AFC Notes: Amari Cooper, Sauce Gardner, Bills, Jets, Ravens

Bills

The numbers for Bills WR Amari Cooper since arriving via a midseason trade from Cleveland don’t leap off the page. Cooper has just 10 catches for 136 yards and one touchdown. But Bills OL Connor McGovern says Cooper’s impact isn’t showing up in the stats — and he’s not just talking about his lateral to QB Josh Allen for a touchdown in Sunday night’s win over the 49ers. 

“He really frees guys up. You might see a game where you look and he only has like two catches, but he’s getting other guys open just by the way he runs his routes and the attention he attracts,” McGovern said via ESPN’s Dan Graziano. “He’s done so much for this offense, on the field and also in terms of the way he leads, guys are learning a lot from him in that room.”

• The Bills signed S Micah Hyde to their practice squad this week. The safety made it clear that he intends to retire with Buffalo following their final game of the postseason, via Cameron Wolfe.

Jets

• Jets interim HC Jeff Ulbrich said OT Morgan Moses (shoulder), G Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), RB Breece Hall (knee), and CB Sauce Gardner (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday, and it “too early to say” if they will play in Week 14, via Zack Rosenblatt. 
• Rosenblatt notes that Ulbrich doesn’t sound confident in Gardner’s availability and points out how Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill can burn a cornerback with hamstring issues.  
• Ulbrich thinks Moses’ shoulder injury “would be serious for anyone else.” (Rosenblatt)
• As for Vera-Tucker, Ulbrich is “hopeful” about his availability, per Brian Costello. 
• Jets WR Davante Adams said he has “no regrets” about joining New York and is enjoying his time on the team despite their struggles, via Rosenblatt. 
• Adams mentioned he’s open to returning for 2025 but mentioned there are “a lot of factors” out of his control, like with contract situation and Aaron Rodgers‘ future on the team. 

Ravens

The Ravens fell to the Eagles at home after failing to turn scoring opportunities into touchdowns. Despite the gap between them and the Steelers in the AFC North, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson remains focused on themselves and how they can improve to keep K Justin Tucker out of tough spots.

“We don’t need to worry about the Steelers. We need to worry about us,” Jackson said, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. “That’s the first thing — worry about what we need to clean up on this side. Clean that s— up. Forget every other team. We are beating ourselves out there. There are opportunities. We’re not making them happen. We need to make those critical situations happen, and we’re not doing it.”

“We have to just stay on task and just play our ball, just play how we play. That was a pretty good team, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like we left stuff out there. We should have put more points on the board. We shouldn’t have even put ‘Tuck’ in those kinds of situations, but it’s football. Everything is not going to go right.”