AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

• The Dolphins ruled out both OLB Trey Flowers and DB Keion Crossen with injuries on Sunday.
• Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle said he is “good” after hurting his shoulder late in the fourth quarter this week. (Marcel Louis-Jacques)
• Dolphins QB Teddy Bridgewater on getting up quickly after hits to avoid false signs of ataxia: “Your pop-up game has to be elite. If you get hit, you gotta pop right up. I liked to slowly get up after taking a hit — but I can’t do that anymore.” (Jeff Darlington)
• Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel on losing QB Skylar Thompson to injury: “I’m going to demand that the team does not point at that as the reason for the loss … I think that’s the easy thing to do and the path of least resistance. I thought we had the capability to overcome that and we didn’t.” (Louis-Jacques)
• McDaniel said Thompson “didn’t have any strength trying to hold the ball” and was therefore unable to return to the game. (Louis-Jacques)

Jets

Jets QB Zach Wilson said he grew up idolizing and modeling his game after Packers QB Aaron Rodgers — New York’s Week 6 opponent. 

“To be on the same field as him is cool,” said Wilson via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “It’ll probably be the same thing like last year, when we were playing Tampa Bay. It was like, ‘Wow, we’re playing Tom Brady right now. I’ve been watching this guy since I was born, which is kind of crazy.’ I’m sure it’ll be the same thing in this game.”

• Jets HC Robert Saleh on the criticism of trading up for Breece Hall: “There’s no price for a home run hitter.” (Connor Hughes)
• Jets QB Zach Wilson when asked if the team has exceeded expectations: “We can’t feel like we’ve arrived.” (Andy Vasquez)
• Jets S Will Parks following the win: “We’re like little gnats. We just bite away. Keep biting away, keep biting away, keep biting away. Next thing you know, we’re gonna end up on your field, lock the door and we gonna get to business.” (Zack Rosenblatt)

Patriots

Every year, there’s a pick in the first round that comes out of nowhere and is deemed a massive reach, and this year it was Patriots first-round G Cole Strange who was the big surprise. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the early returns on Strange have been positive so far for New England. Strange didn’t care then and he doesn’t care now that the narrative is shifting. 

“It’s just a bunch of noise,” he said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I just don’t really care what anyone thinks other than my coaches and teammates, and to my knowledge, they aren’t saying [anything bad]. So people on Twitter, or anyone else that has something to weigh in on that, I could care less what their opinion is anyway. If that’s what they think of me, they’re entitled to their opinion.”

He reiterated there’s no added motivation to prove people wrong. 

“I guess it would seem like there would be, but I don’t know if it’s anything other than just regularly trying to fulfill in my heart what is my own potential,” he said. “I’m trying to improve myself as a football player, and paying attention to that kind of stuff isn’t going to make me any better.”