Tyrod Taylor being benched for the Buffalo Bills’ season finale against the New York Jets, which was an obvious and logical “business decision,” has been discussed and, yes, even criticized ad nauseam over the past week.
With the team’s head-coach search ongoing, Ian Rapoport tweeted this on Sunday morning.
On #Bills search: Owners expressed remorse to interim coach Anthony Lynn for telling him to bench Tyrod Taylor in Week 17. Lynn likes Taylor
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2017
Missing the playoffs for 17 consecutive years has a rightful impact on this, but many are now conditioned to interpret any report about the Bills as a sign of “dysfunction” or a “dumpster / tire fire.”
While some reports have hinted at some troubling behind-the-scenes strategies at One Bills Drive, this isn’t one of them.
To me, the “translation” here is simple, and, really, nothing new.
Buffalo’s owners knew Tyrod would have (obviously) given the Bills -- and Anthony Lynn -- a significantly better chance to beat the Jets in Week 17. But with it being a meaningless game, he had to be benched. Lynn knows that too. That’s all there is too it. Tyrod would have played if the postseason was on the line. Obviously.
So, yeah, we’ve circled back to Tyrod’s season-finale benching being a “business decision.” Let me know if you’ve read that before.
Remember, on January 2, Terry Pegula told John Wawrow in an exclusive phone that Anthony Lynn was “placed in a tough situation, getting only six days to prepare to coach against the Jets, and minus his starting quarterback.” In other words, they aren’t really holding the embarrassing season-finale loss against Lynn.
Speculating a bit here — Rapoport’s tweet and the words Pegula said to Wawrow are positive signs for Lynn (and Tyrod) regarding the possibility of being with the Bills organization in 2017 and beyond.
If anything, this report shows the Pegulas understand the situation — Lynn wanted to field the best possible team for his head-coaching audition, but due to financial reasons, couldn’t.