Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen addresses the media on Wednesday, as his group readies for Sunday's AFC Wild Card Round matchup with the Denver Broncos at Highmark Stadium. (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills)
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00:00Josh, every playoff team has the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.
00:06But how do you stop yourself from really falling into the Super Bowl or
00:11bus mentality and maintaining that one week at a time
00:15structure that you guys try to put in place here?
00:17Yeah, I mean, I think we're just taking it, you gotta put one foot in front of
00:20the other, it's the team that came in here last year and they beat us.
00:25We know that, we understand that, it's a very good team.
00:28They're well coached.
00:30Their defensive line is one of the best in the league.
00:33They got a couple guys outside that can absolutely go,
00:35obviously look at Sertane, one of the best corners in the game.
00:39We're gonna have our hands full.
00:40So again, we're just trying to put one foot in front of the other,
00:44take it day by day and have a good week of practice and
00:46then try to go out there next week on Sunday.
00:48Josh, Joe has been getting some looks here at your request, I guess.
00:52You've been through this before, but what's he meant to you this season?
00:56Nothing, nothing.
00:57He hasn't done anything for us.
01:00Team should stay away from him.
01:02He's been fantastic, coming into a situation last year that was,
01:06it's not easy to switch play callers mid-year.
01:08And he came in and from that day on, if you look at our splits,
01:12our success that we've had as a team, it's noticeable.
01:16So he's one of the most positive guys in the building.
01:20He's always got juice and energy for the guys.
01:22I think that's something that we love and appreciate about him.
01:24And he's as real as they come.
01:26Fair to say that, well, it's been a theme throughout your career,
01:30that you welcome the doubters, a lot of people going back to college.
01:37Yeah, I mean, there's two things that I can control, it's my attitude and
01:42my effort and what everybody else has, that's their own prerogative.
01:45Is it true that what Elway said, it took you two and
01:48a half holes to finally ask him about passing, the Broncos passing you up?
01:53Yeah, whether it was two holes or two shots on the driving range,
01:58it was, I brought it up pretty quickly.
02:00But no, he's an awesome, awesome man, obviously a great player.
02:04I've got a lot of respect for him.
02:06What's it mean to you when he says, he called that back last summer,
02:10is one of his biggest regrets, not drafting?
02:14I mean, hindsight's 20-20, who knows how it would have worked out.
02:19I'm just glad I'm where I'm at.
02:21How does the balance of the offensive philosophy that you guys have kind of
02:25hulked over the course of this year help you when you're facing a team
02:29like Denver on defense, that you guys are not very difficult to predict where you
02:33guys are gonna be on Sunday?
02:35Yeah, I think, again, we call these kind of training camp type games where
02:41we've got our base set of rules and we kind of stick with them and
02:45we gotta make sure that we're on top of our communication.
02:47But in terms of what they're gonna do, we have no idea.
02:51We have a thought, potentially, of what could happen.
02:55But once the game goes and the first punches are thrown,
03:00you gotta be able to adjust.
03:01And it's, like I said, a really, really good team and a very, very good defense.
03:04I think statistically one of the best in the league.
03:07They got some absolute studs on that side of the ball.
03:09So we gotta have, like I said, a good week of practice.
03:12And it's gonna take everybody on Sunday.
03:14Coach, how do you feel like things with Keon have progressed this season?
03:17It seemed like he was coming on and then he had the injury.
03:20Where do you guys feel like you two are at right now?
03:22Yeah, still growing.
03:23And I think the thing with receivers and
03:26quarterbacks, there's always stuff that you can grow on.
03:30And that takes time, it takes repetition.
03:34But again, I got a good feel for what he does in our past game,
03:38where to put some of these balls for him to go get.
03:41And he's been making some good plays for us, and
03:44we're gonna need that going forward.
03:46How do you get that ultimate postseason success without changing
03:51what you've done in the regular season so far?
03:55Yeah, again, it's just we continue with the preparation that we've had all year.
04:01I think it's a quote that my college coach had, it was you dance with who brung you.
04:06We're not gonna try to change anything, don't have to do more or less.
04:11Just trying to continue and do what we're doing and
04:14make sure that we're, like I said, executing at a high level.
04:16As a team, what gives you guys confidence?
04:18Is it what you've done recently?
04:20Is it sample size throughout the course of the season?
04:23How do you know you guys are ready for a moment like this?
04:26I think it's just the belief that we have in each other.
04:28The trust that this team has, the love that this team has inside of this locker
04:31room, we're all each other's biggest supporters.
