AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets,

Bills

After falling out of the league, former first-round pick OLB Shane Ray spoke about feeling lost without football, as well as the elation of getting another chance with the Bills. 

“The whole structure of my life changed,” Ray said, via Katherine Fitzgerald of Buffalo News. “There were times where I can say that I was like, ‘Man, am I gonna make it through this? Am I gonna make it?’ And I really didn’t have an answer for myself. It was more so just like, just keep going, keep believing. And some days I’d wake up and be like, ‘I’m working my (butt) off, and nobody’s giving me a shot. Why is nobody giving me a chance?’ Like, why, why, why, why? And how many days of that can you take? How many rough nights of crying and just waking up, and you see all your friends on TV and they’re getting new contracts?”

“Just based on the stats, four years out of the league, you’re not coming back,” Ray added. “And people don’t expect you to come back. My wrist hadn’t really healed. It took three and a half years. I don’t think I’ve felt this whole as a player in my entire career. I feel good mentally, physically. And I feel like I’m ready to just absorb this moment for what it is, and really play it for what it is.”

Dolphins

Dolphins CB Xavien Howard and WR Tyreek Hill are both excited about the speed that Miami will be bringing offensively this season mentioning rookie RB Devon Achane, who was one of the fastest players in the draft. Hill also praised QB Tua Tagovailoa, calling him one of the most accurate passers in the league. 

“Man, it’s like a race car game,” Howard told Aaron Wilson of KCRP Houston. “You just see speed going, quick and fast. Especially after adding this guy (Achane) to our running backs. It’s good going against the competition and going against these two guys. The speed, it’s a lot. You can’t coach speed. Especially playing cornerback, it helps out a lot. You can’t put me in this. I just got good technique. These guys are fast, though.”

“Obviously we got one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL and I’m sticking to my stance on that,” Hill said. “So having Tua (Tagovailoa) at quarterback and having the offensive guru we have in our head coach is wonderful. Having those weapons at his disposal, he’s going to go crazy. He can have me and Waddle on one side, Devon and Raheem on another side. The sky is the limit for this offense.”

Jets

Nathaniel Hackett has the title of offensive coordinator for the Jets and Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback. But the latter might as well have the title of co-offensive coordinator given how involved he’s been with designing New York’s offense for the upcoming season. 

“I have spent a lot of time after hours just going back through certain concepts that we like,” Rodgers said via the Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt. “Renaming a few things, subtle adjustments we might have done that (Hackett) forgot about and then reintroducing some new concepts that he’s brought back at other places he’s been. … It’s a conglomeration with all of the different things, with it based on a West Coast offense, so him and I have commonality with the language. It’s been great.”

Hackett worked with Rodgers in Green Bay and the two men became close there. This time last year, Hackett was also talking a lot about collaboration and partnership with an experienced veteran quarterback, but the relationship with Rodgers is deeper and stronger than the short marriage between Hackett and Broncos QB Russell Wilson. Hackett says it’s been seamless with Rodgers so far. 

“We’re already close and we already talk football all the time, anyways, besides talking about all our personal stuff,” Hackett said. “There’s so much about the game that we love and we see it through the same lens and so even if I have ideas, I would always bounce them off him, one way or the other, so I think we’ll have a lot of communication and make sure we’re all on the same page.”