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Bills Ready For Season
Sunday September 4, 2016
One Claimed: The Bills claimed FB Danny Vitale off of waivers from Tampa Bay. He was a sixth round draft pick of the Bucs in this year's draft. He is more of a receiving fullback and H-back. Similar to the role of Glenn Gronkowksi. Right now they have decided to carry both of them as they released LB Jamari Lattimore. They had only one player they cut claimed and that was Lavar Edwards by the Panthers. All other players they cut are free to sign with other teams and if they have practice squad eligiblity the Bills can put them on the 10 man squad. They have already signed Dez Lewis and Jordan Gay to the practice squad. The agent for G Gabe Ikard tweeted the Bills have added him to the practice squad. Practice Squad.
Friday September 2, 2016
Ryan Talks Cuts: Rex Ryan addressed the media before practice this afternoon and would not go into details as to why they released Manny Lawson only to say Lorenzo Alexander earned the right to start. He said it's a tough day but also an exciting day since they are now getting ready for the regular season. The coach confirmed Reggie Bush is the number one punt and kick returner but Walter Powell will also be back there on kicks. On the injury front, Mike Gillislee and Marquise Goodwin are out of concussion protocol and back on the field. Aaron Williams has not been cleared to return to the field yet. Colt Anderson and Kevin Seymour are day to day. Anderson hurt his foot last night. Jonathan Williams is back on the field on a limited basis and is much better after suffering an injury to his ribs. Charles Clay also did not practice today along with Seantrel Henderson. Ryan hopes Henderson will be ready for the opener but isn't sure. He continues to battle Chron's Disease. Injury Page.
Lawson, Felton Among 21 Cuts: Rex Ryan said he expects to get the roster down to 53 and did just that by releasing 21 including two suprises. They released Manny Lawson and Jerome Felton. The moves save $2.35 Million in cap space for Lawson and $1.55 Million for Felton according to Mike Rodak of ESPN. That would likely mean Lorenzo Alexander will go from special teams signee to starter at outside linebacker until Shaq Lawson is ready to go. Glenn Gronkowski has likely made the team like Ryan said last night. He will likely be the starting fullback. The other 19 cuts are: Blake Annen, Kroy Biermann, Jarrett Boykin, Mario Butler, Kain Colter, Brandon Deaderick, Lavar Edwards, Boom Herron, Randell Johnson, Dez Lewis, Marquis Lucas, Chris Martin, Sterling Moore, Cyril Richardson, Sammy Seamster, Max Valles, Fernando Velasco, Casey Walker, and James Wilder Jr. The team also placed Marcell Dareus on the reserve-suspended list so he doesn't count against the 54 man roster. These cuts mean Walter Powell made the team as the fifth wide receiver and all three recent signees Ramon Humber, Lerentee McCray, and Patrick Lewis made the squad. The two new signees meant the end of Kory Biermann's time in Buffalo. Nick O'Leary is the third tight end. Two undrafted free agents made the team as Bryson Albright made it along with Gronkowski. They also did the unheard of thing of keeping six safeties. May have something to do with the foot injury suffered by Colt Anderson last night. Jamari Lattimore was a surprise keeper. He may have made the team after a solid performance last night. Depth Chart.
Thursday September 1, 2016
Ryan Presser: Rex Ryan spoke to the media after the blowout loss mercifully ended the preseason. He said they played poorly and Detroit handed it to them pretty good. He has a pretty good idea who will be on the roster he thought Glenn Gronkowksi, Jonathan Meeks, Ramon Humber, and Nick O'Leary played good. He was impressed with Humber's work ethic learning as much as he could as quickly as possible. He says there isn't any doubt Humber will make the football team. He was disappointed in Lavar Edwards who missed tackles. He was forced to play Leger Douzable too long who he thinks plays well. They will evaluate everything and he couldn't evaluate the quarterback play because of the protection issues they had.
Bills Blown Out In Preseason Finale 31-0: No reason to really recap the final preseason game as the Bills were blown out 31-0 in a game that was played mostly by players that will not be on the team when they kick it off for real on September 11th. The Bills actually opened up in the wishbone offense and went for it on 4th down in the first preseason. 27 players were listed as inactive and that didn't include Tyrod Taylor who of course did not play either.
