Archives for August 15, 2013

‘What do you think you have to do to make sure you make this roster? "For me, I think I have to improve my blocking. Big improvement. That’s what Coach Marrone told me when I got here. He said, ‘Nick, if you want to make this team you need to work on your blocking.’ "’

‘"I think he’s pretty similar. I mean, if you look at his background, he has an NFL background, so when he came to Syracuse he brought more of an NFL mindset. It was a seamless transition when he came here as far as the way he treats the players."’

‘”My grandmother actually texted me, and told me she started crying when she saw me and Dustin out there for that first field goal attempt,” said Shawn Powell, the Bills punter and holder for kicker Dustin Hopkins, his teammate at Florida State. “The kicker and holder were back together. It’s a real special moment for both of us. Hopefully we will be able to do this for the next 10 years together.”‘

‘”You’re looking for that improvement,” said Marrone. “Obviously they’re keeping score so the goal is to win, but at the same time from an individual standpoint you’re looking for separation. There’s a lot of other competition going on outside the quarterback, for spots on the roster, depth chart, special teams. So you’re looking for people to step up in those areas and you’re looking to see the progress in them. The coaching points that you’ve made and corrected you’re making sure they don’t make those mistakes again.”‘

‘”He just goes out there and just makes plays. He trusts the reads, he trusts his progressions and it was fun to watch,” Hackett said. “He had some critical errors that we need to clean up and get better at but he is going to continue to get better.”‘

‘”I’ve been at many places where we won a rushing title but we didn’t win games,” Morris said. “They are good stats. Not to get the quarterback hit is good. How many times does he get hit as opposed to sacked? They keep that now, too, and that’s a factor for the offensive line. Those stats can lead to success. But the bottom line is the only stat I care about, wins and losses.”‘

‘Bills fans should take a good look at Peterson, who will be in town when the Vikings visit The Ralph on Friday night. Spiller could be the same type of back if the Bills used him properly and made the same commitment to C.J. that the Vikings make to AP.’

‘”The one thing I hope everyone understands is not to read into this,” Marrone said. “We were very, very happy with EJ’s performance in the first game. As a matter of fact, what we were looking at, if Kevin was healthy he was probably going to start the first game and EJ would have started this game.”‘

‘The defense got the better of the offense in the last practice before Friday’s exhibition game. Linebacker Jamie Blatnick had two sacks.’

‘”He’s always open,” said offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. “He’s done a really good job. He’s one of those guys, from a quarterbacks standpoint, you know right where he’s going to be. He runs very good routes. He’s a guy that definitely opens your eyes. The quarterbacks love when he’s out there.”‘

‘The Rochester-based medical imaging company said Wednesday it had started an agreement with the Bills that sees the NFL team now having a Carestream digital X-ray room at Ralph Wilson Stadium and taking one of Carestream’s portable digital X-ray units with it to Toronto when it plays a game there this season.’

”’Kevin probably would have started the first game if he wasn’t injured or hurt, and EJ would have come in and then EJ would have started this game,” Marrone said. ”But because of injury, obviously EJ started and I’m going to get Kevin his start. You can’t call it a competition and then all of the sudden not have the quarterbacks getting those starts.”’

‘Caussin was designated as waived/injured after he was hurt during practice on Aug. 2. The second-year player has had little luck since playing six games with Buffalo in 2011. He missed all of last season because of a knee injury.’

‘This of course is Kolb’s first action as a Bill as he couldn’t play at Indianapolis. Marrone said, “I’m just looking for him to play. Play football. Nothing specifically. I just wanted to make sure he was healthy. I asked him if he was healthy and I said here we go. Obviously it’s a competition and we want to be equal. The same thing, I’m going to repeat it again, I told EJ, it’s not a reflection of how you played, actually it’s the opposite. We felt you played really well for a guy in his first NFL game.”‘