Archives for August 2005

‘"I don’t care if they feel they were right or wrong. It’s not affecting me now," he said Wednesday. "My goal is to help the Bills win, and that’s what I’m going to do."’

‘Mularkey says the starters will play a half and maybe more on Friday against the Bears.’

‘Buffalo will this week seek further development from second-year quarterback J.P. Losman, who completed 7-of-14 passes for 59 yards, rushed five times for 36 yards, and bolted for a one-yard touchdown in last week’s win against Green Bay. Losman has been handed the starting signal-caller job but has just five career regular season pass attempts. Former Brown Kelly Holcomb (10-14 passing, 94 yards in the preseason) has looked sharp thus far in August. Running back Willis McGahee garnered his most extensive work of the preseason last week, when he rushed nine times for 32 yards and scored on a six-yard rush against Green Bay. McGahee and the Bills starters will probably play all or most of the first half on Friday. Tight end Tim Euhus (strained pectoral muscle) and wideout Roscoe Parrish (wrist) are among the Bills who will not be in uniform on Friday.’

‘The Buffalo Bills have kicked off a new exhibit on the history of the team at the Toy Town Museum in East Aurora, NY, which will be open to the public until early 2006.’

‘”These fans that are here today drive the sport,” Vincent admitted. “They fill the seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium and across the National Football League. Those fans who come out for teams that have camps away from their facilities … they can see us, touch us and connect with us and a lot of them aren’t even season ticket holders.”‘

‘The Sept. 9 event is designed as a pep rally to celebrate the start of the Buffalo Bills 2005-2006 season. Last year’s inaugural event was held further down Main Street at Fountain Plaza and attracted about 2,500. The organization worked with Buffalo Place in the hopes of capitalizing on the public’s greater awareness of the Lafayette Square location, said Michael Gross, Heritage Centers executive director. Plans call for broadcasting the event live, with fans joined by current members of the Buffalo Bills, alumni and the Buffalo Jills. Players from the 1990 Buffalo Bills Superbowl team are also expected to attend for a special recognition ceremony.’

‘Here’s a breakdown of some of the most surprising players…’.

‘”That’s what it’s all about,” veteran safety Troy Vincent said. “At the end of the day, these fans here, they drive the sport. They fill the seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Camp is a time they can connect with us. A lot of these people aren’t season-ticket holders and it’s their chance to see us and spend time with us.”‘

‘Julie Rossignolo actually owns two Losman jerseys, at about $70 to $75 a pop. She was lucky enough to have Losman autograph her first jersey and decided there was no way she could ever wear that one again. Thus, she needed another.’

‘The thing that impressed Preston the most at training camp? The Buffalo defense. “It surprises me how good our defense is. That’s not to say anything about the two teams we played (Indianapolis and Green Bay), but our defense is unbelievable,” he said. “In college, you might get beat on one or two plays, but out here – if you have an off day, you could get drubbed the whole practice.”‘

‘”J.P. is getting a little bit better every day,” said Wyche. “The one thing we can not get frustrated with is not seeing giant leaps on certain days. You just don’t see it in this league. Our defense is too strong of an opponent to practice against. He’s going to make strides every day and if he takes two days to make a stride then we just live for two days with it. He’s getting better and better every day. He’s got all the skills and now it’s just a matter of taking snaps.”‘

‘Losman took about 70 percent of the training camp snaps and got in more than four quarters of action during Buffalo’s two preseason games — both victories.’

‘For this season’s rookie class, their first experience in an NFL training camp lived up to its billing. "I think in every way preseason and all that kind of stuff it’s work, Duke Preston said. It’s going to the job every day and bringing your lunch so I think I was pleased with how I played and pleased with what went on."’

‘The problem for the Dolphins was that defensive coordinator Tom Olivadotti was incredibly reluctant to send the blitz. I tracked the number of times Miami rushed three, four and five or more defenders, and the Dolphins rushed three defenders much more frequently than other teams. Against most teams, this worked. Their defense fared quite well statistically during a portion of Olivadotti’s career, but Olivadotti wasn’t willing to adjust the pass rush to the circumstances, and Miami paid the price against Kelly & Co.’

‘”I’m not too fond of my name right now,” Losman said earlier this week, referring to the ever-chanting fans. “It’s about that time to quiet things down.”‘