AJ McCarron‘s injury was not as serious as originally thought. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the Bills quarterback did not suffer a fracture in his collarbone, as was reported following the team’s preseason game on Friday. While McCarron was expected to miss “several weeks,” NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the quarterback is now day-to-day. McCarron is expected to return to practice once his shoulder pain subsides.
This is surely welcome news to the Bills, who inked the quarterback to a two-year, $8.1MM deal this offseason. However, the team has already decided to roll with first-rounder Josh Allen as their starter for this weekend’s game against the Bengals (Twitter link). The rookie quarterback has the most passing attempts through Buffalo’s first two games, completing 18 of his 32 passes for 176 yards and two scores. For comparison’s sake, McCarron has completed 10-of-16 for 128 yards and no touchdowns, while Nathan Peterman has gone 17-of-20 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
McCarron’s only relevant NFL work came as a replacement to an injured Andy Dalton during the 2015 campaign. The former Alabama star had been in the rumor mill through much of his tenure in Cincinnati, including a reported trade to the Browns that ultimately fell through. In 11 career games (three starts), the 27-year-old has completed 64.7-percent of his passes for 920 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also started the Bengals’ 2015 playoff loss to the Steelers, throwing a touchdown and a pick.
Gonna have to do better than “Four Picks” Peterman behind an unproven Josh Allen. McCarron would be perfect, but perhaps getting a more serviceable back up would be better. Plenty of em out there.
*Five Picks
And if Peterman is doing this well in the preseason, then maybe he should be given another chance. Though the higher completion rate makes me think Peterman is forcing it too much, rather than knowing when to toss it away.
I think Peterman deserves a chance to not be defined by that game. He has played and practiced well.
But geez, he completes most of his passes and gets accused of not knowing when to toss it?
Im not saying hes Peyton, but he isnt the trash most would have you believe. The jury is still out on both Josh and Nate.