Archives for July 2011

‘The 30-year old Barnett was released this past Friday by the Green Bay Packers. A former first-round pick in 2003 (29th overall) Barnett has been the Packers starting inside or middle linebacker since the start of his career with six 100-tackle seasons.’

‘”It’s Chan Gailey’s vision,” he said. “As a player, I know what I can bring to the table on this team. On offense, we have tremendous talent at wide receiver, running back and quarterback. I just add more. I can also help on special teams, which is a huge part of the game. I felt the hunger in this team to get where it needs to be. I just want to be a part of something special.”‘

‘Rookie nose tackle Michael Jasper, who weighed as much as 448, said he’s down to 390 pounds.’

‘”This year I worked out like normal. I worked out like a football player … squats, lunges, running,” he said. “Last year I worked out like I was recovering from a leg break. … Before last year I hadn’t even run a sprint going into the year. It’s encouraging now to have a normal offseason behind me.”‘

‘It’s rare to come upon defensive players capable of bringing out the best in all those who surround him. The Bills once had one in Bruce Smith. Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan fell into that category and happen to be the players Dareus held up as career models early in his college days. There’s no doubt about it. One player can make an 11-man difference.’

‘It is impossible to erase a decade’s worth of fumbles in one sweep so the Bills wisely concentrated on defense for its fix-it-up season. That all started with the college draft but the last few days may have allowed management to make a semi-quantum leap toward improving the product.’

‘"We’re a step closer to getting this thing finalized," Wilson said. "This is something both sides can be pleased with. This is a 10-year agreement where everybody will be able to benefit."’

‘”I’ve been out of it a long time so being out with the guys on ‘D,’ getting the tempo back together again, it feels good; a good first day of work,” the seventh-year veteran said. “It’s like riding a bike; you don’t officially stop riding it.”‘

‘”I thought our timing in the passing game, especially on the deep balls, was not where it had to be. We’ve got a long way to go there. Other than that, it was probably a typical ragged first practice.”‘

‘”I got season tickets right after they made the playoffs with Doug Flutie and they haven’t been back since. I might be jinxing them but I can’t cancel in case they get there again.”‘

‘”I didn’t know what to expect, I had never been here before,” said Chan Gailey, Bills head coach. “There was some things that I thought we could do better. It was probably a typical ragged first practice.”‘

‘Sheppard was the last of Buffalo’s nine draft picks to sign, and the only one to miss any practice time.’

‘”I didn’t know what to expect,” said Gailey. “I’ve never been here before, so I didn’t know what to expect. There were some things that I thought were better. I thought that our run fits defensively were ahead of the first practice last year even without OTA’s and minicamp. I thought guys understood where to go. I thought our timing in the passing game, especially on the deep balls was not where it needed to be. We’ve got a long way to go there, but other than that it was probably a typical first practice.”‘

‘”The feeling I get before a game I can’t even put it into words,” he said. “I’ve been playing the game of football ever since I was five-years old and it means everything to me. The feeling after a victory is like no other in my opinion. And I just take that into the game and I try to spread it throughout my team and my teammates.”‘

‘Bills safety and player representative George Wilson said Saturday that all of his teammates signed a ballot in favor of recertification a day earlier when the team reported to training camp in suburban Rochester.’