Getty Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills walks off the field after a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium on August 13, 2022.
The Buffalo Bills will participate in their second preseason game against the Denver Broncos at Orchard Park on Saturday, August, 20. While quarterback Josh Allen didn’t play in the team’s preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Sean McDermott announced on Thursday, August 18 that he will be active against the Broncos.
In addition to Allen, several starters will play a “healthy” amount when the Broncos visit Highmark Stadium this weekend, as reported by the team’s official website. “What quarter, really couldn’t tell you right now, but I’ve got a decent feel right now and we’ll see how the game goes,” McDermott said. “And that’ll be most starters, not all starters.”
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Learning that Allen, the team’s $258 million superstar, was going to play in a meaningless preseason game that could put him in danger of getting injured before the team’s primetime regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Rams did not sit well with the bulk of Bills Mafia.
A list of guys I don’t need to see play football until Sept 8th:
Josh Allen
Stefon Diggs
Gabe Davis
Mitch Morse
Dion Dawkins
Dawson Knox
Ed Oliver
Von Miller
Groot
Tremaine Edmunds
Matt Milano
Taron Johnson
Micah Hyde
Jordan Poyer
“Oh good I was hoping to nervously vomit all weekend,” one fan tweeted, while Bills analyst Greg Vorse simply wrote, “Josh Allen doesn’t need preseason reps,” and added in a follow-up tweet, “Matt Stafford took zero preseason snaps last year. It worked out ok.”
Some fans, however, believe the benefit of Allen playing on Saturday outweighs the risk factor. One man tweeted, “I disagree with the idea that Josh Allen doesn’t need the reps, he doesn’t need a lot but almost everything around him has changed outside of Diggs. Let’s build the comfort levels up now before its too late.”
WIVB Sports’ Scott Swenson predcits that it’s unlikely that Allen will play the whole game, or even a full quarter. Swenson tweeted, “I would expect to see him for the first quarter. Not much after that if at all.”
McDermott Says It’s Important for Allen to Practice This Preasson ‘Hearing A New Voice’
Can’t stop watching this. 😮💨
McDermott isn’t simply playing Allen to give fans a show. He explained on Thursday that it’s important for Allen to get comfortable with Buffalo’s new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey calling the shots during a game.
“Getting out there and getting in the flow of a regular game, going through warmups, getting out there and executing and doing what we’ve been practicing in practice,” McDermott said. “Obviously, you want to score points, but just executing out there. Josh will be hearing a new voice (OC Ken Dorsey) in his ear as well, so there’s a lot we want to put into practice in a game that we’ve been practicing.”
The Bills Preseason Schedule
The next time we see Josh Allen on the field he’ll be playing in a game #BillsMafia @WKBW
The Bills beat the Colts 27-24 during their preseason opener last weekend, Buffalo will look to keep the win streak going when they take on the Broncos in Orchard park at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
During Week 3 of the preseason, the Bills will travel to face the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, August 26.
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