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Bills QB Josh Allen doesn't expect to need surgery for mid-season shoulder injury
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Bills quarterback Josh Allen doesn't expect to need offseason surgery on his right, throwing shoulder that he injured midway through the 2023 season.
"At the moment, yes," Allen said Monday during locker cleanout when asked if he expected to avoid surgery.
Allen first appeared on the Bills' injury report with a right shoulder ailment prior to the Week 7 game against the Patriots. He tweaked the shoulder again on a hard fall in the Thursday night game against the Buccaneers in Week 9, and sat out of practice reps the following week.
“As a thrower, you don’t like feeling any sort of, I wouldn’t even call it pain, just discomfort in there,” Allen said prior to the Nov. 5 game against the Bengals. “So we’re just trying to stay on top of it and get ahead of it when we can."
The injury did not cause Allen to miss any games. But with the season now over following the Bills' 27-24 divisional round loss to the Chiefs, Allen admitted the discomfort contributed to changes in his throwing mechanics.
"If you talk to any thrower -- pitcher, quarterback -- any time you feel pain in your throwing shoulder or your elbow or your hand, it's never a good thing," Allen said. "It's never comforting. And it can tweak sometimes how you deliver the ball. Throughout the season, it's kind of a mental gymnastic you have to take (into account) too, of, all right, the ball's not coming out the right way; mechanically, (it) doesn't feel like me. What can I do to fix this?"
Allen said he felt better toward the end of season after "battling, obviously, some things early on."
The Bills lost three of four games after Allen aggravated the injury against the Buccaneers on Oct. 26, and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired during that span. But the Bills ended the regular season with five straight wins to clinch a fourth consecutive AFC East title.
"It just felt like it kept getting better as the season went on, especially these probably last four weeks it felt like it didn't bother me at all," Allen said.
After completing an identical 63.3% of passes in 2021 and 2022, Allen improved his completion percentage to 66.5% in 2023, though his yards per game dipped to 253.3. His 15 rushing touchdowns gave him a share of the single-season record for a quarterback.
"Feeling good about it right now," concluded Allen, who turns 28 in May. "Going to have a good offseason."