AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• Bills HC Sean McDermott said of new C Mitch Morse and his leadership: “Yeah, that’s huge. That position in particular, to have a guy that can come in and be the leader of the room and build a cohesive relationship with the QB, that’s huge.”  (Joe Buscaglia)
• According to McDermott, this is an important offseason for QB Josh Allen: “The important thing is that he takes ownership of his development and career, and this offseason is an important chapter of that.” (Buscaglia)
• McDermott is happy with the progress the Bills have made rebuilding: “I feel better today than when I walked in the door. I’ve been around two successful organizations, and so I’ve seen the cycle. We wanted to do it the right way and not kick the can down the road after year one.” (Buscaglia)
• McDermott is confident RB LeSean McCoy will bounce back this season: “You look at the history. The skills are there. Then you look at the other pieces we added. We all took ownership of the lack of results last year. I’m excited to see him get back, and how he and Frank Gore and the other RBs work.” (Buscaglia)
• McDermott confirmed Maurice Alexander will play linebacker for the Bills this year.  (Sal Capaccio)

Dolphins

• New Dolphins HC Brian Flores said he sees LB Kiko Alonso being on the roster in 2019: “He’s a veteran player. But everything we’ve heard about him is positive. I see Kiko on the roster.”  (Armando Salguero)
• Flores was not happy with rumors about the Dolphins tanking in 2019: “The term tanking, I think it’s disrespectful to the game… To hear that term, it stirs something up inside of me to put it nicely.”  (Cameron Wolfe)
• Per Adam Beasley, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said that after seven years, “it was time to move on,” from QB Ryan Tannehill.  
• Ross would like the rebuild to be only two years but understands it could take longer.  (Armando Salguero)

Jets

• Jets GM Mike Maccagnan said the trade rumors involving LB Darron Lee: “I think that will work itself out over time. Right now, we feel very good about our inside linebacker position … It just gives us a lot of pieces there right now and we’ll figure it out as we go forward.” (Brian Costello)
• Maccagnan said they had interest in OLB Za’Darius Smith but the price got too high. (Brian Costello)
• Jets HC Adam Gase says the team will be mindful of how much they use RB Le’Veon Bell: “This is not going to be where we’re going to burn him out in the first six months.”  (Manish Mehta)
• Gase mentions that WR Jamison Crowder has rare explosiveness after the catch: “We’ve never had a guy who can juice it up like he can.”  (Rich Cimini)
• The Jets were “shocked” LB C.J. Mosley hit free agency and made him a top target, per Gase.  (Connor Hughes)
• Gase called the offensive line “a work in progress right now.”  (Hughes)
• The door is “never closed” on QB Josh McCown returning to the Jets this year, per Gase.  (Hughes)
• Gase maintained the addition of Mosley does not impact LB Darron Lee, saying they play different positions.  (Hughes)

Patriots

• Patriots HC Bill Belichick doesn’t know if WR Josh Gordon will be available in 2019, saying: “his status isn’t under our control.” (Paul Perillo)
• Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore‘s contract restructure lowered his 2019 cap hit from $14.8 million to $9.1 million while increasing his 2020 and 2021 cap hits by $2.8 million each to $18.6 million and $19.6 million respectively.  (Mike Reiss)