While no one is Lamar Jackson, the Buffalo Bills are doing their best to emulate in practice what they will be facing when Jackson and the Ravens come to town for Sunday night's AFC divisional round showdown.
The Bills have signed Anthony Brown, a three-year veteran quarterback who broke into the NFL with the Ravens back in 2022. Brown played in two games that season, throwing for 302 yards with two interceptions while completing just 44.9% of his throws. Like Jackson, Brown is capable of extending and making plays with his mobility, which is the main reason why Bills head coach Sean McDermott signed him.
"If you just put a mobile person back there when you're planning on working on the scrambles or the quarterback run game (in practice), the defensive players know this is one of those plays, right?" McDermott said. "If you just have to sub out one of our normal quarterbacks for a mobile player like that.
"In order to hide that, what Anthony brings to the table is both. He can throw it, he can run it, and so there's a little bit more of a true, honest look. ... Whether he's handing it off, dropping back or and some of the things, conceptually, at least, that Lamar does."
As McDermott alluded to, Brown can "conceptually" provide similar looks to what Buffalo's defense will see on Sunday night. But no NFL player can mimic what Jackson does on a football field. Jackson is, after all, the most prolific running quarterback in NFL history having broken Michael Vick's career rushing record for quarterbacks earlier this season.
In Saturday's wild-card round win over the Steelers, either Jackson or Derrick Henry carried the ball on all but one of a 13-play, 85-yard drive that was done entirely on the ground. Jackson, running the read option to near perfection, ran for 81 yards on 15 carries. Henry rumbled for 186 yards and two touchdowns while tying Hall of Famer Terrell Davis' postseason record by recording his fourth game of at least 150 rushing yards.
He isn't Jackson, but Brown will nonetheless help Buffalo's defense prepare for what could be an instant classic. After years of trying and coming up just short, both teams are hoping to get over the hump while superseding the Chiefs as this year's AFC representative in the Super Bowl.