JP to Sam: "Let's go play"

[JoeF]

Linked on the TBD home page--but for those of you who don't visit the home page--its worth the read. Yes, its from Jerry Sullivan and its worth the read...I am still contemplating the gravity of that statement...

 

 

JP and Sam

[Mike in Syracuse]

Nice read, you'd have a difficult time finding a better situation for a pseudo-rookie QB to be starting in. It's rare that a QB has the sole attention of a coach as qualified as Wyche. It's going to be an exciting season!!!

[Nanker]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for JP's development, but the sooner stories like this fade into distant memories the better IMHO. We'd probably have been spared these blow-by-blow accounts of his spoon feeding if a certain DB hadn't cracked the lower leg bone of a certain draft pick in training camp last year.

 

That incident pushed JP's development back at least 9 months. The end result of last season would not have been any better with JP at the helm for the last eight or so games, but the difference would be felt NOW. He would be entering this year with a lot more confidence and command of the position. It'll take him at least through the first quarter of this season to begin approaching the level he would have been at had he not taken that shot (out of bounds) last summer. NTIRCOA.

[JoeF]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for JP's development, but the sooner stories like this fade into distant memories the better IMHO. We'd probably have been spared these blow-by-blow accounts of his spoon feeding if a certain DB hadn't cracked the lower leg bone of a certain draft pick in training camp last year.   

 

That incident pushed JP's development back at least 9 months. The end result of last season would not have been any better with JP at the helm for the last eight or so games, but the difference would be felt NOW. He would be entering this year with a lot more confidence and command of the position. It'll take him at least through the first quarter of this season to begin approaching the level he would have been at had he not taken that shot (out of bounds) last summer. NTIRCOA. 

347393[/snapback]

 

I agree Nanker. Sullivan had to get in his Buffalo News' me too article on this. Wilson and Gaughan had already written about JP's work habits and it is getting a tad tired.

 

On the other side, I will take all the 4-12 predictions (like the one from the Sporting News this week) we can get right now--I think that will motivate this team to rally around JP and prove they are better than last year....

 

This is going to be an exciting year..by the end of it we should know a lot about this team for the next 4 or 5 seasons...we have the potential to be in the top 10 of the NFL for an extended period if JP, Evans, McGahee can form a healthy and talented nucleus on O and TKO, McGee, Clements, Schobel, Kelsay, Anderson/Edwards on D....

[Astrobot]

I disagree, Nanker. JP has an incredible tutor in Wyche, and Losman's development has been step by step. He began just like you'd want a newbie QB to begin. He attended a training camp as a backup. Then he held the clipboard for a season. Now he is in Buffalo watching film with the guy who mentored Joe Montana. He learned early enough this year that he'll be the starter. He's ahead of the curve in minicamp, and will now get a training camp to work out the bugs. Finally, he'll get 4 preseason games to experience live fire. If you were scripting the transition for any QB --actually any leader-- this would be how it would happen.

[obie_wan]

Nice read, you'd have a difficult time finding a better situation for a pseudo-rookie QB to be starting in.  It's rare that a QB has the sole attention of a coach as qualified as Wyche.  It's going to be an exciting season!!!

347390[/snapback]

 

 

I would have thought that working out with theneigbor kids in Portland would have been enough to get JP ready.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for JP's development, but the sooner stories like this fade into distant memories the better IMHO. We'd probably have been spared these blow-by-blow accounts of his spoon feeding if a certain DB hadn't cracked the lower leg bone of a certain draft pick in training camp last year.   

 

That incident pushed JP's development back at least 9 months. The end result of last season would not have been any better with JP at the helm for the last eight or so games, but the difference would be felt NOW. He would be entering this year with a lot more confidence and command of the position. It'll take him at least through the first quarter of this season to begin approaching the level he would have been at had he not taken that shot (out of bounds) last summer. NTIRCOA. 

347393[/snapback]

I disaggree with your ICE-like conclusion that the injury set JP's development back 9 months. Any injury is unfortunate, but it looks to me like it was likely just what he needed IF he took/takes advantage of the forced downtime.

 

Playing the game IS a necessary part of learning the game. However, it is not the ONLY part of learning to play the game well.

 

Looking at what JP brought to the Bills when he was drafted, I am much less worried about his athleticism and his ability to do incredible stuff. He struck me as lacking the ability to make the right choices to apply his athleticism in the right way.

 

Certainly playing the pro game helps an athlete do this. Getting used to the NFL game simply being quicker and making good decisions under the gun without getting the happy-feet of a Todd Collins or suffering the brain farts in crunch time of a Drew Bledsoe comes from playing. However, Losman seemed to have been very good at creating stuff while running for his life behind the porous Tulane OL.

 

From what I've seen in the over-systematized NFL, this method will simply not be successful in the pro. Players do make plays and the best players make incredible plays beating their rivals. However, the game now seems tobe a lot about doing the same thing in the same way each and every time to get yourself in the position to then make an extraordinary play.

 

Lesson 1 for Losman seems to be from what I see to rein it in first and connect with his teammates and then to put it over the top with a great play at cruch time rather than flailing around and improvising right from the start.

 

The most valuable thing Losman could have done for his development last year in my view was to take the once in a lifetime opportunity to sew his ear to Samy Wyche's mouth and sit up in the booth during games and have Sam download HC knowledge about how the plays were setting up and why they did or did not work to hi.

