TAMPA, Fla. – Josh Allen suffered a sprained foot during Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be listed as day to day.
That was the eagerly anticipated update Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott delivered a little after 4 p.m. Monday in regards to the team's franchise quarterback.
"We'll just see how he responds at this point to treatment," McDermott said. "We'll see what Sunday looks like as we get through the week as well as his practice time through the week."
McDermott said it was too early to know whether Allen will be able to practice Wednesday, when the Bills begin on-field preparations for their Week 15 home game against Carolina.
"We're just going to take it one day at a time here and see where it goes. I talked to the medical team and you know, he has a chance," the coach said. "We'll just see where that goes. I spoke with Josh, as well, and he's in good spirits. He's certainly sore. I thought he played a heck of a game in that second half and led our team in big moments of the game."
Earlier Monday, NFL Network reported that Allen was suffering from a mild case of turf toe. Asked specifically about report, McDermott reiterated that the term the team's training staff has used with him is a sprained left foot.
Allen came to his postgame news conference wearing a walking boot on his left foot. The quarterback appeared to be hurt at the end of a 23-yard run that came with a little more than 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter when he was pulled down from behind by Buccaneers linebacker Devin White. Allen was seen limping after that, although he threw a touchdown on the next play to tight end Dawson Knox.
After that, Allen was looked at by several trainers on the Bills' sideline, and backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was seen warming up. Allen, however, did not miss a snap in leading the Bills all the way back from a 24-3 deficit to tie the game near the end of regulation time.
"Whether it was throwing it, running it, just diving for first downs – I was very ... impressed with what he did in that game, in particular down the stretch," McDermott said. "I thought the leadership piece really showed up as well and really proud of him for that. You know, all this is steps in the right direction in his development as a quarterback, as a leader, for this organization."
If Allen can't play, the Bills would turn to Trubisky.
"Very confident in Mitch Trubisky. He had a really good preseason," McDermott said. "He's continued to progress through the year. Very appreciative of his team-first approach for a guy that hasn't typically been in that role prior to coming here, and that takes a lot of character. And he has shown that every week, and I’m real proud of him for it and we'll be ready to go if and when his number’s called."
Here are four more takeaways from the video conferences Monday with McDermott, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
1. McDermott explained his thinking on the ill-fated fake punt. Facing fourth and 2 from their own 45-yard line early in the third quarter, the Bills ran a fake punt, but running back Matt Breida was easily dropped for a 3-yard loss off left end. If the plan was to go for it in some fashion, McDermott was asked Monday, why not just keep his best offensive player, Allen, on the field?
"I'll give you the short version is, felt like we had a good look," he said. "We talked about it all week in terms of the fake punt, so felt good about it, so execution level there. Overall, I thought that we managed the game in such a way that gave us a good chance to win at the end and multiple chances there, so comfortable with that."
McDermott reiterated that the other game-management calls he made – which included kicking a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the Bucs' 3-yard line in the second quarter when the score was 10-0 Tampa Bay and punting on fourth and 3 from the Bills' 45-yard line – were decisions he was comfortable with.
"You're always looking at things you can do better as you go back through them," he said. "But again, the way we managed the game, I felt after the game that we gave ourselves a good solid chance to win, which was proven at the end of the game."
2. Daboll explained why the offense did not make a rushing attempt with a running back in the first half. The Bills had four rushing attempts in the first half – all by Allen, and only one of which was designed as a run.
"You can turn and hand it off and let them run into that line of scrimmage, which, you know, they were top two, if not the best," against the run coming into the game, Daboll said of the Bucs, who ranked second in the NFL entering Week 14, allowing just 84.3 yards per game. "You try to be creative and find ways to either tire a line out or get the ball on the perimeter, use RPOs, or quarterback run game or quick drop back or perimeter screens. So we were going to be aggressive. That was the mindset going into it. Got behind the chains a little bit there in the first half, had a couple, really, third and longs, but the guys battled, did a good job. I think Josh made good decisions in terms of the running game, when to throw it and when to hand it off."
3. A lack of takeaways is hurting the defense. The Bills have taken the ball away just twice over their last four games. Perhaps not surprisingly, they're just 1-3 in that time.
"That's something that we have talked about as a staff earlier today," Frazier said. "We need to get back to taking it away. It would have made a big difference yesterday, and we've got to find ways to get it done. We'll continue to work on it in practice. We'll continue to talk about it, and, as you know, sometimes they come in bunches. Once you get a couple or get one, they kind of snowball from there, so we're hoping this coming weekend we can get back on track with taking the football away. This could be the weekend to get us started."
The Bills rank seventh in the NFL with a plus-8 turnover differential.
4. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson was placed on the NFL's reserve/Covid-19 list. Dodson joins fellow linebacker A.J. Klein, who has missed the last two games, on the list. If Dodson is vaccinated, he has a chance to return in time for the game against Carolina, provided he tests negative twice at least 24 hours apart. If Dodson is not vaccinated, he'll be away from the team for the next 10 days. Klein, who has missed the past two games, could return this week if he's symptom free. League wide, the NFL placed 36 players on the Covid-19 list Monday, the most in a single day since testing began in 2020.
