Archives for July 2017

'Ownership has to be pleased with the public's faith in an untested new regime. Most fans don't have high expectations about this season, but they seem encouraged and confident that Beane and McDermott are competent NFL men who will get things turned around.'

'Well I think everybody’s still got a little bit of work to do – I don’t think anybody by any stretch of imagination have graduated from grad school or nothing, I think there’s always work to be done. But he, along with the other guys in the room are willing to do that from what I’ve seen. Just going through the meetings, we had an interactive meeting where there were a lot of questions being fired at them and they answered them very well.'

'McDermott did say the Bills planned to be careful with Glenn's workload, but it's a good sign for Henderson that he stepped in with the starters. While he still has to serve a five-game suspension, if Henderson can prove his worth to the new coaching staff he might have a spot waiting for him when he returns.'

'“When I heard coach McDermott was a candidate to be head coach, I was thinking yeah, he was at Carolina, they ran a 4-3,” Lawson said. “I worked out with coach McDermott (prior to the 2016 draft) and the GM (Dave Gettleman), I had a private workout for them, so I was kind of familiar with their defense. It was pretty much what I was running at Clemson for three years, so when I heard, I was very happy.”'

'Now Ragland is back, hoping this visit to Rochester goes a little better. He’s also playing in a different defense, and that starting role Whaley and Ryan almost guaranteed him last year is quite the opposite. He and Preston Brown are battling for the middle linebacker spot in McDermott’s 4-3, and the veteran Brown may have the inside track based on three years of NFL experiences, and more defensive snaps than any player on the team in that span. Ragland could move out to the weak side spot if no one establishes an identity there.'

'The Bills' defensive line was getting quite the push on Friday afternoon. Jerry Hughes got into the backfield for a sack and Shaq Lawson picked up multiple sacks during practice. Of course, pads haven't come on yet, so it's tough to get a true evaluation of the linemen. That said, the defensive line has an early edge on the offensive line, and as was feared, right tackle looks like a bit of a weakness.'

'"I feel good," McCoy said after the Bills' second practice of training camp. "I feel the same. I feel young. I feel about 25. Making the same runs, same cuts that feel good. I feel explosive. That's my game — being explosive, quick. So when that kind of turns, and that leaves, then I'll be in trouble, but for now I feel fine. I can keep doing this until I'm about 33 man."'

'"We're going to make some plays and giving the ball to him when we think he's got some chances," said Dennison. "(McCoy's workload) is not my expertise. I'm trying to move the offense, and certainly he's one of our playmakers on offense."'

'McCoy will have a 92 overall rating, finishing behind Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell (97) and Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (94).'

'"That’s one thing I haven’t done, I’ve been to the playoffs but haven’t won a playoff game. You just look for different things to improve on and get better; the chase, I call it chasing, I’m chasing a ring, I’m chasing different yardage, I’m chasing playoff wins. You just try to find things that motivate you working out, and motivate yourself," McCoy said.'

'A couple of starting positions on defense were up for grabs coming into camp, but so far there aren't any major surprises. In the secondary, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are roaming the safety positions while Ron Darby and rookie Tre White have the corner spots locked down.'

'Phillips combined with his predecessor, Marv Levy, to coach 230 games. The 256 games since then have seen eight different coaches. And to be fair, many of those eight said the same things that McDermott and Beane were saying on Thursday.'

'“I think we play best when we can attack, no matter what label you want to put on the front. When we can be aggressive, use our athletic ability and our strength and power, I think that’s when we’re at our best.”'

'"That's easy," he said of the milestone. "I'm gonna have a big year this year, I'm gonna win some games. So that's easy, 30 — 10 years."'

'There is a legitimate and healthy competition going on for the team’s nickel cornerback position between Kevon Seymour and Leonard Johnson. Seymour played 15 games last season, starting three of them as a rookie. The 27-year old Johnson played the nickel CB spot for head coach Sean McDermott last year in Carolina and for Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier when he was in the same position in Tampa. Through two days, Johnson has been getting the starting reps as the extra DB with Seymour working in after that. However, Seymour also got some work on the outside with the second-unit defense with Shareece Wright on the other side opposite him.'