On the final day of the Buffalo Bills’ 2025 training camp at St. John Fisher University, head coach Sean McDermott announced that quarterback Josh Allen will not play in the team’s preseason opener against the New York Giants. Instead, Mitchell Trubisky will start at Highmark Stadium.
Allen expressed his support for Trubisky, saying, “He works extremely hard. He’s doing everything he can right now to continue to improve. I love him and I love all the quarterbacks in our room.” Allen added that Trubisky’s effort throughout camp has been evident: “He’s just been putting his head down and working as hard as he can and he has been making some good plays out there. Hopefully, we can roll that into the game on Saturday.”
Allen also highlighted Trubisky’s experience as valuable for the team: “He’s (Trubisky) has played in a lot of really big games in his life. And to have somebody with that experience, who’s seen those things and he’s been in a couple of offenses and to have that mindset and that knowledge, it’s a great tool for me,” shared Allen.
Regarding his own absence from preseason play so far, Allen said he trusts the coaching staff’s decisions: “Just trusting what the coaches are saying, what they’re thinking. They are the guys in charge, so following what they are saying. That’s all I’m doing, and if they say play, I’d be playing,” added Allen.
Allen noted his focus is on supporting teammates fighting for roster spots: “Just staying in it, cheering on your guys. This is a very pivotal moment for some guys trying to make the roster, and trying to make a living for themselves and their families… I just want to make sure that I give them my full attention and a lending ear and a lending mind if they need it,” he said.
The last practice session at St. John Fisher included both defensive highlights—such as sacks by Ed Oliver, Joey Bosa, and rookie Jordan Hancock—and offensive plays including touchdown passes from Mitch Trubisky to Zach Davidson and Dawson Knox.
As training camp ends with several players sidelined due to injuries—including center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (calf), cornerback Maxwell Hairston (knee), guard Alec Anderson (knee), wide receiver Khalil Shakir (ankle), safety Cole Bishop (quad), wide receiver Curtis Samuel (hamstring), linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring), wide receiver Kaden Prather (hamstring), kicker Tyler Bass (pelvis), safety Taylor Rapp (knee), cornerback Dorian Strong (unknown)—McDermott remains optimistic about timing: “Injuries come up, they do, they come up at different points in the season. I’d rather have them now than in the playoffs, so that’s my hope at this point,” shared McDermott.
McDermott emphasized moving forward with available players: “We move forward. It’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up, show us what they’ve got. And the team moves forward. That’s the nature of the business,” added McDermott.
With kicker Tyler Bass among those injured ahead of preseason action this weekend at Highmark Stadium https://www.buffalobills.com/stadium/, McDermott suggested running back Ray Davis may fill an emergency kicking role: “I think it’s good for Ray to get a little bit of an emergency kicker role during the season, to get maybe a little small warm-up or maybe an extra point. See if we can score and get extra points here or there,” shared McDermott.
Reflecting on training camp overall progress as it concludes at St. John Fisher University https://www.sjf.edu/, McDermott said: “I think the whole team has grown… I think we’ve had a good camp. I didn’t think we were where we needed to be at Red and Blue a week ago, and these guys have focused in and made some huge progress this last week,” shared McDermott.
