The Buffalo Bills caught a bad break when two of their three quarterbacks went down with concussions in Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Tyrod Taylor and T.J. Yates won't be available for the team's last preseason game on Thursday against the Detroit Lions.
On Monday, the Bills added a body behind center to get them through the final preseason game. Keith Wenning, the fourth-year man out of Ball State was signed to allow Nathan Peterman to play a limited time. Wenning is familiar with the playbook as he was drafted by the Ravens when Bills offensive coordinator Rick Dennison was quarterbacks coach there. Hopefully for Peterman and the coaches, Wenning is a fast learner so Peterman doesn't have to be in harms way too much of the game.
After telling the media Tuesday that both Taylor and Yates were still in the concussion protocol, head coach Sean McDermott commented on the healthy quarterbacks and how long each of those guys will play.
“A lot of it depends on how quickly Keith gets up to speed, but Keith has been in the system before in Baltimore," said McDermott. "That was part of the main attraction with Keith. I look forward to seeing him in action on Thursday night. How much will remain to be seen. The balance between Nathan and Keith is what we’re driving at right now.”
Still, it’s a hard position to put Wenning in, with just a handful of days to get ready to play against an NFL defense.
“It’s a challenge, it is a challenge regardless if a guy has been in the system or not, it’s a huge challenge,” said McDermott of what Wenning is facing. “He’s up for it though, he’s bright-eyed, was here [Monday] most of the day working with the coaches. The terminology I think is fairly familiar to him, so that’s a head start. Just off two, three days max, to go out there and play, it’s going to be a challenge, but he’s up for the challenge.”
Peterman is the clear number two QB on this team and depending on the severity of the concussion for Yates and Tyrod, he could very well end up taking snaps at some point Week one. Buffalo might need to protect him in the preseason finale just to have a safety net.
“Yeah, we’re on top of that,” said McDermott when asked about sitting Peterman. “You’re right on with that, it’s something that we need to stay on top of, and get the best feel we can with respect to Tyrod and T.J., and how that affects week one. We have to monitor that very closely.”