ORCHARD PARK — The final preseason practice went awry.
Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White went down late in practice during an 11-on-11 session. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky helped him to his feet and hopped into the tunnel, punching a padded wall along the way.
White stood in the tunnel and watched practice momentarily before hopping into the front of a cart and leaving Highmark Stadium. With rookie Maxwell Hairston already sidelined with a knee injury indefinitely, White was penciled in as a starter after struggling last year with the Rams and Ravens to bounce back from ACL and Achilles tendon surgeries that led to his release from the Bills following the 2023 season.
Buffalo’s other starting cornerback, Christian Benford, also did not participate in part of team drills but he did not appear to be in bad spirits and there was no sign of a limp when he emerged from the locker room after practice. Rookie safety Wande Owens also limped to the locker room with a trainer following individual drills at the beginning of practice.
A day after sitting out for a rest day, defensive end Joey Bosa did not participate in team drills. He wasn’t listed as a limited by coach Sean McDermott prior to practice. Center Connor McGovern (hamstring) participated sparingly in team drills — splitting reps with Alec Anderson and Kendrick Green — after not doing any team drills during the previous two practices.
Practice notes
McDermott announced before practice that quarterback Josh Allen would not play in the preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday, marking the first time in his career — save for the 2020 canceled preseason — that Allen will not appear at all in a preseason game.
Allen played one series in 2024, but saw action in two games in 2023 and one apiece the previous two preseasons. He has already stated that he didn’t feel playing in the preseason was imperative.
“You’ve got the reigning MVP and I feel like, to this point, that he’s shown he’s in a good spot,” McDermott said. “Josh is in a spot where he and I talk about that. He’s always going to want to play. That’s what competitive people want to do, they want to play. But I have a responsibility to protect him, and in doing so, protect our team.”
But McDermott also did not make any guarantees about whether the rest of his starters will play or not after resting them last week against the Chicago Bears. He did allude to safety Cole Bishop once again getting some action, just as he did against the Bears.
“We’re going to practice in the stadium, ones versus ones and get our reps up to the point where we need to have them this time of year and we’ll make decisions from there,” McDermott said. “It’ll be on a case by case basis. I’m anticipating not playing all of the ones, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Where it went was a practice that turned chippy. Safety Damar Hamlin made a hard, late hit on running back Ty Johnson that sent him to the ground. Allen immediately ran to Hamlin and got face-to-face with him for a minute.
Later in practice, receiver Elijah Moore caught a pass and was whacked by safety Taylor Rapp. Moore didn’t like the hit and threw the ball at Rapp, starting a melee. It eventually spun off with Ed Oliver and A.J. Epenesa tangling with Dion Dawkins.
Rapp may have been kicked off of practice for the play. He went to the sideline and punted a stray ball laying near the bench. It comes a day after Rapp hit tight end Dalton Kincaid on an ill-advised pass from Allen down the middle of the field, which drew the ire of the quarterback.
NOTES: WR Grant DuBose will have surgery on a broken collarbone suffered during his second practice with the team Wednesday. … McDermott also confirmed he met briefly with former Bills WR Gabe Davis Wednesday. … McDermott didn’t offer any other details aside from Davis getting a standard medical evaluation. Davis tore his left meniscus in Week 11 and was released by the Jaguars after one season.