AFC Notes: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

With the departure of veteran DC Leslie Frazier this offseason, Bills HC Sean McDermott plans to assume defensive coordinator responsibilities in addition to his job as head coach. It’s not uncommon but it is a lot of responsibility, and McDermott noted it will be one of the challenges the team has to overcome during this upcoming 2023 season. 

“You kind of have to have two different brains — the head coach brain and the defensive coordinator brain,” McDermott said via the Buffalo News.

Dolphins

Dolphins QB Mike McDaniel called this offseason “critical” for him as a coach and feels they are making “substantial growth” on top of last year’s success. 

“It was kind of a critical offseason for me,” McDaniel said, via Carter Owens of the team’s official site. “I didn’t look at our offense, and say, ‘Wow, we did all this stuff good.’ I saw all the stuff that we could improve upon. Now, the stuff that the players and coaches did last year, you shouldn’t minimize that because there was substantial growth, but that’s not where we’re trying to go.”

McDaniel feels it was important to take a “step back” from the season as they moved into roster building. 

“I think it’s important in the offseason that you give the season – there’s a lot of things that go into it,” McDaniel said. “There’s a lot of pressures and you’re just trying to win the next game. Taking a step back, I think affords people a little more open-mindedness.”

Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle thinks they were “learning” McDaniel’s offense last season and now have a better understanding of what Tua Tagovailoa is looking for as a receiver. 

“Yeah, last year I feel like we were learning,” said Waddle. “Now we kind of know the details and what he’s looking for, what Tua’s looking for. So getting to the spots, beating man coverage, things like that. So it’s just more knowledge of the offense.”

Patriots

Patriots QB Mac Jones said WR JuJu Smith-Schuster has done a great job for the team both on the field and from a leadership standpoint.

“I think JuJu’s done a great job, also from a leadership standpoint,” Jones said, via NESN. “Coming in, that’s someone who adds veteran leadership from different places. He just came off of a Super Bowl team, so what a great value to our offense. Obviously, when he gets on the field, that’s going to be great because he has the experience and he loves talking about football. He’s just a football nerd, I guess, kind of like me. We kind of hit it off in that regard. He’s an awesome guy, and I’m looking forward to working with all those guys in that room. I think there’s a lot of potential there.”