Josh Allen, Bills quarterback, spoke with the media at One Bills Drive less than 24 hours after the Bengals’ season-ending defeat. This was during the locker room cleanout day.
Allen took the time to reflect upon the highs and lows from his fifth NFL season. It was one filled with emotions for the Bills but that ultimately failed to achieve the team’s greatest goal.
“I don’t want to discredit all that we did this past year. Allen said that there were many positives throughout the year. However, it was difficult to see how this team dealt with the adversity. “I am proud of the team’s ability to handle some really difficult situations.
On Monday, other players spoke out about their feelings of the Divisional loss on Sunday. They described it as “numb” OL Rodger Saffold, TE Dawson Knox, and WR Isaiah McKenzie all said that the emotional toll from the season had caught up to them, but they didn’t use it as an excuse.
Allen agreed with the assessment of his teammates when he was asked.
“I agree with that statement. Personally, I’m not sure. Allen stated that you have to play your best against very good teams and that we didn’t yesterday.
Allen spoke out for the first time about his elbow injury suffered in Week 9.
He said that the injury caused him to experience discomfort for several weeks. It didn’t really affect me. It was more like I was trying to throw the ball differently mechanically. I had to adjust a few things to get away from my normal throwing technique.
He never missed a Bills game, but he threw less than two touchdowns in only four of his six subsequent games. Allen’s play improved over the final stretch of the regular season, and into the Wild Card round. He threw 12 touchdowns and ran for another touchdown and averaged 270.5 yards passing over the four remaining games before the AFC Divisional round.
“I believe that two weeks ago, I felt like I was getting back to what I love mechanically. It’s a rotational thrower, so it was a lot of elbow. Maybe it became a bit more linear because I couldn’t use as much force and just kinda flicked it out there. Allen stated that he was adapting.
Allen stated that he will not need surgery during the offseason. However, rest and recovery will help restore his elbow to 100%.
“We don’t believe an operation is necessary at the moment. He shared that rest and recovery are going to be great for it.
