NEW ORLEANS, LA (WKBW) — Longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees knows a thing or two about playing quarterback at the highest level. On Thursday night, he’ll be in the broadcast booth as an analyst for the Thanksgiving matchup between the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints. But before the game, he shared some thoughts on Josh Allen, the Bills signal caller, who has become one of the leagues best at his position.
Brees said he first noticed Allen’s ability during the 2019 season. As a sophomore, Allen led the Bills to the playoffs. They lost in the first round to the Houston Texans, but Brees was impressed.
“That’s when I think I recognized from an athletic perspective, man, there’s really not many guys like that,” Brees said Tuesday. “He’s got some really rare athletic traits combined with a big arm.”
The 2021 season has been more inconsistent for Allen than his MVP-caliber year in 2020. Brees said that’s not uncommon for a player still maturing and believes Allen makes the Bills a team to reckon with for years to come.
“Once he develops some experience and they build that offense around him, he’s going to be able to really do some things. Sure enough, last year he put a lot of that on display. This year has not been quite as consistent, they’re going through some pains, but, that’s all part of the process," said Brees.
The former Saints quarterback will be joined in the booth by longtime play-by-play man Mike Tirico, a graduate of Syracuse University. For Tirico, the Bills coming out party happened two years ago when the Bills went into Dallas on Thanksgiving and knocked off the Cowboys.
“That stage [Thanksgiving] is a big one in the NFL and the Bills stepped on it, in Jerry World, and have been right center stage in the NFL since that point,” Tirico said. “Now, you get a little adversity, and you feel the pressure that the Dallas’ and Pittsburgh’s, those flagship franchises feel on a regular basis of what’s wrong with this team? They’ve went through a little bit of a tough patch but on Thanksgiving they have another chance to remind everybody how good they are so it could come full circle for them.”
