Red

Comments like that, does little to prove your point. So, you honestly expect him to win in practice? There's no game being played, but if he isn't 100%, unbelievably accurate on every pass, running every play to perfection, timing is absolutely impeccable.... Based on that mindset, Trent shouldn't even have to practice. He should just be perfect, show up on Sunday, and play. Do I have your thinking right?

There is a total difference between heckling in a real game environment (where one pays mucho $$$$), and heckling in a practice setting. One is expected par for course. The latter is just plain stupid. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Again, I can agree somewhat that I would like to see something resembling fire coming from the starting QB, and definitely agree the everyone gets a trophy- thing is a travesty and will lead to a nation of imbecile's incapable of handling any adversity. Hardly teaching life skills. But I diverge from you on not seeing this as 1.) idiotic behavior by a few idiots, and 2.) not recognizing that somebody in the Bills organization has enough pride and swagger to tell somebody to shut up. Let's be honest, the head coach of a professional football team had to come over to admonish a collection of baffoons that expect the team to win in a practice setting, it must have been pretty bad. But he is leading by example. He made a statement. We are a team. He is the leader. Follow him, stick together. A house divided cannot stand, but together we can win. And it is training camp. Gailey could have used this as a ploy to do just that. Go out and make a statement in a 'safe' setting. Trust me. The players saw this. This is all part of changing the culture of losing.

MADDOG (let's hope the name does not indicate your demeanor), This is not about 'rights'. You have the right to p!$$ your pants in public and act like nothing happened. Does that mean that you do it? Acting stupidly is not 'freedom'. What is at issue here, is why would you go to a PRACTICE setting and expect regular season results? Heck, why would you expect anything? It's PRACTICE. That is moronic. Practice has nothing....NOTHING to do with performance. As Edwards, Gailey, etc have all said they are working on the fundamentals of football in order to improve the football team. One does not improve by being 'perfect'. And how do you think one does get better, anyways? Chan is not panicking. If he was panicking, he would be listening to the boneheads who- as has been rightfully observed- were guests of the Bills. He would hear the jeers of the morons, take it as sage advice, and bench Edwards. Gailey, as the head coach of the Bills, acted like one. He set the tone and led by example that you mess with one, you mess with all. That's the formation of what I like to refer to as a SPINE. Something the Bills have not had in over 10 years.

This poll is way to general to mean anything. There are so many variables here, that it is just too basic. Weather, location, team status, etc all come into play. Making a ton of assumptions, I chose to take the ball in the 1st half. Clearly, as an overall philosophy we know what Jauron liked to do. It was a defensive mind-set of a defensive coordinator-type of guy. And I think that it was so predictable as to create a pattern in the Bills minds of what the game would be like. There were games where they needed to come out of the gate and attack. That, IMO, is what football is really about. Sure, there are defenders, etc, but football is about explosion, power, and speed. Aggressiveness. So, to answer this poll in the situation of it being the Bills 1st home game of the season, CJ in the backfield, Lee on the outside, and Parrish ready to go, I take the ball and A-T-T-A-C-K the field. Get confidence going offensively, set the pace of the scoring, so that the defense can then pin their ears back and go after the other teams offense- the way it was in the Super Bowl years. Now, if it's a terribly rainy, wet, or frozen snow kind of day in Buffalo, I may elect to defer to the second half so that I can control the ball (and the clock). But when I am the new coach of a team that has had horrible offenses the past decade, I'm attacking most of the time.

Parcells always brought his guys with him to a new team. Seemed to work alright for him.

No doubt.

He is too aloof to all of this. He claimed to "hear the criticism". So where is the change of behavior, demeanor, anything to indicate that he has, in fact, heard it and is seeking to silence it? Any person, in their right mind, would get frustrated if some idiot at your job kept openly taunting you, or criticizing you for poor performance that had no connection to what you were doing. It would make you mad. And if you knew that it was poor performance, you would think an athlete of all people would have enough pride to not only correct the errors, but silence the knuckleheads. Look at Thurman Thomas. Back in the Super Bowl days, he IMO was the one who lit up the Miami-Bills rivalry. The Dolphins were always talking garbage, and Thurm was tired of it and began to jaw back. Soon, the Bills were dominating the Fish and squishing them on a regular basis. Now, I'm not suggesting that this Bills team is as talented- as talent does do alot for confidence which does alot to shut critics up- but 1 of the many issues this past decade has shown is that they lack that fire to get back up when they get knocked down. Look at last season or the past decade: how many times have we heard that they have to find a way to 'finish'? Quotes from players after beating the Bills in a tough game talking about how it was only a matter of time, they knew the Bills players would fold? That fire, that competitiveness, that drive to succeed seems missing from so many of the aloof players on our roster for the past decade. Trent is but one of them.

