Archives for June 2016

'“Honestly, it’s crazy,” Graham said. “There are a few people who helped me throughout the way and pushed me. But as far as working out, he’s had the most impact in my life. As far as training and what I’ve been able to accomplish, I couldn’t have done it without him.”'

'"Those were some of our issues last year — we didn’t communicate well," Graham said. "We didn’t pick up the defense as well. Things have slowed down. Everybody knows what they’re doing. And we’ve got some new pieces in there that are looking really good. I feel like we’ll be very good. We can’t do nothing but be better than last year. We want to get back to the level where we’re elite. That’s what we’re working towards.”'

'People are picking them 6-10 for a reason. They’re not as good as last year. You can blame injuries, but they had crossovers against the two weakest divisions in the NFL and couldn’t take advantage.'

'During his 15-year NFL career, Owens played for six different teams, including the Bills for one season in 2009. He was invited to the graduation ceremony by Bennett alumna Alvina Alston, the keynote speaker.'

'"He’s really made improvements,” quarterbacks coach David Lee said of Taylor after Buffalo's minicamp. “His eyes are in the right place. He’s looking for mismatches that he didn’t quite see all of the time a year ago. His ability to stand in there with stuff in front of him, he’s been doing a great job of that this spring and throwing the football over the middle with that stuff in front of him."'

'We all know now that Lawson is going to miss all of training camp and then some regular season time after having shoulder surgery. Obviously, missing that much time his rookie season will set him back as far as getting acclimated to the defense and a feel for playing at this level and the speed of it. The positive is he can still take part in meetings and watch film and learn, so when he comes back he should at least have a mental understanding of what he needs to do.'

'"I wish I could have played a couple more years here, but that didn't happen. Buffalo is a great city, they've embraced me and I tried to do the same with my performance on the football field. Again, I wish I could have stayed longer. Obviously there were some coaching changes and they had some other things in mind for the team."'

'“I’ve been in a few different locker rooms, so I know what it takes to kind of earn the trust of your teammates and coaches and show people what you can do,” Moore said. “You always have a chip on your shoulder, especially when you come to a new team, but I definitely think being in various locker rooms with different teams kind of helps me out.”'

'"It’s the second year, we’re going to play in the same defense; it’s the first time in my NFL career this happened," Dareus told SiriusXM NFL Radio Tuesday, referencing the Bills' multiple coaching changes since he joined them as the third overall pick from Alabama in 2011. "It feels good to know I can just do what I need to do and I don’t have to think as much. I don’t have to spend so much time trying to help this guy, help that guy or them doing the same with me.'

'Seymour was mentioned in the same breath as Darby by Ryan, so it's clear the Bills are impressed with what they've seen from the sixth-round draft pick out of Southern California. On paper, the depth at this position seems like a strength. Javier Arenas doesn't survive the cut in this projection, but certainly could play his way onto the roster as the team's punt returner.'

'“When you look under the Christmas tree everyone wants brand-new toys, that’s easily said,” Brandon told the newspaper. “But when you go through the process and look to see exactly what makes sense for our community, that’s what we have to be very thoughtful of. With a new stadium comes a lot of things — public-private partnership, there’s PSLs (personal seat licenses), there’s cost increases across the board. We’ve been successful in Buffalo with a volume model; lot of seats in the building, lot of suites in the building, and we’ve been able to keep costs down because we’ve been able to manage a 43-year-old building and we’ve been able to do that very well. That equation, economically, changes with a new building.”'

'And it's a stretch to say Taylor — four inches shorter, 30 pounds lighter — will replicate Newton to a T. Up until a Super Bowl beatdown, Newton redefined his position in throwing for 4,333 yards, rushing for 686 and scoring 50 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions in 18 games, a MVP season that made Buddy Nix wonder "What if…" from afar. But with Buffalo's brutal schedule ahead, with plenty of uncertainty swirling around Taylor at other positions, the Bills will need him to be special in 2016. They'll need him to take a huge step forward.'

'To run private parking lots, currently, residents have to obtain a permit from the town, one that has to be renewed each year. That much would not change, but there would be one more stipulation – the waiver allowing police access.'

'“I love to tell this story because it’s a great example of you don’t always need to do a lot to get things rolling,” Kim continues. “As much as people see us making big moves, whether it’s buying the Bills or building Harbor Center, I like to tell people it doesn’t take a whole lot (to make a difference, to effect change). You can do little things. The first thing that really spawned a lot of this was ‘the grass.’”'

'Pegula plays things close to the vest and didn't divulge much, but he knows the chatter is out there both from other owners in the league and the commissioner.'