Buffalo Bills: Former WRs shine, Cardale Jones struggles in Week 3 of XFL

Another week of the XFL and once again there was standout performances by former Buffalo Bills.

The XFL continues to rolls on and this past weekend once again saw strong performances from former Buffalo Bills, while another struggles for the first time. In the first game on Saturday, the Houston Roughnecks faced the Tampa Bay Vipers and the Roughnecks won 34-27. They would end up being the last undefeated team in the XFL after this weekend’s action.

One of the reasons they were able to pull out the win was former Bills’ wide receiver Camp Phillips. He had an incredible performance with eight receptions, 194 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Phillips played college football at Virginia Tech and was signed by the Bills in 2018 as an undrafted free agent. He spent a majority of the 2018 season on the practice squad and spent this past training camp with the Bills and even had a touchdown reception in the first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. However, he did not make the final 53-man roster and was cut prior to the 2019 season.

Phillips is off to a fast start in the XFL with seven touchdown receptions in the first three games. It would be very surprising if he doesn’t get a look from a couple NFL teams after the XFL season.

Then in the second game on Saturday, it was former seventh round draft pick Austin Proehl who put together a strong performance of his own. Proehl, who is a member of the Seattle Dragons, finished with six receptions, 81 receiving yards and a touchdown. This is the second time that he has gone over 80 receiving yards in a game and had at least one touchdown.

However, this week wasn’t all good for former Buffalo Bills as Cardale Jones struggled in the late game on Sunday as the DC Defenders got blown out by the LA Wildcats 39-9.

Jones, who was a fourth round pick by the Bills in 2016, was off to a fast start in the XFL. He was looking like the quarterback who helped the Ohio State Buckeyes win a National Championship. However, on Sunday he couldn’t get in a rhythm and finished completing only 13 of 26 pass attempts for 103 passing yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions.

Jones was actually benched towards the end of the game and replaced by another former Buffalo Bill, Tyree Jackson, who was an undrafted free agent signing this past offseason. Jackson was cut prior to the start of this past season.

Cardale Jones will look to bounce back next week while Cam Phillips and Austin Proehl hope to extend their strong starts.