Interesting references to Communist nations, where free speech is not something guaranteed. Remember that when you vote for your next Demosocialist here in the USA. That being said, why would you go to a PRACTICE to criticize a team? One obviously has no concept of the term PRACTICE, as it is not a real, "live", game environment, and therefore is more of a learning, or time to rehearse and perfect skills, techniques, etc. It is about improvement. So why would one- in a reasonable and prudent mind- openly criticize a player in a practice environment? This has nothing to do with free speech, and everything to do with stupidity. Expecting the Bills to be good on Sunday is one thing. Being disappointed as a fan if they are not is also acceptable. But expecting...well, perfection in a practice setting?!?!? That is behavior indicative of someone in need of atleast 1 functioning brain cell. Good Job, Chan!

Thoughts: Ultimately, openly criticizing your own team in a practice setting is stupid. If you were expecting miracles in a practice setting, then you should not have gone to practice. Or if you are not a fan of the team, then don't go to the BUFFALO BILLS practice. Or if you do, keep your mouth shut, dumbo! Much applause should go to coach Gailey for demonstrating teamwork and pride in oneself. It is a bit sad that a coach has to come to the defense of a player- especially a QB who should be the leader of the team- but Gailey deserves high praise for responding the way that he did. He's a keeper. Edwards either seems too thin skinned, or wimpy, or aloof. It ticks me off just to read that some idiot(s) go to a teams practice and heckle them, so why he is so apologetic about it all is beyond me. True, you can't let idiot(s) throw you off stride, but I would appreciate it if we had more backbone and fire. Wood is a good one. Kyle Williams is a grinder. This new TE they signed sounds tough, too. But we need more scrappers and dudes who know how to respond to adversity with fight. As much as I don't want to give up on Edwards just yet, this is one annoying quality of his that has not endeared me to him in the least.

I'll be one to state the obvious that he looked horrible against Washington. Terribly out of position on just about every play. But watching him against Indy he looked a bit better. Not as frantic. More controlled. I'd like to see if he keeps improving. Another factor (which I forgot about), is that he is a converted DE from a 1-AA school. It will take some time. But hopefully he will turn into a keeper for years to come.

You sir, are a crusty dingleberry for your misleading 'JP' signs heading. No, I did not think the Bills resigned Losman. But a more correct (and less dingleberryish) heading would have been 'A JP'.

Doesn't the fact that he may be cut mean anything? Like, maybe he ain't any good?

Your point is moot. Any way you slice it, the post destroys your contention that one builds a team through free agency. The Washington Redskins of this past decade should show you the error of that approach.

Well, then maybe I don't understand the point or question you are attempting to raise. You mention Revis. Yes, he currently is in the overwhelming majority of expert opinions, the best CB in football. But you also mention Haynesworth. Need I remind you, that when Fat Al's contract was due in Tennessee, he was also the biggest deal arguably in the entire NFL. The prime free agent out there. And if one did not see him as that good, then certainly he was by far the best defensive lineman available at the time. And he got the big bucks. Just like Revis is asking for now. Should he have gotten paid as such? If past performance was an indicator, then yes he should have. Likewise w/Revis. My point is that: 1.) no player is bigger than the team, and 2.) I used an extreme example of Washington, because Snyder has well established himself as someone who throws money at a problem based solely on reputation. Are you going to tell me that that approach has worked for Washington thus far? That getting the biggest salary filled w/bloated former stars is the best approach to team building? I think the record speaks for itself, as even Snyder is not throwing money at the roster anymore. But, as I mentioned at the outset, I may not be exactly sure where you are intending to go with this? Should sports stars be compensated? Sure. Movie stars- who are also in the entertainment business and hardly place their lives on the line with their job- make tens of millions of dollars on 1 film. I don't see an issue w/an athlete being compensated for rare abilities- so long as the market can bare those services. Arguing that free agency is the way to build a team, however, flies in the face of all common sense and reality. Heck, don't take my word for it. Read the words of any NFL GM.

Great article. I like Gailey and I like Nix. I like the Whaley hire. For the life of me, I can't figure out why Tom Modrak still has a job with the Bills. IMO, he's been nothing but a double-agent for the AFC as he keeps stocking us with garbage. John Guy was equally as wretched and thankfully he's finally history. Hopefully, Modrak will be gone soon and Gailey, Whaley, and Nix can continue to install the right attitude. I can see them finally building a winner. I don't expect our season to be a winning one this year, but I do think that we finally blast past mediocre into playoff bound in the next couple.

