Niagara Gazette

‘Elam has shown flashes of brilliance, but they have far too often come with moments of frustration. Whether it has been injuries that have dogged him for two seasons or a struggle to fit into Buffalo’s defensive system, Elam’s play has made many wonder whether he was going to live up to the expectations of not only being a first-round pick, but one whom the Bills traded up to take.’

‘The first practice at St. John Fisher will be held at 9:45 a.m. July 24, while the Bills will also hold their annual red and blue practice at Highmark Stadium, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 2. There will be no night practices at St. John Fisher, with every practice but one beginning at 9:45 a.m.’

‘“Schematically, this is a time of year for us at least where we try and develop our menu a little bit, try things, throw some things out, add some things,” McDermott said. “It’s really the time of year to try some of that and then my ask of the coordinators is that when we break or before we break that they’ve got a pretty good menu built that they believe in and matches what we know at this point at least to be the strengths of our players.”’

‘There was little resistance during minicamps, but it’s clear the offense still has some tinkering to do as it shifts from forcibly feeding a few guys to spreading the ball around. Quarterback Josh Allen showed no reason to be concerned, but there weren’t many dazzling throws during minicamp.’

‘“I was surprisingly undersized in high school,” McGovern said. “I was always the center because I was the smallest one, and then when I hit my growth spurt finally, I just stayed at center. I went to Penn State as a center and moved to guard, went back to center. It was always something natural. I was always right in the middle and that was comfortable to me.”’

‘“You’ve got learn everybody’s position, not just what you’re doing,” Douglas said. “Like last year, I didn’t know what everybody else is doing. I just know Po told me I had that person, so I was guarding that person. So now I’m kind of learning what the linebackers do, what the D-line do, where I’m going to get my help from and, things like that.”’

‘“He’ll continue to build through the break that we’re going to go on,” McDermott said. “And then hopefully in training camp, he’s at a spot where when we open up, he’s available. It’s just a matter of putting it one day at a time and trying to put practices back to back. Don’t know yet on that and we’ll just have to see.”’

‘“I won the Olympics in 2020 off a last-second takedown,” Steveson said. “That’s near impossible. But to win the Olympics, it’s not impossible. But in that instance, you want to be the best that you can. And I want to come to a new field and be the best that I can. In my eyes, it’s mandatory. It’s a goal. It’s not about just joining a football team. It’s about making it through and being a product that people can look at and be, ‘Hey, this guy has never played football in his life and he made it.’”’

‘“At the end of the day, that’s all I got, is my optimism and my faith,” Miller said. “I know what I can do, what I can still do at the end of the day and you just got to keep pushing. And whenever God says it’s over with, then it’ll be over with. But I still feel like I got a couple of more years left.”’

‘What are the odds the team and the league reap most of the profit from this deal too? Having said all this, it’s still a big-league event, arguably one of the biggest in the sporting world.’

‘Punter Matt Haack was released to make room for Steveson.’

‘For all the blame placed on Dorsey over 1 ½ seasons, the Bills still had a top-five offense in the NFL, so Brady’s desire is to craft an offense based on the personnel on the roster, finding ways to make Allen comfortable by keeping some of what was working in the past and adding some new wrinkles.’

‘Gone from last year is 178 years of total NFL experience, and more importantly, 82 total years of experience with the Bills. Buffalo moved on from 13 players with at least four years of experience with the team, seven who had at least five.’

‘“We don’t have the luxury of relying on previous reps,” Allen said. “We don’t have in-game experience with a lot of these guys, so every day is a chance to learn and grow and we’re going into it with that mindset. I appreciate the guys for how hard they’re working.”’

‘But the Bills are looking to solidify the No. 2 running back spot behind James Cook and they also have to replace more than 1,200 special teams snaps from a year ago. Gore’s ability to find holes or to pick up blitzers as a running back is important, but he also knows his ability to cover kickoffs and punts might be his ticket to a full-time job.’