Archives for August 2013

‘I think I like the approach for the day. They didn’t ask Manuel to throw deep with the TD his longest throw. There were dump offs and safe throws.’

‘While it wasn’t a perfect game by any means, the Buffalo Bills got some positive contributions from the youngsters that make up the team in Doug Marrone’s first year as Head Coach. The team stuck with their fast-paced look on offense and sent some pressure while playing defense. There are still areas that the team must improve upon, but for it was a solid first step for all most new faces involved.’

‘The Bills also got an impressive performance from Marquise Goodman on special teams. The rookie wide receiver had two long kickoff returns for the Bills, including a 107-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter.’

‘If Manuel continues to take positive steps and show progress I don’t know how he’s not the starter in week one against the Patriots. Kevin Kolb will have to play lights out in his return to change that. If it’s even a close competition I think it’s Manuel’s job to lose.’

‘After that the Bills outscored Indianapolis 41-10 the rest of the way, with the Colts only other points coming on a sack fumble return of 72 yards by Daxton Swanson for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Tuel was sacked as he was trying to deliver the football by Caesar Rayford.’

‘”I was very proud of our team with the way we came out there. We had a lot of good enthusiasm before the game. This is our first time as coaches being together out on the field. I really like the way we communicated during the course of the game with the trainers, everyone, and the players. Obviously there is still a lot of work to do for us. I had a lot of the young guys out there. Little things that we must get better at obviously are the penalties. I wasn’t very pleased with that and the players understand that. Also the turnovers, we had two turnovers on offense. But I was excited about the turnovers that we created on defense.”‘

‘”I would say a B. I think, being that it was my first time out there and things like that. My main thing was, I wanted to operate the offense like Coach Hackett has taught us and get all of the other guys in position. Like I said, the veterans have done a great job helping me and bringing me along and things like that. The main thing is to continue to go out there and execute.”‘

‘”Oh I’m bringing it out every time; that’s what’s in my mind. Until the off returner Frank (Summers) keeps me in, I’m going to bring it out every time. In my mind I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to take this one.'”‘

‘”What I’d like to see out of EJ and the rest of the players,” Marrone said, “I’d like to see them go out there and be very competitive. Go out there and win a game.”‘

‘”Anytime you’re an undrafted free agent, you want to make special teams a priority,” Smith said. “I’m a big guy, I can block, I’m physical. I think I’ve got a good shot of making it on special teams. I played special teams in college.”‘

‘Manuel had to fight his way into the first round and is now competing for the Bills’ starting job. While he has taken more snaps in training camp than his nearest competitor, Kevin Kolb, and will start Sunday, there’s a long way to go before new Bills coach Doug Marrone declares a winner.’

‘There were players with bigger arms, bigger reputations and maybe even bigger upsides. But perhaps none could have made a bigger impression on the Bills than Manuel has already.’

‘The highly anticipated debut of first-round quarterback EJ Manuel is finally here. Because of the injury to Kevin Kolb and the death of his grandmother, Manuel will get the initial start of the team’s preseason schedule. Kolb was expected to be on the trip and would likely dress, but will only take snaps if the Bills get into a dire situation. Although it’s likely to be a very vanilla look from the Colts on defense, seeing Manuel react to players and situations he hasn’t seen on a daily basis will be an important step in his professional progression.’

‘”If you’re healthy then you in your mind have to be prepared to play the whole game,” said Marrone. “I’ve been through this quite a bit and sometimes you have injuries during the game and if you told the player he’s only playing this amount of time and then you have to put him back in there his mindset is a little bit different. And he probably has a chance to get injured if he’s not mentally prepared to go in there.’

‘”This is the youngest group I’ve been around,” said Hilliard. “It’s harder, and it’s also a blessing. You have a lot of guys that just haven’t been in many situations. Those situations have to be created on the practice field. They have to be shown in the meeting room. There’s really not enough time to go through every situation that you’re going to face, so you do the best you can.”‘