AFC Notes: Will McDonald, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills GM Brandon Beane commented on the team not drafting a defensive tackle, which then led the team to sign veteran Poona Ford.

Ford also commented on signing a one-year deal with Buffalo and admitted that money wasn’t everything in his decision to do so.

“It didn’t fall our way, it really didn’t,” Beane said during a video conference. “I was hoping to add one for sure. Working on some other things. Maybe we’ll see if there’s a veteran out there.”

“It really wasn’t hard, to be honest. Money is good but money isn’t everything,” Ford said of his decision.

Jets

Jets’ first-round DE Will McDonald said he is focused on learning and improving this offseason.

“I’ll probably say just learning the defense, I’m a little bit better,” McDonald said, via Ethan Greenberg of the team’s site. “It is kind of familiar because I did run this type of defense up in college. I’m now a lot more used to it coming out of nine technique, so I’m starting to get a lot more comfortable with it and a lot more familiar.”

Jets HC Robert Saleh had high praise of McDonald, saying the rookie has good “bendability” and explosion off the line of scrimmage. 

“Will looks the part,” Saleh said. “I love his personality. He is a dude, man. He’s got tremendous length, bend just going through drills. I know there hasn’t been much O-line, D-line [1-on-1s], but it’s freakish — his ‘bendability’ and burst off the ball. Obviously, there’s things from a developmental standpoint, all rookies go through it with regards to a little bit more size, a little bit more power, developing the ability to run through tackles is always going to be the biggest thing for a defensive lineman, but I love where he’s at right now. He’s got a long way to go, but you guys know as we rotate, if they dress on gameday, they’re going to play at least 20 [snaps]. He’ll be part of the rotation.”

Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich mentioned McDonald hasn’t had any rookie moments this offseason, like being late to meetings or training sessions. 

“He’s got the right mindset. I know that he comes out here and works his butt off every day. He’s not having the rookie late to meetings, late to lifting. He’s on point as far as all that is concerned. Then athletically, he’s got some freakiness to him. We’ll see how that translates right away because there’s always a little bit of a transition process, but he definitely has some stuff you can’t coach.”

Patriots

Patriots LB Matthew Judon said rookie LB Marte Mapu is someone who can play at “all three levels” of the defense as a safety, linebacker, and edge rusher. 

“It’s his speed and how big he is. He runs like a free safety, but he stands like a linebacker or an edge player,” Judon said, via PatriotsWire. “That’s another guy that can play on all three levels.”