Archives for October 2004

‘The Bills have had difficulty against the Jets at Giants Stadium recently. They have won only one game in their past six visits against the Jets, but this week they may be a bit more desperate to get a win against a division opponent. The Bills nearly stole one last week from the defending Super Bowl champs but came up short in the fourth quarter on mistakes. Buffalo is 2-11 in their last thirteen road games so they will have to play a near error-free game in order to get their season back on track.’

‘Needless to say, these Bills Backers do a pretty good job of turning McFadden’s into a mini-version of Buffalo on gamedays. It’s probably because the group is so big that it could rival a small town. With 800 current members, the club has grown rapidly in a short amount of time. Kabel, along with co-founder Matt Soreco, started the group during the 2001 offseason.’

‘”One of my pet peeves is don’t commit foolish fouls. Our players understand how important that is … we stress it. We have officials at every practice during the preseason through right now. They throw the flag, we talk about it, I emphasize it. We put their numbers up on the board … how many penalties you’ve had … you can’t beat yourself. (Officials) come (to practices) three days a week and it’s just like a game. I write the down the penalties and after the meetings I write them down on the board. One thing players don’t want is to seem like they’re hurting the football team. And when you make a strong commitment to ‘This is what we’re about and this is what we’re going to do,’ they get it. After awhile, they don’t want to see their number up there, because it becomes, ‘Hey, why are you up there all the time.'”‘

”’It’s not frustrating for me,” said McGahee, limited to playing in mostly third-down situations. ”My time will come. I’m not going to rush it. I’ve waited this long. I can wait as long as it takes.”’

‘As part of a pro-Bills promotion here in western New York, a local grocery chain yesterday handed out boxes of cereal with the mug of safety Coy Wire splashed on the front. The breakfast food in question? Shredded Wheat.’

‘The New York Jets have marched inside their opponents’ 20-yard line nine times this season and scored six touchdowns on those trips. The Buffalo Bills have been in the red zone eight times and come away with only two touchdowns. The Jets are 3-0. The Bills are 0-3.’

‘Mularkey’s doing all he can. Now it’s time to examine the character of his players.’

‘Mularkey said Teague still was being evaluated and would not rule him out for the Jets game. He hurt his left leg against New England, and it’s believed there is a crack in a nonweight-bearing bone in the leg. “There’s something there, but it’s not weight bearing,” Mularkey said. “It’s not like he can’t push off or be effective with it. But we want to be sure. It’s a long season. We don’t want to test anything that’s not sound. So we’re going to give it a day of rest and make some more decisions (today) on it.”‘

‘"We’re blitzing a lot and I’ve dropped more (into coverage) than I have in the past, but I’m not saying that’s the reason for it," Schobel said before practice at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Wednesday. "Sacks are hard to get when you’re behind, that’s for sure, but I’ve always said that as long I’m getting pressure – like I have – the sacks will come."’

‘"It’s not frustrating for me," the 2003 first-round pick said. "Like I said before, if Travis (Henry) is moving the ball good, there’s no need to take him out. Let him stay in his rhythm. You just have to wait your turn."’

‘Bledsoe has been sacked 14 times in the last two games and has not adapted well to Mularkey’s West Coast concepts (three touchdowns in three games). The offensive line has played poorly and is dealing with injuries to center Trey Teague (questionable, knee) and LT Jonas Jennings (questionable, neck).’

‘Henry, the compact Bills running back, has three 100-yard rushing days in five career games against the Jets. In a 17-6 victory over the Jets on a freezing day in Buffalo last December, Henry ran for a career-high 169 yards despite playing with damaged rib cartilage and being only two weeks removed from suffering a cracked fibula.’

‘”He’s an excellent runner,” Edwards said. “(Henry) can run. We haven’t stopped him yet. We can’t tackle the guy. He knocks us over like bowling pins.”‘

‘Why so many sacks?

To be honest, it’s been a group effort. A few of them have been attributed to missed assignments. One or two of them have been errors on behalf of myself and the receivers as far as breaking off the sight adjustments and me getting the ball out of my hands. Some of them have just been guys getting beat physically.’