Archives for August 2008

‘”He’s smart, that’s one of the best attributes that he has,” Schonert says of Edwards. “He picks things up quick, he can visualize. The quicker you can visualize something, the easier it is to pick up, and he’s got a lot of poise too. We saw that last year.”‘

‘”I feel great, and I feel even better about the team,” Moorman, 32, said after last Thursday’s practice at St. John Fisher College. “The optimism the community shows is shared by the team. We are excited about what we have put on the field. It’s not like any other year that I have been here.”‘

‘”James has the talent, he’s got the size, and he’s got the ability,” said Bills quarterback Trent Edwards. “It’s just a matter of him becoming accustomed to our offense and my style of play and my leadership and making sure he’s on board and going out and making plays.”‘

‘The staff should use this time to practice the quirky methods that might be utilized starting next month, as Schonert can add spice by letting Edwards sometimes throw on first down during the rest of the preseason. If nothing else, Schonert’s slight trickery will prove that there’s more to choosing plays than a mathematical formula whose solution is usually a punt after three downs.’

‘”We recognize the majority of fans will be returning to the United States sometime after midnight and have adjusted our staffing levels commensurate with the expected traffic,” said Joseph Wilson, Buffalo port director.’

‘”All my life I’ve been an offensive guy,” Jenkins said. “I was a quarterback in high school, a wide receiver in college. You don’t think special teams are important until you’re put in that position to play them. It’s been a big thing in Buffalo for a long time. . . . You have to know your role. When I get on the field on special teams, I’m loving it.”‘

‘”There’s not much depth right now,” coach Dick Jauron said of the tackle position. “We’d like to be real deep. It seems like it works that way at times where you just get hit in a spot. We’ll keep working through it and see what happens.”‘

‘”Some of the guys tease me, but I just say, ‘Y’all would like to be like this,'” he says with a smile that could light up the darkest, dankest winter night in western New York.’

‘Murphy was in obvious pain with what coach Dick Jauron said after practice was a shoulder injury. Just before the Bills came off the field, he left St. John Fisher College and headed to a local hospital for more tests. Estes suffered a leg injury. “It was a disappointing night in that regard,” Jauron said of the injuries.’

‘On Thursday, a small group of Canadian football activists plans to march on Rogers Centre as a demonstration against the National Football League and the Buffalo Bills, who open their unprecedented eight-game series in Toronto that night. And Mace, the only Buffalo player born in Canada, is not surprised. “I know CFL fans are really loyal, so I could see that happening,” the Vancouver-born defensive lineman said yesterday.’

‘”[The Bills] mean an awful lot,” former Erie County executive Dennis Gorski has said. “We’re not Toronto, New York, Chicago or Montreal. We’re, by numbers, relatively small. We’re considered a small-market community, and the Buffalo Bills have been the only way in many instances that we’ve been able to compete with the glitzy communities.”‘

‘”Roger Goodell,” Godfrey said on that sunny spring afternoon, “thinks Toronto is a fertile place for the National Football League.”‘

‘Halliday claims he has been warned by a Rogers Centre official that he will not be allowed in the stadium for the next Argos game if he is wearing his anti-Bills T-shirt. While the shirt supports the Argos and the CFL, don’t forget that Rogers, the stadium owner, paid $78 million to bring eight Bills games to the city over the next five years. “We’ll be at the next Argos game with our shirts,” Halliday said. “Let’s see them try to kick me out.”‘

‘Fans across the region can watch the game in high definition on the Bills Television Network. Affiliates of BTN include WKBW-Buffalo, WHAM-Rochester, WTVH-Syracuse, WSEE-Erie,PA and Citytv in Ontario, Canada.’

‘Bills Playbook is a new online game that gives fans the opportunity to guess what plays the Buffalo Bills will run each week during the season. Registrants can visit the website at http://bills.vibesinzone.com/inzone/ to pick the plays for the upcoming Buffalo Bills football game. Upon making correct selections, fans will be given game piece(s) to scratch off. If they match three like prizes, they win that prize.’