08-20 Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen addresses the media following Tuesday's practice in Orchard Park. (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills)
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00:00Hey, Josh, we just heard Keyon say he called it a drop at the goal line.
00:04He put it on himself.
00:06When you see that, I know you weren't on the field at the time, what kind of
00:08message, what kind of communication can you have with a young receiver after a
00:11situation like that?
00:12Yeah, I mean, it's all learning experiences.
00:15You know, I know Mitch will say that he could have given him a better ball, and
00:18Keyon's going to say he could have caught that.
00:20So, if we can clean up a little bit of both, I think we're probably celebrating
00:24the end zone and everyone's staying calm, but Mitch was also playing on a bad knee
00:29that drive, and I commend him for toughing it out.
00:32That's not easy to do, and he stuck in there to help his teammates, and yeah.
00:38Remember back a while ago when you were talking about looking back at film at
00:42Wyoming, and it was gross, you called it?
00:45Yeah.
00:46There's no film on leadership.
00:47There's no film on that to judge that, but as you reflect back, how much have
00:52you grown as a leader seven years into the NFL, or if you think back and maybe
00:59become more assertive, or in what ways have you grown as a leader?
01:02Yeah, I mean, I think there's a level of trying to always be who I am, be myself,
01:10be as authentic as possible, and everyone knows that's a joyous guy that likes to
01:15have fun.
01:16I love the game of football.
01:18I love life, but there's times where there doesn't need to be joking around.
01:24You know, time to get serious, and over the years, I've found when that is the
01:29most critical, and when it's the hardest to do sometimes is the right thing to do,
01:33and I think just over the course of so many years and talking with different
01:37players that we've brought into the building, different coaches that we've
01:40had on staff, and just learning from each and every one of them, and just trying
01:44to apply that to how I can be the best leader of this team that I can be, but
01:48ultimately, it comes down to being myself, and I feel like I've been myself since
01:52I've been here, and I'm going to continue to do so, and just try to bring guys
01:55along, so I know Coach McDermott talks about, be you with us, and that's all
01:59we're trying to do here.
02:08Absolutely, absolutely, and I think, again, I was in the quarterback room with
02:11him a year and a half prior as well, so we know each other very well.
02:16I've got a lot of faith in him, and he does, and I, so we've got to continue to
02:20keep growing, and talking, and understanding what we're trying to
02:24accomplish when he calls a certain play, and again, I'm an extension of him when
02:27I'm on the field, so I've got to keep learning and just keep asking as many
02:30questions as I can.
02:36Yeah, absolutely, and I think that everything that we're doing right now, it
02:40has a rhyme and a reason, and you guys saw last year the type of play caller that
02:45he is. He finds a groove, and if something's working, he's going to continue
02:49to use it, and he's going to have jabs and counters as well, so just trust him
02:53what he's calling.
03:06Listen, everyone's going to have their day, and I'm happy that everyone's getting
03:10what they're worth, and I think that as the game progresses and guys keep getting
03:15paid, again, the market is the market, and I've got no problem with where I'm at
03:21right now, and I had my day a couple years ago, and I'm sure someday I'll have it
03:27again, but I think the main thing is the main thing, and that's playing football to
03:31the best of my ability, and everything else will take care of itself.
03:43We'll get through this weekend before we actually get into exactly what they're
03:47going to do, and again, it's game one, so we can watch all the film that we want to
03:51watch from last year, but who knows what they're going to do week one, and we've
03:56got to understand that we can have a plan going into it, but if it's completely
04:00different than what we've got, we've got to adjust and make in-game changes, which
04:04is something I think that we do very well, and Joe's very adaptable, and he finds a
04:08way to put our guys in the best position to win, so yeah, I think next week we'll
04:15get into them.
04:18What's maybe a little bit different, or what stands out to you about him?
04:23I think that his football IQ, and I've talked about it before, the way that he
04:28sees the field is pretty special for a rookie to do. His body control, the way
04:34that he can go up and jump and catch balls that you guys have seen throughout
04:37camp, so he loves this game, he loves being around his teammates, and I'm very
04:43excited to see what he can do for this offense.
04:46Obviously Joe's been a big story entry since Saturday, you were watching him
04:50from afar, what did you make of him calling the defense in the game that he
04:53put on?
