AFC Notes: Zach Wilson, Gabriel Davis, Bills, Jets, Patriots

Bills

Coming off his most productive game of the season with 12 targets, nine catches, 87 yards and a touchdown, Bills WR Gabriel Davis was mysteriously missing from the gameplan against the Bengals. He was targeted just twice in the loss and finished with donuts across the stat sheet. Bills OC Ken Dorsey acknowledged he can do a better job of getting Davis involved but added his impact goes beyond stats. 

“Gabe just did so many other things that helped our offense in some critical ways for some plays that were successful last night that just go unnoticed,” Dorsey said via Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News. “There were some plays that were designed for him that unfortunately we just didn’t find him on those plays. We’ve got to keep him involved because he’s a great player for us. I’ve got to make sure that I continue to give him some variation to put him in some different spots.” 

Jets

Jets HC Robert Saleh was asked about QB Zach Wilson‘s performance following yet another loss and said that it was neither his best nor his worst outing so far this season.

“It’s one of those bizarre games,” Saleh said, via Pro Football Talk. “Every time we had momentum, just a self-inflicted wound. Was it his best game? Obviously not. Was it his worst game? No, I’m not going to say it was even close to his worst game. The entire offense, obviously, we all could have been better.”

“Like I said, it’s everyone,” Saleh continued. “When you’re dropping passes, you’re committing penalties, you’re not giving yourself a chance to get into a rhythm, get into a flow, you’re turning it over, we’re fumbling. And then he’s got to own up to some of the things he’s got to be better at. But offense is a collective thing and it felt like there were some opportunities out there to be a heck of a lot better. When you shoot yourself in the foot it’s not just one person, it’s all 11, coaches included.”

Saleh continued to defend Wilson this week, saying he’s not considering benching Wilson because that’s too simplistic a fix. They have other problems on offense, too. 

“It would be one thing if it was just him,” Saleh said, via SNY. “It is the easy thing to do, him and the play caller are the two most visible things so when things aren’t good it’s easy to blame them. It’s easy to blame the people who are most visible to the camera. . . . If it was just him, that would be worth discussing but this is a collective issue.”

• Saleh said there are things Wilson can improve on: “I thought overall he was distributing the ball … he can be a lot better. But it’s lazy to just put it all on him. It was collective across the board.”
• Saleh’s rationale for sticking with Wilson going forward: “So, obviously, it’s not The Greatest Show on Turf. He knows there are a lot of things that he can do better. There are a lot of things we can all do better and he needs to get better. He knows that. I know the knee-jerk reaction to this is to always hit the panic button. But as a whole, with all the circumstances — considering all the different things that are happening on the offense … — he’s doing the best he can.” (Rich Cimini)

Patriots

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton has caught just three passes for 15 yards this season but OC Bill O’Brien says it’s too early to give up on the former second-round pick after he lost his rookie season to injury.

“He’s a great guy, works very, very hard. And he just hasn’t had a lot of opportunities. I’m not making excuses for him, I’m just telling you he hasn’t been out on the field a lot,” O’Brien said, via MassLive.com. “Shoulder, whatever it is, he’s had a couple of injuries over the course of his young career and he doesn’t have a ton of experience. That comes on the field then obviously the games. Tyquan works very hard and I think he’ll be able to do that.”

• Patriots HC Bill Belichick when asked if he felt comfortable with Michael Onwenu staying at right tackle: “Yeah.” (Mark Daniels)