Josh Allen was sporting crutches and a walking boot as the Buffalo Bills introduced Joe Brady as their new head coach on Thursday in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Allen underwent surgery to repair the fifth metatarsal in his right foot Monday. The operation likely will require an eight-to-10-week recovery time for the 2024 NFL MVP, who said he aggravated the injury in Buffalo’s 23-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 21.
The injury impacted Allen the following week in a 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he later added right finger and left knee injuries when the Bills beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Despite hobbling around Thursday, Allen said he would be under center if the team were still playing.
“I’m not even lying, if we had a game this week, I would figure it out to play the game,” he said. “It’s a little painful right now. But it wasn’t a crazy surgery. So, not too long. OTAs, I’ll be back and it shouldn’t hinder anything.”
Allen, 29, also threw his support behind team management and Brady, his former offensive coordinator and now head coach.
Brady, 36, replaced Sean McDermott, who was fired after compiling a 98-50 record over nine seasons but failing to reach the Super Bowl.
“What I saw was an owner and a family that is doing everything they can to bring a Lombardi (Trophy) to Western New York,” Allen said. “I saw a general manager (now team president of football operations Brandon Beane) that’s as motivated as ever. … I truly believe in the direction of this organization, starting at the top.”
Brady spent the past four seasons on McDermott’s staff. He was Allen’s quarterbacks coach in 2022 and 2023 and added interim offensive coordinator duties in November 2023 after the firing of Ken Dorsey. He was promoted to the full-time OC job in 2024.
Now, Brady said he is ready to guide the Bills to new heights.
“I didn’t take this job to shy away from expectations,” Brady said Thursday. “I sure as hell did not do that.
“I’m embracing it. I’m understanding it. And I’m meeting it full on. I know what I signed up for and we’re going to embrace it because no one rises to low expectations. I want what this city wants. I want what Mr. (Terry) Pegula deserves.”
In 2025, Brady’s Buffalo offense ranked fourth in the NFL in yards (376.3 per game) and points (28.3). In 2024, Allen won league MVP honors and the Bills became the first team in NFL history to score at least 30 rushing and 30 receiving touchdowns in a single season.
Brady first grabbed headlines in 2019 as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach during LSU’s 15-0 run to the national championship. He won the Broyles Award as the top assistant in college football for his work with quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
