The wait may finally be over for Josh Allen. The rookie quarterback will practice fully for the first time on Monday since suffering his elbow injury back in Week 6. That means Allen is in line to start on Sunday against Jacksonville.
Head coach Sean McDermott wouldn't fully stamp Allen as the starter for Sunday yet, but admitted that things are trending in that direction.
"We're just going to continue to take it one day at a time. We'll see how he looks today," said McDermott. "He's had some good rehab sessions. Our medical staff and our strength and conditioning staff have done a phenomenal job."
McDermott is looking forward to seeing how Allen's perspective from the sidelines has benefited his play on the field, but also confirmed they did weigh Matt Barkley's performance against the Jets up against Allen being healthy and ready to play.
"You look at everything. That's part of my job. My responsibility is to do that," he said. "Brandon (Beane) and I spoke about it. We were certainly impressed with the way that Matt handled things. At the end of the day Josh is our starter and we're excited to have him back."
Anderson, Milano still in concussion protocol
Veteran QB Derek Anderson remains in concussion protocol and is still not practicing. This is the fourth consecutive week that Anderson remains sidelined. That means that Barkley, provided Josh Allen starts, will be the backup quarterback for the Jacksonville game on Sunday.
LB Matt Milano is also in the concussion protocol, but is a bit further ahead in his return to participation. The linebacker will be a limited participant in practice today.
That means that he's in step four of the five step return-to-participation protocol. All that remains is full medical clearance for full football activity.
Milano left the Jets game in Week 10 early with a concussion.
The motivation behind the Thompson signing
The Bills added another receiver that can get behind defenses in veteran Deonte Thompson late last week. Coach McDermott shed some light on why the signing was made.
"The speed element," said McDermott. "Brandon (Beane) and I talked a couple of weeks ago and we felt we were lacking in the speed department on offense, so that's been an emphasis the last couple of weeks."
Buffalo claimed WR Isaiah McKenzie off waivers and promoted Robert Foster from the practice squad for the Jets game to add more speed to their receiving corps and both contributed more than 100 total yards in the victory. Thompson will provide another dose.
"You saw some of that against the Jets and that just opens things up a little bit, not just in the passing game, but at times in the run game," said McDermott. "That's not the only part of what we're doing right now. But that's some of what we're trying to get on the field at this point."
Thompson at age 29, still has 4.3 speed. This is his third stint with the Bills. He played in one game for Buffalo in 2014 and 11 last season.
