AFC Notes: DeAndre Hopkins, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

• The Bills announced on Wednesday that they have promoted Eric Washington to assistant head coach and defensive line coach. 
• Bills DE Gregory Rousseau on his expected sack total in 2023: “I want to get to that next level. Double-digit sacks.” (Ryan O’Halloran)

Dolphins

Dolphins CB Trill Williams has been cleared to return after a season-ending ACL injury in 2022.

“I feel fantastic,” Williams said, via Mike Masala of USAToday.com. “I got cleared towards the end of OTAs, and I’m just ready to go back out there and compete and prove to myself and show coaches and everybody else what I can do and what my ability [is].”

Patriots

As the Patriots and WR DeAndre Hopkins figure out if their futures include each other, there are a few key questions each side has to answer. One of them includes practice participation. Hopkins has practiced less and less as he’s gotten older, while Patriots HC Bill Belichick emphasizes practice availability more than most other coaches in the league. That was likely a topic of discussion during Hopkins’ visit to New England, per former OL coach Dante Scarnecchia.

“[Belichick] would never take that on, and not broach that subject,” Scarnecchia said via MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian. “There’s no way that’s happening. If you’re not on the same page, it’s just not going to work out. He’s not getting what he expects from you, and you’re not getting what you expect from him. That never works out.”

Scarnecchia added he didn’t think practice participation would be a dealbreaker between Hopkins and the Patriots. 

“I do know in a perfect world, Bill would probably prefer that the guy goes out there and practices every day,” said Scarnecchia. “If a guy only wants to practice once a week, and if you’re willing to take that on, you’ll take it on. It’s not the best situation in the world. I think we all believe guys need to be out there with their teammates, doing everything they can to make the team better. If a guy is unwilling to practice, because it’s too much of a load for whatever the problems are, you modify things, and get through it.”