PHOENIX — Josh Allen has skipped voluntary workouts for far less.

The Buffalo Bills are protecting their star quarterback’s privacy regarding details. Maybe his wife, Hailee Steinfeld, has delivered their baby already. Who knows?

But coach Joe Brady said Allen is expected to attend next week’s sessions in Orchard Park.

Steinfeld has been expecting their first child. Two weeks ago, she was unable to attend the Academy Awards as her blockbuster film, “Sinners,” earned a record 16 nominations. Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan noted her absence in his acceptance speech.

Allen intends to be in Western New York.

“It is voluntary,” Brady said Tuesday morning while attending the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “When you’re Josh Allen, you’ve got marketing. You’ve got stuff. Now you’ve got family. I’m understanding that guys might not be able to be there every single day, every moment. But what I know is if Josh can, he will.

“I’m not sitting in this chair without Josh, right? We’re in this together, and we’ve got to hold each other accountable. So I know how important that is for him, especially day one.

“He’s going to be sitting in that chair, helping everybody else.”

Brady missed the birth of his second child when the Bills crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers in November.

Four years ago, Allen ducked two voluntary practices to participate in “The Match,” a nationally televised golf exhibition. Brady and Patrick Mahomes played Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. That was the offseason Buffalo, with Allen’s recommendation, promoted Ken Dorsey as first-time offensive coordinator to replace Brian Daboll.

Allen Allen oxen free

Now that he’s the head coach, don’t expect Brady’s perspective on Allen’s power rushing to change.

“There’s going to come a time in his career where his legs aren’t going to be able to do what he can do, and he’s going to have to become a true pocket passer,” Brady said. “We’re not there yet, all right?

“But I try not to be mindful of that when I’m calling plays. We know, in the past, Josh is going to scramble. You’ve got to count those scrambles, knowing that those are going to be some of the runs.”

Preserving Allen’s longevity has been an ongoing topic since he was on his rookie contract. His devil-may-care style seems to court injury, but he rarely misses a play. He might be slow to get off the turf, and concussion spotters might briefly remove him, but he always returns to the field.

He’ll turn 30 in May. Despite suffering a broken bone in his right foot in Week 16, Allen’s 112 rushing attempts ranked third and his 579 yards rank fourth among his eight NFL seasons. He ran 23 times in two playoff games.

So he’s not necessarily curtailing his approach.

“I never game planned with the mindset, ‘Yeah, this might take a couple years off Josh’s career, but I won’t be here.’ I love that guy,” Brady said. “I’ve said this 100 times, and you’re going to hear me say it another 100 times: I want Josh Allen to get everything he deserves in his life and his career. He puts so much into this game, and all I want is for him to be holding what he deserves.”

Allen has scored 41 of his 79 rushing TDs (and seven of his nine in the postseason) within the past three years.

“He had one foot, and he’s out there, jumping, hurdling,” said Brady, also referencing the 2022 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings, which Allen played with a sprained elbow ligament. “We were, like, ‘Whatever you can, you just can’t get hit.’ First drive, he’s in the open field and tries running the guy over.

“That’s how his mind works.”

 

Dalton Kincaid is still on the mend from a left knee injury from 2024. (Jeff Romance / Imagn Images)

Brady mindful of Dalton Kincaid’s weekly availability

Brady echoed Bills GM Brandon Beane’s concern that load management remains a possibility for frequently injured tight end Dalton Kincaid in 2026.

The season opener still is five months away, but Brady already is wondering how Buffalo will maintain Kincaid’s week-to-week and play-to-play wherewithal. Brady mentioned missing regular-season practices and stated Kincaid simply might have to play through the pain.

Kincaid is rehabbing that November 2024 left knee injury, a torn PCL that he has declined to have surgically repaired, which has led to other complications last year. He also struggled with hamstring and oblique injuries, missing five games and starting only five, despite Brady’s praise of Kincaid’s offseason preparation.

“He is as tough as can be,” Brady said. “There’s a lot of things that he is pushing through that you guys might not see, and I think some of it is just learning how to play with certain elements of some movements that might not feel great, and he’s had to push through that.

“But when he’s out there, we’re better. That’s undeniable, and getting a plan with our strength staff, with our science-performance team of figuring out what that looks like week-to-week … How much does he have to practice so that he’s ready to go? What do we have to do with his movements? Because I’m understanding how important he is.”

Sounds one step removed from Bubble Wrap.

“I do believe practice is important,” said Brady, “but I also don’t want a guy where he does so much in practice that he can’t be the same person in the game.”

Kincaid played a career-low 38 percent of his available offensive snaps. Beane said Monday that he sometimes was on game-to-game snap counts to keep him as fresh and effective as possible, but conceded that using Kincaid mainly in passing situations made Buffalo’s personnel more predictable.

Kincaid averaged just 3.3 catches and 47.6 yards per game in the regular season, but he scored a career-high five touchdowns. In the playoffs, his numbers bumped to 4.5 receptions for 55.5 yards and two TDs.

“You can’t really predict the future with regards to the medical element of it,” Brady said. “But, man, you guys saw him in the playoffs. He’s a difference-maker, and you get him in matchups — both safeties, linebackers — you feel like, in the critical moments, Josh is looking his way.

“But you want him out there.”

‘Keon is on our football team’

Brady used that dreaded comment in reference to the third-year receiver.

Often, when a GM or coach uses the phrase that somebody “is on our team,” it’s for semantic cover. It’s factual. It avoids controversy. But it says nothing about future plans.

Coleman unwittingly found himself in the headlines after Bills owner Terry Pegula, unsolicited, faulted Sean McDermott’s coaching staff to absolve Beane for drafting Coleman 33rd overall two years ago. The Bills have been trying to repair the relationship and Coleman’s potential trade value amid common-sense speculation they’ll need to deal their blame-game pawn.

“The thing with Keon is, from a football standpoint, man, his work ethic, his approach, how he’s going through it … If Keon just takes care of himself off the field and shows up, he’s going to be good to go,” Brady said.

“The growth that Keon’s going to have from this year to the next, Keon is on our football team. Keon, I’ve never said anything negative. I was the first to tell everybody, ‘I wanted Keon Coleman.’ So Keon’s not just going to be pushed aside. He’s going to continue to develop.”

McDermott benched Coleman twice — the entire first quarter of a game his rookie season and a full game last year — for tardiness and continued to make him a healthy scratch last year. In 31 games, including playoffs, Coleman has 72 catches for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns.