Chicago Bears
Mitchell “Mitch” Trubisky dislocated his left shoulder but will not require surgery. The odds of him playing this week appear to be next to none.
Starting duties will likely fall to backup Chase Daniel. Daniel, in his 10th year in the pros, has only started four games, compiling a 2-2 record as a starter.
Making the start more interesting is the game will be in London, so in addition to only have a few days of first-team reps, Daniel is likely to be fighting jet lag as well. He’ll be backed up by Tyler Bray, late of the Chicago practice squad.
Bray entered the league as an UDFA in 2013, but did not play. In 2014 he spent all of the year on IR with knee injuries. In 2015, he tore his ACL and missed the whole season. His first pro appearance came in the final week of 2017 where he fumbled his first snap, and then threw one incomplete pass. He has not played in a game since.
An injury to Chase Daniel this week could really hurt the Bears as they hope to stay alive in a suddenly competitive NFC North.
Buffalo Bills
Joshua “Josh” Allen is currently in concussion protocol with little word on whether or not he’ll be available to play at Tennessee next weekend. If he is unavailable, Draco Malfoy impersonator Matt Barkley will once again take the reins. Barkley was serviceable in his appearance off the bench against New England, but will need a lot of reps to get up to full starter speed.
The likely backup for Barkley will be Davis Webb, currently the lone QB on Buffalo’s practice squad. Davis Webb, once a 3rd round pick of the New York Giants, has never taken a snap during an NFL game.
Webb is on his 3rd New York-based team. After one year with the Giants, they cut him. He signed with the New York Jets the next day, suited up in one game but did not play, and was cut this summer before being picked up by the Bills.
The Bills would be in real trouble if Allen can’t play, and in especially bad trouble if Barkley found himself hurt.
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