Archives for August 2015

'Polian was welcomed into the Hall by six former Bills from his era, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, James Lofton, Andre Reed, and Head Coach Marv Levy. They were all on stage as the former GM who brought them and signed them to Bills contracts delivered his remarks.'

'“This is gonna be tough on him,” Ryan said of Lewis, who made 64 catches for 945 yards and nine touchdowns last season in college. “I don’t expect him to jump in there and be Sammy Watkins. The opportunities that he’s getting, we’ll see how he takes advantage of them. As we get through these preseason games, I expect his level of play to go up.”'

'“Collectively, this is the best defensive line the Buffalo Bills have ever had," Smith said. "If you sit back and analyze it, you’ve got Marcell. We never had a defensive tackle like Marcell. He eats up that double-team every single play. Obviously, we had Ted but Ted was a run stopper. Marcell can get after that quarterback.'

'Jackson, who at 34 is the oldest running back in the NFL, has been dealing with a heavier workload than perhaps the team would have liked over the past few days. Starter LeSean McCoy sat out team drills for two straight practices because of a toe injury (he’s since returned) and veteran Boobie Dixon could miss up to a month with a calf injury.'

'Any general manager can take a hatchet to a roster and any can start doling out $50 million contracts to appease fans. These two – more than any in the modern era – made deliberate, sound decisions and it paid off in the form of gold jackets.'

'“You have to find the right person,” Polian said. “You have to be in the position to draft him or sign him, as the case may be. But” finding him is “what you get paid to do. That’s what the owner entrusts you to do. That’s your job description.'

'“With me going in last year, it kind of opened up the eyes more,” Guy said. “Instead of being blindfolded – well, there were certain ones – you find out special teams players are players, too. You don’t have to be an offensive or defensive player to contribute. Everybody on that team who makes the team, they are an intricate part of that team.'

'"Yeah, I don’t think there’s any doubt," Ryan said when asked if he's looking forward to the scrimmage. "You always want to have the first time when you’re really in a live scrimmage situation. We’re gonna get the equivalent of maybe, I would say, at least 18 possessions. So this is gonna be a real deal on Saturday."'

'"Thigpen was a running back when he came out his first couple years in Miami, so we might do a little double duty with him," said Ryan. "We picked up a kid (Hill), I have no idea what his name is right now, Eastern Michigan, big kid, so we'll see."'

'Right now, it seems the Bills are still not close to figuring out who their guy is.'

'"I had a conversation with Mike," Ryan told NBC Sports Radio Friday. "Mike's an outstanding athlete, he's a tremendous person. I really enjoyed my year with Mike (2014 with the Jets), and he's great for a team. However, our conditions are a little different than most teams in this league. And Mike will tell you, he's not built really for a bad weather quarterback. He doesn't have great, big hands, and the weather affects him some. And he'd be the first one to tell you.'

'The Bills are now left with Bryce Brown, Karlos Williams and Bronson Hill behind LeSean McCoy on the running back depth chart. Brown also looked a bit banged up after practice, exiting the locker room with ice wrapped around his knee. Williams has gotten more and more reps as camp has progressed, and he could be in for quite a bit of work.'

'After drawing praise from Rex Ryan on consecutive days, Taylor once again looked like the best of the three quarterbacks during team drills Friday. Still, the pecking order hasn't changed. Matt Cassel got the most work with the first-team offense, while Taylor spent a lot of time with the second-team unit and EJ Manuel worked with the third-team offense.'

'Bills coach Rex Ryan says Jackson's injury is "not a terrible one," but he will probably miss two weeks.'

'The Bills' other running backs are Bryce Brown, fifth-round rookie Karlos Williams and newly signed rookie Bronson Hill.'