Archives for January 2016

'The extension was reached after Whaley, coach Rex Ryan and other team officials spent the weekend holding postseason meetings with the Pegulas at their home in Florida.'

'Bills co-owner Kim Pegula posted the news on her Twitter account Sunday afternoon. She included a picture of Whaley signing a contract with her husband and co-owner, Terry, and team president Russ Brandon looking on.'

'Whaley, Brandon and coach Rex Ryan had gathered at the Pegulas' home in Florida this weekend to review the 2015 season. Kim Pegula tweeted that the meeting was "great" and that the Bills' top decision-makers were "already working on next season."'

'“I'm excited to have Rob join our staff and I think he will be a great asset for our defense. He has a tremendous working knowledge of our schemes and I look forward to his input,” said Head Coach Rex Ryan. “On a personal note, it's been a number of years since we have worked together and so we are both really looking forward to this opportunity.”'

'"The only thing that I expect to do is every day come in here and try to get better," said Whaley. "I just know that every day I’ve come in here I’ve gotten positive feedback from the Pegulas. I love working with Rex, I love working with this whole staff. I think our personnel staff has done a very good job in acquiring players.'

'“Very important,” said Taylor of the team’s run game productivity. “We talked about that going into the season. Especially with the talent we have at the running back spot – getting those guys going, it’s only going to be better for us in the passing game. You force safeties to come down in the box and then you get your one-on-one matchups on the outside. Our running game is definitely a big part of our offense.”'

'A lame-duck general manager benefits no one. As reported, the Buffalo Bills plan on giving Doug Whaley a multi-year extension. This is the right decision, too.'

'That two-game stretch was all of the proof necessary that the Bills have the wrong man in the No. 2 quarterback spot. If you needed more proof, the Bills provided it by deactivating Manuel for their Nov. 12 game against the Jets and making Johnson the backup and saying it had something to do with Johnson’s “familiarity” with the Jets’ defensive scheme. Either you believe in your backup or you don’t.'

'He was missed somewhere, though. In the locker room. Leadership can be an abstract quality, one that's hard to quantify. Here, all you had to see was safety Aaron Williams wearing Jackson's practice jersey shortly after the release. All you had to hear was players admitting leadership was sorely lacking in the locker room. As fellow back Boobie Dixon said, the Bills held zero players-only meetings. None. Stunning to him.'

'"The strong relationship they formed in that short time was obvious in my conversations with Coach Ryan," Bielema said in the statement. "His ability to relate to the players and connect with them will help him have a tremendous impact on our program, not only as a position coach, but a recruiter. I'm very happy to have him joining our staff and helping us pursue our goals at the University of Arkansas."'

'The Arkansas Razorbacks have named Kurt Anderson, who had served as the Buffalo Bills' offensive line coach, as their new offensive line coach.'

'ILB Preston Brown, Nov. 25, before Buffalo's game at Kansas City: "The loser of this game is definitely a long-shot to make the playoffs. It definitely is a must-win game for us.”'

'But Gilmore knows, regardless of whatever issues there were elsewhere, he had the best of his four NFL seasons since the Bills made him a first-round draft pick in 2012. He also did it while being asked to play more man-to-man coverage than at any other time of his career, because that’s what Rex Ryan’s defense requires.'

'I can only imagine how difficult it will be for the Bills (not to mention their fans) to watch Saturday's wild-card playoff game between the Texans and Chiefs at Houston.'

'Buffalo’s unrestricted free agents, players who will be free to sign with any team, are offensive linemen Cordy Glenn, Richie Incognito, and Jordan Mills, linebacker Nigel Bradham, cornerback Ron Brooks, wide receivers Percy Harvin and Leonard Hankerson, defensive end Alex Carrington and quarterback Josh Johnson.'