ORCHARD PARK Devin Singletary NFL Jersey , N.Y. (AP)Micah Hyde doesn’t have any concerns over how many yards Buffalo’s defense is surrendering this season. So long as they’re forcing turnovers, the Bills will be fine. What the starting safety did have trouble explaining is what happens when the Bills can’t create takeaways. ”I guess, I don’t really have an answer as to how we win without getting turnovers,” Hyde said. ”I guess it comes down to the offense also not giving up the ball. From there, it’s probably just field position. But it’s tough.” A bend-but-don’t-break style of defense has played a key role in helping the Bills (5-3) match their best start during a 17-year playoff drought – the longest active streak in North America’s four major professional sports. The Bills, who host New Orleans (6-2) on Sunday, rank second in the NFL in having forced 17 turnovers (11 interceptions and six fumbles), two of which have been returned for touchdowns. The takeaways have helped the defense overcome a downward trend in which it has allowed an average of 381 yards offense over its past six games. Concerns, however, are being raised whether the Bills can consistently sustain such an opportunistic model for victory that’s been so reliant on opponents turning over the ball. ”You can win with that model. It’s been proven,” coordinator Leslie Frazier said. ”And for whatever reason, if we come up short, we have to find other ways to affect the game.” That has yet to be the case. Buffalo has forced at least two takeaways in each of its five victories. By comparison, the Bills failed to generate a turnover in two of three defeats, including a 34-21 loss to the New York Jets on Nov. 2. Not only did Buffalo lose the turnover battle by coughing up three fumbles against New York, the Bills’ defense was trampled in allowing a season-worst 194 yards rushing in a game the Jets built a 34-7 lead by scoring 27 consecutive points. Also alarming were the number of tackles the Bills missed in giving up three 20-plus-yard runs, including Bilal Powell’s 51-yard gain late in the third quarter. Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander chalked up a portion of the sloppiness to Buffalo playing on just three days’ rest. ”They outplayed us, were more physical. We didn’t tackle well, didn’t create turnovers. So we had everything kind of stack up against us,” he said. ”And the way our team is built, we’re not going to win a lot of games when that happens.” Alexander expects the defense to bounce back with the benefit of a 10-day break. Buffalo, 4-0 at home Devin Singletary NFL Draft , can’t afford a similar collapse against the Saints, who rank second in the NFL, averaging 392.5 yards of offense. ”The energy, that wasn’t us,” linebacker Preston Brown said. ”We’ve got to get back to what we’ve been doing best, get them off the field, hold them to three (points) or get takeaways.” The defense is showing signs of wilting. The Bills have already allowed 300-yards passing three times, one more than all of last season. Red zone defense is also becoming an issue. In their first five games, the Bills limited opponents to scoring five touchdowns on 15 drives inside Buffalo’s 20. Over the past three, Buffalo has allowed seven touchdowns on nine red-zone possessions. Coach Sean McDermott is more concerned about the points Buffalo is allowing than yards. ”Yardage doesn’t win games. Points are what win games,” he said. ”We’ve had some good days doing that. We’ve had some days where we’ve given up yards that have led to points,” McDermott said.”We’ve got to continue to grow, continue to build and get better.” NOTES: Starting TE Charles Clay (right knee) and CB E.J. Gaines (hamstring) practiced on a limited basis and have a chance to play Sunday. Clay has missed three games. … LT Cordy Glenn did not practice due to soreness in his left foot and ankle, which previously bothered him this offseason. … WR Zay Jones (ankle) did not practice after being hurt against the Jets. — NEW YORK (AP) — Start them right away? Ease ’em in? Have them sit a whole season?When it comes to developing young quarterbacks in the NFL, it all depends on who you talk to.Some teams think it’s best to throw rookie QBs into the fire to learn on the job. Others prefer to gradually work them into the offense. Some say it’s more beneficial to have them grab a cap and clipboard and take it all in from the sideline.“I think every position is the same,” Jets offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates said. “If someone can’t handle it mentally, then you don’t want to put them on the field, because naturally they’ll play slower and be thinking instead of reacting.”Sam Darnold clearly passed that test for New York, and the No. 3 overall pick in April was under center to start the season.“If a player shows the athletic ability, the talent and has the mental capacity to handle a gameplan and go into a game and be successful,” Bates said, “then he’s ready to play.”That doesn’t mean things have necessarily gone smoothly for the former USC star.Darnold’s 14 interceptions lead the league and have contributed to the Jets’ 3-6 start. So have his 55.0 percent completion rate and 68.3 quarterback rating Devin Singletary Buffalo Bills Jersey , which also rank among the worst in the league.Still, some point to these early struggles as crucial building blocks for the future.