AFC Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Bills WR Gabriel Davis said new WR Emmanuel Sanders has been a welcome addition to the team so far.

“Bills [fans] are going to be in for a treat with this guy,” Davis said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m so happy to have him on the team. A veteran that has played many great years in the league and just another guy to learn from. I learned from ‘Smoke’ [John Brown], I learned from ‘Beas’ [Cole Beasley], Andre RobertsStefon Diggs. And just having Emmanuel Sanders on the team is just another great asset that I’m so happy that we brought onto the team.”

Jets

New Jets HC Robert Saleh arrived in New York in what they call an arranged marriage in NFL circles. He was predated by GM Joe Douglas, who was hired the season before in another arranged marriage with former HC Adam Gase who also was assigned to former GM Mike Maccagnan. It can be tricky whenever a coach or general manager is having to adapt to the other, as the results of the previous two Jets partnerships bear out, but Saleh says things with Douglas are going swimmingly so far. 

“He has a standard that he believes in. You can’t push him off his beliefs,” Saleh said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “That doesn’t mean he’s stubborn by any sense of the imagination, but he has a philosophy, he has a belief, he has core values, he has all those things. And because of it, he has the ability to be consistent in every decision he makes. He’s confident enough in his philosophy and his foundation to be able to take input from everybody and process all that information to make the best decisions possible for the team.

“That’s very similar to the way we believe as a coaching staff in what we believe in. It’s so easy to get along with him, because I know that what he tells me and what he tells us is from the heart, it’s from what he believes, it’s from his core values.”

Douglas is indeed quickly gaining a reputation as a GM who drives a hard bargain, as evidenced by struggles to get deals done with homegrown players, including recently when negotiations with franchise-tagged S Marcus Maye taking a southward turn. But for now Saleh is content with Douglas’ measured approach. 

“You get the pressure of ‘Sign this guy! Sign this guy! Just get him in the building!’ That’s where those big, monstrous contracts come from,” Saleh continued. “And he was very, very smart with the way we went about it, bringing in the right guys, and we’re super excited about all our free agents and what they represent both on and off the field, the way they carry themselves. We’re set up nicely for years to come.”

Patriots

Former Patriots S Patrick Chung believes S Kyle Dugger is primed to succeed as his replacement.

“I think he can be really good,” Chung said, via NESN. “He’s young, he’s raw, he has the size, he has the instincts. He asked me for the number, and I said, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ I told him to take it over. And I pray to God that he’s way better than I am, because that’s only going to help us as Patriots. Hopefully he can get to that point. I believe that he can. He has all the intangibles, so I’m praying for that.”

  • On GMFB, Patriots OLB Matt Judon explained why he is excited to play for HC Bill Belichick: “Arguably the best coach to ever coach any sport; that’s what we have. So with him leading a group of hungry, willing men, it’s nothing but up from last year. We’re going to start putting it together in a week, and then see where the chips lay.” (Mike Reiss)

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