Archives for August 2006

‘Rain that at times was a downpour did not stop the Bills from practicing or about 3,000 fans from showing up for a two-hour session at St. John Fisher’s Growney Stadium. The Bills did stop, however, a half-hour into the practice to gather on the sideline and present a large chocolate birthday cake to General Manager Marv Levy. The players then sang "Happy Birthday," which seemed to thoroughly embarrass the 81-year-old Hall of Famer. "I think we did surprise him," chuckled coach Dick Jauron. "And I’m not sure he was happy about it."’

‘”I don’t want to be penciled in,” Crowell said, following a recent training camp practice. “I want to be there with a black marker.” As in permanent.’

‘McGahee did not have many – any, in fact – last year. His longest gain was 27 yards. He had only four gains of more than 20 yards all season.’

‘The FCC order maintained that the start of NFL training camps and the arrival of NFL’s preseason schedule on Aug. 11 makes the NFL Network’s programming more important to fans now. “Therefore, each day that Time Warner customers go without The NFL Network significantly and irreparably harms many of them, particularly those in Buffalo, Cleveland, Dallas, each of whom is home to an NFL team,” the FCC stated.’

‘”We brought him in as a workout to look at him, and we said if this guy’s weight is between these numbers, he’s a guy we’d like to look at,” said Buffalo’s director of pro personnel, John Guy. “He was in shape, and you can’t ever give up on size and athletic ability. He’s a good athlete for what he weighs (about 375 these days). You give him a chance and then what happens is up to him. We liked what we saw in him and he hasn’t disappointed us yet.”‘

‘”He’s a quality kid,” said Doug Majeski, the Bills coordinator of college scouting. “He had a strong Pro Day. He had a couple of drops in college that may have affected him, but it hasn’t shown up here. We’re really happy with him. He’s got a chance to make the club and he brings a dimension we don’t have – that big, tall body down field.”‘

‘Kingsbury is competing with Craig Nall for the Bills’ third spot behind starter Kelly Holcomb and J.P. Losman. Playing in Europe gave the quarterbacks a chance to see things they don’t normally see – and not just as tourists. “To play this position, the main thing you need is confidence,” Kingsbury said. “Being on the NFL scout team, running cards, gives you some work, but not enough.”‘

‘Without doubt, the Buffalo Bills’ offense will have a much different look to it in 2006 than 2005. Gone are the trick plays and odd substitutions, and back is the emphasis on getting the ball into the hands of the unit’s most talented player, McGahee. However, in order for the team to improve vastly upon its 5-11 record from last year, McGahee will have to do his part on third down.’

‘On the weather being disruptive -As long as it doesn’t lightning, and it depends where you are in practice. We finished up with short yardage so actually, I thought it was pretty good. You’ve got to handle the ball, you’ve got to get the snap up, and that’s not an easy thing to do when it’s raining that hard. The guys handled it well. If it had started at the beginning, it would have been disruptive.’

‘”Lee has what we would consider a minor shoulder injury,” said Jauron. “He bruised it the other day when he hit the ground. He just landed funny. (Head trainer) Bud (Carpenter) doesn’t think that it will be very long, but we will be conservative.”‘

‘”I like being at the straight nose now,” Anderson said. “It kind of takes away the two-sided thinking of it. You’ve got different techniques and different mindsets for nose and (the) three (position), this allows me to focus on one and I can get better at that each day and not have to worry about trying to go back and forth.”‘

‘Coach Dick Jauron referred to the injury as minor and added the player is considered day-to-day. The injury occurred in practice Wednesday, when Evans landed awkwardly after catching a pass.’

‘”The run game is crucial,” he said during training camp in suburban Rochester. “(Martz) is very, very aggressive and really stretches the field. I felt that was good to be exposed to that. But we’re not trying to emulate the St. Louis Rams. “We play in the AFC East, outdoors,” Fairchild added. “It’s just different.”‘

‘Every year a handful of NFL officials spend a couple of days at Bills training camp and with every other team in the league. They arrived this morning and were out on the field for the walk-through. This evening we can expect to see some commentary between the defensive players and the officials as they debate the judgment calls that will be made tonight. The back judge already called Nate Clements over after a particularly aggressive jam on Sam Aiken coming off the line. “He was telling me about the jam and I thought we had five yards,” said Clements with a smirk. “You know how it goes.”‘

‘In 2004 the Bills were second in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed. Last year the Bills dropped to 24th in points allowed and 29th in yards. “It just happened, I really can’t explain it because I wasn’t there too much,” Linebacker Takeo Spikes said “It’s the little things, it’s the details. We’re just going back to the basics this year.”‘