Archives for August 2014

‘Buffalo (1-4) continued to sputter on offense and could now be without Watkins for its opener at Chicago on Sept. 7. Watkins did not play against Tampa Bay last Saturday after bruising his ribs a week earlier at Pittsburgh.’

‘Watkins was hurt on Buffalo’s second possession, when he cut in from the right side on a slant pattern. Quarterback EJ Manuel never looked Watkins off and was a little late on the throw. Watkins reached out to knock down the ball, when he was hit by linebacker Ashlee Palmer.’

‘The Bills (1-3) are resting cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Corey Graham and tight ends Scott Chandler, Lee Smith (toe) and Tony Moeaki.’

‘Buffalo played many of its starters to begin the game, and saw the plan backfire on them as first-round draft pick Sammy Watkins left the game on the team’s second drive.’

‘Watkins walked slowly to the sideline and was examined by team doctors before he was escorted by the medical staff to the locker room.’

‘Most of the Bills starters were pulled from the game early, including EJ Manuel who lasted three series. Manuel was sacked twice and went 3 of 8 for 56 yards on the evening, as the Buffalo offense struggled to move the ball. His replacement, newly-acquired Jordan Palmer, fared no better. Palmer was picked off by Isa Abdul-Quddus and four players later, the Lions were in the end zone, a 1-yard touchdown toss from Kellen Moore to Jeremy Ross. Detroit went up 17-0 on Moore’s second scoring pass of the evening, a 25-yard attempt to Corey Fuller.’

‘The team initially declared his return as questionable but then downgraded him to out shortly thereafter. For the time being, Watkins’ injury status is unknown, although Manuel said, “he’ll be fine” in response to the wideout’s current condition. The injury is to the same area as the one he suffered in Pittsburgh.’

‘I wish I had better news for you. The best news is none of this counted. Manuel has played just 10 regular season games in the NFL. I don’t know how he’s going to get his accuracy better, but we get to find out for real a week from Sunday.’

‘Manuel made a couple of sound decisions in the game, but the offense in total was completely inefficient.’

‘Detroit scored the first 23 points of the game with 17 coming in the first half. All the points were scored after Buffalo’s starting defenders exited the game.’

‘”We feel it’s a pretty good start,” said S Aaron Williams. “We need to finish a lot better and keep going hard. Now it’s the real deal so we’re going to get rest these next couple days and get ready for Chicago.”‘

‘The Bills run defense stayed close to their 2.75 yards per carry allowed average in the preseason. Detroit had seven carries for 20 yards for a 2.8 average in the first half against Buffalo.’

‘Watkins, who was injured on a similar play in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, was examined by team doctors on the sideline for about 10 minutes. Team physicians were checking Watkins’ rib cage area. The receiver appeared to be wearing a flak jacket to protect his ribs. He was eventually escorted to the locker room for further examination.’

‘LB Jimmy Gaines – The Buffalo native got off to a solid start in training camp, but will need to finish strong Thursday night to make a compelling case for a spot on the final roster. After leading the team in tackles against Carolina earlier in the preseason, Gaines will need a similar effort against Detroit.’

‘With nine receivers still on the roster, Naaman Roosevelt, T.J. Graham, Marcus Easley and Caleb Holley could all be battling for one spot on the roster. Graham and Easley appear to be the front-runners heading into the final preseason game, but it’s tough to say which receiver the Bills will keep. Marrone acknowledged the competition was still open earlier this week.’