Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘The Bills were downright dynamic on offense in the first half as Nathan Peterman and A.J. McCarron combined to complete 16 of 20 passes for 235 yards with Peterman throwing a 28-yard TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin, and McCarron directing two drives that ended with a field goal and a touchdown run by Marcus Murphy.’

‘Benjamin didn’t have much to say in the apparent pregame argument but got the first word in when the game started. Benjamin was roaring at New Era Field in the first quarter. He had four catches for 59 yards on Buffalo’s opening drive, including a 28-yard TD reception.’

‘And both performed splendidly in leading the Bills to an entertaining 17-7 halftime lead before giving way to Allen’s equally entertaining — if not winning — debut with the third stringers.’

‘After that, the third game at home against Cincinnati on Aug. 26 will be very interesting. The guy who starts that game may be the one who has locked up the starting job because it doesn’t seem plausible that Allen would get his turn, being that he has hardly played with the 1’s to this point.’

‘His two-year stint with the Browns, however, was marred by two broken hands, pedestrian production (56 catches, 718 yards, five TDs) in an offense beset with quarterback problems and legal troubles stemming from an ugly assault case on New Year’s Eve 2016 that left a man bloodied and beaten and lying in the parking garage of Coleman’s downtown apartment building.’

‘“Look, the games are important,” McDermott said. “Up to this point we haven’t had games to weigh. We had the spring in shorts and t-shirts basically, and now we’ve had training camp, somewhat in pads, and now we’ll have games to factor into that equation, that evaluation, and ultimately that decision.”’

‘Kerley has been plugged into the slot receiver role, but if he proves to be one of the two best receivers, McDermott seems comfortable in the thought that he could play on the outside opposite Kelvin Benjamin. So far in camp, Kerley has lined up in several spots.’

‘The peer program is mentoring group that attempts to ease the transition into society for military veterans gripped by post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.’

‘“Look, there’s a time and a place, and I’m not talking specifically to the comments that were made, but there’s a time and a place for things like that. This was not one of them,’’ said a perturbed coach Sean McDermott.’

‘Playing in Baylor’s pass-happy offense, Coleman was the 2015 Biletnikoff winner as the nation’s top collegiate wide receiver. That season, he had 20 touchdown receptions, which led all of Division I. He is also Baylor’s career TD leader with 33, and during his three seasons, he caught 173 passes for 3,009 yards.’

‘“That happened a while ago, I respect your question and your concern for that, but I’m trying to move forward in the right direction,” he said. “A lot has gone on with me, but I’m happy to be out here. I think I would be doing myself a big disservice if I went back to there. That moment was very traumatic for me and my family, and to rehash that now at this point in time wouldn’t do me any good.”’

‘“That actually turned into a project,” Hyde said. “We gutted the whole house and he ended up selling it and now he lives at the farm (15 miles away from Fostoria in Tiffin, Ohio). That was one of those moments that I’ll never forget. We pull up to his house and literally there’s smoke still coming from the roof and he’s smiling. It was one of those times where he taught us whatever life throws at you, it is what it is.”’

‘“It was part of the plan from the beginning, part of the routine,” McDermott said. “If you go back and think red zone two days ago, a day in between, then another red zone day. We wanted to make sure Nate (Peterman) and A.J. (McCarron) had time in the red zone (with the 1s). Nate was first (on Tuesday), and if we had stayed with the rotation, it would have been Nate again (Thursday).”’

‘“They want to be here every day and be around their father,” Brandie said one morning earlier this week as the boys ran around on the main field after Logan had finished his post-practice drills. “It’s not that bad of a drive, an hour and a half. I want them to have the memories that they can make here every day.”’

‘That alteration completely counteracted the first rule because teams considered those extra 5 yards precious, so why give the offense the free real estate with a touchback? The edict for kicker became, rather than boom the ball through the end zone, keep it in play because most teams felt they could tackle the return man inside the 25. Meaning, collisions were back in vogue.’