Archives for May 2015

'“He might be the opening guy there,” said head coach Rex Ryan in a radio interview on Bills flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550 Tuesday morning. “He’s been very impressive. I think right now that’s the most important thing just because we’re not going up against anybody. But this guy has a big, wide, square body and we are hitting bags and his technique is pretty good. He has really been impressive.'

'“We’re in the learning process right now,” said Kromer. “Is John Miller learning quickly? I would say yes. He has a good background coming out of college and when we interviewed him for the draft we knew that he had the ability to learn quickly and to adapt a technique just through our interviews. So it’s been a good start, but it’s only a start and we have a long way to go.”'

'“I’ve been in offenses where you’ll go game plan and you’ll come up with a great scheme and then you get into the meeting and then you say, ‘Well, who’s going to run that route? We don’t have that guy. Who’s going to do this? Well, we don’t have him,’ ” Lal said. “So these great plays that would work, that we know are going to work, are thrown out.'

'The Bills have room to add depth at linebacker, so Steward has a shot to make the roster. Bills coach Rex Ryan has praised Steward's football intelligence and his willingness to contribute on special teams.'

'Spikes may have to do some backtracking on his comments about the Patriots, but don't expect the veteran linebacker to send much trash talk back to Buffalo. He enjoyed his time in Buffalo, but the two sides weren't on the same page about his role going forward.'

'The hiring of a consultant has more to do with the Sabres' TV deal, which has two years remaining. The only television deal that affects the Bills is the one for their preseason games. The NFL controls all regular-season games.'

'The Bills have now signed five of their six draft picks. Cornerback Ronald Darby, a second-round pick, is Buffalo's only unsigned rookie.'

'If you are to believe the whispers, though, Manuel might be fourth in the supposed three-horse race, behind even the nondescript Jeff Tuel as far as Ryan and his new offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, are concerned.'

'He was rated as the No. 43 outside linebacker in the 2015 class by NFLDraftScout.com.'

'Slowly, but surely, his playing style has increasingly become one that's meek and fearful of mistakes, rather than one inspired by confidence and bravado. He doesn't try to fit a ball into tight windows, he doesn't take off and run when advantageous, and had a playbook built around him that essentially neutered him as a quarterback.'

'“It feels awesome,” Steward said of his signing. “Earlier I actually forgot about signing the contract. I was just out there playing football, but it feels good to make it official and put it on paper and it’s awesome to be part of this organization.”'

'“Coming from six years since I started college I’ve played six different positions,” said Powell. “Last year I played ‘mike’ (middle linebacker), and this year I’m playing ‘mike’ but it's in a new scheme. They had this scheme my first year here but now I’m inside. I really just refer back to Nigel (Bradham) because Nigel has been inside on this defense. I’m really learning off him. But I do feel like this is my natural position.”'

'"I love Rex. I think Rex is a players' coach and he's going to shoot straight from the hip. He's going to tell it like it is. He's not going to pull any punches. If you can survive to a certain point in New York where there's 25 papers and here, you don't have that many papers. You have papers, but not like that. The media market there is a little bit different here. Other than that, I'm very excited about this season. We've got some guys on offense that can score. We just got to get them the ball now and that's what they really talk about."'

'“I think Duke is a guy that has the physical traits you look for. He loves to play and is a tough, physical guy, and he can run. I think those are obviously some main traits you look for. How quickly he processes and things like that, we’ll find out. There’s probably competition in this building and that will be good for Duke and will be good for our football team.”'

'“Maybe it’s because he drives a pickup and drinks beer; or because his favorite local Mexican restaurant, El Canelo, sits in a strip mall; or because he wore a throwback Thurman Thomas jersey at the combine; or because he orders a plate of wings, even though his lap band won’t let him eat more than one or two during a sitting. Whatever the reason, Ryan has already won over the fans and the franchise’s legends.'