Bills
Bills QB Mitchell Trubisky absolutely shredded the Bears in his return to Chicago. He played the entire first half and completed 20-28 passes for 221 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Buffalo scored on six of seven first-half drives en route to a commanding 41-15 win.
“It feels good,” Trubisky said, via USA Today’s Sal Maiorano. “It felt good to come back and play well and I owe a lot of that to my teammates — run after catch, great plays on defense, great plays on special teams, dominated the field position and turnover battle in the first half, and we did our job on offense and scored points. I just thought we were efficient. I feel comfortable in this offense going down and it felt good to do it against these guys.”
Trubisky admitted that he felt some measure of redemption by playing so well against his former team.
“I just wanted to play well,” Trubisky said, via the Chicago Tribune’s Colleen Kane. “I knew people would be talking about it and hyping it up, but it was just important for me to come out here and do my job and show my teammates that I could play ball.”
- According to Pro Football Talk, Bills DE Efe Obada was fined $6,944 for a low hit on Lions QB Tim Boyle.
Dolphins
Some teams have played their starting quarterbacks sparingly, if at all, during the preseason. In comparison, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has seen a fair amount of snaps and HC Brian Flores offered an explanation.
“Tua loves to play football,” Flores said via AL.com’s Mark Inabinnett. “He wants to be out there. We want him out there. To me, if you want to get better at football, you got to play football. That’s just my opinion. That’s kind of how we’ve handled it.”
Tagovailoa played well in Saturday’s preseason outing against the Falcons, completing 16-23 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought offensively we moved the ball effectively,” Flores said. “Had a pretty good time of possession there and really throughout the game. Tua, obviously, was a big part of that. Threw the ball well. Had good command of the offense. Made good decisions. I think overall it was good execution.”
- According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Dolphins are optimistic both WRs DeVante Parker and Will Fuller will be healthy for the start of the season, though Fuller won’t be ready until Week 2 as he finishes out a suspension from last year.
- While Dolphins WR Lynn Bowden avoided a hamstring tear, he still could be out for a few weeks, per Jackson.
- Dolphins TE Cethan Carter is also out a week or two with a sprained knee. Jackson says Bowden, Carter, WR Isaiah Ford (leg), LB Vince Biegel (right foot) and S Brandon Jones (ankle) are all candidates to start the season on injured reserve and be brought back later.
Jets
The loss of Jets DE Carl Lawson to an Achilles injury is a brutal blow on multiple levels to the team. Beyond what it means for Lawson personally and his career going forward, he had been set to play a key role in new Jets HC Robert Saleh‘s defense, which relies heavily on the front four to create pressure on the quarterback and make it easier for the secondary. However, Saleh says they have no choice but to take Lawson’s injury in stride.
“I’ve said it before: The NFL train stops for nobody,” Saleh said via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “If someone falls off the train … it’s another opportunity for someone to jump on the train. There are a lot of men on this football team, especially at that D-end spot, that are champing at the bit to get an opportunity — and they got it.”
- Saleh added he feels terrible for Lawson who had been off to an incredible start in camp: “You could not ask for a more perfect big-money free agent who came in and just does things the right way. Despite getting paid, he still wanted more… I just feel bad for him.” (SNY)
- Cimini notes the Seahawks $17.5 million a year deal for S Jamal Adams won’t make it easier for the Jets to re-sign S Marcus Maye. He thinks the team could tag Maye again next year, which would be $12.7 million and a total of $23.3 million over two years. However, Maye and his agents could elect to make things ugly to try and force the team’s hand.
- Cimini also says Jets LT Mekhi Becton‘s struggles aren’t from being overweight or out of shape but because he’s rusty after missing a lot of time this spring with a foot injury and needing to transition to a new scheme.
- Saleh mentioned first-round QB Zach Wilson‘s “process is light years ahead” of usual rookie quarterback: “The results, sometimes will be good, sometimes will be bad, and he’s just got to continue to find ways to get better.” (Andy Vazquez)
- Saleh said OT Morgan Moses and CB Blessuan Austin missed the game vs. Green Bay for personal reasons. (Connor Hughes)
- Wilson is happy to have WR Corey Davis on his side: “He’s a great player. I just have a lot of trust in him and all his 1-on-1 routes that he’s gonna get open.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
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