AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

The Bills didn’t think RB LeSean McCoy would be missed that much on the field, which is why the team elected to release him this weekend and save more than $6 million in cap space. Buffalo’s remaining running backs are likely up to the task of replacing McCoy’s production, but his impact in the locker room is not as easy to replace. 

“That was one of the ones that probably hurt me the most. Me and Shady, I’ve been here a short time but we hung out and did something probably everyday,” Bills WR Cole Beasley said, via NewYorkUpstate.com’s Matt Parrino. “When we were here we were shooting hoops in [the field house], playing anagrams on the phone – competing. That’s all we did is compete together.”

“It’s very different not having him in the huddle because he’s a very big personality. He talks a lot and he brings a lot of juice,” Beasley added. “It’s just a little bit more quiet. We felt that void kind of missing [him] a little bit.”

• At the reported price tag of $13 million a year and a first and a fifth-round pick, ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques doubts the Bills are interested in Chargers RB Melvin Gordon. 
• Bills WR Andre Roberts (quad) and TE Tyler Kroft (foot) both missed practice Wednesday. (Louis-Jacques)

Dolphins

The Dolphins traded a second-round pick to the Cardinals for QB Josh Rosen as a cheap investment into a former top-ten pick to see if he could be their quarterback of the future. So far, that look has been delayed, as Rosen couldn’t beat out veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job. 

“Josh is — as we’ve talked about — he’s still learning the offense,” O’Shea said via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “He’s doing a good job on all of the things that aren’t the physical the part of the game he’s improving on, whether it be his awareness on the field, his overall familiarity with the offense, his fundamentals that he needs to work on, just like all the other players need to work on. He’s in the same position a lot of other players are. There are just a few fundamentals we’re really concentrating on with him.”

• Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Ravens HC John Harbaugh said he didn’t have any contact with the Dolphins concerning their head coaching vacancy this offseason.

Jets

Jets QB Sam Darnold has many in the New York organization thrilled about his potential as he enters his second season. Darnold also causes similar excitement with observers outside of the organization, like Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.

“I know Sam a little bit,” Parcells said via Brian Costello of the New York Post. “I like him. I think he’s a tough guy. You know what I like about him? He’s not ready to be a star. He just wants to play.”

• Jets LB Avery Williamson will have surgery to repair his torn ACL on Thursday. (Ian Rapoport)

Patriots

Patriots WR Demaryius Thomas already moved ahead of many expectations by making it off the PUP list before the end of training camp, let alone catching two touchdowns in the final preseason game.

Thomas was briefly released by the Patriots in a procedural move but is back and ready to contribute. The big question is: how much? 

“That’s a tough question because we’re going on limited information,” Patriots HC Bill Belichick said in a radio interview with WEEI. “We only activated him for practice right at the end of training camp. Of course, he played in the Giants game. We have to go on what we can go on. I’d say the improvement that he’s shown, and the work ethic, and what he’s been able to do has been good. It’s been to the point where we feel like he’ll be able to make a solid contribution for us this year. The question is ‘where will it go?’ I don’t know if any of us have the answer to that. But at least I know that he’ll work hard, he’s tough and he’s a dependable player who will put everything he has into it. So we’ll see what happens.”