Bills QB Josh Allen ‘sore’ but ‘fine’ after big hit

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is “sore” but “should be fine,” coach Sean McDermott said Monday, a day after Allen took a significant hit on a failed trick play in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“As we move forward here, we’ll continue to take it one day at a time, but [Allen] should be fine,” McDermott said. The Bills face the Houston Texans in Week 5 on Sunday.

Allen is already dealing with an injury to his left hand that he suffered in Week 1. It has led him to wear a glove on his left hand during games, but he has continued to be a full participant in practice.

Allen said after Sunday night’s game that it was his “low back” that hit the ground “so we’re good.” Allen didn’t miss a snap following the hit but later sat when the game was out of reach. Tight end Dalton Kincaid also briefly received attention after the play but returned.

Wide receiver Khalil Shakir will be handled day by day as he deals with a right ankle injury suffered in the loss.

Allen took a number of hits in the team’s 35-10 loss on Sunday night that ended an undefeated start to the season. The play that caused him to be slow to get up and briefly get attention from athletic trainers came with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter and just as the Bills were getting in a rhythm on both sides of the ball. The Ravens were held to consecutive three-and-outs to start the half, and the Bills scored a touchdown on their first drive of the half and were moving downfield.

On second-and-7 from the Baltimore 44-yard line, offensive coordinator Joe Brady called a trick play. The direct snap went to wide receiver Curtis Samuel with quarterback Allen out wide. Samuel took the snap and ran to his left and passed it back to Allen, who was quickly swarmed. As Allen tried to throw the ball, Kyle Van Noy strip-sacked him — the ball was recovered by the Ravens — and then the quarterback took a hard hit from defensive tackle Travis Jones.

“Bad, poor playcall and ultimately kind of costed us a football game right there,” Brady said Monday. “Cause you had an opportunity right there to cut it to a one-score game. We were kind of flowing a little bit, so I got to be better.”

Brady said in retrospect even if the play had been successful, it wouldn’t have been the right timing. He said it was in part called after he saw the Ravens’ backup defensive line in the game, but “then boom, soon as I see that, Van Noy, they’re switching their D-line, as soon as I see that, I got to get out of the play.”

McDermott said on Monday that it’s a situation that the Bills went back to and can learn from.

“Coach [Brady] called a shot, and the guy made a good play,” Allen said on Sunday. “That’s as simple as it is. He dove inside, and the guy made a good play. That’s what it comes down to.”

The coordinator took accountability for the Bills offense’s worst performance of the season, putting up just 10 points in Baltimore after scoring 30-plus points in each of the first three games.

“I don’t think we had a bad plan. I think the game was called bad,” Brady said. “I have issues saying that, but I’m full of accountability, like I want our guys to know, like, I’m in this with them and I got to do a better job and hold it to a standard.”

The loss ended several streaks for the Bills offensively, including a 43-game streak without losing by 10 or more points, which was the longest active streak in the NFL and sixth longest in the Super Bowl era. It was also Allen’s first game without a passing touchdown or rushing touchdown since Week 9 in 2021 against the Jaguars.