The Buffalo Bills have had an open competition throughout the preseason for the quarterback position with a three-player battle to earn the starting job.

Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers in the preseason opener was the first opportunity for the Bills to see where things stand with each of their quarterbacks taking the field. According to Matt Parrino of NYup.com, head coach Sem McDermott has voiced that he believes he saw some encouraging things from each player in the contest.

“Quarterback is such a key position to play. I thought all three guys certainly had things to work on, but to your point, I thought all three did some really good things. As you mentioned earlier, all three of them (led a touchdown drive), which is good from a confidence standpoint, if nothing else. All three moved the ball at times. I liked the energy around all three. That's one of the pluses coming out of the game.”

The Nathan Peterman got the first crack at taking the field with the starters and did a strong job in his limited time on the field aside from his interception that was his only incomplete pass. Peterman went 9-of-10 throwing the ball for 119 yards that included connecting on a 28-yard touchdown pass down the sideline with wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. Meanwhile, AJ McCarron looked to be able to be a capable passer with completing 7-of-10 passes for 110 yards.

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IMAGE; Sean McDermott with speech bubble "We got this!" to Bills QB Josh Allen with tears on his face.

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However, most of the attention was on rookie Josh Allen, who had a bit of topsy-turvy performance as he shown his mobility and a strong arm in brief appearance going 9-of-19 for 116 yards and a touchdown. His highlight play of the outing was a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ray-Ray McCloud in a spot where he could only make a play on it as he was practically laying on the ground in the end zone.

There were some rookie moments as well as he took on plenty of pressure that saw him scramble to avoid pressure but wound being sacked once and the other running to avoid pressure and narrowly both being sacked and intercepted on the same play. It is clear that there is plenty of room for growth for Allen. Ultimately, these next few games of the preseason will provide a better picture of who the team should give the first crack at being the starter.