Archives for November 2013

‘”From an injury standpoint,” Marrone continued, “he might be in a position where he won’t reinjure himself, but us as coaches, what’s the mindset of the player, is he ready to go, does he have enough reps to be accountable for what we’re asking him to do?”‘

‘Johnson was clearly irritable regarding the loss. “Yeah, yesterday was frustrating because we felt like we had the game. We controlled the game and ended up coming out with another loss. If you’re not frustrated about that, then you shouldn’t even be in this locker room right now. We should be filled up with fire and ready to go at it next Sunday. That’s how I feel right now.”‘

”’It’s feeling a lot better,” said Manuel, who added he’s been cleared for full contact. ”Definitely looking forward to getting into practice full course and taking as many reps as coach allows me to get.”’

‘Buffalo filled the open roster spot by signing fullback Evan Rodriguez. Selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft by Chicago, he had four catches for 21 yards in 12 games last season. Rodriguez was waived by the Bears in June after being charged with driving under the influence, his second alcohol-related arrest.’

‘Due to his return, Buffalo has released quarterback Matt Flynn, who spent just three weeks on the roster and did not appear in a game.’

‘Marrone has said all the right things regarding Lewis and Tuel, but the bottom line is that neither player is worthy of being a starter in the NFL. Manuel gives the Bills their best chance to win, and they need him back on the field as soon as possible if they want to keep alive their slim hopes of earning a playoff berth.’

‘Since Manuel got hurt, the Bills have started Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel at quarterback and recently signed Matt Flynn. Tuel started Sunday’s 23-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He threw for 229 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.’

‘Flynn has thrown for 1,329 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, and has made three career starts. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2008 and has also played for the Seattle Seahawks (2012) and Oakland Raiders (2013).’

‘The team only suffered two injuries against the Chiefs and both will be re-evaluated as the week goes along. Wide receivers Marquise Goodwin (hamstring) and Robert Woods (ankle) each had to leave the game prematurely following a second half injury.’

‘In March of 2013, he was arrested and charged with disorderly intoxication and then later on in May, he was arrested and charged with DUI. The initial charges stemming from March were eventually dropped.’

‘”Well I think that’s what he’s working for. He’s working to get out there as soon as he can,” he said. “We’ll see what news we get from him. We haven’t heard anything yet. I know he wants to come back, but as far as when, I have no idea.”‘

‘The trick now for the Bills will be to keep their season interesting. They’ve battled hard to this point, having dug deeply into their depth chart at quarterback. But they have a 3-6 record and any hopes of staying in the Wild Card race have taken a pretty serious hit in my view. Eventually the Bills will get EJ Manuel on the field and we’ll be able to get back to trying to figure out if he indeed is the quarterback of the future we’ve been hoping for.’

‘”EJ has been cleared,” said Marrone. “I know he said that and he has been cleared by the doctors, but we have to make a good decision. We have to get him out there and see how he’s doing from a football movement standpoint. We’ve had him out there throwing, which was something that we amped up quite a bit after the individual sessions that he was allowed to do last week. So we’ll get him out there and put him in the mix and see how he’s doing. We’ll do that obviously early in the week.”‘

‘”That’s up to coach,” he said. “I know I’m going to be out there ready to go to practice and get back to work with the guys.”‘

‘Rodriguez (6’2″ 239) was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Bears (2012). The Temple product appeared in 12 games for the Bears as a rookie last season playing mostly on special teams. He had four receptions for 21 yards.’