Saleh knows challenges of trying to slow down Allen and Bills
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — When the New York Jets defeated the Buffalo Bills a month ago, quarterback Josh Allen arguably had his worst game of the season.
Now in a pivotal AFC East contest for both teams, the Jets will look to replicate the same success defensively against a Bills team that has won three consecutive games.
In the 20-17 loss to the Jets on Nov. 6, Allen completed 18 of 34 passes for 205 yards and two interceptions. He also rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns, but Gang Green sacked Allen five times in the upset victory.
“Really hard to duplicate,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Hard to do once against someone like him.
“Sometimes the ball bounces your way. They’re super talented [and] I’m sure they’re a couple of plays they wish they had back.
“I thought our guys played a [good] style of football and it went all the way down to the wire and we took advantage of opportunities when we got them. They’re fully healthy in all three phases, so it is going to be a problem.”
The Bills defense will be without pass rusher Von Miller. Buffalo coach Sean Mcdermott announced Wednesday that the 33-yearold would miss the rest of the 2022 season after it was discovered that Miller had a torn ACL that needs to be repaired.
Miller initially said he was hoping to play against the Jets on Sunday, but the team placed him on injured reserve Dec. 1 after injuring his knee on Thanksgiving against the Lions. In the earlier meeting against the Jets, Miller recorded two tackles and a sack.
“You care about every player and it affects you when guys go down,” Mcdermott said. “It’s the business we’re in. It’s a physical game.
“We care for everyone and Von in this care. We will miss him, but as I said last week it is a time for other guys to step up.”
The Jets will be without one of their rookies for the remainder of the season.
Right tackle Max Mitchell has been placed on the non-football-injury list and is out for the year. Saleh failed to give any details about his player’s situation.
“I’m not going to get into specifics right now because there’s still a lot of things we are trying to sort out,” Saleh said.
To fill Mitchell’s spot, the Jets signed offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-tardif to the active roster.
George Fant, who was activated off injured reserve Saturday and played in the second half in the loss against the Vikings will now start in Mitchell’s place. Saleh said Mike Remmers would be the backup right tackle.
After being selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, Mitchell played six games as he started five of them at right tackle.