Bills
Bills GM Brandon Beane spoke highly of DE Landon Jackson, who was selected by the team in the third round. Jackson also commented on his experience of getting the call that he was heading to Buffalo.
“(I’m) very excited,” Beane said after getting Jackson. “High character DNA. A longer athletic dude, a lot of sacks, went against a lot of premium talent in the SEC, and had a lot of production. Obviously, athletically tested very well. This guy is smart, he knows how to rush, he has feel in there. He’s not just an athletic guy. He’s got feel, instincts, awareness. He’s tough. He’s a dog.”
“Athletic ability, speed, power, all the things that you’re looking for (we got),” Beane added. “To get the guys we’ve been able to add, there’s a lot of excitement upstairs.”
“Man, honestly, I didn’t think it was real,” Jackson said on being drafted. “I knew the Bills were big on me throughout this whole process, but I didn’t think it was real. My phone said potential spam risk when they called. I thought I was getting pranked, to be honest with you. Then my wife said, ‘Go ahead and pick it up. I think it is somebody.’ Then I picked it up and they said, ‘This is the Buffalo Bills.’ I said this is Landon Jackson, thank you for calling. At that point, I just shut down and started bawling.”
Jets
The Jets used a second-round pick on TE Mason Taylor out of LSU, who’s the son of Hall of Fame DE Jason Taylor. While Jason spent the majority of his NFL career in Miami, he also spent one of his final years with the Jets. He talked about what it’s like to have his son get drafted and land with an organization with which he has experience.
“It’s a dream come true for my son to play in the NFL and kind of walk in the shoes that I was so blessed to walk in,” Jason said, via Randy Lange of the team’s website. “And then, you know, to go to a franchise that I played for, and in the greatest city on the planet.”
Although most of the discourse surrounding Taylor involves his father, Mason doesn’t mind it and uses his dad as the standard for how to have a solid NFL career.
“It doesn’t bother me at all. I love it,” Mason said. “He’s my motivator, he’s the guy I look up to, so people saying I’m in his shadow, that really doesn’t affect me. I’m doing hard work just like he did. He was lowly recruited out of high school and college, and I’ve just seen the way he’s done things and approached his business every single day, so I don’t see that as I’m in his shadows.”
Patriots
Patriots QB Drake Maye told reporters it’s been “awesome” to work with OC Josh McDaniels so far this offseason.
“I think his way — he’s been an offensive coordinator and head coach,” Maye said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com. “He does it at a high level. The stuff works. Kind of the proof is in the pudding. He’s coached a lot of different guys. He coached the best ever do it. So, it’s pretty cool getting to watch the old things of Tom [Brady], and seeing how he does it. A bunch of different guys play at a high level in the offense and not just Tom. So, it’s been cool to watch and learn the ways and learn the ins and outs of it.”
“I think it’ll be good for us because we’ll be able to do a lot,” Maye added of McDaniels. “I think it’ll be a challenge to find out exactly what is or will be our stuff. That’s the fun part. That’s the chess match. Coach is great about finding matchups. I’m looking forward to starting to game plan. I know that’s far away, but I’m kind of getting the itch now. The ball’s in my hands, I think you want that,” Maye said. “I hold the pin last — that’s what they say. That’s what you want. I get the view best view back there. … The best view of the defense. You’re the one who has to know where everyone is at, what everyone is doing. … It’ll be great for me to take that next step and take command of sending the guys up front where to go. I’m looking forward to it.”
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