Orchard Park, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is still dealing with the foot injury that happened Sunday in a win over the Cleveland Browns.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said on Monday that Allen was sore when he arrived at the team’s facility and is considered day-to-day. McDermott expects Allen to be able to play this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, but he also wants to see how the foot responds during the practice week.
McDermott doesn’t know yet if Allen will be limited in practice on Tuesday.
“There’s a chance,” he said. “We’ll see. We’re going to practice a little bit tomorrow based on availability. We’ve got a number of guys that are not going to be able to practice. We’ll see how Josh shows up tomorrow and how he’s feeling.”
Allen was X-rayed at halftime and was cleared to return. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said that nothing changed from a playcalling perspective after the Allen injury against the Browns. Everything was still on the table as far as Allen’s ability to execute.
“As you guys have learned with Josh Allen, whenever he’s ready to go, he’s going to run back out on the football field and go,” Brady said. “It happened so quickly going in before half. No adjustments to play calls. Mitch (Trubisky) was ready to go, if Mitch had to go, he was gonna be good to go. But we knew Josh was gonna be ready to rock and he was good to go.”
The injury occurred on a 2nd and short late in the first half with Browns superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett in pursuit of the Bills’ quarterback. Allen was flushed out of the pocket to his left and had to awkwardly reverse course once he saw Garrett bearing down on him. When he tried to run back to his right, he said he “tweaked” his foot. He stayed in the game for the following play but then had a significant limp as he walked to the bench. Trainers attended to him on the sideline before he exited the field with a few seconds remaining on the clock. He ran out of the tunnel for the third quarter and never missed a play.
Allen has started an unbelievable 120 consecutive games and has become the modern Iron Man in the NFL for his durability. Brady said Allen will do everything he can to get his body ready to play Sunday against the Eagles.
“You don’t start as many games as he has … by not taking care of your body,” Brady said. “Every week, he’s taking hits, and it’s what makes him him. He’ll do whatever he’s got to do to be ready to go.”
The Bills still have a chance to win the AFC East, but they’ll need to win their final two games to remain in the mix. The New England Patriots need to lose to either the Miami Dolphins or the New York Jets for Buffalo to have a chance.
With the playoffs looming, the Bills could decide to play it safe with Allen and his injured foot. But Brady said that if Allen is on the field, the entire playbook is available.
“If our guys are out there, they’re out there, and we’ll be able to execute everything,” he said. “Shoot, the second play of the half (against Cleveland), we did a move the pocket play with him. And so (the injury will) have no impact on playcalling.”