Archives for January 2017

'Culley and new Bills head coach Sean McDermott were together on Andy Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles’ staff from 1999-2010 before McDermott left to become the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. According to The Star, Culley was one of the primary people responsible for developing rookie Pro Bowler Tyreek Hill, who led the team in catches (61), receiving yards (593), and touchdowns (six). Culley has never coached quarterbacks at the NFL level. He did coach QBs at two different places at the college level…'.

'"A lot of it, what you’re going to look at is what they do, and I mean, without their physical ability," Whaley said Tuesday in Mobile. "Meaning, how do they command the offense in practice? How do they interact with their other teammates? Are they the type of guys that come on and inspire guys? Basically, how can they just step in cold and perform, which is something that is very intrinsic with a quarterback that has that 'it factor.'"'

'Culley joins the Bills after spending the last four seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs assistant head coach/wide receivers coach. He originally began coaching in the NFL in 1994 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Culley went on to join the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996, primarily coaching the team’s wide receivers until joining the Chiefs in 2013.'

'Gilmore will take part in the 39th annual national Ed Block Courage Awards Foundation ceremony on March 11, 2017 at The Renaissance Hotel – Inner Harbor Baltimore in Baltimore, MD and he will be honored with the 31 other award representatives from each NFL team.'

'“He’s a smart guy. Even though this is an offense he’s been running since he’s been coaching, he’ll not only implement what he does offensively, he’ll also take suggestions from other coaches,” said Tolbert. “When you have certain ideas or plays that you want to add to the game plan, be it third down or red zone and it makes sense, he’ll look at it and add it to the game plan. He works very well with the other coaches in that respect.”'

'The Bills made Hogan a contract offer with the lowest tender, which provided a one-year salary for $1.671 million. Had the team given Hogan a second-round tender, it would have cost $2.553 million, or $882,000 more. More importantly, it likely would have scared teams away from making Hogan a contract offer, since they wouldn't have wanted to pay the second-round compensation.'

'Taylor would have replaced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is busy preparing for the Super Bowl. Oakland's Derek Carr and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger were the other two AFC quarterbacks originally picked for the game. Carr suffered a broken leg late in the regular season and has been replaced in the Pro Bowl lineup by Kansas City's Alex Smith.'

'Gilmore joins joins teammates Lorenzo Alexander, Kyle Williams (injury replacement for Miami defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh) and Richie Incognito (injury replacement for injured Baltimore guard Marshall Yanda) in the game. Running back LeSean McCoy was originally chosen for the game, but will not participate because of injury. Additionally, the Bills announced Monday quarterback Tyrod Taylor turned down a chance to participate as an alternate, also because of injury.'

'Brown finished second in the NFL in total tackles with 130, and also had four sacks, four passes defensed, two forced fumble and an interception. He wasn't shy about expressing his disappointment when the rosters were announced last month, tweeting "snub," shortly after learning Hightower and Baltimore's C.J. Mosley would represent the AFC at inside linebacker. "I said, 'damn, I didn't make it?' It was disappointing," he said. "I was hot. I ain't going to lie. I was mad. I felt like I should've been outright. It just felt that way."'

'Since the start of 2003, the Bills have had only three games where their quarterback threw for 344 yards or more — all three by Ryan Fitzpatrick, once each in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and Buffalo still lost two of those games.'

'In the cases of Hogan and Levitre, they wanted to keep both players but in the end had to make wise business decisions as they pertained to free agency and managing their roster and salary cap. In the case of Branch, who has a checkered resume, they made a wise decision as it pertained to paying money to a problem player who was given a big contract extension only to run afoul with the code of conduct.'

'After a slow start to the season, Gilmore played well much of the rest of the way and he led the Bills with five interceptions, most by a Bill since Jairus Byrd made five in 2012. He has 14 picks in his five-year career.'

'Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore was also announced to the 2017 Pro Bowl. This will be Gilmore's first Pro Bowl appearance. In addition to Brown, Gilmore will join Lorenzo Alexander, Richie Incognito and Kyle Williams.'

'Brown would start all 16 games with Buffalo on his way to a career-year. He finished second in the league in tackles (149) and added four sacks, four passes defensed, one interception and two forced fumbles.'

'"Rex never frustrated me," Incognito said. "Listen, I'll never say a bad thing about Rex. That's my guy until I die. It's one thing to be a rah-rah guy and to be fist-pumping out there when the team's kicking field goals and not really having much success, but it's another thing to be a player's coach and to want guys to compete and to push guys to play week in and week out. I think that's what (Rex and Mike Tomlin) catch. They can relate to the players and the players see part of themselves in the coaches."'