AFC East Weekly Buzz: Second Week of Preseason

Buffalo Bills

Mike Williams, Sammy Watkins Making Noise

Watkins has had a great camp, so making nice catches shouldn’t be a surprising development. One play, however, even surprised the crowd at St. John Fisher College, along with his quarterback.

On a simple quick out route, Watkins seemed to effortlessly grab a ball from E.J. Manuel that was thrown behind him with his left hand.The play was caught by WGRZ Sports reporter and anchor Jonah Javad.

“That one was kind of surprising because it was behind him and high,” said Manuel. “He made a great catch with his left hand. Sammy is an excellent receiver.”

Head coach Doug Marrone said there aren’t a lot of receivers in the league that could have made that catch. “There’s a couple, but not everyone,” said Marrone. Marrone couldn’t find anything that Watkins needs to prove to him, other than making those plays on Sunday. “Other than that, he’s been outstanding,” said Marrone. “He’s done everything we ask. Very difficult for me to say where he needs to go. Obviously there’s things we all need to work on. But he really has been outstanding from a maturity standpoint from a production standpoint in practice. Obviously he got involved in the last game at a point where we’re not truly gameplanning yet to get him the football. You saw it today, not many guys in this league can make that game.”

Mike Williams also made some highlight reel plays on Sunday, catching a deep touchdown pass in a one-on-one drill, and leaping for a one-handed catch in the back of the endzone against cornerback Corey Graham, which the crowd applauded. Manuel said that Williams’ comment about throwing the ball “up to the clouds” so he can go get it isn’t a fallacy.

“It’s true,” said Manuel. “He’s done it day in and day out. He’s been very consistent as far as tracking the ball, whether its a fade or whether its a deep ball or a post. I think a great example of that was how we did in the game. The corner played off him a little bit, but i just stuck it on him and he just made a great catch.

“Having that as a security blanket at receiver is awesome for us. What he can do and Sammy can do, those two can go up and make big plays. Mike has done an excellent job the past two-three weeks.” Marrone has very much liked what he’s seen both on and off the field from a player who once left a Syracuse University team that Marrone was coaching in 2009.

“He’s been outstanding, he really has,” said Marrone. “Mike knows this, I think it will be a big transition when we go back to Buffalo for him because I don’t think you could have asked for anyone to have as good of an attitude, has worked as hard as he has, has made plays like he has.”

“What’s that saying, it’s better the second time around? For me and him, it’s much better for me the second time around. We need to keep it going. He’s really done a great job.”

Williams has seemed to turn his life and football career around in returning to his hometown of Buffalo. If he is as good as he was as a rookie in 2010 and third-year player in 2012, when he had nearly 1,000 yards receiving in both seasons, along with Watkins living up to the training camp hype, the Bills’ receiving core could be one of the best in the league.

New York Jets

Cornerback Injuries Derail Depth at Position

On Sunday, New York’s cornerback group, which has gone from arguably the best in the league with Darrelle Revis to Antonio Cromartie manning the starting spots two years ago to one that has a lot of Jets fan concerned receiving even worse news. Dee Milliner suffered a high ankle sprain, a league source told ESPN’s Rich Cimini.

It was a double whammy, as rookie third-round pick Dexter McDougle tore the ACL in his left knee. Cimini looked at how the team’s current cornerback situation looks in light of the injuries:

Right now, the Jets are without three of their top four corners. Aside from Milliner and McDougle, who had taken some first-team reps in practice, starter Dimitri Patterson missed practice for the second straight day with calf and ankle injuries.

Patterson, coming off a shaky performance in the preseason opener, is expected to return soon. He said his injuries are “not serious.” But there’s concern because of his durability issues. Patterson, whom the Jets signed to a one-year, $3 million contract to replace Antonio Cromartie, has missed 33 games over the past three seasons.

Suddenly, the cornerback position — considered a strength in the years of Darrelle Revis and Cromartie — is a major issue. The Jets’ top healthy corners are nickelback Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls and Ras I-Dowling. “These kinds of situations, I’ve had to deal with them in the past,” Ryan said. “It’ll be adversity for some, opportunity for others. We’ll put the best 11 out there. We’ll be able to play defense. We’ve got a lot of good football players. We’ll be fine.”

The Jets were criticized for not signing one of the big-name cornerbacks in free agency. After releasing Cromartie for cap reasons, they made unsuccessful attempts to sign Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Vontae Davis. They also passed on Revis, who reportedly was interested in re-signing with the Jets after being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With the safety position young and still developing, especially with first-round safety Calvin Pryor currently battling a concussion, chemistry and depth in the secondary was already a huge issue. Now, Rex Ryan may have to be even more creative in order to hide his defensive backfield issues, especially against division opponents who have made a point of adding more weapons to their passing game.

Miami Dolphins

Tannehill’s Technique “Tweaked”, Improvements Seen

Ryan Tannehill is under the microscope is his third season as an NFL quarterback, especially with fellow quarterback draft classmates Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson getting to back-to-back postseasons while the former Texas A+M Aggie has yet to play in a playoff game. New offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, who comes from Philadelphia’s spread-offense attack, has helped Tannehill make adjustments to his game, according to the Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero:

When Bill Lazor came to the Dolphins with a reputation as something of a quarterback whisperer everyone knew change was coming for Ryan Tannehill. But the degree of the fundamental nature of that change is starting to become clear.

Lazor tweaked Tannehill’s footwork. That is supposed to improve accuracy. “We just taught him how we want it to be. We explained it to him,” Lazor said. “We gave him some drills on how to get it. And he worked his butt off, he’s working his butt off to get it right.

“There were just certain fundamentals as with any position that we feel is the best way to do it. That’s the way we’re leading them. No one’s perfect. PGA golfers have swing coaches and they’re making money and are not done yet. It’s just a matter of coaching. We’re coaches. We have a great love for what we do and the fundamentals of the game and to try to make guys the best they can be. That’s what we’re doing with Ryan.

For his part and all the quarterbacks here, they’re buying in and working hard.” Well, Tannehill was 6 of 6 and led the Dolphins on a touchdown drive in the preseason opener Friday against Atlanta. So has he arrived? “There is no ‘I got it,’ ‘” Lazor said. “Never.” “”I thought he had 10 good plays. I thought he showed command. I thought he was very decisive on the field. The ball came out of his hand on time with all of them. He has a really good grasp of what we’re doing. My job is to push him. I’ve got to make it very hard for him out here on the practice field. I heard a rumor that some people reported we’ve made it hard to him on the field. That’s on purpose. That’s how you build a quarterback and he’s coming.”

The Patriots have a well-earned reputation for trying to stock the roster with talented tight ends, and they’ve made a few more moves on that front this morning.