Archives for October 24, 2015

'It is almost a given that we have seen the best of Harvin. But that was the case after he left Minnesota under a cloud in 2013.'

'"Still just a personal reason that he's out and we'll address it as soon as we get some more answers on him," Whaley said at the team's practice facility north of London. "There's a lot of other things that are going on, it's just not strictly injury related."'

'The game takes place in the afternoon in Western Europe and will be at least partly in prime time in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and Asia. Outside the U.S. is where the NFL can still add huge numbers of fans and the profits that come with that.'

'"It's still a personal reason that he's out and we'll address it as soon as we get more answers on it," Whaley said. "We knew the situation and what was going on with him. We found out early last week that he needed to take some time for personal reasons.'

'Still, why pay so much for a stakes-free matchup between two lackluster teams at an odd hour? Yahoo will play the game big across its various Web properties with video that automatically starts when visitors land on one of its sites, according to two people who requested not to be named because the plans are private. Yahoo has something to prove, namely that it can successfully stream the nation’s most popular sport to a global audience without the delays and disruptions that have come to characterize so much of live online viewing.'

'Whaley wouldn’t comment on if the team is preparing to be without Harvin for the rest of the season, or even any longer than this week. “We’re preparing for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” the GM said. “We don’t have him this game. We’ll see after that. It’s one of those things where we have to take it day by day, game by game.”'

'Among the answers from Whaley, they don’t know when they’ll get answers from Harvin, they still do not know his whereabouts, they’re going to reach out to him next week after the upcoming game once they return to Buffalo, and that they know that there are a lot of other things going on with Harvin that aren’t just injury related.'

'"When you lose, these are competitive, emotional guys. It's something that — we didn't as a whole team play well enough and they're frustrated and they voiced their opinion. That's fine," Whaley said. "… The thing about it is, they've played well, we just haven't played well consistently through 60 minutes of a game. Look at that first half (against the Bengals in Week 6). Their average starting position was at the 50, we only gave up 17 points. So that was well. The second half? Not so much."'

'Buffalo has had their share of troubles converting third downs and staying on the field offensively. That should be less of an issue against Jacksonville, which has the worst third down defense in the league. The Jaguars allow conversions at a rate of 50 percent. The Bills will need to make the most of their opponent’s deficiency to keep their offense on the field and finish drives with points.'

'Gay, who served as the team’s kickoff specialist in 2014 and the start of 2015, was released after the team’s Week 4 loss to the Giants. Buffalo signed veteran kicker Bill Cundiff, who handled kickoffs for the Week 5 game at Tennessee, but was not nearly as effective.'

'Veteran guard Kraig Urbik is expected to start at right guard in Miller’s absence. Urbik started for Miller in Week 4 when Miller was out with a groin injury.'

'Fans can watch the Yahoo stream on the web or on their mobile devices. On the web, fans only need to go to nflstream.yahoo.com.'

'With so many new faces, you might be wondering which player has the most extensive history with team. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams has been a Bill since 2006, when he was picked in the fifth round of the NFL draft. In his 10 years with the team, he has compiled 302 total tackles and 35.5 sacks. Williams is a favorite in the Buffalo community.'