Archives for August 2004

‘The Bills have made other contributions to the campus, Bosworth said. The first year of camp, the team brought industrial washers and dryers and other things that have stayed at Fisher and are used during the school year, she said. The NFL camp also has an educational side for Fisher, as Bills front-office personnel have served as guest lecturers in its sports studies program and at the college’s annual sportsmanship conference, said Gerry Rooney, vice president for enrollment management and external relations.’

‘Add it all up and at the moment, Buffalo has a $38 million backup on its hands. After returning to work, Williams vowed not to let his teammates and coaches down again. It’s a start. "I’ve missed a lot and I’ve got to catch up, conditioning wise and terminology wise," Williams said. "But the important thing was getting back on the field. The only way to learn it all is to get back on the field. It’s a relief to be back out here. I know these guys are counting on me and I know what I can give them. I’m going to show them what I’m going to be like from now on."’

‘The coaches would like to develop a viable backup center behind Trey Teague, but Tucker is still hopeful he can get enough repetitions to win the starting LG job vacated by the departed Brown (Chicago Bears). Sullivan continues to swing between tackle and guard and doesn’t appear a serious threat to Puccillo at left guard.’

‘QB Drew Bledsoe arrived at camp sporting a brush cut. It was worse. He actually shaved his head over the summer at his mountain lake retreat in Montana. “I’ve wanted for years to shave my head in the summer,” Bledsoe said. “I figured, ‘I’m at the lake, nobody’s around, why not?’ The only problem is that some of it has grown back gray.”‘

‘”We got to see some of the younger guys and what they were going to do in their first live competition,” said Mike Mularkey. “It’s hard to give them a grade right now, immediately, but I’m assuming it should be good watching it on tape for some of the young guys.”‘

‘Bills coach Mike Mularkey had no problems with Bledsoe letting the offense know where he stood. “I was extremely pleased by what he did on the sidelines,” Mularkey said. “Don’t wait until Monday to tell them. He recognized there was an issue and he addressed it.”‘

‘Mularkey’s primary task is to restore balance to the attack, to reduce the sacks and turnovers and in that way help Bledsoe and the warrior defense (coord. Jerry Gray has been retained). If he can do it, the Bills can play with any team in the AFC East (except New England).’

‘"As the day went on, from my perspective, it looked like he got more comfortable, as he took another hit and took another hit," said backup quarterback Travis Brown. "He started to run a little harder. On the goal line he was putting his head down and getting in there. On a couple plays we were really close to seeing something unbelieveable. He was really close."’

‘"The O-line was opening up holes and giving me creases, and all I had to do was hit it," Suggs said.’

‘Good for him, and very good for the Buffalo Bills.’

‘He’s just another "U" for unsatisfactory on Donahoe’s report card.’

‘"I think two things were apparent," Bledsoe said. "No. 1, we came out and ran the ball extremely well the first couple of plays. We showed what we’re capable of against a good defense. We also showed if we can’t build a little bit more mental toughness to fight through the adversity of one mistake and not allow that to snowball into two and three mistakes, then we’re not going to be successful."

‘"You could really see Lee’s speed," Brown said. "He was so wide-open that I didn’t want to overthrow him. He probably would have scored if I hit him in stride. But I wanted to complete the ball. We had one yesterday that just went off his fingertips. That was in the back of my mind."’

‘”Two things were very apparent,” Bledsoe said. “We came out and ran the ball extremely well the first couple of plays. We showed what we are capable of against a good defense running the ball the way we did. We also showed that if we can’t build a little more mental toughness to fight through the adversity of one mistake and not allow that to snowball into two or three mistakes, we’re not going to be successful.’

‘”We’re going to be better this year. We’ve got more chemistry, and in this scrimmage alone it’s starting to show. We were able to make some turnovers and guys were starting to make more plays because they know the defense.”‘