Bills decline to pursue emergency QB with Josh Allen banged up in Week 18

The Buffalo Bills are carrying only two quarterbacks heading into the January 4 regular season finale against the New York Jets

Dec 28, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt (58) sacks Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) during the first quarter at Highmark Stadium | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills are moving forward without an emergency quarterback option for the regular season finale against the New York Jets.

With a banged-up Josh Allen and backup Mitch Trubisky as the lone quarterbacks in the building (since Shane Buechele was poached by the Kansas City Chiefs), the Bills elected to not host any player tryouts on Monday or Tuesday.

It's worth noting that former NFL starters Taylor Heinicke and Desmond Ridder are both available free agents.

Instead of adding a third QB to the mix in Week 18, the Bills chose to fill a practice squad vacancy by re-signing wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

Aug 16, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Taylor Heinicke (4) scrambles against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Temporary need for QB3

After Allen reaggravated his minor foot injury last time out against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bills are likely to pull him early at some point in the January 4 finale against the New York Jets.

Allen, however, will presumably start the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff for two reasons — continuing his consecutive games streak while paying respects to Highmark Stadium in the venue's final game.

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When the starter eventually exits, Buffalo will need a backup standing by in case Trubisky goes down at any point. One would think a third quarterback could also allow Allen to rest at practice without forcing Trubisky to carry the load entirely.

It appears as if the Bills are fine with rolling the dice, moving forward with only two quarterbacks.

Dec 28, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (98) sacks Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) during the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Allen status update

The right foot injury occurred midway through the December 21 road win over the Cleveland Browns, but Allen did not miss a snap as a result.

He was a limited participant at Wednesday and Thursday's practices before ramping up to full participation on Friday. This week seems likely to resemble what transpired leading into the December 28 game.

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“He's dealing with some soreness," said Bills' head coach Sean McDermott on Monday afternoon. "He looks like, kind of like last week a little bit, but maybe in a slightly better spot than early part of last week, like he was. We'll just take it one day at a time and see how he does here through the week."

Dec 21, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is sacked by Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham (94) and defensive end Myles Garrett (95) during the first half at Huntington Bank Field. Both Cleveland players were credited with a half of sack on the play. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

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