Archives for November 2003

‘Wide receiver Eric Moulds and running back Travis Henry were both listed as questionable for the Bills’ game this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.’

‘The Colts hope Harrison will be able to practice Friday to determine his status for Sunday’s game.’

‘Henry’s cracked fibula is questionable. He did not practice Wednesday, but Gregg Williams says he’s “optimistic” that Henry will play. Williams says he continues to see progress from number one pick Willis McGahee, but Henry’s status will not dictate whether McGahee is active on Sunday against the Colts.’

‘Henry was a spectator during practice Wednesday. If he doesn’t play, Joe Burns will start at running back against Indianapolis, and Willis McGahee could suit up for the first time.’

‘"There’s a lot of good football being played by so many people even on the offensive side of the ball. We have to do a better job in the red zone. We move the ball up and down the field a ton. We’ve got to do a better job on capitalizing on the plays we have available there. We’ve got to finish those plays and we’ve got to come up with some catches. We’ve got to come up with some blocks and some runs down there to put it in the end zone. We had our opportunities and we’re going to have to do a good job with that. A big part of the game plan this weekend is our red zone efficiency once we get down there, capitalizing and putting points on the board. It’s a pretty good team coming in here this week. We’re excited about the opportunity to play this team."’

‘The Bills today announced that the team has signed tight end Rod Trafford to the practice squad and also re-signed practice squad receiver wide receiver Jerel Myers.’

In addition, the Bills released fullback Phil Crosby from the Reserve-Injured list.

‘But now with Kragthorpe in Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane are thriving and the Bills are dying.’

‘In its initial finding, the league ruled Milloy made “impermissible physical contact with a game official,” during Buffalo’s 24-7 win against Washington on Oct. 19.’

‘“I’ve missed three games but that’s not an excuse for other guys not to step up and make plays,” said Moulds. “We had opportunities last week to make plays and we just haven’t made them.”’

‘The Bills have allowed 20 or fewer points in six of eight games, but the offense has scored more than 13 points just twice in the last eight games.’

Harvey (Albany, N.Y): Mort, Has the NFL policy regarding interviews of minority candidates for vacant head coaching positions put an end to mid-season firings of head coaches?

Chris Mortensen: (12:43 PM ET) No! The NFL has never had a strong history of firing coaches at midseason because it generally doesn’t work. It usually means a coordinator assume the head coach role, and then that specific unit under the coordinator is thrown into chaos. The minority policy has no impact because it does not apply to a mid-season change.

‘“He’s dying to play,” said Henry’s agent, Greg Johnson. “And that’s the big dilemma. We’re afraid of having him go back out there and get hurt, but he’s insisting on playing.”’

Buffalo (4-6): Losers of six of their past eight, the Bills have gone belly up in particularly odorous style. The defense continues to play hard, but on offense it’s three games in a row now without a touchdown. All that’s really left is to see how Buffalo handles its looming decisions on the head coaching and quarterback fronts.

Playoff projection: Maybe 2004, Bills fans.

‘Offensive coordinator Kevin Gillbride may be part of the problem. The Bills have an excellent running back in Travis Henry (193 carries for 780 yards, 4.0 average), who broke a bone in his leg Sunday. But Gillbride loves to throw and throw deep, and he is trying to use Reed in the role vacated by Price, a role for which Reed seems ill-suited.’

‘The driver was wearing a seatbelt. That prevented him from being thrown out the windshield or being tossed around inside the cab of the truck.’