“I’m going to continue to learn,” Darnold said Sunday after a 13-6 loss at Miami in which he threw four INTs. “There’s always lessons to be learned.”Of the 32 quarterbacks currently listed as starters for their teams, 12 were under center in Week 1 of their first season.On the flipside, some veteran superstar QBs waited a while before they got their chances.Aaron Rodgers was stuck behind Brett Favre in Green Bay before finally starting in his fourth season. Philip Rivers didn’t start with the Chargers until his third year, when Drew Brees went to New Orleans. Even Brees didn’t get his first NFL start until his second season.Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Alex Smith weren’t Day 1 starters, either.“In an ideal world, it gets to be like Drew, who had a chance to watch a little, or Tom Brady and Aaron,” said former quarterback Rich Gannon, the 2002 NFL MVP and now an analyst for CBS Sports and SiriusXM NFL Radio.Patrick Mahomes sat behind Smith in Kansas City until Week 17 as a rookie last year, and now is a leading MVP candidate as one of the NFL’s top gunslinger s with a league-leading 29 TD passes for the 8-1 Chiefs.“We knew that Patrick was very talented, but any time that an NFL team goes with a young quarterback, usually it’s a very challenging endeavor,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “Sometimes it takes time, several years, but as we’ve seen, Andy (Reid) had Patrick ready to go Week 1.”Gannon thinks the Chiefs provide the perfect blueprint.“Mahomes had a chance to watch a master of his domain for a year,” he said. “Alex Smith knew that system inside and out Color Rush Devin Singletary Jersey , has great huddle command and leadership skills. Maybe he doesn’t throw it like Mahomes does, but this is a guy who was willing to share and help him for that year, and we’re seeing the fruits of it now.“That’s the best situation you can have.”Again, that depends on who you ask.In the past three drafts, 11 quarterbacks were taken in the first round — including Darnold, Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Arizona’s Josh Rosen and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson this year.Jackson is the only one to not yet start at least one game. Baltimore has Joe Flacco leading the huddle, but Jackson has still been used in the offense and is the Ravens‘ second-leading rusher.The Browns wanted to have Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick this year, sit and learn behind Tyrod Taylor. But like most plans in Cleveland, it backfired.Taylor got hurt in Week 3 and Mayfield was thrust into the lineup, helping the Browns rally to beat the Jets in a nationally televised game and end a 19-game winless streak. Mayfield has shown poise and promise, but lacks playmakers and is dealing with a coaching change after Hue Jackson was fired.In Buffalo, the Bills weren’t anticipating Allen starting in the second week. They were taking what coach Sean McDermott called a “calculated” approach. But after AJ McCarron was traded before the season opener and Nathan Peterman bombed in Week 1, McDermott was left with no choice but to turn to Allen.The rookie has been dealing with a sprained right elbow , and is uncertain to play Sunday against the Jets.“When you draft a quarterback like we did, there’s a part of it where you have to say, ‘Hey, he’s going to play either A, B, or C — early Youth Devin Singletary Jersey , middle, or late or next year.'” McDermott said. “You have to be OK with all of that.”The initial plan in Arizona was to have Rosen learn behind Sam Bradford. All that changed when the veteran was ineffective and benched in favor of the No. 10 overall pick.Rosen took his lumps with some turnover-filled performances. Then, Mike McCoy was fired as the Cardinals‘ offensive coordinator and Bradford was later cut — leaving the job to Rosen.“His demeanor allows him to have success,” new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “Quarterbacking in this league is hard and when things go bad, this kid tends to be fine.”But, some say too many adverse situations could end up having long-term deleterious effects on a young player.“When you put them in before they’re ready, they also get hurt: Josh Allen, Josh Rosen,” Gannon said. “The speed of the game is way too fast for them. … Or they have a bad experience, like what wound up happening with (the Jets’) Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith, or going back to Ryan Leaf (with the Chargers). They play right away before they are physically or mentally ready or maturity-level ready. They get benched and booed and maybe run out of town, the coach gets fired, and then the next thing, they’re on their third or fourth team. They think he will be a savior and he’s not ready to play.“How is that being responsible from a coach and ownership standpoint? It’s doing a tremendous disservice.”Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston and Tennessee’ Marcus Mariota started right away after being the top two picks in 2015, but the jury’s still out on both.For those who preach patience, 25 of the 32 current QBs started a game at some point in their rookie season. And, several held on to the job from there.Quarterbacks such as the Rams’ Jared Goff (No. 1 in 2016) and the Bears’ Mitchell Trubisky (No. 2 in 2017) started and struggled as rookies, but benefited from changes in coaching staffs and philosophies and took leaps in their second seasons.So, who’s right?Well, all of the above.“There’s certainly valuable experience when you stand and watch,” McDermott said. “But we all know there’s no substitute for the experience when you’re actually behind the wheel. There’s a lot of value to that.”