WGR

‘”Josh Allen not being able to play due to injury, it’s a little tougher to get a feel for where the Bills thought they might be if he’d been able to play the last number of weeks. Not that he’d all of a sudden be a top level quarterback, but he’d have three more games of reps and, ideally, that gives him more experience and you could see improvement…”‘

‘”It’s the same philosophy with Darnold as it is with Allen. Unless these guys are coming out of a pro-set college offense like [Carson] Wentz, it’s best to hold these guys back. If you look at it, each game [Darnold] has gotten worse. What the Jets should have done is sat him out for that Thursday night game, because you basically go in with no preparations. It served him up and he had one of the worst games.”‘

‘Allen was listed as “limited” by head coach Sean McDermott prior to Wednesday’s session, and although he was sporting a fairly large brace over his right elbow, he appeared to have a full workload of passes during the individual positional portion of practice the media was allowed to watch.’

‘Darnold was reportedly spotted in a walking boot and missed practice Wednesday, and is now considered out on a “week-to-week” basis. Veteran quarterback Josh McCown would start for the Jets this week after the team had traded Teddy Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints in the preseason.’

‘Gaines was responsible for a pair of lengthy pass interference calls against the Chicago Bears, as well as a critical pass interference penalty in the end zone in Buffalo’s loss to the Houston Texans. The Bills have figured they have seen enough from Gaines to release him outright from the roster. Gaines, a 5-year veteran, started 6 games for the Bills this season, totaling 30 tackles and two passed defensed.’

‘In 2017 with the Broncos, McKenzie played in 11 games, catching four passes for 29 yards. He has 23 career punt returns in the NFL, averaging 8.5 yards per-return.’

‘”It’s a big area that you need to have play well, regardless of what happens at the other positions. You need your quarterback to play well, and play well on a consistent basis.”‘

‘”This is so hard, it takes so much mentally. It’s not something you can be halfway in or halfway out for. Don’t let my mind wander.”‘

‘I would really like to have a way to wrap this up into some kind of meaningful statement about the direction the Bills are going but I really don’t know how. Maybe that’s because I’m as terrible at this as the Bills are at playing offense, or maybe it’s because what we’re all watching on these Sundays really is utterly meaningless. The Bills prized possession, seventh overall pick quarterback Josh Allen is hurt. In the meantime, whether it’s Derek Anderson, Peterman or Matt Barkley playing quarterback, the results and how they perform mean nothing.’

‘The Bears didn’t need much offense, only collecting 190 yards of total offense. Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw for 135 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception on 12-of-20 passing. Chicago running back Jordan Howard led the Bears with 47 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries. Rookie Anthony Miller led the Bears with 5 catches for 49 yards.’

‘Since taking over in 2017, McDermott has seen his football teams beaten by 20 or more points eight times in just 26 games. Offensively, they ranked 29th in total yards in 2017 and through nine games this season, they ranked 31st going into Sunday’s 41-9 loss at home to the Bears.’

‘The most frustrating season of Shady’s career continued that way Sunday as the back ran for a total of only ten yards on only ten carries. There are a lot of reasons why McCoy has struggled this season, including offensive line play, opposing defenses keying on him, and a lack of passing game to get defenses to back off the line of scrimmage. But he’s also clearly pressing and trying to do too much at times. For the season McCoy now only has 267 yards o 85 carries, an average of 3.1 yards per carry. He also has not scored a single touchdown this year, ruching or receiving.’

‘With the news coming down Saturday that Derek Anderson has been officially ruled out with a concussion, the Bills will turn to Nathan Peterman, again. Counting a brief playoff appearance last year, Peterman has thrown ten interceptions in only 84 career pass attempts, which has left many to wonder how he’s still on an NFL roster, much less in this position to be starting a game. But whatever circumstances led him here, the second-year QB may very well be playing for his career in this one.’

‘Quarterback Derek Anderson, middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, and defensive end Trent Murphy all missed practice for a second straight day, which makes it increasingly unlikely any of them will be able to suit up, although head coach Sean McDermott didn’t completely rule it out, at least in Anderson’s case.’

‘Barkley, a fourth round pick of the Eagles in 2013 out of USC, has started eight NFL games, throwing eight touchdowns and 18 interceptions. To make room for Barkley, running back/special teams player Taiwan Jones was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury.’