Buffalo Bills starters Josh Allen to miss final 2024 preseason game

The Buffalo Bills will play their final 2024 preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, and will do so without jeopardizing the health of their starting offense and defense. Faced with a staggering injury toll, head coach Sean McDermott wants to avoid putting even more strain on the roster ahead of the regular season.

Injuries aren’t unique to the Bills, but it feels like they’ve become real this summer. Every time Sean McDermott takes the mic, there’s a lengthy injury update. On Monday, McDermott reported that wide receiver Curtis Samuel has a turf toe, and that he’s been out week after week. Along with Samuel are wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, tight end Quinton Morris, safety Damar Hamlin and quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Rookie edge rusher Javon Solomon and defensive tackle Austin Johnson are also listed as limited.

And that’s just the latest batch of injured players.

It is therefore logical that McDermott chooses to keep his starting players out of the danger zone in a practice match that means nothing for their place in the selection.

The Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran shared a visual of what Saturday’s roster will look like and, as you might guess, it’s surprising. Get ready for a ton of running plays and a very basic passing attack.

Through two preseason games, the Buffalo Bills have failed to generate a touchdown drive. Quarterback Josh Allen has played only a handful of snaps and behind him is a rotating cast of ineptitude consisting of Mitch Trubisky, Shane Buechele and, most recently, Ben DiNucci. Now, free-agent quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. enters the fold. He’s likely in town to help replace Trubisky’s injury, but given how everyone behind Allen has looked, it’s hard to rule out the possibility that Brown could play more on Saturday.

Allen himself has said he doesn’t feel the need to play preseason games at this point in his career. But the group of wide receivers he’ll be throwing to in 2024 is almost entirely new, and the offense has barely had time together on an organized NFL field. Allen was held out of Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to weather/field concerns. The Bills Mafia may want to temper its expectations with Buffalo’s season set to kick off in September.

The challenge for McDermott, offensive coordinator Joe Brady, defensive coordinator Bobby Babich and all the other position coaches is that the assessment of the roster’s important depth is likely incomplete.

Noteworthy: Kicker Tyler Bass and punter Sam Martin will play, as the team has no other options behind both specialists. Whether that also applies to long snapper Reid Ferguson is unknown at the time of publication.