Archives for August 2005

‘”When I played for Bud (Grant in the early 1980s), there was no water on the field,” Mularkey remembers. “But if there was a cattle warning on the radio and the farmers were warned to bring their cattle in, we’d get a water break.”‘

‘”I’m a big, big fan, just the way he handles himself off the field,” Losman said of Favre, 35, who is entering his 15th season needing just 266 yards to join John Elway and Dan Marino in the 50,000 Club. “It’s going to be awesome to play against a guy like that. There probably hasn’t been another quarterback other than Brett Favre that I want to take more from.”‘

‘”I know the guys are tired of hitting each other and tired of blocking each other – probably more so than me it’s good for them,” Bills quarterback J.P. Losman said. “They’re not able to hit people as hard as they want to. They don’t want to hurt teammates. It’s going to be good to get some different looks and see some different colors on the helmet.”‘

‘”I try to take things out of all types of quarterbacks throughout the years that I liked. (There are) certain qualities that I want to add to my game but there probably isn’t another quarterback that I want to take more from than Brett Favre.”‘

‘”It’s just a matter of studying everyday,” Lee said. “Everybody just wants to compete right now.”‘

Green wants to cash in (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Scrimmage to be good test for test Rodgers, defense (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Hamstring injury may shelve Bedell (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Battle is on for return jobs (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Packers, fans gear up for Friday night party (Green Bay Press Gazette)

Buffalo fills bill as foe (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Scrimmage will highlight position battles (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Henderson still runs No. 1 at fullback (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Bedell injures hamstring (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Roman attempts cover-up (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Team officials mingle with Packer fans (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Franks missing camper (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Rodgers, Packers make deal with a future (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Hamstring injury a real pain for Poppinga (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Hunt opens this camp with some fire (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Grady’s a PUP with some bark (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Thompson takes a stand for the defense (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Walker runs go route (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Underwood answers a vertical challenge (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Nall faces new test to pass with Packers (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Healthy Navies works to keep his job (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Hawkins’ talent fills in for experience (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Henderson still runs No. 1 at fullback (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Scrimmage with Bills adds twist to training camp (Wisconsin State Journal)

‘The kid has the keys. Now it’s time to see whether he can keep this car on the road.’

‘When he was 13 years old, the Bills’ tight end was involved in an automobile accident that probably saved his life. “When they were running my vitals at the hospital they found an irregular heartbeat,” Trafford said. “They checked into it and I had to have open heart surgery the next month. It’s just been a pretty crazy ride, you know.”‘

‘Buffalo proved last year that success in the red zone is critical putting points on the board. In 16 games the Bills had the ball in the red zone 60 times and they scored 28 touchdowns and 21 field goals (81.7%). In the first six games alone, the offense failed to score inside the red zone on six different occasions. The final 10 games the Bills faired much better, coming away empty only five times, two of which came near the end of games the Bills had the lead.’

‘With the Giants in 2000, he may have done his best job to date as he took a bag of spare parts, including former Bills’ starter Glenn Parker, to Super Bowl XXXV. At each stop, he has had success – which makes it hard for him to choose his best work. “I try to do the same thing every year. If I said one, it’d be bragging and I wouldn’t do that,” McNally said.’

‘Judging by McGee’s play in training camp, he plans to be shutting down the NFC’s top wideouts in February in Hawaii. Injuries in the secondary and McGee’s athleticism earned him a starting spot last year and forced Vincent back to safety.’

‘The tight end position is expected to play a big role in a transformed offense that features second-year quarterback J.P. Losman taking over as starter. "It’s pretty important," coach Mike Mularkey said of having his top two tight ends back. "You had to think about that position going into camp. You kept saying, `They’re going to be there.’ And having them in there, I think our offense may be ahead."’

‘"I’m a lot more focused, both on and off the field," he said. "As far as last year, when you have things on your mind it’s hard to focus and do what they ask you to do. This year it’s totally different. I worked hard during the offseason, came in here in shape and focused. I’m ready to do what I know I can do and what the organization knows what I can do."’

‘"I don’t want him to be anything else but him. But he’s got to realize that all eyes are on him," Mularkey said. "He can’t show his frustration all the time because I think teammates watch that, and it can be a negative for the team. But I think he’s done a really good job of trying to control it."’

‘The Bills are talented, hungry and hardly rebuilding. They ended the Drew Bledsoe starting era because they deemed the 12-year veteran had taken them as far as he could, which was to a 9-7 record last season, including eight wins in nine games stretching from Halloween to Christmas. Buffalo has a superb defense, outstanding special teams and enough young offensive weapons to give New England a run for its money in the rugged AFC East. If, that is, the Bills can get enough out of the kid quarterback who inspired them to ship three draft picks — including their 2005 first-rounder — to Dallas for the right to select him 22nd overall in the ’04 draft. And Jonathan Paul Losman already has that much figured out.’