Matt Barkley will be the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Buffalo Bills this season.
The Bills ruled out rookie quarterback Josh Allen ahead of Sunday’s game against the New York Jets and will start Barkley instead of Nathan Peterman, the team announced Saturday.
Allen was originally listed as questionable for the game after being limited in practice all week as he continues to recover from a elbow sprain he suffered in an Oct. 14 loss to the Houston Texans. With quarterback Derek Anderson still in concussion protocol, Bills coach Sean McDermott is handing the ball to Barkley after Peterman struggled mightily in last week’s loss 41-9 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Barkley hasn’t started an NFL game since the Bears‘ 2016 regular-season finale on New Year’s Day 2017. He spent the second half of the 2017 season with the Arizona Cardinals but didn’t see a single in-game snap. He played with the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2018 preseason, but lost out to Jeff Driskel for the team’s backup QB job.
The sixth-year QB’s last real playing time came in 2016 when he filled in for an injured Jay Cutler in Chicago. In seven games, the former USC standout passed for 1,611 yards and eight touchdowns.
With Barkley getting the start 12 days into his Buffalo tenure, it appears the Bills are no longer advocating Peterman as a capable quarterback option for the team. Peterman, who ranks dead last in QB rating (30.7) among NFL signal-callers this season with a minimum of 50 passing attempts, threw three interceptions in last week’s loss when he got the start over the injured Anderson. He has thrown seven interceptions on 81 attempts.
Barkley faces the tough task of trying to inject life into a Bills offense that has the same number of passing touchdowns as it does pick-sixes (3). Buffalo has scored the fewest points of any NFL team through nine games (96) since 2009 and are at risk of losing a fifth straight game for the first time since 2011.
Barkley won’t be the only backup QB playing Sunday. The Jets are starting veteran Josh McCown with rookie starter Sam Darnold doubtful because of a foot injury. With Darnold likely out, the team promoted Davis Webb from the practice squad Saturday to back up McCown.
