Josh Allen experience a blast for Bills backup QBs

NFL players are uber-competitive. They’re wired to play. Trubisky and White obviously know their role. They know they’re not getting on the field unless it’s the end of a blowout or – heaven forbid – disaster strikes.

Trubisky has taken 44 snaps in mop-up duty this season. White, the Bills’ No. 3 QB, has been activated off the practice squad for two games. Yet their jobs give them the best front-row seat in the house – every day in meetings and practices and every game on the sidelines – to the Josh Allen Experience 2024, which might be an NFL MVP season.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Trubisky, who has a unique perspective because he served as Allen’s backup in the 2021 season. “It’s been a blessing coming back here, just to be teammates with him and all these guys. It’s a great culture and a great place to come to work every day.”

“He does a really good job of keeping everyone light in the building and on the offense, while obviously still being on his Ps and Qs and being dialed in when he needs to,” White said. “But everyone here has fun, and it starts with him. It’s just the attitude and the charisma he brings every day.”

Allen was in his fourth NFL season when Trubisky was the Bills’ No. 2 in 2021. What differences does he see in No. 17?

“I would just say he’s progressed in every category you possibly can since then,” Trubisky said. “He’s got a great understanding of the game and what he needs to do to win. He’s playing very well right now. It’s his preparation week to week, his mindset going into the game, his trust of the offense and Joe Brady, the communication they have throughout the week on the game plan. I think he has full trust in what we’re doing. Then he’s going out there and making crazy plays, using his ability, but at the same time not forcing it, he’s letting the game come to him.”

The Bills were an excellent offense in 2021, third in points and fifth in yards. But Trubisky acknowledges Allen has a better infrastructure around him in 2024.

“He’s playing very free because our O-line is so good and we’re able to establish the run,” Trubisky said. “But if we want to, we also can put it on his back. But we don’t have to play a full drop-back game, and I don’t think we want to. We want to have the offense completely wide open. The defense doesn’t know what’s coming. We can run the ball, play action, use our backs, use our receivers.”

White sees freedom, too, from having a multitude of skill-position weapons.

“It’s not like I’ve got to get this guy involved or this play only goes to him,” White said. “Whoever’s in there is in there and whatever my read is, that’s my read and I’m going to trust the guys to make plays. The other guys I think can feel that. So they go out there and they want to make that play for Josh. It’s how you see guys like Ty Johnson go over 100 yards receiving. You never know who it’s going to be. That’s fun, too. It keeps everyone engaged, and it’s more of a team game that way.”

What can White and Trubisky learn from studying with a freak of nature, an “alien,” as Rams coach Sean McVay calls Allen?

“I would say his attention to detail as a passer, as a thrower,” White said. “He’s constantly dialed into his motion, his mechanics. Having known Josh since college, you can tell how drastically his motion has changed, and how it has improved and how it keeps getting better and better. That’s the thing I’ve taken from him, his attention to detail on the mechanics of throwing the ball.”

“I think the communication between him, Connor McGovern and the five guys up front has been fantastic,” Trubisky said. “Austin (Gund), our OL coach, and Aaron Kromer do a great job with the protection plan every week, teaching it to us and having our rules every week. We know what’s coming and are able to communicate and get all the guys on the same page. … His ability to ID (the pass rushers), the preparation throughout the week, to know what’s coming, have answers, it allows you to go out and use your full abilities.”

Of course, there are some things Allen does that mere mortal QBs like Trubisky and White can’t replicate on the field.

Like the 64-yard frozen rope pass on the run Allen made to Keon Coleman against Detroit two weeks ago.

“I’m not looking downfield, I’m looking at him as the play happens,” Trubisky said. “So I’m like, ‘Throw it away, throw it away, run out of bounds, live to play another down.’ And he’s making incredible throws downfield. He knows what he can do. It’s incredible to see him make those plays. I thought the one that didn’t count in Detroit was really fun, too. They brought a zero blitz, he broke through the line. We blocked everyone except one guy who was unblocked. He tossed it right over his head. He’s just out there having fun.”

“Sometimes he gets in trouble, and we tell him, ‘Dude, stop taking these hits,’” White said. “But it’s one of his superpowers. It’s that scramble to the right and buying time around the sideline and just holding on that tick longer than he needs and he makes plays down the field.”

Trubisky liked the 28-yard pass by Allen early in the Detroit game on a dead run to his left, throwing against his body and leading James Cook perfectly up the field in the opposite direction.

“Every other quarterback, you tell them you do not even attempt to make that throw,” Trubisky said. “He’s doing this on the regular. It’s crazy.”

And then there was the rumbling, 26-yard TD run to seal the Kansas City win.

“When he pulled it down, he knew he had the first down,” Trubisky said. “But he’s explosive, he’s strong, he’s big, he’s hard to bring down. And I think one of his best traits is his competitiveness and his desire to win. Everyone in this building feeds off that.”