Archives for September 8, 2016

'“I’d have kept him forever,” Harbaugh maintained. “We thought really highly of him when he was with us … we stated many times, he’s an NFL quarterback and he’s going to prove it and I think he has.'

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'"Nothing changed, nothing changes," Hughes said. "Still hit the field full speed. Go out there and try to do my best to get the ball back for our offense. I understand we're missing a lot of key pieces, but for us it's really the next man up. We've just got to go out there and play football."'

'"You could tell right away when he came in here that he could play," Flacco said Wednesday on a conference call with Western New York reporters ahead of Sunday's game between the Ravens and Bills. "He knew how to play the quarterback position, so you always want to see a guy like that get a chance, especially when you become friendly with him. You want to see him do well.'

'After being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, Henderson missed the final three games of last season. During the offseason, he underwent multiple surgeries to treat the disease. He lost a considerable amount of weight and dealt with severe pain.'

'Rather than pick a side, M&T is playing up the showdown among its work force. The bank distributed towels with images of both teams’ helmets to employees in the Buffalo and Baltimore regions. And the bank encourages its employees in the two regions to wear their respective team’s jerseys to the office on Friday.'

'The question is, why weren’t the Bills more proactive on Henderson after his surgeries? If they had learned he was using marijuana to treat his symptoms, they could have applied for a TUE. But during the offseason, Henderson’s agent said the Bills had made no attempt to contact his client.'

'You know, we’ll be prepared for whatever happens. Obviously, you know it’s—for us anytime with any situation as our board is set up to where you’ve got the top free agents available, whatever the situation is. Whether through injury or whatever, our pro personnel department is on top of it.'

'The stir-fry has chicken strips and fresh vegetables mixed with noodles and a plum sauce that’s sweet but also has a nice kick. Learning how to use chopsticks is still on my to-do list, so I ate my stir-fry with a fork, but I was told chopsticks will be available on gameday.'

'When Harbaugh was asked if he thought back then that Taylor had a future in the NFL as a starter, he replied, “I did. I felt like he would be a starter. We thought really highly of him when he was with us. I can remember many times fending off criticism of Tyrod that was unwarranted, and stating many times that he was an NFL quarterback and he was going to prove it, and I think he’s done that. I’d have kept him forever.”'

'Marijuana is clearly a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy — Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus is currently suspended the first four games for that — but in Henderson’s case, if it is part of his treatment to help with pain due to Crohn’s, the NFL could take that into account and perhaps rescind, or shorten the suspension. Or, maybe not.'

'What’s most alarming about the hat trick of suspended Bills players for pot use is that the NFL, a bottom-line business, goes out of its way to make sure its workforce is on the field. Per policy, it takes a fourth positive test for marijuana use before a player earns a suspension and the league even raised the threshold for that positive test.'

'But after an 8-8 season, are the Bills truly playing for Rex Ryan's job? Brown thinks they're all playing for jobs this season.'

'"I'm sure if you ask anybody on our team they probably would say the same person, Darryl Talley," Kelly said. "You talk to Dan Marino. Marino says that Darryl is probably the best defensive player he's ever played against. Darryl was one of those guys that we needed on our defense to make sure Bruce (Smith) did what he was supposed to do."'

'“Well they passed over (Taylor) for Joe Flacco, and they passed over me for John Harbuagh. It is pretty good company,” Ryan said.'