Taylor cleared, will start SundayIt was widely anticipated after reports surfaced late Tuesday that Tyrod Taylor had cleared the concussion protocol. On Wednesday head coach Sean McDermott confirmed it.
"Yes, he has been cleared from the concussion protocol and we do expect him to start on Sunday," McDermott said. "As a player you go out and watch him execute. We'll continue to do that and to this point he's done a good job with that."
Coach McDermott is not looking to put everything on Taylor's plate right out of the gate entering the season opener. His expectation is for Taylor to execute on offense along with the 10 other men on that side of the ball.
"Go out and do his job," McDermott said of what he needs from Taylor on Sunday. "Be one-eleventh. We use that term and it's another way of saying, 'Do your job.' Be one-eleventh of the offense. That's what I expect him to do. That's what I expect of myself and every player. Do your job."
Team captains announcedThey were elected by their teammates. Buffalo will have five captains in total for the 2017 season.
"Three of them you already saw in the preseason with Kyle (Williams), Tyrod (Taylor) and Lorenzo (Alexander)," said McDermott. "And we've added Eric Wood and Stephen Hauschka to that list."
Williams and Alexander are obviously the defensive captains, while Taylor and Wood serve on offense. Hauschka is the special teams leader.
Williams and Wood have served as season-long captains for the Bills before.
Glenn and Matthews on track to start SundayAll along LT Cordy Glenn and WR Jordan Matthews have targeted Week 1 to return to full action. With the season opener against the Jets four days away, that is coach McDermott's expectation.
"It is, yes," he said of Glenn and Matthews starting on Sunday. "At this point it is. Yes."
Both Glenn and Matthews practiced on Monday. The two offensive starters are expected to again Wednesday.
"Definitely encouraged," said Glenn. "I'm just getting my work in and trying to get better. Just working every day."
Glenn already got some game action in last Thursday in the team's preseason finale when he lined up for 15 plays in the team's first two offensive series.
"I was just going out there and focusing on going full speed live," said Glenn. "You can't really get that in practice so it was good to get out there and run some plays."
Matthews was not fully cleared as of Monday, but is likely to be some point in the middle of the week.
"I'm doing everything. I'm in shape. I've been going against the defense," said Matthews. "I even had a couple of the DBs stay after practice and we just did releases. I had guys press me to see how I can get off the line. I feel I'm ready to go in those aspects."
