Archives for June 2012

‘”It’s never really been easy for me my whole football career. To be able to come out here on the professional level, everyone wants to have a good jump start to their career,” Easley said following Tuesday’s Organized Team Activities. “It was just so unexpected. Injuries, no one plans on that happening, but it was just unfortunate.”‘

‘Under the new CBA teams don’t have as much time on the field as before. You have to think it makes installing the playbook harder. Gailey said, “They’re handling it extremely well. It’s been much more of a process defensively than it has been offensively because we didn’t change much on offense. I think the defensive players have handled it well. We’ve had plenty of walk-throughs to be able to explain it and go through at that speed, now it’s just an up-tempo that we’re getting to with the OTAs and then it’ll go to another tempo once we get to training camp.”‘

‘”His work ethic has been outstanding,” said coach Chan Gailey, whose team kicked off organized team activities this week. “He comes to work every day whether it’s just lifting weights or running, whether it’s practicing out here. He’s done a good job not only fitting in but taking a little bit of a leadership role. I think we’re going to be a little fortunate in that we have quite a few guys who have leadership ability.”‘

‘The first team offensive line looked like this: rookie left tackle Cordy Glenn, left guard Andy Levitre, center Colin Brown, right guard Kraig Urbik, right tackle Chris Hairston. However, Eric Wood (knee) will take over at center and Erik Pears (undisclosed injury) will take over at right tackle when healthy. The starting receivers were David Nelson and rookie T.J. Graham with Donald Jones in the slot. Veteran Stevie Johnson (groin surgery) will take over one starting receiver spot when healthy. Fred Jackson started at running back but C.J. Spiller also got first-team repetitions. Stay tuned there. Ryan Fitzpatrick was the starting quarterback, but Vince Young showed off a strong arm with the second unit.’

‘”His confidence level just went through the roof in my opinion,” Bills coach Chan Gailey said. “He knows what to do a lot better now. He has a lot of confidence that he can play running back, he can go out and play receiver, he can do a lot of things and blocking.”

‘”With a 4-3 defense you have to have those guys up front do what they do,” said Barnett. “So far, grant it we don’t have pads on, we can’t physically see what is really going on, but they look like some monsters out there. The way that they are rushing, that rotation that they have with all of those guys, Mark Anderson, Shawne (Merriman), and obviously Mario (Williams) and our interior guys. If we keep everybody healthy we should be something to deal with.”‘

‘On what injury RT Erik Pears has: He had little surgery, minor. It’s minor when it’s somebody else. When it’s you, it’s not minor. He had a little minor surgery. He’ll be back for training camp.’

‘”I want to be a little lighter this year because I want to be able to fly around the field and run to the ball,” Dareus told Buffalobills.com. “I want to be able to play every down.”‘

‘"All I am is a citizen who cares," Hansen said. "That being said, I’m excited about it. I have a burning desire to do it. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things I’ve got to do, kind of like I did when I was playing football."’

‘”Twenty? Thirty maybe,” Smerlas says. “I remember one time I got hit so hard I was tasting Italian submarine sandwiches. I didn’t know where I was for four or five plays. Then in practice, I’d get knocked out, you get up and see stars, lose your balance. But you don’t miss a play.”‘

‘”We have been informed by Nixon Peabody that releasing the rate information contained within the retainer agreement would, in fact, cause it substantial injury to its competitive position,” Second Assistant County Attorney Jeremy C. Toth wrote in response to The News’ request. “Consequently, we have decided to honor their request and redact the rate information.”‘

‘”I think the expectations are a lot higher this year. They did win a lot of games at the start last season, but this year, with the moves they’ve made in free agency and in the NFL Draft, – particularly on defense – they’ve made a number of improvements so that expectations are obviously higher,” Reed said.’

‘”I feel it,” said Gailey, who was in Batavia Monday to play in the 26th annual Jim Kelly Celebrity Classic at Terry Hills. “A lot of people will stop and tell me, but you just feel it. Just from what everybody’s saying. I think everybody senses that we’re headed in the right direction.”‘

‘”Thanks to all the celebrities for coming out,” Kelly said in his introductory remarks. “For driving, flying from everywhere in the country to be here today.”‘

‘”You talk about players and how quickly you expect them to develop, he’s one that I really expect to benefit from the offseason program, the minicamps, training camps,” Wannstedt remarked. “And this is a defensive scheme where our middle linebacker should make a lot of tackles and you’ve got to have a guy that’s capable of it and he is.”‘