Who will see playing time for Bills vs. Lions in Week 1 preseason

UPDATE:

The Detroit Lions will open the preseason when welcoming the AFC runner-up Buffalo Bills to Ford Field on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

As is the case with most other preseason games around the league this weekend, it’s not expected for the starters to play much if at all. With only three preseason games to work with this year instead of four, there’s an increased emphasis on evaluating lower depth chart players as much as possible, leaving some staffs to announce straight up that some of their most valuable stars won’t take a single snap in a preseason game.

First-year Lions head coach Dan Campbell, however, has indicated that some of his starters will in fact play as he tries to evaluate his roster up and down

Quarterbacks

To no surprise, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott confirmed that Josh Allen will sit out of Friday’s game in Detroit. With Mitch Trubisky planted as the backup, this opens the door for Davis Webb and Jake Fromm to fight for a roster spot here.

Jared Goff will most likely make his Lions debut on Friday but probably not for any extended period of time as Tim Boyle and David Blough will come in to battle for the backup role.

Running Backs

Devin Singletary and Zack Moss are already entrenched at the top two tailbacks in Buffalo, so I wouldn’t expect much if anything out of them on Friday, especially with Moss being listed as day-to-day on Wednesday with a hamstring injury. Newcomer Matt Breida may get some touches but expect them to lean into Antonio Williams and Taiwan Jones to handle the bulk of the carries.

D’Andre Swift and Jermar Jefferson have been missing time out of Lions camp with their respective injuries so expect them to be sidelined on Friday. Jamaal Williams is currently listed at No. 2 on the unofficial depth chart so he could get some touches in the first quarter before they empty their bench.

Wide Receivers

I wouldn’t count on seeing Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders, or Cole Beasley suit up for the Bills. There’s nine other receivers on the Buffalo depth chart, including 2020 breakout Gabriel Davis, that could get significant time on Friday.

For Detroit, Breshad Perriman, Quintez Cephus, and Kalif Raymond have all been battling injuries so we could see Tyrell Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown handle things in the first half before they start digging down the depth chart.

Tight Ends

Dawson Knox and Jacob Hollister will most likely sit this one out, especially with Hollister battling injury earlier in camp. The Bills will most likely turn to Tommy Sweeney and Quintin Morris at tight end.

T.J. Hockenson exited practice on Wednesday with a minor hand injury so don’t expect him to suit up on Friday out of precaution. Instead, we’ll see more of Darren Fells and Alize Mack.