Josh Allen Pushing to Play for Bills Sunday
To hear Josh Allen suggest it, the Buffalo Bills' training staff may have a fight on its hands if it tries to keep the fourth-year quarterback from playing Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
"I want whatever's the best opportunity for our team to win the football game," he said. "But if I can go, I'm going to go."
Allen suffered a turf toe injury during last Sunday's overtime loss at Tampa Bay but finished the game, leading a stirring comeback in the second half before the Bucs pulled it out in overtime. He admitted on Wednesday to still being in pain after a walk-through practice in which he was listed on the injury report as a limited participant.
"We've got a few more days we get to rehab," Allen said. "Obviously I'd love to play and I guess we'll have to reevaluate some things in a couple of days. But as of right now it feels pretty good. Fortunate enough to have the training staff that we do get and work on it, you know, around the clock.
"... It's quite a bit better [than it was Monday]. And again, hats off to the training staff for putting up with me in the training room and giving me the attention that I needed. So again, we've got to attack these next few days."
Despite a rugged playing style that has seen him run the ball nearly 400 times for 2,093 yards, Allen hasn't missed any starts since his rookie season of 2018, when he sat out four games with a right elbow sprain. He was knocked out of a game by a concussion against New England the following season but was able to make his next start.
Allen is smarting more from last Sunday's result than anything else.
"During the game, you [have] adrenaline," he said. "But at the same time, whether it was hurting or not hurting ... I just want to do whatever is necessary to help our team win football games. That second half, we made some plays, didn't get the job done, and obviously the result is what we need to look at and need to work on.
"So again, we're going to have to have a really good practice this week and put together a really good game plan against a really, really good Carolina defense, because they're extremely fast on tape. They look really good. They've got some playmakers all around, they get to the quarterback extremely well. ... This is a high-effort, high-energy, fast-moving group that we've got to be ready for."
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
