Getty Josh Allen reacts to a play in a game against the New York Jets.
The Buffalo Bills may have avoided the worst-case scenario with Josh Allen.
The quarterback was injured in the final series of a 20-17 loss to the New York Jets on November 6, taking a hard hit to his elbow on a strip-sack that left him in pain. While the Bills had not provided an exact diagnosis or timeline for Allen’s return, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that he was being evaluated for a potential injury to the ulnar collateral ligament and related nerves in his right elbow. If Allen had suffered a full tear of the ligament, that could mean season-ending surgery.
But NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported later on November 8 that this may not be the case.
Good News For the Bills
On Tuesday evening, Rapoport said on the Insiders podcast that Allen is believed to have suffered a sprained UCL in his elbow, not a full tear.
“It is a UCL sprain, I believe is the proper term, which is a tiny tear. Some sort of an injury to his UCL (in his elbow),” Rapoport said. “If you watch it in slow motion, it’s a lot worse.”
While Allen’s status for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings is at risk, Rapoport reported that the long-term outlook for Allen is still much better than if he had fully torn the ligament.
“I do not know for sure, 100 percent sure that he will play this week, but it sounds like a short-term injury and it sounds like something the team believes that he will be able to play through,” he said. “It’s not great. It’s not what anybody wants. However, it’s possible this could have been way, way worse and we would have been talking about Case Keenum as the starting quarterback now.”
The Bills are expected to give a full assessment of the injury later on Wednesday.
Stefon Diggs Leaves Potential Hint on Allen’s Injury
Before Rapoport’s report framing Allen’s injury in a more optimistic light, Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs may have dropped a major hint. On Tuesday evening, he took to Twitter to share a one-word tweet that many fans believed was in regard to Allen’s injury.
“Rejoice…” he wrote.
@stefondiggs This is the tweet we needed
Another good sign came immediately after Allen suffered the injury. Though the Bills were not able to make a first down on the final drive of the game after the Jets had kicked a go-ahead field goal Allen flexed his arm strength in a long incompletion.
As NFL Next Gen Stats noted, Allen’s fourth-down heave to wide receiver Gabe Davis traveled 70 yards through the air, making it the longest pass attempt in the NFL over the last six years.
Josh Allen’s incomplete pass intended for Gabe Davis traveled 69.3 yards in the air, the longest pass attempt over the last six seasons.
Sauce Gardner was able to close in on Davis to create a tight window — from 2.4 yards at throw to 0.4 at arrival.
The pass just missed, hitting Davis in the facemask through tight coverage from Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner. Had they completed the pass, the Bills would have likely had a final field goal attempt to tie the game and force overtime.
Gabe Davis has a career catch percentage of 54.4%.
Catching consistently has always quietly been a issue, but has been outweighed by his big plays (rightfully so!)
DPI or not, a catch that has to be made
Even with the Loss, the 6-2 Bills remain in first place both in the AFC East and in the conference, holding a tie-breaker over the 6-2 Kansas City Chiefs.