Rasul Douglas and the Bills are getting ready for Brock Purdy.
The Buffalo Bills are coming off of their bye week and are looking to keep their recent hot streak going. The Bills were riding high after knocking off the perviously-unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, and now it's time to keep winning as they chase the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
Their next task comes on Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, a team who is reeling after two consecutive losses. The 49ers have had a disappointing season and are sitting at just 5-6 heading into Week 13. Injuries have played a large part in that, as the 49ers have struggled to stay healthy throughout the season and have been forced to mix and match lineups each week.
The latest big injury for San Francisco was to quarterback Brock Purdy, who suffered a shoulder injury in a Week 11 loss against the Seattle Seahawks. Purdy tried to work it out at practice last week, but ended up missing the 49ers' Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Despite Purdy not being available in Green Bay, Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas says that Buffalo is preparing for Purdy to be back in the lineup on Sunday night, according to Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.
“I don't think you ever look at it like, ‘Oh, he's not playing.' You play for the starter,” Douglas said, per Getzenberg. “We think that that's why he rested last week to play this week. So, I mean that's just our mindset that he's going to play. If the game comes and he doesn't play, then we'll just keep the same plan.”
If Purdy is unable to go, Brandon Allen would likely get a second consecutive start for Kyle Shanahan and company.
Bills looking to keep momentum out of bye week
The Bills came into their bye week with a ton of momentum after handing the Chiefs, their bitter rivals over the last few years, their first loss of the season. Now, the Bills are just one game back of the Chiefs for the best record in the AFC with the head-to-head tiebreaker in their pocket.
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Objectively, the Bills are playing better football than the Chiefs right now. They are probably playing the best ball out of anyone in the NFL outside of Detroit, but it will be a challenge to carry all of that momentum out of a bye week.
It will be helpful for Sean McDermott and company that they have a marquee game in prime time to get the back end of their season underway. Despite the 49ers' struggles this season, they are still a big brand and a name that carries a lot of weight, so it will be easy for the Bills to get up for this one.
The Bills still have challenging games against the Rams and Lions after this one. However, if they can get through those, they will have a great chance to secure that top seed in the playoffs and start their Super Bowl push.
