the expectation that (General Manager) Jim Barker and | Forum
miaowang123
Oct 25 '17
ORCHARD PARK, N. Craig Conroy Jersey .Y. -- Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly felt strong enough to huddle up and visit his former team Thursday, making a surprise appearance at the Buffalo Bills practice. Kelly made his way to the sideline as players warmed up for their final practice until training camp. Coach Doug Marrone gathered his team at midfield before introducing Kelly, who spoke to the team in a brief, two-minute address. Kelly thanked the team for its encouragement throughout his battle with jaw and sinus cancer and said he was touched by the outpouring of support from both the Bills and the Buffalo community. "One thing I noticed about Buffalo, New York, was how everybody comes together," Kelly said. "If somebodys struggling, theres always somebody there to pull them together whether its on the football field, whether its after a tough year or whether its when I was in the hospital, they always seem to rally." The former quarterback also said he was impressed with the amount of skill on Buffalos offence and urged the team to come together and end Buffalos 14-year post-season drought, the longest in the NFL. "From everybody Ive talked to, this is a very special team," Kelly said. "Lets get this thing back on the road, lets start playing games in January." Wearing jeans, a black jacket and a white baseball hat, Kelly then watched the start of practice in a chair by the 35-yard line. He chatted with Bills president Russ Brandon, long-time trainer Bud Carpenter and Hall of Fame teammate Thurman Thomas. Kellys appearance was unexpected, but certainly welcome in the eyes of Bills coaches and players. "It means a lot for him to come out and support us in the state that hes in," Bills centre Eric Wood said. "That was a special moment. You talk to Jim all the time. Hes been around over the years and Ive become pretty close to him. But for him to come out and address the team in the state hes in was pretty powerful." Kelly left one hour into the practice session after receiving hugs from Brandon and Thomas. "Obviously, it was very emotional," Brandon told The Associated Press. "Jim means everything to this team, this community, his fans all over the world. "To see him out here today was really a great way to cap off a really good minicamp and all the work these guys have put in and see one of the greatest players of all time coming out here and being a part of it. Its really special." Kelly has spent the past 10 days recovering at home after spending much of the spring receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatments for sinus cancer. "Were with him, were fighting through this just like hes been there with us trying to fight through what were going through," Marrone said. "We support him and it was great for him to get out there and be among the team." Sean Monahan Jersey . A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. Oliver Kylington Jersey . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said.Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray is entering his 12th year in the CFL and his third with the Argos. Hes coming off a season where he was injured twice, missing eight games, but still put up some eye-popping numbers. Ray passed for just under 2,900 yards, completing 77 per cent of his passes. He threw 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, finishing with a mind-numbing QB rating of 126.4. Ray sat down on Saturday for a chat with Mike Hogan, the play-by-play voice of the Argos on TSN 1050. MH: Whats different about camp this year? RR: The same basic philosophies are still there that coach (Scott Milanovich) carries on about how we practice, our tempo and what he expects from us, but there is a new feeling. We have a new defensive staff, a lot of new guys on defence. Offensively, were returning a lot of guys and coaches so it feels pretty similar. MH: On your side of the football, its good that you have the continuity that you do (Chad Kackert, Dontrelle Inman and Joe Eppele are the only 2013 starters not back this year). Can you put into words how important that is at this stage? RR: It just makes things so much easier. Thinking back to the first year here, there was so much to learn, trying to get used to a new system and trying to get used to all the guys around you. Last year and this year, weve all played together and have a lot of game experience together and were still running the same stuff out there, so youre not trying to get used to everything and you can go out there and try and improve on things from the previous year. MH: Whats your relationship like with Coach Milanovich in the off-season? Do you keep in contact continually trying to tweak things, or do you go home to Northern California and just ignore football for a couple of months? RR: I pretty much go home and get away from football. Hell call me every now and then and tell me whats going on, say if they have any new ideas and really just see how the off-season is going, but its only a couple of times a year. Other than that, I try to get back and relax and just get refreshed for the new year. MH: Your first two seasons in Toronto saw very different results. The first year couldnt have gone any better, winning the 100th Grey Cup. Last year, everything was going fine when you were on the field, but you had to deal with a couple of injuries. When you look back at last season, just how frustrating was it? RR: It was, just missing so mucch time and having to watch and rehab and do all that. TJ Brodie Jersey. It was fun to watch the guys play, to go out west and have that four-game winning streak, but not so much fun because youre sitting there watching and cant be out there playing. It was a weird year. We wrapped up first place and were just waiting around to see who we were going to play and had such high expectations and just werent able to get it done in the playoffs. MH: After the Argos were beaten badly in the 2010 Eastern Final by Montreal, some of them took it very hard, thought about it a lot in the off-season and used it as motivation. Did you think about losing last years Eastern Final often? RR: You think about it a lot, especially when you feel like you had a great opportunity to win the game. Sometimes when you get beaten pretty badly, its easier to swallow those than the ones that are close games where you had an opportunity to keep moving on. Its funny because were getting ready to play Hamilton in our next game (Thursday at Varsity Stadium), putting that film back on and then watching it (laughs) brings back a lot of not-so-good memories. So ya, that keeps you motivated. When you think about it, you try and work harder and you think about the next time you do get an opportunity like that to try and seize it. MH: There are still four running backs competing for the starting job. (Steve Slaton and Jeremiah Johnson are the new imports, up against returnee RB Curtis Steele. Also in the mix is University of Manitoba rookie Anthony Coombs) All of them seem to add something different to the mix. How would you assess the group? RR: Its been pretty fun watching them in camp. Curtis has a pretty good feel for what were trying to do out there. He gives a ton of effort on every play. The new guys are both very gifted athletes. Thats the position that we expect the most out of, with pass protection, running and catching out of the backfield and weve got three guys that can do it very well. Then you put Coombs in there and watching him, especially in one-on-one drills, he runs routes almost like a receiver, so hes going to be a good weapon for us. MH: Grey Cup or bust? RR: Thats what it is every year (smiles). Thats the expectation that (General Manager) Jim Barker and Coach Milanovich have put on us. Theyve built a great foundation here and we feel like we should be able to go out and win every year and have a chance to get to the Grey Cup. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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