Josh Allen played through most of the season with a broken left hand. He had an injury scare to his right hand in against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Allen scrambled for 7 yards in the third quarter and was rolled over by linebacker Yannick Ngakoue. It appeared Allen’s right elbow smacked into Ngakoue’s helmet. Allen got to his feet holding his throwing hand and trying to shake it loose. He badly misfired two plays later on third down.
Allen said in his postgame press conference that he smacked his funny bone.
‘Hit the funny bone nerve and went to throw and just had no feeling in the hand,’ Allen said.
Allen spoke to a trainer on the sideline while flexing his hand and throwing on the sideline. He took a seat on the bench with a glove on his right hand. Allen did not miss a play.
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Allen hit his elbow which led to a lack of sensation in his hand and it was not expected to be serious or limiting, CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn reported later in the fourth quarter.
‘I don’t know if it was the elbow or helmet or ground. Lost some feeling with the funny bone, had no feeling in the hand,’ Allen said in his postgame press conference. ‘It took a good 5-10 minute of making sure, trying to get some blood flow back in there and some activation. When it’s cold like that too, the more you leave it out the number the whole hand gets. It was a weird feeling. Glad it’s gone now.’
Allen was able to warm up his hand on the sideline for an extended time because New England’s offense lost a fumble recovery in the end zone for a Bills defense touchdown on the next possession. That gave the Patriots’ offense the ball back for another drive.
Allen may have missed plays had Buffalo’s offense quickly returned to the field.
‘Fortunately it was a longer drive so I could get some feeling and sensation back in the hand,’ Allen said. ‘If a sudden change, I probably wouldn’t have been back out there.’
Allen also hit his left funny bone, officially the ulnar nerve, in a victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13. He said it felt like his hand was ‘on fire.’
He received X-rays on his right shoulder after a ‘funky fall’ in last week’s 48-42 win against the Detroit Lions.