–For the second time in two weeks, the Bills have had to scan the waiver wire for a quarterback, and this time they came up with retread Matt Barkley. They had to sign Derek Anderson two weeks ago when Josh Allen went down with an elbow injury, and Anderson ended up starting ahead of Nathan Peterman. However, now Anderson has a concussion, so with only Peterman healthy, the Bills signed Barkley. To make room, running back Taiwan Jones was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury.
Barkley was cut by the Bengals in mid-September, and the Bills were the first team that has contacted him, so he jumped at the chance to get back into the league. “I’m treating this week like anything’s possible,” Barkley said after his first practice with the Bills Wednesday when asked if he could play if need be against the Chicago Bears Sunday. “I’m preparing today like I was, like I’d be playing, and the coaches have been great just in terms of letting me dive in.”
He’ll have only three practices to get up to speed, but head coach Sean McDermott said that unlike Anderson who hadn’t been on a team since his contract with Carolina expired in March, Barkley at least was with Cincinnati and played in the preseason.
“Matt is a guy who had played in the preseason and with the situation we’re in with respect to Derek in the concussion protocol and Josh obviously, you want to take a hard look at a guy that had played recently,” McDermott said.
McDermott was asked if the Bills considered signing Colin Kaepernick, and he didn’t want to get anywhere near that discussion. “I know (general manager) Brandon (Beane) is always looking at all the different options that are available to us, so we’ll leave it at that.”
–The Bills had to make two other roster moves. They re-signed their former punter, Colton Schmidt, after they were forced to put rookie punter Corey Bojorquez on injured reserve after he suffered a shoulder injury Monday night. And seeking help for their awful receiving corps, they signed free agent Terrelle Pryor and cut cornerback Dontae Johnson to make room on the roster.
“I’m just anxious to play football, and I’m just anxious to get out there with whatever quarterback is out there,” said Pryor, who was cut by the Jets a few weeks ago after he suffered a groin injury. “Like I told the receivers, from being a quarterback, it’s big that we pick up the quarterback.”
Pryor caught 14 passes for 235 yards with the Jets, and McDermott believes he can be a nice addition to an offense that ranks dead last in passing and scoring.
“When you turn the tape on, you notice the size, the length, and the speed and just the overall athleticism, whether he was playing in Washington or before here with the Jets,” said McDermott. “What he does this weekend remains to be seen.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 13 – Teams in NFL history going back to 1940 who have scored only seven touchdowns in the first eight games of a season. Of that group, Buffalo’s negative 113-point differential is sixth-worst.
