Captain Caveman Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 and about to be 0-1. Go Bills, but we ain't beatin' Chicago. and the Frog has spoken
8-8 Forever? Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Listen to Fred's interview on bb.com posted yesterday or the day before. Specifically praises EJ for how in control of things he is. Good to hear. and by the end of September we'll know whether he is or not. all good. bring on the season.
Captain Caveman Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Good to hear. and by the end of September we'll know whether he is or not. all good. bring on the season. Yeah, but he's looking for support by a teammate discussing a game, while standing on one foot, patting his head and rubbing his belly.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 On the contrary though, you know what they say, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. If they are trying to build a winning culture, wouldn't they be using more positive reinforcements. Teammates speak highly in public about a QB and the fans get into it, in turn feeding the Support to the team. Players believe more in themselves, and therefore play with more confidence. Challenge: Search some other team after a crap game and find out how many "public statements of support" you find. Giants (Eli Manning) and SF (Kaepernick) would be two good choices as teams with proven capable NFL QB who have not looked stellar this preseason. Do you find 'em? It's preseason for cripes sake. A lot of the team has been crapping the bed.
RuntheDamnBall Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Yeah, but he's looking for support by a teammate discussing a game, while standing on one foot, patting his head and rubbing his belly. You forgot, "while chewing gum." The gum is critical. And what brand? Dentyne is probably an indicator that the praise is disingenuous.
BobChalmers Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 I didn't think the season started yet. 1. THIS - the OP pretty much ruins his chances for sounding rational in the thread title. 2. Maybe the actual NFL players on the team don't see the need to "DEFEND" EJ's play?
RuntheDamnBall Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 1. THIS - the OP pretty much ruins his chances for sounding rational in the thread title. 2. Maybe the actual NFL players on the team don't see the need to "DEFEND" EJ's play? Doesn't it imply that a reporter would have to be attacking EJ's play, or asking the player to defend it? The whole premise is ridiculous. I'm done contributing to it, personally.
BobChalmers Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Here are some of the players commenting on him this week in regards to not being a team captain. Sounds like they hate him and don't think he's the long-term answer at QB (NOT): “It’s one of those things where we have a lot of veteran leadership on the team,” Jackson said. “Give him time, he’ll definitely be a captain at some point.” “With him being a quarterback, that’s a lot of pressure,” Spikes said of Manuel. “He’s going to lead and he’s going to be great. The sky’s the limit for that kid. He’s just got to keep working. He’s young but I’m looking for him to be that leader for us and get us going.”
mitchmurraydowntown Posted September 2, 2014 Author Posted September 2, 2014 Why on earth would anyone go beyond the usual platitudes that express general support for EJ since on the face of it, the offenses 0 for 3+ games is clearly not defendable. No one with half a football brain (including the Whaley/ Merrone braintrust) had envisioned EJ as more than a PROJECT. He was the best PROJECT at QB in last year's QB poor class. It was really a choice between Geno Smith and EJ as the Bills had to go QB in the first round, but no one with any football intellect expected EJ to play like the QB we wanted without at least a season (16 starts) under his vbelt. Quite frankly a season and a half or maybe two full seasons of starts were likely to be needed to iron put his game. The task confrontingWhaley/Merrone was not to draft a QB who would be where we want in his first season (or two more likely) Their task was o build a TEAM capable of competing for the playoffs with an inadequate QB as none was out there in the draft or FA. The disappointment so far many feel about EJ says more about their lack of understanding of the game than it does about EJ. He was drafted as an inconsistent PROJECT with more upside than Smith and he remains a PROJECT with more upside than Smith ot other young QBs. Lack of understanding ? The kid's footwork is terrible & he looks unbalanced on almost every play, you need those simple things to even begin to play in the NFL.
Tipster19 Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Come on guys it's a holiday weekend. Don't you have enough family members around to fight with? If I wanted to see this crap I would turn on jerry springer Lol! Although the fights on Springer aren't what they use to be.
