Bills' Josh Allen 'Really Wanted' to Keep Part of Bone from Surgery on Foot Injury

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was hoping for a souvenir from his January surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot.

Allen underwent a procedure in January to address the broken bone, which he said was a previous injury that had been "jolted" during a Week 16 matchup against the Cleveland Browns last December.

"A little piece of bone just broke off and was floating there, so they just went in, took it out," Allen said Monday. "Kind of like a small rock. They literally just cut it out, leave it on the table and sew it back up."

When asked if he got to keep the bone, Allen answered, "No... apparently they wrapped it up and threw it away as quickly as they could. And I really wanted it."

He joked, "It may be floating out there, who knows. Black market or something."

Had Allen gotten to keep the bone, he wouldn't be the first professional athlete to take a souvenir away from a surgical procedure.

Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler told reporters in February he had kept the rib he had removed as part of thoracic outlet surgery last August.

Despite last December's injury, Allen maintained his streak of 122 consecutive regular-season starts for the Bills, including a brief appearance in last season's Week 18 matchup against the New York Jets.

Allen said Monday he had "no limitations" from his offseason surgery. He'll be expected to start in Week 1 as the Bills look to build toward a deeper playoff run than last winter's divisional round loss to the Denver Broncos.