Orchard Park, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen limped to the sideline during the third quarter of a 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
He’s never missed a game, but the leg injury he suffered last week in Cleveland remains a major concern with the playoffs set to begin in 13 days.
Allen had an X-ray taken on his injured foot after the game, and Bills coach Sean McDermott revealed the results were negative.
“This past week, he felt better and better as the week went on,” McDermott said after the game. “When I went into the game (and then) played the game, he got sore again. They did an X-ray, it came back negative, they just wanted to see, make sure there’s nothing else going on. So he’s sore right now, but nothing new at this point.”
Allen said after the game that the leg injury had no effect on what he was able to do. The Bills offense struggled for most of the game, failing to score a single point until late in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles defensive front looked like the same outfit that terrorized Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in last year’s Super Bowl. The Chiefs didn’t register a point in that game until the third quarter, and Mahomes was sacked six times. Philadelphia sacked Allen five times and had six quarterback hits on Sunday.
McDermott said after the game that he is always concerned when Allen takes so many hits.
“You’ll see it again in the playoffs,” McDermott said. “teams that are built up front or in the playoffs and have long playoff runs. So that’s part of us to make sure that what we’re doing is up front. And it’s never a group at one position. It’s never one player. It’s a deal where we have to continue to grow as an offense and I believe Joe (Brad) has done a lot of good things and he’s done a lot of things this year. This film will really speak to us.”
The Bills are now certain to shut down Allen in Week 18 in what has become a mostly meaningless matchup against the New York Jets. Allen will likely get a run early to keep the streak going, but then quarterback Mitch Trubisky should take over.
Allen ran the ball seven times in the Bills’ loss and nearly held the team back from a poor offensive performance through three quarters. Allen had one of his worst performances of the season for much of the game, missing a key receiver on critical plays. He had Jackson Hawes open on a play he fumbled, and then Brandin Cooks appeared to open up a touchdown on a fourth-down scramble in the third quarter that led to a turnover on downs.
Allen scored a touchdown to bring the Bills within one point with just 05 seconds remaining. The Bills decided to go for the two points and kept the offense on the field. Allen had Khalil Shakir wide open in the back end, but he just threw an inaccurate pass that fell incomplete.
“Yeah, I just overlooked it,” Allen said. “He stepped to the left, I have to give him a better ball.
Given the possibility of doing it again, McDermott said he would like the ball in Allen’s hands when the game is on the line.
“We talked in the locker room and I would do it again,” McDermott said. “We have a great quarterback, he’s the best quarterback in the league and I’d take him 1,000 out of 1,000 times to throw and he’s going to make it.”
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