08-20 Josh Allen

WGR-AM / WGR 550 SportsRadio

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen addresses the media following Tuesday's practice in Orchard Park. (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills)

Transcript

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.

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