UKBillFan

Said it earlier elsewhere - the three leaders on offense (Dorsey, Josh and Diggs) are emotion first kind of guys. Where's the calming influence? To his credit, I do think Diggs was trying yesterday.

No he didn't, well not yesterday anyway.

One thing I would say, and I could be way off, but Brady is 33 to Josh's 27 - there are only six years between them so I imagine there could be a risk of a sibling relationship rather than coach and employee if Brady's personality isn't strong enough to have the needed impact on Josh.

I think 3rdand12 alluded to it, either on this or the "grow up" thread, but we barely see any support structure around him whenever the camera switches to the sidelines. It was a bit of a surprise to see Diggs speaking to him when the camera switched before overtime. Perhaps it was previously decided he needs to be left alone with his thoughts; if so, I feel this needs to be revisited. If need be, switch Brady and Dorsey - put Brady in the booth to watch for patterns on the field and relay them back to Dorsey, and have Dorsey beside Josh where he used to be.

I think that can be seen with Milano's taunting call. That's inexcusable and pushed the offense back at the end of the half. An extra 15 yards and maybe they could have got a TD on the board before the break, and possibly settle Josh down rather than see him have a meltdown in the second half. But different people react differently. Some require a dressing down, some need a gentle reminder. It's about getting it right for each player.

I definitely think he felt the need to make up for his first mistake, and that's an underlying problem with Josh. When he makes an error, he wants to make up for it but he presses too much in trying to amend the error, rather than accepting it and moving on. Interestingly, listening to the Orlovsky interview on the Bills site, he says they need a "Get Josh settled down" section in the playbook. I think that's what Daboll was better at than Dorsey.

Why was Diggs doing the pick-me-up? It isn't a criticism of Diggs but where was Brady? When Daboll was OC, Dorsey was on the touchline with Josh. I would like to see Dorsey back on the touchline on Sunday. Other OC's call plays from there.

I hope so, but there have been so many bizarre decisions being made by the coaches and players of late, I'm not sure how much common sense is being used at OP. It feels a bit of a cluster.... at the moment.

Then what's the point of telling him again unless there is an underlying "or else" threat added to it? He knows, they know, we all know what he should be doing, but he cannot marry up brain and body when in the the moment. That's what they need to try and fix. Just telling him not to do it won't cut it; it won't do anything.

Well, in fairness...

Coaches can help by taking the right approach with each individual player. For example, I reckon Diggs would relish a row if he has a bad game - be called awful, air home truths, get it all out and move on. Can't see that working with Josh. I also thinks Josh KNOWS yesterday was unacceptable so the point of saying it to him is...? He's like Jekyl and Hyde - the Josh on the sidelines and off the field is different from the one on it. Personally, I hope they sit him down, go through the film and say, what did you see, what were you thinking, what were you hoping to achieve, for both the good and bad. Push him to analyse and break down the game and take it from there.

Orlovsky had a dig with the "$250m" comment so it's starting - and it was always going to.

I'm more concerned about how the coaches react. I imagine, a few years ago, it was the moment Daboll sat him down, showed him the great plays he did and reminded him he can do it to build his confidence back up. Is this what needs to be done now? Or will it just encourage him to keep pushing heroball? ETA - Or if they go in strongly, will he just second guess himself further, start making more mistakes because he tries to trust the pocket when he shouldn't, or miss the big plays because he becomes too nervous to make them. To me, it does feel like a crossroads for him and the coaching staff. Get this right and this season can be a great one. Get it wrong...

And this adds to the coaching decisions at OP. Everywhere he looks, Josh is being shredded. I don't think he's the kind to deal with bad press well. I am seriously concerned about Sunday because of this, the added pressure and everyone lining up to have a pop, what it's going to do to him. The coaches will be wanting to understandably lay into him about yesterday as well, but is that the right response considering the outside noise? What is the correct reaction? They have to get it right, otherwise the Bills could lose to the Raiders and the season, possibly even Josh himself, will be at risk of spiralling. Am I being melodramatic? I don't think so. A lot of us have been saying the coaching team is part of the problem, as they don't know how to manage him. If this is an accurate assessment, then they may not react adequately to the issue.

It's difficult because what can you say to him? You're going to bench him? Trade him? Fine him? Possibly the latter. The other two options aren't truly there at the moment. Yesterday does feel like a watershed moment. During previous games where he struggled, there have been excuses - particularly a poor O Line and dropped catches. Last night the O Line was ok and, as far as I can recall, no one dropped a catch. This is the first game where there is no mitigation. It is ALL on him. Where does he go from here? Does he bounce back or completely fall apart? Five days to find out.

But I think football comes easier to those who enjoy it, rather than feel pressure and tension. I definitely think Josh is not enjoying it at the moment; could be another reason he seemed to be seeking hits and heroball yesterday; to get the buzz back. He needs to find another way and fast.

I think you can remove "season opening" from the thread title.

I have to wonder if any equipment is still working after yesterday!

There's no reason for Josh to listen to him though. He'll be telling Josh not to do what he himself revelled in doing. The only good thing would be perhaps Fitz could explain his regrets to Josh, and see if that has any impact.

Same could be said of Bengals in the 2022 post season, but Josh was still part of the problem.

Sorry, but have to correct you here. Billl quoted you when you said, "Allen had an overall good game against the Dolphins in the playoffs not great but solid if you go by the numbers.", so the game you're referring to is the Play Off game rather than Week 14, when he was excellent.

I assume the alleged comment was off the cuff, rather than part of an interview.

Dorsey was in the quarterback room at the time so must know that might be needed at some point.

Things haven't got THAT bad for Josh, have they?

The thing I'm hanging onto is he did. The 2021 post season through to the first half of week eight of 2022 he looked everything we thought he could be based on his physical talent. And then things started to slip though, Bengals aside, never to yesterday's extent. ETA - Actually, even against the Bengals he wasn't as bad as yesterday. At least he protected the ball; was only one TO if I recall correctly.