Archives for September 6, 2006

‘Hosting the Bills could be a good way for the Patriots to start off on the right foot, having won the last five meetings and 10 of 11. Buffalo has lost five straight in Foxborough since Nov. 5, 2000. The Bills enter the season with a new coach, a new general manager and an overhauled roster hoping to end a six-year playoff drought — the franchise’s longest since the NFL merger. Buffalo has 21 new players as it tries to rebuild after a 5-11 season.’

‘The highest average ticket cost is in New England ($90.89) and the lowest is in Buffalo ($41.29).’

‘On last year against NE and taking some lumps: I got dinged up a little bit early in the game, but there were a lot of things that weren’t right. Like I said, they always try to confuse the quarterback, especially a young quarterback, probably see if he can handle the pressure. As for our run game, I don’t know what they’re going to do with multiple looks. We have a good little play book going into the game. It’s week one, we’re really focused on the game, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It’s a team who everyone has been trying to knock off. Like coach says, we’re not going to come out with crazy stuff, we just have to be smarter and sharper.’

‘Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron isn’t ready to announce who his No. 2 quarterback will be, but he did confirm Wednesday that Peerless Price will be the other starting wide receiver opposite Lee Evans when the Bills travel to New England for their season opener Sunday.’

‘On Losman’s emotions in week one: I’ve never been with him in a regular season game. Of course, he knows what a regular season game is like. What we’re trying to tell our young people, our rookies, is that from college to the preseason is certainly a jump, but this next jump is going to be even bigger. Game day in the NFL, in the regular season, is fast and it’s the real thing. I haven’t been with J.P. in one of those but I anticipate that he’ll handle it well.’

‘On J.P.’s improvement over the past year: More poise, I think he knows a little more what to expect now than he did last year. I think he’s just a little bit more comfortable with the things we’re doing offensively. He knows there’s a definite progression he has to make as far as what he has to do. I think he’s more confident being able to make decisions than he has in the past.’

‘”It was eventually going to happen,” said Youboty of his mother’s passing. “I had to tell myself that. But at the time when I was trying to get my career going it has been tough. I’ve got my younger siblings looking up to me and asking me questions that I have to answer, that I didn’t think I’d have to answer at this time. It’s all part of moving on up and I have a lot of big decisions to make.”‘

‘”Being out on the field, at least I have other things to think about and get the memories out,” said Youboty, Buffalo’s third-round draft pick out of Ohio State. “I know if she was here, she’d want me to go on and perfect my career and do the best I can. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”‘

‘This past spring, Jackson played for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe; the Bills had assigned him to the Fire after signing him to a free agent contract on January 25th. During the ten game NFLE season, Jackson finished second in the league in rushing and first in all-purpose yards. In 2005 Jackson led the Bandits to the UIF Championship Game, and was named league Most Valuable Player.’

‘”Production,” said head coach Dick Jauron. “Whenever he’s on the field things happen. He makes tackles on defense. He makes tackles on special teams. Clearly the contact in professional football does not bother this guy. He really likes it. Guys like that are not easy to find.”‘

‘The truth is, the Bills’ line is mediocre, and alarmingly thin. So it was puzzling to see Greg Jerman among the final cuts last weekend. Jerman was a marginal talent, but at least he had experience. He started three games at tackle last season. His departure leaves two late-round rookie draft picks, Brad Butler and Terrance Pennington, as the backup tackles.’

‘”Revenue sharing was supposed to be taken care of under Tagliabue’s watch and he shoved it off. Nothing’s been done on it,” Wilson said. “He passed it off to a consulting firm. The qualifier committee never recommended that, Tagliabue did, and now he’s leaving. The league has to step up and face that.”‘

‘”There’s some carryover with some of the offensive coaches, but there’s a lot of newness — a lot of new players,” Belichick said. “I’m sure that they’ve held some things back. I’m sure that we’ll get some looks different than what they’ve shown. It’s a lot to prepare for when you start looking at all of the stuff they potentially could do, but I think we have to be careful about defending ghosts instead of defending things that they could do. We have to stop what we know they can do. We know some of their key players and how we’re going to have to try to prepare to stop them. There are a lot of wrinkles they could throw in there. We’re not going to be able to get ready for all of them.”‘

Branch, Patriots scrimmage over jurisdiction (Boston Globe)

Not the same old Pats (Boston Herald)

NFL looks to combine Branch’s grievances (Boston Herald)

Secondary issues (Boston Herald)

Results the only criteria (Metro West Daily News)

Pats won’t recognize these Bills (Woonsocket Call)

Outsider In Pats’ Middle (Hartford Courant)

Chalk talk (Hartford Courant)

Pats sign another QB (Attleboro Sun Chronicle)

Patriots Sign QB J.T. O’Sullivan to Practice Squad (Patriots.com)

Belichick Press Conference (Patriots.com)

‘Buffalo third-year quarterback J.P. Losman, who early in camp jumped out to a large lead over Kelly Holcomb in the competition for the starting job, registered a league-high 124 snaps in four preseason contests working with a new offense installed by first-year coordinator Steve Fairchild. Philip Rivers, the first-year starter in San Diego as he steps in for the departed Drew Brees, got 104 plays, one of six starting quarterbacks to get into triple-digit snaps. Another 100-plus snap quarterback was Brett Favre, who was working in a new offense under first-year coach Mike McCarthy, and who acknowledged in minicamps that he would need a lot of preseason repetitions just to get a handle on the nomenclature.’