ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Sean McDermott’s decision to play most of his starters, including Josh Allen, for the Buffalo Bills’ preseason game against the Denver Broncos Saturday is more than a little surprising.
My assumption, based largely on the coach’s vague answers to questions regarding whether Allen would be on the field at all in the preseason, was that caution would dictate keeping the quarterback and other starters on the sidelines until the regular season.
The New York Jets already are dealing with the loss of their starting QB, Zach Wilson, who suffered a non-contact knee injury in the team’s preseason-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That and so many other injuries in preseason games through the years are harsh reminders that playing first-stringers in the preseason carries a risk that greatly outweighs any reward from a game that doesn’t count in the standings.
I can understand why the Jets thought it was wise to start Wilson against the Eagles. Wilson is entering only his second NFL season and his game needs considerable refinement.
It’s far different with Allen. He’s an elite talent. He’s also the primary reason the Bills are a favorite to reach and win the Super Bowl. Doing everything possible to minimize his chances for injury before the Sept. 8 regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams would make perfect sense.
McDermott did say last week that he would gauge “where we’re at as a team” when it came to determining if Allen should play. My conclusion after he announced Thursday that Allen would be in action Saturday is two-fold:
One, McDermott must believe Allen and the rest of the starting offense have demonstrated in practice that some fine-tuning is needed before they face the Rams.
Two, new offensive coordinator and play-caller Ken Dorsey showed in working with Case Keenum and Matt Barkley during last Saturday’s preseason-opener against the Indianapolis Colts that Dorsey has some fine-tuning of his own to do. Why not utilize game-like conditions to do it with Allen?
McDermott said Allen and other starters would get a “healthy amount of work” against the Broncos. Exactly how long that will be remains to be seen.
Still, all it takes is a single play, no matter how innocuous, for the Bills’ season to go up in flames if Allen doesn’t come out of it healthy.