everything flowed exactly into what we were attempting to accomplish

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Doug Marrone rolls his eyes whenever someone mentions the importance of continuity. Thats a crutch the Buffalo Bills rookie head coach refuses to lean on when it comes to assembling an offensive line or most anything else for that matter. "Im not as sold as much on the continuity factor than what other people may be," said Marrone, a former offensive lineman. "When I hear a coach talk about continuity, the first thing I think of is: Excuse." Hell even use a profanity to get his point across for emphasis. Marrones not big on excuses of any kind in the face of adversity. Thats something that has been evident in the full-speed-ahead demeanour he has projected since being hired in January. In replacing Chan Gailey, Marrone became the latest in a long line of head coaches tasked with the responsibility of turning around a franchise that has spent much of the past 13 years lacking relevance. Adversity, Marrone understands, comes with the territory, and something hes encountered in previous jobs. He was an assistant under Sean Payton in New Orleans, where the Saints went from "Aints" to contenders. Marrone spent the past four seasons at his alma mater in Syracuse, where he went 25-25 in returning pride to a program that had become a perennial loser. "Every place is different. But whats not different is how hard its going to be, and the many challenges youre going to have," Marrone said. "You know theres going to be challenges. And you know theres going to be probably more than you think when you come in." He wasnt kidding. The Bills have already endured their share of setbacks in preparing to open the season against New England on Sunday. Theyve had a revolving door at quarterback because of injuries. Veteran free-agent addition Kevin Kolb is out because of a season-ending concussion. And rookie first-round draft pick EJ Manuel missed two weeks of practice with a left knee injury before being cleared to start this week. The Bills are already missing starting cornerback Stephon Gilmore (broken hand). Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd might not be ready for the season because of a sore foot and the time hes lost due to a contract squabble. If thats not enough, Marrone had to scramble to sign kicker Dan Carpenter after rookie Dustin Hopkins hurt his groin Monday. Marrone has remained unfazed. "Id rather be hit with adversity and find out whos in and whos out," he said. The Bills are a major work in progress after going through a near top-to-bottom off-season transformation. It began on Jan. 1, when Russ Brandon was promoted to team president, gaining authority over the franchises daily operations. Doug Whaley took over as general manager after Buddy Nix stepped down in May. And then theres been host of roster changes, topped by the selection of Manuel with the 16th pick in the draft to address a position thats been unsettled since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly retired following the 1996 season. The changes are part of a concerted effort by Brandon, who opened the year by saying he will leave no stone unturned to repair what he called the Bills "tarnished relevancy." Buffalos 13-season playoff drought is the NFLs longest active streak. And the Bills have gone eight straight years without a winning record. "We cant change the past," Brandon said. "Ive been here, and I share (fans) frustrations. But our focus is on the future, moving forward and getting this right." It wont be easy. "Its not going to come without tough times and adversity," Brandon added. "But I have all the confidence in the world in the group that weve assembled here." Hiring Marrone was the first step, and one the Bills approached carefully. Too often in the past, the Bills have hired a coach and then built the team around that persons philosophy. This time, Brandon helped established a vision of what type of team the Bills should be, and then hired the coach to fit that approach. "I wanted a coach that was in lockstep with our thought process, rather than continually fit round holes into square pegs," Brandon said. "Coach Marrone, when we spoke to him numerous times, everything flowed exactly into what we were attempting to accomplish." Marrone won over the Bills brass in outlining a plan to introduce an aggressive, up-tempo and attacking style on both offence and defence. By starting anew and breaking from the past, Brandon believes the Bills can rebuild by having everyone working toward the same goal. "Were going to build this altogether and stick through it," Brandon said. "When times are tough, well be shoulder to shoulder." Former Bills general manager Bill Polian likes what hes seen. "I think Doug Marrone is a great coach. I think he proved that at Syracuse. I know hes got a plan for how to proceed," said Polian, now a TV analyst. And hes pleased the Bills finally began addressing the quarterback position by drafting Manuel. "Hes got some growing to do, so fans need to be patient with that," Polian said. "But I do think that the futures bright, and some good pieces are in place." Marrone wasnt aware what qualities the Bills were looking for in a coach when he interviewed for the job. He simply stuck to what he knew and who he was. "The worst thing you can do is try to fit what theyre looking for," Marrone said. "Because eventually in this profession with all the adversity and difficult challenges of the job, you cant function. You become dysfunctional." Theres been enough of that in Buffalo. Ray Allen Jersey . