Tom Brady may have retired from football this year, but that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping an eye on the NFL. In fact, the seven-time Super Bowl champ has been watching Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen this season.
While the GOAT is a huge admirer of the 27-year-old, he still believes there are things Allen can improve at. In a recent episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast this week, Tom seized the Bills star’s presence to tell him he risks his body too much.
“He makes a lot of plays running ball, I think sometimes he gets used to and he wants to run it because he knows he can gain yards. There’s a lot of confidence in it. But the only problem is, from my standpoint, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way. And when you put yourself in harm’s way, it doesn’t take much for someone to land on you to set you back,” Brady said, via CBS Sports.
Allen has forged a reputation for being one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the league. But the Bills warned him more than once for his reckless way of playing, as he exposes himself to dangerous hits. Brady doesn’t want him to stop running, but he does wish that Allen slides more.
“Not that he shouldn’t run. But when he does run, [expletive] slide and make sure no one hits you because I don’t ever want to see him get hurt. I want to see him out there playing out there because he’s such a [expletive] stud,” Brady added.
Allen is slowly improving on it, but there’s still work to do
While Brady thinks Allen still has to work on this aspect of his game, the Bills QB is already showing signs of evolution. This season, he’s so far made just 36 rushing attempts. That’s the lowest since his rookie year in 2018, when he finished with 89.
This decline in attempts doesn’t mean he’s scoring less, as he already ran for five TDs in 2023. Last year, he had seven scores in a career-high 124 carries. But then again, Allen has yet to learn when to stop. He even admitted in the podcast that’s still something complicated for him.
“That’s where the flip for me is so hard to turn off because I just care so much about winning football games and sometimes it does cause the risk to be a little bit higher than maybe even the reward,” Allen said.
This season, Allen has three rushing fumbles, having lost the ball twice. Therefore, Brady may have a fair point. This is not something new for the Bills quarterback, as he had vowed to take less risks ahead of the 2023 season.
Bills GM said Allen agreed to take less risks
Bills GM Brandon Beane looked happy in the offseason as Allen committed to protecting his body a bit more this year. In an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Beane praised the signal-caller’s willingness “to being a little bit smarter and picking his spots,” better than in 2022.
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Allen also admitted he couldn’t go on like this, taking risks that could take a serious toll on his body. “It sounds crazy, but I’m getting older. I know I can’t continue to do this,” he told USA Today. “I know when I’m using my youth, I feel like I can. But over the course of my career, I’m going to have to learn to adapt and change.”
The Bills certainly need Allen to take care of himself in order to succeed. The team started the season with some problems, as its 5-3 record is slightly better than that of the Jets’ (4-3). Buffalo will take the Bengals in a must-watch on Sunday night. Of course, all eyes will be on Allen’s approach to his running game.
