Archives for October 11, 2014

‘Win the coaching battle … or at least settle for a tie.’

‘Yes, he bought the team. He’s the one who handed over the $1.4 billion. But Pegula knows that the Bills can’t really belong to any one person. They belong to the people of Western New York. That’s what moved Pegula to tears, the knowledge that he was the one who assured their long-term existence here.’

‘Terry and Kim Pegula don’t have special powers, but they’re arguably the most powerful people in Western New York.’

‘”I’ve always been a firm believer, if someone buys the team, he’s paying $1.4 billion, he has the impetus to do whatever he wants,” Whaley said. “So me worrying about it is not going to change what he thinks about me. But I’d rather take that energy and focus it on the football team and the job I’m employed to do and get a winner on the field, and winning cures all. That’s how I look at it.’

‘”I mean, what do you expect me to say?” Spikes said the other day. “You know, I’m on a new team, and they’re a big team in this division. You’ve got to get after them if you want to get to the playoffs, so this is big for us.”‘

‘”The thing is,” Pegula said, “Ralph was a large personality. Was it the Foolish Club? He started this franchise and look where it is now. That’s an overwhelming legacy, 54 years. A year from now I’m going to be on one. I think a lot of people standing up here would feel the same way.”’

‘Pegula was asked what her role would be, and he said, “We’re both owners; the division of it is personal business, we’re a private enterprise. She’ll put her touch on the organization in her own way and that will be a nice thing, and she has a good business mind, too. She’ll be involved, she’s part owner.”‘

‘”Well I wouldn’t automatically assume there’s going to be changes,” Pegula said. “You know we sit here as owning the team a few days so I haven’t given that any discussion. We like the job Russ is doing with the organization. He’s been here two years now in his present position so we’re learning as we go.”‘

‘Throughout the press conference, Donald Trump, who was also involved in the bidding war for the Bills, was tweeting, and his tweets were predictably not the most encouraging of tweets.’

‘”Haven’t given much thought to that,” Pegula said. “We haven’t done anything on any issues like that. Today’s a happy day.”‘

‘The Bills’ offense is predicated on running the football, but they managed to win against the Lions in Week 5 despite averaging just over 2 yards per carry. The Patriots are allowing opposing rushers to gain 4.4 yards per attempt, so the Bills should be able to get the ground game rolling.’

‘The Bills have a long list of players listed as questionable and haven’t given much indication as to whether any of the players listed as questionable will be able to play.’

‘”He’s gonna be following me around the field, so I’m gonna have to be prepared for his jams,” Bills’ rookie receiver Sammy Watkins, told reporters this week, of Revis shadowing him. “I know there’s going to be some good, some bad. He’s very smart. I have to be very competitive and smart off the ball.”‘

‘”He’s very talented. Actually, I’m a big fan of watching him when he was at Clemson. Very explosive receiver, can run all the routes and make all the tough catches. It’s going to be fun.”‘

‘When Revis essentially shadows one player for an entire game, quarterbacks completed 4-of-11 passes for 67 yards and an interception when challenging the Pats’ prized free agent. In other games when the assignments were mixed, quarterbacks went 9-of-13 for 125 yards and a touchdown when targeting Revis.’