"I think it's hard for any organization to prepare for seasons to come, but I think we still have so much left here in Buffalo talent-wise that a tank really isn't in our vocabulary," Bills center Eric Wood said Tuesday on Good Morning Football. "No one's thinking that. We're focused on going 1-0 this week. We've got the Jets at home and one of our goals is to win all of our home games. So, we're gearing up for this week and we're not too concerned about the outside chatter. Throughout my career here we've had a lot of negative chatter and we've been close the last few years, 9-7, 8-8, 7-9 so we're on the verge. We're looking to take that next step this year."
The Bills and Jets open the season against one another on Sunday, a game that could provide a window into how accurate the grim assessments of both teams' rosters by outside analysts have been this summer. Buffalo may also be without quarterback Tyrod Taylor (concussion), who is practicing but still working his way through recovery protocol. If he cannot play, Wood's positivity extends to rookie fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman.
"He's kind of wise beyond his years," Wood said. "He gets the ball out fast. He does a lot of things better than rookies I've been around in the past. He still needs time to grow. He'll grow into a good NFL quarterback I'm sure. But he had a great preseason -- I'm excited to have Nate Peterman on our team."
Like Wood said, it's difficult to full-out tank in the NFL. There are simply too many roster spots and too many divergent interests among players and coaches trying to keep their jobs to do it successfully on a consistent basis. That being said, general managers can still stack the chess board however they'd like and let the game play itself out. Wood, who signed a two-year extension last week, doesn't plan on all that time being miserable.
