AFC Notes: Bills, Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

• According to PFF’s Doug Kyed, the Bills were the second-favorite team to land WR Odell Beckham Jr. when he polled sources from other teams. He has former teammates in Buffalo now who have been recruiting him hard.  
• Bills HC Sean McDermott said QB Josh Allen is currently day-to-day with an elbow injury, telling reporters “We’ll see” when asked if Allen would play. (Sal Capaccio)
• Bills LB Matt Milano (oblique) practiced Wednesday, but he also practiced Friday and was held out of the game against the Jets on Sunday. (Joe Buscaglia)

Dolphins

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel is not surprised that QB Tua Tagovailoa is having a strong season.

“Do you doubt that he’s handling it well? Let’s motivate that guy,” McDaniel said during a press conference. “You just have a feeling about people when you’re forecasting uncharted territory. You don’t totally know, but you feel like you know. Anything that’s happening with him isn’t a surprise to me. It would’ve been a surprise if it hadn’t, just because of the day-in, day-out work that I’m witnessing and the work that his teammates do and how his rapport is with them and all of that. But it doesn’t surprise me how he’s handled success because literally, it has no distinction from when we first started working, before Game One and training camp and OTAs. And that’s awesome. That’s what I would’ve guessed.”

“[H]e knows exactly who he is,” McDaniel added. “He knows exactly what he needs to do to do his portion of his job well. And he’s not deviating from that at all. Very cool and good to see, but not surprising in the least.”

• McDaniel said it’s still possible CB Byron Jones returns from injury this season but there are a lot of variables to consider. (Marcel Louis-Jacques)
• The Dolphins worked out FB Jake Bargas and TE Josh Hokit on Tuesday. (Aaron Wilson)

Patriots

Patriots OLB Josh Uche is having a strong season defensively and has even drawn praise from HC Bill Belichick and current NFL sack leader OLB Matthew Judon.

“I’m just being me,” Uche said, via Zack Cox of NESN.com. “I’ve always had faith in myself from the beginning. Even when nobody else believes in me, I kind of always knew what I was capable of. My dad’s been a big help to me, as well, just keeping that confidence in me, so it’s been great.”

“I think Josh has been pretty consistent here for a while,” Belichick said. “Sometimes those numbers come in bunches, or not — they could come in droughts, too. But his overall pass-rush skill is good. He’s got speed, he’s athletic and he’s developing more power and timing and execution on pass-rush games. He’s doing a lot of things well, doing some things better and there’s always room to improve. And it changes a little bit each week based on who’s blocking you and who the quarterback is and how you have to rush that quarterback or the protection scheme that particular team uses. But he’s done a good job of recognizing those things, and of course he’s seen more and more here over the last three years. Some of the things that maybe caught him a little bit by surprise or he wasn’t quite ready for in the past are more familiar to him now, and it’s just better decisions, better awareness, better execution.”

“I don’t know if y’all know, but Josh actually calls the plays out there when we’re on third down. So our execution is from him,” Judon added. “That’s hard for somebody that’s in Year 3 and hasn’t had that much success in the NFL, and it’s third and long and he has to make the right call, right? So for him to come out there and have a game like he had and play lights out like that, that just allows him to see what he can do in this league.”