AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets

Bills

• The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn predicts Bills RB Devin Singletary will be the team’s breakout player in 2020 and earn a Pro Bowl berth in his second season. 
• The Cardinals rank fifth in the NFL in dead money for the past three seasons, according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, with a total of $85.8 million. 

Dolphins

Former Dolphins S Reshad Jones feels Miami would have been better off leaving him and S T.J. McDonald at the safety positions, and their inability to do so led to the Dolphins’ struggles in 2018.

“We had solid years,” Jones said, via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “Then they brought in Minkah Fitzpatrick and they started to rotate me. That’s the game when we had a misunderstanding. The Jets game when they started to rotate me. Coach told me to sit down. And didn’t tell me to get back in. And everybody made it like I quit on my guys. I never quit on my team or nothing. The last two years of my contract they knew they owed me a lot of money so they started to rotate in younger guys to save money and doing weird stuff. I never was playing bad in 2018.”

Then with the Dolphins, current Jets HC Adam Gase felt Jones’ reaction was poor and the Dolphins benched Jones for the start of the next game, which he feels affected the rest of his time in Miami.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Jones said. “Coach told me to come out of the game. Why are you taking a Pro Bowler out of the game? Why am I rotating? Why are you telling me to sit down? But what they were trying to do was cover-up. Because you had a first-round draft pick, and they knew he had to play. And the owner was looking at it like, ‘Hey why did we get this guy as a first-round draft pick and he’s not playing?’ So they had to justify having a first-round draft pick there, as a safety, when we had a Pro Bowl safety and another decent safety. So now we have to figure out OK, well, this is why we got Minkah playing. It wasn’t because of me. It was a mistake they made. Adam Gase wanted me out of there ’18 and ’19, and when the guys from New England, like Brian Flores, got there, it was a bad taste in their mouth because of what was being said from Gase and his crew.”

Jones often played through injuries during his career, including playing parts of two separate seasons with a torn shoulder labrum.

“It’s self-motivation,” Jones added. “It’s self-driven. It’s being the underdog and being counted out. I just felt like I always had something to prove. I went out every week for 10 years and laid everything I had on the line. That’s why I say no regrets. Some guys don’t practice hard. They go out and wish they could have done this or done that. I made Pro Bowls. I made money. I made the contracts. I earned my respect as a fifth-round draft pick. So I really have no regrets.”

• After first-round CB Noah Igbinoghene agreed to terms on his rookie deal, only rookie OL Robert Hunt remains unsigned. (Barry Jackson)

Jets

• ESPN ranked the Jets No. 28 in their power rankings for the next three years, as Jets HC Adam Gase is under fire for not improving the offense and S Jamal Adams is pushing for a trade. 
• The biggest worry for the team going forward is whether QB Sam Darnold, who has his believers in the NFL, gets enough development for New York to bank on as being their franchise quarterback. 
• Long-term, the Jets will need to continue to build the receiving corps around Darnold. 
• The Jets rank 10th in the NFL in dead money for the past three seasons, according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, with a total of $62.5 million. 
• ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports the Jets did not begin testing their rookies for COVID-19 on Tuesday as the team waits for more clarity on the NFL’s testing protocols.