Archives for September 2015

'"Let’s not carve it up saying, 'Well the strength of their team is their defense,'" Ryan continued. "It’s true, they have got good individual players, but the strength of their team is Andrew Luck and that offense."'

' "I think you have to plan for both scenarios, and I think that goes for any point during the season," he said. "He might break a shoelace sometime and not be able to be in the game. I think at all times you have to plan for that type of stuff. I think there is a lot that goes on (in the crafting of the game plan) that may or may not see the light of day, but you've got to prepare for all those different types of contingencies."'

'Ever since Ryan took over the Bills, the biggest question on the roster has been at quarterback. Buffalo settled on Tyrod Taylor as its starter, and he's going to have to be a reliable starter to guide this team to the playoffs. The Bills don't need Taylor to be a Pro Bowler or emerge as a franchise quarterback. He has to play mistake-free football while providing enough big plays to take advantage of the offensive talent the Bills have around him.'

'"There's a lot of doubt," McCoy said. "I feel like that. The talk about the teams around (the NFL), we're not a team that's talked about, so I like it like that. We're the underdog."'

'Some would say that Sammy Watkins' rookie season was a breakout year. He caught 65 passes for 982 yards and six touchdowns, but he was out-played by fellow rookie receivers Mike Evans in Tampa Bay and Odell Beckham Jr. in New York. Watkins was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and he may start to live up to that billing if he can stay healthy the entire season and gets improved quarterback play. A lot went wrong for Watkins in 2014 between the mediocre quarterback play and his rib and hip injuries. Circumstances should improve, and so should Watkins' production.'

'"What I'm taking comfort in is the fact that we're playing at home," Ryan said. "The fans that I talk to are as excited about this opportunity, this game, as I am. Any team that comes in here, but particularly a team like the Colts, that it's personal. It's a personal challenge to our fans, our football team, our defense obviously, but our fans as well."'

'After Cassel fielded interest from other teams, he returned to the Bills, and Field Yates of ESPN is reporting that Cassel's base salary is now just $2 million, though if he hits playing time incentives he will earn $4.15 million.'

'“Same for our whole defence. No ceiling, no roof, man. We’re just going to try to win everything — no L’s. That’s the objective. That’s the mindset that we’re taking into 2015.”'

'“This guy is the No. 1 fantasy quarterback for this week … he’s the go-to-guy. Everybody wants him. But we have to make it challenging for him, and we will with our defence … but it can only be added by our fans. When our defence is on the field, I can’t wait to see our fans.”'

'If Taylor flounders or gets hurt, Manuel would seem the logical replacement, given their relative similarity in style. Cassel is another species entirely. While he proved during the preseason that he can turn a 9-yard sack into a 6-yard sack, and connect on 5-yard buttonhooks and other patterns that end with the receiver facing him, instead of the opposing goal line, the thought of No. 16 (ah, the memories I don’t have of Dennis Shaw, who managed to go 8-27-2 in three years as Buffalo’s starter in the early 1970s, despite having O.J. Simpson behind him in the Bills backfield) taking meaningful snaps triggers rather virulent Orton flashbacks.'

'"We called him 'Big Smooth,'" Bills receiver Percy Harvin recalled. "He's always been that smooth guy. Not real talkative off the field, but once he got on the field, he was always one of the best athletes."'

'"I'm ready to go," McCoy declared at his locker following practice Wednesday. "I'm not sure I'll be exactly 100 percent. But I feel good enough to go out there and compete."'

'''That's the expectation in here, upstairs and in town,'' defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. ''When we go out on Sunday, we're not just going out there to compete, we're going out there to win.'''

'“When our defense is on that field, I can’t wait to see our fans. That’s your party time, that’s when you get your party on when our defense is out there.”'

'“He’s gone out and he’s performed well, and that’s why he’s starting,” Bills defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said Tuesday. “You don’t get a chance to start in the National Football League unless you’re performing. He’s gone out, he’s performed, he’s done his job. We’re confident in him, that he’ll go out and get it done, just as Marcell would’ve gone out and gotten it done. So, we don’t feel like there will be much of a drop-off, if any. And we expect him to go out and perform at a high level.”'