Archives for September 5, 2013

‘”She’s doing a lot better,” an elated Manuel said on a conference call Wednesday. “It’s really special. To have her there and times when, obviously anytime you have someone in your family deal with cancer, any type of cancer, it’s hard to deal with, especially when it’s your last year in college and you have a lot of pressure on you. The fact that she’s doing well now and she’ll be in the stands to watch me play against the New England Patriots, man nothing could be better than that.”‘

‘”When you go out there and you see a reaction of ‘the same old Bills’ That’s not the case,” said Marrone. “That’s what part of the stuff obviously that we try to work on, making sure that things are different. There is a lot of change and change is good at times. We’re working on that with the players to make sure that they understand that so you go in there with a breath of fresh air and attack and play. Like I always tell the players, there’s not a lot of great answers except to just go out there, work hard and get on that field.”‘

‘I try to look at ourselves first and try to better our roster and better what we’re doing. I think we try to keep things more internal, doing it that way. I think the next step is you’re looking at the division as a whole. I think you’re talking about a team that is an excellent football team that has obviously played well over a long period of time. At the end of the day, it’s two games and obviously its two important games. But there are 14 others, so I think it’s difficult to go in there and say you’re building everything to beat one team.’

‘Yeah, I definitely feel ready. Mentally, physically my mind feels good. I just tried to stay in everything when I wasn’t playing in those last two preseason games and those practice reps I missed I made sure I made them up, still got mental reps. When I felt good enough with my knee I just made sure I stuck around and got some extra work in so I’d be ready.’

Tom Brady expects challenge from Buffalo defense (Boston Globe)

Rob Gronkowski is upbeat on progress, vague on return (Boston Globe)

‘Fragile’ label doesn’t really fit Danny Amendola (Boston Globe)

Tom Brady practicing patience with rookie receivers (Boston Globe)

Why the Patriots offense is so dominant (Boston Globe)

Tom Brady practicing patience with rookie receivers (Boston Globe)

None better in AFC East (Boston Herald)

Pats coverage still remains big question (Boston Herald)

Patriots grow from
 winning roots (Boston Herald)

Tom Brady walks tightrope (Boston Herald)

Turbulence becomes motivation again (Boston Herald)

Pats strike gold with green QBs (Boston Herald)

Whole body of work key to Rob Gronkowski return (Boston Herald)

All eyes on Tom Brady (Boston Herald)

Defense must get stingy to help Tom Brady, ‘O’ (Boston Herald)

No end to Chandler Jones’ ability (Boston Herald)

Tight end picture cloudy (Boston Herald)

Stevan Ridley & Co. to carry larger load (Boston Herald)

Links to past glory (Boston Herald)

Defense needs throwback stars (Boston Herald)

Thin line for secondary success (Boston Herald)

Tom Brady’s willingness to teach has helped the New England Patriots’ new batch of receivers hit the ground running (Springfield Republican)

Bills QB EJ Manuel is looking forward to sharing the experience of his first NFL start with his mother, who recently battled breast cancer (Springfield Republican)

New England Patriots defensive tackle A.J. Francis is leaning on undrafted rookie Joe Vellano to help him learn the system (Springfield Republican)

Danny Amendola listed on injury report with a groin injury (Springfield Republican)

Rob Gronkowski injury: Patriots tight end continues to work toward return (Springfield Republican)

Patience is becoming a virtue for Brady (Providence Journal)

Gronk mum on possible return (Providence Journal)

Gronkowski takes another step forward in comeback with Patriots (Brockton Enterprise)

Newly signed Patriots tight end has fond memories of former Stoughton High head coach (Brockton Enterprise)

Brady a mentor more than ever (Metro West Daily News)

Gronk getting closer to return (Metro West Daily News)

Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski improving, hopeful for quick return (Worcester Telegram and Gazette)

EJ Manuel excited to make debut for Bills (Worcester Telegram and Gazette)

Looking forward (Attleboro Sun Chronicle)

Brady keeps youngsters in line (Attleboro Sun Chronicle)

Like Pats, Gronkowski is anxious to play again (Nashua Telegraph)

Mainer’s journey through NFL leads to a stop with Patriots (Portland Press Herald)

Gronkowski non-committal on playing in opener (AP)

Rob Gronkowski ‘improving a lot’ (ESPN Boston)

One Scout’s Breakdown of Patriots-Bills: New England faces challenge of unknown (WEEI-AM)

