Archives for September 2009

‘Based on last year’s results, the Bills have the sixth-toughest schedule in the league. The Bills will need to be much improved to exceed their 7-9 record of last season.’

‘Here are a few personal highlights from 10 seasons and 152 games as the lead reporter on the Bills beat.’

‘Nine seasons of covering the Bills (1963-71) left me with cherished memories, not only of our team but of the American Football League and the proud accomplishments of both.’

‘The release of Walker leaves the Bills in a rare predicament as they will be starting three men on their offensive line in Monday night’s season opener at New England who have never taken a snap in an NFL regular-season game.’

‘”Well, we’re throwing the ball down the field,” Owens said. “From my assessment just sitting out, the three preseason games I noticed that we didn’t do a lot of that. Trent and the guys that played the Bears, I think he went 10-for-10, but if you look at those passes, four to six of those were 10 yards or less.”‘

‘”I think sometimes those (good) things get overshadowed because of a lot of criticism and other things,” Owens said. “That’s one thing you can never take away are the things I do on the football field.”‘

‘A 3-5 mark at midseason leaves Owens wanting out and everyone else pointing fingers at what went wrong. Jauron takes the fall for a 6-10 season.’

‘”Yeah, probably,” Jauron said when asked if the Bills had overestimated Walker, a seven-year veteran who was released Tuesday. Two days after firing offensive co-ordinator Turk Schonert, the Bills changed the identity of the man who has to protect quarterback Trent Edwards’s blind side, six days before facing a team that has beaten them 11 consecutive times.’

‘The Cowboys cut Owens in March after three seasons, catching the 35-year-old receiver by surprise. So when the Bills parted ways with offensive coordinator Turk Schonert 10 days before the opener, Owens said, “Well, I’m no stranger to surprise. I got the biggest surprise that anybody could imagine in March, so that was nothing. It was just one of those things. It’s part of the business and you kind of deal with the shock initially, and you let it wear off and you keep moving.”’

‘Forget that he’s 35. Given his talent, and the fact he remains one of the hardest working athletes on the planet – dysfunction and all – the man they call T.O. will make the Buffalo Bills offense better.’

‘”I don’t know about that. All that’s in the past. Each year is different with him,” Springs said of the Bills’ big offseason acquisition. “The good thing about going up against T.O. is, when you play (against someone) like that, you see where you’re at. You know he’s always going to try to dominate any opponent. He comes and works really hard.’

‘”I’m really very happy with where it’s at,” Edwards said. “You can only let it be a distraction if you let it negatively affect you. And I don’t think we have guys on this team that are going to let it negatively affect them.”‘

‘”A lot of people don’t understand, you hear about his personality and all his antics, but I don’t think people understand how hard the guy works,” gushed Springs. “You don’t understand that he’s actually a smart football player. He knows how defenses play him, and he makes different adjustments.”‘

‘”We’re doing some things in the offense that will help me get in shape a little bit faster than I need to, especially with the upcoming Monday night game,” he added. “But you know, that’s part of our offense and we’re looking forward to it. I’ve gotten a taste of it since the OTAs and I know what to expect. That’s sometimes a plus for the offense especially if we can kind of wear guys down and keep them on the field and don’t allow them to make substitutions, but it’s something we’re looking forward to and we’re going to try it out.”‘

‘”So we’re going to present some challenges for their defense just as they’re going to present some challenges for us scheme wise.”‘