WGR

‘Giants running back Saquon Barkley might already be the best in the game. He’s fast, strong, and elusive. He finished second in the NFL in rushing yards last year in just his rookie season, with 1,307. He added another 721 receiving for a total of 2,028 yards from scrimmage, the most in the NFL. Last week against the Cowboys, Barkley only touched the ball 17 times, but he totaled 139 yards from scrimmage, including a whopping 10.9 yards per carry, running for 120 on just 11 carries.’

‘Both cornerback Levi Wallace and wide receiver Cole Beasley were out on the field for the media-open portion of practice. Wallace took a fall Thursday in 1-on-1 drills and had to have his ankle looked at by trainers. Beasley missed the entire practice with an illness.’

‘”Ed’s motor and youth comes into play and helps us out. And then Trent [Murphy] being stronger and healthier than he was last year, it’s really become a team effort. We play a lot of players on the defensive line and rotate players, which will be key this week with the heat we’re anticipating over in New York City. To have fresh players, but also a number of players that can continue to come in and throw fastballs at the offensive line or the quarterback works in our favor.”‘

‘During the open-media portion of practice, cornerback Levi Wallace went down during 1-on-1 drills and immediately grabbed his leg. He then got up to walk and hopped around a bit, before trainers came over to tend to him.’

‘”I think there’s a lot to improve on, but I think every team is saying that after Week 1. It’s exciting with the opportunity we have and the potential we have, but there’s the few too many mistakes that put us in a rut early on. I feel like you can’t be complacent with where we are, but we really love the group of guys we have, and we’re proud to play with each other. That’s an exciting thing to do.”‘

‘Dodson was not on the Bills 53-man roster, but had been on the commissioners’ exempt list since September 1st. The first game he’ll be eligible to play in is against the Eagles on October 28th.’

‘The passing attack opened up several running lanes in the second half that saw rookie running back Devin Singletary break off several big runs en route to a fantastic rookie debut. Sure, some of you might look to the departure of Jets linebacker CJ Mosley due to injury as a primary cause for their success on the ground in the second half but I think the real reason stems from the Jets inability to stop the passing game in traditional running personnel sets.’

‘“They had the No. 1 ranked offense in the preseason and then top-five or top-six overall in the first week, so they’re a real good challenge.”’

‘Roberts missed last week’s game against the New York Jets with a quad injury, while Johnson left the game with a hamstring injury early in the third quarter and didn’t return.’

‘”We have more depth this year. We have backups that could be starters. Going into the season a lot of people were talking about us not getting pressure on the quarterback. We can’t give these guys the looks that we’re running. Disguising everything gave our d-line a better shot to get there.”‘

‘Allen’s lower body mechanics on the day were tremendous. Watching all of his throws, on almost all he planted his feet and stepped into his throw. This was one of the things criticized about Allen coming out of college and out of his rookie season. Against the Jets Allen’s mechanics looked much better.’

‘A pair of 80+ yard drives would be needed for Buffalo to get the win, starting with a healthy dose of rookie running back Devin Singletary to kick-start the offense. Singletary would garner up 55 all-purpose yards in Buffalo’s 85-yard drive to pull within one score. Josh Allen would cap off the drive with a 3 yard scramble to make cut New York’s lead to 16-10.’

‘I’ll bet the Bills offensive game plan caught many of you by surprise. Instead of coming out and establishing the run, the Bills went “Air Daboll”. The Jets biggest weakness on defense is the secondary, specifically the corners, so the Bills came out with a no huddle, spread the Jets out, attack mentality. Allen dropped back to pass on the first 18 snaps. Out of 35 offensive plays in the first half, running backs combined for just three carries. One of the many questions about the offense in the pre-season was whether or not the Bills would be confident in winning game while leaning on Allen and the passing attack. The answer was yes in week one.’

‘The stats won’t paint the picture, but Allen deserves a ton of credit. At times, it was ugly. Even after the four turnovers; Allen haphazardly threw the ball through the hands of defenders, into heavy coverage with regularity and flashed a similar impatience in the pocket that Bills fans got used to see his rookie season. Yet, Allen found a way to play his best football in the closing moments of the game.’

‘Whatever you want to call it, the Bills showed it. They were down 16-0 and then 16-3 heading into the fourth quarter. But they just kept playing and battling and made enough plays down the stretch to come away with the win. Head coach Sean McDermott has been preaching, and the team has been practicing, these very types of scenarios and situations since the first day of OTAs. It paid off in a big way to open the season.’