Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘ Just as we’ve done with Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Warren Moon, John Elway, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers over the years.’

‘“I’m thinking the worst,” Washington said the other day. “I played well the week before (against Denver), then I was inactive and the first thing that pops into my head is they want to cut me or they want to trade me. I called my (family), talked to them, talked to my agent (powerful Drew Rosenhaus), and at the end of the day, the only way I could get those thoughts out of my head was to go out there and be seen, be like Kyle.”’

‘“Drew is one of my favorite quarterbacks of all time, somebody I definitely watched growing up,” Taylor said Wednesday. “Had a chance to meet him a couple years ago and to see some of the things he does in the offseason and how he works and approaches the game. Definitely somebody I admire.”’

‘Wide receiver Zay Jones, who suffered a knee injury against the Jets, also sat out the practice while tight end Charles Clay and cornerback E.J Gaines worked on a limited basis. McDermott seemed fairly confident Clay and Gaines would be able to play in the game.’

‘“He’s a receiver that makes our offense better,” McDermott said. “If you want to go one-on-one on the outside (against Benjamin), that’s on you, and that opens up the run game. It’s a nice little dynamic there and you look at what we already have in the run game, with Charles potentially coming back, Tyrod (Taylor), the other receivers, now we’ve got some things a defense must contend with. I had confidence in the group of receivers before we brought in Kelvin. Now, I see the group improving because of Kelvin. We’ve got a couple of pros in that room and they have their effect on Kelvin and Kelvin has his effect on them.”’

‘ “They’ve always been aggressive offensively but probably the biggest improvement I’ve seen from their team, just having faced them over the years in the NFC South, is the defense and what they’ve been able to do,’’ McDermott said. “Going from, I think it was 28.4 points per game down to 19 in just a year’s time, is a tremendous improvement on that side.’’’

‘“I wasn’t really surprised,” Benjamin said of the trade that certainly had everyone else around the league, most notably Newton, feeling surprised. “I kind of feel the offense was going in another direction, but this is a great opportunity for me. I’m excited; new city, new team. When I got here they had open arms, so I’m excited and having fun.”’

‘Most likely: No. 5 seed at Tennessee or Jacksonville.’

‘As much of a downer as that loss was in New York, 5-3 is way better than the “tanking” prognostications that were being tossed around back in August when general manager Brandon Beane traded Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby on the same day. Sure, it’s tough to deny that the Bills have overachieved to this point, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re still right in the mix of the wide-open AFC playoff picture.’

‘This is going to be a test, but here goes. I’ll start with Zay Jones. He finally looked like the player the Bills thought they were drafting — a possession receiver with good hands. Nothing flashy about his game, but if you throw it to him, he’ll catch it. He built a fabulous college career around those traits, and with six catches for 53 yards and a TD, that started to show. Also, after what looked like a bad knee injury, Jones was back out there playing in the second half. That showed some real grit. Hopefully, the injury doesn’t force him to miss time.’

‘Sadly with this franchise, nothing ever really changes, and Sean McDermott’s team, one we dared to dream might be different than so many previous Bills’ teams, is left to ponder over the next 10 days an inexplicably horrendous performance.’

‘Beat the Bills straight up in every phase, mind you, and it all started in the trenches as the Jets simply beat the crap out of the Bills offensive and defensive lines.’

‘ Really, it’s not that the Bills (5-3) lost to the Jets (4-5) by a score made somewhat respectable by some garbage time heroics by Taylor, it’s how they lost that is most disappointing after the way they had conducted themselves in impressive home wins over Tampa Bay and Oakland.’

‘“He really only had a short amount of time to get up to speed,’’ McDermott said after the Bills lost 34-21 and could’ve used Benjamin’s presence against an inspired Jets defense that played a lot of eight-men fronts, not that fearful of Buffalo’s passing game. “The guys that did play put in the time during the week and so we wanted to do things the right way as far as that goes.’’’

‘Sean McDermott and his staff had its worst game of the season. On offense, Rick Dennison never found anything to counter the Jets stacking the box to stop the run, nor did he have a way to combat the relentless pass rush. On defense, the Bills’ normally reliable run defense was gashed, and missed tackles were a major reason for that. The Bills haven’t had a game all year where they were outclassed, but it happened in this one, and it’s simply stunning than the below-average Jets were the team to do it. McDermott admitted it was a clunker, and how he has to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’