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Tracking Josh Allen’s injury status for Week 10 of the NFL season
Buffalo Bills fans are nervously awaiting a decision on whether star quarterback Josh Allen will start on Sunday in a critical game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Allen suffered an elbow injury near the end of last week’s loss to the New York Jets. With the Bills needing a field goal to tie the Jets late in the game, Allen was sacked by pass rusher Bryce Huff off the edge. Huff knocked the ball loose from the quarterback’s hands, and while the Bills were able to recover the loose football, it set them back behind the chains.
Allen’s next two throws fell incomplete, and the Jets salted away the win.
This replay angle of the hit, as well as the commentary from Dr. Jess Flynn, a sports medicine doctor with over a decade of experience, illustrates the mechanism of the injury, as well as Allen’s previous history of similar injuries:
#Bills QB Josh Allen, who has a history of UCL sprain in 2018, appeared to suffer another UCL sprain on this play very late in the game. Threw a nice deep ball right after, but was shaking out the elbow/may have been dealing w some nerve stretch symptoms. Injury to watch this wk. pic.twitter.com/61nLQO1cw1
— DocFlynn (@DocFlynnNFL) November 6, 2022
After the game, Allen brushed off concern over his elbow. “There’s some slight pain, but I’ll get through it,” Allen said after the loss to the Jets.
On Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott spoke of Allen’s toughness. “The one definite thing I can tell you is we all know Josh and how competitive he is,” McDermott said. “He loves to compete, he loves to be out there with his teammates, so I would never count him out. That’s the one thing I do know about him is that right now. ”
By Wednesday, however, McDermott’s stance had changed somewhat. The coach met with the media and described Allen’s status as “day-to-day:”
“He’s day-to-day. The next question is going to be: will he play? We’ll see.” – Sean McDermott on Josh Allen and his elbow injury. #Bills
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) November 9, 2022
The quarterback did not participate in practice on Wednesday or Thursday as well:
Josh Allen is day-to-day and won’t practice today, and that seems to be all we’ll get from Sean McDermott on his elbow injury. #Bills #BillsMafia
— AJ Feldman (@AJFeldmanTV) November 9, 2022
For a second straight day, Bills listed that QB Josh Allen officially did not practice today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 10, 2022
On Friday morning, McDermott spoke with WGR in Buffalo, and indicated that the team was taking Allen’s status “hour-by-hour:”
Coach Sean McDermott on @WGR550 says that they are still taking Josh Allen “one day” and “one hour” at a time. He said that they are going to see how the lead up to practice goes.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) November 11, 2022
McDermott also did not rule Allen out for Sunday:
Bills HC Sean McDermott on WGR said they have NOT ruled out QB Josh Allen for this Sunday’s game against the Vikings. They are taking it one day and one hour at a time with Allen.
DE Greg Rousseau and S Jordan Poyer have been ruled out.
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) November 11, 2022
However, when the team took the field Friday for practice, Allen was not spotted during the early portion open to the media. That led some to conclude that after missing three days of practice, Allen would be unavailable for Sunday against the Vikings:
Three straight days of no practice for Josh Allen. It sure seems like Case Keenum will start for the Bills against the Vikings on Sunday. https://t.co/OuLjvoPEqo
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 11, 2022
However, McDermott let the media in at the end of practice, and Allen was spotted in a practice jersey for the first time all week:
Media was just allowed in the field house after practice. Josh Allen ran off the field in his practice jersey. First time this week we’ve seen him wearing it.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) November 11, 2022
Bills beat reporter Jon Scott captured this footage of Allen running off the field, without a sleeve or a brace on his injured right arm:
Here is Josh Allen at the end of #Bills practice today.
No brace or sleeve seen on right elbow, but appears to be taped.
Once he notices media inside the team’s fieldhouse, Allen runs off to locker room. pic.twitter.com/fsCvEO2nBk
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) November 11, 2022
The mystery continues …
Meanwhile, Allen was listed as Questionable for Sunday’s game, after practicing Friday in a limited capacity:
The #Bills officially list QB Josh Allen as questionable after he practiced in a limited fashion today. Progress.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 11, 2022
This story will be updated when a decision is made regarding his status for Sunday.
