Six days away from their season-opening clash with the Jets, the Buffalo Bills are still without their starting quarterback.
Despite returning to practice Monday, Tyrod Taylor remains mired in the league's concussion protocol, according to coach Sean McDermott, who called the passer's status for Sunday "up in the air"
Taylor hasn't played since suffering a preseason head injury against the Ravens on Aug. 26. Per NFL rules, Taylor can return to practice one's he's begun the league-mandated "return-to-participation process."
Making matters worse for the seemingly bewitched Bills, backup T.J. Yates is dealing with a concussion of his own, making it anyone's guess who will face New York.
"With any starter, it gets to the point in the week where you got to say, 'Hey, we're going to have to go one way or the other,'" McDermott said, per Mike Rodak of ESPN. "We'll cross that road when we come to it at this point."
On the same day Buffalo signed journeyman passer Joe Webb, McDermott spoke positively about fifth-round quarterback Nathan Peterman as someone who could step in and start against the anemic Jets.
"He is ready," McDermott said. "When you look at what he's done throughout the preseason, I'm confident and we're extremely confident in Nathan. I expect that he's only going to continue to get better."
McDermott's assessment comes days after first-year general manager Brandon Beane glowed over Peterman, calling the former Pittsburgh star "better than I expected."
"The moxie, the pocket presence, the leadership," Beane said of the rookie, before noting that Peterman "seems to be natural" at leading a football team.
On paper, Taylor remains the team's starter -- McDermott has said so repeatedly -- but for how long? Buffalo's offense looms as a shorthanded mess heading into the opener, especially after the team strangely cut ties with promising runner Jonathan Williams on Sunday.
It's easy to imagine the Bills using multiple starters this season, especially if they want to examine Peterman before next year's quarterback-rich draft forces Buffalo to make a decision that could effect every signal-caller on the roster.