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Paul George Jersey . His team rose to the occasion Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Sweden in the bronze-medal game. "The sting from yesterday is not something we hid from or pretend didnt happen," Dineen said. http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com/gary-payton-thunder-jersey-c-11/ . - A retired Indiana school principal who was NASCAR star Jeff Gordons drivers education teacher was killed with his wife in a Tennessee crash while returning from watching Gordon race. Detlef Schrempf Jersey . "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. Patrick Patterson Jersey . Today, he looks at the offensive line. 1. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (OT, McGill) You Should Know: Over the course of his university career, Duvernay-Tardifs commitments to medical school and the family business frequently limited him to one practice per week, yet he was still the Metras Trophy winner as the Top Lineman in CIS football in 2013.Winnipeg Jets 3, New Jersey Devils 1 – The game was the start of a six game, Eastern Conference road trip for the Jets, with the win snapping a four-game winless skid (0-2-2) that followed a four-game winning streak. The win moves the Jets season record to 11-11-4, and 4-5-1 on the road. The only goal in the first period was scored by Mark Scheifele, his second of the season and first since the opening game. Scheifele took a pass from Michael Frolik and beat Martin Brodeur high glove. The game stayed that way until Evander Kane fired a shot right off a face-off to make it 2-0. It was Kanes first in 12 games, giving him seven on the year. The goalless drought was one short of his career-high for games without a goal. Olli Jokinen drew the assist, giving him 14 points on the year, same as he had last year in the shortened season. The Devils pushed hard in the third and midway through the period made it a one-goal game on a deflection by Patrik Elias, but solid goaltending by Ondrej Pavelec kept the Jets in front with Devin Setoguchi ending it with an empty net goal in the final minute. It was a two-assist night for Dustin Byfuglien, his sixth multiple-point game of the year. Byfuglien now has six goals and 21 points on the year, good for second in the NHL for defenceman. He has six goals and 12 points in his last 10 games. The win for Pavelec was the 100th of his career. Byfuglien and Enstrom both had strong games and were each plus three in the game. Enstrom did not make the scoresheet but made a number of great passes, allowing the Jets to get out of their own zone.dddddddddddd Mark Stuart also had a strong game as he and his teammates shut down Jaromir Jagr and the top line of the Devils. Stuart had five blocked shots, while Jagr, Dainuis Zubrus and Travis Zajac were each minus three in the game. Jokinen finished the night winning 11 of 21 face-offs after winning only one of six in the first period. Scheifele won seven of nine. The game also marked the return of Jacob Trouba, who missed the past 17 games with a neck injury. Trouba was solid in 19:59 of work. Final shots favoured New Jersey, 26-22. "They came on hard in the third," said head coach Claude Noel after the game. "We never got unnerved, we stuck with it. We had a lot of sacrifices, a lot of blocked shots. (14) We were really engaged in the game and did a lot of good things. We remained composed from about eight minutes left until the empty net goal. It was also another strong game from Pavelec." Noel was happy to see Scheifele and Kane get goals and also recognized a strong game from Blake Wheeler, who has now gone 12 games without a goal. Wheeler had three blocked shots in the game and three shots on goal. He had a great chance in the third but was stopped by the right arm of Brodeur. The road trip continues Wednesday on Long Island against the Islanders (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). Islanders have dropped three in a row, but have not played since Saturday. Jets took advantage of a Devils team that just returned from a three-game California trip that ended in San Jose Saturday. 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