difference-maker when they signed the versatile defensive lineman last offseason, but the team knew they would have to wait to see Hoecht's contributions since he had to sit out the first six games for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drugs policy.

When Hoecht finally returned to the field and made his Bills debut, he made an immediate impression...that lasted all of two games, when, on Nov. 2, Hoecht tore his Achilles in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The typical recovery for an injury like the one Hoecht suffered is nine to 12 months, but Hoecht has been committed to returning as soon as he can, and today's edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by examining the progress Hoecht has made and why he's confident he'll be on the practice field when the Bills begin training camp on July 29.

Michael Hoecht says he's feeling great' with his recovery

Last year, in just 64 snaps with Buffalo, Hoecht had five tackles, forced a fumble, recorded eight quarterback pressures and registered two sacks in only seven quarters of football. And then, it was all over when Hoecht tore his Achilles in the home win over the Chiefs. As soon as the injury happened, Hoecht said he started talking to team doctors, trying to gauge how long he would be sidelined.

Honestly, when I got to the sideline and the doc told me, Hey, this is going to be a 9-to-12-month thing,' I knew that I was getting ready for the next season," Hoecht said earlier this offseason after participating on a limited basis in the Bills' mini-camp session.

In the seven months since Hoecht suffered the season-ending injury, he's been patiently working his way back to full strength. When Buffalo's offseason workout program began in April, Hoecht was doing his own conditioning and strength training activities. Then, at mini-camp, Hoecht was working with a Bills trainer on the sideline and even participated in some of the individual defensive drills.

All this progress has Hoecht feeling great" and feeling confident that he'll meet his goal of being a full participant when the team gathers at St. John Fisher University for the beginning of training camp.

After doing enough rehab, you need to start doing things where you don't necessarily know where your feet are going to be," he said. You have to re-teach your brain to say, I'm bending a corner' and not think, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot,' but actually just do it and be an athlete. As far as whether I'm ahead of schedule or not, I don't 100% know. But I know that I feel really good right now. And in rehab ... it's almost like having a baby. It's like he's two weeks old, he's four weeks old, he's a month old, he's six months old. You know, it's always like what's that next step that we're taking?"

Even more Bills news

Examining how running back James Cook could be poised for an even bigger season with Pete Carmichael Jr. as Buffalo's offensive coordinator. Plus, we analyze the best and worst draft picks in franchise history; see how Josh Allen was the NFLPA's most popular player when it came to sales of officially-licensed merchandise; and preview whether the New England Patriots can run it back one year after ending Buffalo's reign atop the AFC East.

Buffalo Bills articles recently featured on Buffalo Rumblings

Source	RSS or Atom Feed
Feed Location	http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rss.xml
Feed Title
Feed Link	https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/
Feed Copyright	Copyright (c) 2026 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.