Archives for July 2005

‘”Everybody has faith in him, and as long as he has faith in himself, I feel he can’t be stopped,” said McGahee, who returns as the Bills’ starting running back after replacing the departed Travis Henry. “I don’t think it’ll take him long. J.P. is going to come along probably by the second or third preseason game, he just needs time under his belt. He didn’t get much time last year, but he knows what he has to do. He has to step up, just as I had to step up.”‘

‘”I think you have to be here from the get-go,” said coach Mike Mularkey, who is counting on the explosive Parrish to add some punch to his 25th-ranked offense. “Installation is faster than in mini-camp, especially for rookies with the pads going on and the tempo of practice picking up. Any time missed, even the run test, to me it puts a player behind. So it’s great he’s going to be in here, and it’s one less thing we have to worry about.”‘

‘He inherited a team in salary-cap hell and was forced to make some unpopular player cuts to get the franchise back on a sound financial path.’

‘”I’m very excited about this opportunity to be back in the league,” he said. “I don’t really have a title, but they list me at quarterback. I just want to make the team, no matter what position and that’s just the mindset you have to have.”‘

‘While the foundation has raised nearly $4-million since 1999, the Kelly’s have never funded any research on embryonic stem cells. “You don’t take a life to give a life. For us, it’s more so making sure you do it the right way.” Kelly said. Kelly fells the right way, is adult stem cell research, which has led scientists to transplant umbilical cord blood stem cells, now a leading treatment for Krabbe Disease.’

‘At eight years old, Jim Kelly’s son, Hunter, has literally beaten the odds. Most children with the genetic disorder, Krabbe Disease, don’t live beyond 14 months. “He’s still on oxygen 24 hours a day, he still eats through a feeding tube about 100 times a day because he doesn’t have any muscle control in his throat.”‘

‘”I expect it to be a little bit easier,” Evans said. “You kind of just know what to expect a little more. You’re not just kind of living day to day, not knowing what’s going on. I’m just excited to get going. [I’m] a lot more confident. My role is defined a little more and I kind of know what to expect. I’ll just be able to go into camp with a plan, to work on [certain] things to get better. I think that’s the difference.”‘

‘”I’m excited for JP only because of his work ethic in the off-season. It’s been impressive and now it just needs to carry over and I think it will, I really do. He’s such a competitive guy and I think it’s our job to make him comfortable and confident as soon as we can. I think our offense will gel as he does. It’s the coaches’ job to make it work.”‘

‘”I’ve been playing quarterback since high school and even then it starts a little bit. Then when you get to college, you’re going through the same thing, how the quarterback compares things and the competing thing between two quarterbacks. That prepared me a little bit for last year with Drew (Bledsoe) but this year everything has changed. It just feels good to be back as the man, as the guy going into camp as number one. All those things make everything else a lot easier as far as all the criticisms and everything everyone’s saying.”‘

‘These days, with multiple mini-camps, Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and some players working out at team facilities nearly year-round, camp has become much more concentrated.’

‘You must have tickets to attend the evening sessions. The tickets were free and have been distributed. You do not need tickets to attend the other sessions, but no matter what session, you must take a shuttle to the field.’

‘Searching for playmakers for second-year quarterback J.P. Losman, the Bills used their first second-round pick on a receiver who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds at the scouting combine and caught 43 passes for 693 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Parrish also averaged 16.2 yards on punt returns.’

‘”Every year it gets harder and harder I tell you, cause you go from being in the nice king sized bed, swimming pool and playing with your kids to a dorm room. I got a bag in my hand and a pillow,” says Milloy.’

‘”We think we have a great opportunity to win this division and get to the super bowl and win the Super Bowl,” defensive tackle Sam Adams stated.’

‘”I could care less about J.P. Losman,” said Adams. “I have to play Defensive Tackle and everyone has to play their position. You can all worry about J.P. Losman. I’m going to worry about sacking the Quarterback, which I don’t do that often, and stopping the run which I do do very often. That’s my job and that’s what I’m going to concentrate on.”‘