ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Former UB quarterback Tyree Jackson now has one NFL practice under his belt after the Bills started rookie minicamp on Friday.
"Yeah there was no where else I wanted to be rather than here. You know just having a relationship with the Bills and practicing here, knowing the fans and how much they care about their team and love their team I was just very excited once I talked to Coach Dorsey and Coach McDermott so there's no where else I wanted to be," Tyree Jackson said.
He signed as an undrafted free agent and before this week, looking at the roster it didn't look like he had a realistic chance of making it with three quarterbacks already there.
The Bills found their starter and who they hope is their franchise quarterback with Josh Allen, then Matt Barkley as his backup and Derek Anderson as the number three (really there to help mentor Allen as well.)
But Anderson informed the Bills he is retiring and that now opens the door for Jackson with another QB spot up for grabs.
"Derek let me know a few weeks back that he wasn’t sure if he could be committed [for the season] and wanted to still think about it," said general manager Brandon Beane was quoted on the team's website. "So I knew going into the draft that this was something that could potentially happen. But it wasn’t definite. We talked this week and he let me know today that he is going to retire."
Obviously, it's extremely early but Jackson has a chance to prove himself and earn a spot on the 53-man roster, something that looks even more realistic now but he said he isn't focusing on that right now.
"My reaction is always going to be focus on getting better each day, listening to the coaching and proving myself each day," Jackson explained.
"We're anxious to see what he can do and certainly there's talent there in a lot of different ways but there's also a process involved of taking it one practice at a time,"