ESPN

‘”Took a little, little fall on it and felt a little funky about it, but you know, just trying to keep it warm and keep it loose,” Allen said after the game. “I’ll be sore for a couple of days, but we’ll be fine.”‘

‘While this was a step in the right direction for the Bills’ trend of slow starts, this remains a unit with work to do with some of the issues flipping to the second half. Three straight punts allowed the Buccaneers opportunities to get within striking range and the downfield passing game remains something to work on. But against Tampa Bay, with tougher opponents still to come, it was enough.’

‘”Sean does not waver from his beliefs, from the way that this program has been built and we all understand that it starts with him …” assistant head coach/defensive line coach Eric Washington said. “You’ve gotta understand what is going to happen over the course of a season and how the great teams respond to it.”‘

‘”Maybe I’ve got to be more upbeat and be a voice and be a little bit more loud — let my emotions show a little bit more,” Allen said. “Whether I do that Thursday or not I guess will come with the execution of it, because obviously everybody is having more fun when you’re winning football games and performing well. That’s first and foremost. We’ve got to go out there and execute. I think execution breeds energy.”‘

‘Knox, 26, has caught 15 passes for 102 yards and one touchdown this season. His role as a receiver has decreased with the addition of first-round pick Dalton Kincaid, although the team is fourth in the league in 12 personnel usage (31.2%), with part of the goal in drafting Kincaid being to get both players on the field at the same time. Last season the Bills ran 12 personnel on 11.9% of plays, the fifth-lowest rate.’

‘”We’re going to get [opponents’] best shots, whatever it is,” defensive tackle Jordan Phillips said. “We’re a team everybody wants to beat and we got to stop playing down to certain different people. We got to do our thing and play Buffalo Bills football. We haven’t done that the last couple weeks, even though we won last week.”‘

‘”In the past, it’s been, probably, more inconsistent. You see flashes, then it goes away,” coach Sean McDermott said. “I think to AJ’s credit and the entire D-line, as well as [defensive line] coach [Eric] Washington and [assistant defensive line] coach [Marcus] West, they’ve really grown closer together … to this point, AJ has done, you know, I don’t want to say a 180, but his approach, his consistency, has been a big part of our success up front this year.”‘

‘Tight end Quintin Morris (ankle) and running back Damien Harris (concussion and neck) are also out for Sunday’s game in Foxborough, with the Bills placing Harris on injured reserve later Friday. The team signed running back Ty Johnson from the practice squad to the active roster in a corresponding move. Harris, who was taken off the field in an ambulance in the second quarter of the Bills’ 14-9 win over the New York Giants last week, will not face the team he played for over the previous four seasons. Johnson joins second-year back James Cook and veteran Latavius Murray as the team’s only available running backs.’

‘”I would put it in the pain management [category],” Allen said, when asked whether it will be more about managing pain with the injury or being preventive in dealing with it moving forward. “But, you know, it’s feeling pretty good.”‘

‘McDermott said that Harris is doing as “well as can be expected” and has a neck sprain and is in the league’s concussion protocol.’

‘Harris was rushing the football on third-and-1 from the Buffalo 34-yard-line in the second quarter when he took a hit to the neck area into the back of Bills right guard O’Cyrus Torrence and Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke.’

‘The beers pictured were not actually left out for the season-ticket holders Diggs grabbed them from on the touchdown celebration, so that they would not be taken by other fans. But the team’s ticket office located the right fans and placed the amount for the two beers in their account for them to enjoy.’

‘”Obviously, I’m thankful to have a quarterback who has my back and someone who understands, somebody who is out there, somebody who plays the game of football,” Diggs said Thursday when asked about recent comments by quarterback Josh Allen. “For other people, it’s hard for me to put it in words how much time and effort goes into football and how serious it is out there. When things aren’t going right and you put a lot on yourself and you want more for yourself, you want more for your team.’

‘”In terms of my path of my career and getting better, he was probably the most influential one,” Allen said this week of Daboll, who’s now the head coach of the New York Giants. “He’s a guy that I [would] talk to each and every day.”‘

‘”He’s a competitor; he’s a fiery competitor. I’m tired of hearing all this nonsense from people,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of guys in the league that have that same fire that don’t get talked about. He’s a lot of our juice on the sideline, making sure the offense is staying up and as energized as possible and we feed off of that.”‘