04:35And when we step on that field, we just wanna see everybody play well.
04:40There's no egos, and again,
04:42it just takes a tight knit group to win a world championship in a Super Bowl.
04:48And again, that's our goal, but
04:50in terms of the belief that we have in each other, it's unwavering.
04:53I think it's your 11th playoff game and lots of guys in the locker room have
04:57played a lot, what does that do for you?
05:01And does it give you any confidence at all in a tight playoff games,
05:05tend to be close games?
05:07Yeah, again, I think we've had a multitude of games this year.
05:11Some that we've won by a lot, some that we've won by little,
05:14some that we've lost by a little, and something that we can learn from.
05:17And I feel like we've learned from every situation this year, and
05:21it's a credit to the guys in this room and Coach McDermott for
05:24making sure that we're preaching the situational football that we tend to see
05:28throughout the league, so yeah, it's just, again, we're just trying to play well.
05:34Josh, how do you balance, this team has stayed so loose throughout the season, and
05:38now with the playoffs being here, how do you kind of balance keeping this team's
05:42identity, but also the pressure that comes through the season?
05:45Yeah, we still wanna be us.
05:47That's something that Coach McDermott preaches, is be you with us.
05:51Joe, he's a big believer in that too, of making sure that guys are loose and
05:55still dancing and having a good time.
05:57Cuz at the end of the day,
05:58we get to play this game of football that we've been playing since we were kids.
06:01And it is an absolute blessing to do.
06:04And I think once you tighten up and tense up and stop having fun with it,
06:07that's when you get to some problems.
06:08So we're gonna enjoy this process.
06:11I don't know about having fun.
06:13Do you have a favorite dad joke from Sean this year?
06:15What did the Buffalo say to his son when he went to college?
06:27Yeah, I think that obviously it's Buffalo and
06:33the Bisons and whatnot, so yeah.
06:37Obviously, you guys always wanna play at home, and
06:39you get the opportunity to do that.
06:40But what has led to success here, when you guys were undefeated the regular season?
06:44Is there an easy answer or correlation?
06:48I mean, I think operational-wise on the offensive side of the ball,
06:51we get to use cadence, and that helps with snap timing within our motions.
06:56Obviously, what Joe's done with the type of motions and
06:59shifts that we have here, it's very crucial to our offense.
07:02On defense, when it's loud and our fans can get into the game and
07:08force a false start or force a delay of game, the momentum that gives us,
07:12it can't be measured.
07:14And I think our fans have been fantastic this year, and
07:17we're gonna need them going forward.
07:18I have playoff experience, and a lot of the guys on the roster do as well.
07:21But there's also a lot of new guys on this team.
07:23How do you let them know to embrace this challenge and this opportunity?
07:27Yeah, I mean, I think Joe kinda hit it on the nail today of we've got guys that
07:31have played seven, eight years, nine years in this league that haven't seen
07:35the playoffs yet.
07:37And then we've got a coach on staff who went to the Super Bowl, I think, in 06,
07:41and didn't get back to the playoffs till, I think he said, 16 or 17.
07:44So I think that was just kind of a tone of if there's 14 teams in the playoffs,
07:51what is that, 18 teams at home right now, good math.
07:5518 teams at home that aren't playing this week, and
07:57that's something that we can't take for granted.
08:00It's something that's hard to do in this league at a consistent level.
08:05So yeah, we need to enjoy this process.
08:06And again, we're just trying to go out there and play loose and
08:09play our best football.
08:10The Broncos defense is, how much does it help build confidence going to the playoffs,
08:15knowing that you have so many options on offense,
08:20based on how you guys have scored this year?
08:24How much does that build confidence?
08:26It builds a lot of confidence, to go out there and
08:29know that our guys have the ability to run certain plays and
08:33certain concepts and stuff that we've been good at.
08:36But again, I think it comes down to playing our best this Sunday, and
08:39nothing that we've done in the past matters.
08:41It's all about who executes better and who scores one more point.
08:45Josh, talking to the offensive line, a lot of them have said the difference this year
08:48of protecting you and creating holes for the running backs have been
08:52just the communication between each other.
08:54Are you proud of that communication that you've seen between them,
08:57that they've kind of took upon themselves?
08:59I mean, to hear some of the things that they talk about right before the ball
09:03snapped, it's very impressive.
09:05We've got five guys that are extremely smart.
09:08They're talented, obviously, and
09:10you don't have that type of success without a good old line.
09:13And they've been one of the best in the business this year, and
09:15I think they're the best, and yeah, I love those guys.