Former Patriots Receiver Defends Josh Allen After Bills’ Playoff Exit

One of Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills teammates wouldn’t let him shoulder the blame after Saturday’s gutting playoff loss.

The Bills ended their seventh consecutive postseason appearance short of the Super Bowl when falling 33-30 to the Denver Broncos in overtime. After the game, an emotional Allen said he let his teammates down.

Brandin Cooks quickly shot down that thought when asked about his quarterback’s comments, via Syracuse.com’s Matt Parrino.

“No. At the end of the day, he’s been carrying us all year,” Cooks said. “And the way I think about it is, somebody step up to be able to alleviate some of that from him. When you’re great and you feel like you have to do so much, you have the opportunity to be able to force some of those things.”

Cooks, who played with Drew Brees on the New Orleans Saints and Tom Brady during his 2017 stint with the New England Patriots, touted his latest superstar signal-caller. The 32-year-old wishes he and the supporting cast had done more to help Allen lead the Bills to victory.

“He’s the greatest quarterback in this league,” Cooks said of Allen. “We all, everybody else around him got to come up, be able to make play so he doesn’t always have to be the one to feel like, ‘Man, I got to win this game.'”

Cooks teared up when asked about Allen’s emotional post-game press conference.

“I think we all feel that way,” he said. “You know, you work so hard. Personally, I’m so thankful to be a part of this. I look back and (think) like, man, what could I have done to be able to alleviate some of that pressure? I just love this game so much. When you come up short like this, it’s going to sting for a long time.”