Two Bills Drive

While the Bills obviously helped themselves defensively during the off-season, New England did, too. The Patriots couldn’t stop the run last year nor hold important leads in the fourth quarter, but look far more efficient in its new three-man front.

Safety Ainsley Battles was not at practice today and has left the team of his own accord. Other Bills not practicing today were Angelo Crowell, Charles Johnson, Dave Moore, Ryan Neufeld and Mike Pucillo. Aaron Schobel also missed practice due to personal reasons.

‘"It was nice to see Brown take the punt and make a big play. On our special teams, we’ve been lacking in that for awhile, especially after he didn’t fair-catch the one before that. I wasn’t very happy when he gave up the ground…and he redeemed himself. He did a very good job. He’s an aggressive kid. That was fun to see. His speed is very exciting. The fact that he almost popped a pretty good one on a kickoff return. He saw the crack, and he’s so fast he stumbled. That’s good to see.”’

‘Behind those five include: Brown, who played last year in the Canadian league; James Jett, a 10-year veteran of the Raiders’ organization and an experienced deep threat; second-year man Andre Rone, who was on the roster but inactive all 16 games last year; Rodney Wright, a seventh-round pick last year; and Sam Aiken, a fourth-round pick this year out of North Carolina.’

‘"But he’s got good awareness. He understands the offense well. I would have liked to see him make some more plays outside the pocket. When he came out of the pocket a couple times he played conservatively and tried to take it down the field when he probably could have pulled it down and run with it."’

‘But in Saturday’s win at Baltimore, you could see clear signs that the Buffalo Bills are developing the sort of depth required to be a contender in an age of NFL parity.’

‘” Well, I felt like we were sloppy,” Bledsoe said. ” Thankfully, our defense stepped up, turned the ball over for us and gave us a chance to score on the short field.”‘

‘Buffalo also is the only AFC East team with a minus turnover ratio over the past three seasons (67 takeaways and 87 giveaways). The New York Jets were plus-17 (97-80), Miami plus-5 (99-94) and New England plus-3 (87-84).’

‘One more year would make four consecutive summers that the Bills have been represented in Canton, Ohio, and the next one should be Ralph Wilson. Like he was 10 years ago in training camp, the owner has been watching from the sidelines. It’s time to get him on the main stage.’

‘The interception, which came deep in Baltimore territory, was actually a take-away by Buffalo’s Nate Clements from Ravens’ Marcus Robinson, who caught the ball over the middle for an apparent first down only to collide with the Bills’ cornerback who wrestled it away.’

‘In terms of actual competition with the Bills’ headliners, the Ravens achieved a stalemate with a tie score against the starters through one quarter.’

‘The veteran receiver acquisition caught a short pass in Saturday night’s preseason opener and then got his foot twisted underneath Buffalo Bills defenders Takeo Spikes and Antwoine Winfield.’

‘The Bills’ starting defense allowed three first downs in four series of action. Besides the interception, Takeo Spikes and Co. forced two punts and allowed the Ravens to march 42 yards for a touchdown eight minutes into the game.’

‘Donahoe said the Bills continue to be in contact with the trainers in Miami who are overseeing McGahee’s daily workouts. “We’ve been speaking with the rehab people,” Donahoe said. “He’s making progress.”‘

‘Inductees were asked to limit their speeches to seven minutes and presenters to three minutes for television purposes. When the first speakers exceeded their time, both Joe D. and I (his presenter) were told to cut our speeches even shorter because the producers at ESPN were tearing their hair out trying to stay within their allotted time.’