HEAD COACH CHAN GAILEY
PM Session – Thursday, July 26, 2012
On his expectations for WR Stevie Johnson this season:
Well I think we all expect him to have a better year this year than he had last year. We have the offense intact. He knows it. He and (QB Ryan Fitzpatrick) have a rapport with each other. I think that he will have another strong season. I do not see any reason he would not.
On if he had any doubt Johnson would return to the Bills after being benched in New England at the end of last season:
I think everybody had some doubt. You never know until it happens. I certainly wanted him back and I hoped it worked out. I have said it a hundred times if I have said it once: Stevie is a good guy. He really is. Did he make a decision that was not good for him and the team and for me? Yea. But he is a good guy and he is a great receiver. He really is. And I think he is going to be a big boost to our football team having him back.
On Johnson's ability to emerge as a leader for the receiving corps:
He is not a rah-rah kind of guy. He is much more of a "go make plays" kind of guy. That is the kind of leadership he provides.
On if this was just a typical first day of training camp:
Yea, it was. It was typical, other than not having pads on. In years past we have put pads on, on the first day. But it is almost more like OTAs and mini-camp than it is real training camp. But when we get the pads on that is when the real football will start.
On if he is concerned with the health of CB Terrence McGee:
No I am not. The trainers tell me he is good. He tells me he is good. I do not think he is one hundred percent. But he is recovering and we are going to take our time with him. As I told him: our objective with him is September 9th. Not now. Not today or tomorrow.
On how DT Torell Troup looked physically on the first day:
He struggled through today. He looked good yesterday in the conditioning part of it. He struggled today. He is probably going to be one of those we have to watch as time goes on.
On players needing to get over mental hurdles:
You know guys have not been playing football. They have not been in a football stance. They have not been in a three-point stance. They have not been coming off the ball against other big bodies. Terrence (McGee) has not been out there covering anybody. That takes time. Everybody thinks it is just like riding a bike and you get back on. It is not as easy as you think.
On QB Ryan Fitzpatrick taking responsibility in the media for the fate of this team:
That does not surprise me a lick that he said that. That is why we think he has a chance to be a great leader and a great quarterback for us because he does have that kind of attitude. If he had a different attitude then we would be worried.
On when C Eric Wood may begin taking team reps in practice:
I would say probably after our first off day. That would be when we would shoot for that. We are trying to be extremely smart. I think it was in the Dallas game last year so we are eight months removed from that. You want to be smart with that.
On how WR Stevie Johnson looked today in practice:
I do not think the groin is an issue. Probably conditioning is his biggest issue right now. He is going to have to work. He is doing some extra work out there right now trying to upgrade his conditioning level. But I thought he looked quick and caught the football and made some good plays.
On the reasoning behind the high number of passes Fitzpatrick threw to Johnson during today's team session:
It is more circumstance. We feel like if we get a one-on-one that is where we like to throw the football. So if he gets one-on-ones he is going to try to get the football to him.
DE MARIO WILLIAMS
PM Practice – Thursday, July 26, 2012
On how it feels to start training camp
It is about the opportunity to get out here to show what you can do and to get better with your teammates and just how to make the team better.
On his health after being injured last season
I just stay on top of it. I try to make sure that I still get treatment and do techniques that keep it loose. I still do the rehab but it is kind of a precaution I guess. My biggest thing is to focus on football and just play and not to worry about all the other stuff like my body and just play.
On the new set-up of the camp and facilities
This is my first time being away from home because typically we would have camp in town (Houston). So it would be like having camp in Buffalo. This is a little different. When I got here guys were like did you call 'rent-a-center?' and I said 'no I didn't call rent-a-center'. Nobody even told me about it until I got here. I am sleeping on twin-size beds and no TV. It is not a big deal but I just did not know (the set-up) so it was a shock. This is my first time ever being away from home for a camp so it is definitely different, but it is cool. We are here to take care of business. It is not like we will be messing around in the rooms.
On the first day of camp with the fans
I was really excited. It is one of those things that you have to keep yourself under wraps about and make sure that you are out here taking care of business. It is about not letting the first day get over your head and not doing the things that you are supposed to be doing on the field. So it is good to come out here and get back out with the guys once again and sort through these pieces of the puzzle. That is pretty much how I see it.
On the loud ovation
It felt great to finally see the fans besides seeing them in Buffalo everywhere I go. It is good to come out and have people chant your name and things like that. I just want to go out here and give something back to them. That is going out and performing on the field and making it happen.
On the Bills fan base
Like I said, everywhere I go, especially in Buffalo, you know it is 'hey how are you?', and it is something I am not really accustomed to. Fans are fans in general but when you go everywhere (even) just getting gas, it does not matter, somebody is going to come over to you and*someone is going to *say something to you. So it is definitely a big difference because this is it and this is Bills territory.
On the attention he received in his first season after being drafted and how it compares to the attention he's receiving now I cannot really say it does feel like that because I am not really focused on that. If you look at it too much it is going to become too big and get overwhelming. The biggest thing is just going out here and doing what I have to do to just win. That is all I want to focus on. I do not want to focus on being this person or that person. I know it is there; it is what it is, but if I sit here and work like that and listen to all the good and the bad then I will not be taking care of business on the field. That is the most important thing. It is focusing on my teammates and the team and performing on the field.
