Archives for February 2004

‘The Buffalo Bills’ new quarterbacks coach has a damaged heart and a broken voice, but you gotta like his drive.’

‘"The one thing that happens in a drill like this is you can’t make a final decision," said Bills quarterbacks coach Sam Wyche. "What you can do is eliminate. I don’t think anyone eliminated him today."’

”I don’t think the season went too well. I think there are a lot of things I need to do a better job at next season. I didn’t do anything to jump start the team at all. My kickoffs weren’t as consistent as I would have liked, or I thought they would be. In the offseason I want to get my leg strength better and get more consistent on the kickoff. My kickoff steps were new as far as how I did those. I used to put the ball on the hash and step it off so everybody knew where I was going. This past season I put it in the middle. It will be nice to have an offseason to continue getting better on my kickoff steps and just get better on the field goals.”

‘Casserly won’t say exactly what the Texans want for Henson, but the team would love to get a first-round pick in return. The Bills, Packers and Dolphins are apparently among the teams that are most interested.’

‘”I saw him (Henson) on film last year from his days in Michigan,” Clements said. “I have an idea of what he looked like on film and I was impressed with him at Michigan. When you go down there you’re just going to see how rusty he may be. You want to see what athletic ability he has, how he’s throwing the ball and whether or not he’s accurate and if he still has the same zip on it. Just guessing, I expect him to be fairly impressive in person. He’s going to just display his athletic ability and how he can throw the ball.”‘

Buffalo Bills: Seven of eight picks made the roster. The class produced only two starts. The key to this draft is what McGahee and Chris Kelsay do in the future.

Included in the high-profile mix are five former NFL head coaches, the most recent being Gregg Williams (Washington) and Dick Jauron (Detroit), who were let go this season by the Bills and Bears, respectively. Others include Gunther Cunningham, the former Chiefs head coach who has returned to become Kansas City’s DC; Wade Phillips, a former head coach in Denver and Buffalo who will be in charge of the Chargers’ defense; and Dick LeBeau, a former head coach in Cincinnati who is returning to Pittsburgh, where he spent 1992 through ’96 as an assistant coach and then defensive coordinator.

‘The Texans will shop Henson to the highest bidder, but whether Buffalo would be involved in bidding for him so soon after giving up a No. 1 pick to New England for Bledsoe in 2002 is highly speculative. Many personnel directors feel Henson is a long-term project.’

‘”I’m just succeeding him. I mean, who can replace Van?” said Murphy, 46, who worked alongside the legendary Miller for 16 years. “If you grew up around here, he’s the voice of the Bills, and I just feel I’m succeeding him. These are huge shoes to fill. I’m going to try not to think about it.”‘

‘”I’m the luckiest guy going,” he said. “How many times can you call up and say,”I’m looking for a job. Oh, by the way, I have a heart disease, I can’t talk very well, you got a job for me?””

‘Moving to the offense, former Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements is in his first season as an offensive coordinator. Clements has coached quarterbacks with the Steelers, Chiefs and Saints. He says his philosophy will fit the talents of the players he has. He did mention he likes to run the football and develop a solid running game. He also feels Drew Bledsoe is not washed up and he will have plays that get the ball out of his hand quicker. Clements is a huge fan of Travis Henry. He loves the power Henry packs in such a small package.’

‘”I expect he’ll be fairly impressive,” said Bills offensive coordinator Tom Clements. “We’re just going to go down there and see how rusty he may be, see what kind of athletic ability he displays, see how he’s throwing the ball, whether he’s accurate, whether he still has the same zip on it, things like that.”‘

”’All I know is what I’ve heard about him,” Mularkey said. ”That’s why I’m probably going to ask Tom and Sam to go down there with me and do all the evaluating on him. They’re the quarterback, I don’t want to say gurus but they know it better than I do.”’

‘Murphy had served 16 years as Miller’s partner. He is a Buffalo-area native and Syracuse University graduate, who will retain his job as sports director at Buffalo’s WKBW-TV.’

‘Murphy recently completed his 16th season alongside Miller in the booth. He first held the analyst job from 1984-89 when working as sports director at WBEN-AM and then again from 1994-2003.’