AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets

Bills

• Former Bills C Eric Wood confirmed that he’s now officially retired after he recently agreed to a settlement with the team and was released. Wood added there was never any animosity between him and the Bills organization. (Sal Capaccio)
• Wood also mentioned that while he’s not sure what’s next for him, it’s possible he could someday get back into football in some capacity or take a media job. (Sal Capaccio)

Dolphins

Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com reports that Dolphins HC Adam Gase would give QB Ryan Tannehill a heads up before the team would have one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft in for a visit or travel to meet with them so he wouldn’t hear about it from somewhere else.

“I really think his thought was—don’t waste the draft pick,” Gase said of Tannehill. “He focused on work and bringing the same intensity he does every day. He’s very competitive. He’s not going to bat an eye at any of those things. He just keeps going. If there’s some kind of internal thing going on, you’re not going to know. He’s not going to show his cards. So I never worried about it.

“Just being around him, this being my third year [as head coach], the guy competes as hard as anyone I’ve been around, especially at that position. And it’s a good feeling as a coach when we’ve got him back out there.”

Jets

New Jets LB Avery Williamson says he took offense to the Titans’ preference to not play him on certain downs.

“I don’t know, man,” Williamson told the New York Daily News. “It was a weird situation. . . . Honestly, I don’t know. But they didn’t want me to play certain downs. . . . I was definitely offended by that all last year. Like I said, it wasn’t my decision. Now I’m here and I’m definitely going to get the opportunity. So, I’m glad to be a part of this. It gives me extra fuel to continue to improve my game and become better than I was last year.”

Williamson added that he’s using Tennessee’s doubts about his ability to be a three-down linebacker as motivation.

“It’s motivation,” Williamson said. “There’s always going to be somebody’s that’s going to put news out there about you and say that you can’t do this or that. So, I prove them wrong. That’s the point: I know I’m a three-down backer. I know I got the skill set to do anything on the field. Shoot, I feel like I fit in perfectly with this defense.”