AFC Notes: Von Miller, Bills, Dolphins, Jets

Bills

Bills DE Von Miller admitted that he shouldn’t have played last year and his knee was not fully recovered.

“That’s probably what should have happened, but I didn’t want that to happen,” Miller said, via ESPN. “I wanted to be out there and play. If I was 50%, like, nobody was going to stop me from going out there. [Bills general manager Brandon] Beane wasn’t, nobody was going to stop me from going out there. But the truth, just being honest with you guys, my knee wasn’t at a place where I could go, and I could move, and I could do the things that I wanted to do. I mean, I could play, but that was just about it.”

Miller added that he’s feeling better and has lofty expectations for his age-35 season.

“I only know one way to view things, and that’s the most optimistic way, and I wanted it to go better than what it was,” Miller said. “I wanted to go out there and get 15 sacks, that’d put me in the top 10 all time. I wanted all of those things to happen, but the universe just had other plans for me and nothing in life is by coincidence, so I’m here now, year three [with the Bills], I’m feeling good and I’m ready to go.”

Bills GM Brandon Beane is excited about getting the best version of Miller back, who could draw double teams and open up one-on-one opportunities for the rest of the defensive line.

“I think even Von referenced it maybe one time this offseason in the playoffs and maybe that that last game of the season against Miami, just seeing that twitch that he’s always had fire,” Beane said. “You love to see him get back, not only winning his one-on-ones, but where people are like, ‘Hey, we got to have a plan for him.’ Because if two people have to block him or if they got to chip him, somebody’s going to get a single block.”

Dolphins

• The Dolphins signed DE Emmanuel Ogbah to a one-year, $3.25 million contract with $2 million guaranteed including a $750k signing bonus. (Over The Cap)
• Ogbah can also earn up to $500k in per-game roster bonuses. (Over The Cap)
• Miami DT Raekwon Davis is on the NFI List because of high blood pressure. (Joel A. Erickson)
• Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa watched all of the second day of training camp in uniform but didn’t participate. (Cameron Wolfe)
• Wolfe adds CB Kendall Fuller, DL Calais Campbell, TE Jonnu Smith and OT Terron Armstead didn’t practice either.
• Miami S Jevon Holland on his contract situation: “When it comes it comes. Whenever they want to, I’ll pick up the phone.” (Joe Schad)

Jets

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic looked into the most anticipated camp battles for the Jets as players begin to report this week.

• Rosenblatt’s first battle isn’t for a position but QB Aaron Rodgers versus distractions. Rosenblatt admits the lack of “Hard Knocks” should quiet some of the noise and believes that “less noise would be better for everyone.”
• The next battle is at WR between Allen Lazard, Irvin Charles, and Jason Brownlee. Rosenblatt notes Lazard is locked into a roster spot because of his contract but playing time will be hard to come by when WR Mike Williams is activated from the PUP list.
• Rosenblatt mentions “there’s an assumption” that S Chuck Clark will start but feels he has to prove himself versus S Ashtyn Davis after Clark’s ACL surgery. 
• Finally, Rosenblatt believes RBs Breece Hall, fourth-rounder Braelon Allen, and Isaiah Davis are locks to make the roster and there will be a battle between RBs Israel Abanikanda and Tarik Cohen if they choose to keep four backs.