Archives for September 3, 2015

'“In this league, every time you play you are always auditioning for someone, whether it is your own teammates, your own coaches, whoever else is watching,” said Simms, who has thrown only eight passes in the preseason. “But, of course, anytime that you play football people are always watching. No matter who it is, you just got to go out there play, play hard, execute the play and just have fun.”'

'The primary logic behind the potential move is, with a cap figure of nearly $5 million, Cassel is far too expensive to remain on the roster as a reserve and the Bills need all of the cap space they can get to extend the contract of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. The team is negotiating a deal with Dareus, and, as The News has reported, is offering him more than $90 million over six years.'

'"Quite a bit of it is decided," Ryan said of the 53-man roster that will open the season Sept. 13 against Indianapolis. "But I still think this game is important and there is generally three or four guys that will come into this game and have a chance to win a job or, quite honestly, lose a job. So you never say, ‘Hey this is the roster that is made’ because there are always some guys that will step up and will earn a roster spot in this last game."'

'"It's way too early to say whether (McCoy) will play or not," a source told Anderson. "He is doing a little bit more every day. But hell yes, I'm concerned about that. I can't say for sure he's going to be with us Week 1. I can't say that at all. It will take everything we got just to get him ready for game day, and then we get to game day (there's) no way he can be in great football shape. So I think he will be on a pitch count, I think at the very best."'

'But it must be said: the blame for the Bills being in this mess falls on Terry and Kim Pegula.'

'"Doug Whaley was behind it, to my knowledge," Jackson said. "He wasn't honest with me the entire time that I've known him. I have the utmost respect for the organization. There's only one person in that organization that I haven't gotten honesty from, and that was him."'

'Rex Ryan just can’t find himself a team with a normal general manager, can he?'

'"He wasn't honest with me the entire time that I've known him," Jackson told the Buffalo News. "I have the utmost respect for the organization. There's only one person in that organization that I haven't gotten honesty from, and that was him."'

'McCoy suffered a left hamstring injury in practice on Aug. 18. The source told Anderson that McCoy's MRI showed, what was described internally as, a "small tear," adding: "They say it tore in a spot where it couldn't have been any better for us. It tore in a spot that is kind of high up, surrounded by stronger muscles in the glutes and things like that."'

'The coaching staff may prefer to have a veteran backup, while the front office could prefer to use the roster spot elsewhere.'

'Chris Gragg: The third-year tight end has made a compelling case for himself to stick on the 53-man roster. Gragg is second on the team in receptions in the preseason and leads the team in receiving yardage. His blocking in pass protection has improved and he’s been consistent with his route running.'