Josh Allen's training camp message to Bills? 'Just put your head down and work'
“Just put your head down and work,” Allen said. “It's two and a half weeks in camp. They go quick, but you can really show who you are as a person, as a player, over these next two and a half weeks. And again, everything that we do is centered around the team and building this team.
As the airhorn sounded, players were supposed to stop signing autographs and leave the field. There were showers to take, treatments to get and meetings to attend. But over and over, Josh Allen ignored the horn.
The Buffalo Bills quarterback continued his rounds of greeting fans Wednesday, signing hats, jerseys and posters as “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants followed him around the fencing. Even when security tried to give him an out to get away, Allen stayed.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen signs autographs Wednesday at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Allen is back at training camp for Year 8, and he’s thrilled to be here.
“I've always loved it,” Allen said Wednesday. “It's just being away and coming here, I mean every moment you're awake you're around your teammates, around your friends, around the strength staff, getting worked on and there's no better way to get better at football than here. If you love football, you should love camp, just hanging out and being around the guys.”
Bills veterans moved in Tuesday morning, giving them the day and night before the team’s first practice on Wednesday to start hanging out. But when it comes time to take the field, Allen has a message for his teammates.
“Just put your head down and work,” Allen said. “It's two and a half weeks in camp. They go quick, but you can really show who you are as a person, as a player, over these next two and a half weeks. And again, everything that we do is centered around the team and building this team.
“And it's different than college, I think everybody knows that, but just hearing that from some of the guys, just like, hey, like, there's no distractions here. Like, let's tune everything out. Give me two and a half weeks of everything that you got, and we’ll go from there.”
The Bills had a red-zone day on Wednesday to open camp, with Allen getting a chance to deepen his rapport with some of his newer receivers. After practice, and before autographs, Allen spent extra time on the field with wide receiver Joshua Palmer, who the Bills acquired this offseason. It wasn’t a perfect day for the offense, but there was plenty to build on.
“Offensively, didn't put the ball in harm's way today and throwing the ball away down there, it's a good thing,” Allen said. “I know it doesn't look good on the stat sheet for you guys, but I had a good day today.”
But don’t look for Allen to be satisfied with good. Don’t even look for him to be satisfied with great. Bills general manager Brandon Beane knows that the quarterback’s own expectations are much, much higher.
“I can tell you, of course Josh Allen was happy to win the MVP, who wouldn't be? But he would trade that all day, every day to hoist that Lombardi,” Beane said Wednesday. “And he's the tip of the spear for us and we believe in that, his teammates believe in that, and we believe in this coaching staff and we believe in our organization and the plan.”
The team ebbs and flows as Allen does.
“You see a calm, confident dude, he knows what he has to do in the offseason,” Beane said of Allen. “He's always prepared when he shows up. He's not coming here unprepared, and I think his teammates, when he's in the huddle, they're as calm as ever just having Josh Allen in there.”