It all comes down to who wins the AFC East on Sunday night, when the Bills and Dolphins square off at Hard Rock Stadium.
Following a 27-21 victory over the Patriots in Week 17, the Bills now have a full week of preparation before facing the 11-6 Dolphins.
Head coach Sean McDermott, interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady, and assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Eric Washington all spoke with the media on Monday evening. Here’s what we discovered:
McDermott and Brady discuss Diggs’ output drop.
Stefon Diggs played only 65% of the team’s snaps against the Patriots, his lowest snap share since Week 14 against the Chiefs. While those aren’t usual use percentages for Buffalo’s No. 1 option, interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady stated on Monday that he and Diggs agree on his usage.
“Look I think there’s times where we definitely tag him out of plays,” Brady went on to say. “I think it was something earlier in the season we talked about to get to where we want to get — to just not playing (that many snaps).”
He went on to say, “There’s plays where we go into the weekend where we purposely have him out of the game.”
Brady explained that the idea is to keep Diggs fresh and ensure that Josh Allen and the offense are efficient when targeting him.
“There’s an intent behind a lot of the blows we can get off of him throughout the week.” But in key situations, such as third down, we clearly want him on the field,” he explained.
Head coach Sean McDermott also stated that he does not feel Diggs is suffering from an injury.
“Medically there’s nothing big that’s been, to my knowledge, ailing him and the communication I’m getting from Nate (Breske), our trainer on that,” McDermott said in an interview. “And it’s just Josh going through his reads and going through his progressions and making sure that we’re making sure we’re going through the progressions properly.”
Allen overthrew Diggs on a deep pass play that would have likely resulted in a score against the Patriots. The quarterback claimed it was not Diggs’ fault the two couldn’t connect.
“I just didn’t notice him. “It’s simple,” Allen remarked after the game on Sunday.
Even without strong performances from Diggs, the Bills have won four straight games with a renewed emphasis on the run game and diverse personnel groupings during the last four weeks. However, this does not imply that the team is satisfied.
“Look I know we’re better when Stef’s on the field,” Brady stated at the time. “There were three times yesterday when we threw the ball with Stef on the field in mind.” Josh trusts whoever is in that position to make the play when he is not on the field.
“We’re better off whenever (Diggs) is on the field.” We are aware of this.”
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While the coaching staff has been questioned about Diggs’ recent drop in output, it does not appear to be influencing the star WR’s mentality.
“In a perfect world, you know I want the ball, I want to be successful,” Diggs stated before the Cowboys game on Dec. 14. “At the end of the day,” he says, “we’re winning games.” That’s what I’d like to acknowledge. Every day, I continue to strive for greatness. It is not because I do not desire it. I guarantee you that. “I want to keep playing at a high level.”
Fortunately for Buffalo, Diggs has been at his best in their two most recent matchups, dating back to last season. Diggs had a team-high 7 receptions for 114 yards in the Bills’ 34-31 home triumph in the Wild Card stage last year.
Diggs had six catches for 120 yards and three touchdowns in Week 4 of this season.
McDermott stated on Monday that he wants Diggs to be the focal point of the offense.
“He’s a big factor for us,” added McDermott. “We’re going to need him down the stretch here.”
Jones’ return: first impressions
DT Bills DaQuan Jones returned to the lineup after missing the previous ten games due to a torn pec. He played 53% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps and recorded two tackles.
The coaching staff was impressed with Jones’ performance after reviewing the footage.
“Strong point of attack fundamentals,” remarked defensive line coach Eric Washington. “He did an excellent job with some of the midzone run schemes.” It was almost as if he had never left.
“The sack we had on third down, he and Ed (Oliver) did a nice job of working the pass rush concept we had.”
McDermott went on to say that he liked what he saw from Jones and feels he can be a valuable defensive player down the stretch.
“This is the first step in the right direction.” And now it’s about taking another important step this week and just getting and keeping the rust off,” he remarked.
Injury status report
McDermott has no new serious injury information to share, and the squad appears to be in good health heading into Week 18.
Josh Allen had a stinger at the end of the Patriots game, and McDermott revealed on Monday that the quarterback was suffering from “neck soreness.”
McDermott believes Allen’s practice schedule this week and availability for Sunday night wont be unaffected by the pain.
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