Archives for October 9, 2023

‘“Next man up. You know, obviously it sucks. ‘Lano’ is the energy, the leader of this defense, but it’s football,” said linebacker Tyrel Dodson. “Stuff happens. I had to sneak my head in (the medical tent), because I felt for him. Linebacker room, we tried to play for him. He covers so much ground, makes so many plays, so we’ll go back in the film room and see how we can make up for ‘Lano.’ ”’

‘But it didn’t happen … inexcusably. It didn’t happen in the first quarter … shockingly. It didn’t happen to start the second half … embarrassingly.’

‘Though the Bills lost 25-20 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Epenesa was a bright spot on a banged-up defense. The defensive end set career highs in sacks (2) and passes defensed (3). He forced and recovered a fumble, and he logged four total tackles.’

‘The Tottenham Hotspur soccer team plays its games on natural grass, but that field is rolled out of the stadium and replaced by an artificial surface for the NFL games.’

‘“I feel pretty good,” Miller said. “It felt, you know, good just to be out there with the guys, like I said on Wednesday practicing in Buffalo, it just felt good to be back in the motion. It’s a great starting point for me and I can build on that for sure.”’

‘If you had to rank the players the Bills could least afford to lose to injury entering the season, it would look like this: 1. Josh Allen. 2. Stefon Diggs. 3. Tre’Davious White. 4. Dion Dawkins. 5. Matt Milano. 5. Taron Johnson. 6-tie. Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones (take your pick). Fans can quibble about the ranking. Doesn’t matter. The presumption is Milano is out for the majority of the season with a leg injury, and Jones may be out most of the season with a pectoral injury. That’s three of the Bills’ five most hard-to-replace players gone.’

‘The Bills’ offense was stuck in the mud for all but their final possession of the first half. They started punt, punt, punt and punt.’

‘The Jaguars saw a toss play wide to the right coming. Jacksonville had nine men in the box, with just safety Andre Cisco back in the deep middle. Dawson Knox and Gabe Davis were lined up tight to the right tackle. The Bills like to have Davis crack block on the defensive end in that alignment.’

‘The biggest issue for the coaching staff, however, is the team’s lack of energy, urgency – whatever word you want to use – at the start of the game. That’s inexcusable, and it’s an issue that, dating to the playoff loss to the Bengals, continues to be a problem.’

‘Drew Zach, Resurgence’s director of operations, said the brewery sold out 120 reservations for its VIP package that included the chance to try a calorie-laden full English breakfast with sausage, bacon and baked beans.’