AFC Notes: Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Buffalo nearly overcame a 17-point deficit but ultimately fell short in a rough performance against the Texans in Week 5. Bills QB Josh Allen admitted he needs to be better but he isn’t panicked regardless of the outside noise.

“It starts with making better decisions on my part,” Allen said, via Tim Graham of The Athletic. “I didn’t complete the ball at a high rate tonight, put the ball in harm’s way, especially early in that first half. But I trust our guys.”

“I know you guys are going to be wild this week, but I love my guys, and we’re going to keep working. This isn’t a defining moment in our season. There’s a chance to learn and grow from this, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Allen echoed that everything will improve when he returns to playing at a high level.

“Let’s not base all this off of one game. I think our guys have been doing a great job early on in the season, finding ways to get open. Joe has been calling it well. Ultimately, it comes down to me, executing at a high level. I just didn’t do that enough tonight.”

Jets

Amidst trade rumors for Raiders WR Davante Adams, Jets QB Aaron Rodgers kept it brief when talking about his former teammate but noted their close relationship.

“I don’t know how much I can say about it because of tampering, but I still have a close friendship with him. Spend time in the offseason together,” Rodgers said, via SNYJets. “Great guy, a great player, the rest of that is out of my hands.”

Patriots

Patriots HC Jerod Mayo said he still isn’t considering making a change from Jacoby Brissett for Drake Maye at this point. 

“I’m not really thinking about that,” Mayo said, via NFL.com. “Look, Jacoby (Brissett)’s our starter. He’s our starting quarterback this week. I think Jacoby has shown a lot of toughness out there. Going back, even looking at the film, there are times where an average guy would not be able to get back up, and I think he’s done a good job with that.”

Mayo said he’s looking for players to show “mental toughness” and quick wit. 

“For us, it’s about mental toughness. It’s about mental agility,” Mayo said. “We won’t be rigid in our thought, and we’re going to try to put the best team out there. I’m not really a big ‘woe is me’ or anything like that. We knew going into the season we would take our lumps, and even after the first game when we beat Cincinnati, we understood that this is unsustainable as far as winning that way.”

In the end, Mayo thinks they’ve shown some positives through the first four games. 

“With that being said, there have been things that we’ve done well, especially after the first two games. Those were competitive games. The third one wasn’t so competitive, and this past one, we still had an opportunity as bad as we played. I think it still comes down to execution.”