Archives for January 20, 2016

'“I’ve just got to do things, working on myself, to be more dangerous and add to this offense,” Woods said on Jan. 4, when he and his teammates cleaned out their lockers after the end of the 2015 season.'

'The performance of the 2015 class does suggest the Bills are in good hands — and surely served as one reason Whaley was extended as G.M. The way the Bills see it, they found three starting-caliber players in cornerback Ronald Darby (50th overall), guard John Miller (81st overall) and running back Karlos Williams (155th overall).'

'“The focus on the offseason would probably be on retaining most of everything that we have. We have some guys coming up that we think will be core to what we need to go forward, so I think that’s going to be the focus. … Our free agency is going to be signing our own guys and that’s again a complement to our scouting staff. We’ve drafted well enough that these guys are coming up and we want to retain them.”'

'A fair comparison is Denver’s Chris Harris, a two-time Pro Bowler who got a five-year, $42.5 million deal last year with $25 million guaranteed. An extension in the five-year, $40 million range sounds about right for Stephon.'

'It’s mind-blowing how much this front office has overlooked the position. Since Jim Kelly retired after the 1996 season, Buffalo has drafted four quarterbacks. Yes, four.'

'“We all learn at a different level so I mean with the checks, everybody wasn't on the same page at all the times,” said Brown. “That's why you see the big plays in the run and in the pass, it's just something that we needed to iron out and it just continued to happen … it's my job to make sure everybody knows what's going on so I definitely have to take some of the blame for that.”'

'The Bills turned in one of the most stunning performances in team history, embarrassing the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game and earning a trip to Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Florida, to play the Giants.'

'"Chip is … he wants to win. He's very, very intelligent," McCoy said. "The offense, they'll find ways to get big numbers. They'll find ways to put stats up offensively. You just got to, I think, with him coming in there, no matter how good of a player or lower of a player you are, if you just automatically believe him — no matter if it sounds crazy and you're like, 'What is he talking about?' — if you just automatically believe and buy in, I think you'll be fine."'

'“I think this next year, with Tyrod, the way he played, he had a great year,” Shady said as he sat live on set. “I think the second year under his belt, when he’s more confident, you know, he’s running the show for sure. And actually another year of Greg Roman. I love his offense. And I think the pieces we have there we can get it together. For sure. And also Rex Ryan. He’s going to control the defense and make it work, with his brother.”'

'Each week, 7 ABC will go through and outline some of the players you should know in this year’s draft process. This week, it’s all about the players that put heat on the quarterback — the edge rushers.'

'“It’s hard to play corner in this league. There isn’t any doubt about that, but this guy’s up for the task,” said head coach Rex Ryan of Darby. “This young guy has it in here (pointing to heart). It takes a rare individual to be able to go out there on the corner, especially playing as much man coverage as we do. It’s him going up against whoever he’s up against, and that’s it. He’s up for that challenge week-in and week-out.”'

'“We like to say, is this guy a starter? Is this a guy we can win with? Or are we just getting by with him as a starter? That’s the type of discussions we have,” Monos says. “You really need to step up, whether it’s Doug or Rex or whoever, you really have to step up and have conviction as far as who we have on the field.”'