AFC Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

Jets

Jets HC Robert Saleh blamed the coaching staff for the loss to Tampa Bay, and said first-round QB Zach Wilson should’ve never been allowed to sneak the ball late in the 4th quarter, when they could’ve just ran out the clock.

“They deserved better,” Saleh said, via ESPN. “We won that game, and we’ve got to be better for our players.”

Saleh explained what should’ve happened in that situation.

“In that situation, we wanted the ball handed off to Berrios, but we did a very poor job as a coaching staff communicating that in the huddle,” he said. “Zach executed the play the way it was designed. Unfortunately, if you look at the TV (replay), Braxton probably has a first down and the game is over.”

Saleh pointed out that OC Mike LaFleur is the person in charge of communicating with Wilson.

“It’s Mike to Zach,” Saleh said of the communication. “It’s simple: He calls a play and says, ‘Hand this ball off no matter what.’ That’s all the communication that needs to be said. It never got across. Zach executed the playbook as designed.”

Wilson said he was simply trying to execute what he was told.

“We got the play call and I liked it just because it has a bunch of different options,” Wilson said. “Right there, I was just thinking to do my job. We had an open A gap there. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

Patriots

Patriots HC Bill Belichick agreed with WR Jakobi Meyers when Meyers said the team had to face a turning point in the middle of the season.

“This was our best week in a little while here,” Belichick said, via WEEI’s Ryan Hannable. “Not really sure why that was, but maybe that was part of it, what Jakobi said, we reached the point where we kind of had to face the music here. Our captains and some of our veteran leaders on our team I thought did a real good job this week of setting an example and really challenging themselves, challenging the team. We got a great response [Sunday], so try and keep that going.”

Belichick mentioned WR Kristian Wilkerson earned his breakout performance vs. Jacksonville.

“Wilk is a hardworking kid,” Belichick said, via NESN’s Zack Cox. “He normally plays the top or one of the top receivers of our opponents for our defense, so he gets targeted a lot in practice. But he’s always ready to go when we’ve had injuries or guys that needed to step in, didn’t practice or that type of thing. He’s stepped in and is always well-prepared, knew what to do and has been productive in practice.

“It was nice to see him get the opportunity today and take advantage of it, cash in and play well. He also played in the kicking game. He was able to contribute there. Just overall he’s helping us in both phases of the game, and the more you can do.”