Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘“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.’

‘“I knew of American football but my interest spiked when I heard about this guy,’’ de Beer said. “He has an amazing story, in a sense like mine. I chased after my dream because of him and I’m hoping my story might inspire somebody to do the same.’’’

‘McDermott said the players will be shown videos to help show them what will be considered illegal. “We’ve put together some films to build the rep count and the exposure so we can build our awareness of what they’re going to call and not call, and understand what they’re looking for,” he said.’

‘“I was surprised how quick the fans caught on, and I definitely appreciate it, but I don’t want to be just a training camp favorite, I hope to be a regular-season and playoff favorite as well,” he said. “That’s what I’m working for.”’

‘“We’ll try to phase him in, like we do all of our injured players,” McDermott said. “I ask our trainers, ‘Hey, when you say he’s back, does that mean he’s full go, full reps? Does that mean it’s his first day back on the practice field (so we should take it easy)?’ We have a plan to move him forward so that when he does come back, he’ll be a little limited to start off and then get him going from there.”’

‘“To me, it’s all on how bad do you want it?’’ Boesen added. “It could be bad grades that keep a kid out of college, you can get into trouble. But you can go to junior college and still make it. It’s about putting your head down, working hard and making it happen.’’’

‘Experience isn’t the issue the skeptics are raising; it has more to do with the level of talent. Williams is right in that the six aforementioned players all have at least three years of NFL experience, but what has fans and media vexed is whether this group can protect the quarterback, whoever that is, and win up front enough in the run game to give LeSean McCoy a chance, especially when the Bills figure to see plenty of eight-man boxes this season.’

‘I still don’t see Allen winning the starting job out of camp, but again, it’s way too early to make an educated guess.’

‘McCarron and Peterman didn’t have quite the range of success/failure, and of the two, it seemed like McCarron was a little sharper. At one stage working with the backups, Peterman was frustrated because the left tackle jumped to kill a play, and after things were reset, running back Keith Ford lined up on the wrong side in the backfield and Peterman needed to interrupt his cadence to point it out. After he handed the ball to Ford at the snap, Peterman turned around and looked perturbed as he talked to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.’

‘“The biggest thing is I knew it was a playoff team,” said Ivory. “Last year I was with Jacksonville and we got to go against these guys in the playoffs. That was one of the reasons, they were a playoff-caliber team. On top of that just knowing there was a lot of good guys on the team.”’

‘“Everything is based on the coach’s decision, so I’m just going by what everyone wants me to do,” Foster said. “Everything I’m doing right now is getting mental reps, watching the vets and do everything that I can to learn from them. My job is when I have the opportunity, embrace it, and if not, take the mental reps from the vets.”’

‘“I think he’s a hard-working guy,” Daboll said. “He’s professional, he learns every day, he does his best not to make the same mistake twice. He’s got a good rapport with the players and that’s what you need to have at quarterback. Where he’s at now to where he’s going to be, I can’t tell you right now, we haven’t been out there practicing with pads or taking a hit, but he’s a professional young man.”’