Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen ran off the field after a second-down play during Sunday’s game against the Jets, causing fans to hold their breath.
The quarterback and reigning NFL MVP left the game temporarily at the end of the first quarter following a rushing attempt where he kept the ball and tried to make a play, after which he sprinted to the sidelines as he signaled for medical attention.
“It’s feeling great. We’re good to go,” Allen assured CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson postgame. When asked if he might get X-rays, he replied, “I’m sure they’re going to ask me to, I typically decline, we’ll figure it out.”
The QB sat out a pair of plays while the athletic training staff held a towel up to Allen’s nose to stop any blood. Gauze was placed in Allen’s nostrils, after which he put his helmet back on, returning to the field at the start of the second quarter.
During his media session, he once more was asked the question seemingly on everyone’s mind… “How’s the face, the nose?”
“We can breathe, so it’s good,” Allen said. “I pulled [the ball] when I probably should have handed it off. I tried to throw it, and I saw him push, decided to tuck it. I don’t know what hit me, if it was a knee, a hand, it was somebody. [A] helmet just kind of came down right on the bridge of my nose and just started leaking.”
While it still remains to be seen what residual impact the injury could have after the contest, with a short week before hosting the Miami Dolphins for Thursday Night Football. But Allen is confident.
“I mean, last time it was like high school in basketball,” Allen added, smiling. “Basketball hit me in the nose or something. Yeah, it was a weird one. It’s still kind of going on, but we’ll be alright.”
Bills defensive end Joey Bosa, who had another big impact on defense this week, was not surprised Allen powered through his nose injury.
“Not at all. He’s an absolute beast,” Bosa said to NFL Films after the game. “It’s funny. He’s like, ‘All I need from you is one strip sack,’ and I went out there and got it at the end of the game, so I’m happy I was able to do something for him.”
“[Allen’s] a dog. Always gonna lay it on the line on the field,” defensive end Greg Rousseau added, per ESPN.
Mitchell Trubisky entered the game on third-and-7 and offered assurance in relief while Allen got checked out. He powered a perfect 32-yard pass to Bills receiver Josh Palmer in stride on a crossing route for a first down with Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner in coverage. The Bills would finish the drive with a field goal and Trubisky with more passing yards in short order (32) than opposing Jets QB Justin Fields had all game (27).
“It’s tough because you should go down there to give Mitch a chance to kind of catch his bearings to kind of come out there,” Allen said of his QB2. “Obviously, gushing blood and I just wanted to try to get off the field and stop it. For him to come off the bench like that, no warm-up, no nothing, and to be ready. I think that’s a true embodiment of the character and man that he is, coming in there and making a play on third down for us. That was a huge drive; it was a huge play. Shout out, Mitch.”
Veteran corner Tre White, who made his return from an injury, pointed to the team’s preparedness and versatility.
“It just shows the type of team we have, and everybody’s prepared no matter what,” cornerback Tre’Davious White said. “So, that was a great sign for us. But Mitch is a great player, but Josh is Josh. But whenever you can have a guy that comes in and keeps third down and makes a big-time throw when he hadn’t been in the game at all, it just shows the way that we prepare as a team.”
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills QB Josh Allen offers update on nose injury post-Jets win
Reporting by David Benjamin De Cristofaro, Bills Wire / Bills Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
