Is it fair to say there's a budding bromance between new division rivals Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers?
Back in February, they were seen hugging it out at Pebble Beach. Then the two were having a blast at Rodgers' celebrity flag-football game in March.
Even now that they're AFC East division rivals following Rodgers' trade to the Jets, Allen can't help but issue praise toward the quarterback he grew up idolizing. The Bills star QB told The Ringer's Kevin Clark that he's excited to be facing Rodgers (at least) twice this season.
"I've gotten to know Aaron a little bit over the years, and I would consider us very close," Allen told Clark in a video posted on Wednesday. "I wouldn't say we text on the regular. I don't really call him, I FaceTime him. He usually answers, which is a big plus. I know he doesn't answer a lot of people."
That now puts Allen in better standing with Rodgers than he might currently be with his former Packers team, whom Rodgers said did not FaceTime him while his future in Green Bay hung in the balance, as Clark pointed out.
"You just gotta FaceTime him, he'll answer," Allen deadpanned.
They won't need FaceTime in Week 1. They'll be going face to face on Monday Night Football on Sept. 11 in what could be a critical battle between the Super Bowl-contender Bills and the up-and-coming Jets.
"I've just been such a fan of his since I was a little kid," said Allen, who is nearly 13 years younger than Rodgers. "Having his jerseys and trying to emulate what he does on the football field. He's such a special player. I think he's the most gifted thrower of the football all time. Going up against him twice a year, it's going to be a battle."
They've faced each other twice before. Rodgers' Packers shut out Allen and the Bills in Green Bay in just the fourth game of Allen's rookie season back in 2018. Allen and the Bills evened the head-to-head battle with a 27-17 win last season in Buffalo, even as neither quarterback played especially well that day.
While Rodgers will turn 40 years old this season, Allen acknowledged that his path to the Super Bowl just got a bit tougher with Rodgers in the quarterback-loaded AFC.
"There's a lot of great quarterbacks in the AFC right now," Allen told Clark. "These games are going to be dogfights, and it's not about how you win them, it's about if you win them. That's all we're trying to do, we're trying to score one more point than our opponent.
"As a quarterback, I am not really looking at who's on the other side of that football. I don't play them. I play their defense and their defensive coordinator. But there (are) certain things that will influence play calling and decision making based on who is over there. We don't want to give the ball back to them. We don't want to give them short fields."
