Archives for September 2002

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe will make his regular season debut with the Bills this Sunday and will do it against a familiar opponent. In his career, Bledsoe has faced the Jets 16 times (all starts). Against them, he is 295 of 548 passing for 3,437 yards with 16 TDs and 22 INTs. He also has 31 rushes for 95 yards and scored one of his two career rushing TDs against them.

OT John Fina plans to visit the Cardinals today and take a physical as the club tries to bolster its offensive-line depth. Fina, who played at Tucson Salpointe High and Arizona, is a 10-year veteran. He was chosen by Buffalo in the first round of the 1992 draft. Fina has also drawn interest from Washington but would prefer to sign with Arizona because he lives in Tucson, said his agent. Fina likely wouldn’t sign until next week. Veterans on the roster in the first week are guaranteed their season’s salaries should they be cut later. As a result, many veterans such as Fina often aren’t signed until Week 2.

‘"Sometimes, when you’re in the same place for a long time, it’s human nature: You get a little stale," Bills general manager Tom Donahoe said. "The opportunity here seems to have revitalized him, re-energized him."’

‘"I’m glad that I’m a part of this team, and I’m glad to have the trade stuff behind me," said Bryson, still listed as Travis Henry’s backup. "Now I can just focus on playing. It gets kind of tough when people keep bringing it up because you don’t ever know what’s going to happen."’

‘Wire was a steal as the 97th overall pick in the draft, but he’s a converted linebacker and still a bit shaky in pass coverage. But he sure can hit, and the Bills are willing to risk an occasional big pass play to fortify their questionable run defense.’

‘Path to the playoffs: Williams has a strong defensive background and he will need to use all of it to improve the Bills’ rushing defense enough to get them near .500. At least he’s got a terrific pair of young corners in Antoine Winfield and Nate Clements.’

‘”We hope that’s a routine thing,” Bills coach Gregg Williams said of Rogers’ touchdown against the Lions. “We’ve worked very hard on that phase of our game, on making returns a part of our offense.”‘

‘The Buffalo Bills added four players on Tuesday, claiming offensive lineman Mike Houghton and linebackers Maugaula Tuitele and Anthony Denman off the waiver wire while signing free agent tight end Cory Geason.’

‘Now they meet again, Lewis and Bledsoe, Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It’s their first competitive encounter since that fateful day in Foxboro, when Lewis knocked Bledsoe out of the game, out of his job, and, basically, out of New England.’

‘The former Pro Bowl linebacker claimed he’s "not out for revenge," but he acknowledged, "It will be a tale of two tapes. If I go to Buffalo and play bad, they’ll be like, ‘I told you so.’ If I play great, they’ll be like, ‘We should’ve kept him.’"’

‘"I felt like I deserved more than a one-year audition and that’s basically what they were giving me," Cowart was saying of the Bills’ meager effort to re-sign him. "The way it was structured, they wanted to back-end everything. It didn’t have anything written in stone after the first year and I needed something written in stone."’

‘"I’m looking forward to this," Evans said. "Gregg is a fiery coach, a no-nonsense guy who’ll have his team fired up. He’s a coach you love to play for."’

‘"Some people are writing them off, but we’re not writing them off at all," the Jets cornerback said. "They’ve got nothing to lose. I remember having that feeling in ’96 when I was with Jacksonville. Nobody even thought we were going to make the playoffs."’

‘Is he ready to play? “Ask me Sunday evening and I can answer your question precisely,” Cowart said. “Right now I feel ready to go, but you never know until you get out there and start hitting, start banging and get back into the feel of things again.”‘

‘”Belichick knows something, has confidence and if he thought anything else, he wouldn’t have done this,” Madden said. “The question I have is what effect will Bledsoe being in Buffalo have on Tom Brady – plus or minus? Will he feel better without Bledsoe? I’m not sure.”‘