Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘“That was driven by our players and driven by Josh Allen and the quarterback position,” coach Sean McDermott said via a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday. “The neat thing about that was that so many guys showed up. That was not an easy thing to pull off. Josh was on the West Coast, along with Matt (Barkley). Davis (Webb) was in Texas I believe Jake (Fromm) is on the East Coast.”’

‘“As Kim and Terry put out in their statement and as I shared with our team, I don’t think there’s any place for that as far as the violence,” McDermott said. “What we’ve got to do right now as a country is to unify and make good decisions. I know emotions are very high right now and that’s to be expected, but as I shared with our players, let’s channel that energy into doing good in our communities.”’

‘But given the way the Bills have improved their facilities at One Bills Drive – a new $18 million workout center plus additional practice fields – there has been speculation that once the contract runs out with Fisher in 2022, the Bills won’t renew and will hold camp at home.’

‘“For 99.9 percent of Sunday’s game between the Bills and New England Patriots, it was obvious George Bailey has nothing on Doug Flutie. Then, as quickly as you can say Bedford Falls, the officials turned this real-life version of It’s a Wonderful Life into The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”’

‘“For me, particularly in the season, I’ll be up pretty early, 3:30, 4 o’clock,” he said. “I don’t like the day to get a leg up on me, I like to have a leg up on the day. In particular because it at least gives me light at the end of the tunnel so I can get home to see my family or at least get home and kiss them before they go to bed, check up on their day because my kids are getting older now.’

‘In Seattle, Morgan saw a player who was the very definition of the Swiss Army knife, someone who could perform a bevy of duties. And that came about because Jefferson knew, as a fifth-round pick joining an established playoff-caliber team, that he had to offer versatility as his main calling card.’

‘The 251-pounder led Buffalo’s defensive linemen in tackles five of his last six seasons, and he made one appearance in the Pro Bowl, in 1982, though was oddly denied another trip to Hawaii in 1983 when he made 10 sacks.’

‘Oliver is the fourth NFL player to be arrested in the past three days.’

‘Buffalo went 10-6 last year and replicating that record with this type of schedule would be impressive.’

‘“Bryan Cox Jr.?” I ask. “Son of Satan,” Tom replies.’

‘Remember, the Bills lost defensive linemen Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson and cornerback Kevin Johnson in free agency, linebacker Lorenzo Alexander retired, and several other backups won’t return including lineman Corey Liuget, linebacker Julian Stanford and safety Kurt Coleman.’

‘“We felt like the teams that come out of this the most prepared, the most unified, would potentially have created a competitive advantage,” McDermott said Thursday during a 45-minute Zoom video conference call with reporters. “That remains to be seen, but we felt like when (virtual meetings) kicked off a week ago that we were ready to go. I give our staff a lot of credit for that.”’

‘New Bills defensive line coach Eric Washington held that role previously in Carolina and probably had a say in the signing of Cox, who joins a defensive line competition that will be stacked.’

‘The defense has been way ahead of the offense, and it was the primary reason why the Bills made the playoffs in 2017 and 2019. “We have to keep our defense strong,” Beane said at the start of the offseason, and it appears he has.’

‘It’s quite possible that none of the seven will earn a starting job this season, but he added competition to six different position groups and each player has a great chance to fortify the two-deep depth chart that most playoff teams boast.’