Archives for January 2, 2019

‘“I think battling through the physical discomfort is one thing but then you kind of have to get yourself mentally prepared to face that discomfort and fight through it every day regardless,” Murphy said. “When they put on the tape, no one sees that. You have to do your job and be your 1 in 11 regardless of how you feel.”’

‘Castillo’s firing shouldn’t come as a shock. The Bills’ offensive line struggled in 2018, which was to be expected after losing veteran center Eric Wood and Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito. Replacing those two proved supremely difficult. The combination of Ryan Groy and Russell Bodine at center could not match Wood’s steadiness, and the tandem of veteran Vlad Ducasse and rookie fifth-round draft pick Wyatt Teller didn’t make anyone forget about Incognito. Additionally, left tackle Dion Dawkins did not progress the way the Bills thought he would have.’

‘It was tempting to push this grade up to a C after Josh Allen’s five-touchdown performance Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, but that would be putting too much weight into one game. The Bills finished 31st in the NFL in total passing, so it’s impossible to give a passing grade. The entire body of work was not good for the Bills’ quarterbacks. As a group, they completed 270 of 496 passes (54.4 completion percentage) for 3,067 yards, 13 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Allen had a quarterback rating of 67.9, Nathan Peterman – remember him? – had a 30.7, Derek Anderson had a 56.0 and Matt Barkley had a 117.4 in one quality start against the New York Jets.’