AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills veteran DT Kyle Williams told Peter King in his “Football Morning in America” column that CB Vontae Davis‘ decision to quit on the team mid-game “had no impact on us at all.”

“Honestly,” Williams said, “That had no impact on us at all. We flushed it just like it was a loss. We’ve got some guys who’ve been around the league for a few years, guys who can be north stars for the young guys. If you’re around this league long enough, you’ll see things that shock you.

“But we just focused on the job all week. If we didn’t let them run the ball, we knew we had some matchups we liked [rushing the passer].”

• Bills HC Sean McDermott said Monday that RB LeSean McCoy is progressing well and will be day-to-day this week. (Joe Buscaglia)
• Bills DE Shaq Lawson will practice this week and DE Trent Murphy is dealing with an ankle injury and is considered day-to-day.

Dolphins

• Ian Rapoport reports that Dolphins DE Andre Branch suffered a knee injury on Sunday that is expected to cause him to miss a few weeks.

Jets

Jets HC Todd Bowles said Monday that he expects rookie QB Sam Darnold to come out of Thursday’s loss to the Browns fine.

“I think he will come out of it fine,” Bowles said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think Sam has the right mentality and he has the right work ethic to learn what he has done wrong, as well as the rest of the team. They come back out of it, and he’s not in it by himself. We are in it as a team. Everything he learns from is an experience. He made some good plays. He had some plays that he can learn from and some plays that he would like to have back. I think he will come out of it fine.”

Patriots

• On Sunday, Adam Schefter reported that the Patriots and Lions were deep into trade discussions during the offseason that regarding a blockbuster trade involving TE Rob Gronkowski. However, after Gronkowski learned that he could be traded to the Lions, he threatened to retire from the NFL.
• Gronkowski confirmed the report following Sunday’s loss to the Lions: “Yeah, it happened. Brady’s my quarterback, that’s all. I wasn’t going anywhere without Brady.” (Mark Daniels)