Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen was knocked out of the game against the New England Patriots on a dirty fourth-quarter hit. He has exited the blue evaluation tent and jogged to the locker room.
Yeeesh. pic.twitter.com/07ukS0FRyy
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) September 29, 2019
This is exactly the type of play the NFL is trying to legislate out of the game. Allen, with his arms pinned to his side, was hit helmet-to-helmet by defender Jonathan Jones. He should have been ejected from the game. He’ll definitely get a FedEx envelope from the league office.
While Jones was flagged on the play, so was a Bills’ offensive player, leading to offsetting penalties. Let’s re-state this: Buffalo got zero yards for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on their running quarterback.
Allen fell to the ground and was down for a few seconds without moving. Teammates immediately called for trainers.
Matt Barkley came into the game and will lead the team going forward. Allen is being evaluated for a concussion.
Update:
Allen is officially in the league’s concussion protocol, according to coach Sean McDermott.
NFL head of officiating Al Riveron said after the game that Jones’s helmet-to-helmet hit did not “rise to the level” of the league standard for disqualification, according to the pool report filed by Vic Carucci.
Patriots DB Jonathan Jones on the hit that knocked out Josh Allen: “No malice intent. You never want to hurt anybody.”
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) September 29, 2019