Archives for June 2016

'Unofficially, seventeen players did not participate in the last Wednesday’s OTA session, the only one of the week open to the media.'

'"Any time you're on the field together where you can build chemistry, it's always good," Clay said. "You kind of had to switch game plans and switch your offense up a little bit whenever you got a guy [out]. You know like Shady [McCoy] goes down or Sammy [Watkins] goes down or Tyrod [Taylor], you have to switch your offense up a little bit. I feel like our guys did a real good job. You look at the last two games, we had a lot of guys out and they still went out there and played well. [We] definitely feel like we aren't far off, and we're looking forward to this year."'

'"I have to go through the trials like everyone else," Goodwin said to John Murphy on WGR on Monday night. "It's a two-day competition. We have prelims one day, and come back the next day for the finals. I'm very confident, and as long as I maintain health and stay focused on what I need to do, there's no doubt that I should make the team."'

'To make room on the roster, the Bills released defensive end Claudell Louis and tackle Keith Lumpkin.'

'The 2012 first-round pick is headed into the last year of his rookie deal after the Bills exercised their fifth-year option, guaranteeing the 25-year old $11.082 million this season.'

'Martin joins the Bills after being a member on the Texans and Patriots practice squads throughout the 2014 season.'

'Having already played in a Rex Ryan defensive scheme for two seasons in New York, the Bills head coach surely would love the familiarity that Douzable would bring to the defensive line, even only for training camp.'

'Continuity hasn't been the strong suit of the Bills offensive line over the years, but now Glenn will have the same left guard lining up next to him, and a really good one at that in Richie Incognito. The team will likely depend on the ground game as they did for the 2015 season, and using Glenn to help pave the way will be one of the strengths of their attack. He's healthy, fully paid, and it doesn't appear anything is standing in the way of him having another dominant season.'

'As was the case last season, Darby will once again be the staring cornerback on one side of the field, and Stephon Gilmore will man the opposite side. With the Bills committing even more so to Rex Ryan's normal defensive scheme for the 2016 season, the pressure on Darby will only increase as the Bills try to send unique pressures and blitzes at opposing quarterbacks. He'll be entrusted to play press-man coverage for the majority of the season, and to give the front seven enough time to make their mark, and in total, to help the defense get back to their lofty status from the 2014 season.'

'Hughes' sack production in 2015 wasn't great, registering only five for the Bills last season, but he put much more pressure on the quarterback than that number would indicate. This year, Hughes is no longer shackled to one side of the field, as he has been for the majority of the last three seasons. Over that time, the Bills usually kept Williams on the left side (against the right tackle), with Hughes on the opposite side versus the left tackle. That is, until around the middle point of last season, when the Bills started using Hughes, not Mario, as their matchup problem versus below average offensive tackles.'

'With Cordy Glenn’s contract already done, and with Tyrod Taylor having already shown his commitment to being at all the practices during OTAs, the last of the big names with expiring contracts is cornerback Stephon Gilmore.'

'Douzable, 30, has spent the last three seasons with the New York Jets, but was not re-signed by the AFC East rival as a free agent this spring. Two of his three seasons with New York were spent under Bills current head coach Rex Ryan and current defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman.'

'“I remember being at USC it was the same exact thing. He brought me under his wing,” Seymour told Buffalobills.com. “We’d sit together in the film room. I’d sit in there with my DBs coach and watch film too, but we’d spend time sitting together and Nickell would coach me up and walk me through stuff like my backpedal, my technique playing off and in press and all that. Once I found out I was going to be here I was thinking I’ve already got a guy here to lean on.”'

'He's a project. The question is how long will this project take for QB's coach David Lee to mold. Jones' No. 1 challenge right now isn't only connecting his footwork with his drops and his delivery, but simply relaying plays to teammates.'

'“It’s all about working together,” Bryant said. “We have different things where we’ll stunt. Different guys will come over the top and you have to know how to read off of each other. When we play together, everybody’s going to make their plays.”'