Archives for August 2014

‘State police say Branch was arrested at about 2 a.m. Saturday in the town of Cheektowaga after officers noticed Branch vomiting out the driver’s side door of his vehicle.’

‘While not entirely completed, the key renovations include 3 million feet of linear cable to improve communications and technology in the stadium. There are also two new video boards and 53 more points of entry.’

‘Watkins had been very limited in practice since bruising his ribs in a 19-16 loss at Pittsburgh last weekend. Defensive tackles Kyle Williams (leg) and Alan Branch were also listed as inactive.’

‘Manuel’s fumble in the second quarter was returned 17 yards for a touchdown by Bucs tackle Clinton McDonald and Evan’s caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from McCown with 1:05 remaining to give Tampa Bay a 24-0 lead at halftime.’

‘Marrone is expected to meet with Branch on Sunday.’

‘As a team, the Bills outgained the Bucs in total yardage, 353 to 231, however also led in penalties (12) and turnovers (3).’

‘Manuel was having maybe his toughest day as a pro completing only 9-of-18 passes for 67 yards and an interception in the first half. Doug Marrone said, “We go out there, I thought we had a good stop by the defense, they did some nice things. We started to move the football, they had pressure, we threw hot and we can’t execute it. Someone falls and it turns into an interception and that’s what happens, we fall down and they pick the ball off, you can’t do that.”‘

‘”Yes, obviously we can’t be happy with that,” running back Fred Jackson said. “That’s something we have to look at, but at the same time we can’t let that define who we are. It’s a preseason game that we didn’t look well in. We have to go out and make some adjustments and continue to move on.”‘

‘Outside of those two drives to open up the second half, it was a game that were full of mistakes that the Bills will need to correct quickly ahead of their upcoming preseason finale on Thursday.’

‘Since signing his extension in December, Branch has seen his hold on the role of top backup at defensive tackle evaporate. He didn’t show to voluntary workouts and didn’t communicate with the team as to why he wasn’t there, he failed his conditioning test at the start of training camp and was demoted to the third-team defense throughout all of camp.’

‘In addition to Watkins, defensive tackle Alan Branch (undisclosed), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (leg), guard Chris Williams (lower back), tight end Tony Moeaki (hamstring), safety Jonathan Meeks (neck), cornerback Mario Butler (ankle) and cornerback Bobby Felder (groin) all will not play on Saturday against the Buccaneers.’

‘Buffalo’s run game found yards hard to come by as EJ Manuel and the first team offense had difficulty stringing positive plays together.’

‘Part of the reason yards were hard to come by was because of Tampa Bay’s stingy run defense. The Buccaneers finished 15th in the league last season against the run allowing just over 110 yards on the ground per game to their opponents. In the first half Saturday the Bucs run front looked stout.’

‘He’s used to it at this point. Every snap he’s taken in practice over the last few weeks has been charted and scribbled in a notebook. Every preseason game has been dissected, and the questions haven’t really changed. Will Manuel take a step forward? Is he good enough to take the Bills to the playoffs? Was he worth a first-round pick?’

‘”We know we can put up points. We had seven straight weeks where we put up 20 points a game. We understand we can score points. So we’re not walking on glass yet.”‘