Bills QB Josh Allen still coming to grips with coaching change, playoff loss and foot surgery

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The tears have long dried, though the pangs of regret remain for Josh Allen, who's still coming to grips over what’s transpired in the 12 days since the Buffalo Bills were eliminated from the playoffs.

Add in having surgery for a broken bone in his right foot, and a sudden coaching change that had offensive coordinator Joe Brady promoted to take over after Sean McDermott was fired, and Allen has had little time to catch his breath.

“I’m still trying to take it all in,” Allen said Thursday after attending Brady’s inaugural news conference.

“There’s just so many elements that come into play. Just trying to take it one day at a time,” he added. “But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I’m still sick to my stomach about how the season ended.”

Allen’s comments were his first since breaking down in tears following a 33-30 overtime loss to Denver in a divisional-round playoff on Jan. 17. It was an outing in which his three touchdown passes were undone by committing four of Buffalo’s five turnovers.

As much as Allen is fully on board with Brady’s hiring in a search process he played a role in, the quarterback shouldered the blame for McDermott’s firing after nine seasons.

“I’ve got nothing but love and respect for coach McDermott,” Allen said.

“If I make one more play that game in Denver, we’re probably not having this press conference right now. We’re probably not making a change,” he added. “And that’s the hard part to take in from my perspective, but that’s reality.”

The loss proved to be the last straw for owner Terry Pegula, who called Allen to inform him of McDermott’s firing. Pegula felt the Bills had hit what he called “the proverbial playoff wall” under the coach, and feared the team was wasting Allen’s prime years, with the quarterback set to turn 30 in May.

Allen showed up Thursday with crutches and with a protective boot on his right foot. He expects to be fully healthy for the start of spring practices, adding he would have been able to play if Buffalo had a game this week.

Allen said he played through the injury after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his foot late in the second quarter of a 23-20 win at Cleveland on Dec. 21.

“It’s a little painful right now, but it wasn’t a crazy surgery,” he said.

Allen also rallied to the defense of receiver Keon Coleman, who was drawn into McDermott’s dismissal following an underperforming season in which the second-year player was disciplined for showing up late to meetings.

Pegula interjected last week when questions were asked about Coleman and general manager Brandon Beane’s failure to improve the team’s group of receivers last offseason. Pegula said members of the coaching staff were to blame for pushing Beane to draft the player with the first pick of the second round in 2024.

“He will come back from that. I’m not going to give up on zero,” Allen said, referring to Coleman’s number. “He’s got too much ability and we’re gonna work tirelessly, him and me, and so will everybody else in this building.”

Beane referred to Allen’s role in the interview process as a sounding board and as a representative for the players.

Allen said he felt awkward at times sitting in on the interviews. But he said the experience was ultimately beneficial in learning more about the Pegulas, Beane and even Brady, who was initially the Bills' quarterback coach in 2022 before being promoted to coordinator midway through 2023.

“I looked at (Brady) the other day and he promised me and I promised him to hold each other to a standard and hold each other accountable and not get complacent of where we’re at,” Allen said. “I truly believe in the direction of this organization, starting from the top.”

Aside from resting, Allen's immediate offseason plans involve him preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, actor Hailee Steinfeld, who announced her pregnancy in mid-December.

“I’m very much looking forward to that. It’s something that I will take with great pride,” Allen said. “This is the most important thing I’ll ever be in my life is being a dad. And I know I love being a football player, and I love being a quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. But I’m looking forward to this one.”

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