Archives for October 12, 2011

‘”It started in April and it went all the way through training camp,” said Wilson, who made the risky decision to learn a position he had never played before in an effort to finally make an NFL roster. “What Jim helped me to do was look at the playbook in its simplest form as far as what’s my responsibility? How do I get lined up? What’s my adjustment based on what the offense does? And then making sure everybody in the secondary is on the same page. That’s what Jim helped me to do. He helped me to simplify all of the diagrams and all of the terminology to learn it in a way where I could spoon feed it to other guys when they had questions.”‘

‘"I like the versatility aspect of [knowing both positions]," Moats said, "but mentally, it is a little tougher having to play both. Inside, it’s more of a thinking game, where outside everything is more physical, it’s happening faster."’

‘The Bills beat the Patriots because they were smarter. They beat the Eagles because they played harder. Their success comes from their chemistry and a refusal to quit.’

‘”It’s been night and day (since) we started out 0-8 last year,” Florence said. “I was here and I was a part of that, so from going 0-8 (last year) to being 4-1 and undefeated at home (this year), it’s been great for us and for our fans that have been thirsting for a winning team and a good performance on Sundays that they can be proud of. We’ve been able to give them that thus far.”‘

‘In 2 1/2 weeks, they’ll take on another surprising NFL team, the Washington Redskins, in what should be the best and most meaningful game since the Bills-in-Toronto series began in 2008. The three regular season games played so far have all reported audiences of more than 50,000 patrons, although the degree to which those houses have been papered has been debated.’

‘"George Gillett and his interest in the Bills goes back at least four years. He still owned 80% of the Montreal Canadiens at that time in 2007. Gillett was in the process of selling, and (I was told) once he was clear of the Canadiens, he would be in a position to be able to get the Bills once that situation arises, that’s paraphrasing for when Ralph Wilson dies."’

‘Toone spent his rookie season last year on the Lions practice squad after being drafted in the seventh round by Detroit. He had 3,602 yards receiving and 29 touchdowns in 46 career games at Weber State.’

‘But if the players and coaches inside the locker room at One Bills Drive are the ones asked, one word rings true. Despite not being required to play each down defensively for the Bills, the word ‘leader’ and Andra Davis’ name are closely intertwined.’

‘My advice to fans this week is to enjoy this for all it’s worth. Stop trying to find all the holes which of course exist. This is no super team. This is a good team. An opportunistic team, an aggressive team that believes in itself and it’s coach. Many of the key contributors, as has been well documented, are low round or no round draft picks who talk of playing for one another in a completely believable way.’

‘That’s no disrespect to quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who ranks among the league leaders in touchdowns and passer rating. However, it has been the emergence of Jackson as one of the league’s most complete running backs that has the Bills as the third-ranked scoring team at 32.8 points per game.’