Archives for December 31, 2014

‘”I think that’s going to be obviously the major point when people lookat it from the standpoint of the performance,” Marrone admitted. “We’ll go back and look at those 16 games and figure out how we can improve. Make no mistake, we’re always looking to improve in all three phases but I think (offense) will take more of a precedent in what we have to do.”‘

‘”With our ability to pass the ball, we gave ourselves more opportunities to put ourselves in position to win games,” Hackett said. “We were in games, we were able to move the ball, we did some good things. And we did win more games,” than last season, “and the defense was very good last year, too.”‘

‘Marrone gaining more power inside the organization could be good for the Bills, but only if he respects his clout and does his job. He has a strong personality. He knows how to take charge. He’s willing to throw his weight around. “Saint Doug” needs to make sure he doesn’t get carried away.’

‘”I thought that he did a very good job,” Marrone said of Manuel’s handling of the demotion, and the way he stayed on task in practice. “I think that his accuracy has gotten better. I thought his decision-making on where to go with the ball has gotten better, from the standpoint of where he was in practice and what we were looking for him to do in taking reps against our defense.’

‘Buffalo officially announced the signing of Manhertz and former University at Buffalo fullback Corey Knox on Tuesday. Manhertz averaged 6.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game during his basketball career. He is originally from New York City and first tried out for the Billls back in April.’

‘If Marrone thinks he can find a situation that will provide a quarterback that gives him a better chance to be successful long term in the NFL, why wouldn’t he jump at that? Right now, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Oakland are among the open head coaching jobs and all have better quarterback situations than the Bills.’

‘”Some people have suggested that he wouldn’t go without having a head-coaching opportunity, to which I would say, if Doug Marrone is on the market, he doesn’t have to know if there will be one: there will be one. Because when he was coming out a couple years back and interviewing along with the likes of Chip Kelly and Bill O’Brien, there were a couple of different executives that told me that they thought that Doug Marrone would be the most successful head coach of that bunch.’

‘The win in New England was nice. The 9-7 record was a real accomplishment all things considered. But the ending was all too familiar.’

‘”You know our saying bro – 12 plus 83 always equals six.”‘

‘The contract does not guarantee Morrell a spot on the Bills’ roster next season, but indicates that Buffalo officials believe he has potential to make the team.’

‘A sputtering offense and inconsistent play at quarterback dragged them down. EJ Manuel was benched after a 2-2 start, and 10-year journeyman Kyle Orton was erratic down the stretch after providing an early spark.’

‘”I think it’s definitely more on the bitter side or the sour side because, yeah, I haven’t had the opportunity to walk out of here with a winning record before, but more important than that I haven’t had an opportunity to play a Sunday game in January in the playoffs so more bitter than sweet,” defensive tackle Kyle Williams said.’

‘The 2014 NFL season won’t be remembered fondly by many people, what with its litany of depressing off-field developments and unwanted headlines. But in Buffalo, for a change, it was a very good year.’

‘”I think we’ll all get together and we’ll evaluate it. I’ll get all the information. That’s what we’re gathering right now statistically,” Marrone said. “There’s a lot that goes into an evaluation for everyone, like I’m sure that goes into an evaluation of myself as a head coach. So we’ll look at that and those discussions will go from obviously our owner, and obviously myself and Doug, and then obviously to the offensive staff, defensive staff, special teams. Everyone’s evaluated from me on down.”‘