The Buffalo Bills announced this week an unprecedented approach for quarterback Josh Allen, keeping him on the bench for the entirety of the preseason.
While the decision will ensure that Allen stays healthy for the season opener, some analysts and fans have questioned whether it could backfire on the team.
The Bills face one of their most challenging matchups to start the season, a divisional-round rematch with the Baltimore Ravens, a team that has given Allen fits in the past.
Bills Scrutinized Over Josh Allen’s Preparation
The Bills chose to keep Allen on the bench for each of the first two preseason games, then announced this week that he would remain out for the finale.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said the team felt comfortable that Allen was fully prepared to start the season.
“[You’ve] got the reigning MVP, and I feel that he’s shown to this point that he’s in a good spot,” McDermott said, adding that Allen is “on schedule and he’s looked good.”
This will be the first time that Allen hasn’t taken any preseason snaps other than the 2020 season, when the NFL canceled the entire preseason slate of games amid tight pandemic restrictions.
The decision has drawn some scrutiny. While most accept McDermott’s rationale that it will keep Allen healthy, some questioned whether he will have the right preparation for an aggressive Ravens defense.
“Whether it’d be warranted or not is another discussion, but if the Bills offense looks rusty in Week one against a very talented Ravens defense I think there’ll be some Sean McDermott criticism for no real first-team offense work over the entire preseason,” noted Bills analyst and podcaster Patrick Moran in a post on X.
Other fans suggested it could put Allen in a difficult position to get his first live-game action of 2025 against one of the league’s top defenses.
“Not a big fan of his first snaps of the year being against the ravens… give him a drive or two to get timing with the receivers,” one fan shared in a post on X.
Josh Allen Feels Ready
Though Allen has never been one to publicly disagree with coaching decisions, he seemed comfortable with McDermott’s plan to keep him on the bench for the entire preseason.
The Bills quarterback said he had been going through extra conditioning and getting reps in practice.
“Just making sure that, you know, game reps, it’s a lot different,” Allen said. “The amount of exhaustion that happens during a game, you can’t really rep it.
So, just making sure I’m as in control of that as possible and making sure I’m getting extra reps conditioning.”
Allen did get some action in the team’s joint practices with the Chicago Bears, which were very lively at times.
The physical nature of the 11-on-11 drills may have persuaded McDermott that it wasn’t worth risking Allen’s health in preseason games.
McDermott added that he would be making individual decisions on which starters could see playing time in the preseason finale.
“Right now, I’m not just going to make a blanket statement of, yeah, all the ones are playing, all the ones aren’t, because that’s not going to be the case,” McDermott said.
“So, that’s the best I can share with you guys right now.”
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