04:54Yeah, stepped up into a position where we're down all linebackers right now,
04:57and didn't blink, he answered the call that was needed to be answered on
05:03Saturday, so I'm very happy for him, he works extremely hard, we all know the
05:08homeboy, hometown hero story, and he's not letting it affect him though, he's
05:13still out here making plays in practice, and he's flying around and playing
05:16some good football right now, which is fun to see.
05:19Is there anything too different this year?
05:21No, just switching something up.
05:23I remember earlier you were asking me about the point guard this year, so I
05:26don't know if there's like a basketball one?
05:28Yeah, sure.
05:30That's it.
05:31What about Zach Davis, what have you seen that kind of, seems to make plays
05:36every time we watch him in practice, maybe in the preseason games?
05:40He's just, again, a guy that loves football, loves his teammates, and he
05:45finds himself in the right positions because he does things the right way,
05:48he's blocking for other guys, he's running routes to get other guys open,
05:52when his time is, when he's asked to make plays for us, he's making the plays,
05:57so I know that at the end of the day, this is a business, and he's fighting
06:04hard right now, and I love watching him play, I love watching him practice,
06:08he's got a boatload of energy, and he's fun to be around, and you love rooting
06:14for a guy like that, and again, he just continues to make play after play
06:17throughout these days.
06:18How invested do you get in some of the guys toward the bottom of the roster,
06:22knowing that Saturday, they're playing for a job in the NFL?
06:26Yeah, I'm very invested in, you know, I think all my teammates, and the sad
06:33truth is, throughout the entire league, this is the last game that some guys
06:37ever play, and it's not a fun Sunday, Monday, because obviously cuts happen,
06:45and you make that initial wave of cuts, and then the teams are looking at who
06:49else got cut, so the next day you might also, so it's not fun.
06:55You know, I feel for the guys, and I love these guys, and hopefully we can get
07:00a lot of them back, because the reality is we can only keep 53 guys on this
07:03active roster.
07:06But again, we've got guys that are working hard here each and every day
07:09trying to make the team.
07:11Josh, I know you've got a question.
07:16There's been a lot of six-and-three encounters with the roster,
07:19and I'm wondering if you feel that this team is in an adequate spot
07:24or an inadequate spot with the co-leadership that you've had on the team
07:29so far?
07:32Yeah, I think youth can sometimes be a positive thing.
07:36Guys don't know what they don't know, and we're able to kind of teach them
07:41as a coaching staff what we want from them, and as Coach McDermott preaches,
07:46the playoff caliber type mentality and the mindset that we have in this
07:50building, I think having youth and being impressionable there and instilling that
07:55into the guys that are coming into this building, it's something that they get
07:59right away and they can buy into.
08:02I trust the guys on this team.
08:04You talk about on the defensive side with Terrell Bernard, a guy that stepped up
08:08last year, and I know he's only a couple years into this, and he's still young,
08:14but he's going to play a lot for us, and he's done a great job in terms of
08:18communicating on that defensive side of the ball, and guys feel like he's a guy
08:22that they can come to and talk to in terms of the defensive scheme,
08:25and he knows it, and he practices it each and every day,
08:27and you can see him in this building having work on his body,
08:30and he just does things the right way.
08:32He's a true pro, and guys get to see that at such a young age,
08:35and it's infectious to the other guys.
08:37So we've got plenty of other guys, too, that are in this building that are vets.
08:42You talk about Vaughn.
08:43You talk about Dede.
08:44You talk about Ed Oliver on that defensive line, on the offensive side,
08:48guys that have played a lot of football on Deion, Connor, Dave Edwards,
08:52guys that have been around.
08:54So I'm not worried about that at all.
08:56Yeah, no, just a second.
08:58You know what it's like to be a high-bank with expectations.
09:01We watch him, he seems to be pretty focused and a worker,
09:05but have you ever had any conversations with him about that?
09:08Because obviously he was the top draft pick with expectations.
09:12Have you had that, or what do you sense in the way he'll feel?
09:16No, I mean I think talking with him and knowing where he's from
09:20and where he's been, I think he's made for a city like Buffalo,
09:25and I think that, again, he's played a lot of big-time games in college,
09:28and he's answered the bell there.
09:30I've got no worries about his mindset
09:33or his ability to help his team win football games.
09:38Thank you, guys.