Bills

Bills QB Josh Allen was in tears after being eliminated from the playoffs, with LT Dion Dawkins defending his quarterback and noting that the loss was not his fault.

“It makes us even more sad, because this ain’t on him,” Dawkins said, via Mike Silver. “It’s not on him. We’ll protect him. He’s a true warrior, a true battler. It’s on the rest of us to keep him from having to do too much.”

• An anonymous Bills source said the following about Allen: “Every year we don’t win it with Josh, it just feels like a missed opportunity. We have this gift of a franchise quarterback that doesn’t come along often, and we need to figure out how to take advantage of that.”
• Bills DT Jordan Phillips is unsure if he will continue playing next season, but if he does says it will only be for Buffalo. (Getzenberg)

Broncos

Broncos HC Sean Payton says that QB Jarrett Stidham will be ready for the moment, as QB Bo Nix will miss the remainder of the season with a broken ankle.

“He will be ready to go and ready for the moment,” Payton said, via Pro Football Talk. “I know how he was coached in New England. I know exactly how he was coached in New England, and then I know how McDaniels felt about him when he brought him from New England to Las Vegas.”

Patriots

Patriots DT Milton Williams feels that New England’s defense has gone under the radar all year and is curious what fans and reporters have to say following their dominant performance over the Texans.

“It definitely fueled the whole defense. Nobody has been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they say today,” Williams said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “Every week, we’re trying to come out and dominate, knowing that they do have a great defense, but in our minds, it was our defense versus their defense. See who could make more plays, create more turnovers, stop the run and get the ball back to our offense.”

• Patriots HC ****Mike Vrabel ****on Broncos QB Jarrett Stidham: “I like Jarrett (Stidham). I know that we did a lot of work on him in the offseason here of free agency.” (Kyed)

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