Archives for May 2015

'"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.'

'“We’re in the learning process right now,” Kromer said. “Is John Miller learning quickly? I would say yes. He has a good background coming out of college and when we interviewed him for the draft, we knew that he had the ability to learn quickly and to adapt to technique just through our interviews, so it’s been a good start, but it’s only a start and we have a long way to go.'

'Using those parameters, Carpenter is expected to have a 4.5 percent loss in effectiveness, second only to Tucker (3.1) in the NFL. That number comes from subtracting Carpenter’s career success rate on field goals from 30 to 39 yards (94.5) from his success rate on extra points (99).'

'“It’s really been an honor to be on all these shows and have the opportunity to share what our family has been through over the past year, two years,” Erin said by phone. “Ultimately, through every one, my main message to get across is through ‘Kelly Tough,’ I wanted to encourage people to be courageous and live fearlessly. Because no one is guaranteed tomorrow. We don’t know what our next breath holds, so cherish every moment as if it’s our last.”'

'Pentis calculated that by taking the number of extra points Carpenter attempted in 2014 (32) and multiplied it by Carpenter's career percentage on field goals between 30 and 39 yards (the new distance of the extra point). That came out to 30.25, just 1.75 points shy of the 32 expected from 32 extra point attempts. Only two other kickers, Baltimore's Justin Tucker and Denver's Connor Barth, would have been better in 2014.'

'"Since we've had him, I've been impressed with how he prepares himself. He's sharp. He comprehends things, he retains it very well and once we get out here, he applies it. I've been pretty impressed. You don't see that happen all the time. Some guys come in and you have to wait a little longer for that light to click."'