WGR

‘The score was close for a half. The Bills led 12-0 at the break but the Jets sure looked like a team that was mentally already in their off season.’

’41-year old Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is dealing with a knee injury. He’s going to play, but he won’t be looking to run much and will be compromised when he has to scramble. The Bills defense needs to make sure he doesn’t have time in the pocket by putting pressure on him to either get rid of it, or take hits and, eventually, sacks.’

‘”It’s big for us, and it’s big because it is one of the goals that we set during the start of the season of playing well at home, and then playing well in the division. It is important for us to play well at home, in front of our fans in particular,” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott during his weekly appearance on the “Extra Point Show” on Friday.’

‘The Thursday injury reports are out for both the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets ahead of their matchup this Sunday at Highmark Stadium.’

‘There have been numerous issues with the Jets, including an offensive line that couldn’t keep 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers from taking a beating.’

‘The Buffalo Bills defeated the New England Patriots in their first matchup against each other this season. Although the final score was 24-21 with Buffalo on top to finish, the Bills didn’t get their feet under themselves right away.’

‘”Good to get a win, it’s hard to win. Don’t take those for granted. Number One. Two, we thought we played sloppy in the first half in particular, and overall. We’ve got to clean some things up. The second half was a lot better, controlling the line of scrimmage offensively, and defensively with the takeaways. But you can’t start a game the way we did with the kickoff return and just getting off to an overall bad start. So I applaud the guys for, you know, finding a way and the coaching staff as well. [We made] some good adjustments at halftime. But again, we’re planning on coming out of this game and we’ll look at the tape and make sure we continue to adjust.”‘

‘”We have got to find a way to come out in the first half ready to play. I don’t think that’s something that we did great today. Missed some opportunities. Wish I had a few back. That’s every game. Glad that our defense and our special teams can step up. They scored on defense, obviously, and we won the turnover battle again. That’s complimentary football, and our defense had our back today.”‘

‘Perhaps it was the 14 degree weather. Maybe the Bills were on fumes after a stretch that saw them play Kansas City, San Francisco, the LA Rams and Detroit. There could have been some taking the opponent lightly thrown in there as well.”

‘The Patriots controlled the entire first half, mainly with their offense staying on the field. New England had 239 yards of offense in the first half, and converted 5-of-8 third downs.’

‘The Bills should have a hefty advantage upfront when the Patriots are on offense. But their defensive line will need to continue their play from last week to ensure that. New England is one of only six teams to allow a sack on over 10% of their passing attempts (10.25%), and are dead last in the NFL in passing yards per game (173.2). They’ve had offensive line issues all season and the Bills defensive line needs to make sure that continues.’

‘Two real wins for the Bills out of 34. Vanderbilt vs. Alabama isn’t supposed to be possible in the NFL, but the Patriots and Bills made it so.’

‘”In order to play great as a team, you’ve got to have individuals that play great in a game. So you do want to acknowledge those awards and the effort that was put into it and those performances,” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott of his quarterback during an appearance on the “Extra Point Show on Friday. “Josh has been phenomenal all season, pretty much, and especially the last number of games. In my estimation, and I’m his head coach, I think he’s MVP of the league. I just feel strongly about that, the way he’s led our team this year and performed on the field.”‘

‘The third overall pick in last April’s NFL Draft has started each of New England’s last nine games after taking over for Jacoby Brissett. Maye has a 2-7 record, but that is much more about the team around him than Maye’s potential.’

‘Dawkins was the only player on the team’s 53-man active roster who officially did not participate in practice. He did return to the facility later in the day and spoke with reporters.’