Archives for August 5, 2013

‘”There’s a lot of talent in our room,” said second-round draft pick Robert Woods, one of the players whose workload has increased with Johnson hurt. “I think this opportunity is great for us rookies to come in, and all the other receivers as well. It’s a great opportunity to put more on film and get more reps.”‘

‘For most Bills fans, I imagine, this was a blessing in disguise. Getting Kolb out of the way could only hasten the process and nudge Marrone to make the inevitable call: Give the starting job to the prize first-round pick, the franchise guy, and let the future begin.’

‘”We’re going to try and get him back for tomorrow,” the coach said after a two-hour practice at St. John Fisher College Sunday. “We just kept him out today off the field because if he’s standing on the field, it’s not something that will help him at this time.”‘

‘”We’re really excited for tomorrow night’s scrimmage, and I think the players are, too,” Marrone said Sunday afternoon following the Bills’ workout at St. John Fisher College. “We’ll be playing football with all the rules.”‘

‘”I always thought I could be ready for the first game, and if I could be ready for training camp I thought I would be better in the first game,” Chandler said recently. “That’s what I’m looking for – I want to be as good as I can when we play the Patriots.”‘

‘”I lost a lot of weight and muscle in my legs, I dropped 20 pounds so I was close to 300,” said Troup, who is listed at 327 this summer. “I just couldn’t plant on my right leg, I couldn’t stand on it with one leg, it was completely weak. There was no way I was going to take on a double team with one leg.”‘

‘Manuel represents what every Bills fan has sought for nearly two decades: A legitimate franchise quarterback.’

”’Sometimes, in this league, that’s all you need. You get a second chance, you make the most of that opportunity,” coach Doug Marrone said, following practice Sunday. ”The change of atmosphere, and knowing that we can find a role to fit him has been very beneficial. And I’ve seen some good things out of him.”’

‘Provo played under Bills rookie coach Doug Marrone at Syracuse. He signed with Baltimore as an undrafted rookie last year, but was cut by the Ravens before the start of the regular season.’

‘They saw in Marrone a path from the endless losing. And they can sit now as Doug Whaley, the new 40-year-old general manager, did this week, look at a young front office, a young coach, a rookie quarterback drafted in the first round and a fleet of fast receivers and running backs in their early 20s and say: “With our ages we have a chance to have something for a long time.”‘

‘Manuel has to keep getting better and will have to up his game since the defense is now throwing more looks at the Florida State product.’

‘Once again the team was without veteran quarterback Kevin Kolb, which left all the first-team reps for rookie first-round pick EJ Manuel. How did he fare, knowing that the spotlight would be on him the whole way through?’

‘Marrone has some definite ideas on what he wants to see, “What we like to see from the scrimmage is we are going to be playing football with all of the rules. We’re going to come out here, stretch, pursuit, have some individual and do some special teams. Early on some seven-on-seven, take some little breaks. Special teams will be involved in the scrimmage. They’ll have about two in-field drives, probably 12, 12 and six with the others. We’ll do that twice. Then we’ll have a little bit of a more controlled scrimmage. We’ll go red zone, make sure we get enough red zone in and then we’ll do goal line and then we’ll end it up with a series of two-minute, one series probably for each.”‘

‘Many have wondered if one of the quarterbacks can win the job early in camp. Marrone says that is not the case, “Part of the process is really until we get to the preseason, that’s really what we’re looking for, so it’s not something that’s going to be done before hand. I don’t like to pass judgment or complete an evaluation until we go in there. E.J. hasn’t been in there in that type of atmosphere and I just want to see how he looks in that atmosphere and how he responds to that atmosphere.”‘

‘”We’re trying to get him back for tomorrow,” the head coach remarked. “We just kept him out today off the field, because if he’s standing on the field, it’s not something that’s going to help him at this point in time. We’re trying to get him back for tomorrow, which we think we have an opportunity to do that.”‘