Josh Allen injury: Bills QB is active against the Vikings, will start

Buffalo Bills fans are nervously awaiting a decision on whether star quarterback Josh Allen will start on Sunday in a critical game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Those fans got good news Sunday. According to Adam Schefter, Allen will be in the starting lineup against Minnesota.

Allen suffered an elbow injury near the end of last week’s loss to the New York Jets. With the Bills needing a field goal to tie the Jets late in the game, Allen was sacked by pass rusher Bryce Huff off the edge. Huff knocked the ball loose from the quarterback’s hands, and while the Bills were able to recover the loose football, it set them back behind the chains.

Allen’s next two throws fell incomplete, and the Jets salted away the win.

This replay angle of the hit, as well as the commentary from Dr. Jess Flynn, a sports medicine doctor with over a decade of experience, illustrates the mechanism of the injury, as well as Allen’s previous history of similar injuries:

After the game, Allen brushed off concern over his elbow. “There’s some slight pain, but I’ll get through it,” Allen said after the loss to the Jets.

Bills fans woke up on Sunday morning to hopeful reports out of Buffalo that Allen would be in the starting lineup. According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the organization “spent intensive time this past week listening to their doctors and other arm specialists” regarding Allen’s elbow injury, and were “reassured” that by playing, the quarterback would not be at risk of exacerbating the injury.

For the NFL Network, Ian Rapoport reported that Allen was able to “grip a football” despite his UCL injury, and that he was in line to play on Sunday.

When it came time for the Bills to announce their active roster, Allen was on the list of actives:

On Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott spoke of Allen’s toughness. “The one definite thing I can tell you is we all know Josh and how competitive he is,” McDermott said. “He loves to compete, he loves to be out there with his teammates, so I would never count him out. That’s the one thing I do know about him is that right now. ”

By Wednesday, however, McDermott’s stance had changed somewhat. The coach met with the media and described Allen’s status as “day-to-day:”

The quarterback did not participate in practice on Wednesday or Thursday as well:

On Friday morning, McDermott spoke with WGR in Buffalo, and indicated that the team was taking Allen’s status “hour-by-hour:”

McDermott also did not rule Allen out for Sunday:

However, when the team took the field Friday for practice, Allen was not spotted during the early portion open to the media. That led some to conclude that after missing three days of practice, Allen would be unavailable for Sunday against the Vikings:

However, McDermott let the media in at the end of practice, and Allen was spotted in a practice jersey for the first time all week:

Bills beat reporter Jon Scott captured this footage of Allen running off the field, without a sleeve or a brace on his injured right arm:

The mystery continues ...

Meanwhile, Allen was listed as Questionable for Sunday’s game, after practicing Friday in a limited capacity:

On Saturday, the Bills faced a 4:00 p.m. deadline to elevate third-string quarterback Matt Barkley from the practice squad. However, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Bills did not elevate Barkley, leaving just Allen and backup quarterback Case Keenum on the active roster.

As Rapoport termed it, this is a “sign” that Allen is in line to start against the Vikings:

Rapoport added that Allen was able to grip, and throw, a football at practice on Friday, giving McDermott and the Bills coaching staff the confidence to proceed to Sunday without elevating Barkley:

Adding even more intrigue to the situation was this video put out by the Bills on social media Saturday night, which kicked off with Allen’s injury from the Jets game:

The video also highlighted what could be an intriguing storyline if Allen cannot go: Keenum and Stefon Diggs going against their former team.

This story will be updated when a decision is made regarding his status for Sunday.