Archives for August 3, 2012

‘Boy, my life has been a series of crossing patterns involving family and football and I can’t remember a time when football hasn’t been a part of my life. But, I can tell you I would have never made it this far without the constant love, support and dedication of my family, my friends and you, the Buffalo Bill fans, the greatest in the NFL.’

‘”I will celebrate,” said Johnson. “I’m definitely going to be jumping in the crowd and chilling with the fans. I want to see what would happen if I could get in the stands and get some popcorn and just kick back. Hopefully I don’t get in trouble for that. I don’t know what the rule is.”‘

‘”I’m feeling more comfortable now. The OTAs was the first time out there so it was kinda new for me,” Moats said, referring to the spring organized team activity practices. “But as OTAs went on and we got to minicamps I felt real comfortable. Now we have the pads on and you see it in speed and I’m feeling better.”‘

‘Leonhard, coming back from a knee injury suffered in December, was on the sidelines at St. John Fisher College on Thursday watching Bills practice. No signing was believed to be imminent. However, Leonhard’s visit with the Bills was to continue into Friday. Leonhard had not yet taken a physical with Bills doctors as of Thursday evening.’

‘”I knew a little bit about him and I knew bringing him in would help this team get better, regardless of whether he’s on the field or I’m on the field; the competition would help this team grow,” Hairston said. “I can’t expect to have the job given to me, I have to go out and earn it and they made it a little harder because they brought in some good competition. He’s a great player and I think he’ll have a great career.”‘

‘”It’s going alright, I am trying to take it one day at a time,” Young said following Thursday’s practice. “I am just trying to take my time with it. There’s a lot going on, trying to learn a new offense.”‘

‘”It’s a great group of guys. Sometimes you’ve got to slap Marcell, (Dareus) you know his attention is kind of bad,” said Mario Williams laughing. “But we definitely are getting after it. It’s just all about having fun and these guys out here are a lot of fun.”‘

”’I said this way back: ‘Everybody that is supposed to touch the ball won’t be happy, because nobody’s going to get it as much as they would like,”’ Gailey said. ”It’s a little bit of a problem to make sure those guys touch it as much as they need to. But it’s a good problem to have.”’

‘The move was made Wednesday morning after the team also announced running back Chris Douglas had been waived/injured. Douglas, also an undrafted rookie, was hurt in practice Tuesday.’

‘Defensive end Chris Kelsay sat out of practice altogether, while defensive end Mark Anderson and linebacker Bryan Scott didn’t take any reps as the practice wore on. After the session, head coach Chan Gailey said both Kelsay and Anderson were nursing minor groin injuries, but had a different explanation for Scott.’

‘Before I get too carried away, this isn’t a one man show. In theory, Williams will have the E Street Band working with him. You can’t help but stop, think and possibly drool a little about the front four the Bills will put on the field against the Jets and Mark Sanchez on September 9th. Sanchez shouldn’t be worried about Tim Tebow, he should be worried about Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Mark Anderson coming after him.’

‘The 29-year old was not re-signed by the New York Jets, where the veteran safety was the quarterback of Rex Ryan’s defense the past three years. The decision by Buffalo’s division rival was due in part to the fact that Leonhard’s last two seasons ended prematurely due to injury.’

‘”This offense is wide open, whether it’s myself, Stevie, David Nelson, Donald (Jones), T.J. (Graham), anybody that’s out there we’re all capable of making plays,” said Hagan. “It just comes down to timing. If you’re doing the right things the ball is going to get to you. Sometimes you’re getting the ball and it’s really what the coverage dictates. We all just have to take our time and be patient and hopefully Fitz will find us and get the ball to us.”‘

‘I thought the offensive first group did a good job out there today. They did some good things. We had some creases to run in and we hit some big plays down the field. That is one thing. It was not the defense’s best day. Dave (Wannstedt) and I were talking after practice, even if it is not your good day you cannot give up the big play. They may have some creases here or there, but you have to make sure you keep pushing and do not give up the big play.’