Archives for September 5, 2013

‘Patriots 42, Bills 27.’

‘I want to see the Bills go out and show something positive on Sunday. I want to see that Manuel is the future, that Spiller could take the NFL rushing title, and that the defense really is much better than they showed last season. I want to see the Bills coaching staff be dynamic and exciting, leading the way and innovating. I want to see exciting football. I want to see progress. I want to see Bills football. I want to see the clock read 1PM on Sunday.’

‘The Patriots, from a coaching staff standpoint, have to be all-encompassing because there is a lot of mystery to a new team that is coming out with a new quarterback, a new head coach, a new philosophy, a new energy. So you have to be ready for everything in terms of hurry-up offense, new formations, personnel groupings and motions and new defensive wrinkles that you haven’t seen in the preseason. There’s no real book on this head coach or coaching staff working together. So this can be a huge sideline adjustment game for the Patriots because of that mystery. Once the game plan is recognized by the Patriots coaching staff in the first quarter, then the adjustments can be made.’

‘I think more professional athletes are religious than the population in general. Pro sports can be very tough; a lot is put on the line, and you’re made acutely aware of any weaknesses you have. People are constantly assessing whether you’re good enough to keep playing. You realize you need help from a higher power than yourself, so it’s easier to seek out a relationship with God.’

‘”I know this is my first NFL game, but I’m not going to look at it like that,” Manuel said. “I’m looking at it as the Buffalo Bills’ 2013 season, the first game of that. We’ve got to go out there and play hard and execute our offense and know the defense will do their job, too.”‘

‘The NFL trade deadline is Oct. 29, after the eighth week of the regular season. Just how uncomfortable Byrd’s relationship with the Bills will get and how much interest Byrd will stimulate on the trade market figure to be persistent issues over the next two months.’

‘Manuel has missed two weeks. He will be making his debut against a Bill Belichick defense. It would be unfair to expect too much from the guy.’

‘Said Carpenter: “The thought is to come in here and do what I’ve always done. I’m going to work hard, try to get better every day and when it comes down to the game, I’m going to try to kick the ball in the end zone and be 100-percent on field goals. That’s all I can do, all I can worry about it. That’s all I’m concerned about, helping this team win.”‘

‘Added Manuel, “For myself, I expect great things all the time. We’re going in to win; that’s my expectation.”‘

‘Leonhard, forever undersized at 5-foot-8, 188 pounds, is now in his ninth NFL season after breaking in with the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2005. How does he continue to find work? “A lot of guys look at (my size) but the best coaches don’t care,” he said. “They don’t care who you are or how you got in the room, it’s what do you do? Turn the film on and does the guy produce? Luckily I’ve had some coaches, especially recently, that did that. If you were on the field making plays, you’d be on the field making more.”‘

‘”When he first came back, I was like ‘Wow, he looks pretty good,'” Marrone told ESPN. “Then the thing was to be smart about it. When it started to move up, I started to feel like this was the way we were going.”‘

‘”It’s a very good defense,” Brady said. “It’s a challenging scheme because they use their players very well. I think they have very multidimensional-type players. Similar to what we do on offense.’

‘”I did another workout, and coach felt like, and obviously I felt like I was ready to go,” Manuel said. “But I just wanted to show him that I could be able to evade the rush, protect myself when things break down, as far as in the pocket. And I think he was able to go ahead and make that decision.”‘

‘”I think as a teammate to the rest of the guys I wouldn’t go out there if I didn’t feel like I could go 100 percent,” the 6-foot-4, 237-pound Manuel said. “I don’t want to be out there making excuses, that ‘My knee was hurting and this and that.’ I’m not going to do that. I feel like I’m good to go and my mind feels good.”‘

‘”The big matchup for me is the Patriots secondary against a new quarterback in EJ Manuel. Can they mix up enough looks to confuse a young QB? Can they contain him defensively and not let him out of pocket? The Bills offensive line vs. the Patriots defensive line will be a big matchup. Buffalo has to protect their young quarterback when he has to throw because speed of the game changes from preseason to regular season. They need to make the kid see ghosts and be uncomfortable.”‘