AFC Notes: Bill Belichick, Von Miller, Zach Wilson, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills EDGE Von Miller has worked his way back from an ACL tear, but he hasn’t returned to form, recording just one tackle, zero sacks and five pressures thus far.

“Definitely wanna play better this game. I felt better last game, but obviously it’s still some things that I’m trying to work through,” Miller said, via ESPN.com. “But I felt great last game. [The Bengals game] was the first game where I really wasn’t thinking about my knee or this or that. It was just football.”

While the production may not be there yet, Bills DL coach Eric Washington says he’s starting to see Miller put it together from a mechanics standpoint.

“The rushes are becoming more and more physical. The angles are a lot tighter,” Washington said of Miller. “… I’m starting to see him put his rush combinations together. The coordination. When you use his stab. When to work the top shoulder of the offensive tackle. When to counter … I’m seeing more and more of those things. They’re faster, they’re quicker, and it’s just a matter of time.”

Bills GM Brandon Beane believes the reps he’s taken the last few weeks will ultimately pay off for Miller.

“There’s no perfect solution probably because you’d love to send him through training camp. And there’s only so many padded practices that you can do,” Beane said. “… Some of the game stuff is what he needs as part of the comeback. We could have kept him out for two or three more weeks, had him practice more. But those game reps, he’s probably gaining more from those than he would off of practice where contact is limited.”

Miller explained that his focus is on week-to-week improvement at this point.

“I would love to take these huge leaps and bounds each and every week, but reality is I’m just getting a little bit better each and every week,” Miller said. “I’m grateful for that and I can accept that. This is Year 13 for me, and I just know how it goes. Like, I know I still can play. I know I can still recapture some of the things that I did in the past and the type of player that I was, I know I can still be that and I feel like that’s what’s driving me.”

Jets

Jets QB Zach Wilson was one of several players responsible for committing mistakes that led to their loss to the Raiders on Sunday.

“There’s so much frustration, I don’t know how to put it any other way,” Wilson said, via the team website. “The hard thing is I know everyone is battling. We just have to find a way to be better out there.”

Patriots

Patriots HC Bill Belichick pulled QB Mac Jones out of the game and replaced him with Bailey Zappe, who threw a game-ending interception after faking a spike after Jones had previously thrown an interception near the end zone. Belichick says the team will be looking at all options next week.

“We just got back from Germany,” Belichick said at his Monday press conference. “We’ll work through everything. We’ll look at everything, all the way across the board. Not specifically one position, but just look at everything and do the best we can here going forward.”