AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills GM Brandon Beane has prioritized protecting QB Josh Allen this offseason and is looking forward to adding offensive linemen, as well as other pieces to ensure his quarterback can thrive.

“First thing, I’m going to try and protect him,” Beane said, via BuffaloBills.com. “As I said earlier, I have to make sure the o-line is set and that we’re confident in them. But beyond that, always looking for the various pieces.”

• Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic thinks the Bills should re-sign DE Jerry Hughes and focus on developing their young trio of Gregory Rousseau, Boogie Basham, and A.J. Epenesa.
• Rousseau looked like a force before hitting a wall in his rookie season, but Buscaglia believes he should be better in Year 2. He adds that while Epenesa and Basham haven’t hit the ground running, Buffalo has shown it can develop young players over time. 
• Buscaglia mentions if the Bills re-sign Hughes, it probably means Mario Addison and Efe Obada are out. Both are on expiring deals and Addison could choose to retire. 
• He also won’t rule out the team adding another defensive end at any point during the upcoming draft.
• Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports that Giants QB Davis Webb had an opportunity for a coaching role with the Buffalo Bills as an assistant quarterbacks coach.
• According to Duggan, Webb plans to pursue a coaching career and viewed the Buffalo job as an “attractive option” given he’d worth with Josh Allen. However, he ultimately decided to continue playing for New York. 

Dolphins

When appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast, former Dolphins HC Brian Flores said he never had a strained relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa and thinks it was a “crazy” narrative about their reported dysfunction. 

“This is an interesting topic because it wasn’t strained. We had a good relationship. It was a player-coach relationship. And I think in a relationship like that, you know, the coach challenges the player. And oftentimes the player challenges the coach. And I think there was a great deal of respect between the two of us. So you hear these crazy kinds of — this narrative that’s out there. But this is a young man who works, who developed and got better over two years and, you know, I think he’s got, you know, a bright future. I wish him all the best. So the world can think what it wants to think. I think — ask Tua, you know? I’m here to say what I gotta say, and you can ask him. So, I think he’d say the same thing.”

Patriots

When asked about learning the Patriots’ defensive system, former LB Rosevelt Colvin said he had to learn the “specifics” of Bill Belichick‘s scheme. 

“I had to learn that there are specifics Bill wants out of the defense. There’s a process, and I would say for young people, the learning curve is understanding, ‘Hey, it may not always be best to go 100 miles per hour.’ Sometimes you have to take a step back and say, ‘What is my role and how can I make everyone on the field better?'” said Colvin. 

Colvin thinks younger linebackers must understand “the basics” and their role in Belichick’s system in order to succeed. Guys like Chase Winovich, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, and Ronnie Perkins have struggled to make an immediate, consistent impact so far in their respective rookie deals. 

“So I think for young guys, it starts with getting over the hump of ‘what is my role and how do I play it to the best of my ability?’ They have to know the basics. If they can’t add and subtract, there’s no way they’re going to get to algebra. … I would say it’s not necessarily as complicated as people might think — you have to be able to adjust, that’s the biggest thing.”