The Bills traded for Tarvaris Jackson to give themselves an upgrade over Tyler Thigpen and Vince Young at backup quarterback, but it will still be a little longer before Jackson is ready to play that role.
Jackson is still immersing himself in the Bills offense after the late August trade that brought him to Buffalo. That means that Thigpen was the backup against the Jets in Week One and that he will be filling the same role when they face the Chiefs in their home opener. Coach Chan Gailey suggested it might not be the last week with that setup in place.
“He’s still not ready to go,” said Gailey, via Chris Brown of the team’s website. “He’s still got a lot to learn. That was a tough situation he was in and he’s still learning the whole system. He is.”
It was hard to expect things to play out any other way given the point in the season when Jackson was acquired, but it’s less than an ideal situation for the Bills in the event that they need to replace Ryan Fitzpatrick. While you’d expect the team to figure out a way to get Jackson up to speed should they need someone other than Fitzpatrick to start a game, Thigpen would be the only option in the middle of a contest and Jackson’s presence makes it clear that isn’t something that fills the Bills with great comfort.