Team news: New York Jets | Page 56

Coach Sean McDermott announced on Sunday that T.J. Yates also suffered a concussion during the game in Baltimore. Yates followed Nathan Peterman into the game in the second half and McDermott said Yates “took some licks later in the game” while discussing when he might have been injured.

Related players: Tyrod Taylor, Nathan Peterman

Of course, Taylor was injury last week with a concussion leaving Peterman as the team's only healthy QB. The Bills will likely have to sign another signal caller but this is an interesting situation to monitor as we draw closer to the start of the season.

Tyrod Taylor went to the locker room with trainers and is in the concussion protocol.

Taylor's head bounced off the turf upon falling hard after being sacked in the BIlls preseason game against Baltimore.

Related players: Jordan Matthews, Zay Jones

Taylor was a 4for4 favorite in 2016 until Sammy Watkins’ injury and he still produced top 8 numbers with Watkins in and out of the lineup. He was a top 10 quarterback on a per game basis in 2015, so he has now produced starter-caliber numbers in two straight seasons. However, with the Bills trading Sammy Watkins, his ceiling is lower now, and if he is in the concussion protocol, his status for Week 1 will now need to be monitored.

Making his preseason debut Saturday night, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasted no time connecting in the red zone with tight end Martellus Bennett on the opening series of Green Bay’s 21-17 win over Washington at FedExField.

Rodgers capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ate nearly 8 minutes off the clock in lofting a fade to Bennett in the corner of the end zone, which the former Pro Bowler pulled down for a 3-yard touchdown.

“I’m pretty athletic,” said Bennett, who has caught at least 50 passes in each of his last five NFL seasons. “I think people tend to forget that at times. I try to go get the ball when I can.”

Bennett had a career-high seven TDs last year even though he was pretty banged up most of the year in New England, which could have limited his production. We rank Bennett eighth on our TE list and could be a nice value at the position in the late seventh round in 12 team leagues. A comparable for Bennett’s likely production is Jermichael Finley, who averaged 3.7 catches for 46 yards and 0.34 touchdowns (10.3 PPG) in 38 games from 2011 to 2013.

Bills HC Sean McDermott: on Tyrod Taylor moving forward - "I've got all the confidence in the world in Tyrod." He'll start this week.

Related players: Nathan Peterman

McDermott was non-committal after Taylor threw two interceptions in a preseason game, so we're not convinced that he or the team are fully behind their quarterback. The decision to trade away Sammy Watkins, a player who fits Taylor's downfield strengths, indicates that the team isn't invested in Taylor's success. From a fantasy perspective, Taylor is a great asset given his ability to run, but the team may move on to Nathan Peterman sooner rather than later.

The Bills have updated the condition of wide receiver Jordan Matthews after he suffered a chest injury during his first practice with the team on Sunday.

The team said Matthews has a chip fracture in his sternum and his return timeline has been pegged at week-to-week as a result.

Related players: Tyrod Taylor

Matthews will be able to do work in the playbook and attend meetings while he’s recovering, but the lack of time on the field with quarterback Tyrod Taylor will likely slow his immersion into a new offense.

Bills have acquired CB E.J. Gaines and Rams 2018 second round pick for WR Sammy Watkins and Bills 2018 sixth round pick.

Eagles acquire CB Ronald Darby from Buffalo for WR Jordan Matthews and a 2018 third-round pick.

Related players: Tyrod Taylor, Jared Goff, Nelson Agholor

These two trades came out of nowhere. We'll update projections shortly, but clearly this is a downgrade for Watkins as he changes teams late in the summer and will now have Jared Goff as his quarterback instead of Tyrod Taylor. Matthews will get a significant bump in our rankings since he'll now be the de facto WR1 in Buffalo, though he'll have to quickly build chemistry with Taylor in order to be productive early in the season. In Philly, Nelson Agholor is likely to take over the slot, so he'll get a bump as well. These moves are a net loss for Taylor and a net gain for Goff, but Taylor is still in the mix as a late-round value.

Aaron Rodgers probably won’t play much this preseason; that’s nothing new for a quarterback who played only two series in one exhibition game last season. But he won’t be easing his way into training camp, either.

Just like last summer, when coach Mike McCarthy said he would be “conscious” of his quarterback’s training camp pitch count, the Packers will chart how many balls Rodgers throws before the regular-season opener. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be any less than he’s thrown in past camps.

Aaron Rodgers is far from old. But he’s also not in denial about where he is in his career.

The 33-year-old Packers quarterback told the NFL Network he’s still feeling good, but knows what’s in front of him.

“I think I’m on the back nine of my career,” Rodgers said. “But I think I’m just kind of starting the back nine. This will be my 10th year starting, I got to sit for three years. So I’m not the typical 13-year pro, having the opportunity to sit for three years and not take the wear and tear to learn the game.”

As the story said, of course if you extend the golf metaphor literally and he’s halfway finished, that could mean another 10 years, putting him into Tom Brady-if-he-ever-gets-old territory. But it’s hard to think about the eventual end, when Rodgers is playing at his best right now. He threw 40 touchdowns and just seven interceptions last year, and is about to do some unprecedented things in terms of career statistics, the story went on to say. Current and potential owners shouldn't worry too much about the end at this point.

Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor is back.

"This was my first time actually sprinting and actually doing full movement things," Taylor, who had groin surgery shortly after the 2016 season, told the team's official site after voluntary workouts on Monday. "I've felt great since the surgery and the doctors here and the training staff have done a great job of getting me to 100 percent and I feel real good. I feel very explosive."

His comments are good news on multiple levels. Taylor wasn't treated like a face-of-the-franchise quarterback down the stretch in 2016 and the new regime dragged their feet on re-working his deal for 2017. He is still paid less than Mike Glennon, Brock Osweiler, Sam Bradford and others despite one Pro Bowl season under his belt.

Bills announce that Tyrod Taylor agreed to stay with them on a restructured contract.

HC Sean McDermott: "We are excited about the opportunity to keep Tyrod with the Bills. I've gotten a chance to know Tyrod and study him over the past several weeks and he is both a great person and competitor. Doug and I are confident that this was the best move for the Bills at this time."

Taylor was a 4for4 favorite in 2016 until Sammy Watkins’ injury and he STILL produced top 8 numbers with Watkins in and out of the lineup. He was also a top 8 quarterback on a per game basis in 2015, so he has now produced starter-caliber numbers in two straight seasons. The question in Buffalo is what sort of receiving corps will Taylor have to throw to? If Sammy Watkins can stay healthy it would be a big boost, but the promising Robert Woods is a free agent.