Archives for August 11, 2016

'"Well, it would be a blow, but hopefully, you know, everything will be fine," Bills coach Rex Ryan said Saturday of Ragland's injury. "If that’s the hand that’s dealt, then we'll adjust to it. We’re fortunate. We picked up Zach Brown in the offseason, you know, so we’re fortunate there. Randell Johnson’s done a nice job for us also. And we’ll see, we’ll evaluate things as it goes.'

'“He’s really hurt by it,” coach Rex Ryan said of Ragland. “He wants to play and show everybody the kind of player he is. … He knows he’s an outstanding player. He wants to prove he’s the best linebacker in that draft class, but more than anything he wants to be a part of this team and help this team and I think that hurts him more than anything.'

'After one play, safety Aaron Williams told someone – maybe even himself – to "get your (expletive) right!"'

'Bad news obviously of today, you know, was Reggie, Reggie Ragland. He is going to have surgery on a torn ACL. He’s expected to miss the season, and you know very unfortunate. But, we have some guys, like I said I feel good about the guys that we have. I think, you know, Zach Brown has been doing a good job and then the addition of (Brandon) Spikes and (David) Hawthorne along with Randell Johnson—I think we have good depth. We have better depth this year than we did last year at that position. So you know, it’s really unfortunate for the young man and for our team because we know he’s a fine player, but guys will step up.'

'“It’s a shame when such a great young man works so hard and was going to have such a vital role for us … to see a guy like that go down, you just feel terrible,” said defensive assistant coach Rob Ryan. “In this business you’ve always got to have a replacement ready to go, and we’ve done a great job of that. It’s just unfortunate for him personally.”'

'“My ball has always had a little extra hang-time, so it works out in my favor because that’s my natural ball," he said. "Obviously you still want to keep the touchback available, so we’re working on everything, trying to see what works in the preseason and go from there.”'

'A year ago, Kiko Alonso had a similar injury in Philadelphia and returned to the field, but it all depends on what doctors find when they perform the procedure.'

'In the first 11-on-11 workouts, quarterback Tyrod Taylor made it clear that Sammy Watkins is a go-to for him, hitting him twice on quick routes.'

'It was the defense that held the Bills back – simply put, if the defense was even average at best, the Bills’ playoff drought would’ve most likely ended. But it was tied for 19th in yards allowed per play, and most shocking of all, ranked 31st in sacks with just 31, 22 less than the previous year.'

'“I feel great about this team right now,” Ryan said Wednesday. “We’ve had some unfortunate injuries, but we have some depth. Every team is going to get our maximum effort — that’s a given. Then we’ll see how it works out.”'

'Rex Ryan is always a circus. But when his braggadocio isn’t the story of training camp, alarms should go off in Buffalo.'

'"Well, we were excited about those two guys. Obviously, we think they're rare talents and that's not going to change either based on an injury," Ryan said following practice. "It's just unfortunate that we've got to be a little more patient than maybe we wanted to."'

'Ragland was pursuing running back Reggie Bush out to the sideline during a drill in practice and he seemed to get his leg stuck in the turf and his knee buckled. It was a non-contact play, and center Eric Wood trotted over to help Ragland up with no idea he was seriously hurt.'

'Buffalo Bills rookie linebacker Reggie Ragland will have surgery to repair a torn ACL and is expected to miss the entire 2016 season, the team announced Wednesday.'

'"In my mind, the team hasn't been to the playoffs in one year," Pegula said on the John Murphy Show on Wednesday afternoon. "I'm not talking about 16 [years" target="_blank"> and I don't think anybody is. We're talking about the future."'