Real Class About To Start For Professor Brady, New Receivers (WBZ-FM)

Rob Gronkowski: Putting Pads On ‘Makes Me Happy Again’ (WBZ-FM)

Bills At Opposite Ends Of NFL’s Power Structure, But Belichick Well Aware Of Buffalo’s Threats (WBZ-FM)

Bill Belichick’s Quote ‘Dependability Is More Important Than Ability’ Explains Some of Patriots’ Personnel Decisions (NESN)

EJ Manuel Excited to Share First Start With Mother After Her Battle With Breast Cancer (NESN)

Danny Amendola Listed as Limited on Patriots Injury Report With Groin Injury (NESN)

Aaron Dobson Using ‘Coach’ Tom Brady’s Intensity as Motivation to Develop as Playmaker With Patriots (NESN)

Patriots’ Third-Down Pass Rusher Role Still Uncertain Heading Into Bills Game and Other NFL Thoughts (NESN)

Tom Brady Compares Patience of Working With Rookie Receivers to Teaching His 3-Year-Old Son (NESN)

A.J. Francis Has Former Maryland Teammate Joe Vellano to Lean on, Answer Questions in Transition to Patriots (NESN)

Rob Gronkowski Happy to Be Wearing Football Pads, Says ‘It’s Just Awesome’ Practicing (NESN)

Young receivers will test Brady’s patience (CSN New England)

Bills coach aware of Pats dominance (CSN New England)

Marrone: Manuel “earned” starter’s role vs Pats (CSN New England)

Amendola ‘sick of talking,’ ready to play (CSN New England)

Patriots re-sign Kline, waive Tarpinian (CSN New England)

Gronkowski: No setbacks, improving (Patriots.com)

Patriots – Bills Injury Report (Patriots.com)

Doug Marrone Conference Call Transcript (Patriots.com)

Tom Brady Press Conference Transcript (Patriots.com)

Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript (Patriots.com)

Tom Brady Conference Call Transcript (Patriots.com)

EJ Manuel Conference Call Transcript (Patriots.com)

Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript (Patriots.com)

Patriots re-sign OL Josh Kline to practice squad; release LB Jeff Tarpinian from practice squad (Patriots.com)

‘”What I was trying to make sure of was, by putting him back there, was there any chance [for it] to get worse?” Marrone said. “Once that was taken out of the equation, I felt very comfortable with the situation.’

‘Marrone made the announcement in a one-sentence release issued by the team Wednesday morning. Manuel is the Bills’ first-round draft pick who has been recovering from a left knee injury sustained in a 20-16 preseason win over Minnesota on Aug. 16.’

‘”I’d be lying if I’m sitting here saying, ‘I don’t expect him to do great things,'” said Marrone, who looks to guide the Bills to their first postseason appearance since 1999. “We expect not just EJ, but all of our players that are out there to perform at a very, very high level.”‘

‘”When he first came back … he looked pretty good,” said Marrone on Wednesday, adding that there was no further risk of injury. “I started to feel this was the way we were going.”‘

‘”Each day my injury has gotten better, and I’ve been doing two or three treatments a day. That’s helped me a lot,” Manuel said. “I’m not really surprised. I try to work hard at everything. I can control whatever I can control, and I can control trying to get my knee better, and that’s what I’ve done.”‘

‘”I felt I would be good to go a few days ago, as far as my knee,” Manuel said. But other than that, I know mentally, if I had the chance to go out and play, I’d be ready for it.”‘

‘”I think that he’s working extremely hard to get back, really working hard on the game plan,” Head Coach Doug Marrone said after Wednesday’s practice. “I feel very comfortable with his knowledge and he’s out there doing things with us. It’s just a matter of, one day I think he’s going to wake up and say, ‘Hey, you know what I feel great. Let’s go.'”‘

‘The news is not as good for safety Jairus Byrd. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports Byrd will “miss some time” due to a plantar fasciitis injury. Rapoport says Byrd dealt with the same injury last season and took a couple of shots so he could play through it.’

‘An argument can be made — and I have made it — that the Bills do not have a single quality road win since. Two decades. A win that mattered. A win that really moved the NFL meter.’

‘It’s going to be loud and we expect that. We need our fans to be loud, but in order for them to do that, we have to do good on both sides of the ball. In all three phases of the game, we have to keep those guys into it. We saw a couple years ago when we won, how they helped us by being loud. It’s going to be our job to make sure we keep those guys in the game.’