Archives for June 2008

‘Lynch’s lawyer definitely wants to protect his client and move chess pieces carefully, but killing this story as soon as possible is now an imperative concern. Letting this lag isn’t helping the pro-Lynch perception. If the second-year man wants to go back to being held as an emerging star with a charmingly quirky personality, he needs to attend to legal matters now and then get in front of the media, describe what happened, and apologize if necessary. Like waiting to call and receive test results from the doctor, procrastinating won’t make things better.’

‘”He’s doing a good job,” Bills wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said . “He’s like all the other rookies, the head’s spinning a little bit. But he’s a playmaking guy. We were very fortunate to get him where we drafted him because we had a higher grade than where we got him.”‘

‘Mr. Catlin left Buffalo with most of the coaching staff when Knox became coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 1983. He remained on the Seahawks’ staff after Knox left to return to the Rams in 1991. He retired as Seattle’s quality control coach in 1996. In recent years, he had suffered from Parkinson’s disease.’

‘Hines said his agent contacted him a couple of months ago saying that the Bills saw some of his college tapes and wanted him to work out for the team. After scheduling conflicts, both sides met, and Hines said the workout went great, but right now the NFL’s allure can wait.’

‘Bills offensive coordinator Turk Schonert has likely had moments during the first couple of weeks of OTAs where he wanted to eat his hat as his players lacked timing and had inconsistent execution. But all the hard work and repetition looks to be finally paying off. On the last day of OTAs the offense had arguably its most effective day moving the football.’

‘Namely, he could take over the departed Sam Aiken’s spot, functioning as a fifth wideout while also getting on the field for every kicking play. Or, if his notable catch provokes him to realize his potential and climb to new heights, he could hasten Josh Reed’s slide toward unemployment, as Tyree could vault over the current fourth-stringer and effectively provide the oft-invisible LSU product the right to block and not score for another team.’

‘”I think No. 1 [reason] is the optimism surrounding the team this year,” said Marc Honan, Bills senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting. “No. 2 is the regionalization of the team. We’ve been building on our season-ticket sales for several years. – I think those are the two biggest factors.”‘

‘”Resolving it early this week is now a lot less likely,” Clark said. “If I have to resort to a grand jury to compel witnesses to testify, that’s going to drag it on for weeks. But I would only do that as a last resort.”‘

‘John M. Gurtler Jr., the public address announcer for the Buffalo Bills and voice of the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team, was arrested early Sunday along with his wife and teenage son after they allegedly hosted a large underage post-prom party at the family’s Orchard Park home, Orchard Park police reported late Monday.’

‘”There were a number of people that were with him that night,” Clark said. “How quickly we get to the bottom of this will depend on how cooperative people are. … Whether it takes me a day, a week or a month, it’ll get resolved.”‘

‘What’s troublesome about the case is that not only has the former University of California star declined to talk to police, but also his lawyer didn’t even contact them until over 48 hours after the incident. It’s not unfair to wonder whether a regular citizen would have the privilege of ducking police following alleged involvement in a hit-and-run until that individual, with legal counsel, felt like talking.’

‘”I feel with the repetition and with everyone getting on the same page and getting our chemistry down now I feel we’ll do fine,” said Hardy. “There are little things we have to clean up, but that’s normal this time of year.”‘

‘Wearing big sunglasses, Lynch said he had Lasik surgery on Friday and expects to be cleared to return to practice by Wednesday, when the Bills open a three-day mandatory minicamp.’

‘If you think 10-6 is being a little generous, keep in mind that recent Bills-related prognostications from me have been fairly accurate. This is my third season prediction for the Bills at RF365. Prior to 2006, I forecast a 7-9 mark for the Bills in Year 1 of Dick Jauron’s era on the sideline; in the end, they finished 7-9. Then last September, it was my belief the Bills would worsen slightly in 2007 and end up 6-10; once again, though, they went 7-9. Without coming off as a braggart, only being off by one game in two years isn’t too bad, is it? So hopefully, then, Bills fans, I’ll be on the money again (or close to it) in ’08.’

‘”We’re very pleased with what he’s brought to us overall on defense,” Bills linebackers coach Matt Sheldon said. “We evaluated him the last two years as a free agent, and he’s brought what we watched on video. He’s a physical presence in the run game, he’s strong and he’s able to defeat blockers at the point of attack.”‘