AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• According to Tyler Dunne, Bills owner Terry Pegula loved QB Patrick Mahomes going into the 2017 draft and was pushing his front office and HC Sean McDermott to take him at No. 10 overall. 
• However, McDermott thought taking a quarterback that high would signal the Bills weren’t ready to compete and Buffalo traded down with the Chiefs, hoping Mahomes would fall. He did not.  
• The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia doesn’t think the Bills will make tight end a huge priority in free agency, giving TE Dawson Knox one more year in 2021 to establish himself. 
• Buscaglia thinks the Bills move on from C Mitch Morse this offseason and use the savings to re-sign OL Jon Feliciano, putting him at center. 
• He also thinks the Bills will need to move on from WR John Brown to re-sign LB Matt Milano and that probably leaves them strapped for space to re-sign OT Daryl Williams. 

Dolphins

• Per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, Dolphins first-round QB Tua Tagovailoa says his confidence has not been shaken by the benching last week: “My confidence level as a person, it never varies. It stays the same. … With whatever happened in the Broncos game, it was for the benefit for the game.”
• Tagovailoa said working on seeing the field better is a point of emphasis for him: “It’s not me playing scared. It’s me trusting what I see. If I don’t see the guy open, I’m not going to throw it.”
• Dolphins activated DT Christian Wilkins from the COVID-19 list.
• Dolphins designated RB Myles Gaskin to return from injured reserve. (NFLTR)

Jets

• ESPN’s Rich Cimini says the Jets believe playing QB Sam Darnold down the stretch is a no-lose situation, as if Darnold plays well enough to win a few games and take New York out of the running for the top pick, he’ll have generated some positive momentum for New York to build around him. 
• However, Cimini notes if Darnold hurts his shoulder again it could destroy his trade value this offseason. 
• Darnold was limited again in practice Wednesday and HC Adam Gase says the team is still proceeding cautiously: “We’re taking it day by day and we’ll see how it goes. I’d think it’s trending in the right direction, but we’re taking it one day at a time.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
• However, the expectation was for Darnold to do “quite a bit.”
• The concern with Darnold is what could happen if he’s hit in the wrong way again and Gase acknowledged they can’t answer that in practice: “I’m asking the same question. How do we really know?”
• Gase didn’t have much of an update on TE Chris Herndon‘s back injury: “That’s a hard one for me to say. He had some tightness on Tuesday. We’re probably being cautious with it.” (Vacchiano)

Patriots

• Per NFL Media’s Michael Giardi, Patriots HC Bill Belichick said WR Julian Edelman is “definitely headed in the right direction” to come off of injured reserve: “When he’s ready to go, we’ll put him out there. But we don’t want to rush it.”
• Edelman did not return to practice Wednesday and remains on injured reserve. (Jim McBride)
• Patriots LT Isaiah Wynn appears to have avoided a major injury but he still might miss some time, including this week against the Cardinals. (Jeff Howe)
• Patriots designated TE Devin Asiasi to return from injured reserve. (NFLTR)