Joshua Palmer had a busy afternoon Sunday at Highmark Stadium. The problem for the Bills receiver was that all that work produced almost nothing.
Palmer was on the field for 37 of Buffalo’s 57 offensive snaps against New England, but he finished with just one catch for 3 yards on four targets in the 25-24 loss. That was the third straight game in which his snap count and snap percentage went up, but his production went down.
The numbers have trended in the wrong direction over Buffalo’s past four games. Palmer has seen his snaps rise in each outing, yet his touches and impact have slipped as the Bills have leaned on other receivers to carry more of the load.
One of those other options was No. 1 receiver Khalil Shakir. With Shakir out for the second half Sunday, the Bills needed more from the rest of their pass catchers, but Palmer didn’t provide it. Instead, the offense turned to players like Shakir before his exit and Keon Coleman, who had six catches for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Rayshawn Davis played just four snaps, and that came as Buffalo’s coaching staff clearly wanted to get him more involved in the offense plan moving forward. He failed in that mission against New England, rushing once for 3 yards and catching one pass for 2 yards.
The Bills’ passing game has also been trying to sort through the aftermath of Maxwell Hairston’s rough outing. A day later, Hairston owned up to his struggles and apologized Monday for leaving the locker room after the loss without speaking to reporters, saying he was in an emotional state.
Meanwhile, coach Joe Brady said, unprompted, that he needed to do more to get Davis involved in the offense plan moving forward. He failed in that mission against the Patriots. Davis played just four offensive snaps against New England, rushing once for 3 yards and catching one pass for 2 yards.
For Buffalo, the message from the week was clear: the pieces around Josh Allen have to do more, and fast. Josh Allen was asked about the team’s ability to handle changes and pressure, and he pointed to the way the group has to keep learning and moving forward.
“Geon did a really good of handling some of those changes, and Josh [Allen] has a lot of trust in him,” Brady said, referencing the injury to Moore. “Made a huge play on the one-on-one on third down, the touchdown, that’s the expectation of Geon - give the opportunities, make the most of it. Not a lot of positives from the game overall, but I was proud of the way he played.”
“it stings, everybody. We all feel like we could all play better. These one’s sting, the division one’s sting, and got to find a way to learn from this and move on.” - Quarterback Josh Allen
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