Bills camp observations: Josh Allen, other starters to play about one quarter in preseason opener
Bills coach Sean McDermott made the announcement Thursday morning ahead of the team’s final practice of training camp at St. John Fisher University.
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills’ starters will play about one quarter during Saturday’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears at Highmark Stadium.
Bills coach Sean McDermott made the announcement Thursday morning ahead of the team’s final practice of training camp at St. John Fisher University.
“It’s really, to me, getting them ramped up and ready to go for the season,” McDermott said. “It’s an important step. It’s hard to simulate the speed of the game, so getting that in preseason is important. Going through warmups and the energy that comes with playing a game in front of fans, and being able to manage that. So, there are a lot of reasons for it.”
As of Wednesday, Allen wasn’t sure of the coaching staff’s plan for playing time, nor was he all that concerned with it.
“I don’t feel (it) makes a difference for me at this point in my career,” he said. “To get things rolling would be nice, but I understand not getting out there and making sure that we’re being healthy and being protective. Again, it’s a double-edged sword any way you look at it. If I’m asked to play, I’ll play. If I’m told not to play, I won’t play. So, the competitive juices in me want to play, but I understand Week 1 – we still got some time.”
Allen did not play in last year’s preseason opener but appeared in the final two exhibition games, going a combined 12 of 17 for 113 yards against Pittsburgh and Chicago. It’s not yet clear how the Bills will approach their final two preseason games this year at Pittsburgh and home against Carolina.
“We’ll just take it one week at a time,” McDermott said. “There are a number of new faces on our offense also, including his receiving corps, and so some of that is baked into this. But the biggest thing is, individually, we’ve got to get ourselves ready to go and go from there.”
McDermott also announced that defensive coordinator Bobby Babich will handle the defensive play-call duties against the Bears.
Moving day
The Bills practiced in shorts and shells Thursday on the grass field at St. John Fisher in front of another full crowd for their final day of camp. Moving trucks were stationed just outside the practice field, ready to be loaded for the trip back to Orchard Park.The Bills have held training camp at the university every year since 2000, except for a two-year break during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s been a good camp. It always is up here and the people of St. John Fisher, the Bills’ staff ... have done a phenomenal job again of hosting us, the neighboring towns, Pittsford included, welcoming in so many ways to our team and our staff,” McDermott said. “So can’t thank everyone enough. Then there’s a lot of people behind the scenes, you know, that sometimes the toilets tend to get a little backed up in training camp at different times, and so there’s people that service those as well and we so appreciate them also here.”
The Bills held 11 total practices at Fisher, 10 of which were open to the public and provided fans an opportunity to see the team up close for free.
Injury report
The Bills’ injury report had two new additions Thursday: Mack Hollins is dealing with a sore leg and wide receiver KJ Hamler was being evaluated for an undisclosed injury. Neither practiced Thursday. They were joined by safeties Mike Edwards (hamstring, eighth practice missed) and Cole Bishop (shoulder, sixth), defensive end Casey Toohill (groin, second), defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (groin, third), running back Ty Johnson (hamstring, eighth), offensive tackle Travis Clayton (right shoulder, seventh), receivers Chase Claypool (toe, ninth) and Justin Shorter (knee, third) and linebackers Nicholas Morrow (groin, fifth) and Edefuan Ulofoshio (rib, fourth).Left tackle Dion Dawkins returned a day after being excused for a personal matter.
Most, if not all, of the Bills’ injured players are not expected to play against the Bears.
“That’s some of the new players that we added,” McDermott said of those on the injury report. “It’s a shame because they’ve missed a considerable amount of time, Chase being one of them. You know we mentioned Cole, Mike and so forth. So, it’s just hard to evaluate when the players aren’t out there, whether it’s Chase or anybody. I know he’s fighting like crazy to get back. We’re anxious to have him back.”
Sideline views
The Bills held a brief, 75-minute practice going at about half speed. In early 11-on-11 work, receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling got behind cornerback Christian Benford to catch a deep pass down the right side from Allen. Defensively, Taylor Rapp pressured Allen into a throwaway with a well-timed safety blitz. On the next play, Allen fired a bullet to tight end Dawson Knox over the middle for a nice gain. … Third tight end Quintin Morris had back-to-back catches from backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky, the first of which he elevated over defensive back Cam Lewis to reel in. Trubisky also found running back Darrynton Evans out of the backfield on a wheel route for a nice gain. … Linebacker Terrel Bernard broke up a pass intended for Valdes-Scantling.The offense worked several different situational drills, including being backed up against their own goal line, red zone, and hurry-up drills. During red zone work, Allen completed two passes to tight end Dalton Kincaid and found rookie receiver Keon Coleman for a touchdown. … In the hurry-up drill, Allen’s best completion came deep over the middle to Khalil Shakir.
