Archives for August 4, 2012

‘”It’s always hard to see people kind of deteriorate as time goes by, but he’s a sharp cat,” said Thomas. “Just from some of the things that he said throughout his speech, he still understands the game of football and what it means to be a Buffalo Bill and what it means to own a team like the Buffalo Bills.’

‘”Four teams is enough,” Hagan said Friday, following the team’s walk-through practice at St. John Fisher College. “Some of them were just unfortunate situations. I can’t control that. Now I’m here with the Bills, I know there’s an opportunity for me and I want to be here for a long time.”‘

‘"It is very frustrating. But I will be back, though, so I know it is nothing major," Johnson said. "I guess they are just looking out. … They do not want it to be anything like it was last year, where I play through it and something happens."’

‘”A lot of it was trying to get my feet under me, get a feel for the offense,” Smith said. “I’d been used to it (the hybrid role as he did all three things with the Jets) but when you learn a new system you have to get your legs under you. I’m playing some quarterback, but then you go run routes and these other receivers and defensive backs are at the top of their game. It took time, and I had to work at it.”‘

‘Drawing laughter from the audience, Wilson said that he would pose one question to the football scholars who sift through the archives. “I would like an answer to how the Buffalo Bills have gone to four straight Super Bowls without winning one,” Wilson cracked.’

‘”I feel like we could be as good as anybody,” Williams said, minutes after a Sunday night full-pads session under the lights at St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester. “That’s just how I see it. We’re going to bring everything we got. Put it that way. Just us four alone. I’m not talking about any others. Us four alone. When we hit the field running, we’re going to go full speed.”’

‘There are, indeed, many reasons to believe that Buffalo’s first playoff appearance since 1999 is within reach.’

”’You’re going to have your star players, and you’re going to have your role players,” said Anderson, who signed a comparatively modest four-year, $27 million contract a week after the Bills landed Williams in March. ”I’m just trying to fit in.”’

‘Leonhard is a seven-year veteran who spent the past three seasons emerging as a fan favorite with the New York Jets. His stint with the Jets ended this offseason, when the team did not re-sign him because Leonhard had surgery in December to repair a torn tendon in his right knee. The injury generally takes between eight and 10 months to heal. The Jets had previously not ruled out re-signing Leonhard.’

‘”It’s very frustrating. But I’ll be back though, so I know it’s nothing major,” said the wideout. “I guess they’re just looking out. We don’t want it to be anything like it was last year where I played through it and then something happens and I’d be playing through an entire season with something. So we’re just being extra cautious.”‘

‘”You can’t open it up all the way” the Alabama native said. “We’re not trying to hurt anybody(in camp). When the pre-season comes and the regular season, we get to open it up all the way. Don’t hold back on offensive linemen, don’t hold back on running backs and especially not the quarterbacks.”‘

‘Mary Wilson noted, “He’s doing great. He has a trainer. His trainer is with him right now. He walks with his walker. We used a wheelchair today because there’s a lot of distance. But he talks to his coach every day. He still calls some shots.”‘

‘When asked if Johnson will miss some practice time, Gailey said he’d have to see how Johnson came out of treatment tonight and tomorrow before he would know for sure.’

‘We installed our red zone offense and red zone defense. Our situation today was talking about how to handle it when the quarterback scrambles, what you do. It was all geared around red zone today. We have had some reps of it in OTAs. Today we were very rusty in doing what we needed to do. Hopefully we will get back into it. We will continue with some red zone a couple more times.’