Archives for August 2015

'The moves were announced Tuesday night, a day after Holley was carted off the field after partially tearing his right hamstring in practice.'

'“Today was good, we had a little four minute scrimmage there and the offense won that part of it, so it was good. It just shows you the way we can run the football, but we have to be able to stop it on defense in those four minute situations. We did put a ball on the ground because of a poor snap and the defense recovered it and we can’t have that, we’ve got to protect that football.”'

'Matt Cassel was the primary #1 QB and it wasn’t close as far as reps. He got almost all of the 11-on-11 snaps with the first team, although Tyrod Taylor took a few. EJ Manuel had one snap in that scenario. Manuel was with the third team most of practice, with Taylor the #2 QB, but both QBs took some second-team reps.'

'You can read into this however you would choose to, however, EJ Manuel’s reps in practice were considerably behind Matt Cassel, and under what Tyrod Taylor was getting as well.'

'Westbrooks, 23, is a former seventh-round draft choice of the Cincinnati Bengals (2014). He was injured in Bengals training camp last summer, waived-injured and ultimately reached an injury settlement with the club.'

'He wasn’t all-world, but Matt Cassel had a steady day at quarterback Tuesday. Cassel continues to get the lion’s share of the reps with the first unit. Unofficially the veteran QB received about half the snaps with the starters. Manuel and Taylor split the rest.'

'On Monday, Cassel might very well have had his best practice of training camp. Certainly, it was far superior to anything he did on the field during what he would acknowledge was a very rough offseason.'

'“Figuring out what the offense is trying to do and get a step ahead of the offense,” said Williams on what he must show Ryan. “As far as the studying part of the game — the mental part of the game — just take the next level.”'

'Goodwin's speed is electric, and everyone knows it. And he convinced former head coach Doug Marrone, and now Rex Ryan, that he's not a track star playing football, but a football player who also competes in track. But his inability to avoid injury, and the offseason additions of Harvin and Lewis, have ramped up the competition for roster spots.'

'"We will start him on Friday, and how much work he gets we'll see," Ryan said after a steamy practice at St. John Fisher College. "We'll get them all work through these preseason games and he'll get the first shot."'

'Ryan couldn't talk about the fight without a smirk on his face.'

'Cassel had the best day at camp Monday, but Rex Ryan has said he's looking for the quarterback who can consistently perform the best day-in-day-out. So far, that player hasn't emerged for the Bills, so there is little separation on the depth chart.'

'After practice, Cassel also noted that he feels much better coming off that foot injury than he did in the spring. The spring was Cassel's first chance to run on grass since breaking his foot. Now he's starting to trust it again, and it's showing on his deeper passes.'

'However this turns out, the good news for the winner, if there is actually one, is that the bar is being set incredibly low. Either Cassel, Manuel or Taylor will be asked to be not terrible, and anything more than that will be considered a bonus.'

'“The fans are fans, they support you and they love what you did,” said Reed, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. “They admire what you did and they appreciate what you did, not only for the team but for the city. It’s always good to come back and interact with them.”'