AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills QB Josh Allen had a number of doubters coming into the NFL out of college, including Giants HC Pat Shurmur who Allen helped Buffalo beat 28-14 on Sunday to move his team to 2-0. The Bills felt strongly enough about Allen to trade up into the top-ten for him in 2018 and that belief has stayed strong. 

“I don’t think that’s wavered one bit with those guys,” Bills HC Sean McDermott said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “I think Josh is the type of young man who understands he has to earn their belief, and their trust, and that takes time. He’s only in his early part of his second season, and so he understands he has a lot of work to do yet, and he also understands that he has to earn that. And nothing’s given in this league.”

• The Bills are still gathering information on third-round RB Devin Singletary‘s hamstring injury and have listed him as day-to-day per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
• Buffalo will continue to take it game-by-game on if second-round rookie Cody Ford or free-agent veteran Ty Nsekhe rotate at right tackle. (Jay Skurski)

Dolphins

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, “there’s a growing suspicion in some league circles that Miami’s tear-it-down-to-build-it-up approach may not be a one-year thing, and that they may embrace a Cleveland-style two-year suckfest aimed at loading up the roster with young talent via multiple drafts.”

Florio says Miami may actually be tanking for Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, who won’t be available until the 2021 draft, instead of Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.

• According to Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, the Dolphins will be the real test case for tanking in the NFL. Other teams have been bad, but no one else has quite embraced trying to lose like Miami in 2019, as the Dolphins have been outscored 102-10 through two weeks. 
• Fitzgerald says the Dolphins have the means to improve rapidly with a projected $110 million in cap space in 2020 as well as a number of extra picks from various trades.
• However, he adds Miami could have a hard time recruiting free agents, especially if they’re not able to hit on a quarterback with the presumably No. 1 overall pick. 
• Dolphins HC Brian Flores said QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start Week 3 for the team, but didn’t commit to anything beyond that point: “But after a couple of weeks like that, we’re evaluating all positions. … We haven’t made any final decisions yet.” (Adam Beasley)
• Asked if there had been any trade interest in Fitzpatrick, Flores told reporters the team “takes calls every day” about players on the roster before clarifying they haven’t discussed trading the veteran quarterback. (Armando Salguero)
• When asked about whether he still wanted 2018 first-round DB Minkah Fitzpatrick in Miami, Flores hedged: “Well, he’s here. He played well yesterday and we’ll go through the Cowboys tape and find a role how we feel is best for him and the group. I thought he played well and hopefully he continues to play well.” (Beasley)
• Flores maintained he still has “a lot of confidence” in RB Kalen Ballage. (Beasley)
• Flores is happy with the play of OT Jesse Davis, who was moved from guard to right tackle and finally to left tackle: “(He) has done a really good job and shown leadership on this team. … We feel like he’s going to be here for a long time.” (Beasley)

Patriots

Despite having only a week of practice, Patriots WR Antonio Brown had a solid NFL debut. Brown caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins in his return to his hometown of Miami.

“It was a good start,” Patriots QB Tom Brady said via WEEI.com. “I was just trying to find an open guy and he was snapping off some routes and did a good job. It was good to find him.”

Going against the tanking Dolphins defense certainly helped Brown, but the receiver reportedly worked overtime this week to adjust enough to New England’s notoriously complicated system in order to be able to play. 

“He’s got a great football mind, football IQ,” Patriots WR Josh Gordon said. “Guys that are football smart just pick it up faster than others. He’s one of those guys that is gifted in that area. He was able to come here and adapt on the fly and he is still learning, as we all are. But it goes to show how much he really wants to be a part of this offense, how much he really wants to contribute and how fast he did it. It was great to see him make that progress today.”

• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Patriots LT Isaiah Wynn will have an MRI to see the severity of a toe injury suffered on Sunday. 
• Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald confirms Wynn will have an MRI and the injury is most likely turf toe.