Brandon Beane is happy he’s still around to tell the story of when the Buffalo Bills pegged quarterback Josh Allen to become their heir-apparent starter.

The amount of film the Bills general manager watched Saquon Barkley Jersey , games attended and people he interviewed before drafting the Wyoming quarterback in the first round was nothing compared to the hair-raising experience Beane and the team’s brain trust had visiting Allen in mid-March.

”Ha, ha, ha, you want that story?” coach Sean McDermott said, after Beane first mentioned how ”interesting” their trip was to Laramie, Wyoming.

Sure, was the response, during an hour-long session McDermott and Beane held with reporters in June. By agreement, the contents of the interview were not allowed to be published until Thursday.

Beane shook his head in describing the turbulence the Bills’ private jet experienced during landing.

”We were coming in over the mountains, and the plane started just going like this,” Beane said, bobbing his arm up and down. ”Literally, our heads are going off the ceiling.”

Beane and co-owner Terry Pegula, who had been watching video of Allen, suddenly started grabbing anything they could get their hands on – seatbacks and armrests – to steady themselves.

While McDermott remained calm, Beane said offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was in near hysterics.

”Daboll is face-timing with his wife. And every expletive, like, `It’s over,”’ Beane said.

”It was like Fred Sanford: `I’m coming home!”’ he added Sean Harlow Jersey , referring to the character played by Redd Fox in the 1970s sitcom ”Sanford And Son.”

Upon finally landing, the pilot informed them the turbulence was the result of what’s referred to as a mountain wave, which occurs occasionally when planes fly over high terrain.

Once they gathered their breath, the Bills then proceeded with meeting Allen, and put him through a workout.

Without providing Allen with a script of plays beforehand, Daboll began yelling out situations to see how quickly the quarterback could digest the information and make a throw.

”It was, `All right, the deep dig. Now. Five-step, this. Go.’ And he processed it quickly,” Beane said. ”His workout was very good. And when we left there, we felt very confident.”

They were confident enough to give up two second-round picks to Tampa Bay and trade up five spots to draft Allen at No. 7.

Where their confidence wavered involved what bumps they might encounter upon leaving Laramie.

”We were a little distracted about how we were getting out of here,” Beane said. ”It was like, `Where do we drive to have the plane meet us?”’

Here are a number of other notable topics discussed during the session:

McDERMOTT OWNS UP

Beane revealed how McDermott owned up to Bills players by acknowledging he erred in starting rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman over Tyrod Taylor in a bid to provide Buffalo’s sputtering offense a spark in Week 11.

The switch backfired , with Peterman benched after throwing five interceptions in the first half of a 54-24 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers, that extended Buffalo’s skid to three games.

”Sean stood up there and he owned the Tyrod decision,” Beane said. ”He said, `It didn’t work. We tried it. And I’m trying to win every week. And unfortunately that decision didn’t work out for various reasons. Tyrod’s our starter.”’

The Bills responded with a 16-10 win at Kansas City the following week as part of a season-closing 4-2 run to finish 9-7, and end a 17-year playoff drought.

CHARTING ALLEN

To address questions regarding Allen’s accuracy, Bills scouts turned to game tape to chart every throw he attempted. They assessed what caused the incompletions Kyzir White Jersey , including times he threw the ball away when his receivers weren’t open.

The Bills also took into account Wyoming’s offensive philosophy, which didn’t include many short passes.

”He had no gimme throws,” Beane said of a quarterback who went 152 of 270, in completing just 56.3 percent of his passes, with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions in 11 games last year.

The only real concern was Allen’s footwork, which Beane said notably improved by the time he played at the Senior Bowl in January.

”I’m not saying it’s fixed,” Beane said of Allen’s footwork. ”But improved.”

QB COMPETITION

McDermott has no intention of rushing Allen into a starting job once training camp opens in suburban Rochester on July 26.

Allen earned limited time with the starters during Buffalo’s three-day mandatory minicamp in mid-June. He spent the previous 10 practices working with the third-stringers, while Peterman and free-agent addition AJ McCarron split time with the starters.

McDermott previously coached in Carolina and Philadelphia, and noted how quarterbacks develop differently.

Whereas, Cam Newton started immediately during his rookie season in 2011 in Carolina, Donovan McNabb waited until Week 7 in 1999 to make his first start in Philadelphia.

