The Buffalo Bills wouldn't be preparing for their sixth straight playoff run without the exceptional abilities of Josh Allen.
Those abilities include posting an MVP-favorite campaign while having a broken non-throwing hand.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport confirmed last Sunday that Allen had sustained the injury during a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Week 1, a game in which the Bills triumphed 34-28 over the Arizona Cardinals.
Now, while prepping for the Bills' Week 17 meeting with the New York Jets, Allen offered a little bit of acknowledgment towards the report when asked during media availability.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's the left one, so it doesn't really matter all that much," said Allen.
Allen first appeared on the injury report for the left hand injury during the Bills' Week 12 bye and since since worn a protective glove.
The Bills improved to 12-3 after defeating the New England Patriots 24-21 last week. Allen posted one of his more modest performances of 2024, throwing for 154 yards for one score and an interception.
He returned to the injury report with an injury endured to his right hand this time. Allen "got a helmet to the funny bone," he told CBS Sports' Evan Washburn. "I went to throw the next one, and I had no feeling in the hand. Came out a little wobbly."
In the five days since it doesn't appear that Allen's status will be in jeopardy because of the collision.
"Good. Just a little sore from this last game. Probably took too many opportunities for them to lay their hands and pads on me. I just gotta be smarter," said Allen on Thursday.
The Bills can no longer clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs after the Kansas City Chiefs ousted the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, but Allen will continue stinging together an iron-clad case for his first MVP.
Kansas City continues to take one-possession ball games, which have rounded out its NFL-leading 15-1 record. The Bills are responsible for the Chiefs' lone loss, and Allen was the man who drove it home.
He scampered passed several defenders for a 26-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter on Nov. 17. This put the Bills up 29-21 and proved to elevate the victory to out of reach from the Chiefs.
"It was crazy," Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper said about Allen. "He used to take a lot of hits, but he used to obviously have these big runs, but he was sliding all game. So, I wasn't sure if he was going to go for it. ... He knew the situation like, 'Yo, we need to score. We have this great offense on the other side. I can't slide right here.'"
Allen's ability to answer the bell at the right times while playing through physical drawbacks is a testament to his heroism this season, and most importantly: his poise to push the Bills to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.
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