Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘So at Soldier Field during the Bills’ 24-21 victory over the Bears, Allen had to be feeling a little pressure to perform. He played more than three quarters because starter Josh Allen played just one series, and third-stringer Matt Barkley sat out with an elbow injury, and it was certainly a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs.’

‘Cable/Network: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WSYR (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).’

‘Still, while not critical, there are several tough calls to make – three starting spots, plus backup and special teams roles at the back end of the roster – and Saturday’s 1 p.m. preseason finale against the Bears at Soldier Field is the final proving ground for those players still in the hunt for jobs.’

‘“Baby model,” Van Demark said the other day with a smile. “My mom took me and my brother into (New York City from their home in Wayne, New Jersey) like every other weekend and then we would do baby model pictures and it was cool. Obviously I don’t remember it, but my mom’s got all the pictures framed from like Ralph Lauren, Toys ‘R Us, all that stuff.”’

‘Later, Janine Talley ― “Twitter famous” in her own right ― posted an update on the service now called X. Photos revealed Darryl Talley’s choice: A sign for Nick Tahou’s, along with a plate in various stages of consumption. While the exact contents were obstructed by the requisite meat hot sauce, it appeared that the former linebacker ordered his plate with a hot dog and hamburger, along with home fries, baked beans and a smattering of raw onions.’

‘What was interesting about Whitner’s comment is that he threw a little shade at star quarterback Josh Allen while making the case for the Bills to go after Taylor. “Running the ball and running it with consistency in the fourth quarter, in four-minute situations,” Whitner said. “In four-minute situations, we have the ball, we have to retain it and knock as much time off the clock to win those close games in the payoffs. You cannot continually put the ball in Josh Allen’s hands in those moments; we’ve seen him fail in those moments.”’

‘“We’re using the process right now to make sure that we’re ready to go when it counts and right now we’re in the midst of that,” he said. “There’s some things that we just need to do a little bit better as far as coordination, as far as all being on the same page, so we can really take advantage of the exceptional talent that we have to win one-on-one.’

‘Pretty soon the preseason, the time to get the mistakes out of the way, will be over and the Bills will be facing a very good New York Jets defense led by destructive defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Based on what we saw in Pittsburgh, that’s a scary thought.’

‘It’s safe to say that the Bills could not have played any worse than they did across approximately 45 cringe-worthy minutes at Acrisure Stadium as they trailed 27-0 after three quarters before scoring two touchdowns with Kyle Allen at quarterback in the fourth quarter.’

‘Now, what also must be recognized is that Allen was facing better Colts players than Barkley was. That said, Allen needs to show some improvement this week and next and at least give fans a glimmer of hope that if Josh Allen were to get hurt, he could come in and at least keep the ship afloat and perhaps even further it along on its journey.’

‘The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WTVH (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).’

‘“Simply put, it’s to get them ready for the season,” coach Sean McDermott explained Thursday before the Bills’ final practice of the week. “We took a little bit of a different approach last year, and this year we’re going back to what we’ve somewhat done in years past other than the COVID years of course where we didn’t have preseason games. Just trying to do right by the players and get them ready to go for Week 1.”’

‘Basham was in on three tackles including a sack, and he was a menace on several of the 19 snaps he played. On one first-quarter snap he stuffed Colts running back Evan Hull on a third-and-2 and on the next play Damar Hamlin stopped Hull to create a turnover on downs. Later, he sacked Gardner Minshew for a loss of six yards, and he tackled Jake Funk on a run play that gained only a yard.’

‘Williams will likely remain on the outside as Milano’s backup and then contribute on special teams, but down the road, it’s possible he could develop into the signal caller in the middle of the defense.’

‘“You have to take advantage of them and it’s hard to not force things to try to make a splash, you know?” Barkley said Saturday after he completed 14 of 15 passes for 172 yards and touchdowns to Tyrell Shavers and Dezmon Patmon to lead the Bills to a 23-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium.’