Two Bills Drive

‘On Monday morning, Hamilton’s Ray Thomas was cut by the Buffalo Bills. By all accounts he’d done well at training camp. He’d simply become caught in a numbers game. The team was happy with his work. He was pleased with his own performance. There just wasn’t room on the roster for a third tight end. So he was called into coach Gregg Williams’ office and told he wasn’t needed. Not yet anyway.’

‘Rone made the team after a sparkling preseason last year, but was never active for a game. With the emergence of Clarence Coleman, Rodney Wright and Antonio Brown, Rone never really had a chance this preseason.’

‘Thus far, McGahee has been limited to individual stationary drills on the sideline during practices.’

‘The Bills announced that the team has released the following players…De’Mond Parker…Andre Rone…Brandon Spoon…’

‘Under NFL rules, McGahee could begin practicing between the end of week 6 and the end of week 9 of the season. The Bills would then have a three-week window to determine whether to activate McGahee or sit him out for the rest of the season.’

‘Winning one against the Pats will give this team much confidence, and the Bills will continue their rise from 3-13 two years ago to. . . .11-5, No. 3 seed in the AFC.’

‘Few people are going to spend between $30 and $48 per ticket to take their kids to a pre-season game. But at $8 it was not only affordable, but also an excellent entertainment option for kids who had plenty more to do than merely watch the game. Any number of youth who normally would never get to see the Bills in person got to experience live pro football. And when some of them get older, they might just become season ticket holders. The whole idea is a no-brainer.’

‘"We’ve got a lot of guys with some depth at positions that we haven’t had for a couple of years here and coming down to the fourth game, we don’t know enough about," Williams said. "There was a time when people thought you could do it in two games but it would be awful hard."’

‘The Buffalo Bills NFL Alumni Foundation Inc. has a full schedule of events for Sept. 6-8, including its 16th annual Celebrity Golf Tournament at Brierwood Country Club to benefit Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo and Erie County.’

‘” I see myself fitting in in a bunch of different places on defense and on special teams,” he said.’

‘Jett, who was let go by the Oakland Raiders last February, didn’t catch a pass in three pre-season games for the Bills, who signed him in early June.’

‘Meanwhile, the Bills re-signed rookie quarterback Jason Johnson, who the team had released on the final day of training camp at St. John Fisher College. "I don’t know if he had found out already that Travis (Brown) had gotten hurt but he was back in a flash and was right back in the meetings and was ready to go," said Williams. "He understands the terminology and he’ll be ready to play this week."’

‘Coach Gregg Williams said Brown will have a pin inserted to hold the finger on his right hand in place. Williams added that it will take further evaluation to determine when Brown will be able to return.’

‘Jett was released by Oakland last February, and signed with the Bills in June in an attempt to continue his career after spending his previous 10 seasons with the Raiders. The Bills also released third-year safety Tony Driver, second-year cornerback Ahmad Brooks, offensive guard Richard Seals and tight end Ray Thomas.’

‘In other moves, the team placed tackle Gary Byrd on Injured Reserve (knee) and has re-signed rookie quarterback Jason Johnson.’