Former Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman, whom the team fired Friday, issued a statement to the Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci, saying, “I just want to thank the Pegulas for the opportunity to work in Buffalo, Russ Brandon, Doug Whaley, Rex Ryan and the entire Bills organization — all the great players and coaches I got to work with. I want to thank all the great fans of Buffalo for all and we love the community of Buffalo. I wish the Bills’ organization the best moving forward.”
The Bills’ decision to fire Roman came as a surprise to him, per Carucci, who tweets that the coach was working on an offensive game plan for the club’s Week 3 matchup with the Cardinals when he received the news. Carucci reported earlier Friday that Roman was not a big Ryan fan and had hoped to head elsewhere at the end of the season.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Rookie Sterling Shepard, who caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in the Giants’ Week 1 win over the Cowboys, has the chance to be the team’s next great wide receiver, argues Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. Former Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara had one workout session with the second-round pick from Oklahoma this summer and came away impressed with his skill set. “His confidence and raw skills … he’s just confident in his ability that he’s going to beat the man across from him,” Amukamara said. “And he’s very sudden at the line, meaning he’s quick. He has a combination of [Victor] Cruz and Odell [Beckham Jr.]’s skill set.” Recently, PFR’s scouting guru Dave-Te Thomas praised Shepard in his rundown of the Giants’ rookie class.
- Jets receiver Quincy Enunwa could end up as the lone bright spot from ex-general manager John Idzik‘s failed 2014 draft class, opines Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Enunwa, a sixth-rounder that year, has begun the season in terrific fashion, having hauled in 13 catches on 14 targets for 146 yards and a touchdown in the Jets’ first two games. The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder appeared in 12 contests last year and failed to find the end zone while amassing 22 receptions on 46 targets. Now, along with the excellent tandem of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, Enunwa’s early 2016 breakout has given quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick another quality option in the passing game. “That’s what we didn’t have last year. We didn’t have a No. 3 guy. We didn’t have a No. 4 guy,” said Marshall. “Quincy is our unsung hero.” Fitzpatrick targeted Enunwa six times in the Jets’ 37-31 win over Buffalo on Thursday. Enunwa caught all six passes for 92 yards.
- The Saints‘ defensive line couldn’t get any kind of pass rush going against the Raiders in Week 1 and one reader asked Herbie Teope of The Times-Picayune if Paul Kruger can be fairly labeled as a bust signing. Kruger can’t be written off as a bad addition, nor can he be blamed for the lack of pressure on Derek Carr, Teope contends. While Kruger was in on 53 percent of the team’s defensive plays on Sunday, he was restricted somewhat by the team’s defensive game plan along with the rest of the front seven. Carr’s mobility kept the Saints from getting too aggressive, but Teope expects to see a much different plan of action against Eli Manning and the Giants in Week 2. Earlier this month, the Saints signed Kruger to a three-year deal that can be voided after one year. The deal comes with a $2.1MM signing bonus and base salaries of $900K, $1MM, and $1MM.
Zach Links contributed to this post.