Josh Allen dealt with a shoulder injury for much of the 2023 campaign, and it took him until recently to get over the pain. The Bills quarterback told reporters (including ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg) that while his shoulder injury improved throughout last season, it remained bothersome until a few weeks ago. Allen didn’t have to undergo surgery on his shoulder.
Allen didn’t miss a game after suffering the shoulder injury in Week 6, but the issue still had a major impact on his play. As Getzenberg notes, the QB was forced to change his mechanics in order to protect his injury, and he’s spent this offseason “improving his throwing motion” to get back to his old ways. Allen has specifically been working with movement analysis company Biometrik, and the QB now has the ability to map his movements and identify any inefficiencies.
“[The injuries change] how you throw it just a little bit because your body is shielding itself from pain,” Allen said of his injury and offseason approach. “So, making sure that I’m just kind of getting back to how I’m supposed to throw and what my body is capable of doing. And sometimes it takes a little longer, sometimes it doesn’t. So again, just trusting what the data [is] saying right now and just trying to feel it above all else.”
Despite dealing with the injury for much of the 2023 campaign, Allen still finished fifth in MVP voting. The QB finished the season with a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns, although his touchdown percentage (5.0) and interception percentage (3.1) represented some of his worst marks since his first two seasons in the league.
More notes out of Buffalo…
- The Bills added safety Mike Edwards this offseason, but the veteran was unavailable for OTAs. While Edwards was in attendance for mandatory minicamp, he admitted to reporters that he’s still limited by his shoulder issue. “I’m not doing everything, just doing like individuals,” Edwards told WGR 550 radio (h/t SI.com). “Not so much where I want to be at, but it’s a step in the right direction.” The Bills will be counting on Edwards to lead their safeties corps with Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde no longer around.
- Nyheim Hines‘ 2023 season ended before it even began, as the running back suffered a torn ACL and MCL in an offseason jet ski accident. His placement on the non-football injury list meant the Bills weren’t required to pay him for the 2023 campaign, although ESPN’s Marc Raimondi notes that the RB ultimately earned $3.98MM from Buffalo last season. Hines was cut by the Bills this offseason before catching on with the Browns.
- The Bills have hired Santino Parlato as a Football Research Assistant, per ESPN’s Seth Walder. The team’s newest front office member previously worked as an analyst at Morgan Stanley.
I’m not a big fan of analytics and I’m not sure I buy into the Biometrik stuff either. No QB ever won a game on style points. Some QBs with perfect mechanics were actually terrible. Blake Bortles came within a game of getting the Jags to a SB and his mechanics were far from what the textbook recommends.
Until Allen figures out that you can’t run every other down, they won’t get far in the playoffs. He’s taken alot of big hits and isn’t getting any younger. Mahommes and Jackson don’t even run as much as he does.
You obviously didn’t watch many Bills games last year or look at his throwing stats.
Allen was one of only four QBs with over 100 rushing attempts last year, one of only five the year before, and one of three the year before that. Dude does run a ton.
To be fair to Allen, a lot of that last year in particular was due to his receivers not getting reliable separation. He still had a more impressive year than the eventual MVP. I considered him the best individual player last year, despite the Bills’ overall regression. He should have won the award handily, in my mind.
My position/opinions aside, I do agree that the punishment Allen goes through will limit him long term, however. At least, barring a change. Unlike Jackson, he has yet to miss major stretches, but the question there seems closer to when it happens versus if. To each player’s credit here, both have shown real acknowledgement of the need to pass more to help their longevity. Allen’s size affords him considerable advantage, but it doesn’t make him bulletproof. He may have played last year, and played well, but having to rework an entire throwing mechanic to compensate for an injury seems to suggest that the injury could have some kind of permanent effect, or that it was close to doing so. Allen has done very well, and possibly is the best QB in the league in any given random season, but his propensity to put it all on the line puts him at risk fairly often.
I know a now retired super bowl starting safety who said Allen doesn’t get hit, he hits guys, and it’s a big difference. No one likes seeing him coming.
You’d have to think that the decrease in TD percentage is probably a consequence of the uptick in rushing TDs for Allen
Nyheim Hines will always be a hero in western New York for his 2 kickoff-return TDs vs. New England only 6 days after Damar Hamlin collapsed. Props to the Bills for paying him so he could rehab following the Jet Ski accident that cost him the 2023 season.