In his capacity of taking scout-team reps to help prepare the Bills' defense for each opponent, Jones has run the opponents' plays. Sure, coaches and teammates can talk about liking the progress they have seen in the way he handles himself, but those judgements must be viewed in the context of a quarterback who had all of 11 career starts at Ohio State and still faces a massive NFL learning curve.

If the Bills do, in fact, part ways with Taylor after the season, how viable a candidate is Jones to replace him? At this point, not very. He is a long-term project that is unlikely to be ready to take over in 2017.

If/when the Bills determine that they're going to replace Taylor, they will likely have to do so with someone who has not on the roster at the moment.

There is something else to consider.

The Bills owe Taylor the full shot of 16 games to convince them whether they should pick up the option on his contract extension.

It could be easily argued that that ship has sailed, that Taylor's 12-game performance is enough to say there is no reason to believe he is worth any additional investment. Speculation has already begun the Bills have made the decision to move on from Taylor.