Bills head coach Sean McDermott told reporters earlier this week that there will be a lot of factors in consideration for playing time in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Jets.
Quarterback Josh Allen’s health is among them. To that end, McDermott told reporters that Allen will not participate in Buffalo’s walk-through practice on Wednesday as he continues to deal with a foot injury.
But Allen is on the mend and is expected to be available.
“It looks like he is moving in the right direction,” McDermott said, via Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News.
McDermott added that Allen’s right foot is in a better spot than it was at this time last week.
Allen appeared to be hampered by the injury during Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. He finished the game 23-of-35 passing for 262 yards while rushing for 27 yards with two touchdowns. He also had two fumbles and was sacked five times.
Allen has not thrown a touchdown pass in the last two weeks.
Additionally, McDermott said linebacker Terrel Bernard, defensive end Joey Bosa, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, safety Jordan Poyer, and fullback Reggie Gilliam won’t participate in the walk-through.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid, tight end Dawson Knox, defensive back Cam Lewis, and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips are set to be limited.
Kicker Matt Prater will be listed as a full participant.
Sunday’s loss to the Eagles closed the door on the Bills’ chances of winning the AFC East and opened the door to questions for head coach Sean McDermott about his plans for who will play in Week 18 against the Jets.
The game will have bearing on the team’s playoff seed, but they know they will be on the road in the playoffs whether they win, lose or tie their 3-13 visitors from New Jersey. Their chances of winning those postseason road games would tank if quarterback Josh Allen aggravates his foot injury or if he or other key players suffered new injuries, which is among the many things McDermott suggested will be taken to account as the team comes up with a plan for the finale.
“Where do you want to start? We’ve got a lot of things we need to discuss as a leadership group,” McDermott said. “You’ve got the last game in Highmark Stadium here. That’s important to me, It’ll be important to our guys, to our staff. Then there’s other things that come into consideration. It won’t be easy, but it is important that we have a good week here.”
A good week for the Bills would mean putting themselves in the best possible position to win in the playoffs and we’ll learn in the coming days how McDermott and company plan to go about that.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen appears to be fine after he was spotted limping following Sunday’s loss to the Eagles.
X-rays were negative on Allen’s foot, Bills coach Sean McDermott confirmed.
McDermott described Allen as “sore,” but it doesn’t sound more serious than that.
Today’s loss to the Eagles eliminated the Bills from AFC East contention. Buffalo will be a wild card team, and McDermott might decide to rest Allen to get him ready for the playoffs. But Allen will be ready to go when the Bills need him.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen said after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles that his foot injury didn’t impact him during the game, but he still went for a medical evaluation after speaking to reporters.
Multiple reporters noted that Allen was limping and that he went for X-rays. Allen injured his right foot in Week 16 and that was the same side that he was favoring after the game. Matthew Bove of WKBW reports that he had no protection on his right foot when he left the X-ray room at Highmark Stadium.
Allen ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the 13-12 loss, but he wasn’t able to hit an open Khalil Shakir in the end zone for a two-point conversion that would have put the Bills up by one with five seconds left on the clock.
The loss closed the door on the Bills’ hopes of winning the AFC East and Allen’s health may have been a factor in the decision to try for the win rather than sending the game to overtime. It may also be a factor in the team’s decision about whether to rest Allen in their Week 18 game against the Jets and those plans will be revealed in the coming days.
The Bills will not be the AFC East champions for a sixth straight season.
Their chances of extending their run came down to a two-point conversion with five seconds left to play on Sunday, but quarterback Josh Allen’s pass to wide receiver Khalil Shakir — who was open on the play — fell incomplete in the back of the end zone. That gave the Eagles a 13-12 win and it made the Patriots the AFC East champs for the first time since the 2019 season.
Allen’s second touchdown run of the fourth quarter came at the end of a thrilling final drive. The Bills picked up 25 yards on a hook-and-lateral on a fourth down and then saw wideout Brandin Cooks pick up 36 yards on a catch he made while pinning the ball to his helmet. They went for two in an attempt to win the game without going to overtime and head coach Sean McDermott will likely be questioned about that decision because of the way his defense played in the second half of the game.
The Eagles led 13-0 at halftime, but gained just 17 yards before Allen’s touchdown and quarterback Jalen Hurts did not complete any of the seven passes he tried in the second half of the game. McDermott may have felt that the extra time created too much injury risk for a team that struggled to move the ball for most of the day, but the end result is that the Bills will have to be road warriors if they’re going to make the Super Bowl for the first time since Jim Kelly was running the offense.
Whatever McDermott was thinking, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s blocked extra point after Allen’s first touchdown will go down as the biggest play of the game.
Winning the game keeps the Eagles alive for the second seed in the NFC. They’ll need to beat the Commanders next week while the Bears lose both of their remaining games, but they’ll be home for their first postseason contest regardless of how things play out in Week 18. Staying alive beyond that game may take the kind of complete offensive performance that eluded them on Sunday and for most of the regular season, but the reigning Super Bowl champs played the kind of defense that can win them games in the playoffs.
