BillsVet

In the span of 3 months, this happened: 1. May: 1st round pick Shaq Lawson, whose shoulder removed him from other teams' boards suffers a shoulder injury during a non-contact drill. He undergoes surgery and will not be able to play until Week 8. 2. May: The same day Lawson's injury is announced, it is revealed Sammy Watkins had foot surgery a month previous and is uncertain for training camp. 3. May: The Bills media policy is made known and widely panned for preventing any record of what players do in practice. Later, the policy is walked back. 4. May: GM Doug Whaley tells WGR 550 radio that football is "a violent game that I personally don't think humans are supposed to play." The team is forced to issue a clarification the following day. 5. July: Karlos Williams shows up 20+ pounds overweight and later is suspended 4 games for a violation of the league's substance abuse policy. 6. July: Jonathan Williams, a 2016 5th round pick is arrested for DWI in Arkansas. 7. July: Manny Lawson is injured while working out and misses the beginning of training camp. 8. August: Reggie Ragland, a 2nd round pick the team depended on as an immediate starter, suffers a knee injury and will miss the 2016 season. 9. August: Cordy Glenn suffers a high ankle sprain and will miss the entire pre-season. Expected to be available for week 1. 10. August: Manny Lawson is suspended 1 game for a violation of the league's domestic violence policy. 11. August: Marcell Dareus suspended 4 games for a violation of the league's substance abuse policy. I didn't include McCoy's fight with off-duty cops in Philadelphia, but considered it (EDIT:) because he was not charged.

It's only 1 year the Bills haven't made the playoffs. What's another one? It's hard to win in the NFL anyway.

Well, let's look on the bright side. If that injury suffered during his max bench attempt isn't healed, he has one more week now.

Many of these recent signings to play LB were so experienced, other teams had forgotten they were out there as free agents.

He's the owner and can reset the clock based on his tenure. Those fans who agree with this perspective either showed up when TPegs did or exist in a results optional state of mind. Anything to avoid criticism and deflect from the reality the Bills haven't been good for a long time.

Good thing it's only been 1 year they haven't won. The 15 previous to that, well, they don't count because the Ministry of Truth, i.e. OBD has wiped them from history. I sense that Blanton is going to get a lot of playing time this year.

Sure, why not. The Ministry of Truth has spoken and their water carriers pass it off accordingly.

It's more nuanced than simply saying Kiko for Shady. KA's rookie contract turned into a 5 year 40M deal for McCoy that helped hamstring them this off-season. I've always thought the best way to describe the team under Whaley in terms of resources was as Bill from NYC said: he's been fast and loose. Why did the team need a RB who demanded a contract extension to this degree? After 6 seasons of wear and tear?

And on opening day, you hope they'll have 3 starting (Woods, Watkins, Darby) out of the 8 picks in rounds 1-2 from 2013-16. Ouch.

Symbolism over substance. You can have 46 dudes with the right attitude who aren't very talented and play under a bad game plan. It probably won't win you a lot of games. Ah, civility at its finest. This off-season has to go down as one of the worst for this franchise. A bad cap situation from their 2015 spending spree, Watkins broken foot, drafting damaged goods Lawson, Whaley's inept comments, the Bills idiotic media policy, and now Ragland's out for the season. Well, I'm waiting for someone to say it's just bad luck. Like it tends to become every season the team falters. At least Rex is more subdued now.

John, whatever happened to "show me the baby?" You gotta make the playoffs to earn cred. Talking about making it, no matter how new the person is, ain't cutting it. Unless you're content with .500 or below, which is a possibility with the results optional/team first/no accountability crowd.

I have a hard time praising Doug Whaley right now for anything, especially decisions made at QB almost a year ago. The same Whaley who drafted a guy in the 2016 1st round with a significant shoulder injury, who said football isn't a game humans should play, and despite being one of the highest spending teams, still has issues in the defensive front 7. And let's not forget we're not sure they even have a QB after 4 off-season he's been the top personnel guy. OK, he gets credit for trading Matt Cassel. But whatever gain there is more than overcome by the whiffs elsewhere. And that includes Manuel.