 

If he had been down on the sideline in a uni yukking it up with the boys waiting for a chance to play, this probably would have helped build chemistry, but JP would have missed out on a chance to get pro knowledge which he could only get with his enforced absence.

 

I don't know if he took this opportunity. I hope he did. He will be a better player if he did. Most of all I am glad he healed and can play, but if he used the downtime to improve his game he and the Bills strike me as being far better off than if he had simply patroled the sidelines waiting to play or out of frustration with Bledsoe been simply thrown into the game so he could have a series of the same outings he had last year against NE.

 

The boy needed some work without the pressure of it mattering. He gpt that when he was thrown into mop-up duty against NE, when he came in for mop-up duty and drew a delay of game penalty in his next outing (but recovered to hand off to WM to produce a TD), and when he improved (?) to merely have to take an unnecessary timeout because of his lack of command of the huddle bu again recovered to not only get the TD, but to run for a first down on 3rd and complete a nice pass to Trafford.

 

We'll see how his development goes, but if JP does not fall into the same trap which eventually caught up with RoboQB in Pitts last year and he and the team call on him to simply manage and not win the game, we will be fine.

[Nanker]

Well, it's unanimous then isn't it?

We're all convinced we're right!

 

What is it now - about 100 days till footballs start filling the air for real?

That'll be the acid test - for all the millionaire jocks and the fearless prognosticators too!

 

I can't wait.

[Sound_n_Fury]

He began just like you'd want a newbie QB to begin. He attended a training camp as a backup. Then he held the clipboard for a season. Now he is in Buffalo watching film with the guy who mentored Joe Montana. He learned early enough this year that he'll be the starter.

347408[/snapback]

 

I agree. While I, too, am getting a little tired of all the Wyche-JP stories, I think the fact he wasn't rushed into the lineup last year is a big plus.

 

IMO, the QB development process is 80% mental, with off-the-field study, preparation and filmwork being the key to success in most cases (yes, I realize there'll always be guys with superior physical tools like Vick who can succeed--for a short while, anyway--on raw talent alone, or anomilies like Big Ben, but these seem to be the exceptions that make the rule).

 

JP's work ethic and dedication to developing the mental side of his game are the most encouraging thing about his "red shirt" year. While I know how much many TSW-er's dislike him, I see some similarities to Tom Brady in JP. Brady played in one regular season game his rookie year (let's discount the playoffs for the sake of argument), then became the starter in year-two.

 

Maybe a better comparison is Daunte Culpeper, who also played in a single game his rookie year and was the starter in year-two. Culpeper threw 33 TDs to just 16 picks and had a QB rating of 98 in his first full season.

 

Or how about Brett Favre, who played in two games his rookie year at Atlanta and started 13 the next year in GB? Drew Brees (1 game in year one, 16 starts years 2)?

 

The opposite scenario: Kyle Boller who started 9 games his rookie year (on a pretty good Ravens team) and has been "average" at best so far. Byron Leftwich (13 starts in year one), Jake Plummer (9 starts), the list goes on and on.

 

I think JP has a very good chance of joining the "success stories" due to all the off-season work he's putting in. Only 100 days to go to see if this is the case!

[MrLocke]

That was a nice read. Like I said many times before I am trying very hard not to get too high about JP, because I do not want to be disappointed if he does not pan out.

[EC-Bills]

Sullivan must be experiencing reverse PMS;meaning; he only writes nice things a couple days of the month.

[TigerJ]

I like to read articles like that, but they can have the negative impact of adding to the pressure Losman already has to be feeling, and sets him up for a fall in the eyes of fans that read into it that Losman is a can't fail prospect. If he stumbles, some fans may be on his case that much more quickly because of articles like this.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I like to read articles like that, but they can have the negative impact of adding to the pressure Losman already has to be feeling, and sets him up for a fall in the eyes of fans that read into it that Losman is a can't fail prospect.  If he stumbles, some fans may be on his case that much more quickly because of articles like this.

347592[/snapback]

I also think that Sullivan misapplies the quote as it applies to the JP case (actually the military quotes are completely misapplied in that warfare and the military are for real and sports and football are mere games, 9/11 remphasized for folks that military analogies like calling good football players warriors are really completely misplaced, but obviously we have forgotten that lesson so I won't even go into further kicking of that dead horse and will just stick to where Sullivan misses the figurative boat in this case.

 

I read the quote as saying that the important thing about giving an order to the rest of the group is not so much in telling them what do to do, but actually in not making a mistake of having them interpret your orders as telling them to do something even if it is stupid.

 

The thing I think JP should take from this quote is actually not to feel the pressure that it is up to him to do it all and win games. In fact, JP needs to rein it in a lot and rather than feeling like he has to force the play. he needs to bide his time, rely on his teammates and he will win games not by taking a lot of risks but by managing the game and in a Trent Dilferesque undramatic way avoid mistakes.

 

I hink RoboQB had a great year for Pitts last year when he relied primarily on the Bus to carry the ball and on the D to hammer opponents. It was actually when the team had to depend on his play to win like against NE and in a couple of late-season games that the INTs started to flow.

 

I look forward to having a mobile QB next year and the ability JP has shown, but if he is expected to be a stud performer I think it will come from him hitting a well-timed long one to Evans as a change-up rather than him being the next Brett Favre cause it ain't gonna happen.

 

If he plays only as well as Bledsoe did in the final seven games of '04 for the whole season and we end up 14-2 or 13-3 this is one fan that will be overjoyed with JP even iof he proves to be no better than Bledsoe.