AFC Notes: Garrett Wilson, Eli Raridon, Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

  • Bills S Sam Franklin was fined $9,425 for unnecessary roughness.

Dolphins

  • Dolphins CB Chris Johnson was fined $17,911 for unnecessary roughness.

Jets

Jets WR Garrett Wilson is moving back to the outside spot instead of the slot and said the shift helps him get back to his roots.

“I think it just makes sense,” Wilson told ESPN. “I ended up catching a lot of passes these past three, four years at 4 yards, 5 yards, and my back’s to the defense and I get smacked after. I can do that, and it’s cool, but it’s just back to my roots for me. It’s more like playing true receiver, that one-on-one game with the corner. You end up catching more passes down the field, and you’re just more away from all the — I’m not a huge guy. Those guys in the interior, the defense, are big guys. It just gives me more space to operate, which I like a lot. I think that’s where I’m my best.”

“It’s a long season, and we’re going to end up doing a lot, but being back outside is definitely refreshing,” Wilson added. “It makes that film when I go home a lot more simple. Did you beat that DB? Did you finish the play? How open were you? I’m just able to watch my route, which is kind of cool.”

Patriots

Patriots third-round rookie TE Eli Raridon scored the first touchdown of the season and the first of his NFL career last week, and spoke to ESPN about his experience so far.

“Coach Vrabel always reiterated to me the speed of the NFL game is completely different and takes some getting used to,” Raridon told ESPN. “Camp, joint practices and preseason games helped me integrate to that a lot, but at first when I got here, I was like, ‘Everything is happening a lot faster.’ That’s partly because you’re learning a new offense. And the level of competition. These guys you’re going against are great players. In college, at Notre Dame, we played Miami and [Texas] A&M—two really good teams. Then you play Syracuse, where we beat them 70-7 and I was out at halftime. It’s not like that in the NFL….That first drive was kind of a whirlwind. The first snap, you’re adjusting to ‘this is how it is.’ It took a few plays to get used to it. Honestly, I don’t really remember too much of it. I just remember kind of standing for a moment, soaking it all in, and I was like, ‘I have to do something.'”

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