Bills add QB Ben DiNucci due to injury to No. 3 Shane Buechele
Shane Buechele suffered a neck injury in the 33-6 loss and will be out of action for an "extended period," Bills coach Sean McDermott said Monday.
The Buffalo Bills were forced to add a new No. 3 quarterback Monday in the wake of a neck injury suffered by Shane Buechele in Saturday’s preseason game.
The Bills agreed to terms with 27-year-old Ben DiNucci, who spent last season on the Denver Broncos’ practice squad. The deal was announced by DiNucci’s agent, Joe Linta.
Buechele, who spent last season on the Bills’ practice squad, played most of the second half of a 33-6 loss to the Chicago Bears. He will be out of action for an “extended period,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said.
Bills quarterback Shane Buechele, getting sacked by Bears defensive end Daniel Hardy on Saturday, will be out an extended period of time. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Prior to adding DiNucci, the Bills had no other quarterback on the training camp roster behind starter Josh Allen and No. 2 Mitch Trubisky. McDermott acknowledged the Bills would not want to expose either player to an abnormal risk of injury in the preseason.
The Bills are scheduled to hold a practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday in Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium. It is not open to the public. The Bills and Steelers play an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Saturday in Pittsburgh.
DiNucci played college football at the University of Pittsburgh and then James Madison. He entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2020. He started one game that year, passing for 180 yards in a 23-9 loss to Philadelphia. DiNucci played for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL in the spring of 2023 and led that league in passing, averaging 267 yards a game.
Trubisky was excused from practice Monday for personal reasons, so the Bills used their offensive quality control coach, 27-year-old Kyle Shurmur, to throw passes during individual portions of practice. Shurmur graduated from Vanderbilt in 2019 as that school’s all-time passing leader for yards and touchdowns. Then he won a Super Bowl ring with Kansas City in 2019 as a member of the Chiefs’ practice squad. He was hired by the Bills in February 2022.
Meanwhile, the only other new Bills injury from the Chicago game was suffered by receiver Bryan Thompson, who injured a hamstring and will be out on a week-to-week basis.
The Bills returned to the practice field Monday. Still out due to injuries are safeties Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop, linebacker Nick Morrow, receiver Chase Claypool, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, defensive end Casey Toohill and offensive tackle Travis Clayton.
Returning to practice from injury were receivers Mack Hollins and Justin Shorter, running back Ty Johnson and linebacker Eddie Ulofoshio.
McDermott’s message
McDermott on his message to the team in the wake of the loss to Chicago: “It’s not as much the result as it is what leads to the result. We’re continuing to double down on that and make sure that they understand – and the whole team, for that matter, understands – the energy that you have to come in with, the mindset you have to come in with, the urgency that you have to approach every game with, the standard, the fundamentals.”Asked what he liked after going over the video, McDermott said: “I would say that there were moments of the physicality that needs to be there. There were moments of the energy that needs to be there. Again, I thought (Tyler) Bass field-goal-wise had a good day. Sam (Martin) had a couple good punts in there as well.”
