Bills
- The Bills became the first team in NFL history to finish a season with 30 passing touchdowns and 30 rushing touchdowns in their loss to the Patriots in Week 18. (Jordan Schultz)
- Bills RB James Cook rushed for his 16th touchdown of the season and tied Hall of Fame RB O.J. Simpson for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season in the history of the franchise.
- Bills OL Alec Anderson was fined $5,107 for Unnecessary Roughness (striking/kicking/kneeing) in Week 17.
Jets
- Jets QB Aaron Rodgers became the fifth player in NFL history to record 500 passing touchdowns on Sunday.
- Per Adam Schefter, Jets TE Tyler Conklin caught his 50th pass this season and triggered a $250,000 incentive.
- Jets OC Todd Downing used an analogy to describe their offense’s struggles: “It feels like we’re swimming along and get caught in a fishing net. We gotta find a way to wiggle our way through and fight through the adversity.” (Rich Cimini)
- Although Downing acknowledged their struggles with Rodgers leading the offense, he feels honored to coach him: “We’ve had some struggles, but just the collaboration and getting to know how his mind works, being able to make some memories, not just with him but with all our guys, has been an absolute honor.”
- As for WR Garrett Wilson, Downing thinks the receiver still has tremendous potential and hopes to continue coaching him: “I think the sky’s the limit for Garrett. I hope I get an opportunity to see it.”
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Jets DL Micheal Clemons was fined $6,533 for Unnecessary Roughness and Rodgers was fined $11,255 for Unnecessary Roughness (late hit) in Week 17.
Patriots
- Patriots HC Jerod Mayo on the team’s win over the Bills before being fired by the team: “Just proud of the way they came out and competed today.” (Ben Volin)
- Patriots QB Joe Milton said he found out he was playing after kickoff and was told he would be going in the second series. (Doug Kyed)
- Milton on his improvements: “I feel like footwork has improved a lot.” (Mike Reiss)
- Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt said QB Drake Maye (hand) was looking “ready to go” in practice: “Drake looked good yesterday. He’s ready to go. He’ll be starting the game for sure.” (Mark Daniels)
- Van Pelt mentioned Milton got some reps with their first-team offense in Wednesday’s practice, per Andrew Callahan.
- As for his job security, Van Pelt said he wants to be back in New England: “I would love to be back.” (Mark Daniels)
- Van Pelt acknowledged how they knew it would take time to fill holes on the roster, but mentioned there were higher expectations to win more games: “There were expectations to win more games than we did and that’s the hard part.” (Daniels)
- Van Pelt doesn’t think the possibility of being fired is a distraction: “No, this is the business. We all signed up for this. When you win 3 games, it’s tough obviously. The thing I can hang my hat on is that this team has played hard and there’s not been any game where they have not put out their full efforts. That’s impressive. I’ve been around teams that were out of the playoffs and kind of just cruised to the end. We’re going to try to finish strong. We started fast — that was my message to them — with a win [this season]; let’s finish strong with a win at home in front of our crowd.” (Mike Reiss)
- Patriots special teamer Brenden Schooler earned a $500,000 incentive for his Pro Bowl selection, per Spotrac.
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Patriots LB Keion White was fined $28,139 for Unnecessary Roughness (horse-collar tackle) in Week 17.
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