Archives for August 2014

‘”(Wednesday), outside of seven-on-seven, was probably his best day if you charted it,” Marrone said.’

‘”That’s pretty much what everybody calls me nowadays,” Dixon said. “It was already like that when I came. You know, when I came to talk to them. That’s one of the reasons I came because it already felt like family.”‘

‘Instead of betting on Manuel, Whaley and Marrone are betting on the surrounding cast. They’re hoping that Watkins will turn a few 3-yard slants into 20-yard gains, or that Williams will make a play to catch a less-than-perfect throw.’

‘Two sources with knowledge of what transpired at Morgan Stanley’s offices on Broadway have told QMI Agency the management presentation was drama-free. Purely perfunctory. Matter-of-fact. No emotion. And permeating the room was an unspoken, shared sense that, yeah, we all have to go through with this, so let’s just get through it.’

‘The Bills are expected to sell for at least $1 billion. They were valued by Forbes at $870 million. Pegula recently sold land for $1.75 billion and his net worth is reportedly $3.3 billion. Donald Trump reportedly has bid $1 billion. Bon Jovi’s group has created ill will in Buffalo with rumors they eventually want to move the team to Toronto, which Bon Jovi attempted to quiet with a letter to Bills fans.’

‘Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes combined for 41 sacks last season, most than all but a dozen teams in the league.’

‘A person familiar with the sale process told The AP that the Toronto group attended a presentation on Tuesday during which Bills officials provided extensive financial and background information on the franchise. A second person said Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula attended a similar presentation on Wednesday.’

‘”Well what I can say, unfortunately, is pretty much what I’ve been saying in that the process is ongoing. It’s a private transaction and I’m not really at liberty to discuss it at any length or form,” he said. “We know the level of interest, but we also appreciate the private nature of this moving forward.”‘

‘”I told EJ, man, to be honest I told, my exact words: It’s the best I’ve ever seen him,” said wide receiver Mike Williams. “I don’t think he incompleted a pass today. Everything was on time, we got everything we wanted, it was like perfect. Coming out of our breaks, the ball right there… this is the best I’ve seen him. If he keeps getting like this, we’re going to be something to play with.”‘

‘”You see the way he works, the way he wants to get better, you see the plays that he makes” Chandler said. “Obviously he needs to make those plays in regular season games and hopefully playoffs but he’s made them pretty consistently in practice. You watch the way that he runs routes and you can tell that there are details he’s paying attention to and he does things the right way.”‘

‘All throughout training camp, daily practices have been a struggle for EJ Manuel. While he has had his moments in camp at St. John Fisher College, Manuel has lacked the overall consistency and accuracy that many clamor for. For two-and-a-half hours at least, Manuel looked like he had taken a step forward for how he picked apart the Steelers’ first-team defensive unit.’

‘Watkins was not a popular target Wednesday, but that changed on Thursday. The Bills top draft choice caught a half dozen passes during the team segments of practice. EJ Manuel got him involved right off the bat on the second play of 11-on-11. He hit Watkins on a crossing route as the receiver streaked from the left to the right side of the field.’

‘Manuel connected on 60 percent of his throws on Wednesday, but was even better Thursday completing 13 of his first 16 pass attempts during team work.’

‘The renovations to Ralph Wilson Stadium will allow Buffalo Bills fans to chow down on offerings by popular local purveyors of doughnuts, pizza and chicken wings.’

‘Tomlin went on to say that the media and fans are looking for the negative aspects of these joint practices and waiting for fights to break out instead of seeing the positives in a physical, mostly incident-free practice like the Steelers and Bills had Wednesday.’