AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills GM Brandon Beane tells Tim Graham of The Athletic that it just never jelled between them and WR Corey Coleman after they acquired him in a trade with the Browns.

“Yeah, you know, Corey, he tried hard. He really did,” Beane said. “Where he came in to learn a new offense, he just didn’t jell. It’s one of those things you ask yourself, ‘Have we given this enough time?’ The talent’s there. Anybody that’s been around the practice field, you see he has a skill set. But we just never were able to make it mesh on the field with him, and it’s a production business.

Beane added that they couldn’t justify sticking with Coleman even though they’re on the hook for $3.55 million for the 2018 season when other players had earned the roster spots.

“People think, ‘Oh, G.M.s love to protect their draft picks.’ Well, if I’m protecting my draft picks, I gave a seventh-round pick for this guy and guaranteed some cash [$3.55 million for the 2018 season],” Beane said. “You don’t want to see that. But you’ve got to be true to who earned the spot, and we just felt in the limited time that we were still unsure it was going to work, and to kick someone else out that we knew would work or felt better about, we just didn’t feel that was right.

“We talk about earning your spot. We just didn’t feel he’d done enough to earn it, and in fairness to Corey, it is hard to get here in August and learn an offense when you’re fighting for reps and haven’t practiced with any of these quarterbacks. That’s where I left myself late Friday night as I was debating this: ‘Am I being fair to Corey, and am I being fair to the team?’ At the end of the day, I have to be fair to the team.”

Dolphins

• A source tells Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald that Dolphins WR DeVante Parker is feeling “substantially better” after missing the last three weeks with a broken middle finger, there is still some uncertainty whether he will be ready for the first or second game of the season.

Patriots

On “The Woj” podcast, Adam Schefter explained that there are some within the Patriots organization who regret trading QB Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers last year.

“[F]or whatever reason there was a 180 within the organization going from where they weren’t going to deal him, and were determined they weren’t going to deal him, to all of a sudden rushing to trade him right before the trade deadline last year on Halloween,” Schefter said, via WEEI.com. “It happened very quickly, very suddenly and yeah, I think there are people that definitely would not want him traded, but that was the circumstance and situation that they were in at that point in time.

“They did what they could and they took it as far as they could,” Schefter added. “They would have liked to have taken it further, but the circumstances were such that basically it had run its course. You can’t pay both quarterbacks at the end of the year. It’s just not going to work. I think that is what they ultimately realized. In the end, as much as they would have liked to keep Jimmy G, as much as people there would have liked to have kept Jimmy G.”

• Adam Schefter reports that Patriots LT Trent Brown has been excused from the team, but the plan is for him to return on Wednesday and suit up for their season opener.