AFC Notes: Amari Cooper, Aaron Rodgers, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

In his first game with the Bills, WR Amari Cooper felt right at home because of his preparation for the plays designed for him.

“The plays that were for me I was 100 percent comfortable with. I went over them a lot. It was just another day at the office at the wide receiver position,” Cooper said, via Alec White of the team’s website.

Jets

The Jets suffered a tough loss on the road at Pittsburgh in WR Davante Adams‘ debut to fall to 2-5 on the season. New York QB Aaron Rodgers took the blame for his poor performance and feels they all have to play with more energy, starting with him.

“I have to play better,” Rodgers said, via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “That’s the key, I have to play better. We have to find a way to run the ball better so we can play-action pass.”

“It felt like the energy — and it starts with me — the energy, for whatever reason at halftime, was a little flat. It felt like it was flat before the game too. … So I look at myself and what I can do to bring better energy, but we all have to do better.”

Jets WR Garrett Wilson also blamed himself for a tough game where a dropped pass set up a Steelers’ touchdown.

“I got to catch the damn ball,” Wilson added. “I’m playing like s— right now. Got to fix it. I don’t take that lightly. That was the reason we lost the game at the end of the day. [That] s— can’t happen. It can’t happen. It’s a terrible play.”

• Jets interim HC Jeff Ulbrich met with DE Haason Reddick on Monday and believes he will be “fully integrated in all we do” soon. (Zack Rosenblatt)
• Ulbrich on their continued struggles: “We have all got to take a deep breath and just do our job collectively. I’m referring to everybody on this team.” (Rosenblatt)

Patriots

The Patriots lost to the Jaguars in London in Week 7 to mark their sixth-consecutive loss after a 1-0 start. New England HC Jerod Mayo didn’t mince words when reviewing his team’s performance and thinks they have some real soul-searching to do.

“Look, disappointing game,” Mayo said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “We came out, and started fast. What I would say is, look, we’re a soft football team across the board. You talk about what makes a tough football team. That is being able to run the ball, that is being able to stop the run, being able to cover kicks. We did none of those today. They controlled the ball for most of the day. Their run game averaged over four-and-a-half yards a carry. Our run game, not sure what the average was, but it wasn’t good. Look, back to the drawing board. I mean, we can’t sit here and pout. We just got to put a game together.”

“We went out there and played soft. We’re playing soft at the moment. Do I think we have the guys in there that can turn the ship around? 100%. But that comes through hard work.”

• Mayo on second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk‘s social media post of a peace sign emoji after their Week 7 loss: “I have not spoken (with him) about that and I don’t question his devotion to the team.” (Chad Graff)