AFC Notes: Bills, Damien Harris, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills HC Sean McDermott said they signed RB Damien Harris this offseason because they wanted a “slightly bigger back” and were glad to find an option who has good speed as well. 

“We felt like we needed a slightly bigger back, but not a 250-pound cloud-of-dust-type of guy,” said McDermott, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News. “To find a player with some size and with some power, but also has the speed element to go along with it, I think that’s hard to defend, because not only can you run inside, you can get to the edge from time to time.”

Harris feels he had a difficult time during his four years with the Patriots given he dealt with injuries nearly every year of his career. 

“My first year, I didn’t play,” Harris said. “My second year, I started out banged up, ended up banged up. Last year, I was banged up.”

Bills RBs coach Kelly Skipper said Harris is showing off his powerful running style. 

“He’s powerful,” Skipper said. “You can feel his power when he’s running the football. He’s very intentional on how he hits the hole.”

Jets

• According to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Jets WR Denzel Mims is the biggest name on the team’s roster bubble this offseason, and predicts that Mims will eventually be traded by the Jets.
• Rosenblatt sees veteran DT Al Woods winning the battle for the No. 2 defensive tackle spot but adds that it will likely be a rotation with Quinton Jefferson and Solomon Thomas.
• At safety, Rosenblatt believes the Jets may need more safety depth after losing Chuck Clark to a season-ending injury, despite replacing him with Adrian Amos.
• Offensively, Rosenblatt believes that unless the team signs RB Dalvin Cook it will be RB Michael Carter in the No.2 role to start the season. Rosenblatt adds that eventually Pitt rookie Israel Abanikanda could overtake the spot.
• Rosenblatt thinks that out of centers Connor McGovern, rookie Joe Tippmann, and journeyman Wes Schweitzer, it will be Tippman who wins the job and is the team’s starter of the future.
• In Week 1, Rosenblatt believes that Billy Turner will start at right tackle and the left tackle job will belong to veteran LT Duane Brown unless he has more issues coming off of shoulder surgery. He adds that it will be up to Mekhi Becton to continue learning at right tackle in order to replace Turner later in the season.

Patriots

Patriots HC Bill Belichick explained why he places such a large emphasis on the special teams unit and said that plays made when they’re on the field can swing the momentum in their favor.

“I really kind of look at those as bonus points, bonus yardage,” Belichick said, via Mass Live. “You can’t count on those. You never go into a game saying we’re going to block a punt for a touchdown. But if you can get one of those plays, then that seven-point swing is statistically a huge, huge difference. No different than a defensive score. A special teams score kind of equates to that. So those bonus points that you can get — or bonus yards that you get — make a big difference ultimately in the points. And that’s the name of the game: Those extra points.”