Archives for June 17, 2016

'"It's really so much further along than where we were," he said. "Almost, individually, you can see it that this guy's getting better."'

'"I wanted to come in because I had heard Rex talk about how great this team and the people in the building (were), from the management to the coaches to the players," he said. "He was so excited about this place, I wanted to see for myself … to see what it was really like."'

'"It's a given, you have to talk out there," Reed said Thursday, as the Bills wrapped up their three-day mandatory minicamp. "If you're not talking, then something's wrong. In order for you to talk, you have to understand your job, what you have to do to get guys lined up. If you're not talking, we're not going to be successful."'

'The Buffalo Bills head coach held a "lottery" for one player and one coach to have the final minicamp practice off. The winners? Safety Corey Graham and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. While he joking that he wanted the rookies to get their hopes up, only players with at least three years of experience were eligible.'

'"This Preston Brown is going to be a star," said Rob Ryan, officially the Bills' assistant head coach/defense. "He's been fantastic. He's a vocal guy. He is extremely smart. He knows the defense, he knows the in's and out's now. So he's really going to grow in this system and he's got a young player next to him that is like his twin. They love football. They're both tough guys. And they're going to grow together. We're going to have something special here — you watch.'

'But anyway advice today get out of the parking lot as soon as possible, look both ways, because people are going to be flying out of the parking lot. But I will say this, this sounds nuts but usually this time being perfectly honest this time of year I can’t wait to get on vacation, I am excited about it and all that there is no doubt, but I can’t wait to get the season started. I think that is, I am just telling you right now. Forget the vacation I wish it was shorter and all that, I mean. I am excited about this team.'

'"Football's been a big part of my life," he said. "I've been playing since I was five years old. Missing that last year was definitely tough. I have a lot of good guys in that room to learn from. Karlos has been teaching me, talking to me. LeSean is one of the best backs in the league. Even Felton and some of the other guys in the room have been helping me as well."'

'“It is tough,’’ Roman said. “A lot people you know when they see us, stopping the run is No. 1 on their must-do list. That is going to be tough. But our goal is to be the winningest offense in the NFL and however we have to do that we would like to do that.’’'

'"You have to talk out there," Reed said after minicamp Thursday. "If you're not talking, something's wrong. In order for you to talk, you have to know your job, what you have to do in order to get guys lined up. If you're not talking, we're not going to be successful. If you watch the film from last year, you saw a lot of confusion, a lot of not communication and guys not giving effort. So with that in mind, there couldn't have been too much communicating out there. Some of the offensive guys even said it. 'You could hear a pin drop at practice last year, Ed.' For that to be effective, for us to be effective we have to be communicate. To see those guys commenting like that, we're getting better. From where we were last year, from what I heard, we've gotten a lot better."'

'"I do," Ryan said. "That's one I shouldn't say, because they're going to kill me, but we're on vacation, nobody's going to read it anyway. But I do. … I don't know about these other teams. I'm sure they've had some great camps, too. I've been really impressed with this group."'

'Matthew Coller of WGR 550 in Buffalo shared this banner bought by a friend in China, proclaiming the NFL's Buffalo Bills to be the Stanley Cup Champions.'

'Ralph Wilson Stadium, on the other hand, is a depreciating asset. Once a new stadium is built, it becomes a hulking white elephant that will eventually get torn down anyway.'

'"We do things where you get points for how you perform [in the weight room] and all that," Ryan said Thursday. "It wasn't even close, from this season compared to last season. I thought we had a good offseason [last year] but not like this. It's so much different. We competed so well against each other. Even in those type of little things, the challenges that we have. I just feel great about it."'

'"It's difficult, but thankfully I came from a system like coach Saban's and his coaching staff," Ragland said. "I think the only thing different about it is the terminology. Once you figure out the terminology and the words and what everything means, it starting to come so much faster because everything means the same thing but it's just different words or forms. Once you get that down, everything starts to come down. Right now, most of the defense I understand it, and I just can't let this [break] in July [affect my learning of the defense]. I gotta keep learning everything that I'm learning so far."'

'The starting WRs for most of the first-unit work in various periods, including red zone and 2-minute were Robert Woods, Greg Salas (slot), and a combination of Dez Lewis and Leonard Hankerson. That position seemed to have some separation towards the end of the week with those players getting more of the reps. Greg Little worked in as the next WR in most cases, especially in red zone work.'