There was a nerve-racking stretch for Buffalo Bills鈥 franchise quarterback Josh Allen in a 24-21 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Allen said he "lost some feeling in my hand" after hitting his "funny bone nerve" on his throwing arm during the fourth quarter.
On a second-and-11 play with 12:00 left in the game, Allen scrambled for seven yards, but hit his arm in the process.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it was the elbow or the helmet or the ground, but lost some feeling in my hand,鈥 Allen said after the game. 鈥淛ust hit the funny bone nerve and went to throw the ball and just had no feeling in the hand. So, it鈥檚 a tough one.鈥
Allen hit a funny bone in his left arm three weeks ago against the San Francisco 49ers. Allen was not on the injury report the week following that game, indicating that injury did not linger.
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On Sunday, he regained feeling in his hand, this time his throwing arm, though it took some time.
鈥淵eah, I mean, it took a good five to 10 minutes, so just making sure, trying to get some blood flow back in there, some activation,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淲hen it鈥檚 cold like that, too, the more you leave it out, the number the whole hand gets. So, it was a weird feeling. Just glad it鈥檚 gone now.鈥
The play after the injury, on third-and-9, Allen threw deep left with tight end Dalton Kincaid as the intended receiver. The ball came out of his hand poorly and came nowhere near Kincaid.
鈥淚t was more so I had no feeling in the hand,鈥 Allen said of the throw. 鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 hard to throw without feeling in your hand.鈥
The incompletion brought fourth-and-9, and the Bills opted to punt. Allen immediately got medical attention on the sideline.
Allen鈥檚 injury was labeled a right elbow contusion, and he was cleared to return. Thanks to a touchdown off a takeaway by the Bills' defense, Allen had plenty of time on the sideline and did not miss a snap.
But while the defense was on the field, things seemed tense on the sidelines. Backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky warmed up, first with center Connor McGovern.
Eventually, Allen began throwing back and forth with Trubisky, but Allen shook his right hand between every play.
Allen said it was possible that Trubisky could have gone in for him, but the amount of time the defense was on the field allowed him to get ready to go. Allen came back in the game with 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter
The stretch from when he left the field to when he returned took 2:41 of game clock, but at least 13 minutes of real time.
鈥淵eah, just depending on when we got the ball back,鈥 Allen said of going back in. 鈥淔ortunately, it was a longer drive where I was able to get some feeling and sensation back in the hand. But if we got a sudden change, I probably wouldn鈥檛 have been out there.鈥
Allen met with head athletic trainer Nate Breske on the sideline, and relayed information to head coach Sean McDermott as well. 聽
鈥淚 mean I touched base with Josh back there and put eyes on him,鈥 McDermott said. 鈥淭hey were going through the tests and what not. At that point, that's all you can do. Nate (Breske) was working with him and the (doctors) to see what was going on exactly there.
鈥淭hey cleared him to go back and play. Our medical staff does a great job with, if it's not safe for a player, they're not going to put him back out there. I trust them and they gave a green light to go back out there.鈥
Ahead of the injury, Allen was 14 of 26. He was 2 of 3 the rest of the way, with the Bills able to run out the clock on their last possession. 聽
Looking forward, the Bills have two more divisional games 鈥 at home against the New York Jets and in New England against the Patriots 鈥 to close their regular season.
鈥淵eah, and I think we鈥檙e at a weird spot right now where, you know, we鈥檙e still fighting for the one seed, but we don鈥檛 control our own destiny,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淎nd as an offense, it鈥檚 how much are we willing to show?
鈥淎re we wanting to go extreme and show everything in our arsenal when there鈥檚 a line that you鈥檝e got to toe, at the end of the day, you know, we鈥檙e just trying to go 1-0 each week and find a way to win against these guys.鈥