ORCHARD PARK — There’s a switch somewhere in the back of Josh Allen’s shoulder pads. There’s got to be.
Sometimes Allen will bulldoze a defender. Sometimes he’ll jump over the top of one. Other times he’s chirping at an opponent or even the officials.
And by the time he returns to the huddle, his face turns to stone and it’s back to business.
Allen is fiercely competitive and has repeatedly said he will do whatever it takes for the Buffalo Bills to win a game. Wearing a smile, Allen shrugged off a left hand injury after leaping over Cardinals safety Budd Baker to score a touchdown in Week 1, only for it be revealed that Allen broke his hand on the play.
Coach Sean McDermott stopped publicly criticizing Allen’s propensity for taking unnecessary hits after years of urging him to think otherwise. General manager Brandon Beane even had to throw up his hands at one point this season.
At a certain point in the game, there’s nothing Allen won’t do to win.
“He’s super competitive with everything he does,” Bills tight end Dawson Knox said. “Whether it’s a video game or a board game, football, I mean, he hates losing.”
There was a time in Allen’s career when he played with too much emotion. Sometimes it made Allen press or feel like he needed to win the game on one play and that led to head-scratching decisions and interceptions.
A season ago, in the wake of a loss to a floundering New England Patriots team, Allen revealed he was practicing low-positivity, which lowers energy and heart rate to maximize the mind.
Allen mused that maybe he needed to show his emotions a little bit more. He was an efficient passer, but ran the ball at a low rate and the Bills stumbled to a 5-5 start before offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired.
“There’s a time to be calm, cool and collected and he knows when to kind of turn it up,” Bills reserve quarterback Shane Buechele said. “And it’s not fake. It’s a real confidence, it’s a real energy and that’s what you respect about him. He definitely feels when guys need it and when they don’t.”
Once Joe Brady took over play-calling duties, he embraced Allen’s penchant for taking off. Allen suffered three injuries to his throwing arm during his first six seasons and all of them occurred while throwing, including a fall on his shoulder during a game against the New York Giants last season.
And this season, Allen has found a balance between doing what’s necessary and protecting himself from unnecessary hits. Of course Allen took off on fourth and 2 against the then-unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs and scored the game-sealing 26-yard touchdown.
But while Allen wants to win and be one of the boys, he also has to serve as a calming presence for the rest of the offense. And after six years of acquiescing to veterans, Allen has publicly embraced being the public face of the franchise.
That means finding ways to balance his emotions over the course of a game.
“Everybody’s competitive, but at the same time, you can’t make it bigger than it needs to be,” Brady said. “This game is no different than last game. Each play has to be the same. If you really trust in your process, you’re not going to make it any bigger than it needs to be.”
Part of why the Bills have shown no panic this season is Allen. The Bills have fallen behind in the first half 13 times this season with Allen as the starter and are 10-3 in those games, while sitting at 9-0 in games they hold a lead at halftime.
Just a season ago, the Bills often wilted in the game’s biggest moments. They were 2-3 when trailing at halftime and lost five games after holding a lead in the fourth quarter or overtime.
And after going 2-6 in one-possession games to start last season, the Bills are 8-3 with Allen playing the full game in those situations.
For his career, Allen has scored 70 touchdowns in the fourth quarter, accounting for over 25% of his 260 total touchdowns.
“No matter the score, no matter the situation, he has a calming presence about him,” Bills left guard David Edwards said. “And when your leader has that, it trickles down to everybody else.”
When Allen approached the podium for his postgame press conference after losing a 44-42 game to the Los Angeles Rams, he looked miserable. It would be impossible to tell Allen just accounted for 422 yards and six touchdowns.
But he lost.
The scowl likely wasn’t on Allen’s face for very long. Allen is eager to figure out what went wrong and correct mistakes, but he won’t stew over a loss for very long. Or at least he won’t let you believe he’s boiling.
“He’s not going to let you know that it’s bothering him deep down,” Bills backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said. “But he’s getting ready for his get-back.”
Come playoff time, Allen flips another switch. His personality doesn’t change much, but the switch in him is noticeable to teammates and even more evident in his statistics.
Allen’s completion percentage (65.4), total yards (327.6) and quarterback rating (102.3) all take a jump in the postseason, while he has 29 total touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 career playoff games.
“He’s still the same guy, he’s still the same teammate that kind jokes around and is goofy, but there is a little bit of a focus notch that he turns up (in the playoffs),” said Buechele, who is on injured reserve with a neck injury. “And I think the guys respond to it, too, and they kind of turn it up a little bit. And I think that’s what you need to do for the playoffs.”
As for Allen?
“We want to score every time we touch the ball here,” Allen said. “… Is that viable? Not usually. But that’s our goal every time we step on the field, is to score more points than the other guys.”
NOTES: RB Ray Davis (concussion) and OL Alec Anderson (calf) were limited in Thursday’s practice.