For all the hits Bills quarterback Josh Allen took yesterday, he saved a few for himself after the game.
After the five-sack outing which led to him being checked for a concussion (and cleared), Allen said much of the fault was his own.
“I didn’t do a good enough job getting the ball out on time and into the playmakers,” Allen said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “Holding onto the ball is not going to be great most of the time.”
Allen played most of the first half before he was removed from the game by the league’s concussion spotter, after his head banged against the turf on his fifth sack. He was cleared to return but didn’t play the second half, but it was probably best to limit the damage.
He was 6-of-12 for 34 yards, and the sack yardage turned their net passing to a negative number. The Bills gained four first downs in his eight series, and didn’t score a point.
That’s obviously not what they were hoping for in the seventh overall pick’s first start.
“Getting out there with the first team, obviously it’s moving really fast,” he said. “To see that speed, it was eye-opening. They have a really good defense. They came out and they brought it. But at the same time, we had plays in place that could’ve worked if I got the ball out in time. It just didn’t happen enough tonight.
“Sometimes when the play clock got a little low and I couldn’t really dissect what they were doing and understanding what they were doing, it’s tough on a quarterback.”
After the game, Bills coach Sean MCDermott used the traditional dodge (needing to watch the tape) when asked if he knew which quarterback would start the opener. A.J. McCarron was in uniform but didn’t play after suffering a shoulder injury in the second week of the preseason, leaving Nathan Peterman to mop up.
Of course, it won’t matter which quarterback starts if the Bills can’t protect him better, no matter how much Allen tries to put on himself.
