Archives for October 2006

‘Leadership, according to Levy, is not about getting people to follow you. It’s about getting people to want to join you. That is his gift. He gains the enthusiastic cooperation of those around him. He’s a consensus builder. He sets the tone for the organization. He creates organizational trust.’

‘The Bills are committed to being "forcefully patient," as coach Dick Jauron says, with the development of their young quarterback. So while greater precision and sophistication are needed in the red zone, the coaches do not want to increase their package of plays in the red zone too much. They think that would be counterproductive for Losman.’

‘The winner in the last three meetings has scored at least 30 points, but the Bills fall short in a close, low-scoring affair. Minnesota, 20-16.’

‘"He brings youth and experience in one package," Haggan said. "He likes to study the game. He’s learning the game from some of the veterans and he can teach some of the younger ‘backers like myself, Keith [Ellison], J.D. [John DiGiorgio] the knowledge of the game."’

‘The reason I brought up a comparison between McGahee and Gilchrist is because as well as Willis played against the Jets, setting a personal record for yards gained, he also fanned on an attempted block of a blitzing Jets linebacker that resulted in a sack of quarterback J.P. Losman, leading to a disastrous turnover in a loss that should have been a victory.’

‘How fast do you pull the plug on a veteran starting quarterback when you think he’s not good enough? That’s the question the Bills grappled with last year after they fell short of the playoffs in 2004 with Drew Bledsoe. It’s a question Denver fans are obsessed with now.’

‘Most important thing learned from coaching:You work your tail off andlose. You go back to work on Monday morning.You work your tail off and win.You still go back to work on Monday morning.Enjoy the work not just the accomplishment.’

‘That’s where quarterback J.P. Losman and his receivers come in. Using the pass to set up the run, a reverse form of football thinking that has merit, could be the Bills’ best plan of action. “Going in, on paper it sure looks that way,” Price said. “Those two Williamses are among the best, and they’ve disrupted a lot of people’s running games. But on film, when the quarterback drops to pass, they’re in his face, too. So it’s kind of a Catch-22.”‘

‘Talk about what it was like to play in Minnesota last year with the “Love Boat” scandal going on. How did it not affect what was going on the field? “We stuck together, and we didn’t let it affect our play. We just focused on winning games and we went from 2-5 to 9-7, and that was a tribute to the veteran guys on the team. It was special.”‘

‘The question, of course, is how much to value the win over the Dolphins.’

‘”It’s highly important if you even want to consider yourself a playoff team or allow yourself to be in position to be a playoff team,” said middle linebacker London Fletcher of the Bills’ need to end their recent struggles at ‘The Ralph.’ “You have to win on your home field.”‘

‘”He understands his role and he understands people are going to be out there trying to shut him down,” Tolbert said of Evans. “Other people are going to have to step up and that’s what’s happening. We’ve been able to do some things and spread the ball around a little bit so they (other teams) can’t focus just on Lee.”‘

‘Enough sentiment, here’s the truth – Willis McGahee and Lee Evans are as good as Thomas and Reed were. But they can’t get the ball in the right places to make plays.’

‘In 2003, the Eagles, who were on their way to an 11-5 season, went to Buffalo and won 23-13. In that game, Winfield had seven tackles and forced a fumble, while Williams had five tackles. “I can remember we were trying to block Williams,” Childress recalled. “The first snap we went to block him and it was like running into a fire hydrant. I think we had a 2-yard loss. We had a smart idea to start the game and we were second-and-12. He is a load in there.”‘

‘Vikings 23, Bills 16.’