The Bills were nothing but supportive after information broke Saturday morning of defensive lineman Ed Oliver’s 2-year-old son’s tragic passing.
While talking with reporters on Saturday, head coach Joe Brady said he couldn’t discover phrases to describe what Oliver has been dealing with after his son reportedly drowned in a swimming pool on June 28.
“Ever since I found out the news, I can’t fathom what he’s going through,” Brady said. “There’s actually not phrases to describe in these moments. As a coach, as a father, it’s my job to be there for what he wants from me proper now. And that’s loving him and giving him the privateness he deserves.
Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady leaves the subject after an NFL preseason soccer recreation against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in Cleveland. AP Photo/David Richard
“What ever it looks like, no matter how someone might want to handle it, it’s whatever how he wants us to handle it.”
Brady, who is coming into his first season as head coach of the Bills after being on the workers for 4 years, shared how resilient Oliver has been in the weeks since, noting how he’s been often taking part in practices and is only now sidelined because of an damage.
The 2-year-old son of Buffalo Bills star Ed Oliver reportedly
drowned at his dwelling. dymondrakell/tiktok
“I can’t imagine it,” he added. “I don’t have the words, but all I can do is just be there for him in whatever way that he needs.”
He also said that it was “unfortunate” how the information of Oliver’s son’s loss of life came out, and thanked writers who might have identified at the time but selected not to report on it.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen echoed Brady’s ideas of the information getting out, saying that many in Buffalo’s locker room already knew, and that it makes him “very, very sad and angry” that Oliver could not announce it on his own phrases.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL preseason soccer recreation against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, August 22, 2026, in Cleveland. AP Photo/David Richard
He, like Brady, praised how Oliver was still with the crew at coaching camp just days following his son’s loss of life.
“I couldn’t imagine the strength that it takes to do that,” Allen said. “And for him to be that robust for him himself and his household. I can’t communicate enough about it. It’s laborious. Like I said, it’s just it’s very laborious to wrap your thoughts around a teammate going through a state of affairs like that, because as you have youngsters, you perceive what what that could be like and what that could really feel like.
“And you never want to put yourself in that situation or those shoes, and he’s a strong man.”
Buffalo Bills participant Ed Oliver is seen outside his dwelling on June 28, 2026, in Texas. onscene.television
According to a number of reports, Oliver and his spouse discovered their son unresponsive in their pool, and the toddler was rushed to a close by hospital where he was pronounced useless later that night.
Video also confirmed Oliver breaking down into tears after talking with native officers outside of his dwelling.
According to ESPN and NFL Network insider Cameron Wolfe, a supply shut to Oliver said he is asking for “privacy and prayers at this very difficult time.”