Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is set to start Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. The news comes after a week of uncertainty that forced the Bills to prepare to play without Allen. Backup quarterback Case Keenum took reps in practice all week and was otherwise prepared to go until the news on Saturday.
The rumors of Allen possibly playing leaked earlier than the Bills had hoped. He was spotted by the media at the end of practice without a brace on his injured elbow. As soon as he noticed, he immediately ran away from the media.
Josh Allen injured his elbow last week during a crucial loss to division rival New York Jets. There was a lot of speculation on the seriousness of the injury but Allen and the Bills organization kept it under the wraps fairly well.
Allen has improved enough for the Bills to feel comfortable playing him against the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings who are playing great football right now. They traded with the Detroit Lions for tight end T.J. Hockenson right before the trade deadline. That move made an already good offense, even better.
Bills QB Josh Allen is able to grip a football and he did some throwing on Friday. That gave enough confidence to proceed without elevating Matt Barkley from the practice squad and put Allen in line to play against the Vikings despite an elbow sprain.
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How did Josh Allen return so quickly?
There are a couple of reasons that Josh Allen returned from this injury so quickly. The first is hopefully the correct one being that his injury wasn’t very serious and he feels great.
The other reason would be that there is a lot on the line tomorrow for the Buffalo Bills. They play a tough opponent with only one loss on the season in the Minnesota Vikings. IF that isn’t enough, if they lose this game against the Vikings, The New York Jets will take control of 1st place in the AFC East. Yes, you read that correctly.
The Buffalo Bills are viewed as a strong Super Bowl contender this year and I have a feeling they might not be thinking as long-term with that opportunity flashing in front of them.