I've never understood why Buffalo has invested so little in the TE position as other teams used athletic types to exploit defenses. Now, they've signed (and since re-negotiated) Charles Clay to be that player for them. There aren't a lot of great cover LB's, but there are plenty of TE's who can run the seam and make difficult catches. Buffalo will be forced to throw the ball this year and Clay had better factor into that. I'm not convinced opposing DC's are concerned with any WR beyond Watkins. Roman had better think of creative ways to get the ball downfield because the run isn't always going to be easy.

And there are some who continue to believe it's just bad luck when the Bills cannot reach the playoffs.

Wait, now we love the media? Last month was all about hating the media because they dared question OBD. How does OBD feel now 26?

I prefer the "Baghdad" Bob comparison. Most of the youngsters don't know who Goebbels was, but they may remember the dude who said American troops weren't any threat to Iraq's capital in 2003.

The Bills need a remedial Cap Management 101 course to help them. I can see it now if there are further negotiation problems with Gilmore. Some fans will say he's expendable with Darby on the roster. Or that they can find another good CB in the draft. Or Gilmore's asking price was too high. All of this ignores the root of the problem with the front office: They make bad decisions at an alarmingly high rate. Those McCoy and Clay contracts are going to hurt, and represent money given to non-homegrown players.

The same Russ Brandon who chose not to go to the NHL Draft Lottery to make phone calls to UDFAs after the draft ended? Sure, it's not a big thing, but Smithers is involved and every time his name pops up I think of this: Russ' personality isn't one to take a back seat and he's not changing.

Rex has 5 straight non-playoff seasons as a NFL HC, which puts him in rare company. Ownership has given their HC and GM every resource to get this team into the post-season, so it'll be interesting if in fact they don't make it. They very well could and this is a moot point. Just because the Pegula's are loyal doesn't mean they'll go William Clay Ford and allow incompetent types to remain in place. They have to want to win and ought to know when their football management isn't getting it done.

Did I say anything that isn't factual? Because facts don't care about fan-hood. There should be a safe zone, i.e. non-critical zone, created here on TBD. I beginning to think it's necessary for too many fans.

Say with it me JfH..."I...cannot...criticize...the...team...I...cannot...criticize...the...team." The Dodd and Lawson situations are not splitting hairs. It's a case of someone having a pre-existing condition (Lawson) versus a player (Dodd) who learned of the injury while in mini-camp (if reports are to be believed). Dodd also stands to be back for training camp, while various reports indicate Lawson will miss perhaps 5 or more. Tennessee has a few guys in his position who'll play while Buffalo will rely on Manny Lawson and some UDFAs/SFA's to fill in while Lawson recovers. It's amazing the extent you homers go to not criticize this team. No franchise has had a worse month than the Bills, who successfully found every pothole to fall into recently. For some reason it doesn't elicit the slightest hint of reality, although I guess this makes me a negative nabob.

The question isn't whether they've got experience or know which scheme they're running. It's still whether their scheme is going to work in a rapidly evolving NFL. All these looks and complexities are nice, but are you able to get the right package on the field playing New England? Are the players able to digest it and run it well from the get-go? Apparently they think football is still about being the biggest and baddest dudes around. That's nice for copy but it still ain't winning football games. Time to put up or shut up.

The 11 receivers beyond Watkins and Woods are a who's who of undrafted and street free agents. Little, Hankerson, Boykin, and Salas have all played or been a roster member for at least 4 teams, so expecting them to magically transform into a competent third option is wishful thinking. The remaining 7 receivers have done almost nothing in the NFL. Buffalo needs to work Clay into the passing game because after Woods there's very little.

Tell that to ownership who are trying to market a brand which depends on the on-field product actually being a winner. And tell that to career-minded individuals at OBD who know that in the NFL if you're not trying to win now you're getting closer to being fired.

I cannot believe how poor he is thinking on his feet. Public speaking isn't optional for people with a public position.