Bills nail Taylor to bench for finale
Manuel starts against Jets following ‘business decision’ intended to protect QB’s health
TORONTO — Rex Ryan has already walked the plank, but the drama is far from over inside Buffalo Bills headquarters.
One day after firing their head coach ahead of this weekend’s meaningless regular-season finale against the New York Jets — another team that’s canned Ryan — the Bills announced quarterback Tyrod Taylor would be sitting in Week 17.
Interim head coach Anthony Lynn, considered the front-runner to take the reins on a full-time basis, called it a “business decision.”
He also said it wasn’t his decision to start former first-round pick EJ Manuel over Taylor, who would be guaranteed his exorbitant US$30-million salary for next season if he were to suffer an injury that prevented him from passing an off-season physical.
If Lynn, who has handled offensive co-ordinator duties for the Bills since Week 3, is indeed the man they want leading the franchise, it’s a curious unofficial start to his tenure.
You’d think who starts at quarterback would be a decision the head coach has input into making.
“I can’t speak for the owner. I can’t speak for the GM. They’ll have to speak for themselves,” Lynn told reporters Wednesday.
But GM Doug Whaley wasn’t around to address it. Neither was owner Terry Pegula. Manuel handled first-team reps at the Bills’ first practice without Ryan, while fourth-round pick Cardale Jones worked with the second unit.
As the Bills are trying to figure out what to do with Taylor, whose contract situation will need to be figured out by the March 11 deadline to exercise options in his deal through 2021, Jones is the guy the franchise would probably like to see get some live reps. But his raw skill set coming out of Ohio State is still probably only medium-rare after 15 games of marination as the QB3.
While the game Sunday may mean nothing, it’s as important a time as ever for the Bills organization as they attempt to settle on a head coach and a quarterback and press the restart button in 2017.
Martin suspended
After being a late healthy scratch by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend, things got worse Wednesday when the NFL announced running back Doug Martin had been suspended four games for violating the performance-enhancing drugs policy.
Martin will now miss the final game of this season and the first three games of 2017. The suspension also voids the guarantees in Martin’s $7 million salary next season, the final year of his contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Martin, 27, finishes the season averaging a paltry 2.9 yards per carry.
Last game for 89?
Thanks to a season-ending Achilles injury last year, Steve Smith. put off retirement to return in 2016.
Healthy heading into the final game of the season, the 16-year veteran says Sunday is likely the last time he’ll strap on the pads.
“I’m about 89 per cent sure,” Smith told reporters of the chances he’s retiring, which also happens to be his Baltimore Ravens jersey number.
Smith will retire as one of only 11 players to record 1,000 receptions and 14,000 receiving yards.
Smith was a third-round pick of the Panthers in 2001 out of Utah, playing 14 seasons in Charlotte before signing with the Ravens in 2014.
Price high for Jimmy G
With Tom Brady planning to play until he’s a senior citizen, the New England Patriots once again have a QB chip to cash in.
According to ESPN, the price Bill Belichick & Co. have attached to former second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo is a significant one, too.
The starting point is a first rounder and a fourth-rounder in exchange for the 25-year-old quarterback with one year remaining on his rookie contract, the same price the Minnesota Vikings paid to acquire Sam Bradford from the Eagles.
Quick hits
This from Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times Picayune: If Bills RB Reggie Bush rushes for less than three yards Sunday, he’ll be the first running back in NFL history with 10-plus carries to finish a season with negative yardage.