The excitement surrounding the Buffalo Bills’ Week 3 matchup with the Washington Football Team once centered around quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Not anymore.
The Ex-Bills QB was placed on injured reserve after his team’s win last week over the New York Giants. Fitzpatrick has a hip injury that’s going to keep him out for an extended time. No Buffalo homecoming for him on Sunday.
Instead, his backup, Taylor Heinicke, will start. But despite that “B” word, the Bills are not taking Heinicke any less serious.
“Don’t underestimate him. He’s a very, very good quarterback, he can make all the throws, he’s very mobile. He’ll be a challenge,” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said via video conference.
As referenced, Heinicke played last week and his team won. He commands respect for that. But the coach actually looked further back than that for why he likes Heinicke’s game.
In last year’s playoffs, Heinicke led the Football Team to a close loss against the eventual Super Bowl champions. In that outing, Heinicke had 306 passing yards.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won, but it was a 31-23 final. McDermott, like many, took notice of Heinicke that day.
“You look at the Tampa Bay game, the Wild Card game, the eventual world champions, and he was within a score there,” McDermott said.
From a player perspective, safety Jordan Poyer said the Bills secondary knowns to not underestimate Heinicke as well. Poyer mentioned via press conference that Heinicke doesn’t carry the demeanor of a backup.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence. Mobile, athletic quarterback. He trusts his playmakers to make plays on the ball. We’re going to have our hands full. We have to play well,” Poyer said.
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