McDermott declares Allen OK to play Thursday

Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Head coach Sean McDermott gave Buffalo Bills fans some good news about quarterback Josh Allen on Monday.

Despite injuring his non-throwing hand when he vaulted into the end zone for a touchdown on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, McDermott says Allen has been given the green light to resume normal activities this week ahead of Thursday night's matchup with the Miami Dolphins.

"Josh injured his hand in the fourth quarter. He was looked at and went back in and functioned. After the game, he was looked at again, and he’s been cleared to practice today and cleared to play in the game," detailed McDermott ahead of Monday's walk-through practice in Orchard Park.

One injury of concern for the Bills on Monday is nickel cornerback Taron Johnson, who left the game early Sunday in the first quarter.

"He obviously did not return in the game, and will be ruled out for this week," McDermott said as he ran down the injuries.

McDermott adds there is no timeline on Johnson, as the team is still doing further "research" on his forearm injury.

Meanwhile, rookie defensive end Javon Solomon was set to be limited for Monday's walk-through, as well as running back Ty Johnson. McDermott considers both players as "day-to-day".

It can’t be easy to have a Thursday Night game as your second game of the season. McDermott says there are challenges the team will have to overcome.

"It’s just another challenge, and our guys are used to that," he said. "The best thing we can do is control what we can control, which is getting ourselves ready for a divisional matchup."

The Bills defense couldn’t stop the Cardinals at all in the first half, giving up 191 yards of total offense. In the second half, though, things changed drastically, as Buffalo held Arizona to just 79 yards, with 49 of those yards coming in two plays.

"To be able to make adjustments in our first game, I think, was big for us as a staff. We kept our poise, and trusted that we’d find our way back," McDermott said.

"In the first half, I didn’t feel like we played very well. I didn’t feel like we coached very well, and that starts with me. I felt we were doing a lot of reacting and waiting for them to do things instead of us being the aggressors. So at halftime, the coaches did a great job, and the players came out and played aggressive. That was shown in the first defensive series, which was three-and-out, and we got into a rhythm. But we’ve got to do that earlier in the game."

If the New York Jets beat the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, that means that all four teams in the AFC East will start the season at 1-0.