Archives for August 12, 2011

‘He’s 30-years old and beginning to hit the downside of his career.’

‘”I think we’ve had a lot of good work since we’ve been (at camp),” said Fitzpatrick. ‘The good thing about these preseason games is to figure out where you’re at. That’s some of the excitement for this first game as well. We’ve got a pretty good group right now and we’ll get a chance to go out there and kind of see where we are.’

‘If Ryan Fitzpatrick suddenly becomes a top-15 quarterback (like Jake Delhomme for the ’04 Panthers or Derek Anderson for the ’07 Browns), and one or two new forces show up in the defensive front seven, the Bills could suddenly be a breakout team. But all we have to go on is this club’s recent history. And that recent history says don’t count on it.’

‘”I think games are the way if you find out if the team has jelled,” said Chan Gailey, Bills head coach “I don’t know if you can tell that in practice. You can feel good about your football team but at the same time but you don’t know until you play against someone else. We will see how we do in the next four weeks.”‘

‘"Like everything else, it’s all speculation," Nix said during the Shredd and Ragan Show on 103.3 FM The Edge. "Lee is a Bill — we’re counting on Lee to be here. You never know what will happen on any guys. … I guess I’ll say that nobody is untouchable, starting wherever you want to start. If it upgrades us and makes us a better team then we’d look into doing it."’

‘"I feel good, I felt really good [Wednesday]," Easley said. "I’m staying optimistic and hopefully I feel my best so I’m allowed to play this Saturday."’

‘The team held an abbreviated 90-minute afternoon practice on Thursday. With the preseason opener Saturday in Chicago, coach Chan Gailey approached the practice like a Friday workout in preparation for a Sunday game during the regular season. After warm-ups, the Bills ran one 7-on-7 drill and two 11-on-11 workouts before finishing. “That was the plan all along,” Gailey said. “We play in two days and we came out and had almost like a normal Friday practice.”‘

‘”We have good competition, and that brings out the best in all of our guys because they are good, tough competitors,” said defensive coordinator George Edwards. “They know they need to go out and perform each practice.”‘

‘”I just come in and try to work diligently, day in and day out,” Wilson said. “I don’t assume anything because I know, in this business, it’s what have you done for me lately. I try to come out and get better at something every day and work on building confidence in the system as well as trust with the other 10 guys I’m on the field with. One day at a time.”‘

‘”I think he hesitated to have a loud voice to this point because he is learning this defence. Still, the way he plays and the edge that he brings has been a form of leadership that has been good for us. I think as time goes on, his voice will be more prominent on our football team” said Gailey.’

‘A person familiar with discussions told The Associated Press that teams have approached the Bills about Evans. However, the person said Buffalo would only trade the receiver if it was able to get “something substantial” in return. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not stated whether they’ve had talks to trade Evans.’

‘”That was the plan all along,” said Gailey. “We play in two days and we came out and had almost like a Friday practice.”‘