AFC East Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills RB LeSean McCoy knows 2018 wasn’t his best year, as he rushed for only 512 yards on a 3.2 YPC average.  But he’s confident he can still produce given the chance in 2019.

“I use age and that type of thing to motivate me,” McCoy said via PennLive.com’s Aaron Carr. “My whole life I’ve kind of been the underdog. Is he big enough? Is he tough enough? Can he play in the pros? I feel like guys like myself come around every once in a while and I want to stick to that. I’m up for it.”

McCoy’s confidence is striking, as the soon-to-be 31-year-old runner is due $6.175 million in salary in 2019. With the additions of Frank Gore, T.J. Yeldon and third-round rookie Devin Singletary, McCoy would appear to be on tenuous ground in Buffalo, but he’s not worried. 

“It’s hard to replace a guy like me,” McCoy said. “I’m a good player and I feel like now, this year, they put a lot of guys around me. The front office got me some big hogs up front. And we’ll see what happens this year. I feel good and hopefully this year will speak for itself.”

Jets

The biggest impact former Jets QB Josh McCown had for the team last season wasn’t his play on the field in relief of QB Sam Darnold. It was his work on the sidelines mentoring the young quarterback. Now that McCown is retired, though, he says Darnold is still in good hands. 

“I tried to empty the clip with him and give him everything I could,” McCown said via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “He’ll be just fine. Adam and Dowell will do a great job with him, and Trevor [Siemian] has played a lot of football. It’s a good room. Those guys will support him. I root for those guys, and I want to see Sam have a lot of success. Now he has to make it happen. If he needs me, I’m only a phone call away.”

McCown and Darnold became good friends last season, as the 39-year-old veteran took the 22-year-old rookie under his wing.  Darnold showed encouraging signs for the future with his play on third down for the Jets, though McCown says first and second down are still areas Darnold can improve. 

“He needs to know when to cut bait on a play and when to rip it,” McCown said. “That will be more fine-tuned this year because I know Adam will help with that. That will be the biggest jump for him. If he can eliminate five or six incompletions per game, it’ll be a major improvement.” 

Patriots

• Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes that the end game for the Patriots and executive Nick Caserio is that he’ll finish out the 2020 season in New England with the Patriots later trading him to the Texans next February. 
• Volin mentions that the Texans would obviously like to have him run their free agency and draft next offseason, but his contract won’t be up until after the 2020 draft. 
• The Texans’ surprising decision to fire Brian Gaine leaves them paying two GMs (Gaine and Rick Smith) without anyone currently in the position. A source close to the situation tells Volin that McNair must have been convinced by Bill O’Brien and Jack Easterby that Caserio was ready to come on board.