Archives for August 2006

‘"I just want to do the best I can out there. I’ve been preparing for the last two weeks for this game. It’ll be nice if I can show what I’ve learned and show the coaches that I’m picking up on everything and that I can make plays."’

‘”There’s no need to read anything else into it, really,” Jauron said of his decision to start Holcomb. “I think they’ll both get a good deal of playing time. We’ll just see how the game goes.”‘

‘”They are an outstanding team,” Jauron said. “Unless I am mistaken, they were in the NFC Championship Game a year ago, which makes them a very good football team. We’re looking forward to it.”‘

‘The Panthers brought Buffalo’s Josh Reed in for a two-day visit in March, but he chose to stay with the Bills for a four-year, $10-million pact. The Panthers weren’t offering that kind of coin for a complementary player. They were looking at the 5-foot-10, 208-pounder as more of a replacement for Ricky Proehl. Thus spurned, they turned their sights to Johnson, who signed a four-year, $14-million deal less than a week later. For not that much more money, relatively speaking, they got quite an upgrade.’

A night of firsts (Charlotte Observer)

Carter will try to seize the play (Charlotte Observer)

Five things to watch tonight (Charlotte Observer)

If you’re going (Charlotte Observer)

Backup battle (Gaston Gazette)

QB LeFors has experience going for him (Rock Hill Herald)

Carolina had its eye on Bills’ receiver Reed (Rock Hill Herald)

Trying to be No. 3 (Winston Salem Journal)

Panthers filling roster with leaders (Winston Salem Journal)

She gives the Panthers something to stretch about (Fort Mill Times)

Smith, Minter to miss Panthers’ exhibition opener (AP)

‘”Obviously, we’ve pointed all this time toward full-contact scrimmaging,” said coach Dick Jauron, who makes his debut as the 14th head coach in Buffalo’s history and fourth in the last eight years. “This is it. Really, this is almost the only chance you get to do it with a quarterback. I’ve never been anywhere that went live on a quarterback (in practice or a scrimmage), so here we go.”‘

‘”I was 31 years old and I didn’t want to be just an ‘ex-football player’ the rest of my life,” the third-leading interceptor in franchise history was saying the other day, while seated in the stands at Growney Stadium on the St. John Fisher College campus. “I wanted to forge a new path, carve a new identity.”‘

‘A fourth-year pro from South Dakota, Stamer has shined on special teams for the Bills the past two seasons. He hopes to make the same impact on defense this season. “I’m always looking for a chance to get on the field,” he said. “The more minutes, the better for myself.”‘

‘”It’s not just that I’m missing the reps, it’s that those guys (J.P. Losman and Kelly Holcomb) are getting extra reps,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m getting those reps, too, standing back here and watching if they make a mistake. I’ll try and learn from that. I’m writing down what’s going on, I’m being attentive and I’m taking all the mental reps.”‘

‘When the team signed C Melvin Fowler, it hoped for a guy who could help anchor the line. So far, he has not disappointed.’

‘”This weekend is the kickoff to the 2006 season and a new era for the Buffalo Bills,” safety Troy Vincent said. “New head coach, new coordinators, and everyone wants to show well.”‘

‘The biggest decision Jauron and the new staff of the Bills will have to make in training camp is at quarterback, where Kelly Holcomb, J.P. Losman, and Craig Nall are competing for starting duties. Holcomb, who started eight games last season and is listed first on the depth chart, will open the Carolina game before yielding to Losman, the former first-round pick who struggled in his eight starts last season. Nall, who was bothered by a hamstring problem early in training camp, is not expected to see any action.’

‘If he can play against the Bengals, there may still be enough time to challenge Kelly Holcomb and J.P. Losman for the starting job, which coach Dick Jauron said remains a wide-open competition. Holcomb will start against the Panthers. "That’s the plan, barring any setbacks," Nall said of returning to practice next week. "Right now I’m looking at Monday, see how it goes this weekend, and determine if that’s an attainable goal."’

‘My greatest influences are my parents. I learned a lot from my parents. I learned love and music from both of them and acquired my father’s originality and my mother’s drive. I had a lot of different outside influences but my parents have influenced my life the most.’

‘”Yeah, I’m eager, excited,” Whitner said ahead of the game at Carolina on Saturday. “I want to go out there, do what I do, run around, make a couple of tackles and hopefully get a couple of interceptions.” A couple of interceptions? “Yeah,” the Bills first-round draft pick said with a grin. “Don’t set it too low.”‘