Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen will watch from the sideline Thursday night as his team wraps up the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Head coach Joe Brady confirmed Allen would sit out the finale after seeing limited action earlier in the exhibition schedule. The veteran starter appeared in the opener against Carolina and sat the following week versus Cleveland.
Brady said Allen remains eager to stay involved even when he is not taking snaps.
“He’ll be right there with me [on the sideline],” Brady said. “Hopefully, I’ll let him call some plays, maybe, on Thursday. He wants it all the time.”
Allen, who has heard similar offers before, responded with a familiar mix of humor and skepticism.
“We’ll see. [He talks a big game],” he said. “He’s promised me that the last few years, and it hasn’t happened yet, so we’ll see.”
While the team sorts out its backup quarterback competition between Kyle Allen and Shane Buechele, the franchise quarterback used the quiet stretch to share news that reaches beyond football.
Allen is again partnering with Wonderful Pistachios and restarting the Josh Allen Scholarship Fund. The program helps first-generation high school graduates from the Firebaugh, California, area pursue college.
The company said accepted students receive help with applications plus financial support.
“Students accepted into the program receive support with college applications and up to $12,000 over four years of college,” the press release stated. “Nearly 40 seniors were accepted into the scholarship program in its inaugural year.”
Allen, a fourth-generation pistachio farmer, will also appear on packages of the brand’s 16-ounce roasted and salted in-shell pistachios.
He tied the sponsorship to the values he learned growing up on the family farm.
“Farming and football both require passion, persistence and dedication,” Allen said. “You have to show up every day, trust the process, and keep pushing forward. From the farm to the field, pistachios are part of my roots, and I’m proud to share that story with fans.”
The announcement arrived as Allen prepares for his ninth NFL season and the team’s move into a new $2.2 billion stadium. One change in particular has him feeling optimistic.
The new field is grass rather than artificial turf, and Allen has made no secret of his preference.
“I think grass is healthier for our bodies,” he said. “I’m to a point in my career now that when we practice inside on the artificial, I can feel it the next day. When we’re out there, I feel great, and I think any guy that was honest would tell you that’s how they feel.”
He described lingering problems from turf burns that once made sleep difficult.
“I’ve gotten numerous, numerous burns on my legs from artificial turf to the point where I can’t sleep at night because it’s bubbling over. It’s very painful… If I can snap my fingers and make every field grass, that’s what I would do for sure.”
Allen’s comments reflect both physical wear after nearly a decade as a starter and a desire to stay healthy for the long regular-season grind ahead. The Bills open the season soon after Thursday’s exhibition, and the quarterback has already begun shifting his focus from preseason experiments to September football.
The scholarship renewal and product partnership give fans a reminder that Allen’s public life extends past the locker room. For a player who still describes himself as an “explosive play caller,” the latest news shows he is equally comfortable talking about roots, farming and giving back to the community that raised him.
Thursday’s game will serve as one last rehearsal for everyone else on the roster. Allen will be close by, headset possibly in hand, waiting to see whether Brady finally makes good on an old promise.
