Josh Allen played through more pain than he let on.
The Bills’ superstar quarterback told reporters he underwent surgery on a broken bone in his right foot after he surprisingly arrived on crutches to new coach Joe Brady’s introductory press conference Thursday.
“I’m not even lying — if we had to play a game this week, I would find a way to play,” Allen said, per ESPN.
Allen’s injury came as a major surprise since there had not been indications that he would need an offseason procedure, and he said he had the work done in Birmingham, Ala.
Cameras captured Allen walking in the facility on crutches, and just-promoted Buffalo president of football operations Brandon Beane then mentioned during his presser how “Josh went and had his foot fixed.”
Allen, 29, has developed a reputation as one of the NFL’s iron men, having started 122 straight regular-season games dating back to Week 12 of his rookie season in 2018.
He confirmed to reporters that the injury stemmed from an old right foot injury that he aggravated during a Week 16 win over the Browns.
Allen played the following week in a home loss to the Eagles, but underwent X-rays that came back negative, according to ESPN.
He told reporters after the 13-12 loss that the injury did not affect him.
“Coming into the game, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had my eyes on Josh,” ex-coach Sean McDermott said after the game, per ESPN. “Just because of how important he is to us. And we’re in the playoffs. But I also know who he is. And he’s as competitive as there is, and as good as there is, but I also have a responsibility to protect him to make sure he’s as healthy as possible for us as we move into the playoffs.
“You’ve got to know, to get [No.] 17 off the field, you’re gonna have to … I’m gonna have to wrestle him.”
Allen appeared on the injury reports for Weeks 17, 18 and the Wild Card round with a foot injury, before also adding knee and right finger ailments for the Divisional Round.
While he dealt with this injury, Allen also factored into the team’s decision to promote Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach after firing Sean McDermott.
