Securing the 300th regular-season win of his head-coaching career has been anything but easy for Bill Belichick.
Belichick hasn’t been able to reach the milestone in three weeks, but he’ll have another opportunity Sunday when the New England Patriots face the Buffalo Bills in Foxborough, Mass.
Things have taken a turn for the worse for New England (1-5), which has been outscored 93-20 during its three-game losing streak.
That skid has prevented Belichick from joining Don Shula (328 wins) and George Halas (318) as the only head coaches in NFL history to amass at least 300 victories in the regular season.
Many of the Patriots’ struggles have stemmed from the poor play of quarterback Mac Jones, who has been picked off five times without throwing a touchdown pass over his past three games.
However, Jones insists he’s still the right guy to pull New England out of its hole.
“I’m confident,” Jones said after the Patriots’ 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday. “I think that comes from years of experience and earning respect from people. I think I’ve done that. … I just really want to focus on how I can bring these guys with me, how we can clean up the little things.”
The Patriots elevated quarterback/receiver Malik Cunningham from the practice squad to the 53-man roster last Saturday, but Belichick wasn’t willing to elaborate on whether or not Cunningham would be serving as Jones’ backup against Buffalo.
“We’ll work our way through the roster situation as we go through the week,” Belichick said. “We’re not going to talk about how we’re going to play the game.”
Jones has been on thin ice, and life won’t get any easier when he goes up against a Bills defense, allowing the seventh-fewest passing yards per game (190.2) in the NFL. Buffalo (4-2) let Tyrod Taylor throw for 200 yards last Sunday night when the Bills beat the New York Giants 14-9.
Although Buffalo has won six of the last seven meetings with New England (including playoffs), Bills coach Sean McDermott focuses only on the task ahead.
“We’ve got great respect for the Patriots and what they’ve accomplished,” McDermott said. “They have a deep history of winning, and that’s not easy to do in this league.
“Really our focus is on this week’s game and not what’s happened in the past or what’s going to happen in the future, but our focus, and sole focus, needs to be on this week’s game.”
The Bills may have to try and continue their success against their AFC East rival without star quarterback Josh Allen, who injured his right (throwing) shoulder. Buffalo held a walkthrough on Wednesday, and Allen was limited, with McDermott saying the team is taking things “one day at a time.”
Defensive end Greg Rousseau (foot) was also listed as limited, as were cornerbacks Kaiir Elam (ankle), Dane Jackson (foot) and Cam Lewis (shoulder). Defensive tackle Ed Oliver (toe), running back, and former Patriot Damien Harris (neck/concussion) were among those who would have been out had the team practiced.
Six Patriots missed Wednesday’s practice, including offensive linemen Trent Brown (chest) and Riley Reiff (knee) and tight end Hunter Henry (ankle).
Wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas were limited due to concussions. Center David Andrews (ankle), running back Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) and safety Kyle Dugger (foot) were also among those who didn’t participate in full.
–Field Level Media
