josh-allen-td-us.jpg
Getty Images

Josh Allen was banged up for the Buffalo Bills heading into Thursday night's showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite being listed on the injury report with a right shoulder injury (his throwing arm), there wasn't a doubt Allen was going to play.

Allen appeared to aggravate the injury during the Bills' 24-18 victory, walking into the team medical test during the game. The Bills quarterback was also seen testing his arm on the sidelines, but didn't miss a snap while playing the whole game. 

"I mean, took a little fall on it, and just felt a little funky about it, but you know, just trying to keep it warm and keep it loose," Allen said to reporters postgame, via NFL.com. "I'll be sore for a couple days, but we'll be fine."

Allen turned in arguably his best performance of the season, going 31 of 40 for 324 yards with two touchdowns and an interception (106.7 rating). He also had seven carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, tying Steve Young for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 43. 

Allen appeared to aggravate the shoulder injury when he rolled over on a scramble in the second quarter. On his first play back, he had his lone blemish of the night with an interception that sparked the Buccaneers as they erased an early 10-point deficit.

Allen bounced back in the second half, going 13 of 22 for 119 yards with a touchdown (89.0 rating). He also threw a touchdown to Dalton Kincaid in the second possession coming off a shoulder injury, giving the Bills quarterback two touchdowns after going into the medical tent.

The Bills don't have a game for 10 days. Plenty of time for Allen to heal up. 

"It didn't surprise me when they said, 'Hey, he's going back in,'" said Bills head coach Sean McDermott. "But from a -- I don't know -- like a protective standpoint, you're going to have to take his helmet from him to keep him from going back out there. He's a warrior."