Archives for July 16, 2014

‘”I always identified more with the coach or the manager than I did with the players,” he said. “Growing up in Baltimore with a guy like Earl Weaver, even though he’s not a football mentor, that was a guy that I looked up to. And I think a lot of it was my own self-awareness of my playing ability. Even though I played in college, I knew I wasn’t going to be a professional football player, but I was always interested in the strategy of the game.”‘

‘”The best thing for me is when I’m up in the morning and I’m eating my breakfast through my tube to see my daughters and my wife walk out and to see the smiles that are always on their faces every single morning. That’s what I need,” Kelly said. “When you’ve had family support like I’ve had and public support like I’ve had there’s no way that I’m not going to beat this because a lot of it’s mental.”‘

‘The roles of the defensive linemen shouldn’t change drastically, and all four of the Bills’ expected starters fit into a 4-3 defense just fine. The question worth asking is whether or not the Bills will be quite as aggressive when it comes to generating pressure under Schwartz, who traditionally hasn’t utilized the blitz as often as Pettine did a year ago.’

‘Once again, Glenn resumes his role as the team’s starting left tackle and might have a much easier time of it with an upgrade beside him in Chris Williams. Glenn plays within himself and never gets to a point on film where you feel as though he’s lucky to have escaped without giving up a sack. As the Bills said last year, it’s a very good thing when no one is talking about the starting left tackle. It was the case for Glenn, and they’ll continue to give him that opportunity at the league’s most high profile position on the offensive line.’

‘By moving to free safety Williams now has the opportunity to become not only an impact player each and every week, but he can also be the leader of the secondary which is something he’s really taken to since the start of offseason workouts. Always a very vocal player, Williams now has the experience to go along with his chatter. Much like another player in the secondary, a very high quality season can help him become one of the elite talents on the roster. He has all the potential and the role to do it in 2014, now there’s nothing left for him but to go out and prove that he is that player that the Bills hoped for.

‘Kraig Urbik, Cyrus Kouandjio – While it’s likely that Urbik will resume his role as the starting right guard in 2014, the Bills have made it clear through both OTAs and the mandatory minicamp that they aren’t satisfied at the position. Urbik lost some first-team reps throughout the workouts, most notably to Chris Hairston during the three day mandatory minicamp. Even if he loses his job, Urbik still likely lands on the roster as a depth/experience player. The Bills would certainly like the second-round pick Kouandjio to take hold of the starting right tackle job over Erik Pears, but he hasn’t earned the full amount of first-team reps just yet. Kouandjio, at worst, will be the backup swing tackle.’

‘”From what I’m told, bidders are going to be pleasantly surprised with the financials of the Bills” Kaplan said. “Many see it as, financially, a bottom tier team. That’s not the case, they’re probably in the middle of the third quartile pack of the NFL.”‘

‘”This is probably the deepest it’s been since I’ve been here,” said Spiller of the running back contingent. “We’ve got a great group of guys. The thing about our group, we always want each other to get better. I’m excited about the guys we have here.”‘