Archives for September 3, 2004

‘Currently the Bills have four halfbacks – Travis Henry, Willis McGahee, Simonton and Williams – and three fullbacks – Daimon Shelton, Joe Burns and Luke Lawton – and only five of them figure to survive. In addition, it would seem either Rod Trafford or Tim Euhus, a fourth-round draft choice, won’t survive at tight end.’

‘"Big headlines in Buffalo, I still have the paper and everything else," Gogolak said. "None of the New York papers said anything about it. Just a little box score, you know. Gogolak, 57-yarder. Because of the true competition between the AFL and NFL, none of the papers ever, ever said anything about that kick, it’s unbelievable. It’s kind of strange you know."’

‘"It’s got to stop," Mularkey said of the mistakes. "We’ve got to rectify it. They know. If you’re at this level, you don’t need to be reminded that you can’t jump offside. I’m not here to remind them. I’m here to teach them that they can’t do that. And let’s figure out why they keep doing a penalty and let’s fix that. We’ll get it done."’

‘They were apparently more interested in propping up Bledsoe’s fragile self-confidence than having a proven backup who might actually challenge him for the job. Really, is Shane Matthews any worse an option than Travis Brown?’

‘"I’m just thankful that I was given an opportunity to go out there and kind of show what I can do," said Williams, who ran for 63 yards on 12 carries last week at Indianapolis. "Coming into the game I knew I was going to get a lot of reps, so I just wanted to come in and play hard and try to show the coaches that if they decide to keep me, I’m going to do whatever it takes to help this ball club win games."’

‘Of course, the Bills (1-3) aren’t going to be rolling anywhere if they don’t start cleaning up their act. Buffalo was averaging eight penalties per game entering the night, and that total soared thanks primarily to a woeful performance by the special teams.’

Healthy living (Detroit Free Press)

Healthy Joey essential to Lions’ season (Detroit Free Press)

Final exhibit (Detroit Free Press)

‘Madden 2005’ says road woes end, but 5-11 looms (Detroit Free Press)

Lions alumni to host dance (Detroit Free Press)

Lions earn painful win (Detroit News)

Reserves make decisions tough (Detroit News)

Potential aside, Lions can’t settle for anything less than .500 record (Detroit News)

Harrington needs a winner’s swagger (Detroit News)

Defense hit hard with early injuries (Detroit News)

Talking with … Teddy Lehman, Lions rookie linebacker (Detroit News)

Pyrrhic victory (Oakland Press)

A few Lions sat; a few more should’ve (Oakland Press)

TD catch ‘a relief’ for Kircus, who now awaits his fate (Booth Newspapers)

Injuries take luster off Lions’ win (Toledo Blade)

Many happy returns (DetroitLions.com)

Postgame quotes – Detroit Lions (DetroitLions.com)

Postgame quotes – Buffalo Bills (DetroitLions.com)

Post-game notes (DetroitLions.com)

Photo Gallery #1 (DetroitLions.com)

Photo Gallery #2 (DetroitLions.com)

‘”The focus is that when that primary receiver is covered that the quarterback immediately has instant recall of who to go to with the ball to save the sack,” said Wyche, the former Cincinnati and Tampa Bay coach. “Instead of seeing someone covered and searching for a receiver, he’s going right now to somebody. And if that guy by design is not there, he’s got a guaranteed [dump-off]. Drew’s working at it and doing well.”‘

‘Most importantly, the Bills (1-3) got out of the game healthy after losing two backup quarterbacks to injury last week. “You want to come out of this thing for the real deal,” Bills coach Mike Mularkey said. “To me, it seemed like a long game. The third quarter was an hour, it felt like.”’

‘Detroit Lions safety Brock Marion bruised his right knee on the opening drive of Thursday night’s exhibition game against the Buffalo Bills.’

‘Buffalo’s Shane Matthews, signed earlier this week to back up Drew Bledsoe, went 7-of-10 for 104 yards. Shaud Williams rushed for 78 yards and Willis McGahee scored on a short run for the Bills (1-3), who host Jacksonville in their opener on September 12.’

‘Shane Matthews ended 7-of-10 for 104 yards for Buffalo (1-3). Willis McGahee, who is battling Travis Henry for the starting running back spot, gained 24 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.’

‘The most distressing thing about this game was the 17 penalties committed by the Bills. Mularkey’s message on that front is not being heard. They also fumbled three more times.’

‘Newly signed Shane Matthews relieved Bledsoe and had a nice game for only being with the team since Monday. He was 7-of-10 for 104 yards, including a 51 yarder to Sam Aiken. That set up a four yard touchdown run by Shaud Williams in the third quarter. Williams led all Bills rushers with 78 yards on 18 carries.’

‘”He was pretty impressive,” Head Coach Mike Mularkey said after the game. “I hope other quarterbacks don’t get that mind set that you can be home with your wife and kids and can miss training camp and 48 hours later you can come in an NFL game and move a team.”‘