Archives for August 2016

'I will never forget the overwhelming support from my teammates during those first few days—whether it was Corey Graham and his wife bringing me over food for dinner, not realizing that my family was in town helping to take care of me, or Robert Woods going out of his way to stop by to make sure I was good. All of the texts and calls from guys like Jonathan Meeks and the rest of my teammates really did mean so much to me.''

'Bush, 31, played last season for the San Francisco 49ers appearing in just five games. His previous two seasons were spent with the Detroit Lions as part of a committee offensive backfield.'

'“As a coach, you’re trying to get to know the players, so that was exciting. Now it’s more, I guess it’s more businesslike, maybe how I would look at it. I love it. I love how fans come out here and support this team, like really nobody else. But there might not be quite the same buzz we had last year. I would agree with you on that.”'

'"It's a great opportunity for me, so I've just got to make the most of it," Enemkpali said. "I've just got to capitalize on my opportunity."'

'"He's a competitor," second-year Bills receiver Dez Lewis said of Woods. "Great route-runner, good with his hands. He's not scared of anyone. He's not the biggest receiver (at 6-foot and 190 pounds), but he plays physical and strong. Great blocker."'

'The penalties certainly did nothing to help excite a smallish crowd (especially for a Sunday) that showed the same general lack of enthusiasm evident on Saturday, when the stands were fuller but the turnout far from overwhelming for the first day. The lack of a quarterback competition is an obvious factor. There also is no Camp Ryan curiosity. Additionally, the Bills haven't done much during two no-pads, non-contact drills to generate a whole lot of noise. The pads will be on Monday for the first full-contact workout, although tackling to the ground won't be permitted until Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage.'

'I think you gotta give credit to some of the guys that went up. I know there’s some good competition for some balls and things. That’s one of those things when you got that other end, it’s coming your way now. But that’s good. I know the competitor that he is so he probably can’t wait to get to practice tomorrow.'

'The rules of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players are also fairly strict about minimizing contact in camp and the regular season, but Ryan is going beyond the scope of that because he knew that there were too many injuries last season.'

'Ryan makes a good point. Last year was his first with the Bills and love him or hate him, he generated a lot of excitement at a time when fans bought into his prediction that the Bills were going to have the best defense in the NFL and end their playoff drought. It was also the first training camp under the ownership of Terry and Kim Pegula, and there was a hugely interesting three-man quarterback competition that had fans paying close attention during drills. None of that is present this season.'

'“I think he came in here as one of the guys trying to be on the team (last year) and showcase that he’s a good player, but now he’s the main guy,” said running back LeSean McCoy. “So knowing that, it’s a whole new, different dimension when you talk about the leaders of the team, talk about the main guys of the offense. It goes through Tyrod. And he knows that. So that makes a difference.”'

'"I think it was so new," Ryan said of the difference in the buzz around camp. "You're coming in and there was that type of feel. You look at our circumstances. You had competition at a quarterback position. I think that was a lot of the focus. Nobody, including coaches, players, fans, really knew who the quarterback was gonna be. So as a coach, you're trying to get to know the players and all that.'

'Unfortunately for the Bills, slogans don't win games. In Buffalo, the slogan isn't even selling much optimism. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe a few months without buzz or expectations will build up a healthy focus in the locker room. Then maybe they can win when it counts and earn the hype.'

'"I wasn't real happy about that," Ryan said. "That's something where you look back on last year, obviously. That's something we have to get a heck of a lot better at. Again, those self conflicted ones, offsides, false starts, late hits. Those are the things we know we can clean up. Talking about it again today, you're going to see us start to do some things to remind them. We used to do the pushups and all that, but I think it's best, we're going to start running laps. My old coach used to have me do that and it seemed to work then, so we're going to back to that."'

'“Always. You adapt or die. We’ve eliminated some things, we’ve added some things that are totally new. We’ve added some things that are things that I’ve done in the past, that I feel like we’re ready for now.”'

'"But the other thing is I want him to be himself back there. You don’t have to just stand in the pocket and deliver it because the textbook says so. Let him get out on the move, do those type of things — it stresses the defense. When he’s on the perimeter, he’s in the pocket, whatever, he’s a dual threat, and I think that’s something that’s a real positive for us."'