AFC Notes: Tyreek Hill, Mac Jones, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Entering his third year in the NFL, Bills CB Kaiir Elam said he is just looking to “trust and believe in myself” after facing struggles in his first couple of seasons.

“Just trust and believe in myself,” Elam said, via Alec White of the team’s site. “I have a great support system. And just playing free.”

Elam feels he can create turnovers “at a high level” and wants to continue working on his feet going into 2024. 

“I feel like I can really take away the ball at a high level, and I just want to continue to … critique my feet and just keep working with Taron [Johnson] on playing like a smaller DB and really just take advantage of every opportunity. I feel like that’s a basic answer, but that’s the reality of it.”

Elam thinks competing for playing time as a rookie and missing time with a foot injury last season helped him improve as a professional. 

“I learned to appreciate it because without that, I feel like I wouldn’t have grown into the man I am right now. Just going out there and playing free just because of all the mental games and everything I’ve been through,” Elam said.

• According to Tim Graham of The Athletic, Bills CB Rasul Douglas‘ absence at OTAs was not related to his contract situation. 

Dolphins

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill‘s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said he’s been in contact with GM Chris Grier and executive Brandon Shore about his client’s contract situation and mentioned Hill would like to finish his career in Miami. 

“Let’s just say it’s safe to acknowledge that I’ve been in touch with [G.M.] Chris Grier and [senior V.P. of football & business administration] Brandon Shore of the Dolphins, you know, I certainly have a fluid line of communication with them,” Rosenhaus said, via Josh Moser. “And I’ve shared with them how Tyreek feels. And I’ll also reiterate that Tyreek has said that he would love to finish his career here with the Dolphins. Without getting into any more specifics, the Dolphins know how we feel.”

Patriots

Former Patriots RB Damien Harris said that the team’s coaching was what put QB Mac Jones in a bad position.

“What happened to Mac Jones in New England was not because of Mac Jones,” Harris said, via PFT. “What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year. And then you take — whenever Josh McDaniels left — Matt Patricia, who has coached defenses his entire life, and Joe Judge, who has been a special teams coach, coached receivers at some point. And then you just throw them in there and be like, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything will be fine,’ and shit wasn’t fine.”