Archives for December 2016

'Trotter also slammed the Bills for how they handled Wednesday's press conference, in which Lynn contradicted himself over whose decision it was to start EJ Manuel at quarterback. Trotter said it was a "flat-out joke" that the Bills are presenting this week as a one-game audition for Lynn, who has other head-coaching interest, and added that if Lynn is smart, "he will get as far away from Buffalo as he can."'

'In Taylor, who could have a large chunk of his contract guaranteed if he suffered a severe injury Sunday, Lynn said he sees "a young quarterback that has a lot of potential to continue to develop." He reiterated he thinks Taylor could progress under his tutelage during the offseason.'

'The Bills apparently intend to interview candidates to replace Rex Ryan as head coach, but it's hard to imagine them putting forth an exhaustive, no-stone-left-unturned effort into finding his replacement.'

'They let Lynn twist in the wind, same as they'd done to Ryan after leaking out word that Rex would be fired before the Steelers game a few of weeks earlier. And they wonder why they're the laughingstock of the NFL.'

'Taylor is 27 years old. He has been in the NFL for six seasons, so we’re not talking about some raw, wide-eyed newbie like Jones. Taylor has been around long enough to know how the business works. He bet on himself as a free agent to win a quarterback competition involving three mediocre quarterbacks.'

'Trusting Whaley, who per the team’s Twitter account “will officially be leading the organization’s head coaching search,’’ and Brandon to select a third coach in five years after they already whiffed on Doug Marrone and Rex Ryan has left Bills Nation quoting Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.’’'

'The ultimate Teflon man, working on his seventh non-playoff season of employment in Buffalo, did not feel it was necessary for him to answer questions from reporters — who would then pass along the information to the fan base, including corporate sponsors and about 55,000 season ticket buyers — regarding what had transpired at One Bills Drive over the previous 24 hours.'

'Thus, if the Bills have already decided $30.75 million for a healthy Taylor in 2017 is too expensive and he will not be brought back, sitting him was the only choice they had, and Lynn said he understands the logic.'

'“You know, I owe Rex a lot,” Incognito said. “He gave me the opportunity to come here and re-establish myself in the NFL and I shared that with him yesterday. I just thanked him for everything he’s done and giving me the opportunity to come back and play. And yeah, I’m disappointed. Rex is my guy and like I said a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to fight with him as many ways as possible. And we just came up short.”'

'Lynn is smart to take every call he gets, whether it's for a head coaching job or an appealing offensive coordinator opening. He had a pair of interviews for head-coaching jobs a year ago. He now has nearly a full season of play-calling under his belt for an offense that ranks No. 1 in the league in rushing. He will be an appealing candidate outside of Buffalo.'

'Either way, the damage he's done to the appeal of this job is tough to ignore. This front office was responsible for leaks about Ryan. Whaley has reportedly had iffy relationships with each of the last two head coaches. Now he's put his Lynn, who is supposed to be a top candidate for the position, in an impossible spot.'

'"I actually think they wanted me to do a lot of things," Coughlin told the hosts of CBS Sports' We Need to Talk. "Maybe sit next to the owner in the press box, ya know, at least tell him what I thought about what was good and what was bad."'

'That's different. Normally you don't have situations like that but that's the business side of things. They got their reasons for what they're doing. We don't worry too much about things like that. When it's said and done, you're going out there, you're playing the game, you're trying to play to win. You want to put the best thing you can on film because when it's all said and done, what you put on film is who you are. So we know we're being evaluated and we got to go out there and do our jobs.'

'"If you talk to people around the league," said Trotter, "they're scratching their heads over this. He has not gotten it right on a coach and they say that he made recommendations and didn't lead the process in the past. Well, I'd like to know what his recommendation was on Rex Ryan or anyone else."'

'Alright. Well, these last 24 hours, getting ready to beat this team and losing my good friend Rex Ryan, it's been challenging. I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions about the future and where we're going with this, but right now, my focus is right in from of me and getting these guys ready to play the New York Jets and playing the best we can to win this game.'