Archives for June 2000

"Rob Johnson understands the skepticism. If he were looking at himself from the outside, he, too, would question his ability to withstand the rigors of a 16-game NFL season."

“It appears Ralph Wilson has more talents than running a football team. The Buffalo Bills owner and his wife, Mary, have advanced to the semifinals of an 80-and-over international tennis doubles tournament in Europe.”

Nancy E. Brock (Williamsville) shares her thoughts about Kelly’s misfortune.

"So impressed are the Bills with [Sheldon] Jackson’s size and ability, they’ve come up with a creative way of giving the second-year player more responsibility. Utilizing Jackson’s blocking and ball-carrying skills, the Bills plan to incorporate him into an H-back — a quasi-tight end who lines up in the backfield."

"Former Buffalo Bills safety Martin Bayless is the team’s new director of player development/special projects."

"They’re getting pretty tough on players this year as far as your weight and body fat go," he said. "(Strength and conditioning coach) Rusty Jones is coming down on us. I think there’s going to be some fines involved this year. It’s going to be the first time since I’ve been here. But (conditioning) is important. It will be good for our team." . . .

"On a day when the offense rebounded, Rob Johnson was the most impressive performer. He zipped pass after pass past defenders and into receivers’ hands. First, he hit Avion Black for a diving catch. Then Peerless Price beat Courtney Jackson deep. Then it was Bobby Collins down the middle."

"To their credit, most of the players looked a lot leaner at the Mini-Camp weigh-in. Ted Washington looks as if he’s dropped 15-20 pounds and is checking in at 335-345. Ruben Brown looks to have lost five to 10 pounds and is down to 300. Robert Hicks looks great. He doesn’t even have love handles anymore! His 330 pounds look great on his 6’7" frame. Antowain Smith also looked chiseled at 229 and four percent body fat. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for outside guard Jamie Nails who’s 355 at best."

This is a collection of minicamp photos.

The Buffalo Bills and Choice One Communications are joining forces to assist Habitat for Humanity with the construction of a home located at 33 Grey Street in Buffalo. The two organizations will participate in an event at the construction site this Saturday, June 10 starting at 10:30 AM.

‘"I’m pleased about that because we did lose two guys out of the secondary that started for us," said Phillips, who saw Smith (Chicago) and Schulz (Detroit) leave via free agency. "But it looked like we’re right back where we were last year. It doesn’t look like we’ve missed a beat as far as pass coverage is concerned. There’s no pass rush on seven-on-seven drills, so the quarterbacks have time (to throw), and we’re covering them. Some of the guys are making outstanding plays. "I’m encouraged about our pass defense. It’s going to take a rush with it, but the coverage has a lot to do with how well you rush sometimes."’

‘“No, I’m definitely not over that,” Flutie said yesterday as the Bills went through day two of a four-day mini-camp. Furthermore, he doesn’t think he will ever be able to put it behind him. “Just like I’ve never gotten over why they benched me back in New England 10 years ago,” added the former six-time CFL MVP. “If you don’t understand (why something’s happened to you) it’s hard to accept.’

‘"There may have been some questions — by a lot of people, a lot of guys on the team, even — about the moves that were made in the off-season," [Henry] Jones said. "And I think it was time to clear the air, for us and say, ‘Every year there’s change. … The only difference this year is some veterans that were here for a long time are gone. But that just means some guys are going to have to step up and play."”

"The Bills survived a couple of scares when trainer Bud Carpenter had to go onto the field to tend to Antowain Smith and nose tackle Ted Washington. When Smith came up limping after catching a pass, there was concern that Smith had aggravated his turf toe."

Wade Phillips stated the obvious." Our pass coverage looked awfully good. It was good for our offense working against the defense that led the NFL in pass defense last year. Our linebackers did a good job, and our secondary coverage looked very good."