Archives for June 18, 2014

‘”I like the fact that he’s putting more on us, especially because we’ve got young guys in skill positions,” Manuel said. “It’s really put more of the onus on us to get stuff down, and that’s made this week easier because we pretty much know all the plays already, and we’ve run them all a bunch of times, so there’s not going to be any new stuff to learn.”‘

‘”It’s dead,” acknowledged Assemblyman Sean Ryan, who recently popped in a bill, at the team’s request, to permit alcohol sales inside the stadium to start at 11 a.m., thereby carving out special treatment from the state’s noontime start for alcohol sales by bars and restaurants.’

‘Video surveillance from Ralph Wilson Stadium that showed Robert Hopkins sliding down a rail and climbing back up to his seat five times before falling from the upper deck and injuring another fan was the key to his conviction Monday, prosecutors said.’

‘Count at least a few folks out there as doubters, mainly because of Manuel. He finished the 2013 season with 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions over 10 games played, and the offense actually hummed a little better at times with backup Thaddeus Lewis in the lineup. The dream, though, is for Manuel to move from being a rookie insulated by the playbook to a playoff-caliber QB in short order.’

‘”I’m hoping that this is kind of a watershed moment for him, because he’s at a pivotal point,” Williams said after Dareus reported for the start of the Bills’ three-day mandatory minicamp. “Hopefully, it’s to a point where it’s kind of an epiphany, and he comes alive and turns the corner and does his best.”‘

‘Hopkins was not seriously hurt. But after the incident during the Nov. 17 Bills-New York Jets game, he lost his job in advertising and public relations and was banned from the stadium.’

‘”We look back at last year, and those first four games when EJ had a lot of run going on, it was awesome,” Hackett said. “We were really rolling. It’s funny. You look back on it and as the season went on, with the changes we had at that position, it slowed down. The better we get, the more we have of the understanding of the offense, the faster we can go.”‘

‘”No pressure. We already have many guys experienced here,” he said. “I just have to be prepared and ready to play early. “We’re not just going to come in and turn it on. We know we’ve got a long season ahead. If I perform the way I expect to perform, I think we’ll be OK. That’s all I care about, that and winning.”‘

‘Being a rookie last season, it was hard for Manuel to tell Nate Hackett he didn’t like a play in the playbook. Now, he’s more comfortable with it, “I think it’s having the repore with your coach.” Manuel added, “Sometimes there may be plays I don’t like and I’ll tell him. Honestly there were a few plays we came into this week of minicamp and I just wanted to be clean, I wanted to have sharp reads and I told him, ‘I don’t like that play, I don’t like that play and he took it out..”‘

‘Throughout the afternoon we got a taste of both good EJ and bad EJ.’

‘”It’s so much fun. It’s almost like we never lost a step,” Lawson said. “We still kid around and joke around and get after each other. We work hard and we have a good time doing it. We all have one goal in mind and that’s the way a team should be.”‘

‘We were a little frustrated, I know I was, before OTA’s. But I like the fact that he’s putting more on us, especially because we’ve got young guys in skill positions. It’s really put more of the onus on us to get stuff down and that’s made this week easier because we pretty much know all the plays already and we’ve run them all a bunch of times, so there’s not going to be any new stuff to learn.’