Archives for September 2002

‘"We had guys that were unblocked that missed tackles," Williams said Monday. "There’s the thing. Defensive guys and offensive guys are on those units. We just can’t have missed tackles."’

‘Falcons officials plan to work out safeties Jason Perry and Travares Tillman on Tuesday. Tillman, a former Toombs County High and Georgia Tech star, was drafted in the second round by the Bills in 2000, when Phillips was Buffalo’s head coach. The Bills cut him last weekend.’

‘Cutting Sheldon Jackson and linebacker Fred Jones, two of the club’s best special teams players, just five days before the opener doesn’t seem so shrewd a move right now by GM Tom Donahoe and coach Gregg Williams. Jones had 24 special teams tackles last year.’

‘"There’s so many good spots, bright spots, that came out of that ball game," coach Gregg Williams said. "We overcame so many things, but we weren’t able to overcome the last one. Yeah, it’s disappointing, but there were some tremendous efforts on top of that."’

‘Buffalo’s defense, universally acknowledged as the team’s glaring weakness (at least until Sunday) limited the Jets to 266 yards. The Bills surrendered 300 on kick returns.’

‘The call was “Wedge Right.” The Jets might want to rename it “Everything Right,” because for the final 14 seconds of their season-opening win Sunday over the Bills, everything went perfectly. The play went from Mike Westhoff’s mind to a page in the playbook to the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium, unfolding … well, just right.’

‘SPECIAL TEAMS – A-: Chad Morton was the star of the game with his incredible two KO returns for TDs. Jerald Sowell led the team in kick-coverage tackles with five. Jason Glenn blocked a punt. There were too many penalties, though.’

‘Bledsoe impressed both head coaches. The Bills’ Gregg Williams said: “He was calm under pressure, which is impressive to his teammates. It was great to see Drew make some big plays, and he kept us in the game….We just gave up too many big plays with missed tackles.”‘

‘”It adds good veteran depth to our offensive line,” McGinnis said. “We’ve had our eyes on these guys for a while. Roundtree can play two positions, and Fina is a consummate pro who played 10 years at a high level in this league. He can be a third tackle right now, and as he gets acclimated, who knows?”‘

‘Financial terms were not disclosed for Fina, who signed a one-year deal after spending his first 10 years with the Buffalo Bills. He was released in June in a salary cap move.’

‘The Tucson, Arizona, resident was the Bills’ first-round draft pick in 1992 from the University of Arizona. He played on the Bills’ teams that went to the Super Bowl following the 1992 and 1993 seasons.’

‘"Anything after the Music City Miracle’ that goes wrong with the special teams, it’s like, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ And I can understand that," linebacker Keith Newman said on Monday. "But I think nobody on this team is feeling, ‘Here we go again.’ I feel it’s, ‘Damn, we let one slip away."”

"Guys, take a look at yourself," Bledsoe told his teammates on the sidelines. "Somebody in this group is going to make a play. I don't know who it's going to be, but somebody here is going to make a play to put us in position to win this game."

‘In a performance reminiscent of the special teams meltdowns under former assistant Ronnie Jones, the Buffalo Bills doused an off-season of brimming optimism with a seasoning-opening loss for the NFL record book.’

‘He had just made NFL history and won the game for his team, and all Chad Morton could think about was the play that got away.’

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