Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘McDermott read off a list of walking wounded that was so extensive, you would think it was December rather than mid-August, and he admitted the injuries are becoming a major concern because not only are so many players unavailable, it is impacting how the Bills practice, and how they will use personnel in the preseason finale against Carolina Saturday.’

‘One name that has come up is 36-year-old Ryan Tannehill who is currently unemployed after the Tennessee Titans released him in the spring. Nice idea, but the problem there is Tannehill is surely weighing his options to see if a starting opportunity comes available and he probably won’t want to join the Bills just to carry a clipboard. Among the other available QBs, the list is frightful and includes Brian Hoyer, Blaine Gabbert, A.J. McCarron and Trevor Siemian.’

‘There were 91 players who came to St. John Fisher University to open training camp three weeks ago, and perhaps the only one with lesser odds to make the 53-man roster than Andreessen was wrestler-turned-defensive-tackle Gable Steveson. But Andreessen – who grew up a Bills fan in Lancaster and played at the University at Buffalo – opened some eyes with a superb performance as he recorded a game-high 12 tackles, two for lost yardage.’

‘It was tough to make a judgment on the first-string offense because quarterback Josh Allen was scratched from the lineup after a heavy rain fell about 90 minutes before kickoff, softening the field. But the first-string defense, which played the first quarter and part of the second, was dominant as the Steelers weren’t able to do anything.’

‘There won’t be any update on the severity until at least Sunday, maybe Monday. but if he’s going to miss time, the Bills will be scrambling to find a backup because Ben DiNucci can’t be the No. 2.’

‘As it pertains to Saturday’s second preseason game against the Steelers, the Bills need DiNucci to get up to speed quickly because they certainly don’t want to risk playing Allen and Trubisky too long in the game. The QB situation is the first of four things I’ll be watching.’

‘Reading too much into a preseason game is foolhardy, but there was no doubt Buffalo’s play left a sour taste in McDermott’s mouth, so fans should expect to see a crisper, more focused performance against the Steelers.’

‘“It was just a tackle drill, he was tackling on a bag, and he hit his arm,” McDermott said with an obviously sullen demeanor before the Bills and Steelers took the field at Acrisure Stadium for a joint practice. “We’re all human at the end of the day, Matt’s a heck of a football player, but if we back up, he’s also a tremendous young man, good head on his shoulders.”’

‘The Bills will have to rely on vastly inexperienced second-year player Dorian Williams, unless they want to turn the job over to one of their veteran offseason free agent signees, Nicholas Morrow or Deion Jones.’

‘“I was telling our chaplain that (the other day), and I just think about that little kid that would love to be here,” Solomon said, looking around at his surroundings on the final day of practice at St. John Fisher University. “That little kid that was dreaming, that was praying every day to possibly be in this situation that I am now. And so I think about when I was seven, when I was eight, striving to get here.”’

‘“So, that’s where the challenge comes in. We’ve got to embrace that challenge. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll look at the film, obviously, and it’ll hit us right in the face in terms of what we didn’t do well, and that was a big one right there. When you don’t control the line of scrimmage, it makes it hard to win.”’

‘Cook and Ray Davis combined for three yards on six carries behind the starting line which could not create any space. It’s nothing to be alarmed about, yet, but it was not a good first look with Mitch Morse gone, Connor McGovern replacing him at center, and David Edwards at left guard.’

‘The Bills were terrible in every way imaginable, and coach Sean McDermott admitted, “If you’d had a blood pressure cuff on me during that game, it would probably have exploded.”’

‘Cable TV: NFL Network, with the exception of the local Buffalo market.’

‘“There’s a number of new faces on our offense also, including his receiving corps and so some of that is baked into this,” McDermott said of the decision. “But the biggest thing is individually we’ve got to get ourselves ready to go and go from there.”’