In our Week 2 XFL recap of former Buffalo Bills players, we had Cam Phillips and Cardale Jones lead the way. Both were big stories again in Week 3, but they’re trending in different directions now.
Phillips is currently the Jerry Rice of the XFL. Yes, the former Bill is probably the best receiver the league is seeing and he’s going to get calls for NFL training camps after the season. Jones is still one of the better quarterbacks the XFL has, but he came back down to earth after two big games.
Here’s your full breakdown of former Bills players from the XFL’s third week of action:
Phillips is leading the XFL in receiving yards after three weeks, averaging more than 100 yards per game. He has 324. Nelson Spruce of the LA Wildcats has 256, good for second in the league, so Phillips has a sizable edge.
In Week 3, Phillips once again… yes, once again, scored three times. He scored three times once already this season, so he has more three-touchdown games than non-three score games this season. That’s impressive.
His eight catches on 10 targets for 194 yards and three scores helped the Houston Roughnecks hang onto their undefeated record. They topped the Tampa Bay Vipers, 34-27.
Every @camphil5 TD from yesterday 🤘
8️⃣ CATCHES
1️⃣ 9️⃣4️⃣ YARDSpic.twitter.com/1KjkGorTxf— Houston Roughnecks (@XFLRoughnecks) February 23, 2020
The Roughnecks are the lone undefeated team left because Jones’ DC Defenders lost and lost big. The Wildcats topped them 39-9 and Jones was not good. On 26 pass attempts, Jones only completed half of his passes for 103 yards. He also had a whopping four interceptions.
Not only was it the Defenders’ first loss of the season, it was the first time Jones lost a football game since high school after his brief Ohio State and non-existent NFL career, to this point.
While Jones struggled for the Defenders, another former Bill semi-stood out as tight end Khari Lee was his leading receiver with three catches for 38 yards. Along with Jones, his struggles transferred over to Malachi Dupre, as the wideout who had one catch in Week 2, was held without a target in Week 3. Defensively, safety Shamarko Thomas had two tackles for the Defenders as well.
Out in Seattle with the Dragons, another former Bill wide receiver had a good game, a bounce-back one of sorts. Austin Proehl scored the first touchdown in the XFL’s season in Week 1 then was quiet in Week 2. This past weekend he led his team with six catches for 81 yards with a touchdown. That brought him to 168 yards on the season, making him the No. 5 target in the league, in terms of receiving yards.
In addition to Proehl, former Bills tight end Evan Rodriguez had one catch for Seattle as well in their 24-12 loss to the Dallas Renegades.
Wrapping things up in St. Louis with the Battlehawks, they topped the New York Guardians 29-9. Former Bills wide receiver Brandon Reilly finally made an impact on a game in St. Louis’ first home game. Reilly was second on his team with two catches for 25 yards, while also notching one carry for three yards.
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