Archives for September 2005

‘”He’s very good,” said Bills coach Mike Mularkey. “His specialty is pass rushing off the edge. He gets off the snap extremely well. Being on the road and the crowd noise, it’s important that Mike Gandy gets off. We’re very aware of him and we’ll do whatever we have to to handle him in the passing game, because he’s a very good player.”‘

‘”I’m impressed with what he’s done, especially over the preseason and then seeing what he’s done last week,” Spikes said. “It was a good showing by him. He’s so quick and powerful, and he has the ability to keep his feet on contact once somebody hits him. Most players whenever you make contact they always seem to stop their feet. But he’s a perfect example of somebody who never stops his feet and that’s why he breaks a lot of tackles.”‘

‘The Bills kept seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster. My understanding is that five is the norm, and six is the exception. What kind of precedent exists for a team keeping seven wide receivers on the roster?’

‘A secondary with Lawyer Milloy and converted cornerback Troy Vincent at safety and rising star Nate Clements at corner completes a unit that looks better than the one that finished No. 2 in total defense and No. 3 against the pass in 2004. The Bills averaged 36 points in their last seven games last season despite an offense that ranked 25th in the NFL. The Bills had a league-high 39 takeaways.’

‘”I think obviously looking back at last year and then their first game this year, they’re tremendously talented and they have a great scheme,” Griese said. “They have a lot of speed at the linebacker position, they have two guys up front who are really good at stopping the run and two guys on the edges who are good at rushing the passer. They do some zone blitzing, they play man-to-man coverage, they do all-out blitzing. They mix it up well.”‘

‘”For the Buffalo Bills, I think it’s pretty much a win-win,” said a tongue-in-cheek Wyche, the Bills’ quarterbacks coach. “They’re selling the idea to get to the game early, buy more hotdogs, hamburgers and beer because Sam could keel over at any minute and you don’t want to miss that because it probably won’t show up on replay and ESPN that night.”‘

‘”They’re on the cusp of being one of the great teams in football and they’re coming on on offense as well,” Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. “They score points on defense, they generate turnovers, they create such favorable field position with the sacks and the negative plays.”‘

‘One area Tampa Bay’s veteran defense intends to exploit is the quarterback spot, where second-year man J.P. Losman from Tulane will start. The Bucs notoriously rattle some of the game’s best quarterbacks, especially the greenhorns.’

Down But Not Out (Tampa Tribune)

Bucs Face Another Mobile QB (Tampa Tribune)

Cox Briefly Returns To Jail (Tampa Tribune)

Thursday Gruden News Conference Transcript (Tampa Tribune)

In Clayton, Brooks sees his heir apparent (St. Petersburg Times)

Cox faces probation violation (St. Petersburg Times)

Bills defense will be tough test for Buccaneers (Orlando Sentinel)

Problems continue to mount for Cox (Orlando Sentinel)

Buffalo presents challenge (Bradenton Herald)

‘Cadillac’ takes back seat, for now (Fort Myers News Press)

Taking Back RJS (Buccaneers.com)

Bucs’ Cadillac Wins Award (Buccaneers.com)

A Welcome Tradeoff (Buccaneers.com)

‘Does anyone believe Alex Smith, Tampa Bay’s rookie tight end, will have two touchdown receptions again this week? Is there any way that rookie running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams rushes for 148 yards, as he did against Minnesota? Not unless he becomes a Hummer.’

‘In the AFC, the Bills are lurking dangerously. They have the NFL’s best defense, the game’s best kicking teams and a coaching staff in all areas that makes them complete to compete.’

‘”I’ve seen some of the best get completely shut down on the tape I’ve studied,” Gruden said. “I’ve seen them play some prolific offenses, some great attacks and totally shut it down. I’m really impressed with this defense, the personnel they’ve assembled, the blitzing scheme that they present.”‘

‘It’s too early to make any judgments, of course, but Losman figures to improve as the season progresses, and his performance last weekend provided some early validation for the decision by Tom Donahoe, the Bills’ president and general manager, and Coach Mike Mularkey. They could have stuck with Bledsoe and tried to build on the success they had last season, when the Bills won nine of their final 12 games after an 0-4 beginning and barely missed the playoffs in the rugged AFC.’

‘Bills Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes spent last fall rooting for Carnell "Cadillac" Williams as he ran circles around Southeastern Conference defenses as a member of the Auburn Tigers. Spikes, an All-American at Auburn himself back in 1997, will now be trying to upend the Buccaneers rookie running back.’

‘”I’m sure they didn’t like that last miss against Detroit,” Lindell said. “Somebody out there wants my job. And if I’m not doing it, they’ll bring him in. … So it just comes back to how well I do my job.”‘