Josh Allen Reveal: Time 'to Switch'; Ready for 'Older' Bills QB?
The Buffalo Bills GM has essentially demanded it. So has the Bills coach. And now the decision-maker who in a sense matters most - the Buffalo quarterback - has decided to play along.
"I've been a football player first and a quarterback second," QB Josh Allen said this week as the team assembled for offseason workouts. "And at some point that's going to have to switch."
The "switch'' is a major one, both in terms of what the bullishly physical Allen must do mentally ... and in terms of what it can mean to keeping the Bills in contention over the course of a long season.
In short, this is about Allen, who has finished each of the last two seasons as one of Buffalo's top rushers and last year registered 124 carries, opting to decline throwing his 6-5, 240-pound body into harm's way as often as he has so far in his fine career.
In speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Allen acknowledged that he's "getting older" - well, he's 26! - and with that aging comes adaptation. Allen did not necessarily go along with the notion that GM Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott's public comments about him backing down just a bit have forced him into this "switch.'' Rather, he termed it an "internal" thought.
"I know I can’t continue to do this,'' said Allen, who also noted that his elbow problem from 2022 - unrelated to running, by the way - is no longer an issue. “There were some times last year when I’m in the open field, I don’t need an extra 2 yards,” Allen said. “Get down, slide and live to fight another down.
"I want to be the smartest quarterback with the football in my hands.''
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