Archives for October 8, 2010

‘The good news for Buffalo is starting defensive end Marcus Stroud (left ankle) and starting linebacker Andra Davis (shoulder) will return after missing the Jets game.’

‘”You have to take into account every situation like that,” said Gailey. “Sometimes we’ve been short at linebacker and had to adjust. Last week we were a little short at defensive end with Marcus out and we had to adjust. Any time you’re missing people that have played a lot of time, like a Terrence McGee or any of those guys. It makes it hard. It’s not easy to just plug somebody in there and expect the same results.”‘

‘The Bills run defense has to be on point Sunday and neutralize Maurice Jones-Drew. The running back is the engine of the Jaguars offense. If they can hold his yards per carry average down around three, they’ll help force Jacksonville to rely on a passing game that’s been largely inconsistent the first month of the season.’

‘They had three very talented backs and Marshawn didn’t really want to be in Buffalo anymore so they got something in return for him. More importantly it will give Fred Jackson a chance to be the lead running back. It’s a role that he showed he’s more than capable of handling. Having only two backs will also keep Fred from looking over his shoulder. I know they have C.J. (Spiller), but he’s going to work with Fred, not steal carries from him.’

‘”The only thing I would say is that I know they’re frustrated, but I know they’re not any more frustrated than we are,” Nix said regarding the fans. “They’re putting their money in tickets and we’re putting seven days a week into trying to get it turned around. It will be fun when it happens and trust me, it will happen.”‘

‘The good news is that the Bills are one of only four NFL teams to have a 100 percent scoring rate in the red zone. The other three teams are very good: Houston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The bad news is that Buffalo has had only six trips into the red zone in its four games, tied with Arizona for fewest in the NFL.’

‘”I think everybody knew that this wasn’t … just because you hired a different guy, that everything was going to change,” Nix said. “I think things have changed. I think we’ve got a plan. I know we get questioned about that at times. I promise you this: We’re going to stay the course. So what we set out to do and the way we set out to do it is not the speedy way. It’s painful, but you’re just going to have to have patience, because as long as I’m here we’re going to stay the course and do it the way we planned because I know it works.”‘

‘The winless Bills rank 30th in the NFL in third-down efficiency, converting 26.1 percent of their chances. The league average is a 38.7-percent success rate on third down. The Bills converted just 25.8 percent of their third downs last season, which was second-worst in franchise history and tied for fifth-worst in the NFL over the last 20 years.’

‘”There are several factors that come into play, weather being probably the biggest factor. What you think about your offense versus their defense, your defense versus their offense, the kicking game, how good is their kickoff return, how good is their kickoff coverage, how does that match up? So it’s a week-to-week thing. It’s not a thing that I say I prefer.”‘

‘”We threw him in there the very first week, and he just wasn’t quite ready,” Bills coach Chan Gailey said. “That was my fault. I shouldn’t have done that. He played pretty good in preseason games, but we all know it’s different, preseason to regular season. So we’re trying to bring him on slowly.”‘

C.J. Spiller eases into bigger role as Bills rookie (Florida Times Union)

Mike Shula happy to still be coaching (Florida Times Union)

Jags grounded for winless Bills (Jaguars.com)

Select company (Jaguars.com)

They prey on weakness (Jaguars.com)