WGR

‘Right now they rank 24th in rushing yards per game (88.3) and 26th in yards per play (3.6). As mentioned above, a good running game would be the best friend of Josh Allen. And the best way to get that running game going is to make sure LeSean McCoy has more than five carries, which is what he had last week in Green Bay. McCoy has only 21 carries on the season and only 29 touches overall. Not enough.’

‘Micah Hyde, who left last week’s game at Green Bay with a groin injury, and Rafael Bush, his primary backup, were both held out of practice Wednesday and were working off to the side with trainers. Head coach Sean McDermott termed Bush as “day-to-day” with a shoulder injury. He called Hyde “week-to-week” Monday.’

‘Phillips, 26, was waived by the Dolphins on Tuesday, is in his fourth season in the NFL. Phillips tallied 63 tackles and 5.5 sacks in just over three seasons with the Dolphins after being drafted by Miami in the second round (52nd overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft.’

‘Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Monday that safety Micah Hyde will be week-to-week with a groin injury suffered on Sunday in Green Bay. Buffalo has also been without cornerback Phillip Gaines, who’s missed the last two weeks with an elbow injury. In addition, rookie cornerback Taron Johnson has been dealing with a banged-up shoulder since Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens.’

‘“Overall, offense wasn’t good enough at all, bottom line” he said at his weekly Monday press conference. “Not good enough. Running game, passing game, hits on the quarterback… There’s a lot of hands in that jar, though, as it goes to hits on the quarterback. It’s just not good enough. Not solid football. We’ve got to get better.’

‘”At the end of the day you have to be able to score points. Defensively, the goal used to be to keep the other team under 14 points. Now, it’s 17 points. That meter continues to go up.”‘

‘”In the long run, we don’t talk about this loss ruining anything. It’s a clear sign of a lack of execution and preparation. We don’t have the luxury of riding the roller coster of whether we’re good or not.”‘

‘As with their other losses this season, the Bills started out poorly. Rodgers hooked up with Ty Montgomery for a 43-yard gain to set up a touchdown pass from Rodgers to Jimmy Graham from 3 yards out. Packers kicker Mason Crosby missed the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. However, the Bills offense continued to stagger. The Packers tallied on another touchdown, as they went 9 plays to march down the field against the Bills defense that was missing Micah Hyde due to a groin injury. Aaron Jones capped off the drive with a 3-yard run to make it 13-0.’

‘The offense ended up with 12 possessions and if you throw out the last two drives where they picked up garbage time passing yards, the numbers were horrendous. They went three-and-out on seven of the first 10 drives. Allen and company netted a measly 93 yards in those 10 drives. On the afternoon, the Bills ended up with just 145 yards on 56 plays, managed a frigid 19-percent conversion rate on third down and never got inside the Packers’ 20-yard line.’

‘A couple of these were also on Allen, but for the most part, the Bills’ offensive line was beaten badly and cleanly several times, resulting in Allen going down. The Bills came into the game tied for the league lead in sacks allowed with 14 through three games, then they gave up half that amount in just four quarters.’

‘Josh Allen was pretty good last week in Minnesota. Not great, not bad at all. He wasn’t asked to do much, but what he was asked to do he did well, didn’t make critical mistakes, and kept the offense on schedule. Not much more you could ask from a rookie QB in his first-ever road start, especially in that type of environment. No doubt he was set up in very nice situations by his defense. But to Allen’s credit, he helped the offense take advantage of that. Now comes the next step. Can Allen be as efficient when things aren’t as simple and the offense needs him to make plays because they are down or in a tight game? Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine will test him for sure. We’ll see how he handles it in Lambeau.

‘“It’s a game of inches.” Alexander said with Howard Simon and Jeremy White on Friday morning. “You can mishit a gap and not get a guy, or you could do the same exact thing and then somebody else comes off and makes a great play and tackles a guy, and that’s really the difference in the NFL.’

‘Further demonstrating his team-first mentality, Jones has not only embraced his role as a core special teamer, he’s thriving in it. “My mindset was always that I wanted to be an impact on a team, not just a roster filler,” said Jones, who is listed on the roster as a running back and has played both running back and cornerback in college and the NFL. “We have a lot of depth at running back, so I got the opportunity on special teams and when I’m out there I’m out there to make plays. My mindset is ‘I’m the best player at whatever I’m going to do,’ and that carries on in how I play the game and I just have to embrace that special teams role and that’s just what I have done.’

‘”The fact he was out there (Thursday), their biggest workload day where they’re in pads, that signifies something. Especially a day after head coach Mike McCarthy admitted that not having Aaron Rodgers is affecting the whole team in practice.”‘

‘“I feel good. I feel good,” the running back said after a practice in which he wore a red non-contact jersey. “Today was the first day I really ran hard. Cutting was a minor little setback, but other than that I felt good, I felt fast, I felt rested, so I am excited.”’