Bills QB Josh Allen: ‘I proved that they didn’t make a mistake in drafting me’
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is still reeling from his final game of the 2020 season. That came in his team’s 38-24 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
Allen himself certainly wasn’t spectacular against the Chiefs this year. In both loses to them, including in Week 6, the QB had off days. Because of that, Allen couldn’t help be continually reference how plays from the game were still rolling through his mind a full day later when he chatted via video conference on locker cleanout day in Orchard Park on Monday.
But finally, as things were winding down in his 25 minutes chat… Allen gave himself some long overdue credit when reflecting on the 2020 season, which will go down as his breakout year.
“I proved… (the Bills) didn’t make a mistake in drafting me a few years ago,” Allen said. “I’ve got to continue to go out there and have that same mindset.”
Allen actually saying that is certainly a head-turning statement.
Not because he’s wrong, but because the guy never does such a thing. Earlier in the same discussion, he was essentially asked when he’d finally sit down and pat himself on the back.
Upon that answer, Allen essentially answered never.
“Probably won’t happen anytime soon for me to feel that way. The reason being, we didn’t accomplish our main goal. I’m not an individual award type of guy, statistic type of guy,” Allen said.
That overall attitude of never taking credit for himself is exactly what the Bills’ brass liked in him off the field when drafting him with the No. 7 overall pick at the 2018 NFL Draft. The on-field stuff just finally catching up this year.
That whole package came together, and that’s why someone like wide receiver Cole Beasley, a grizzled veteran in comparison to Allen, respects the young quarterback so much already… again, both on and off the field.
“You always want to see some type of accountability from any player on your team, but he’s always… I can say he’s being to hard on himself, but he’s going to do that regardless of what I say because that’s the type of guy that he is and that’s why we love him so much,” Beasley said via video conference. “He could have thrown for 400 yards and three touchdowns and he would’ve said the same thing.”
Beasley added: “(Allen) shouldn’t have to be Superman every game for us to win and he did that a lot for us this year. We wouldn’t have even been there if it weren’t for him. Dude had a hell of year.”
Heading into the offseason the Bills have already said this Chiefs loss is stinging a lot, if not more than, their loss to the Houston Texans in the 2019 postseason. If that means the ensuing 2021 season is going to fuel a further improved quarterback? That could be great news for the Bills and bad news for the rest of the NFL.
