Archives for October 9, 2012

‘It’s too early to give up on Williams, but there’s no sugarcoating how invisible he’s been. The Bills entered this season talking about having one of the better defensive lines in the league, but right now they have one of the worst. It’s also not time to fire Wannstedt or Gailey – yet – but they both should be on notice. Gailey is saying he is not sure what to do to fix this, but he better figure something out fast.’

‘”I think that being out here in Arizona is really going to make us come together as a team,” said C.J. Spiller. “Not saying that we were not close, I just think this will draw us closer here. Guys get to know guys more now, closer on-and-off the field. Once you do that, once you have guys come out here and they’re treated like a family that will translate over to the game field.”‘

‘When you’re getting little or nothing from your defensive ends, two of your three linebackers and both your starting cornerbacks, small wonder quality opponents are gashing that unit for record numbers.’

‘”His biggest thing was he let us know the things he knew about us as a team and the things that were still up in the air, in terms of maybe our confidence level and how we’re gonna respond and the things he wasn’t quite so sure of,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it was a good message today. … He’s not a huge rah-rah guy, but I think everybody took to it and took it to heart today, and I thought it was a necessary speech and a good one.”‘

‘That’s not a collection of jokes. It’s a collection of facts, and in recent weeks they’ve come to characterize a football team that has become a joke. The Bills have been so bad in their three losses that it’s laughable. But it’s not going to be funny for anyone involved if their season continues down the same path and falls off a cliff.’

‘”I hate to use a drastic word, but we’re depleted there,” Gailey said. “That was one of the strengths, we felt like, going into the season. … We’ll have to mix and match and do the best we can.”‘

‘Buffalo has become a GM/coach graveyard and Nix and Gailey seem powerless to keep the shovels in the storage shed. If I recall, both hires came out of left field; nobody saw them coming because these guys weren’t viewed as viable candidates for any NFL team. This has been the trend for owner Ralph Wilson since the Donahoe flameout.’

‘”Every guy on this team has to understand the only way we’re going to get better is to point at yourself (and ask) what can I do better?” Williams said. “How can I do my job better to help us be better on defence, or be a better football team?’

‘”I’m a guy that internalizes a lot of stuff,” Fitzpatrick said on Monday, looking comfortable in Arizona’s uniform of t-shirt, cargo shorts and ball cap. “I’m not a guy that will outwardly talk about feelings and stuff like that. So in that sense, I’m not going to be seeking counsel and help.”‘

‘”We stink,” Williams said. “We have stunk the last two weeks.” Williams said. “It seems we have a long, long way to go. We have to figure out a way to get better.” I am still optimistic about where we could go. “There’s a difference between being disappointed and discouraged. We’ve got a lot of football left to play, but that being said, we have to get a lot better fast.”‘

‘”You’ve got your head in the sand if you don’t worry about confidence, morale, all of those terms that we all use,” he said. “I addressed it with the team. And what I reminded them is that they’ve done it before, and to not lose confidence in themselves because I’ve seen them, we’ve all seen them do it before so I know it can be done.”‘

‘”He might be [in line to start this week],” said Gailey. “We will wait and see till the end of the week, but he might be, yes.”‘

‘The team said Monday that they are awaiting the word on the status of defensive end Mark Anderson. After suffering a knee injury against San Francisco on Sunday, he underwent an MRI on Monday and the team will know more as the week goes along.’

‘What about Fitzpatrick mentally? Gailey again said Tarvaris Jackson is not an option because there’s no time to get him reps. Gailey said, “I don’t think it’s an issue, but I’m going to talk to him about it and we’re going to visit about it because I don’t want him to lose his confidence. You always worry about guys that are in critical positions. I just want to make sure that he’s fine.”‘

‘A defense that spent over $127 million this offseason and it’s first round pick (including his salary) to not only make sure that did NOT happen, but be a difference-maker this season.’