Archives for May 22, 2015

'“Powell has been the most impressive for me,” he said. “He’s just smart, picks things up quick. Obviously he was more of a special teams guy. Quite honestly, if he doesn’t play a snap, that’s fine by me because that means Preston Brown is playing. But I like Powell. He’s really jumped out to me.”'

'A suspension was not a surprise, and the fact it’s only for one game can be viewed as a win for the Bills. He’ll miss the game against the Colts, but will be back for the showdown against the New England Patriots in Week Two.'

'Dareus, who was drafted in the first round back in 2011, will be eligible to participate in all offseason activities and preseason games. He is coming off a season in which he recorded a career-high 10 sacks. This is a contract year for Dareus.'

'"We started fresh," Lal said at Bills offseason conditioning Tuesday. "We didn't listen to what the reputation was or what the media portrayed to be or any of that, because you don't know what actually happened."'

'But it wouldn't have been a Buffalo Bills' team building activity without a recap from running back Boobie Dixon, who used Instagram to update his followers on his team's bowling. Dixon seems to have lost a bet to veteran Fred Jackson, but neither was able to keep up with LeSean McCoy or Sammy Watkins.'

'It's unclear whether Dareus will face additional league discipline after being ticketed for crashing his car into a tree near a busy suburban Buffalo intersection also last May.'

'The third overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, Dareus has started 60-of-63 games during his four-year tenure with Buffalo. The 25-year-old racked up 71 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks in 2013, then earned First Team All-Pro honors during his double-digit sack campaign last season.'

'The charges stem from when Dareus crashed his 2012 Jaguar into a tree while allegedly racing teammate Jerry Hughes in May 2014.'

'Per CBA rules, teams are only allowed three days of OTA activities through the first two weeks of Phase Three. The Bills will hold OTAs next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday (May 26-27, 29) with a voluntary offseason conditioning day on Thursday, May 28. The remaining seven days they are allowed to have OTAs will take place over the following two weeks. Here is the full schedule of Bills OTA dates…'.

'Dareus will miss the team's season opener in Orchard Park against the Inianapolis Colts on September 13. He is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games and will be eligible to play week two at home against the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on September 20.'

'The Bills will use a hybrid 3-4/4-3 defensive look. That will change how they line up and who is considered a NT, DT, DE, and LB. So, to simplify things here and not use two separate charts, I separated the "true DL" and "true LB" (who are primarily ILB) from the hybrid 4-3 DE/3-4 LB players.'

'“Last year, I made a mistake involving possession of a banned substance. The NFL’s discipline for this conduct is part of the drug policy, and I apologize to my family, my teammates, the entire Bills organization and Bills fans that I will miss one game as a result of my mistake. I will work intensely that week and will be extremely happy to contribute to a win in week two for the Bills.”'

'“Having Andre here—when I heard he was interested we jumped all over that opportunity–bringing in a Hall of Fame receiver–one of Buffalo’s own–we are really excited about it,” said Ryan.'