Terry Pegula and Rex Ryan Take SPCA Dog Biscuit Challenge

Buffalo Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan
Thursday, August 6, 2015

Opening Comments:
Alright. As you guys know I was challenged for the dog biscuit challenge and I just want to talk about it. It’s the SPCA and there’s a couple people here I’d like to introduce up. Barbara Carr is the executive director and Gina Browning is the PR Director for the SPCA. It’s the second oldest humane society and it was founded in 1867. The SPCA assists more than 12,000 animals each yeah – domestic, farm and wildlife – performing rescues every single day, 24/7, 365. The dog biscuit challenge is to help Erie County SPCA pets as part of the PAWS in the Park event in September. The SPCA of Erie County is completely funded by donations – you can make a donation at your SPCA.org. Okay so with that, one thing I’d like to add, I have four rescue animals; two dogs, two cats. Actually I have two dogs, my wife has two cats. But really this is a special thing and when I was challenged I’m more than happy to do it. So with that being said, here we go I got the Milkbone. I never realized…I did see this though, they’re five calories in these bad boys and then when I opened them up I’m like these are a little small – I said lap size. So here we go, I have no idea on the flavor. [Chews Dog Bone]. Oh that’s terrific! I’m gonna give one more I think, yeah that’s outstanding. A little dry, but alright I’m here to challenge somebody, I said it was gonna be big. So my challenge is to Sidney Pegula, Sidney…I’m gonna give him the challenge here – Sidney, here ya go buddy. Oh yeah, spit it out – he didn’t like that flavor, we’ll get it. Hey Sidney, Sidney who are you going to challenge? Oh, you’re going to challenge Terry (Pegula)? Oh alright, so Sidney is going to challenge Terry Pegula, and he is the biggest animal lover I ever met but I don’t know boss, that wasn’t me cause I like my job.

Terry: Should I take mine now?

Rex: Yeah I think you should, yep.

Terry: [Chews Dog Bone] Oh yeah. So I have to challenge somebody?

Rex: Yes you do.

Terry: Let me think…

Rex: These are hard to get down aren’t they?!

Terry: I’m gonna challenge, because he’s like a dog on a bone, Marcell Dareus.

Rex: Alright there ya have it. But we appreciate it and appreciate you guys coming out. Obviously it’s a great cause, thank you. Thank you boss.

Terry: What flavor?

Rex: I had a couple of them. Chicken, that bacon one was really good I think, that was strong.

Alright, practice. I thought it was the best practice we had offensively the entire camp. I thought in particular are quarterbacks really had some good moments. Tyrod (Taylor) we had that kinda the zone read day against the defense and he is spectacular at running that as we would expect. We had a two minute, I thought both guys… (Matt) Cassel had overcome a penalty in the first play, offensive pass interference, had a first and twenty but actually overcame it. Got us down, woulda been a long field goal attempt. Tyrod drove his unit down into a very, it would’ve been pretty much a chip shot field goal. And then EJ (Manuel) closed it out with a long touchdown pass. So I thought all three of those quarterbacks did a nice job in the two minute and overall just we put in a lot more things. You can see the running game took off a little bit, Shady (LeSean McCoy) was very dangerous, obviously when we get him out in space – and you saw that a little bit today, so I was really pleased with the offense and the way those things, guys were coming around. Sammy (Watkins) got a little nicked up, we don’t think it’s that big of deal, really don’t know what it is guys to be honest with you. But because of that, that nobody really told me, I don’t think it’s too severe. We will always err on the side of caution right now. Also going to be taking reps from guys, some veteran players as we get going here. Just to protect them, save their legs a little bit. So you’re going to see, don’t be surprised if you see Kyle Williams get a day off, Mario Williams get a day off, Percy Harvin – guys that are really working out here, running a lot, Fred Jackson. So we’re gonna start trying to set these guys back. It won’t be anything from an injury standpoint, it’s just that we want to keep them fresh so look for that in the near future as well. But I’ll go ahead and open it up for questions.

