Buffalo Bills Player Quietly Changes His Uniform Number

The Buffalo Bills are preparing to play their second game against the New York Jets this season. Sunday's 1 pm game is the first AFC East home game of 2022, which is pretty remarkable, considering it's the second week of December.

The Bills sit at 9-3 -- two games ahead of the 7-5 Jets. This game is important for both teams in AFC seeding; the Bills are trying to get the number one seed in the AFC and have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

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Along for the ride is quarterback Matt Barkley.

Barkley first signed with the Bills in 2018 and played after Josh Allen was injured in his rookie season. Barkley then became the backup for Allen in 2019 and 2020. After being released and bouncing around for 2021, he re-signed as the team's third string quarterback in 2022.

Barkley did wear number 5 his first two-plus years in Buffalo but when he came back, he had to wear number 11. That's because that 5 was taking by wide receiver/kick returner Marquez Stevenson.

The Bills released Stevenson on Tuesday, which meant Barkley could switch back to number 5.

He was seen wearing his old number again at Thursday's practice.

Barkley has also worn number 7, which is the number he wore while at USC. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

This is the latest of many Bills players who switched uniform numbers in 2022. You may remember safety Damar Hamlin went from #31 to #3 in training camp, which is the number he wore at the University of Pittsburgh.