Archives for August 2014

‘”A lot of things factor in decisions, don’t get me wrong, but the main factor was performance. Not even close,” Marrone said a day after the Bills cut the eighth-year player. “He didn’t perform well.”‘

‘Dixon finished last season on the practice squad and never threatened during training camp to contend for a backup job ahead of Jeff Tuel and Thad Lewis.’

‘A sixth-round pick of the Bills in 2013, Hopkins sustained a groin injury prior to the start of last season. That prompted Buffalo to sign Carpenter. Hopkins was eventually placed on injured reserve.’

‘While the Bills did a fantastic job putting the pieces in place for long term success, the offensive play makers in Manuel and Watkins are still too young and untested to expect a huge improvement over last season. The running game will definitely help Manuel and the defensive line should help the rest of the defense. However, in a tough division that includes the Patriots, it’s hard to see too much on an improvement over last season.’

‘Dixon was in the mix to open the season as starter EJ Manuel’s backup but struggled in the third preseason game. Thad Lewis and second-year quarterback Jeff Tuel remain on the roster, although the Bills are expected to keep an eye on other roster cuts around the league.’

‘Goodwin never apologized for the tweet, but he agreed he must be more responsible with what he says. He did say, “I was just trying to raise awareness that we really don’t need to be booed. Obviously we knew we didn’t have a good first half, but we receive a lot of support from the fan base and we have a lot of respect for them, we just want the same in return at all times and that’s all I was trying to put out there.”‘

‘Watkins, according to head coach Doug Marrone, didn’t have any limitations in practice. Last week the wideout sat out of Monday’s practice, only did positional drills on Tuesday and Wednesday and then took a tiny step forward Thursday to graduate to routes versus air. The Bills ended up sitting him Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.’

‘When it comes to Jeff Tuel and Thad Lewis Marrone said, “Either they have to play better or we have to look to see if there’s someone that can better at that position. If we feel at the end of the day that it’s not good enough to win with, and we haven’t seen that yet, either you put a lot of work into those guys and get them better, or you have to upgrade that position some other way.”‘

‘”It was really performance,” Marrone said. “You guys watch the film and the players we released, you have to perform in this league and he didn’t perform well. Obviously [the arrest] was a poor decision, but basically it was the performance because we didn’t really play him much in the first two or three preseason games, nor could we.”‘

‘S Derek Brim, QB Dennis Dixon, P Jake Dombrowski, WR Tori Gurley, S Jajuan Harley, K Dustin Hopkins, DT Damien Jacobs, C Macky MacPherson, WR Chris Summers, G J.J. ‘Unga, RB Ronnie Wingo.’

‘”I like (Erik Pears) there at right guard and I like Seantrel at right tackle,” said Marrone. “I’m not going to totally give myself to it because obviously if an injury occurs something might change, but if everyone remains healthy and everyone stays the same, and they continue to keep playing like they’re playing that’s what we’ll go with.”‘

‘The Buffalo Bills have announced that Thursday’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions at 7 p.m. at Ralph Wilson Stadium has not sold out and will be blacked out on local television. The game will be broadcast on a tape delay on Friday, August 29 on WKBW-TV at 7 p.m. and WHAM-TV at 7:30 p.m., as well as on Time Warner Cable Sportschannel on Saturday, August 30 at 2:30 p.m.’

‘But Marrone wasn’t about to put excessive blame on Manuel. “Overall we’ve got to do a better job around him,” he said, “and we have to work through this adversity.”‘

‘Given the opportunity to defend his backup quarterback play following the Bills’ loss to the Buccaneers on Saturday, Doug Marrone again said he is not satisfied. After what happened when EJ Manuel got hurt a year ago, having depth at quarterback is important. The Bills could add a quarterback from outside to provide an upgrade over Thad Lewis.’