Archives for December 17, 2015

'“Just down in Tidewater, down in that area, you always know the next hot star,” Hall said. “There are only a handful of high schools that produce these guys. Watching him play in high school, somebody introduced me to him and told me how good he was. I just kept following him. He just became one of the fellas.”'

'"That falls directly on me, so I get that," said Ryan, one of numerous team officials and players wearing similar holiday-styled sweaters. "It doesn't need to be pointed anywhere else. It needs to be pointed at me. I'm a big guy. I've got broad shoulders. I can take it."'

'Buffalo filled Gilmore's spot on the roster by signing defensive end Max Valles off the Oakland Raiders practice squad. He's a rookie sixth-round draft pick out of Virginia.'

'"Literally I can count, this will be my first (time) that I've ever been considered maybe the weakness of the team the way I coach defense," Ryan said. "But we haven't been up to what we anticipated, any of us, fan base, myself, players, everybody."'

'"This is the first time I've ever been considered the weakness of the team, the way I coach defense. We haven't lived up to expectations. I get that. The season's not over. I expect to play better. But that's just the way it is."'

'"I feel bad about it," Thigpen said. "I feel like it's all me, for the most part, just turning the ball over in a critical situation in a game that we had to have.'

'Gilmore will have surgery to repair the torn labrum. He finished the season with 36 tackles, a team-leading three interceptions and 18 pass breakups in 12 games.'

'But the truth is that Ryan had been trying to get Taylor on his team for years. And, according to Ryan, he’s not the only one.'

'“Did I expect our numbers to be much better than they are this year? Absolutely,” he said. “I know we have the talent and it’s been a good defense for the last two years. It was a really good defense. We haven’t measured up statistically. It hasn’t been by lack of effort or anything else. We just haven’t had the results we expected.”'

'The Bills placed cornerback Stephon Gilmore on season-ending Injured Reserve Wednesday. Three other players joined him in the "did not practice" category.'

'“Getting a new head coach and stuff, his system has to be in place and it doesn't happen in a year,” said the pro bowl defensive tackle. “That's what I think we all missed. We looked at the pieces we put in and forgot the big picture of letting it all set, seal and don't touch it for a little bit. Let the cement harden. Let us know that we are on concrete.”'

'More evidence a switch to the 3-4 is coming in 2016?'

'And the #RexEffect was born.'

'Stephon Gilmore's shoulder injury was severe enough for the Bills to move the cornerback to injured reserve ending his 2015 season.'

'“This is one of the most physical teams in the league,” he said. “That’s what I see from them. They’re huge up front on both sides of the ball. On defense, we all know the guy [Knighton" target="_blank"> from his treadmill commercial, that dude’s huge. He is enormous playing nose tackle in there. You’ve got Hatcher, a guy who I’ve always thought was a good player. My brother coached him in Dallas. He’s 6-7, 310. They’ve got some monsters out there.”'