Archives for March 29, 2017

'"I don't know where that report came from, it's erroneous" Pegula told a group of Western New York reporters covering the NFL meeting here, adding that McDermott and Whaley "get along great" and gave no indication that a change at GM was forthcoming.'

'"We're not going to make excuses," he said. "We are where we are and we feel good about what we've done. Everything we're about is moving forward, and we feel good about the players that were on the roster and then we were able to add critical pieces in free agency. And so we're going to continue to try and do that through every avenue, whether it's the draft, continue to look at free agency, whatever it might be. We're going to try to improve this roster every way possible.'

'Peterman led the Panthers’ highest-scoring offense in program history as a senior in 2016, an attack that put up 40.9 points per game. He also led the ACC in passer efficiency (163.4 rating), starting all 13 games while completing 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,855 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions.'

'The biggest that pertains to speeding up games is eliminating referees going under the hood to review plays. Beginning with the 2017 season, officials will view replays on the field using portable tablets, with final decisions made by the league's head of officiating, Dean Blandino, and his staff from NFL headquarters in New York.'

'“I don’t even know,” McDermott said. “We focus on ourselves and getting ourselves better. That’s it. That’s a day-to-day process. Our focus right now is improving this football team in every way we can and that speaks to the communication that happens between Doug and myself and our staffs and really the entire building. It’s what we’re doing going forward. This is a new era of Bills football and we’re excited about it.”'

'By his and several unbiased accounts, Mahomes lit up the combine, and the Bills were probably one of many quarterback-seeking teams who took notice. He performed athletically in all the requisite drills that really shouldn’t matter — does anyone care how quickly he did the three-cone drill or how far his broad jump was? — and then he took the field and showed off that cannon of a right arm.'

'I think the answer I just gave you. Obviously when I say it's a group effort. It's just like everything else most businesses do in their life. If somebody feels more strongly about something than somebody else than maybe you lean in that direction.'

'"I think the hardest part has been our fans not having a winner," Pegula said. "It's very difficult. We're not happy with what we've been doing on the field. We need to get better. We're going to work harder, and the whole organization is behind that philosophy: work harder, day by day, week by week, Sunday by Sunday and just try to get better."'

'"That hasn't been discussed in any detail," Pegula said. "Everybody knows we're new owners. We're a smaller market in the league, so we just need to be happy with what we have right now with our stadium and call it home."'

'Andre Holmes: Why he could emerge as the team's No. 2 receiver: Holmes signed the most lucrative deal among the free agent receivers signed by the Bills. Before the Raiders drafted Amari Cooper and signed Michael Crabtree, Holmes showed he could be a contributor by catching 47 passes for 693 yards and four touchdowns in 2014. Although it could change based on the 2017 NFL draft, Holmes seems like the likeliest option to start across from Watkins.'

'"I'm a big believer in analytics and technology," McDermott said. "Again, just to try and gain that competitive advantage. I think to ignore that is irresponsible. That's going to guide us in our decisions at the end of the day. You combine that with your gut instinct and you put yourself in a position to make those sound decisions."'

'"It's really been seamless," McDermott said. "Doug and his staff laid a nice foundation for us in terms of free agency and really you kind of rewind and look at the roster first. We were able to get in. Doug and his staff went to the Senior Bowl and we stayed back so we could get a handle on our roster, which is key. We have to understand our situation first and then look to improve our situation. We did that, I believe, exponentially. Through free agency and then at the Combine they laid a nice foundation again with who we were going to look at. We had those nightly meetings where we were able to meet some of the young men, and it's been seamless so far."'

'"You respect that about him and that whole organization in terms of their drive to be the best year after year," McDermott said. "It's one thing to have success. It's another thing to sustain it. That to me starts from leadership. They set the tone really. I'm sure he does a great job in that regard. Obviously, it's out there. They've been able to sustain success and we're all scrambling to try to catch up with them."'

'In other linebacker news, McDermott said he didn’t know why an NFL team hasn’t signed Zach Brown, but the coach didn’t take it off the table, mentioning shortly a “third wave” of signing across the league will take place.'

'“We had a guy at Carolina that agreed to come in. So he and I would kind of go at it in the mornings and do some sparring and what-not. I enjoyed it. It was a heckuva workout. I haven’t found that in Buffalo yet but I’m sure in due time that will open itself up.”'