Q: EJ Manuel had a big practice today. What was his biggest difference, physical or mental?
A: Well the only thing I notice is physical. When he does have his best days we’re able to move the football and you know he looks good obviously. So I don’t know about the other thing, what’s between his ears or anything else. But clearly I wouldn’t disagree with you, I thought he had a good day today. And I thought Tyrod (Taylor) in particular had a good day, that’s back to back really good days for him.

Q: Are the guys excited for the scrimmage Saturday?
A: Yeah, I don’t think there’s any doubt. You always want to have the first time when you’re really a live scrimmage situation. Now we’ll probably do some live hitting tomorrow, just to get to where they’ve carried the pads and hit on a grass a little bit – but may only be a drill, you know one drill. But this is gonna be, we’re gonna get the equivalent of maybe I would say at least 18 possessions. So this is gonna be a real deal on Saturday.

Q: Have you structured that yet?
A: Well we’ll punt, but it won’t be like, we were not gonna be doing punt returns or whatever, we may simulate and just fair catch the punt. But we will do that, it will always end on a kick of some fashion, you know the drives. But pretty much were just gonna put the ball down and let it go and will have officials out there, so it’s gonna be close to the real deal.

Q: Was Cyrus Kouandjio limited today?
A: He was a little limited today but he was out there quite a bit so it was good to see. He’s probably not 100 percent but he felt good, he wanted to practice today.

Q: I saw you working him (Kouandjio) at left tackle, are you cross training all them?
A: Well you always do, Seantrel’s (Henderson) gotten some left tackle reps as well and you know we feel pretty good about Cordy (Glenn). However you got to be concerned in case he breaks a chin strap or something.

Q: Kyle Williams got some tight end reps today, what was that for?
A: Yeah and the tight ends there, you know sometimes you can be a little babies. You know they’re all upset because they’re not, you know ah well you’re putting Kyle in there. Well cause he can block somebody! So that’s probably the real reason. I said look outside of (Matt) Mulligan, I don’t see anybody blocking anybody. So oh they were going today, had another word with them or two. But the long touchdown pass by EJ (Manuel) I was impressed by that, the throw was good and all that, but the thing that impressed me was Nick O’Leary blocking the end. He was one on one on the defensive end and blocked the heck out of him so that was, I more impressed by that.

Q: Can you assess how it’s going with Charles Clay and the rest of the TE’s fighting for spots?
A: Well it’s going pretty good, there’s guys who have a lot of ability there. We’ve got some guys who can run, we’ve got some guys who can catch it, we got some guys that can block, so it’s a good combination, and you’re right, you’re going to have to earn it to get playing time on the field. It’s a deep group.

Q: What has Andre Reed brought to this team?
A: I think he’s added all of those things that you mentioned. You articulated much better than I would, but I think he brings that to, you know, his presence here brings that. You know, Sanjay Lal is about as good as a wide receiver coach as there is, so you put that in there with the way Sanjay is as a coach, because every receiver that you talk to will talk about Sanjay Lal. Every single guy. But Andre brings that perspective. Here’s a Hall of Fame player that was a Buffalo Bill, so he gets it. He’s been in the community, he understands what it’s like here, and the fact that he’s pretty darn good at his position, so obviously he brings that kind of presence to the group.

Q: Where would you say Eric Wood is at so far during camp?
A: I like where he’s at, I think he’s got a good grasp as far as what we do, you know, our system and things. I think he does a good job of communicating and he’s a pretty talented guy obviously, a first round pick so it’s not surprising he has that talent. He’s been around a while now, I always was impressed going up against him, but to see it firsthand I’m glad he’s my center.

