Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl center Mitch Morse reached an untapped level of anger during Sunday's wild-card win over the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium. The level of intensity came over Morse as he saw Bills quarterback Josh Allen involved in a scrap with Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Allen initiated the confrontation with Wilkins when he pushed the 6-foot-4, 311-pound defender after throwing a first-half interception. Wilkins responded by pushing Allen a few more times, only for Bills offensive linemen to see what was taking place and run over in Allen's defense. It led to an on-field scuffle.
Morse later told reporters he'd never been that mad during a game.
"No," Morse said, per the team. "But, let's not make it anything bigger than it was. We talked afterwards, actually. I have a lot of respect for the way (Wilkins) plays. He's a competitive guy. Tempers flare in this game, we had our moment and it was mitigated and we were able to continue playing. But no, I've never been (that mad), no."
Morse expressed the feeling that went through his head once he saw Wilkins and Allen were involved in the extracurriculars.
"In the moment, you kind of lose consciousness for a little bit," Morse said. "I mean, that's your guy. That's your quarterback, right? You just want to be there for him, and it escalated like you saw, but I'm not going to make it too big of a thing. Like I said, we chatted afterwards and it was more than amicable. I have admiration for the way (Wilkins) plays, the competitive nature he plays at, so go from there."
Fellow Buffalo offensive lineman Dion Dawkins jumped in, as well, and even started to walk off the field with a Dolphins helmet in his hand.
Allen and the Bills ultimately got the better of Wilkins and the Dolphins with the 34-31 victory. The Bills now will advance to play either the Cincinnati Bengals or Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC divisional round.
