Archives for September 2017

'"I'm happy for (Watkins)," McDermott said. "Any time you develop relationships with guys, I'm happy for him. That said, I'm focused on our team. But I'm happy for Sammy and the other guys that went on to have big nights (Thursday) night."'

'Lawson practiced fully Friday, along with running back LeSean McCoy (wrist), tight ends Charles Clay (knee) and Nick O'Leary (hamstring), linebackers Deon Lacey (hamstring) and Matt Milano (hamstring), wide receiver Kaelin Clay (foot), and safety Colt Anderson (foot).'

'If the Buffalo Bills aren't trying to send a message to Colton Schmidt, it's hard to imagine the punter feeling all that comfortable this week. That's because the team has worked out not one, not two, but three free agents at his position.'

'“The football fans out here are just unreal and you hear about it around the league,” Poyer said on the day he signed. “This is one of the best opportunities I think I’ve ever had in my whole entire life.”'

'Dennison broke into the league as an offensive assistant with Denver in 1995 and worked his way up to offensive coordinator. He went to Houston in 2010 and then coached quarterbacks with Baltimore in 2014, which is where he worked with Tyrod Taylor, before returning to Denver for their Super Bowl run in 2015. He became available for the Bills when Gary Kubiak retired from coaching after last season.'

'The Bills could be in for a similar nightmare this Sunday against the exceptional defense of the Denver Broncos. With no playmakers in the passing game, Buffalo's offense is susceptible to being smothered for a second week in a row.'

'“It’s important that safety remains our No. 1 priority and we always stress the safety and playing with proper technique,” he said before heading out to practice. “That’s really a big part of our coaching, a big emphasis of our coaching. In fact with the first team meeting (we said): ‘Hey, your head is always up.’ I always talk about your chin being up because it brings everything up. Everything we do is focused on the safety of it and protecting the game that way.”'

'Bills TEs/RBs vs. Denver LBs: Denver's linebackers had a lot of trouble covering backs out of the backfield last season. The Bills should test to see how much they've improved. Inside backers Todd Davis and Brandon Marshall return from last year. Strong side outside backer Shane Ray (8.0 sacks) is out with a wrist injury. His stand-in, Saquil Barrett, has looked good the first two weeks. He entered the NFL as an undrafted, Steelers-style stand-up rusher. What about the rest of his game? It will be interesting to see who Denver opts to keep on the field to defend LeSean McCoy.'

'Siemian is no Captain Checkdown. His toughness in the pocket in waiting for deep routes to develop won him the job last season. But he is taking what defenses give him. Siemian was 21 of 25 with four TDs on passes of 10 yards or less against Dallas. Above is a play Denver ran against a San Diego two-deep defense in Week One. All five receivers ran a 6-yard stop route. Siemian (13) picks the soft spot. Like any young QB, Siemian will make a wrong pre-snap read on occasion. On this play he threw to the running back on the far left, rather than to Thomas (88), matched with a linebacker. It was almost picked off. Maybe the Bills can lure Siemian into a mistake.'

'Although Alexander isn't guaranteed to face Watson every snap, when Buffalo aligns its veteran linebacker on the left side of the defensive formation, he'll see the struggling right tackle and find himself in a super advantageous situation.'

'"We actually had a situation once where we had a guy who had a concussion, and we've got all these flashes, everything else going off," Gipson recalled. "And I was like, 'You know what? It would be nice if we had a smaller area.'"'

'“This is my first tailgate,” Jackson said in a promotional video. “I need ya’ll to come show me how we get down on the other side of it.”'

'This Sunday, more than 1,000 people will pack into the two-floor Lodo’s to watch the Bills host the hometown Broncos from 1,500 miles away.'

'“I know myself and what I expect from myself each and every week, so I don’t want to say I expected it, but I worked hard this off-season,” he said. “I wanted a team to want me to come in and play for them. I didn’t know what to expect coming off the injury last season with my kidney, so I really just wanted another opportunity to step on the football field and continue to pursue my dream. When I got the call from Buffalo, I was real excited.”'

'In two games, Taylor has thrown only 12 passes that traveled at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, and only six of those have been completed. Against Carolina, NextGen Stats showed that the average number of yards the ball traveled on his 17 completions was 4.1 yards. That’s ridiculous.'