Q: As a defensive guy, are you looking for your defense to kick some butt on the field?
A: Yeah, of course. No, I’m more of an offensive guy these days so, but no, I just want to see great competition and I want to see obviously guys getting healthy, but it’s way more than that. You want to see guys compete and see what happens. See who rises to the occasion, see who’s maybe you think one thing and your opinion of him changes. But that’s what this things going to be all about, you know we may have some ideas but until you snap it for real, then you’re going to find out a lot more about it.

Q: You did some free safety looks today at Jonathan Meeks not Duke Williams what was the thinking behind that?
A: That’s the way we were practicing in the spring actually when we had Duke back there at safety, but that’s kind of how we ran it so we just put it in there that way, but with us we’re going to have several groupings so it doesn’t matter whether it’s Duke going in there, whether it’s Corey Graham, whoever, we’re going to have to where they’re coming in all over the place, we’re going to take advantage of our roster, what we have, we know we’re deep at safety, we’re going to play all of them.

Q: Any updates on Leodis McKelvin?
A: It’s a little more severe than that guys, you know obviously he’s in a protective boot right now, he’s not that healthy, but we have to move on and when Leodis is ready it’ll be great to get him. We can’t miss a beat. If you play at corner you got to step right up, and there’s where (Ronald) Darby in my opinion has had a really strong camp and (Stephon) Gilmore is obviously one of the best corners in the league, so we’re pretty good at corner even without Leodis, but obviously we can’t wait for him to get back with that being said, you know, injuries are part of this game and the next man has to be ready to step up and quite honestly I think Darby is.

Q: We are within a month, are you worried he’s not going to be back for the regular season?
A: Well I know he’s going to be back at some point. I can’t tell you if he’s going to be back the first game or whenever, but it’s a significant injury.

Q: Did he reinjure himself at some point?
A: At some point there was, you know, had a little something in there

Q: Was this during minicamps?
A: No, this was over the summer. So it wasn’t, he was … we thought everything was on track and with a lot of these type of injuries you have some setbacks and he experienced a setback.

Q: Did he have another operation?
A: I’m not sure what the technical thing would be, but I will say he possibly had a procedure, but this is not going to keep him from playing this season, he will play this season, so it’s just when he’s going to be available. I’m not real sure.

Q: Can you assess Marquise Goodwin’s camp so far?
A: Well he’s had his moments; he’s had a couple of big moments and things. Had some that I’d wish he’d come down with, a couple balls but he’s, he looks pretty good and he brings that great speed to this team and I say we had to change our rules on passes as they extend it by five yards, because he has that kind of speed, world class speed. Not as fast as James Trapp, as James will tell you already, but either way he’s pretty darn fast.

Q: You mentioned (Matt) Mulligan, is he the perfect blocking TE for your system?
A: I don’t know if you can say perfect blocking tight end, but he’s pretty darn good. He is a big physical guy; he’s close to 280 pounds, strong as an ox, deadlifts like 600-something pounds. If you ask him, he’ll tell you exactly, its 653 pounds. You know, one of those guys. Big old meathead guy. He’s a great kid from Maine and things, I had him with the Jets, and we lost a lot when … you know, his presence of a blocker is pretty big.

Q: He’s coming off an injury, what made you feel comfortable bringing him on?
A: We never actually signed him initially right out of the gate until he became healthy, and then we gave him a physical and he was fine, and I think part of that is lifting all those weights that I’m talking about, I don’t know if the body is supposed to handle that kind of weight that he can push.

Q: How do you think (LeSean McCoy) looked in team drills?
A: I mean, he looked average. We all know, I mean he’s, there’s only one or two guys, two or three guys at max that can probably make the runs that he makes. He shows patience, he shows timing, he shows speed, he can jump cut, all those type of things, and run with surprising power so nothing he does is going to surprise me, in a good way. He’s really … you know, we’re happy we have him I’ll just put it that way.

WR Sammy Watkins
Thursday, August 3, 2015

Q: Is there anything you worked on this year to try and get in that elite group of wide receivers?
A:  Yeah, first of all I just did a lot of core workout, a lot of leg workouts too. For my stop blocking to get in and out the routes. My coach basically broke down my film and I kind of broke it down myself and everything I needed to work on I fixed it.

