AFC Notes: Josh Allen, Josh Uche, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills HC Sean McDermott said it would be a huge positive for the team to get QB Josh Allen back into the mode of playing with an edge.

“Huge. Yeah, huge,” McDermott said, via PFT. “He’s the leader of our football team, let alone in this case, the offense. I think just getting him back to having that look in his eye and having some fun out there. The guy that we have watched over the years here, but also back at Wyoming right? Just going out there and having that joy when he’s playing.”

• Bills QB coach Joe Brady said he hasn’t had much time to process taking on the interim offensive coordinator role since Ken Dorsey‘s dismissal: “Haven’t had a lot of time to process it all. Just taking it one day at a time…..we’ve got a lot of games left, but just focusing on practice today,” per Sal Capaccio. 
• Brady said he’s as “comfortable as can be” with QB Josh Allen: “Josh, I believe we’re as comfortable as can be. … It’s about trust in each other, and I believe we have that,” per Katherine Fitzgerald. 
• Brady added there is no concern about Allen after throwing interceptions in six straight games: “Not at all. Give me Josh Allen all day, every day,” per Alaina Getzenberg. 
• When asked about Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs‘ post on X regarding his brother, Bills WR Stefon Diggs, the Buffalo receiver responded he’s always been “fully invested” in the organization: “I’ve never been nothing but fully invested… I’ve never said anything but I’m a Buffalo Bill.” (Fitzgerald)
• Diggs feels like his contract situation from last offseason is “nipped in the bud.” (Getzenberg)

Dolphins

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill recently got married and believes he has matured in his personal life as he settles down with his family in Florida.

“I’ll say it, man, because I want every athlete to be successful as far as like drinking, as far as like women, as far as like partying, as far as anything,” Hill told Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “I feel like I’m at the stage in my career now where I’ve got to be more mature with anything that I do outside of football. It’s being a father, it’s being a son, a husband now. I’ve got to stand in that role of being the man that my grandparents raised me to be. I’m loving it.”

• Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel on RB De’Von Achane, who left the game with an injury: “He kind of got landed on and it was a little painful. He was politicking trying to come back in the game but I was a little worried with the rust.” (Marcel Louis-Jacques)
• Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey said he had the wind knocked out of him on the game-winning interception and will be okay. (Louis-Jacques)

Patriots

Patriots LB Josh Uche spoke about having a conversation with HC Bill Belichick around the trade deadline when there was buzz that he was a player who was most likely to be on the move.

“It was an interesting situation,” Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “It was the first time I really had some open, transparent dialogue with Bill. He was very honest. He kept things very real with me. He told me they want me here. He told me teams that were interested, and things like that. We had that discussion and I was kept in the loop the whole time, knew what was going on. It was smooth. So I guess on the outside it can seem like chaotic, but I feel like Bill did a great job, at least with me, communicating what was going on. It was buzzing around so much [in the media] that eventually it was something me and him had to talk about. Instead of, I guess, going around it, he just came up to me and we talked about it. Straight up. That’s kind of how it went. As opposed to hearing it from outside sources, I just wanted to hear it from Coach.” 

“It’s a family — you have some of your best friends sitting next to you, your locker mates — but at the end of the day, it is also a business. So there is a reality of things, and you just have to be prepared for it and understand that things happen,” Uche continued. “The organization has to do things in their best interest, and it’s like ‘here is what it is going to be.’ Having that confirmation from my head coach is reassuring. It’s kind of been the story of my career since I’ve been here. There have been times when I’m needed more than others, game plans when I’m implemented more than others. It’s all about doing my job when I’m in there and not going outside the integrity of the scheme. When I am in there, I try to make sure I maximize those plays in the opportunities I do get. I would love to be out there as much as possible, but if coaches and the scheme and the game plan says otherwise, then all I can do is do my job and the controllables and give my best effort.”

When it comes to what will happen after the season, Uche is unsure but wants to use his focus on the remainder of the Patriots’ games this year.

“I’m sure it’s something that is going to have to be discussed once the season comes to an end, I would assume. But from my conversations, the organization that drafted me and brought me in [to the NFL], they see exactly who I am and know what I am capable of, and they know who I am as a player,” Uche added. “I want to be here. From my conversations with Coach, they want me here. It’s just all about making sure all the pieces fit together, and sometimes it’s out of our control, and then sometimes it just takes time.”