Kipers Hair Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Just scrambling for hope this AM, something to hang hat on....not a bad read on what EJ can do....http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000065839/article/florida-states-ej-manuel-settles-doubts-with-win-over-clemson
Hplarrm Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Doesn't it imply that a reporter would have to be attacking EJ's play, or asking the player to defend it? The whole premise is ridiculous. I'm done contributing to it, personally. Actually, this poster identifies the correct answer to this question from a football proffessionals POV, there really is little reason for any Bills player to have t defend EJ's play as yes he has stunk so far, but I don't think anyone who really knows the game expected anything else from EJ that when the Bills chose him they knew full well he was a PROJECT. He was going to take at least one, and probably 2 full seasons of taking snaps (at least 16 games and probably 32) before he began to perform like the QB the Bills want and deserve. The conventional wisdom is usually wrong in the NFL, but one place where the CW is actually pretty correct is that one needs to see 3 seasons of play before a legitimate judgment can be made about whether an athlete is a true player or a bust. Us fans though pay for our tickets (or buy the cars, beer, and soap sold by the advertisers) so we have "earned" our uninformed fan view. EJ "needs" to be defended only against fan expectation (by definition unreasonable if we are true fans- but true fans still love the team despite a decade and a half of missing the playoffs) or are bloviators like Sully, Schoop, or many on TSW and really can be ignored after only 16 starts (EJ is actually a rookie for real assessment purposes) potentially 32 starts and honestly 48 starts until a serious judgment can be made. Quite frankly in terms of the "real" game, EJ is about right on track. When Whaley/Merrone picked him they already knew that he was an incredibly physically gifted and talented, hard working and boasting a bunch of real world achievements from his college career at FSU. They also knew full well that he was incredibly inconsistent as an NFL prospect because a lot of the things which brought him success in college (he was athletically superior to most of his opponents, and his teammates were men compared to the boys he faced were simply no longer true. Further, the defenses he would now face were designed by adults rather than the childlike level of even elite college football. Even among elite players, the norm is not BenRoesthnbergeresque or Eli Manning achievement, the norm is more like Todd Marinovich or in good cases like Eric Moulds. There really is no rational reason to have to defend a player good enough to start more than half a dozen games as a rookie QB. However, rationality is not why we are fans, so the usual platitudes must be given by the teammates and EJ himself, but for the most part complaints are simply best ignored by folks who really know football at this point. at this point.
Hplarrm Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 Lack of understanding ? The kid's footwork is terrible & he looks unbalanced on almost every play, you need those simple things to even begin to play in the NFL. Complaints about the details of EJs play are legit from us fans, because we are not paid to be rationale. However, think back to examples we all remember like an Eric Moulds who legitimately could not even appear on the field his first two years despite his being a first round choice at a "simple" position like WR. EJ was drafted as a PROJECT. He was taken in the 1st not because he was clearly Joe Montana (a 3rd round choice), Tom Brady (a 6th round choice) or Kurt Warner (I think Wal-mart picked him to be a boxboy) but because with at least one full season of work, and more likely approaching two full seasons of work he MIGHT perform like the quality of QB we want and deserve. EJ is on track right now in that he impressively is a legit starting QB as a rookie even though some basic fundamentals in his game need some work. Its like the old story Matt Suey used to tell about going camping with Walter Peyton. Suey would say how he woke up before 6aqm and found Paeyton already lacing up his tennis shoes and reporting to Matt that there was a grizzly bear inspecting their campsite for food. A wise Penn Stater, Suey said to Peytin, forget about your shoes you cannot outrub a grizzly over a short distance. Peyton replied, I do not have to outrun a grizzly, I just have to outrun you. The only question whether EJ is a better prospect than Geno Smith when determining his draft position. Even trading down they stretched o take EJ when they did but he was a legit PROJECT to take when the Bills grabbed him last year. Whaley/Merrone's goal were not to draft a QB who could immediately be a great. good, or even adequate performer as a starting MFL QB. The Bills QB record in the post Jimbo era were so bad (TC, Hobert, AVP, RJ,Flutie, JP, etc) were so bad the Bills had to take a QB in the first. EJ was the clear choice as even second legit choice Geno Smith would have been correctly greeted with tears and laughter. Its still to early to get your panties all up in a wad and throw EJ under the bus. The legit judgment to be made of the Bills braintrust is not whether they picked a good enough QB (that player does not exist in the 1st round of the last draft, but whether acquired folks in the next drafts, from FA, trades and developing our own to win even with an inadequate QB.
hondo in seattle Posted September 2, 2014 Posted September 2, 2014 "When a pickpocket walks down the street, all he sees are pockets." The OP isn't an EJ fan - clearly - and only seems to notice the bad stuff and miss the good. It's hard to know what the players truly think of EJ. But certainly a number of them have praised him this year.
mitchmurraydowntown Posted September 6, 2014 Author Posted September 6, 2014 Love for the coach, this is what I'm talking about: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/06/bills-mike-williams-is-head-over-heels-for-doug-marrone/#comment-3604927
juno999 Posted September 6, 2014 Posted September 6, 2014 "When a pickpocket walks down the street, all he sees are pockets." The OP isn't an EJ fan - clearly - and only seems to notice the bad stuff and miss the good. It's hard to know what the players truly think of EJ. But certainly a number of them have praised him this year. The players have no choice but to praise him. First of all they haven't played their first real game so the crap hasn't hit the fan. Second, like it or not, he is the starting qb and they have to make the best of it. You can't win with a divisive locker room. It's bad mojo.
Kipers Hair Posted September 6, 2014 Posted September 6, 2014 Just a hunch, by week 4, even the media will be defending EJ...let alone his teammates. Going into his final year at FSU, EJ faced similar doubt and concern and erased it all against a highly ranked Clemson team early that year...on his way to a Bowl win and first round selection. I am going to back his track record...he's capable and has ample tools at his disposal. The only chink in the armor is the play calling he will be given....
mitchmurraydowntown Posted September 8, 2014 Author Posted September 8, 2014 Great job by EJ yesterday, I couldn't be happier today, hopefully he continues to play well & protect himself.
BuffaloBob Posted September 8, 2014 Posted September 8, 2014 Nice try, DB! You don't get off that easy.
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