Archives for June 2016

'"I don't know if I'm going to miss training camp or not. Hopefully I don't and we can be on the same page. We've been together for a year now so we kind of know each other. We have other guys that can make plays and we'll get the timing back."'

'"The thing is these are voluntary workouts," Ryan said. "So him or other players who aren't here or whatever, it's not that I'm in contact with those players. Some players call me and some don't. That's it. That's why I don't think it's that odd that a player wouldn't contact me or whatever. I don't contact every single player. But guys do call me, whether it's certain things. But I look forward to seeing him. If he's in tomorrow, that's great. These are voluntary workouts. If he's in, that'll be good."'

'"That's a great play by him but I told him, you might want to be on top of that because that is what it was," Ryan said. "I said you really want to be on top of this guy but the fact you made a great play, you never gave up on it, and you came back and made a great play on the ball. That was impressive. But in this league, they can really run out there and if you're supposed to be on top, you better be there because it can be six for the bad guys."'

'"We'll see what happens," Ryan said. "I'm going to make my prediction. I'm calling the Sabres in the playoffs next year. That's my prediction."'

'"No timetable. I leave that up to the doctors," he said Wednesday after watching the Bills go through their second week of voluntary practices. "I can't tell you. This is a process where you might feel good one day or you might feel like you need to sit down."'

'"That's why I don't think it's that odd that a player wouldn't contact me or whatever. I don't contact every single player. I look forward to seeing him. If he's in (Thursday), that's great. These are voluntary workouts. If he's in, that'll be good."'

'"But I know one thing, we are going to beat them. We are together, we're going to beat the best. It's two against one. Him one-on-one against any coach in the league, that guy is pretty damn good. And he's also got his best buddy Tom Brady with him. He trained him, and he single-handedly made him great, as well."'

'"Honestly I can't tell you,” Watkins said when asked to “chart the course” for his rehab and when he thinks he might be ready to play football again. "This is an injury where you have to be very careful. Only thing I can do is listen to the staff and take it slow and just really protect myself and they're going to protect me, also. We're just going to take the course with the injury. Nobody knows what timetable or when I'm going to be back."'

'Guys were going after it pretty hard on both sides, resulting in more incidental contact than the coaches probably even wanted. Then to underscore the point, a skirmish broke out after LeSean McCoy ran up the middle and was stopped while surrounded by four or five defenders. Linebacker Preston Brown and offensive lineman Jordan Mills started grabbing and then it swinging at one another before others joined in and all had to be separated by teammates and coaches. After that, there was more back-and-forth trash talking than there had been, as well.'

'“Well, yeah,” he answered when I asked if he believes the Ryan name has suffered because of last year’s rankings of the two brothers’ respective units. “I think last year was kind of a blow to the Ryan name. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. Now when you look through the history of this game, I think we rank up there. Just because you have one off-year maybe doesn’t knock you all the way to the bottom, like its maybe been reported, but I think we’re okay. I think the Ryan name’s pretty good.”'

'"This is an injury where you have to be really careful," Watkins said Wednesday. "The only thing that I can do is listen to the staff and take it slow, and just, really protect myself, and they’re going to protect me also. We’re just going to take the course with the injury. Nobody knows what timetable, what or when I’ll be back."'

'On Wednesday, Taylor got back to the form that we saw during practices in 2015. The starter was reading the field well, finding his targets well enough and placing the ball in the right spot to allow them to make a play — and more importantly, he didn't allow the defense to make their mark on the play.'

'"He is still same, fun to be around, but at the same time you are going to work," tight end Charles Clay added. "Nothing has changed in that regard."'

'So, when Ryan was asked for his prediction on this year's Stanley Cup Final between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, he wouldn't bite. But, as Rex Ryan does, he just couldn't help himself when it came to the Sabres.'

'“It’s going great. I’m hoping to get the boot off (Thursday),” said Watkins after the Bills’ Wednesday OTA practice session. “I really can’t do anything now and I’m not really rushing it back. I’ve just got to listen to the staff.”'