Archives for August 2012

‘”We had a good day,” said McKelvin of the secondary’s opportunistic play. “We came back and tried to straighten things up before we get into this week for this game. Straighten up missed alignments and try to get everything perfect going into this week’s game.”‘

‘More than 20,000 tickets still remain for the preseason contest and are available for purchase.’

‘On looking forward to how the defense will match up against Redskins QB Robert Griffin III: Somewhat, but you do not game plan for this game. That guy is going to make his plays, just because he is a great athlete, great player. I want to see if communication is good. If effort, if our tackling is good. Those are the things that you are looking at. The fundamentals. Much more the scheme than how many plays are made or not made. You want to make them, do not get me wrong. But you want to see the fundamentals take place in the ball game this week on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game.’

‘”I’ve got a lot more under my belt,” Dareus said. “I’m a lot more comfortable than I was last year.”‘

‘”It has given me more time to be in the playbook and it’s given me a chance to get more acclimated to what my job is,” said Williams. “It has helped my technique, allowed me to be coached more, and not just be thrown into the fire.”‘

‘Then when I came, I did a pretty good job at the rookie camp. At the end of the rookie camp, they told me I did a pretty good job but they didn’t have time to sign me at the time, so I went back home. [I] kept on working, working hard, waiting for the call back and they called me back for OTAs and mini-camp and it was like a dream come true just knowing I was back out here again.’

‘"The best thing to his credit is he’s really improved over the last two years I’ve been here," said special teams coordinator Bruce DeHaven. "He went from a good snapper to right now, I think he’s a very good snapper."’

‘”Talk is cheap this time of year. Everybody does it. Now we need to seal it and win games.”‘

‘”When people say, ‘I think the Buffalo Bills are going to make the playoffs,’ the reaction usually is, ‘Yeah, right,’ ” wide receiver Stevie Johnson said. “So, instead of that, we want it to be: ‘They just might — they’ve got a pretty decent team.'”‘

‘Throwing a bit of a wrench into the process has been an unforeseen predicament at right tackle where Buffalo was counting on Erik Pears to return by now from off-season hernia surgery. Pears has only been able to work mostly on his own with his team repetitions very limited.’

‘With Stevie Johnson (groin) and David Nelson (knee) missing some practice time, a golden opportunity for others to step up and get noticed materialized late in the first week of camp. The problem was, it didn’t happen. Everyone seemed to be stricken with a case of the dropsies for a couple days, something coach Chan Gailey called “unacceptable. If we drop the ball that much, we won’t win any games.” Someone has a chance to take the lead when Buffalo begins preseason play against Washington Thursday.’

‘The Bills wrapped up their first full week of training camp with a live goal-line drill that pleased an overflow crowd of 2,300 fans. The live session of eight plays featured no-holds-barred hitting and tackling to the ground. The defense held on five of eight plays. “Defense won 5-3,” coach Chan Gailey said. “And that is the assessment because you either win or lose down there. There is no between, there are no first downs.” Said DT Kyle Williams, who played through a groin twinge: “I think it is good to get out here and hit. I think it was a good gut check there at the end of practice. With the heat (93 degrees) and pushing through all day and then getting out there and going live it was good for us and good to get some weariness on your legs and seeing if you can push through.”‘

‘Rodriguez’s Marine Corps tour in Afghanistan ended after he lost his leg during combat, but he isn’t letting one leg stop the pursuit of his dreams. Recently, he has been playing wheelchair basketball. “My goal is to make a military team, then go to Nationals. My goal is to make it to the Paralympics in Rio 2016. I have been getting great training and now I am trying to get better,” said Rodriquez, who witnessed his first ever Bills Training camp.’

‘Sheppard’s spot should be pretty safe, but Merriman is an enigma. He hasn’t stayed healthy long enough to show if he still has anything left in the tank.’

‘"He is a big, strong man," said coach Chan Gailey. "I mean he is a barrel-chested, strong human that has got pretty good movement for his size and is a very versatile player. He’s one of those tough guys you’ve got to have inside. That’s what I think Urbik brings to our football team. He brings toughness and some strength to our team."’