Olean Times Herald

‘“There’s a lot of teams, over the years, that have put talent in the locker room, but haven’t been able to develop that talent or bring them together. No. 1, the challenge is on our players to get together and for us to get to know them, and then also for us to do different things to try and build that team, that bond, that chemistry that so embodies good teams.”’

‘That’s significant because, based on the schedule, Buffalo fans, who can acquire tickets, can comfortably drive to five of the Bills’ eight road opponents.’

‘Given Western New York’s eroding population and slipping economy, taking on the financial burden of a new facility – even with New York state, Erie County and the Pegulas combining resources – makes no sense.’

‘But while Owens never met a camera or microphone he didn’t like, and occasionally complained he wasn’t getting thrown to enough — which most every pro wideout does — you never saw him throwing Gatorade coolers on the sidelines, arguing with assistant coaches, bad-mouthing his quarterback, skipping meetings or stiffing his team in a game vital to its playoff run.’

‘Currently, Buffalo has eight unrestricted free agents and figure to sign only one of them for sure, but possibly three.’

‘It can be argued that no NFL head coach since the 1970 merger has been more underappreciated for his performance in that role than Marv Levy’s successor in Buffalo.’

‘Still, the spectre of questionable officiating has become, by far, the NFL’s biggest public relations problem and desperately needs to be fixed.’

‘“NOBODY WANTS to be 6-10, I’m not a good loser in terms of 6-10. That keeps me up at night. It wakes me up awful early,” he admitted. “That’s a bit of uncharted territory for myself and a lot of the guys on this team, but it’s where we are and we have a lot of work to do. We are where we are because of some things certainly that we can do better, starting with myself, but also because of dealing with some things: (salary) cap management, drafting, not developing players, everything that we inherited when we got here.’

‘“It’s pretty promising and exciting to think about what we could’ve done and what we can do and what’s in the future. I’m extremely excited to have the guys that we have. I’m looking forward to growing with these guys and going into next season with some momentum.”’

‘“Judicious is probably the word that I would use instead of aggressive,” he said. “If you’re not wise with it, you can be back to where it was when I walked in here. “We definitely want to fill holes in free agency. But I’ve said it before – you use free agency to help you so you’re not going to the draft in April with all these holes … now you’re drafting for need. I promise you drafting for need is a mistake that can set franchises back, and I’m not going to do that as long as I’m in charge here.”’

‘Thus my conclusion was that an 8-8 prediction was overly optimistic and 7-9 or 6-10 were more appropriate. And since, at that point, the Bills had traded veteran QB A.J. McCarron to Oakland and were uncertain whether second-year pro Nathan Peterman or Allen would start at quarterback, I opted for the latter.’

‘The win made Allen 5-6 as a starter and the factor that stood out in the 12 games he played is his mobility, a weapon displayed again yesterday. He rushed 95 yards on nine carries and two of those were 1-yard-loss kneel-downs. Thus, he just missed logging a third 100-yard rushing game this season and had four starts in which he totaled at least 95.’

‘Afterward, McDermott said of his orchestrated effort to bring Williams out of the game, “I just thought you don’t have those opportunities a lot to be able to do that. It’s more of a basketball-type deal. But to be able to put the defense out there one more time … it was more important to me to honor Kyle’s career than it was potentially to score one more touchdown.’

‘“We for sure want to end on a good note. We want to go into the offseason with a victory and some confidence, continuing to build that trust and relationship with everybody on this team.”’

‘Hyde admitted, “ If I’m the offensive coordinator for them I’m doing the same thing. We couldn’t stop it and that’s one of those situations (where) as a defensive player you’re just trying to figure out a way. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that. (Patterson’s) a good player, he’s fast. He turns the corner like no other when he’s running full speed. Most guys, when they run that fast, can’t turn the corner.”’