Olean Times Herald

‘The second turnover occurred when an Allen pass went through the hands of wide receiver Cole Beasley and was picked off by linebacker C.J. Mosley, the free agent from Baltimore, who returned it 17 yards for a “pick six.” Later, Mosley recovered an Allen fumble on a 4th-and-1 play. Finally, late in the first half, an Allen pass was deflected by New York defensive lineman Henry Andereson and intercepted by linebacker Neville Hewitt.’

‘“Opening week is awesome … whether you’re on the road or at home,” Daboll admitted. “There are always environments that you have to deal with. In our case, we’ve got to go on the road to a tough place to play. (Jets fans) get pretty loud.”‘

‘Given the forgiving schedule, let’s call it 8-8.’

‘Starter Josh Allen had an average rookie season after being drafted seventh in the first round. He had issues with accuracy, as in college, but in fairness, he was burdened with a weak receiving corps and sub-standard offensive line. The expectation is that he’ll take a step up … we’ll see.’

‘How many players remain from the Bills roster when coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane took over the roster in 2017? Give up? How about four … three defenders and a special teamer.’

‘There’S no guarantee McCoy would have returned to form, but whether Gore, ancient for an RB at 36, Devin Singletary, an elusive but untested draft choice, and inconsistent veteran T.J. Yeldon can generate a viable ground game for the Bills is an open question.’

‘Eddie Yarbrough, an undrafted free agent defensive end who made the team two seasons ago, seemed at risk this year with Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, Shaq Lawson and rookie seventh-round draft choice Darryl Johnson all roster locks. If the Bills kept a fifth end, it appeared that Mike Love would earn the job. However, he suffered a pectoral injury last week at Detroit and went on injured reserve Wednesday. That put Yarbrough back in contention for the No. 5 spot, and he made himself a viable candidate with 10 tackles — seven of them solos — against the Vikings. That, and his special teams contribution, might just keep him on the roster.’

‘Is it too early to wonder if the Bills made a mistake with their top draft choice last spring … that this isn’t the player he was touted to be?’

‘“It makes a big difference compared to almost three years ago when we got together for the first time. To sit down and talk to the guys and introduce what we’re doing (to) and now they can actually stand up in front of the room and talk about some of the things that we do, what our philosophy is and how we want to do things. It’s like night and day and you can see it in how fast they’re playing at this point. Just a year ago, with Tremaine (Edmunds, middle linebacker), his growth and maturity has helped our defense to be able to play faster, because now you can introduce things without having to say, ‘OK we have to slow it down, we have a rookie middle linebacker, we have to go baby steps.’”’

‘But, for the second straight week, there was one glaring missing entity. Where was Ed Oliver, the first-round draft pick, taken No. 9 overall?’

‘Thus, with that jumbled unit, it’s hard to tell exactly where the line, in major rebuild mode, might be.’

‘“It’s a little bit of an adjustment for him coming from a scheme where he was pretty much lined up directly over the center. Now we have more to guard so there are some intricacies and things he’ll have to learn. But it’s good to see him be able to do what he’s capable of doing and that’s being able to explode off the football and use his quickness and his power which he hadn’t been able to do (out of pads).”’

‘“It’s tough and it makes it tough on the players. Third-and-two to-five (yards), it’s about a 50-50 advantage so to speak between the offense and defense. We see some tight coverage, you have to make tight throws, tight windows, handle the pressure game, so we’ve had it in the OTAs and (we) come out and do it again and just hope to improve (in training camp) because they’re critical areas.”’

‘However, McDermott also added, “If it weren’t (an ongoing decision), we wouldn’t be doing our collective jobs because of what we now have here (at New Era Field). The needs of the modern athlete change every day. We have to make sure we’re giving them every chance to become the best versions of themselves.”’

‘But this is a team that signed 18 unrestricted free agents (UFAs), six on the offensive line, where the competition, by far, will be the most interesting.’