Archives for October 20, 2005

‘"We still haven’t got fries, yet," said Vincent, noting Reid also served french fries with the cheeseburgers.’

‘With Randy Moss, the Raiders had one of the worst records in the NFL. It’s safe to say that they’ll be even worse without him. The Bills need to capitalize on the Raiders’ problems and keep rolling along. If they fail, they don’t deserve to be anywhere near the top of the AFC East.’

‘Is there one player who has taken you under his wing and served as a mentor to you?

"Eric Moulds has been teaching me the little things throughout the way. Being that we play the same position, Eric has been able to pick up on things and give me constant feedback. Willis McGahee has also helped me prepare for the NFL. We played together at the University of Miami and have gotten closer since we have reunited. Willis has also helped me prepare for the weather."’

‘”He’s been really spunked up these last couple games,” guard Chris Villarrial said. “His legs never stop moving. He breaks tackles. He’s not going to go down with an arm tackle. He’s got all the tools and he’s showing it.”‘

‘”Sometimes it can be frustrating,” Evans said. “But for me it’s really, really about just winning. Just winning. Last year, when we started winning, I was a part of that. I scored a lot of touchdowns on the road. We’ll go on the road now and see what happens. There’s not much I can do but keep playing, and sooner or later they’ll come.”‘

‘”Right now I feel pretty good,” Parrish said. “We’ll see how the days in practice go. . . . The trainers do a good job of taping my wrist, and I have a little cast on the back of my hand so when the ball impacts my wrist, my wrist won’t go back as far. They do a good job of protecting my wrist. The first day I went out there with the padding on my wrist I only dropped one ball, so I really don’t have any problem catching the ball.”‘

‘”When they played well, we were either moving the ball or stopping teams,” Mularkey said “We were really our own worst enemies when we lost close games. And when we stopped doing that, we became successful.”‘

Breast cancer fund-raiser gives women a shot at the Raiders (Oakland Tribune)

Romanowski’s hit doesn’t irk Collins (Oakland Tribune)

Change is good — just ask the Bills (San Francisco Chronicle)

Injured Moss likely out of Sunday’s game (San Francisco Chronicle)

Jordan in rush to make things right for Raiders (Contra Costa Times)

Moss listed doubtful for Bills game (Contra Costa Times)

Beating Bills is focus, with or without Moss (Sacramento Bee)

Collins to Jordan: Settle down (Sacramento Bee)

Moss unlikely to play Sunday against the Bills (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Raiders sign Branch to take Curry’s spot (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Moss doubtful for Sunday’s game with Buffalo (AP)

Moss doubtful for Sunday’s game against Buffalo (The Sports Network)

Inside slant (The Sports Xchange)

Strategy and personnel (The Sports Xchange)

Notes, quotes (The Sports Xchange)

Bills at Raiders Game Preview (Raiders.com)

Hometown Huddle 2005 (Raiders.com)

2005 Football 101 Workshop (Raiders.com)

‘Parrish said Wednesday that he has gained good strength in his repaired wrist – he can do pushups again – and that he’s catching the ball consistently with a special soft cast. But coach Mike Mularkey, while optimistic that Parrish will play in the near future, has elected not to commit to anything until he puts Parrish through more work the rest of this week and perhaps next week. “It’s really the first time he’s caught passes and punts in eight weeks and we haven’t tested him being hit, falling on the ground, all of those things,” Mularkey said. “I said (last week), ‘Let’s wait a week and test some of those other things out.’ He’s still questionable.”‘

‘The NFL does not have a league-mandated dress code. It lets its teams institute their own policies, and Buffalo’s is as follows: On travel days to road games players must wear sport coats and dress slacks from their homes until they arrive at the team hotel. Once they are in the hotel, they can wear whatever they want. On game day, they must wear similar apparel from the hotel to the stadium, and then from the stadium back to the airport for the trip home to Buffalo. For home games, there is no dress code.’

‘It’s one thing to get home wins against the struggling Miami Dolphins and New York Jets along with the absolutely horrible Houston Texans. It’s another to beat those same types of teams on the road, and yet another to beat the good teams in their playpen. So far, the Bills haven’t been able to do the latter.’

‘Dubbed “The Sack Man” at Virginia Tech, Smith recorded 71 tackles behind the line of scrimmage during his Hokies career, including 22 sacks as a junior. The following year, Smith won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman. The No. 1 pick in the 1985 NFL draft, Smith helped Buffalo reach four Super Bowls during his 15 years with the Bills. He was a two-time winner of the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.’

‘Don’t look now, but the Buffalo Bills can gain sole possession of first place in the AFC East over idle New England with a victory over the Oakland Raiders in Oakland on Sunday.’

‘”I think we had higher hopes early in the week (last week) and I got to start thinking about it,” coach Mike Mularkey said. “It’s really the first time he’s caught passes and punts in eight weeks and we haven’t tested him being hit, falling on the ground, all of those things. I said ‘Let’s wait a week and see if next week’s better and test some of those things out.'”‘

‘Bills LB London Fletcher on playing at McAfee, formerly the Oakland Coliseum: “It’s a tough atmosphere out there in Oakland but it’s going to be exciting. Their fans are very intense. They’re going to be saying all kinds of things to us about how happy they are to have us out there facing their team. But I love playing on the road. I feed off that energy the fans provide. I don’t want to be a stadium that’s all lovey-dovey. We’re not expecting that – at all.”‘