Sunday's 1 p.m. kickoff at MetLife Stadium between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills just got a bit more interesting.
A day after Pat Shurmur said Wednesday that Bills quarterback Josh Allen "had a chance to be a starter," repeating the head coach's take on the Wyoming product as the Giants evaluated the position ahead of the 2018 NFL draft, the Bills took notice.
According to Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic, a tweet published by NFL Network's Kimberly Jones with Shurmur's comments about Allen is displayed on televisions inside the Bills' facility Thursday.
When asked if Shurmur's comments were "bulletin board material," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said, "I'm not going to get into that" but added that what goes on the screens inside the facility is "internal messaging."
Shurmur declined to comment Wednesday on how involved the Giants were with Allen ahead of the 2018 draft, but said that he thought he was a "big, strong thrower" and "made steady improvements" since taking over for the Bills in 2018.
He did, however, clarify his comments in an in-house interview Friday.
"I said he is a big, strong-armed guy who we felt had a chance to be a starter, one of 32 in the world, which I consider high praise," Shurmur said of Allen, according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. "I also mentioned that he has already helped his team win some big games, so he's a winner. He is an outstanding young player with a bright future."
Shurmur and the Giants monitored Allen, among other quarterbacks, before the draft in 2018 before the took running back Saquon Barkley with their No. 2 overall pick.
After the Cleveland Browns selected Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick and the New York Jets took Southern California's Sam Darnold at No. 3 overall, the Bills jumped on Allen four spots later.
The Giants ultimately passed on quarterbacks in the 2018 class before they made Duke's Daniel Jones their heir apparent to veteran Eli Manning with the sixth overall pick for the 2019 draft.
Whether or not Shurmur's comments about Allen were meant as a slight, though, the Bills sure have taken notice with the week two matchup on deck.