Team news: Buffalo Bills | Page 64

TE Trey Burton said that he sees things in the Bears that remind him of where the Eagles were heading into last season.

“There are a ton of similarities,” Burton said. “You look at Philly two years ago, the majority of our games we lost by less than a touchdown. If you look at Chicago last year as well, there’s a good amount of games that they lost. It’s just getting over that hump. You gotta be able to win the close games and here’s so many small detail things that happen in order for you to lose those games.”

Related players: Allen Robinson, Mitch Trubisky

There is a lot of excitement around the Bears offense coming into this year with the additions of Burton and Robinson, and the hope Trubisky takes the next step in his development. The story pointed out the Bears lost six games by eight points or less last season.

Bears WR Anthony Miller is part of the offseason's offensive overhaul centered around providing Mitch Trubisky with explosive weapons heading into his second season as the team's starting quarterback. Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and Miller will combine with a healthy Kevin White to give the Bears a formidable receiving corps capped off by tight end Trey Burton, one of GM Ryan Pace's big free-agent buys.

Miller knows any success he has will depend on the chemistry he builds with Trubisky, not only this season, but for years to come.

Miller is currently looking to build chemistry with Trubisky. So far, he said it's been going great and the two see and talk to one another every day. Miller is our No. 62 ranked WR and can be had in the later rounds of drafts.

The Bills wide receiver corps is one of the league’s thinner ones heading into training camp, which would seem to bode well for 2017 second-round pick Zay Jones‘ chances of seeing a lot of playing time once September rolls around.

While that may be the case, General Manager Brandon Beane made it clear last week that Jones won’t be guaranteed anything this season.

“He’s not just going to necessarily go right to the top of the line,” Beane said during an appearance on WGR 550, via NewYorkUpstate.com. “He’ll have to earn his way. Part of that will just be just getting his feel. He’s only played with Nathan Peterman. He has not got to play with Josh Allen or AJ McCarron yet. So that bond there will just have to form.”

Related players: Kelvin Benjamin, Andre Holmes, Jeremy Kerley

Jones had a quiet rookie season dealing with a shoulder injury. As the story pointed out, it's not an overwhelming list of WRs, so Jones certainly has a chance to make his mark and earn a key role in the offense.

The Bills drafted Josh Allen to be their next Jim Kelly, and the Bills will try to get Allen ready for his new role quickly.

On Tuesday, head coach Sean McDermott said Allen will get first-team reps at this week’s mandatory minicamp.

Related players: AJ McCarron

The story pointed out this seems to be a clear indication the Bills will give him every chance to win the starting job as of Week 1. McCarron had hoped to get a chance to play at least part of the season, and that may still happen. But he’s going to have to earn his playing time by showing he’s better than Allen, the story added.

According to Bills head coach Sean McDermott, Josh Allen has been practicing with the third team, while AJ McCarron and Nathan Peterman split first-team reps.

It is not terribly uncommon for rookie quarterbacks to start the offseason program at the bottom of the depth chart, but it is still somewhat notable given the true disaster the rest of the quarterback depth chart is for Buffalo. Perhaps most notable is that Peterman and McCarron are splitting first-team reps, indicating that Peterman could be in line to open the year as the starter should he play well.

The Bears took Matt Nagy out of his job as the Chiefs offensive coordinator in order to make him their new head coach, but they aren’t taking all of the Chiefs out of Nagy.

Nagy told Dan Pompei of The Athletic that he estimates the offense in Chicago will have a 70–80 percent similarity to the one in Kansas City.

“It will be different in some regards, which is only fair to our coaches on offense and the ideas they have,” Nagy said. “But the identity is going to be the same. It will feel very similar to Kansas City’s. We’re in the lab now. That’s the fun part. All the coaches are giving their ideas and thoughts. Coach [Andy Reid] always said he had 51 percent of the say. So ultimately, he had final say. Now I have that. There are plays I liked that Coach [Reid] didn’t like, so now those plays are in.”

Related players: Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Trey Burton, Mitch Trubisky, Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen

There has been some hype around the Bears offense this offseason. The key will be the progression of Trubisky, of course. But based on the names listed above, there is certainly some proven talent heading into the 2018 season.

Looking to overhaul their receiving room, the Carolina Panthers have acquired Torrey Smith from the Eagles in exchange for cornerback Daryl Worley, sources told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on Friday.

Smith rolls into Carolina with a chance to make an impact for an offense that also boasts Devin Funchess, Russell Shepard and second-year speedster Curtis Samuel at the position. Smith isn't the deep threat he once was, but he gives quarterback Cam Newton an experienced downfield target to play with.

Smith isn't a fantasy factor right now, but it's not inconceivable that he could have a Ted Ginn-type year in Carolina.