Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor doesn't believe the Buffalo Bills were entirely forthright when they benched him for Nathan Peterman last season.
In an interview with the podcast Uninterrupted, Taylor said Bills Coach Sean McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane gave him mixed signals.
"I wasn't being told the truth at the time," Taylor said. "The GM told me one thing, and the head coach told me something else."
The Bills surprisingly made Peterman the starter for what proved to be a 54-24 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11 of the 2017 season. Peterman finished 6-of-14 passing for 66 yards and 5 interceptions before Taylor replaced him to open the second half.
While he didn't reference it directly, Taylor may have been referring partly to comments McDermott made only days before the Bills benched him. McDermott told reporters that the Bills believed in Taylor and that he'd remain the starter.
Taylor moved to Cleveland, where he's the starting quarterback over No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield -- at least to get the season underway. Taylor is a free agent in 2019, so he can use this season to build up his value before hitting the open market.
The Bills, meanwhile, received the No. 65 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft in return for Taylor and used it as part of a trade to land Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
SECOND-JOB POTENTIAL
Kirk Cousins is trying to capitalize on a financial opportunity outside of professional football.
Cousins has been one of the NFL's most well-compensated players over the past several seasons, making $19,953,000 on the franchise tag with Washington back in 2016 and $23,943,600 on the tag in 2017 before signing a three-year, $84 million, fully guaranteed contract with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.
Cousins has now found another potential revenue stream: trademarks. According to Sportsnaut.com, Cousins filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in an attempt to trademark the phrase, "YOU VIKE THAT!"
"YOU VIKE THAT!" is a play on "YOU LIKE THAT!", which Cousins screamed at a group of reporters after a victory in 2015.
REFEREE ERROR?
Philadelphia's victory over Atlanta on Thursday was a penalty-filled mess, but on one penalty in particular, the Eagles say the officials accidentally called it on them when it was actually on the Falcons.
Philadelphia Coach Doug Pederson told ESPN that he's convinced when the officials called offsetting penalties on an Eagles punt in the fourth quarter, both of the penalties were actually on the Falcons. The officials called holding on No. 39 on the Eagles, but there was no No. 39 on the field for the Eagles. Replays did show that No. 39 on the Falcons, Deante Burton, committed holding.
It's possible that the official who threw the flag told the referee No. 39, the referee misunderstood and thought it was No. 39 on the Eagles when it was actually No. 39 on the Falcons and no one fixed the error after the referee enforced it.
Pederson said he's submitting the play to the league for an explanation.
QUIZ
Where did Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor play collegiately?
ANSWER
Taylor played at Virginia Tech.
Sports on 09/09/2018