AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills WR Stefon Diggs has been one of the biggest additions of the 2020 season and he put on a clinic as to why on Monday night against the Patriots. Diggs shredded New England’s secondary for nine catches, 145 yards and three touchdowns. Diggs leads the NFL in receiving yards and receptions and says there’s still more he and QB Josh Allen can do together. 

“We’re still scratching the surface on the potential we have,” Diggs said via Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “I feel like Josh is still a young quarterback but he’s playing some elite ball, throwing for 300-plus, making great decisions, he’s not turning the ball over, he’s running. I don’t know the past, I just know Josh right now and he’s playing great football. As a receiver, I just want to give it all I’ve got for him, make the plays for him.”

• Bills’ GM Brandon Beane gave his opinion on his decision to trade for Diggs: “This was a known commodity, and did we pay a premium for him? Yes, we did; I just didn’t know with where we were going to be drafting at 21 that we were going to be able to get a guy like Stef Diggs there.” (Ed Werder)
• Bills WR Cole Beasley is week-to-week with a leg injury sustained Monday night. (Joe Buscaglia)

Dolphins

• Per Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dolphins OC Chan Gailey said they didn’t change the offense to be more aggressive once Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Tua Tagovailoa, they just were in more of their two-minute offense: “It’s different because of the situation. Not because of the players.”
• Gailey didn’t say if he would come back for another season as the offensive coordinator in 2021. (Barry Jackson)
• The Dolphins are hosting QB Jake Rudock for a visit this week. (Aaron Wilson)

Patriots

During Monday night’s thrashing at the hands of the Bills, a graphic appeared showing Patriots QB Cam Newton‘s daily schedule. Newton is noted for his work ethic and this showed why, as the quarterback is out of the house by 4:30 am and not back to his bed asleep until 11:30 at night. However, the results haven’t been there for Newton or New England this year and Newton finally let off a little steam about it. 

“That’s been my schedule for 90 percent of the time I’ve been here,” Newton said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “So you can kind of understand the frustration I do have when I don’t have the outcome, because I’m sacrificing so much. [You’re] talking to a person who ain’t seen his kids in three months. Obviously the contract is what it is. Submitting myself to this team is something I’ve been doing since day one. Being accessible. Yeah, it’s frustrating. It makes you mad. It makes you angry knowing that to be a trusted teammate you first have to submit to authority and submit to what the coaches are asking you to do. I feel like I have done that. I’m not in the place of blame. I’m more or less venting right now because, yeah, I’ve sacrificed so much this year. I mean, it hurts when you have the outing that you have tonight, just to go home, then start it over for a whole ‘nother week, yeah.”

Newton was pulled midway through the third quarter after completing just 5-10 passes for 34 yards. He was replaced by backup QB Jarrett Stidham, who didn’t fare much better, going 4-11 for 44 yards. Patriots HC Bill Belichick has faced questions every week about whether he’ll turn to Stidham ahead of Newton, especially with New England eliminated, but he fended them off again. 

“Game was over about 10, 15 minutes ago,” Belichick said via Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal. “Haven’t made any plans for next week obviously being it’s 15 minutes old.”

• Newton wasn’t in the mood to talk about his contract after the loss: “I don’t care about no contract. I want to win.” (Karen Guregian)
• Belichick had a little more clarity on the starting quarterback for Week 17 against the Jets, suggesting Newton will probably get the nod: “Yeah, I would imagine. We’re going through that now. We’ll see.” (Doug Kyed)
• While there’s been a push for the team to start Stidham to evaluate him, Belichick agreed with the sentiment that the Patriots wouldn’t learn anything they don’t already know: “I think there would be some truth to that.” (Ryan Hannable)
• Patriots OC Josh McDaniels reaffirmed that he’d be interested in becoming a head coach again: “Absolutely. I definitely want to do that. I’d love to have that opportunity if it presents itself.” (Hannable)