Archives for August 2014

‘Thursday, Lee Smith sat out practice with what coach Doug Marrone termed a “lower body injury,” thus joining Scott Chandler and Tony Moeaki on the sidelines. That means the top three guys on the depth chart were down, and the only available tight ends were Chris Gragg and newcomer Dominque Jones.’

‘The next stage of the process involves the bidders meeting with Morgan Stanley, the banking firm in charge of the sale on behalf of late owner Ralph Wilson’s estate. At that meeting, bidders will receive financial information, and Bills president Russ Brandon is expected to give a presentation, according to the Associated Press. After that, formal bids will be due.’

‘The connection runs a bit deeper than that, though. Coughlin has been a mentor for Marrone. “I have a lot of respect for him. I’ve always followed him, always admired the work that he’s done, and like I said before, we used to meet once a year,” Marrone said. “I’d go and talk to him and he helped me out quite a bit.”‘

‘”Those guys have done a great job, especially this week,” Manuel said. “Picking up defenses blitzes, their looks. They’re communicating very well at the line of scrimmage. That allows us to really pick it up.’

‘Clarity was not immediately forthcoming.’

‘Are the Canadians going to win the auction? It does not look promising.’

‘Tisch said he would ask Trump about his views on ownership, and what he could add to an NFL team.’

‘”When you compare him to some of his contemporaries, I think he stacks up very well,” said former teammate Steve Tasker, a wide receiver who is widely considered one of the greatest special teams players of all time. “He played a big role in some enormous games for the team we played on. Over the stretch of a seven-year period, from ’88 to the 1994 Super Bowl, our team was as good as it got.”‘

‘”I’m telling you, they were spot on. You would see them before practice talking about it. After practice, after they’d been through an hour-and-a-half practice running routes, those two guys would stay over practicing short routes and different scenarios.”‘

‘”Some of my assistant coaches were urging me to kick a field goal,” Levy recalls. “Frank looked at me and kept pointing at me, like ‘I’ve got the play.’ The play was a pass over the middle in a crowd of guys you can’t imagine. He grabbed it and went in for the touchdown.”‘

‘He holds no ill feelings toward the Browns. “It’s not about going out there and showing them what they missed,” Watkins said. “It’s about going out there and playing my game, getting the win and getting off the field. There’s no hard feelings. It was a business decision they made. I’m happy where I’m at.”‘

‘”We’re really pleased with the way the university handled the dispute and we fully recognize Texas A&M is the owner of the ’12th Man’ trademark,” Sonntag was quoted as saying in a joint press release from his group and Texas A&M. “We’ve already started operations under Bills Fan Thunder and will continue our fight to keep the Bills franchise in Buffalo.”‘

‘Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that the real estate mogul has been chosen to advance to the next round of bidding to purchase the team. Cohen said he was informed of the decision by Morgan Stanley, the banking firm overseeing the sale of the team for late owner Ralph Wilson’s estate.’

‘”No, we’re going to wait to discuss that until after tomorrow night’s practice so we know who’s available and who’s not, things like that. The expectation is that we’re going to play the game to win.”‘

‘Going hand in hand with Manuel’s early prowess was the pair of plays Watkins made at the beginning of practice during team drills.’