AFC Notes: Bills, Jets, Patriots

“It’s 100% on me,” LaFleur said, via NY Daily News. “Disappointed with myself for two reasons, I pride myself on communication and our unit on execution, you’ve heard me talk about execution a lot and I failed at both of those. The total intent was to get Braxton the ball, he was balling, and I failed at both of that to get that relayed. Our quarterback did exactly what he was supposed to do in that moment. Like I said, I know what our intent was, whether people want to believe that one or not, but that’s what happened, and I failed at both. And, again, I have to live with that. I know I’m going to learn from that.”

Jets HC Robert Saleh was visibly upset after the game, saying WR Braxton Berrios was supposed to get the ball on an end-around to ice the game with a win against the Bucs. LaFleur explained that it was his fault that the play wasn’t communicated correctly.

“When we knew that Braxton was good to go, who we thought was just balling at that time, it was just like let’s get him the ball,” LaFleur said. “And, again, it didn’t get communicated the way it needed to get communicated. And, again, I have to live with that and learn from that. It sucks.”

LaFleur was complimentary of Wilson, calling it one of the best games of his rookie season.

“It probably was his best game of the year. I thought Zach did a good job,” LaFleur said. “He went out there and he’s been getting better and better every single week. You guys are seeing that.”

Patriots

Patriots S Devin McCourty related his experience as a captain on a team where he has more NFL experience than most of the players, having seen teammates come and go during the course of his career in New England.

“You balance that experience and then you also balance, when you’re a captain for a long time, making sure that you’re impacting guys in the locker room in different ways, and you don’t just turn into a voice that guys hear over and over again and start to tune out,” McCourty said, via Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. “Whether it’s connecting with guys individually, building relationships, building on how to get to guys. You just try to fill any role that you see needs to be filled, whether it’s speaking up or empowering someone else to speak up and use their voice and try to build that leadership throughout the team. No team really wins with one or two leaders. You need leaders throughout the whole football team. It’s a big team. That’s what has been fun, seeing some of these younger guys turn into great leaders, even if they are not captains.”