Archives for November 2015

'They’ve lost a key member of their defense. The loss to the Patriots was made worse when pass rusher Cam Wake tore the Achilles in his left foot in the third quarter. The injury will end his season, and quite possibly his Miami career. Wake is scheduled to count $9.8 million against Miami’s salary cap in 2016, and the Dolphins are tight against it because of the contract given to defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.'

'"It's good to get guys back and start focusing on what's in front of us," Ryan said. "Like I said before, I've never had a team that needed a bye week more than this team. I feel great about the guys coming back, we're going to get a lot of players back healthy, so that's a real positive for us."'

'"I made a bad comment," Watkins admitted. "As a football player, you've got to take the good with the bad and never comment back on your comments or pictures. I know all the fans don't mean what they say, they're fans and it's good to have feedback on yourself, it just shows that you're normal. No hard feelings."'

'"Not at all," Williams said. "I've got a hard hard. My family will tell you the same. It doesn't frighten me at all. Things happen. Concussions are freak accidents. Nobody goes into a game trying to give somebody a concussion or thinking they're going to get a concussion. It kind of just happens. Some are worse than others, some are not bad at all, some are terrible. I think it depends on the blow you take and the person that's actually taking the hit.'

'"Without question," Ryan said. "That's the least of our concern with him. I know he wants to play. He desperately wants to contribute to this team."'

'"No hesitation," Taylor said. "I'm going to go out there and be myself and the trainers have done a good job of getting me back to where I'm at now. There's no hesitation."'

'"Honestly, I'm never on the comments so I never look at them," Watkins said. "It just happened to be the bye week and, like I said, just being frustrated after the loss and me not playing, me not being on the field. You look for negative stuff. That's what I was doing. I looked and immediately I reacted, misspelled a couple things. Just not paying attention. That's not anything I can do as an athlete in the NFL. I represent an organization (and) team. I would just say sorry to all the fans who took hard feelings to it and I would never do it again."'

'Not every injured Bill was back on the field, though. Safety Corey Graham, defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee) and wide receiver Percy Harvin (hip/personal) all missed practice Monday. Graham and Williams were in the weight room during practice, but Harvin wasn't spotted during the portion of practice open to the media. According to Rand Getlin of NFL.com, Harvin is meeting with the Bills to have his hip injury evaluated and the team is taking the situation one day at a time.'

'LeSean McCoy spent the first half of his first season in Buffalo working his way back from a hamstring injury that plagued him in the preseason. As a result, the Bills haven't yet seen the return on their hefty investment in the superstar running back. Now that he's healthy, it's time for the Bills' offense to let McCoy carry the offense. He's shown flashes of brilliance so far in 2015, and Buffalo needs to see those more often to have a shot at the postseason.'

'Ryan said Harvin has rejoined the team but was unsure of his playing status. Percy Harvin has missed two straight games with a hip injury. His whereabouts have been a bit of a mystery after he did not travel with the Bills to London.'

'"I can understand why the fans would be upset with him. We are all upset with him because that doesn't represent who he is," Ryan said. "That's driven through frustration. This guy wants to play. He wants to contribute. He wants to be the player that we all know he is. And he wants to show all that. And it came out in a poor way."'

'"With the new CBA you have four mandatory days you give off, but my record off a bye week is horrendous," Ryan said Monday following the team's first practice since it was in London nine days ago. "Looking at the schedule, the fact that we had to fly back from London, the fact that we play two games in five days, the health of our team, all that stuff factoring in.'

'"I made a bad comment," he said. "As a football player, you've got to take the good with the bad and never comment back on your comments or pictures. I'm never on the comments, it just happened to be the bye week and just being frustrated about the loss, me not playing, you look for negative stuff and that's what I was doing. I looked at the comments and immediately I reacted. Misspelled a couple things, just not paying attention. That's something I can't do in the NFL, I represent the organization, the team, so I would just say sorry to all the fans who took heart to it and I'll never do that again."'

'Taylor said he doesn’t know yet if he will wear a brace on his knee during the game, but that he doesn’t mind if the training and medical staff have him do it. “It’s up to the trainers,” the fifth-year pro said. “We’re taking it day by day as far was whether I need it or don’t need it. But whether I have it on or don’t have it on, it doesn’t restrict me.”'

'Watkins said his comments came out of frustration and that he understood immediately he shouldn’t have done it. “Just being frustrated after the loss, and me not playing, me not being on the field – you look for negative stuff and that’s what I was doing,” he said. “And I looked on the comment and immediately I reacted….I just read back on my comments like, 'Nah, that don't sound right.’ I shouldn't have sent that because it not only affected the fans, just people in general that are working hard jobs every day, day to day, taking care of their kids, every job is the same. You wake up in the morning and go to work, clock the eight hours, so my job is the same as anybody else.”'