Besides the poor choices, this is ultimately what has happened to our Bills. Because Guy and Modrak (who is somehow still employed at OBD) suck so bad, we are not replacing those players with quality players. I still argue that losing players like Antoine Winfield, Pat Williams, and London Fletcher set the team back atleast 5 years. With the possible exception of Winfield, we have never replaced these players. And clearly, based on the impact that they still have on the field, it was a series of huge mistakes. Allowing those players to seek employment elsewhere created vacuums of lost experience and ability, while forcing the team to take 3 major steps backward while looking for their replacement. Case in point: When was Pat Williams let go? We still have not found an adequate, space-eating, talented DT/ NT that can play that position. We still don't have that fiery, sideline-sideline, tough LB like Fletcher. And we still don't have that less-than-200 lb CB who comes up and clobbers RB's twice his size like Winfield. I think the Patriots were a great example of this (note the word WERE, their train is starting to derail). No player was ever jettisoned unless somebody equally as good was waiting in the wings. Ty Law trying to hold the team hostage, well...the Pats had squeezed most of his effectiveness out of him, and Randall Gay, etc were ready to go. The Bills have allowed quality free agents to walk, for nothing in return, and with nothing to replace them with. That might work at 1 position, but not 12. Will Wolford leaving for Pittsburgh, we've got #1 pick John Fina. Losing Richter to retirement, we've got Ruben Brown. We lose London Fletcher, and we replaced him with....who?

I will attempt to answer, if I may. 1 player does not team make. Sorry for the Master Yoda there, but c'mon! How does holding out for crazy money demonstrate anything? And they have not played a down of real football yet, either. What Promo, IMO, is speaking of is that you can't buy a team and give reckless second thoughts to drafting quality football players. I've lived in DC for the past 5+ years. I believe that up until the past offseason, the 'Skins were mirror images of the Bills. The exception was that 1 (The Skins) had an owner that liked to throw money at players with abandon. Their record this past decade showed how successful that was. The Bills have an owner who likes to nickel-and-dime his way to a team. The record shows that doesn't work, either. Snyder was willing (and did) to throw money at every position, because the player had a name and a reputation. Trouble was, once these collection of financial succubus' came together, there was no longer one iota of an actual team. Money does not equate success.

Thank you! We finally shed ourselves of major dead weight in John Guy, who was responsible for such debacles as Robert Royal, Larry Tripplett, Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker, the (thankfully) failed trade for Darwin Walker (he's doing well in the league now, too), and others. I don't know what Guy's role may have been in the dismissals of Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield, and London Fletcher, but I would not be surprised if he had input. Do we even need to get started on the track record of Tom Modrak? I really don't know how this guy continues to be employed. This week, one of the few gems drafted that actually blossomed in the desert that is Modrak's tenure at OBD, retired in Aaron Schobel. The draft is where you get fresh infusions of talent. That is where the core of your team comes from. You build from the draft. That is why a 'rebuilding' takes time. It's a good 3-5 years before those draft picks start to develop to see the field. The issue with the Bills is that Modrak is so bad at his job, that over his time we have had how many 1st round draft picks deliver that are still with the team? 3? 3 in 10 years? Wood, Lynch, and Evans. Lynch may not last too much longer with the emergence of Simpson and Bell. That would be 2 in 10 years. Nate Clements is no longer with the team, and Schobel retired. The Patriots, Colts, etc would NOT be successful if this is how they drafted every year. Look at our draft picks between the years 2000-2005. We had something like 50 picks. Now with the retirement of Schobel, something like 4 of those players are still w/the team. 4. Maybe its me, but out of 50 picks, only 4 are still with you 5 years later? Those are the role players, depth players, and rugged starters that should be leading the team right now. So, yes, John Guy sucked. But Modrak is even worse. We have struck out on free agents, and have really been terrible in terms of infusing this team w/talented youth that will eventually lead the team in the future. Modrak must go. How many drafts will we have to go through before this is done? With the exception of E. Wood, last years draft is not looking any better.

I agree. This team has some voodoo curse on it or something.

I'm busted up about Hardy. How bad can Modrak truly be? I mean, the cat lives in FL, maybe all of these years he's been working for the Dolphins, directly sabotaging our picks to be horrid and fruitless. Hardy looks terribly slow and awkward on the field. Not to mention that he has hardly seen the field because of injuries. How can 1 team/ individual (Modrak) be consistently so bad at picking players?

Maybe his paycheck should reflect his viewing attention span?

I think that we all feel the sting of former pride when they knock your favorite team. At this point, we sadly have little to cling to in defense. But this is also how we feel as fans. I watched many games the past few years where some kind of infraction occurred, or a comment was made (Rex Ryan making fun of Trent Edwards last year- something to the effect of 'that's hardly Brady, Boller(?) back there'- I may be wrong on the QB), and it ticked me off royally as a fan, that I was motivated to play. What I have been looking for from the Bills, is somebody to be motivated by comments like that. Put some swagger back in Buffalo. Some pride. I don't get the impression that our roster has any.

OH, GIVE ME A FREAKIN' BREAK!!! Never saw a QB stare down receivers like 'he' does?!!?!?!?!??!? Really? REALLY??!?!?!? Funny thing is, I can remember a QB named Drew Bledsoe that was soooooo bad at this. And the one that followed him, JP something or other, was the same thing. Never saw a QB stare down a WR like that.... sheesh...roll the footage!

Exactly! Hope this isn't another cost-cutting move....