Bills
- Sal Capaccio notes that Bills WR Grant DuBose suffered a collarbone injury and is scheduled to undergo surgery, while OL Travis Clayton and Tylan Grable are in the league’s concussion protocol.
- Lance Lysowki writes that Bills C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger is a candidate to start the season on injured reserve or the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Jets
Jets QB Justin Fields completed just one of five passes in the Jets’ recent 31-12 preseason loss to the Vikings. When asked about Fields’ performance this preseason, HC Aaron Glenn responded that he’s annoyed by the criticism Fields is receiving after the praise he got after completing three of four in their opener against the Packers.
“I mean, you have so many people that want to talk about a small amount of plays these guys get to go out there and play,” Glenn said. “And then everything is falling down because we throw six passes [actually five, last Saturday]. Then, I mean, he’s Johnny Unitas when we throw four passes [in the first game]. So, it bothers me, and I laugh at it quite a bit. But the thing is, I understand it because that’s the noise that happens on the outside.”
Fields hasn’t completed a pass longer than nine yards this preseason. The quarterback said they are fine picking up yards in increments and aren’t going to “force the ball downfield.”
“We’re fine with taking 8-yard completions every play if I’m being honest with you,” Fields said before practice Tuesday. “Of course you want explosives, but like I said Saturday, we’re not going to force the ball downfield. If they want to get depth on the second level, we’re fine with taking the 8-, 10-yard completion, taking time off the clock and just driving down the field and having 10-to-15-play drives. It gets the defense tired. It might not be as exciting on the offensive side of the ball for the fans, but like I said, it’s efficient ball.”
Glenn shot back at the notion of the NFL being a “passing league,” pointing out that the Eagles had the 29th-ranked passing offense last season.
“Who says it’s a passing league?” Glenn said. “The team that won the Super Bowl, what were they in passing? Twenty-ninth. What were they in running? First.”
Patriots
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel praised QB Drake Maye for how he dealt with the Vikings’ defense during their joint practices ahead of their 20-12 preseason win over Minnesota.
“These practices here against the Vikings’ defense, they do a lot, they show you a lot,” Vrabel said, via Saad Yousuf and Dianna Russini of The Athletic. “They try to put you in a blender. By that, we mean, one play, it’s hard and then you just start thinking about the last play and then the next play becomes harder and harder until you’re just spinning in a blender. That’s what they like to use in the quarterback room, and I didn’t see (Maye) do that (Wednesday). He wasn’t perfect by any means but he never went in the blender, so I think that’s good.”
Maye said he’s been focusing on keeping a cool head during intense moments, taking care of the ball, and making intelligent decisions.
“We talk about in the quarterback room, staying confident and cool and collected, kind of when the chaos is going on,” Maye said. “Try not to get our offense into bad plays and really, it’s just really myself to trust the guys around me. I think that’s the big thing. Trust those guys. They’re great players and I think the biggest thing is, when chaos is going around, take care of the football and just try to (think), ‘Hey, if they get us this play, just tackle the next down.’ That’s what coach Vrabel talks about and what they talk about in the quarterback room with coach (Josh) McDaniels.”
Maye is entering his first season under OC Josh McDaniels. He said the veteran coach has a deep understanding of the system he’s deploying and always has an example to pull from.
“He’s always just thinking ahead,” Maye said. “He knows the system so well. He kind of knows the answers and knows, kind of second nature, what we should have done or what he saw that play. He sees it so well. It’s cool watching all of the old tape back of all their games back in the days. He knows the down and distance and what was going on and who scored a touchdown and what the protection was and what happened. We have plays in practice now that he pulls back old clips of that same play where something happened and kind of relates to that. So, it’s really cool to see him relate it back to that and relate it to helping us out and play better.”
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