1. Frank Gore on the role LeSean McCoy played in his recruitment to Buffalo
Entering his 15th season in the NFL, future NFL hall of famer Frank Gore decided to trade in the shores of Miami beach for the shores of Lake Erie by signing with Buffalo. But it wasn't the rushing waters of Niagara Falls that convinced him to join the team up north – it was LeSean McCoy.
"I was thinking about how we played them last year when I was with Miami, they had a tough, tough defense," Gore told NFL Network earlier this week. "I just saw their quarterback and he kept getting better and better as the year went on and my man Shady. I've known him since he came to the NFL and we were together on Saturday and said, 'you should come, I want to compete with you, and I know you will help me get back to home again."
Gore is motivated to keep playing because he feels he can still do it at a high level. When he trains he says he still "feels good" and last season was "balling." If he played more early on the season, Gore thinks he would have finished with over 1,000 yards. Gore doesn't have an exact number of how many more years he will play in the league and prefers to take it one year at a time. Gore currently is fourth on the all-time rushing leaders for a career. Gore is only 500 yards away from third place.
"It would be big," Gore said. "When you look back on where I came from out of college with two ACL injuries, drafted in the third round and everyone was saying San Francisco was crazy for drafting me that high and I won't even play two or three years. Now I'm playing in year 15 and doing great things in the NFL."
2. High praise for new Bills center Mitch Morse
Talk to anyone in Kansas City about Buffalo's free agent pick-up Mitch Morse and you'll hear all positives about veteran NFL center.
"I love him, and you guys are getting a really, really good player and person," said voice of the Kansas City Chiefs Mitch Holthus on new Bills center Mitch Morse.
Morse was a second-round of the Chiefs in 2015 and wrapped up his rookie deal in search of somewhere else to play. That place happens to be Buffalo. Morse hasn't allowed a sack since his first season according to Pro Football Focus and only allowed one hit on a quarterback in his last 20 games when the QB throws over 20 times.
Morse earned tremendous marks from PFF and graded out as an 82.7 pass blocker.
"You guys have to understand how difficult it is to play center in an Andy Reid offense," Holthus said. "They're asked to do a lot, any center in the NFL, but especially in Andy Reid's offense which is like taking differential equations in college. One thing you have to understand is that you have to be mobile, you have to be an athlete. You're getting a really smart guy, a guy who will influence your locker room positively and a better athlete than you think."
3. How wide receiver John Brown can help Josh Allen
It is believed that John Brown's nickname "Smokey" is because he's so fast. Well he did run a 4.3 40-yard dash at the combine but it's actually a nickname he got when he was born and just a coincidence he's so fast as well. Brown has been thought of purely a speed threat but he can do so much more according to quarterback guru Jordan Palmer. Palmer went on One Bills Live to discuss the signing and how he can help Josh Allen.
"Anytime you have a big arm guy you want to have someone you can push the ball downfield too, Palmer said. "John Brown can run with anybody."
Brown has shown across his five-year career that he can run with anyone and showed it best this past season with an average of 17 yards per reception, which ranked fourth in the NFL. Something that is underrated about Brown is ability to know how to work well with his quarterbacks. He's played with pro bowlers Carson Palmer, Jordan's brother, and Joe Flacco in his time in the league.
"They asked him to do so many things in Arizona and Bruce Arians offense was very complex for a receiver," Palmer said. "I know John can handle a lot and I don't ever care how tall a receiver is, I care how big they play so John plays bigger than he is. John is going to be a guy who's really easy to throw to."
Brown led the Ravens with 715 yards and five touchdowns last season. His lone 1,000-yard season came in 2015 with 65 receptions for 1,003 yards.