”There’s no exact way to do it, right? It’s about bringing him along the right way,” McDermott said. ”We’re not going to put him out there unless we feel like he’s ready.”

Beane concurred, while adding: ”Whether he plays zero games or 16 games, we’re going to put out the guy that gives us the best chance to win each Sunday.”

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Time was running out in a game earlier this season that Golden State was going to win by 10 points, and Andre Iguodala decided to take a 3-pointer instead of getting the Warriors charged with a shot-clock violation.

The Warriors’ opponent that night: Cleveland.

If an unwritten rule of basketball was broken, no one seemed bothered then. But in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when Shaun Livingston took a jumper with about 3 seconds left in overtime and the outcome decided, the Cavaliers‘ feathers got ruffled and Tristan Thompson got ejected.

One can only guess how those emotions will affect things when the series resumes with Game 2 on Sunday night.

”I contested a shot that shouldn’t have been taken Tony Jefferson Jersey ,” Thompson said.

”Whatever. Just play it to the end,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said.

It’s a thorny issue with no solution.

Philadelphia and Miami jawed over late-game shot attempts in their playoff series this season. The 76ers and Cavs exchanged words over a Dario Saric dunk late in a blowout in March. The Warriors’ JaVale McGee got shoved by Washington’s Brandon Jennings while taking a late 3 in a rout last season. Toronto once sent about half its team to speak to Lance Stephenson after a late open layup in an Indiana win.

And now the rules – arbitrary as they may be – are up for debate in the NBA Finals after the Cavaliers took offense to the Warriors playing offense.

”I mean, it’s like the unspoken rule in the NBA: If you’re up by 10 or 11 with about 20 seconds left, you don’t take that shot,” Thompson said. ”I made the contest, and next thing I know I was being kicked out for making a contest that we learn in training camp. I don’t know why I got thrown out.”

Referee Tony Brothers explained why postgame, saying he saw Thompson go into Livingston with his elbow high on that shot. In Brothers’ eyes, that merited the assessment of a flagrant-2 foul and ejection.

”It’s not affecting the outcome of the game,” Miami center Kelly Olynyk said Friday from India, where he’s appearing at a Basketball Without Borders event for the NBA this week. ”It doesn’t really matter to me. It doesn’t really make a difference to me. It doesn’t make a difference in the outcome of the game, win and loss record. If a guy wants two more points we’ll give it to him and move on.”

Thing is, the Warriors take those shots all the time. It’s basically a team policy. Since the start of the 2016-17 season when facing such a situation – time running out, shot clock still on, game outcome clearly decided – Golden State has been charged with a field-goal attempt 38 times, while committing only five shot-clock violations.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a simple rule: Don’t partake in any habit that leads to a turnover.

His guys are listening.

”That’s our thing,” Golden State forward Kevin Durant said. ”It’s no disrespect to any other team. It’s just what we do. We don’t want to take the turnover. We take the shot. So we’ve been doing that all year, since I’ve been here, too.”

For his part, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue shrugged off the Livingston shot Friday.

”Got to play to the buzzer Cameron Meredith Jersey ,” Lue said. ”They took a shot and that’s what they do. It doesn’t determine the game. The game was over. It’s no big deal to me. So, whatever.”

The three instances this season of the Warriors taking a shot-clock violation in those situations have one thing in common – they were all against New Orleans, and it should be noted that Kerr and Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry are close friends.

Otherwise, they don’t take the foot off the gas.

In the past two seasons the Warriors have taken shots in the final seconds with leads of 30, 36, 44 and 45 points.

”I don’t think we would get on our feelings if somebody came down and finished out a possession and got a shot up,” Curry said. ”I mean, obviously, if they’re doing some taunting or doing some crazy stuff, that’s a little different. But if you’re just playing the game of basketball and finishing out a possession instead of taking a turnover, I don’t see any problem with that at all. Guys are out there to finish a game and play the right way.”

Game 1 had a collection of wacky things happen in the final moments – an overturned block-charge call that left LeBron James livid, J.R. Smith’s baffling decision to run out the clock at the end of regulation, and James and Curry jawing at one another after the Warriors guard tried a layup on the possession before Livingston got fouled on his late shot.

And Cleveland hopes its frustration becomes fuel for Game 2.

”It’s not going to be a prom dance,” Cleveland’s George Hill said. ”It’s going to be a fight.”

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