Buffalo Bills: Determining AJ McCarron’s chances of starting Week 1

(Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Buffalo Bills quarterback AJ McCarron was back at practice Wednesday, but his chances of winning the starting job may be slim.

It sure has been interesting trying to keep up with the latest updates surrounding AJ McCarron since he was reportedly injured last Friday as the Buffalo Bills took on the Cleveland Browns.

First he had a collarbone fracture, then he was getting a second opinion, followed by news that there was not actually a fracture. And today he returned to practice.

He comes back as Josh Allen is slated to start Sunday’s preseason game. The third game is usually the most important, but Sean McDermott claims this is all part of his rotation in what is an extremely fair quarterback competition.

McCarron is still a part of the conversation now that he has returned. I just don’t see how he ends up winning the starting job if he is already dealing with shoulder soreness before the season begins. If he were to start at all this season, I would expect it to be later on.

Even then, if the season isn’t going well then fans can expect to see Josh Allen on the field so he can get experience to hopefully better himself for the future.

After the first preseason game I thought McCarron stood a fair shot to start. But he was outplayed by Nathan Peterman and the same was true again last Friday. Then there is the fact Allen was the No. 7 overall pick and has looked just about as good as Peterman has, which is also better than McCarron.

Right now I think Peterman is the favorite to start, but this is being said before Allen gets his shot with all the starters. If he looks great, the Josh Allen hype is going to be insane. Most importantly, him playing great means he wouldn’t be starting just because he was a high pick. He will have earned the job.

As I said McCarron is still part of the starting conversation. I just don’t see how he wins the job given he isn’t starting this game and has not looked great in his two preseason games. But given how this competition has gone it is unfair to rule anyone out just yet.

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