When you're in a situation where you need to add insurance at the quarterback position midseason the choices are often slim. But the Bills were pretty pleased to see a player like Matt Barkley available as the calendar turns from October to November.
"Matt is a guy who had played in the preseason and with the situation we're in with respect to Derek in the concussion protocol and Josh (Allen) out obviously we wanted to take a look at a guy who had played recently," said head coach Sean McDermott.
Barkley signed a two-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals this past offseason and appeared in all four preseason games with that club. He went 17-36 passing for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception this past summer.
McDermott also said if Anderson is not cleared from the concussion protocol by this weekend, that Barkley would serve as the backup quarterback against the Bears on Sunday with Nathan Peterman starting.
Anderson, Edmunds not practicing
Both Derek Anderson and Tremaine Edmunds were sidelined for practice Wednesday as neither have reached step four of the five step return-to-participation protocol. The two players remain in concussion protocol after they each left the Monday night game against the Patriots and did not return.
Anderson was replaced by Peterman at the very end of the game Monday night after he took a hit from behind from Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy. Edmunds exited the game at halftime after he put a helmet hit on Patriots FB James Develin and was replaced by Julian Stanford at middle linebacker.
Terrelle Pryor working to get ready
Buffalo's newest addition at wide receiver, Terrelle Pryor, will be putting in a lot of extra hours to familiarize himself with the Bills offensive scheme if he hopes to be in the lineup this weekend.
"That's a day to day thing right now. He got his first work in the walk through and we'll take a look in the afternoon practice and go from there," said McDermott. "He'll spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in the office here trying to get up to speed."
How quickly he comes along will largely determine whether he sees any playing time on Sunday against the Bears, but it's clear there are attributes to Pryor's game that McDermott covets.
"When you turn the tape on you're able to first notice the size, the length and the speed," McDermott said. "Just the overall athleticism, whether he was playing in Washington or with the Jets. What he does this weekend remains to be seen."
With a short week coming off a Monday night game, it would seem that the best case scenario for Pryor is to have a small package of plays in which he can participate.
