Archives for August 30, 2011

‘The undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech had the deck stacked against him as he ran primarily with the third team defense at inside linebacker. With Arthur Moats moving to inside linebacker and draft choices Kelvin Sheppard and Chris White also lining up inside, it was going to be difficult for Jefferson to win a roster spot.’

‘”I’ve got to play a lot of catch-up,” he said after his first practice. “The good thing about it is I’ve played a lot of football in this league. I know a lot of different defenses. This is going on my seventh year, my fifth head coach so I’ve been in a lot of systems before, fourth defensive coordinator, fourth linebacker coach. I’ve seen the game through a lot of different eyes and I’m excited to bring my knowledge of what I’ve learned over my first six years over here.”‘

‘"Buffalo was always a team that called me from the beginning when free agency first started," Morrison said after his first practice with the Bills Monday. "They were kind of deep at linebacker. And as the numbers kind of got thin, I said, ‘You know what, that’s a team that I’d like to play for.’ Shawne Merriman did a good job of calling me and keeping me in the loop and kind of recruiting me down here, and I’m excited I came down here."’

‘”He twisted his foot,” Gailey said of Smith. “I don’t know if we could call it an ankle, but he hurt his foot in the ballgame the other day and finished the game. It just kind of got sore on him so we’re being precautionary and holding him out right now. Kyle Williams played in the game and did fine, but we’re being precautionary with a few things right now.”‘

‘”I’ve been a consistent player,” said Morrison, the newest member of the Bills, following his first practice with the team Monday afternoon. “I’ve started 95 consecutive games in my career, I’ve never missed a game in the NFL. I study hard, I work hard, and on Sunday you can count on me to be there.”‘

‘The Bills can’t possibly be as bad as these rankings suggest – could they?’

‘”I never have suspected or sensed a whiff of cheating in any of our Super Bowls,” Levy, a native Chicagoan who attended South Shore High School, told the Sun-Times last month. “It’s not about refs rigging the game. It’s about, well, what if teams have secret wires in opponents’ locker rooms? What if they listened in to other teams’ signals? What if they did illicit filming?”’

‘Coach Chan Gailey says Smith twisted his foot, but didn’t specify the nature of Williams’ injury Monday. It was the Bills’ first practice since a 35-32 overtime preseason win over Jacksonville on Saturday.’

‘Kyle Williams and Brad Smith joined David Martin, Ed Wang, Arthur Moats, Jamie Kirlew and Naaman Roosevelt on the side line. About Smith and Williams Chan Gailey said, “Smith twisted his foot. I don’t know if we can call it an ankle, but he hurt his foot in the ball game the other night. He finished the game but it just kind of got sore on him so we’re being precautionary and we’re holding him out right now. Kyle, same thing. He played in the game and did fine but we’re being precautionary with a few things right now.”‘

‘The MLB got a lot of money to leave Buffalo, but there was something else that told him he no longer could be a Bill, “The big thing was I knew Jacksonville really, really, wanted me to be part of the team and the opportunity to play in the 4-3 again. I wanted to play middle linebacker in the 4-3 and Jacksonville wanted be to be part of the organization.”‘

‘On if this will be a typical fourth preseason game regarding starters playing time: “They’ll play. What happens is, if you don’t play them a little bit they kind of lose the feel of the game. And I don’t want them to lose the feel of the game, and playing more than two weeks away. So you let them get a few reps and then get them out. Hopefully everybody stays healthy and we accomplish something on the field.”‘

‘”I feel good about where we are. We don’t need to cancel practice but I feel good about where we are. We’ve got some things that we can continue to get better on and we’ve got to re-work some of the guys back in to the flow. The Donald’s (Jones) and the Roscoe’s (Parrish) have to get back into it now. There’s still a lot of work to be done before we get to the first game.”‘

‘Owner Ralph Wilson showed great loyalty to Chan Gailey this offseason, allowing the head coach to keep nearly his entire coaching staff after such a disappointing debut season. Wilson is unlikely to do the same if Gailey produces another 4-12 record. Despite the lack of big names, there is some talent on the roster, as Gailey found in 2010 with gems such as Stevie Johnson and Kyle Williams. More young players need to emerge as game changers, especially C.J. Spiller and Marcell Dareus. Buffalo has the NFL’s longest playoff drought, something the 92-year-old owner would like to change soon.’

‘”It definitely feels good to be back out there,” said Jones after practice Monday. “It (stinks) to have to sit out in practice and games. It definitely feels good to be back out on the field and catching passes from (Ryan) Fitz(patrick) and being back in the huddle with Steve (Johnson) and Roscoe (Parrish) and those guys.”‘