Sean McDermott names starting quarterback for Bills' preseason opener vs. Giants

It'll be the final preseason game in Highmark Stadium history, and Buffalo Bills' star quarterback Josh Allen will be watching from the sideline.

According to Bills' head coach Sean McDermott, the reigning NFL MVP will be inactive when the New York Giants visit Orchard Park for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday, August 9. Although Allen won't be taking the snaps, Buffalo plans to start the exhibition with its first-team units on the field.

"Josh will not play this week," said McDermott on Thursday. "The starters, the ones, will play five or take one quarter, and then it'll flow from there."

The Bills' QB decision is a reversal from last summer's approach. In 2024, Allen started the preseason opener, which was also at home. He played the entire first quarter before giving way to Mitch Trubisky. The eight snaps wound up comprising the entirety of Allen's preseason game action.

It'll be Trubisky who starts in place on Allen on Saturday against the Giants, per McDermott. The former No. 2 overall draft pick is in a battle for the QB2 spot with veteran Mike White pushing the envelope during camp. Trubisky, who has two seasons (2021, 2024) of Bills' backup experience under his belt, is currently listed at the No. 2 spot on Buffalo's unofficial depth chart.

Jan 5, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (11) looks to throw against the New England Patriots during the first half at Gillette Stadium. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

"The benefit of this is we hold Josh out. We keep him in a good spot. He's been playing extremely well in camp. Then, we get a chance to look at Mitch and some of the other quarterbacks in real game live action," said McDermott.

Although "starters" will play, there will be some important names sitting out this week.

"We'll have a number of guys, that are on our injury list, that will do some warm up, and then they're in pads, but they don't play," said McDermott.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Mike White gets ready to throw to a receiver with fellow back ups quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and quarterback Shane Buechele waiting their turn to rotate through during the Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 23, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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