AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets

Bills

Bills RB Frank Gore says he’s “still having fun” playing football at the age of 36, well past the date running backs in the NFL are supposed to expire. 

“I feel good, man,” Gore told Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. “I’m blessed to be playing a game that I still love at the age that a lot of people say you can’t play it. I’m doing something I love. I’m enjoying it.”

New Bills WR Cole Beasley explained his decision to leave the Cowboys for a new opportunity in Buffalo. 

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Beasley said, via NFL.com. “I wanted more opportunities. I wanted more options. I wanted more freedom in my routes. And (OC Brian) Daboll has done a great job of giving me those things and has created a lot of opportunity for me here. And it’s been a lot more fun playing out there with the guys.”

Dolphins

It appeared as though DeVante Parker‘s future with the Dolphins was going to come to an end last year, but in a somewhat surprising turn of events, Miami elected to hold on to the former first-round pick. 

Parker’s agent, Jimmy Gould, tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that Parker remaining with the Dolphins “surprised everybody.”

“You could have said there were 100 reasons for it not to happen. But I stepped back and said, ‘Why not?’” Parker said. 

According to Gould, both he and Parker wanted to remain in Miami. 

“I asked DeVante, ‘Where would you like to play football?’” Gould said. “He said, ‘I want to play for the Miami Dolphins.’ I said, ‘Good because that’s where I would like you to be.’”

From there, Gould called Dolphins GM Chris Grier.

“I said, ‘Chris, would you like DeVante to be here?’ His reaction was, ‘Can I think about that one?’

“He was intrigued by it and wanted to talk to coach [Brian Flores]. He didn’t do a lot of thinking; he got right back to me. He said, ‘What do you have in mind?’ I said, ‘What do you have in mind?’”

The two sides later agreed to a two-year contract worth as much as $13 million with incentives.

“We all made up our mind that we would explore this in a different way [than simply picking up the option], which nobody had really considered,” Gould said.

Jets

• Jets LT Kelvin Beachum and RB Ty Montgomery both left Friday’s practice with ankle injuries. Regarding the two players, Jets HC Adam Gase said: “Could be day to day, could be a week. We have to evaluate them.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
• Gase told reporters that new C Ryan Kalil will not practice tomorrow, even if he passes a physical today: “It’s going to be a minute. Were going to make sure he’s good before he steps on the field.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
• Gase also said of Kalil: “He’s played at a very high level for a long time. He’s going to be really helpful for the offense, for the quarterback, for our locker room … We’re fired up.” (Rich Cimini)