Allen shakes off injury scare, leads Bills to victory

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Before Josh Allen could run out of bounds to escape cleanly, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker YaYa Diaby tackled Allen near his feet and caused him to tumble to the ground for a 2-yard loss and land on his right throwing shoulder in the process.

Allen quickly popped up to his feet after the first-down play with 11:51 remaining in the second quarter, and then moved around his arm as he walked back toward the huddle. On the next play, Allen kept the ball himself and ran up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown.

Allen’s health and availability is, naturally, of upmost importance, something that has led to him rushing less. There is also a focus on the 27-year-old taking fewer hits in his sixth season.

In a 24-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night, there was another brief injury scare with his ongoing right shoulder injury, but he remained in the game and didn’t miss a snap.

“Took a little, little fall on it and felt a little funky about it, but you know, just trying to keep it warm and keep it loose,” Allen said after the game. “I’ll be sore for a couple of days, but we’ll be fine.”

While Allen was in the medical tent, coach Sean McDermott said that he was told Allen was not available, leading the Bills to prepare for backup Kyle Allen. But then after a few minutes, Allen came out of the tent, threw the football a bit, and then it was time for the offense go back on the field.

Allen initially suffered a right shoulder injury in the team’s 14-9 win over the Giants in Week 6 and has been listed on the injury report since, but he was only limited in a walkthrough practice on the Wednesday after the game against New York

“I’m always concerned about anyone’s injury, in particular Josh’s,” McDermott said after the game. “He’s so tough, so competitive. It didn’t surprise me when they said, ‘Hey, he’s going back in.’ … You’re gonna have to take his helmet from him to keep him from going back out there. So, I mean, he’s a warrior.”

While the loss to the New England Patriots in Week 7 included a shaky offensive performance, Allen’s injury was not visible in slowing him down much against the Buccaneers.

Part of that came in the Bills giving him opportunities to run the football, something that has lessened this season to reduce the hits he takes and keep him healthier. Allen finished the game with seven carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, including an 8-yard run on the second play of the game. It tied his season-high in rushing attempts and his second-most rushing yards. He came into the game averaging 4.1 carries per game (down from 7.8 last season) and 21.1 rushing yards per game.

In an effort to limit the hits, an emphasis has been put on sliding, something Allen did at the end of a 9-yard run on third-and-5.

“I’m done saying [that he needs to slide.] I’m done saying it. He knows. So, he knows,” McDermott said. “So, if he’s gonna run, he needs to slide. He knows that. So that conversation’s been had over and over and over again, so short of hitting him over the head with a baseball bat, knocking him out, it’s his job to slide.”

With the rushing score, Allen became the first player in Bills history with at least five rushing touchdowns in each of his first six seasons, passing Thurman Thomas for the longest streak to begin a career in franchise history.

“It’s always good to get those runs where you’re not taking any hits,” Allen said. “I slid, so that’s a plus. But again, just getting everybody involved and I think that’s another thing that defenses have to worry about. And if they don’t, we’re gonna have to be able to utilize that going forward. And again, I don’t think it’s something that you can major in and live in continuously, but if the opportunities are there, we got to take advantage of them.”

With integrating Allen’s legs and an up-tempo approach early in the game into the offense, the Bills were able to get off to a faster approach than in the previous three games, scoring 17 first-half points. McDermott noted that outside of parts of the team’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins it was the first time “where it just looked like it was every play wasn’t an adventure. … There looked like there was some easy plays, I guess I should say.”

Allen averaged 2.27 seconds on his throws, per Next Gen Stats, a career-best and significantly lower than the 3.15 seconds over the previous three weeks. He completed 31 of 40 passes (78%) for 324 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

“It helps us all, so it’s a really good deal,” center Mitch Morse said on Allen getting the ball out quickly. “But it also gets completions going, and when you get in the rhythm at quarterback, it really helps.”