With Josh Allen headed to light duties in the season finale, the Buffalo Bills are bringing in a reinforcement at quarterback.

The Bills clinched the No. 2 seed in last week’s win over the New York Jets, rendering Sunday’s season finale against the New England Patriots meaningless for the playoff race. The team announced that Allen would be starting at quarterback, but is not expected to play long as the Bills look to keep him healthy for the opening round of the playoffs to come.

The Bills made that clear on Jan. 3 when they brought in a third quarterback to the active roster.

Bills Sign Veteran From Practice Squad

The Bills announced on Friday that they signed veteran quarterback Mike White from the practice squad. White had signed with the team late in the offseason and spent the season as the No. 3 behind Allen and Mitch Trubisky. Because he had already been elevated twice, the Bills needed to sign him to the active roster to bring him up again.

White has yet to take the field for the Bills, being listed as a healthy scratch for both games he was elevated for this season. Reporter Matt Bove of WKBW wrote in a post on X that the team was likely giving the veteran quarterback a financial reward for signing with the team.

“My guess is White is on the active roster as either a 1) reward for his efforts or 2) previously negotiated in the summer that he would be active for a certain amount of games for the added $,” Bove shared on X.

White has appeared in 14 games over his career with seven starts. He has completed 62.6% of his passes for 2,219 yards with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Josh Allen Will Start, Hit the Bench

Bills head coach Sean McDermott said this week that Allen will start Sunday’s finale against the Patriots in order to keep his streak of 115 starts alive, but will come out shortly afterward.

“It’s something that means a lot to me,” Allen said, via WIVB in Buffalo. “Just making sure that I’ve been available, playing through things throughout the years. Yeah, it means a lot to me, so I’m glad I get to start.”

Allen has played through a series of injuries this season, including a broken hand that he suffered on a touchdown run in a Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Allen also hurt his right arm on a run against the Patriots in Week 16, saying he hit his funny bone and lost feeling in his throwing hand for a stretch during the game.

With Allen getting short duties on Sunday, Trubisky is expected to get his longest stretch of playing time during his time with the Bills. Trubisky has only attempted 13 passes over his two seasons with the Bills, spread out between 2021 and 2024.

Trubisky has been efficient in the little time he’s had on the field, going 10 for 13 for 121 yards with a touchdown pass in last week’s win over the Jets.