Tyrod Taylor has 'no clue' why he was benched: 'Opportunity was taken from me'

ORCHARD PARK, NY - DECEMBER 24: Tyrod Taylor #5 of the Buffalo Bills warms up before the game against the Miami Dolphins on December 24, 2016 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. Miami defeats Buffalo 34-31 in overtime. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The Buffalo Bills ended a wildly disappointing season on a sour note Sunday, losing to the New York Jets 20-3. The loss dropped their record to 7-9, the 10th time they've had a losing season in the past 12 years.

It was Anthony Lynn's debut as interim head coach after Rex Ryan was fired last week, but the bigger story was at quarterback. Tyrod Taylor was benched heading into the season finale for what was called a "business decision," giving way to EJ Manuel and Cardale Jones as the quarterbacks.

Lynn said it was a call that was made by the higher-ups, namely Doug Whaley and owner Terry Pegula, but Taylor is still baffled by the decision. He also doesn't think it was fair.

"They made a decision last week to sit me for the last game of the season," Taylor said, via New York Upstate. "Did I believe that was fair? No I didn't. I didn't see where it was fair. The opportunity was taken from me. That's above me. That decision was made. I had to live with it and support my guys."

Taylor said he briefly met with Whaley when the Bills decided he would sit out Week 17 but left the meeting having "no clue why it happened." He said the reasons he was given were to explore depth at quarterback and to protect him from injury, considering the option that would be activated if he were to get hurt.

"I've heard that they wanted to evaluate the young talent that we have in EJ and Cardale," Taylor said. "I've also heard things as far as the injury clause, which I don't really put much behind that because that was the situation all year. Like I said, we'll see what the real decision was."

Taylor's benching shows a lack of confidence on the part of the coaching staff and front office. He has an option that the team can pick up in the offseason, which would cost the Bills more than $30 million in guaranteed money. Considering how expensive that is, Buffalo is likely to move on from him.

After Sunday's game, that became even more apparent, and Taylor knows it.

"That's what it showed. That's what I think it showed," Taylor said. "But at the same time, the conversation wasn't detailed enough to know if that was the case or not. Hopefully we can have that conversation this week. Maybe it's today. I'm not sure. We haven't met as a unit yet, nor have I met with the people upstairs, so maybe it will be clear what's the direction moving forward."

Taylor left the door open to the possibility of restructuring his contract but said "it's too early to tell right now." Regardless of what happens, though, he's "definitely disappointed" in the decision to sit him and doesn't think it was the best move for the team.