Archives for January 2005

‘Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray is a possible candidate to be interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at Syracuse, a source told the Buffalo News. The Orange is looking to replace Paul Pasqualoni, who was fired last week.’

Parker another weapon (Beaver County Times)

A Meaningless Game? Not to Steelers Reserves (New York Times)

Steelers’ backups weren’t about to back into the playoffs (AP)

Steelers report: Strategy and personnel (CBS Sportsline)

Parker was well-rested for his big break (Steelers.com)

‘I keep thinking of that crumpled sign I spotted in the stands on Sunday. “Do you smell the playoffs?” Turns out all we were smelling was a fraud.’

‘Not great, but not bad, and being not bad is about the best many Bills observers could have hoped for given the way Bledsoe had played from the middle of 2002 through the middle of 2004. But is playing not bad going to be good enough to get the Bills over the hump and into the playoffs?’

‘It’s believed Buffalo will try to recoup the first-round pick (20th overall) that they’ve shipped to Dallas to consummate the deal last spring for the chance to draft quarterback J.P. Losman. However, with a strong free-agent class of running backs, including Shaun Alexander, Edgerrin James, and Rudi Johnson, along with a strong college class, the market for Henry may be very limited.’

‘After the loss to the Steelers, I framed a question to Mike Mularkey that was a polite way of asking if the Bills basically got a little tight around the collars. The question was if winning is still a learning experience, with the game against the Steelers clearly the most important of the season even though the Bills had six straight wins. Mularkey said no, that all the games were basically the same; they were all important because a loss at any point would all but end the playoff hope. The coach said the game against Pittsburgh only SEEMED bigger because the media and fans made it so. Sorry, but I’m just not buying that.’

‘There will be an entire off-season of finger pointing at Drew Bledsoe for Sunday’s loss. He did not play well. But Drew is Drew. He’s not going to win a game for you. He’s a quarterback with limitations, who functions when all the other parts of the team are working well.’

‘He says he has good memories of his time in Buffalo. When asked whether he considered himself as good as gone, Henry said, ”Yeah, most definitely.” Henry told me personally he was going to tell head coach Mike Mularkey these thoughts in their meeting.’

‘”This is the first time I’ve been a free agent,” Jennings said following Sunday’s finale. “I’d love to come back, I’d love to play. I think this team’s got something going that we can definitely take into next year. But both parties have to be on the same page.”‘

‘Henry, 26, is signed through next season but he said he’s confident the Bills can find a team to trade him to. “Most definitely, there are a lot of teams out there I’m confident that would live to have a Travis Henry on their team,” he said. “It’s just a matter of what the Bills want to do.”‘

‘Drew Bledsoe left the door open for rookie J.P. Losman to come in and compete for his starting job next season with a horrible performance.’

‘WR Lee Evans, the team’s first-round pick from Wisconsin, enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons in club history with 48 catches for 843 yards and a rookie record nine TDs. Evans caught five passes of 55 yards or more (65, 55, 69, 60 and 56). Thirty-eight of his catches resulted in first downs.’

‘What did you say to Drew Bledsoe and the team after the heart-breaker Sunday, especially after finding out the Jets lost?

MM: I told them not to let this one game overshadow what they accomplished to get to this point, the insurmountable odds that you had to win every game for seven weeks straight. It will be easy to lose sight of what they did with the one loss, but they shouldn’t.’

‘Since this is the second time this year Rian Lindell missed a chip shot to ice a game (he also missed an easy field goal against Jacksonville), isn’t it time to find a more pressure-ready kicker? Especially given the money he is making?

TD: Rian Lindell will be evaluated just like everyone else on our football team. One of the things we try to do in evaluations is look at the total picture and not just one game or one particular kick. All and all, it appears that Rian has had a very good season this year when you look at his field goal percentage and his kickoffs. Rian is not any different than any player on this team. They will all be evaluated and evaluated thoroughly.’

‘“I’m just a sore loser,” cornerback Nate Clements said. “We’re going to stick together, no matter what. And hopefully, we can look at this end on a positive note.”’