Archives for December 24, 2013

‘Robey single-handedly did all he could to keep the Dolphins out of the playoffs.’

‘Thus, for a good part of the game, Lewis’ wide receiving corps was T.J. Graham, Marcus Easley and Chris Hogan.’

‘”We always want to establish the run. It’s our game plan all year long,” right guard Kraig Urbik said. “When we were doing as well as we were Sunday, we just kept at it. It wasn’t anything particular like we wanted to stay away from the pass game or anything, it’s just that we were being successful, so we wanted to stick with it.”‘

‘The question is what the Bills should do at No. 2 next season. They need to do better than Lewis and Jeff Tuel, who are both marginal NFL quarterbacks. If they’re serious about making a playoff run in 2014, they need a reliable veteran to serve as Manuel’s backup.’

‘”When you say setback as far as everything that we’ve been doing, no. It’s just a part of a process and we’ll get him out there on the field,” the coach said. “We decided to rest him, for the things that we wanted to do on the field … to get the maximum amount of time and we’ll put him out there tomorrow.”‘

‘Well, the Bills are 6-9 heading to New England, so what’s the difference, you ask? It’s this: The men who have been entrusted to extricate this franchise from irrelevance have a plan in place that seems to be working, and the roster is now fortified in several areas. Another offseason of successful tinkering in the draft and free agency, and the Bills could finally, finally, be on their way to playoff contention.’

‘”I think schematically, this is one of the better defenses for me,” said Branch, who also played for Arizona and Seattle. “I’m a quicker big fellow. I can get penetration and I can keep the offensive linemen on their toes, so that goes toward my strengths a lot.”‘

‘Marrone sidestepped questions Monday about Manuel’s status after he missed a game because of a swollen left knee. Marrone calls it “a process,” adding he wants to get “a peek” at the player once the Bills (6-9) return to practice Tuesday.’

‘”I feel like the sky’s the limit.”‘

‘The 6-foot-6, 325-pound former Michigan player has 166 career tackles and eight sacks in 93 games with the Cardinals, Seahawks and Bills.’

‘Branch matched his career best with his 35th tackle this season in Sunday’s 19-0 win over the Miami Dolphins. He has fortified the Buffalo run defense, starting 12 of 15 games entering Week 17.’

‘”I mean, I’m the coach. When people ask me, that’s usually how I go about it with players,” he replied when asked if he was still 110-percent confident in Manuel playing this weekend. “I think it’s a process, and we’ll get him out there tomorrow and take a peek at him.”‘

‘”It’s very close. I feel like I was part of the building process somewhat in Seattle and I see a lot of similar things,” he said. “All the games that we lost were by a few points, and that was kind of the exact same way it was in Seattle as well. I feel like we actually may have been in some areas, a little bit more ahead than Seattle was when I was there in some expects. I feel like that next year, I feel like the sky is the limit. I think we can go deep in the playoffs with the talent that we have in here.”‘

‘Five-thousand yards might not seem like much to some, but for a back that needed five years just to reach the NFL, and then still often had to fight for playing time, it’s a milestone Jackson is proud to mark.’