Archives for January 2012

‘Contacted later, Osadchey said that the stations remained interested in airing the games but that when the talks got to the point where they felt it was no longer in their best interest, “we walked away.”‘

‘His master plan? “Keep the good and try and improve on the bad,” he said.’

‘Edwards guided two of the worst statistical defenses in Bills history. This unit gave up 434 points, second-most in team history, passing last year’s figure of 425, which had been second-worst. The guy was a dubious hire to begin with because he had no coordinating experience, so now we’ll see if the old vet Wannstedt can get blood from this stone.’

‘”You love what Stevie does on the field – before he scores touchdowns,” said Gailey, who benched Johnson for the final three quarters of Sunday’s season-ending 49-21 loss to New England after Johnson drew a 15-yard penalty for excessive end zone celebrating, his second such penalty of the season. “(For us) you just have to decide if he – and we – can get that under control.”‘

‘The 2012 schedule appears relatively soft – the 10 non-division foes were a combined 67-93 this season (.419) – and the Bills might cash in with the No. 10 overall pick in the college draft.’

‘Wannstedt takes over after spending the past season as the team’s assistant head coach while also responsible for inside linebackers. He is a defensive specialist who previously served as head coach at Chicago and Miami.’

‘Edwards spent two years as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator and has 14 years of NFL experience. Prior to taking the Bills job, he was linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins for five seasons.’

‘”One of the tough things in this business is doing things like that,” said Gailey in his address to the media on Monday. “Many of you and people out there will speculate that this was set up way back [but] that’s the furthest from the truth. Dave was hired to help me, to help the defense and that’s what he did all year. It got to the point where I felt like we needed a change and so we made the change.”’

‘The other decision facing Stevie Johnson is his place of employment. He’s a free agent this off-season and hasn’t had his contract demands met by the Bills. He thought this latest incident would have an impact on the Bills decision to pay him. “When it comes to re-signing players, penalties and things, the good and the bad, everything is going to be thrown in the process of re-signing. I think it may play a role in how things play out for me. With the team going in the direction that it is, we have players ready to make that step. Do Coach Gailey and the staff want a guy like me here? I can’t control that. They know that they have someone working and working hard. It’s really going to be on them at the end of the day.”‘

‘”After a lengthy negotiation process, we withdrew from the bid process with the team,” said Cumulus Media VP/General Manager Chet Osadchey. Listeners will still get Bills (and Buffalo Sabres) coverage and content on a regular basis on both stations. We have enjoyed our relationship with the team and will continue to help them in efforts to remain an integral part of Western New York for many years to come.”‘

‘The Bills ended the season 26th in yards allowed and 30th in points allowed.’

‘I know you’ve got a lot of questions and things that you want answered as far as how we feel about where we’re going and what we’re doing. I’m going to meet with you next Monday. I don’t to make a lot of statements right now. I’ve got an opinion about everything. I want to meet with everybody else.’

‘”If I say that, then I am going to do it, so he was out,” said a perturbed Gailey in explaining his decision to bench Johnson. “I got tired of it the first time it happened (in Cincinnati). But you hope people learn from situations. You know, there isn’t anybody who hasn’t made mistakes, but you’ve got to learn from your mistakes. And everybody falls in that category, me, too. And I have said this a hundred times: He is not a bad guy, he’s not. He’s a good guy, but he uses some bad judgment at times, and if you do that enough and it hurts the team, you’ve got to do something.”‘

‘Gailey’s game plan looked brilliant early, but when the Patriots finally adjusted, the Bills didn’t have any counterpunches. Buffalo was shut out the last three quarters by one of the softest defenses in the NFL. Gailey’s benching of Johnson was his best move. Sure, it hurt the team, but he’s a man of his word. That can’t be held against him. Defensive coordinator George Edwards was fired Monday after the team gave up 42 points and 480 yards in the finale. In two games against the Bills this season, the Patriots gained 975 yards.’

‘”Many of you, and people out there, will speculate that this was set up way back,” coach Chan Gailey said of adding Wannstedt to the staff at the end of last year. “That is the furthest thing from the truth. Dave was hired to help me, to help the defense, and that’s what he did all year. And it just got to the point where I felt like we needed a change, and so we made the change. (Dave’s) been around good to great defenses before, and I think his level of experience will be able to help the players that we have right now to hopefully have better production as we go into next season.”‘