Patrick Mahomes probably has an idea how Josh Allen is feeling. The doubts tied to being a “raw” prospect have melted away, and what’s left is just as easily identifiable.
Expectations.
Mahomes turns 26 next week and had to deal with those at 23, coming off his MVP year, and again at 24, coming off a championship. Now, the 25-year-old Allen, for the first time, is having to manage them. And that, to be sure, changes the dynamic for any young player.
There’s a lot for all of us on the outside to chew on. But those around Allen aren’t caught up in it—or really even bringing it up to last year’s MVP runner-up.
As they see it, they don’t have to, and won’t have to.
“Albert, it stems from where he comes from and how he was raised,” Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll told me (very pointedly) after practice Thursday. “Not having any scholarship offers coming out of high school, and then getting one at Wyoming, and then the whole thing where, Then he comes here, and, or, . All of it.
“The one thing I’ve admired about Josh, really from the days I first met him at the Senior Bowl, he’s so grounded as a person. And I don’t think he’s ever gonna be satisfied with anything. That’s just the type of person he is. He’s highly, highly competitive. He’s always going to have a chip on his shoulder, and that’s a healthy thing, because he’s had a long journey. And I think there’s a lot left in his journey, and he knows that.”
Daboll then paused and added, “There’s no, or anything like that.”
Maybe Allen doesn’t see it that way. But fewer and fewer people are with him on that.
