Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen surprisingly appeared with crutches and a cast for his foot injury that have doctors speculating on the type of surgery he underwent. The 29-year-old superstar, alongside several teammates including Dalton Kincaid and Maxwell Hairston, attended the press conference that officially introduced Joe Brady as the team’s new head coach after Sean McDermott was fired. Bills GM Brandon Beane revealed on January 21 that Allen could undergo surgery for his right foot, and it seems that the procedure has already happened and was a success, though the team has been tight-lipped on the precise nature of the operation.
NFL injury expert reacts to Josh Allen appearing with crutches
[Update, 11:40 AM PT] In a new report, doctor Jesse Morse has provided more details on the surgery Josh Allen apparently had for his foot injury in an additional post on X. The quarterback reportedly sustained the injury on December 21, 2025, as a “right 5th metatarsal fracture,” which is near the middle of the left side of the left foot, with the most likely scenario being a “Jones fracture.” The Bills faced off against the Browns on December 21, which would line up with reports of Allen first sustaining the injury after being sacked by Miles Garrett.
The procedure was reportedly conducted on Monday, January 26, by Dr. Norman Waldrop, the same doctor who was responsible for the surgery that Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had to recover from his broken ankle injury. Morse says that a surgery of this nature usually involves “either a pin or plates/screws placed.”
He expects that the recovery time for Allen to be 11 weeks, which would be at the start of April 2026, and believes that the injury will have “no long term issues” for the quarterback.
[Original] Jesse Morse, a board-certified doctor and NFL injury expert, has provided an update on the type of injury he believes Josh Allen sustained, but he’s concerned that the Bills have not provided much information about the surgery and the recovery time for his injury.
The doctor reacted to Josh Allen having a boot around his foot after a reported surgery. “Hopefully we get clarity on the specifics to help to clarify what he was playing through,” he said on X (formerly Twitter), “as well as when he will be able to return to activities as well as risks moving forward.”
Morse believes that the quarterback “suffered a midfoot sprain of the Lisfranc ligament,” a band of tissue that provides stability in the middle of the foot, or had a possible fracture.
In a post a week prior, the doctor suspected that Allen “was likely playing through a mild to moderate midfoot sprain” and noted that he may need “a surgery with a plate & screw inserted” depending on the severity of the bone separation in the midfoot.
It is suspected that Allen first sustained the foot injury after being tackled by Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett in Week 16. One week after that, he was seen limping and favoring his right foot after a play against the Eagles. The quarterback was also seen vomiting on the sidelines, which he has explained as being part an ordinary part of his routine.
Beane did not provide a recovery timeline for Allen’s injury, per ESPN, though he mentioned that the surgery would allow the quarterback to have a better chance at being a part of the team’s OTAs (Organized Team Activities) during the offseason.
Allen struggled to hold back tears during the press conference after the Bills lost to the Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round on January 17, saying that he “felt like I left my teammates down.”
