ORCHARD PARK – The battle to become Josh Allen’s backup got off to a spirited start Saturday afternoon during the Buffalo Bills’ preseason-opening 34-25 loss to the New York Giants.
Mitch Trubisky and Mike White each made solid opening statements as they begin to state their cases for the job, and it certainly looks like this will end up being one of the tougher decisions Sean McDermott and his coaching staff will have to make later this month when the roster is cut to 53.
Trubisky got the start in what was the final exhibition game in the history of 53-year-old Highmark Stadium and he played the entire first half and produced scoring drives of 65 and 68 yards resulting in 10 points.
“It was great to get some reps with the ones, build some chemistry with them,” Trubisky said. “I just thought our communication in the huddle was solid. Just wanted to start a little faster and be better on third down.”
The highlight came with four seconds left in the second quarter when he delivered a perfect deep ball down the middle of the field to Tyrell Shavers for a 58-yard gain that set up a Caden Davis field goal. Trubisky finished 9 of 13 for 138 yards and also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox.
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“I thought he got a good jump and a good release,” Trubisky said. “He got up behind the safety and I just threw the ball up to him and he made a play. We were able to get points before half, ended up with a field goal. I thought it was going to be a touchdown so I was like kind of celebrating and walking away looking kind of silly. But it was fun to be out there with those guys.”
White took over at the start of the third quarter and after nearly throwing an interception on his first attempt and going three-and-out, he quickly picked things up as he produced two touchdown drives which briefly gave the Bills a 25-24 lead in the fourth quarter.
The first score came when he hit KJ Hamler for a 39-yard strike on a fourth-and-4 play, and then in the fourth, he found Darrynton Evans for a seven-yard TD and then followed with a two-point conversion pass to Laviska Shenault. White finished 8 of 13 for 112 yards, and he was also hurt by a couple drops.
“Yeah, it started off obviously not how you want it to, it was kind of hard to get a completion there at first, but I think everybody settled down, had some fun, and we caught fire,” he said. “We ended up moving the ball down the field, scoring two touchdowns, and getting a two-point. It was fun. I think it finished well.”
Here are some of my other observations:
Sean McDermott wants James Cook back
It was pretty clear that the coach is getting irritated by the running back’s continued absence.
Cook has skipped the last four practices in protest over his lack of a contract extension, and while he showed up Saturday, got into his uniform and took part in the pre-game warmup, he had no intention of playing.
“James and I had a good conversation (Friday),” McDermott said. “We talked about warming up. He agreed to warm up but not play due to his situation right now. So that’s where we’re at, so no change really overall.”
When asked to elaborate, McDermott said, “We wanted him to play. I wanted him to play, but I don’t really want to go into it any further. There’s really no change at this point in time, what it was going into this weekend and the game today. So he warmed up, like I said, but at this point, due to his situation and the position he’s in, was not willing to play.”
Asked if he expects Cook to return to practice this week, McDermott said, “Yeah, again, let’s just move on. We can talk about the guys who played. I think that’s the right thing to do and a fair thing to do right now. So James’ situation is James’ situation, and let’s talk about the team.”
Tyrell Shavers is going to be tough to cut
The Bills have a numbers crunch at wide receiver, and barring injuries, it’s easy to project the top five being pretty much locked in with Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Josh Palmer, Elijah Moore and Curtis Samuel.
I include Samuel, who has pretty much done nothing since signing with Buffalo as a free agent before 2024 and has missed the entire training camp with yet another injury, only because his dead salary cap hit is an ugly $12 million so yeah, they’re stuck with him.
Which is a dilemma when it comes to Shavers. He has made a case for being the best receiver on the team this summer. At Fisher he was making plays all over the field, and then Saturday he made the big play late in the first half, and he also had a 12-yard reception and played a few snaps on special teams.
“We had quarters coverage, we had a post route call,” Shavers said of the 58-yarder. “You get your chops when you get quarters coverage on a post route. So just made sure I was running, getting to my spot to where the quarterback was going to be. Actually, you don’t really see the post-route much on quarters, but I made sure I was running so I knew I could get the ball.”
The Bills are looking at Shenault as a possible kickoff return man, and if he excels, he might be first in line to get a sixth receiver spot, if the Bills decide to keep six. But Shavers, who has been with the Bills since 2023, has opened plenty of eyes.
He spent most of last year on the practice squad, but the more tape he puts out, the better chance he’d have of getting signed elsewhere if the Bills cut him.
“It hurt, obviously,” he said of not making the final roster in 2024. “That’s the one goal I had, still the same goal that I have now. I don’t really try too much to think about it. I’m on to this year now, I’m just trying to be better than I was last year. Maybe that will get me to where I’m trying to go.”
Ray Davis made his one extra point
With Tyler Bass still sidelined by a pelvic injury, the Bills had to sign kicker Caden Davis this week. However, McDermott did say that he wanted to give running back Ray Davis a chance to kick extra points because during the season, he may be called on to be an emergency kicker.
“I think it’s good for Ray to get a little bit of as an emergency kicker during the season, to get maybe a little small warm-up or maybe an extra point. See if we can score and get an extra points there for him,” McDermott said Thursday.
Davis made two of three kicks last week in the Blue and Red practice at Highmark, and after the Bills’ first TD Saturday, McDermott sent him out to kick and he line-drived it through the uprights.
“We’ve been on the other side of it where a team has lost their kicker, I think it was in pre-game warmups a few years back, so you kind of make a mental note of that,” McDermott said. “What if it happened to us, with T-Bass out, even though we signed a kicker, I wanted to see what it would look like.
“It’s different doing it in practice. We’ve always practiced it, but the transition, right, the pit stop, we score, Ray is on the sideline, they’re hitting his lug nut in the pit stop with the (drill noise). We’re getting the shoe off and getting the other shoe on. I think coach Tabor may have tied his shoe for him. I’m not sure, but it was a really good pit stop, and then the execution, so really cool to watch.”
McDermott did say that this will be it for Davis because he doesn’t want to risk him getting hurt.
“Now we’re a little bit tested at least,” he said. “I don’t plan on doing it again this preseason. I think once is enough. I don’t want him to pull a hamstring or whatever trying to kick an extra point or a field goal, but it was good for us to do it.”
Bills vs Giants extra points
- Trubisky made a nice escape of a sack and found Josh Palmer for a nine-yard gain;
- Davis was ineffective as a runner with four carries for seven yards, but Ty Johnson popped with three carries for 26 yards;
- DT Ed Oliver, who McDermott was praising the other day, had a nice stop for a short gain on a run play;
- LB Matt Milano didn’t play long, but he looked fast and instinctive as usual and was credited with three tackles;
- CB Tre’Davious White was targeted a few times while he was out there and he missed a tackle on one completion, and got beat by Wan’Dale Robinson for an 11-yard gain;
- Rookie DT TJ Sanders teamed up for a pressure with Jordan Hancock who came on a blitz, causing a Jameis Winston incompletion;
- DE Michael Hoecht had a pass deflection that nearly became an interception by Joe Andreessen. Andreessen had a nice game otherwise with five tackles.
- C Jacob Bayer cost the Bills a chance at a late victory when he sailed a shotgun snap over the head of Shane Buechele and the Giants recovered at the Buffalo 14 and scored the clinching TD three plays later;
- CB Daequan Hardy suffered a shoulder injury and did not return to the game.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
