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The Buffalo Bills head to Metlife Stadium this weekend to take on the New York Jets in just their second division game of the season. Both teams find themselves at the bottom of the league, with the Bills at 2-7 and the Jets at 3-6. Here are the three biggest story lines for the match-up.
Sam Darnold out, Josh McCown in
Just like the Bills (probably), the Jets will be without their rookie quarterback. On Wednesday, Manish Metha reported that Sam Darnold suffered a foot sprain and was wearing a boot at the Jets’ practice. Late Wednesday, Kevin Patra shared an update through Ian Rapoport confirming the news that Darnold will miss this weekend’s game against the Bills . It was already highly likely due to Josh Allen’s elbow injury, but fans of the Bills and Jets will have to wait to see the third and seventh overall draft picks duel.
Who starts at quarterback for the Bills?
Most Bills fans have seen all they need to see of Nathan Peterman, but they might have to endure more of him on Sunday. His true competitors at quarterback, Josh Allen and Derek Anderson, are both injured. Allen is back practicing, albeit in a limited fashion. Anderson is not practicing at all and remains in the concussion protocol. Sean McDermott made it clear on Tuesday that pecking order goes Allen, Anderson, Peterman. If neither of the first two are healthy, we’ll be forced to watch Peterman against the NFL’s seventh-best defense.
Line-up changes all over
The quarterback position is not the only one in flux. On Tuesday, the Bills cut starting cornerback Phillip Gaines. In practice on Wednesday it appeared that Ryan Lewis would be taking over starting duties from Gaines, as he did earlier in the season when Gaines and Vontae Davis were injured. There are also changes being made to the offensive line. After seeing his first reps of the season against the Bears, rookie guard Wyatt Teller has been practicing with the starters this week. Any improvements along the line would be a much-welcomed sight.