Archives for September 2016

'"Because," he said, "if you’re 0-2 – our expectations were much higher than that. But against these two teams right here, it’s clear that they’re playing as well as any teams in the league, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I can’t see anybody playing better than what I saw on tape. So we’ll get to see immediately. I see we’ve had struggles. There’s no doubt about that. We’ve been far from perfect. I get that. But we’ll see how we measure up against maybe the best in the league here."'

'"In regard to the reports about how players were seeing ownership, that happens all the time. I feel fortunate that our owners, I mean they talk to our players, they talk to everybody. I can tell you this: I’m in full support of our owners. And at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter, does it? They own the football team, they don’t have to get permission to talk to anybody, myself included, but I have no problem with it whetsoever. In fact, I think it’s a real positive thing for us."'

'“Anybody who watched the Cardinals this past week realizes the task at hand,” Ryan said of Arizona’s visit to New Era Field. “If they’re not the best team out there, they’re certainly one of them. We know what we’re facing, and I’ll be honest, it’s an impressive group, there’s no doubt. Bruce Arians does a great job and he has those guys humming right now.”'

'"They just showed up and said, 'Hey, we need to talk,'" he said. "I think the talk went well. It had nothing to do with anybody. It just had to do with the players. … to be 0-2, that's probably the reason that caused it. I just think they wanted to see where my head was, and the leaders on the team, where their heads were."'

'Added King: "That's not meant as a slam. It's true. He's going to be very good next year on FOX."'

'"Some of them you just totally dismiss," Rex said Monday. "I think my brother's done as good a job as anybody coaching in this league. But I get it, that's always going to be out there. Hey, it comes with the territory. I'm focused on Arizona and I better be."'

'"There's a couple of things I think that we need to all understand. No. 1, I made the decision on letting Greg Roman go. I think that's it, final," Ryan said. "In regards to the reports about how players were seeing ownership, that happens all the time."'

'"That happens all the time," Ryan said. "I feel fortunate that our owners — I mean, they talk to our players, they talk to everybody. I can tell you this: I'm in full support of our owners. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter, does it? They own the football team. They don't have to get permission to talk to anybody, myself included. I have no problem with it whatsoever. In fact, I think it's a real positive thing for us."'

'"I think the spin in the offense is gonna be immediate," Ryan said. "Some things we'll do from a tactical standpoint we'll see [changed" target="_blank"> immediately. [With" target="_blank"> the verbiage and playbook, we'll pull from the same plays. There maybe an occasional play [we'll change" target="_blank"> here and there, but we're definitely keeping the verbiage and everything else that's already in place."'

'I'm not trying to sell Roman as a great coordinator but I've seen this before and I've been guilty of it as much as anyone else. We want to believe the Bills have an elite quarterback ready to bust out and be the next Jim Kelly. We live in fear of reaching the point where we realize we are wrong about that player and its time to search once again. So we always look around the quarterback when placing blame.'

'The one thing the Bills do have going for them against the Arizona Cardinals offensively is this: the Cardinals don’t have any idea what to expect from Anthony Lynn as a play caller. The new offensive coordinator, who will likely feature a more prominent passing attack, has as Eric Wood termed it on Monday, “the element of surprise” working in his favor. However, he’s got only six days to get his offense together the right way, how much of his personal touch can we expect to see Sunday against the Cardinals?'

'“That’s kind of out the window,” he said. “I know what I’m doing with it. The team knows what I’m dealing with. It’s up to me to go out there and play. If I’m out there playing I can’t feel sorry for myself. The foot is not an excuse or issue.”'

'“His message was there will be some growing pains with some of the things we’ll be doing, but ultimately just work,” said Charles Clay. “We’ll work through all that stuff. Guys are excited to have him. He’s been around for a long time. Guys are excited to be able to work with him and excited for the future.”'

'It's hardly a reach to think that, given the chance to explain to the big bosses why their production has mostly been ordinary, Taylor and others cited Roman's strategic shortcomings. Better to say that than, "No, you two are really wasting your money on us."'

'Ryan referred to Greg Roman as "tremendous" and "outstanding" on Friday after he talked about dismissing the coach. Although firing someone can never be easy, it sounds as though Ryan and Roman ended on as good of terms as possible.'