Q: The play with (Ron) Brooks is that where you kind of got sore?
A: No, not at all. I was sore way before that. The play I just got there and wanted to compete. I figured I ain’t got the burst and the speed. I am kind of sore, why not sit out a day, instead of going on the day and creating an injury or something and getting hurt. Its only the second week, the coaches are smart taking me out today.

Q: What quarterback have you developed the best on field rapport with?
A: I would say all of them. I have been catching passes from all of them. Everybody is looking good right now. You got to look at when it go to the fourth week of camp and everybody tired. Flying bullets you got to go to the game that’s when you actually know who is your top quarterback or the best quarterback.

Q: You get matched up against a lot of guys, what do you see in [Ronald] Darby so far?
A: He is going to be elite. He competes hard. He got another cornerback on the other side of him that is at least top ten, top five cornerback.  So he got somebody to learn from. Going against me, Percy [Harvin], and [Robert] Woods, he’s going to be okay in the game. I am pretty sure right now he could go start and compete against a best receiver. He can play the game and compete.

Q: Do you think you will be able to be back out there tomorrow?
A: I should be. I don’t know the evaluation. I don’t know what the coach is going to do or the staff. Hopefully I do. I am not hurt or nothing is paining me. It is just real soreness from the injury. Certain days you got to take off, certain days I feel good, certain days I got to work through the stiffness that is prone to the injury. Some days you got to be smart about it.

DT Kyle Williams
Thursday, August 3, 2015

Q: Envisioning that touchdown at Ralph Wilson Stadium?
A:  If that needs to be done, I am the man to take care of it. You know its fun the opportunity to come out here and do things that a lot of guys in your position don’t get to do. It changes up the days and makes it exciting and you have a good time, but you also know it’s for a purpose of trying to make us better and make us good at multiple things.

Q: Rex is going to take on the dog biscuit challenge is that something you might be interested in as well?
A: Me? No. I’ll let him eat two. I need real food.

Q: I know you were mostly in there for run blocking but any lobbying to Greg Roman to get you some reps?
A: Why would you say that?

Q: Well that’s what it looked like today.
A: Yeah, I hear you. You are typecasting me and I don’t appreciate that. No, you know I think there will be some wrinkles put in. We are just doing some base stuff right now. I don’t appreciate being told I am not a playmaker on offense, but I will just have to prove you wrong. But no we are just putting base stuff in and I am sure the package will expand depending on our game plan.

C Eric Wood
Thursday, August 3, 2015

Q: As far as the position goes you have that locked down now, that is a position where you rotated 4 or 5 guys in last year, what is that like?
A: It’s nice. We are getting some good work together, some valuable work, some stuff we need. Everyday we just got to come out and work. As a group and to know he is set in stone we can really solidify what we want to do.

Q: The run game has really come around the last few days, is that more installation or guys feeling better about everything?
A: Probably a combination of a lot of things. Any time you are running a new offense, the first time you are going to get in pads there is just things you got to adjust to. There is things that you learn about how plays work once pads come on. Holes are a little bigger, sometimes they are a little smaller. We just need to keep getting better each day and not have one good day, one decent day and say that worked pretty good. We got to realize who we are playing against, I think the best defense in the league day in and day out. The second we let our guard down they are going to expose us.

Q: What was the situation for the two minute drill today, was that just to get in field goal range?
A: Yeah, it was end of the half. So you don’t want a turnover. A field goal would be nice and touchdown would be great, but we don’t want a turnover and would like to get some points.

Q: How would you assess your camp?
A: Kind of like every camp. Come in and work out some bad habits you can’t really practice on your own. And try and stay on a steady glide going upward. I feel like I just need to keep coming to work each day and getting better and better. A good attitude and a lot of effort will get me where I want to be playing.

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