Here's the Bills news of note for Dec. 14th.
1 - No relaxing versus BrownsThe Bills playoff fortunes were all but dashed last week in the loss to Pittsburgh. Still, the players want to stack as many wins as they can this year. Facing the Browns this week the challenge is much different as the Bills do not want to be Cleveland's first victory this season.
The Browns come into Sunday's matchup 0-13 and have lost each of their last five game by double digits. But Bills LB Preston Brown knows the danger in underestimating any NFL club.
"You can't overlook them. This is the NFL," Brown said. "People say they'd get beat by Alabama. That's not going to happen. You've got to go out there and play each game hard. We haven't beat a team with a winning record. This is a team we're supposed to beat, but it doesn't matter now. You have to go into each and every play with all your effort."
2 - A Bills coaching tie to 'Jerry Maguire' movieTuesday Dec. 13th marked the 20th anniversary of the release of the movie Jerry Maguire, whose plot was based on the life of an NFL player agent who loses all but one of his clients, and does just about anything to keep him. A little known fact was how the screenplay's writer Cameron Crowe followed NFL safety Tim McDonald around for background material for the movie.
One of the most famous lines from the movie script has been attributed to McDonald.
The scene when Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, is begging his only remaining client Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. to stay with him, Tidwell demands that Maguire, 'Show me the money.'
Tidwell ultimately has Maguire shouting through the phone to 'Show me the money!!!'
McDonald is now Buffalo's defensive backs coach. In 1993 he was playing for the San Francisco 49ers as a safety and went to his fourth Pro Bowl that season.
3 - PFF projects RB to Bills in mock draftIt's extremely early to talk 2017 NFL draft, but some outlets are already making projections even though the picks are far from set in terms of a draft order. Pro Football Focus had the Bills projected 14th overall in the order and gave them one of the top running backs in the class. Here was their assessment.
14. Buffalo Bills: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
Even with RB LeSean McCoy on the roster, Fournette brings a dynamic combination of speed and power to a Buffalo offense that would like nothing more than to run the ball downhill under head coach Rex Ryan. With QB Tyrod Taylor in the backfield with Fournette and McCoy, the Bills can run their own version of "exotic smashmouth" as Fournette is a good fit for their power scheme. He forced 85 missed tackles to lead the nation in 2015 before battling injuries in 2016, but he still showed the power and burst that made him a special college player.
