‘Pro Football Doc’ Predicts Bills QB vs. Vikings

'Pro Football Doc' Predicts Bills QB vs. Vikings
Bills quarterbacks Josh Allen (17), left, and Case Keenum (18), right. © Shawn Dowd / USA TODAY NETWORK.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen injured his elbow in Week 9, casting his availability into doubt for a Week 10 home date with the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings.

The Bills were mum to start the week about Allen’s prognosis, suggesting more information would be learned later in the week. But a reputable sports doctor, David J. Chao, doesn’t foresee Allen playing against the Vikings.

Chao has accurately diagnosed NFL injuries from film in the past and isn’t considered a keyboard warrior or quack.

Chao tweeted Tuesday that he “anticipate[s] Josh Allen missing the next start for the Buffalo Bills and potentially a couple more.”

The self-entitled Football Doc also provided a video explaining his opinion:

Leaning into the UCL and nerve element, Chao believes Allen is a longshot to play on Sunday. And that would plop a familiar name in the saddle versus Minnesota — Case Keenum.

Vikings Could See 4th Backup QB of Season in Buffalo
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports.

Keenum was Minnesota’s QB2 in 2017, clambering to stardom as QB1 after an injury to Sam Bradford. Keenum led the Vikings to an NFC Championship appearance, lost to the Eagles, and jettisoned to the Denver Broncos a little over a month later.

Since departing the Vikings, who opted for the Kirk Cousins era, Keenum has bounced around the NFL, attempting to replicate his 2017 lightning-in-a-bottle season, with limited success. Minnesota was 11-3 (.785) with Keenum at the helm in 2017, but the Broncos, Washington Commanders, and Cleveland Browns were 9-17 (.346) with Keenum at QB1 from 2018 to 2021.

But Keenum’s no chump and shouldn’t be classified as a pushover in the event Allen fulfills the Football Doc’s prognostication. He’d undoubtedly enter Week 10 with a chip on his shoulder versus his old team.

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports.

Too, the Vikings have racked up awful losses to backup quarterbacks in the last few years, including stinkers against Andy Dalton (Cowboys), Cooper Rush (Cowboys), Chase Daniel (Bears), Matt Moore (Chiefs), etc. But that was with a different coaching staff.

So, as the Bills hit midweek with eyes on the Vikings, the situation boils down to this — is the Twitter doctor correct, or will Allen channel Favre-ish iron-man-ism?

More details from Buffalo’s coaching staff will be released Wednesday or Thursday.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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