ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen’s funny bone was no laughing matter for a few fraught moments of another Bills victory.
Buffalo’s star quarterback, who is enjoying an MVP-caliber season, repeatedly shook his throwing hand and winced while trainers attended to his bruised right elbow during the fourth quarter of Sunday's 24-21 win over the New England Patriots.
“It took a good five to 10 minutes,” Allen said. “Just making sure, trying to get some blood flow back in there, some activation.”
Playing in frigid conditions — the temperature at kickoff was 8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-13 Celsius) — didn’t help.
“When it’s cold like that, too, the more you leave it out, the number the whole hand gets," Allen said. "So it was a weird feeling. Just glad it’s gone now.”
Allen, who finished 16 of 29 passing for 154 yards with a touchdown and an interception, appeared to get hurt on a 7-yard run. On Buffalo's next play following a false start penalty, Allen threw a wobbling third-down pass that fell several yards away from intended receiver Dalton Kincaid.
“I don’t know if it was the elbow or the helmet or the ground, but lost some feeling in my hand,” Allen said. “Just hit the funny bone nerve and went to throw the ball and just had no feeling in my hand. So it’s a tough one.”
Allen didn’t miss a snap, although backup Mitchell Trubisky warmed up on the sideline while Allen tried to shake off the injury.
Buffalo’s defense gave Allen extra time to regain feeling when Taron Johnson recovered Drake Maye’s backward lateral in the end zone for a touchdown. The Patriots then had a five-play drive before punting the ball back to the Bills.
“Fortunately, it was a longer drive where I was able to get some feeling and sensation back in the hand,” Allen said. “But if we got a sudden change, I probably wouldn’t have been out there.”
Allen completed two of three passes after being hurt. He then closed out the game with a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-1. The win was the 75th of Allen’s career, tying him with Russell Wilson for the most by a quarterback in his first seven seasons.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said he watched Allen get checked out on the sideline and was confident in the training staff’s determination that Allen could return.
“They cleared him to go back and play,” McDermott said. “Our medical staff does a great job with, if it’s not safe for a player, they’re not going to put him back out there. I trust them, and they gave a green light to go back out there.”
This was the latest injury scare for Allen, who has proved durable while leading the Bills (12-3) to their fifth straight AFC East title. Buffalo still has an outside shot at chasing down Kansas City (14-1) for the top seed in the conference playoffs.
Allen spent four weeks on the injury report after hurting his non-throwing hand in the season opener but did not miss any time. He was evaluated for a concussion after hitting his head on the turf during a 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 5. Allen later revealed he rolled his ankle on the play and did not sustain a head injury.
Last week, following a 48-42 win over the Detroit Lions, the Bills quarterback had X-rays on his throwing shoulder after taking what he described as “a funky fall.”
Curiously enough, Sunday wasn’t even the first time Allen hurt his funny bone. He clutched his lower right arm in the huddle after banging his elbow on a run during the Bills’ 35-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13. That time, Allen experienced more pain than numbness.
“It was bad,” Allen said. “Feels like your hand’s on fire.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Jonah Bronstein, The Associated Press
