AFC Notes: Bill Belichick, Sean McDermott, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills HC Sean McDermott said he puts himself and the team’s defense, which is an extension of him, under the microscope first when evaluating a loss.

“Well that’s that’s where I look first,” McDermott said, via Bills Wire. “Where I look at myself first, I look at the defense right after that, and in the second half, we didn’t do enough to win the game so if you come out and you’re able to shut them down in the second half like we did in the first half then yeah. But, again, I think it’s a team game and so you have opportunities across the board offensively, defensively, and special teams, but that’s where I start with myself and the defense.”

Bills DB Micah Hyde said the team needs to do a better job of closing out games on both sides of the ball.

“Seems like this year every game comes down to the last two minutes, offense has the ball, we have the ball and these are the results,” Hyde added. “We could have nine, ten wins right now but that’s in fantasy land, and in real life we understand what our record is. You can’t doubt that, you can’t shy away from it. We definitely have a lot of upside. It’s crazy to say that, with our record being six and six, but the close games that we have that we’ve lost have been by a few points, so we got to, in those situational moments, find a way to get a takeaway or, if the offense has the ball, get a touchdown.”

McDermott added that they had given thought to going for it in a couple of fourth down situations before opting for field goals.

“If we had gotten to fourth and two, fourth and three, possibly. We had talked about that, going for it, going for the win, for sure,” McDermott added. “Obviously, I mean hindsight’s always 20/20 you know so believe me it’s gone through my through my mind more than once, so when you get the result you got you’re always looking back and saying hey maybe kept one of those, so that’s the life we live.”

Dolphins

• Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel says LT Terron Armstead is week to week and added that Armstead will likely be lobbying to play this week. (Adam Beasley)
• McDaniel also mentioned that RB Chris Brooks is close to having his 21-day practice window opened and that RB De’Von Achane has had no setbacks with his knee injury but the team will remain cautious with him. (Barry Jackson)
• Field Yates reports that former Eagles DE Derek Barnett also had a waiver claim submitted on him by the Dolphins but ultimately wound up being claimed by the Texans.

Patriots

• Patriots HC Bill Belichick told reporters that “nobody comes to mind” when asked about bringing in a new quarterback, before adding: “I couldn’t see that right now. But I wouldn’t rule anything out to help our team.” (Chad Graff)
• Belichick also criticized K Chad Ryland, who missed the game-winning field goal: “Chad’s a very talented player, but this is two weeks in a row we’ve basically missed extra points. It’s not good enough.” (Zack Cox)
• Belichick was also asked about the report that he’s his next team planned: “Yeah, that’s ridiculous.” (Mark Daniels)
• Jones on being benched after throwing two interceptions in the first half: “At the end of the day, it’s my dream to play quarterback… Right now, it’s not looking as good as I wanted. I have to continue to work. That’s all I know.” (Daniels)