AFC Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer says Bills DT Star Lotulelei is not vaccinated, which means his positive test for COVID-19 will keep him out 10 days. He’ll miss Week 10 and 11. 

Jets

It’d be hard to find a player as universally beloved in the Jets’ locker room as QB Mike White. His teammates still chant “Mike White! Mike White!” when he walks into a room in the team facility, as an homage to the fans in White’s first start and first career win. White entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2018 and he says he took a lot from watching QB Dak Prescott operate as a leader. 

“I thought, off the field, what Dak does so well is the relationships he has with every single person in that locker room and in that building,” said White via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “That’s just kind of how he operates. That’s what I noticed firsthand when I got there to Dallas. Whether it’s Zeke or the starting receivers or the practice-squad backup corner, he’s got a relationship with everybody. I try to emulate that.”

• Cimini notes the Jets are optimistic about the long-term outlooks for first-round G Alijah Vera-Tucker, second-round WR Elijah Moore and fourth-round RB Michael Carter. New York thinks the arrow is pointing way up for all three. 
• He adds the Jets are intrigued with fifth-round CB Michael Carter II and sixth-round CB Brandin Echols. Both have been starting and New York believes at the very least they can be good depth players going forward. 
• Jets TE coach Ron Middleton missed Sunday’s game due to COVID protocol, with offensive assistant Billy VandeMerkt replacing him. (Cimini)
• Jets’ HC Robert Saleh on where the team stands at quarterback after a four-interception performance by QB Mike White: “We’ll see where we’re at with all the injuries. Zach (Wilson) is still dealing with stuff even though he had a big pregame workout today.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
• White said he “got a little too aggressive” in the game: “I think I let the score dictate my decision-making. That can’t happen as a quarterback.” (Vacchiano)
• Veteran Jets’ DT Sheldon Rankins was upset with the loss and wants his teammates to be as well: “Every man should be embarrassed. Every man should be angry.” (Rich Cimini)

Patriots

• ESPN’s Mike Reiss says he gets the sense the Patriots were handicapped in what they could do financially to go after WR Odell Beckham. They made their pitch but he ultimately elected to go somewhere with a more established quarterback. 
• Reiss points out that Patriots HC Bill Belichick is usually very reserved in his praise for rookies, so his comments from last week on second-round DT Christian Barmore should be given extra weight.