Bills Invent Brand New NFL Injury Status With Josh Allen Elbow Update

Bills Invent New Injury Status Category With Josh Allen Elbow Update

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It’s hard not to root for the Buffalo Bills now that the franchise has finally managed to turn things around after subjecting fans to decades of mediocrity that included the 17-year postseason drought that came to an end in 2018 with the one-and-done playoff appearance that gave its supporters a faint glimmer of hope.

However, the Labatt-drinking, table-smashing, Zubaz-wearing members of Bills Mafia have had plenty to cheer about over the past few years thanks in no small part to Josh Allen, who was drafted by Buffalo with the seventh pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and has since cemented himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Bills have the chance to take sole possession of first place in the AFC East if they can walk away with a win over the Vikings at home on Sunday. However, Allen’s status has been up in the air, as he was limited at practice in the week leading up to the contest after having his right elbow banged up at the end of last weekend’s loss to the Jets.

The injury (which the team says concerns the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm) seems relatively minor. However, Bills fans (and fantasy football players with Allen on their roster) have kept a close eye on the updates the team has provided as they inch closer to this week’s showdown—including one that features a description no NFL team has ever used before.

Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills invented a new NFL injury status category by describing Josh Allen’s elbow as “hour-to-hour”

On Friday, we got our latest update on Allen’s elbow from Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who seemed to hint there’s a solid chance the QB will end up suiting up describing his injury as “hour-by-hour.”

While “week-to-week” and “day-to-day” are commonly used to describe the status of an injured football player, I can’t remember any other instances where “hour-by-hour” has been deployed.

In fact, as far as I can tell, this is the first time an NFL team has used some variation of that phrase in an injury update; Based on an admittedly inexhaustive search, the exclusive club Allen has now joined was previously home to just two people: Kyle Lowry and Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson

Case Keenum will likely be the starter if Buffalo’s franchise QB is ultimately unable to play, but it seems like there’s a very good chance Allen will at least attempt to give it a go against Minnesota.

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Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.