Archives for August 5, 2006

‘(on his contract) We’ve been close for awhile. Yesterday he called me and said it might be today, yesterday afternoon. I was looking into flying here last night, I got up at 6:30 this morning and flew in. I was confident that it would take care of itself with my agent. I kept in touch with a lot of players, Troy (Vincent), Ko (Simpson), Ashton (Youboty), couple guys on the defense to see what was going on in practice. I’m behind a little but after today I’m going to be working with coach tomorrow to get a lot of details and other things I didn’t get.’

‘We’re certainly glad that Donte got signed and came in. It’s good to have him in camp and to get to work, that puts our whole squad together. It was a good day in that regard, the practice went pretty well, it’s the end of the first week, legs are heavy, people are sore, but they pushed through it pretty well. We got a good deal done the first week and we need to keep it coming and get significantly better obviously. On Whitner getting a good share of reps with the first team… I don’t see it working that way, he’ll just kind of work into a rotation. We’ll start it off not slowly, but he’ll work right in, he’ll get his share of reps that’s for sure. He’ll get significant meeting time, particularly in the next couple days. The players have off tonight, we’ll come back tomorrow for dinner and Donte will get some good meeting time in that time too.’

‘The offense was clicking again and making plays. The team jumped right into 11-on-11 early and Kelly Holcomb got the first 10 snaps. His best pass was a deep out to Josh Reed along the left sideline. Holcomb, however, seemed to have more running plays called when he was under center Saturday.’

‘First round pick Donte Whitner signed a five-year deal with the Buffalo Bills.’

‘Whitner was seeking a five-year contract that included about $14 million guaranteed. The Bills as recently as Wednesday were offering him $12.9 million guaranteed over five years. Talks had stalled last week, with Bills general manager Marv Levy saying Friday the two sides were at “a stalemate.”‘

‘Projected by the Bills to be a starter in a secondary that ranked 19th against the pass last season, Whitner will need to pick up the team’s schemes quickly after missing 14 practices.’

‘”He’s significantly behind,” said Buffalo coach Dick Jauron. “We have confidence in his mental and physical abilities, but it’s hard to catch up because you just don’t have the time.”‘

‘Stay tuned to WGR SportsRadio 550 throughout the day for all the latest news on the signing of Donte Whitner.’

‘”It’s good news,” said head coach Dick Jauron.’

‘”Most teams play 60 percent of the time with three wide receivers, so you need three good cover guys,” said Bills secondary coach George Catavolos after Friday’s training camp practice. “Then people come in with the fourth receiver, so you’ve got to have depth.”‘

‘The offense had a poor day Friday.’

‘”Watching games really made me realize I didn’t like it at all,” said the 6-foot, 249-pound Ezekiel, a throwback to the blood-and-guts, half-nuts linebackers of the 1960s and ’70s. “I like Ray Nitschke (of the Green Bay Packers),” he said, “and my favorite was Dick Butkus.”‘

‘”Just standing around watching (stinks); it’s never fun,” he said. “Knowing that those guys are taking my reps, it’s kind of eating at me a little bit. I’m trying to get past that frustration, so I’m paying attention on every play and doing whatever I can to help myself and my team.”’

‘”I hate to keep telling you over and over, but there’s nothing,” said general manager Marv Levy after Friday’s practice at St. John Fisher College. “To me it’s stalemated, and I told the agent (Jonathan Hurst) we’re ready to move forward without him. It’s tremendously hurtful. The other guys have moved ahead of him, and I can’t understand it.”‘