Archives for June 2014

‘”It feels really good to be a defensive end again,” Lawson said after Wednesday’s minicamp practice. “It’s really see ball, go get ball. You don’t really have to worry about dropping too much into coverage and covering people man to man. I really like the engage with somebody immediately and make a play from there, as opposed to having to read and then see if you need to engage. … To be a defensive end again and be with these guys again is fun. We’re going to have fun doing it.”‘

‘”It was always something I wanted to do, make sure that I was doing well on the field and off the field,” he said. “It was something I focused on growing up, and going to college was a big deal for me. I was proud to go home and say, ‘Not only did I make all-conference, but academic all-conference.”‘

‘”Obviously he’s had a string of bad decisions and we as players, teammates and friends, we expect more out of him because we expect him to play football for us,” said fellow defensive tackle Kyle Williams. “I don’t think there’s any disguising the fact that he has to be accountable to his team, his coaches and our organization for the decisions he makes. Hopefully the foresight comes in.”‘

‘”I think the more that they hold themselves accountable, it’s going to be special. And I think that was something we saw then,” Hackett said. “They really pushed it, they got after it, they were fighting for it and I think that’s what we need all the time. And that’s something good to build on.”‘

‘Just like he did in 2013, Nickell Robey had to work his way up the cornerback depth chart throughout the offseason workouts and eventually won himself some valuable time with the first unit. The small cornerback has done it again, showing that he makes plays each and every time the team makes the field.’

‘”I think when you have a situation like that everybody knows what’s at stake,” said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. “It’s not like a play inside a practice. You put a time limit on a play in a game situation and everybody competitive juices start flowing and that’s coaches and players. You want to do well and you want the players to do well. We’ve seen that in our red zone periods in our offseason program as well where they’ve been very competitive. But the players have done a good job of not crossing the line and not confusing competitive with combative and I’ve been real proud of them that way.”‘

‘We can’t afford to take any steps back whether it’s conditioning or also momentum defensively or knowledge of the defense. Yesterday we came out after a four-day weekend and we didn’t perform as well yesterday as we did last Thursday. I mentioned before, this is a consistency business. You have to be at your best every single time you step on the field. We’ve accomplished a lot this offseason. We’ve installed most of our schemes. We’ve got a look at a lot of different guys. We’ve had some really good work on the field. But what we can’t afford to do is, over the next month, take any step back, both physically and mentally. It’s good for those guys to get a break before training camp, but their heads can never get too far away from this game and I think our guys will respond to this challenge.’

‘He’s doing a very good job. He’s put in a lot of work, all the quarterbacks are. They’re understanding the system, understanding what we’re trying to get. It’s nice to see him make plays within the pocket, step up, find his check downs, throw the ball down the field a couple times. He’s really starting to get it all. It was funny, when he came into minicamp he was like, “Alright, no more new installs, let’s work on what we’ve been doing.” I think that’s a refresher for a quarterback that he knows what he’s doing right now with what we’ve got in.’

‘”I like the fact that he’s putting more on us, especially because we’ve got young guys in skill positions,” Manuel said. “It’s really put more of the onus on us to get stuff down, and that’s made this week easier because we pretty much know all the plays already, and we’ve run them all a bunch of times, so there’s not going to be any new stuff to learn.”‘

‘”It’s dead,” acknowledged Assemblyman Sean Ryan, who recently popped in a bill, at the team’s request, to permit alcohol sales inside the stadium to start at 11 a.m., thereby carving out special treatment from the state’s noontime start for alcohol sales by bars and restaurants.’

‘Video surveillance from Ralph Wilson Stadium that showed Robert Hopkins sliding down a rail and climbing back up to his seat five times before falling from the upper deck and injuring another fan was the key to his conviction Monday, prosecutors said.’

‘Count at least a few folks out there as doubters, mainly because of Manuel. He finished the 2013 season with 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions over 10 games played, and the offense actually hummed a little better at times with backup Thaddeus Lewis in the lineup. The dream, though, is for Manuel to move from being a rookie insulated by the playbook to a playoff-caliber QB in short order.’

‘”I’m hoping that this is kind of a watershed moment for him, because he’s at a pivotal point,” Williams said after Dareus reported for the start of the Bills’ three-day mandatory minicamp. “Hopefully, it’s to a point where it’s kind of an epiphany, and he comes alive and turns the corner and does his best.”‘

‘Hopkins was not seriously hurt. But after the incident during the Nov. 17 Bills-New York Jets game, he lost his job in advertising and public relations and was banned from the stadium.’