Archives for January 5, 2016

'“We were confident (about their job security),” Ryan said. “We think we’re going to be the long-term solution here. We want to be that. Did it feel good when he said it? Yeah, there’s no question. But we’re pretty confident that we have a group, led by Russ, our president, the Pegulas, and Doug and I. We think we form an outstanding team and we want to be.'

'To this point, he’s been the only Bills assistant coach other teams have requested permission to interview for openings.'

'The Bills need to see more before they’re convinced that Taylor deserves franchise money. I’m not convinced he’s the long-term answer, either, not by a long shot.'

'"We wanted to win more games. We weren’t perfect up front." Wood said. "We were physical. We played with high effort. We probably weren’t as assignment and as technically sound as we’d like to be at times. We’ll grow. I’m excited about our line, our backs are tremendous. They make us look good at times when we don’t deserve it. Ty’s great. Receivers block well. Tight ends block well. And we have one of the better fullbacks in the league.'

'This, however, does not mean Taylor has the leeway to rest on his laurels because as pleasantly surprising as his performance was this year, he still has plenty of work to do to cement his future in Buffalo.'

'Karlos Williams. Don't get me wrong, I love him as a running back, and when he was able to play this season, he was a big part of Buffalo's league-best rushing attack. But therein lies the rub: He just wasn't available all that often and it seems like that might be a problem because he can't be relied on to be there week after week.'

'"And that's one of things that I mean I want to impart to the fans," general manager Doug Whaley said. "I mean we had a lot of change last year and this is the first year of an organization from basically top to bottom, and there's some positive things to build on. We were 8-8. Is that acceptable? Absolutely not. But for us up here and in this organization, we're gonna focus on the positives and build on those positives, and correct the weaknesses. So it's absolutely a good thing that we're gonna be here, continuity, and I think that's one of the things that the Pegulas totally believe in."'

'"I think it's just tabloid reporting," Whaley said. "When things don't go well people are out there just to create some friction and just throw darts at the board and then if it's right then 'Oh, I was the first to report it.' I mean, I understand your guys' business. Controversy sells. We've been unified from day one. We have no problems, I haven't had any problems with anybody on the staff. I think our offensive staff has done a wonderful job. I've got complete confidence in the defensive staff, our head coach. And I know the Pegulas do as well and I know Russ (Brandon) does. That to us, it's one of those where you just tune out the noise."'

'"He's warranted enough for us to continue down the road to see if he can be the franchise guy of the future," Whaley said. "I mean if you think about it, if I told you a former sixth-round pick in his first year starting went 8-6, and with his stats and his quarterback rating and what he's brought to the team, I think it warrants him a chance to prove it. Absolutely. And the thing that we like the most about him is the locker room believes in him, we believe in him, and hopefully the fans believe in him."'

'"We get paid to do this job — a lot of people want to do this job — so sell out," Watkins said. "Just give your best and be on time, do the job, practice well, practice hard, be in shape. It only asks you five or six things, and it's not hard. Just do your job. We'll win, everybody wins, everybody gets what they want to get and we go to the playoffs and win a championship. That's what it's about. That's all I care about is winning and these guys in this locker room. Everything else outside of that, I honestly don't care about."'

'They need to sign quarterback Tyrod Taylor to a multi-year contract extension. I wouldn’t list Taylor among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, but he’s probably the best the Bills have had since Drew Bledsoe. He’s signed through next season but if he plays as well as he did this year, the Bills risk losing him to free agency. He doesn’t deserve franchise quarterback money, but a three-year extension for $40 million wouldn’t be out of the question.'

'What precisely has Whaley not yet seen in Taylor to be convinced the 26-year-old is a “franchise” QB, who’s worthy of a huge contract extension that would pay him, oh, at least $15 million per year? “Just keep getting better and better,” Whaley said. “There are things he can do that he needs to do better, and one of the major things is obviously the consistency. The second thing is, and we tell him all the time, learn to slide. He has got to learn to slide.'

'Watching many of the Bills games this season, what troubled me the most was the glut of penalties. The Bills averaged 80.3 yards of penalties per game in 2015, the most in the league through 16 weeks.'

'Dareus' hit on Ryan Fitzpatrick on the first snap following the two-minute warning led to the quarterback throwing his second of three interceptions in the fourth quarter. New York's loss, combined with Pittsburgh's win at Cleveland, eliminated the Jets from playoff contention.'

'"Yeah, we expected to make the playoffs this year, and that's pretty well noted, and we're disappointed about it," Wood said Monday morning. "I liked the way we finished the season. I think there is something that goes with carrying momentum into the offseason. A lot of positive vibes these last two games headed into the offseason, but we are disappointed."'