Archives for March 24, 2017

'"I just love being able to go out and play with confidence in my strengths," Johnson said in a conference call with the Western New York media this week. "Any time you can go out and play without thinking, you’re playing fast and you enjoy playing the game. When coach introduced the defense to me, it was almost like ‘man, it’s simple,’ but at the same time it can be a little bit challenging learning the terminology and just knowing where to be at the right time, but it eliminates all the thinking of it.

'“I continue to hear that new Bills coach Sean McDermott has growing cache with ownership and that team could be bringing in vice presidents and/or personnel figures with ties to the coach in the near future,” La Canfora writes. “Panthers director of player personnel is someone particularly well thought of who could end up in Buffalo after the draft in one capacity or another. There are already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills Gm Doug Whaley likely isn’t built to last.”'

'The Bills announced Thursday that their offseason program will indeed start that day. The rest of the team's offseason program is as follows, with the dates listed being those open to the media. There is no public viewing during spring practices – typically one of the sessions per week is open to reporters…'.

'The property will now be rolled into the 197-acre stadium complex already owned by Erie County, which includes New Era Field, the Bills' Field House and other practice facilities.'

'"Peterman's experience in a pro-style passing attack gives him a head start headed into the league. His physical attributes are just average, but his accuracy, composure and anticipation are what sets him apart from some of the more physically gifted quarterbacks in this year's draft. Peterman's tape is sure to catch the eye of at least a few teams in need of a quarterback and he should come off the board by day two with a chance to become a solid starting quarterback in the future."'

'"Taylor has been a good quarterback — completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 6,058 yards, a 94.2 passer rating and a TD-to-INT ratio of 37:12 in two seasons as the Bills starter — and a legit leader. I think he can elevate his game even more now that former coach Rex Ryan is gone and discipline will be restored in Buffalo — the team won't be penalized like it was last year, when it racked up 127 penalties costing a total of 960 yards. Sean McDermott is a worker, and it goes noted he rightly wanted Taylor back. Taylor won't have to worry about being used as a pawn in a mind-numbing and unfair game between Ryan and GM Doug Whaley.'

'The 43-year-old first time head coach has since become the face of the organization in regard to public relations. CBS also states that McDermott and Whaley’s relationship “likely isn’t built to last,” suggesting McDermott has the upper hand within the organization.'

'“(The) significant change in the Buffalo/Seattle proposal would be allowing a coach to challenge any officiating decision, which would include a foul that is called or a foul that is not called,” Blandino said, in answer to a question from Postmedia.'

'The exact dates of all the team's offseason workouts will be announced at a later date, but along with knowing the first date players will begin work, the team announced media availability for players and coaches for…'.

'As for Whaley, he survived even though Rex Ryan did not. Plus, he was not the man that hired McDermott (that was Terry and Kim Pegula), so there are no obvious ties that are keeping him to see out the entire McDermott era.'

'“Well, we’ve got three or four ideas,” said Brandt. “But the main thing is the Bills cave. I’ve got all sorts of Bills memorabilia from over the years, including some things from the ‘60s. We thought [about" target="_blank"> designing a whole bar around it—my daughter is very creative so she is going to design one and sketch one out…So until we get him home and see where he is comfortable…we are going to have to play it by ear.”'