Michael Irvin Rips Bills: 'Stop Telling Josh Allen He's Dumb!'
In terms of leadership of a championship team, maybe nobody knew how to run a locker room better than Michael Irvin, the Dallas Cowboys' Hall of Famer and centerpiece to three Super Bowl winners in the 1990's.
And now Irvin is offering some unsoliticited leadership advice to the Buffalo Bills: "Quit telling Josh Allen that he's 'dumb.''
Of course, that's not literally what Bills leaders are doing in the wake of a Week 1 22-16 OT loss to the New York Jets on "Monday Night Football'' in which Bills quarterback Allen was a slopfest, with four turnovers including three interceptions. ... and his postgame acceptance of the blame for all of it.
The defeat came at the hands of a division-rival Jets team that won even after four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers left his debut game early in the first quarter with a torn Achilles. (Rodgers is now out for the season.)
And Irvin has an issue with how All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs and head coach Sean McDermott are managing the situation surrounding their franchise quarterback.
"Stop telling that man (to) 'Be smart!" Irvin said. "Because (by saying that), you're telling everyone else he's dumb. Stop doing that. Stop messing with his confidence."
It is a bit of contrarian thinking, to be sure. But Irvin is not being a troll here. He's speaking from experience when it comes to football positivity. And he is strongly suggesting that the more a teacher urges a pupil to "get smart,'' the less smart the pupil ends up believing he is. And given the fact that the Allen problem (he had 14 interceptions last year) isn't going away?
The Buffalo Bills owe it to themselves to avoid taking offense to Irvin's advice ... and to instead actually consider taking that advice.