AFC Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• Bills HC Sean McDermott said S Jordan Poyer (elbow) has been ruled out from Week 9. (Chris Brown)
• McDermott said recently acquired RB Nyheim Hines is still getting acclimated to their system but he offers a lot of “flexibility” going forward: “He’s getting himself acclimated this week. We’ll see how it goes. He offers position flexibility in addition to what he can do from the backfield. He offers return ability as well. We value that flexibility.” (Chris Brown)

Jets

Jets QB Zach Wilson said that he’s moved on from his three-interception performance against the Patriots but that he must avoid forcing passes like he did in Week 8. 

“The mindset is within 24 hours we’ve all moved on,” Wilson said, via Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post. “Now, I’ve learned from those mistakes. There’s things I want back, but those are behind me and you try to reapply them in practice. Of course, there’s always plays you want back, and the last game I had some plays that I really want back. In that game, even in desperation mode, I can’t be forcing the ball like that. We have a great defense and I’ve got to keep relying on them, allow them to put us in a good situation on offense.”

Jets OC Mike LaFleur said they are stressing the importance of ball security.

“The ball is the most important stat in all of NFL football,” LaFleur said. “It’s the stat that never lies. When you win the turnover battle, your percentage of winning football games [increases greatly].”

Wilson added that he needs to continue playing aggressively but avoid making costly mistakes.

“The difficulty is being aggressively smart,” Wilson said. “I had some plays in that last game that just weren’t smart and I’ve got to take those out. Sometimes, interceptions are going to happen when the defense makes a good play, and you can live with those ones. But I’ve got to be better on some of the other ones. The mindset is you’ve got to be aggressive. I feel like we’ve done that, but it’s how can we clean up some of the mistakes?”

Patriots

Patriots special teams captain and WR Matthew Slater had high praise of fourth-round CB Jack Jones‘ ability on the edge of their field goal-blocking unit. Jones is also have a great season in coverage, but special teams work is uniquely valued in New England. 

“I’m not sure whether he felt like he tipped it or not,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said, via Zack Cox of NESN. “But I’ll say this: You watch the film, if that kick is on line, he’s going to block it. He’s right over the block point. He gets tremendous jump off the ball, great dip and great extension. If that ball is kicked anywhere near the uprights and looks like it’s going to go in, it’s going to get blocked. So he did a tremendous job.”

Slater added that Jones has “great anticipation” of snaps and has taken well to the instruction of HC Bill Belichick, ST coordinator Cameron Achord, and ST assistant Joe Houston. 

“I think Jack has tremendous quickness, great anticipation of the snap, and just he’s taken the coaching,” Slater said. “He’s been coached hard on it. Coach Belichick has coached him directly on it. Obviously, Cam (Achord) and Joe (Houston) have coached him on it. But he’s taken the coaching, he’s really applied himself to getting better, and if you can block a field goal or an extra point in this league, that’s huge in terms of helping you win or lose ballgames. So we’re going to need him to continue to do that. He’s really filled in nicely.”

Achord thinks that Jones pressure off of the edge is forcing opponents to change how they operate. 

“Jack’s doing a really good job right there,” Achord said Tuesday, “and I think that does lead to other kickers feeling the pressure off that edge and speeding up their operation time, which may lead to them wrapping the ball which leads to pulling the ball left.”

• The Patriots have officially ruled out C David Andrews (concussion), OT Marcus Cannon (concussion), and WR DeVante Parker (knee) from Week 9.