Archives for August 2012

‘”He’s the best player we have on offense,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. “He’s a three-down back who, obviously, is great with the ball in his hands, has great hands in terms of the passing game and who is probably the best blocking running back in the league, in terms of pass protection and chips. So he’s a complete player.”‘

‘I don’t think the Bills are yet on par with the Patriots, but they have drawn even with the Jets. As with every team there are questions that have to be answered in camp, which I address below.’

‘”Courage, instincts, toughness, a lot of things wrapped up in one,” said Modrak, describing Johnson. “We had a good sense about him and almost took him earlier, then somebody else popped up. It wasn’t as hard as the numbers would indicate. We were comfortable doing it. We thought he’d be a guy that’d make the team, be a backup, and he’s done a whole lot better.”‘

‘Without revealing what the issue is, Gailey on Wednesday said he expects Sheppard to miss a couple of days of training camp. Sheppard watched the team’s night practice from the sideline.’

‘”It’s a little early, but it’s a concern — and it’s not just Tyler,” head coach Chan Gailey candidly said on Wednesday. “He and Vince both are having some trouble there. The two’s in general are not performing well offensively. I think our one’s are doing some good things, but our two’s are struggling right now offensively.”‘

‘”I have felt since I saw Ryan play at Harvard that he had the capability to win in the league” Polian said. “I felt about Ryan Fitzpatrick, with a little different skill set by the way, the way I felt about Frank Reich. When I saw him(Fitzpatrick) play, I said this guy’s a winner. This guy’s got that spark about him that just tells you he can win football games and of course we know what Frank did under the most difficult and trying conditions.”‘

‘”They’re doing a good job,” said head coach Chan Gailey. “The defensive backs are seeing a lot of things and reacting to the routes they’re seeing a lot of. They’re doing a good job picking up on those things. They’re getting better.”‘

‘You take Jairus, you take George, and every Da’Norris (Searcy) is playing very well. You take those three guys and they make up for a lot of ills that might happen. They cover a lot of bases for us back there.’

‘When the team is in full pads, Gailey is making sure his offense gets quality work in the running game. That’s a part of the game that has suffered in recent years with the elimination of two-a-day practices and an emphasis on passing. In order to run the ball well, teams need to develop a "mentality." For the Bills, it means making sure Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller get to feel the pop of the pads and the linemen drive bodies backwards.’

‘With the loss of Demetress Bell to Philadelphia, the Bills have a huge hole to fill protecting Ryan Fitzpatrick’s blind side. The good news is that they have two excellent prospects in Cordy Glenn, their second-round draft pick from Georgia and Chris Hairston, who logged seven starts as a rookie when Bell was injured. They are sharing time with the first unit early in camp. Coach Chan Gailey was most eager to see them perform in full pads. "We will find out a lot more in the next week," he said. "We are going to keep alternating that until we find out which direction we want to go."’

‘Despite losing the barrel toss to Young, Fitzpatrick has looked very sharp early in camp. One pass during a 7-on-7 drill was deep down the right sideline to rookie speedster T.J. Graham that drew loud cheers from fans in attendance. "The only reason I threw it to him today is because it’s his birthday," Fitzpatrick said. "He didn’t tell any of us that. Somebody told me walking out to practice. So I figured I’d give him one little softball that he could catch out there today, get the fans cheering. He’s obviously a speedster. He’s really improved from the first day he stepped on the field in OTAs."’

‘"[GM] Buddy [Nix] and I both believe the game, a major part but not the whole part, is won in the trenches," Buffalo coach Chan Gailey said. "It is won on both sides of the line and who can control that part of the game. It’s hard to find those guys. So when you get the opportunity to get them, you take that opportunity."’

‘”It’s good for both of those guys to fight each other every day like that. It’s good for Stevie and it’s good for Stephon,” said Gailey. “If he can cover Stevie, he’ll be a great player for us. So, it’s a good battle.”‘

‘”I think the biggest thing is being on the same page with the receivers doing what I expect them to do and me making sure that they know what my expectations are,” said Fitzpatrick. “We get very specific on routes and there’s just so much that goes into it against every different coverage.”‘