Who Helped Themselves: The players that helped their case with solid play were Jerel Worthy who had a sack. Jamari Lattimore stood out at inside linebacker. Glenn Gronkowski had some solid blocks and was used as a running back some. He may have played his way on to the team. At the halftime interview, Rex Ryan said he was the only bright spot and they may not be able to let him go. Nick O'Leary made a lot of plays especially in the second half finishing with six catches for 63 yards which was huge numbers considering how poorly the Bills played offensively. With Blake Annen getting hurt he may have made the team.
Who Hurt Themselves: The backup offensive linemen were manhandled early by the backup defensive linemen of Detroit. Sammy Seamster really struggled in coverage and in tackling as he got extended playing time at corner. Kory Biermann may have played his way off the team when he was beaten around the edge for a 58 yard touchdown run on the Lions first series by rookie RB Dwayne Washington. Kain Colter dropped a pass and was called for a special teams penalty.
More Injuries: Fitting for the disastrous summer the Bills hvae had that they end it with more injuries. Just when I was thinking Jerel Worthy needed to come off the field he got rolled up on and was down for several minutes before walking off under his own power and slowly made his way to the locker room. He got checked out for a possible concussion and was cleared to return. The Bills lost James Wilder Jr. to concussion like symptoms in the first half. Rex Ryan said he would have played more wishbone if Wilder didn't get hurt. A perhaps more important injury was to special teams ace Colt Anderson who suffered a foot injury in the second quarter and did not return. Marquise Lucas injured his ankle in the third quarter and did not return. Jamari Lattimore got shaken up but jogged off the field and quickly returned. Blake Annen left in the fourth quarter after he injured his neck while trying to make a tackle after an interception.
Gameday: The final dress rehearsal before the regular season is tonight as the Bills have their annual matchup with the Lions in Detroit. Rex Ryan said almost all the starters will sit with the exception of Manny Lawson who needs some work after missing most of camp with a pectoral muscle injury. He also says a safety or two who may end up starting can also see action. Otherwise it will be an important game for the bubble players. The coach said that someone will make the roster based on how he plays tonight like A.J. Tarpley did last year. All eyes will be on the wide receiver spot as it looks like Dez Lewis, Walter Powell, and Jarett Boykin are battling for what is likely one spot. The battle for the backup interior offensive linemen spots will be on display along with battles to backup inside and outside linebacker.
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Wednesday August 31, 2016
Three More Roster Moves: The Bills weren't done with after getting their roster to 75 yesterday. They have since added three more players and got rid of three more. Yesterday they pulled off a trade with the Packers getting outside linebacker Lerentee McCray for an undisclosed 2018 draft pick. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Broncos in 2013 and then signed by the Packers this offseason. He has appeared in 24 games in his career and has 19 tackles including four special teams tackles in his career and 1.5 sacks. Today there were two new players added to the team as they signed another linebacker adding Ramon Humber to the team and released Jordan Gay which means the team will go with the standard one kicker this year. Humber is an inside backer who is known for his special teams play. He played in Rob Ryan's defense the past three yars in New Orleans appearing in 45 games with 126 career tackles, 2.5 sacks and three pass breakups. He was released by the Patriots yesterday. Late today the team bolstered the depth on the interior offensive line when they awarded C Patrick Lewis off of waivers from Seattle. He was also released yesterday. He had 13 starts in two years with Seahawks. He gives them more experienced depth at guard and center. To make room they released OL Jamison Lalk. Front Office Page.
Tuesday August 30, 2016
Bills Make Cuts: By league rule the Bills were required to cut down to a roster of 75 player this afternoon so the team made a number of roster moves to cut some players and tagging them with other non-rostered player designations. There were no big surprises this year, but the team will need to get down to 53 players on Saturday. The Bills cut LB David Hawthorne, LS Reid Ferguson, C Robert Kugler, WR Greg Little, TE Jimmy Mundine, LB Eric Striker, DT Alameda Ta'amu, DT Justin Zimmer and newly-signed QB Austin Trainor, an indication that QB Cardale Jones has recovered well enough from a sore shoulder to play much of the final preseason game on Thursday. Three players were waived as injured - CB Jonathan Dowling and TE Chris Gragg who both suffered season-long ACL injuries as well as T Justin Renfrow. Two Players were placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, meaning they will not be eligible to play until week 7 at the earliest - WR Marcus Easley and rookie LB Shaq Lawson. Rookie WR Kolby Listenbee was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, also meaning he will be unavailable for the first 6 weeks of the regular season. Finally, the bills placed rookie LB Reggie Ragland on Injured reserve meaning he will miss the entire season with his ACL injury.
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