ORCHARD PARK — Sean McDermott indicated this week his starters, including Josh Allen, would play the first quarter of Saturday’s preseason opener. He was precise, in Allen’s case.
Allen subbed out for Mitchell Trubisky during the end-of-quarter break with the Bills driving at midfield. As Buffalo trailed 6-0, Allen’s day ended with a high-five to Trubisky as he warmed up to face his former team.
Allen’s numbers, and those of the first-team offense, were minimal in his series-and-a-half at a sunny, windy Highmark Stadium. He completed two of three passing attempts (to receivers Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel) for 22 yards. He took off to run, once, and slid with a seven-yard gain and a first-down pickup on third down.
The rest of the starters stayed in with Trubisky to finish that drive at the turn of the quarter, driving to the red zone but settling for a field goal.
While Allen appeared to lobby to stay in, McDermott had seen enough.
“I just felt like it was the right time. He came out, had a good warm-up, a good look in his eye, and I saw what I needed to see,” the eighth year coach said of his QB. “So no need to put him out there in harm’s way any longer than that.”
Of the 33-6 loss, generally, McDermott acknowledged some small positives — Tyler Bass making two kicks, red zone defense holding the Bears and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to two field goals — but sounded mostly unsatisfied.
“Outside of that, (we have) a ton to work on,” McDermott said. “A ton to work on and our standard was not out there today. That’s not how we play. So there’s a lot that we need to do to get ourselves ready to go here.”
While the Bills’ first “unofficial’ depth chart of the season placed Shakir, Samuel and Mack Hollins as first-team wide receivers, it was Shakir and popular rookie Keon Coleman who got the start Saturday. Hollins did not dress due to injury, while fellow veteran newcomers Samuel and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both played with the first team as well.
Shakir and Coleman ran two plays with a two-tight-end (Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid) formation and Valdes-Scantling subbed in on third down, a three-and-out series. Samuel got plenty of time with the first team on the second drive, taking a 15-yard bubble screen from Allen for a first down.
Coleman’s first (and only) catch as a Bill, albeit in an exhibition, came from Trubisky early in the second quarter, an eight-yard first-down gain. He caught one of three targets.
“I thought he looked comfortable,” McDermott said of Coleman. “I thought he looked like it wasn’t too big for him and that’s part of being a young player and adjusting. That didn’t surprise me though because he’s been, I would say, taking things in stride that way, right? (In practice) he’s executed, made some big time plays. And today, the ball didn’t find him as much and it wasn’t really a game plan whatsoever for us, we were just out there trying to make sure that we had a chance to see where we were fundamentally and overall as a football team and then had a chance to evaluate our personnel.”
RUN GAME STRUGGLES
As the offense sputtered, more concerning to McDermott was likely the run game.
Bills running backs James Cook and Ray Davis combined to run the ball seven times for just three yards (0.4 per carry). And it’s not as if the backups fared much better: third-string quarterback Shane Buechele led the team with 22 rushing yards and Frank Gore Jr. had 21 on seven carries (3.0 YPC).
“We got a lot of work to do,” McDermott said. “And you know, we’ll look at the film obviously, and it’ll hit us right in the face in terms of what we didn’t do well, and that was a big one right there. When you don’t control the line of scrimmage, it makes it hard to win.”
INJURY-FREE
Any nervous fans can exhale about the starters playing, at least this week.
“From what I know so far we came out OK,” McDermott said.
Defensive tackle Ed Oliver played just one snap before going down, with trainers checking on his knee. But per Bills PR, he was cleared to return mid-way through the first quarter but would not play.
Among notable players who did not play were receivers Hollins, Chase Claypool and Justin Shorter; safeties Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop, both injured in camp; and defensive veterans Von Miller, Matt Milano and DaQuan Jones. McDermott said Milano’s absence was “still part of the plan from the medical staff” as he returns from a 2023 season-ending leg injury, while Miller was more “managing his reps” as a veteran. Jones is dealing with a groin injury.
WILLIAMS’ DEBUT
Williams, the No. 1 overall draft pick and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, made his exhibition pro debut. Between his athleticism and big arm, it was easy to see why Bears fans are optimistic of finally finding a franchise quarterback.
He led two scoring drives, albeit both ending in field goals, in the first quarter. He completed his first four passes, ending 4-of-7 for 95 yards, and also ran for a first down (13 yards).
WNY NATIVES
A Western New York native, Jamestown’s Stephen Carlson, played often in the first half for Chicago, including with Williams and backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, and early in the third quarter.
Carlson, who also started the preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game last week, finished the game with three catches on four targets for 18 yards. The one incompletion, however, was nearly the highlight of the day as he made an impressive attempt on a Bagent throw to the sideline, tapping his toes along the sideline. But McDermott successfully challenged the catch and officials ruled his grab incomplete.
Carlson, a Princeton product who played with the Browns from 2019-21, spent last season on the Bears’ practice squad, appearing in one regular season game.
On the other sideline, Lancaster’s Joe Andeeson, an undrafted free agent out of the University at Buffalo, played much of the second half at middle linebacker. He had one solo tackle and three assists.
