Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott announces the plan for the first preseason game of the new year against the Chicago Bears as first team players such as quarterback Josh Allen will in fact play Saturday according to Joe Buscagila. It should be a much anticipated matchup for the Bills since the Bears are likely to trot out No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and other starters around him.
“Bills coach Sean McDermott says QB Josh Allen and the first team will play Saturday against the Bears,” Buscagila wrote on his X, formerly Twitter, account.
It has been also reported that Allen and the other Bills starters will play about a quarter of the first preseason game against the Bears according to Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. McDermott would even say to the media Thursday that the goal is “getting them ramped up and ready to go for the season.”
“It's really, to me, it's getting them ramped up and ready to go for the season,” McDermott said. “It's an important step, hard to simulate the speed of the game and 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's a lot of reasons for it, like I said, it's just another step.”
“We look forward to finishing camp in today's practice the right way but also getting in front of our fans at home come this Saturday,” McDermott said.
Allen indifferent on playing in Bills preseason games
People could argue that due to Allen's continued success in the NFL, he does not need to play in the preseason and that it could be an injury risk to participate in a game that virtually means nothing to the record of Buffalo. However, it is important for McDermott to play Allen since there are a “number of new faces on our offense” so he can continue to build rapport with them in real game-time experience, despite it being the preseason.
“We'll just take it one week at a time,” McDermott said on Allen's preseason play time via ESPN. “So, you know, there's 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.”
Last season, Allen threw for 4,306 yards to go along with 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, the second most by a quarterback in the league. He would have an indifference of opinion about playing in the preseason or not, saying it is a “double-edged sword.”
“I don't feel it makes a difference for me at this point in my career,” Allen 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.”
The Bills are looking to build off last year where they went 11-6 which won them the AFC East as they open the season against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 8.
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