ORCHARD PARK, NY – – Buffalo Bills linebacker Josh Allen sat out Wednesday’s practice with a right shoulder injury but indicated afterward that it was part of the training staff’s plan to get Allen ready for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Talking to the coaching staff, just having a plan with (head athletic trainer) Nate Breske,” Allen said. “Obviously, a lot of moving parts but they didn’t do much today. To take it easy and make sure I put in the best position on Sunday and make sure I don’t hurt. So, I didn’t throw much today and hopefully tomorrow, we’ll be on the field as if nothing happened.”
Allen, 27, first injured his throwing shoulder during the team’s win over the New York Giants and was placed on the injured reserve list for the next several weeks, but was unable to practice Wednesday after the Giants game. . Some days he was fully engaged. Allen had his shoulder checked out in the doctor’s tent during last Thursday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he arrived, but ended up not missing the game.
On Wednesday he said if he has to practice today he will be there and if there is a game on Wednesday he will be playing.
“Obviously, it’s unfortunate if it’s your throwing shoulder,” Allen said. “As a pitcher, you don’t like to feel any kind of, I wouldn’t even call it pain, just discomfort there. So, we just try to stay on top of it and continue when we can. . Obviously, I hate not practicing, I hate not being involved in what we’re doing, but at the same time I know that maybe this it’s the best and I’m putting myself in the best position to make sure I’m ready to go tomorrow. and Sunday.”
Coach Sean McDermott said before practice that the quarterback will be limited in practice and he did not face any problems.
There has been a noticeable effort to limit Allen’s runs this year in order to lower his number of hits per attempt to 4.5 from his 7.1 attempts per game average over the first five seasons of his career.
Despite the injury, Allen has put together impressive performances this season, including completing 31 of 40 passes (78%) for 324 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against the Buckeyes and a sack time of 2.27 seconds, the shortest total. time in his career, according to Next Gen Stats.
Going forward, “being smart” when Allen throws it and keeping his shoulder from hurting will be a priority in making sure it’s not a big deal. “I don’t think it’s going to be too long,” Allen said, “But I think this was the best thing for me to make sure of that, to try to stay ahead of that and not let this affect me for too long.”
