Despite EJ Manuel, who entered the season as the Bills‘ third-string quarterback, set to start a second straight game due to Tyrod Taylor‘s knee injury, Buffalo GM Doug Whaley does not regret trading Matt Cassel, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News.
“When you look at it, coming out of camp, arguably you could say (Manuel) was the No. 2. So we had an opportunity to come back with Cassel at a reduced rate and have three quarterbacks,” Whaley told Dunne. “If you look at the league, a little over half the league had three quarterbacks so it’s a luxury.”
Dunne, though, offers that Bills coaches may not have been in agreement with trading Cassel, who will make his first start for the Cowboys on Sunday, and a 2017 seventh-round pick for a 2017 fifth-rounder. The Bills reporter noted Buffalo offensive coordinator Greg Roman demurred when asked what prevented Manuel from leapfrogging Cassel on the depth chart when all three QBs were on the roster, and quarterbacks coach David Lee once referred to Cassel as “the glue of the room.”
Whaley said Manuel’s progress has been inconsistent but that the team was on board with promoting the former No. 16 overall pick to the backup spot after some internal debate.
Here are some more notes from the AFC East and the rest of the league.
- Stevan Ridley won’t make his Jets debut Sunday against the Patriots, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It will be at least another week for the ex-Patriots running back, who is still recovering from ACL surgery. The Jets did not activate the fifth-year back off their PUP list, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link), and Gang Green will go with Chris Ivory and Zac Stacy as their top two ball-carriers.
- The Texans are lobbying to play a game in Mexico City either next season or in 2017, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter). The NFL is eyeing a game at 95,000-plus-seat Azteca Stadium as soon as next year. If the league’s unable to move the logistics along in time, four London games are likely on tap for 2016, with the NFL serious about expanding beyond the USA’s borders, reports Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
- Jaguars guard Brandon Linder underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum October 7 and has returned to the team’s facility for rehab, The Florida Times-Union’s Hays Carlyon reports. A Jags starting guard in each of the 18 games he’s played (three this season before injuring his shoulder) since being drafted by Jacksonville in the third round last year, Linder expects to be ready to return to action by May.
- The Chiefs worked out defensive linemen Lawrence Okoye and Derrick Lott, along with running back Gus Johnson, Pro Football Talk tweets.