Fake-Fat Sunny Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Look. virtually any injury to a player is a horrible thing and an injury to a Bill is a double (quadruple or infinite) bummer. However, I'm just back from vacation (a little lurking on TSW but even less posting) and what do I find upon charing into the web before bedtime but a brken fibula for Losman. However, my immediate curses were fairly quickly replaced by my usual calculated football analysis and as much of a bummer as an injury to one of your own is, I also see lots of advantages that come from this break: 1. I'm interested in winning this season and a rookie QB almost certainly, in all cases, even if he were one of the best rather than a #21 pick is not going to so that. The Bills may not do it with Bledsoe at QB either, but from my experience it is a virtual gurantee they would not have and cannot win consistently with a rookie QB starter. Quite frankly the loss of the temptation will do wonders for fans on TSW and the media at lweast keeping some connection with reality. Losing a player to do this is a stiff price to pay, but since I do not see Losman as being a player for us this year (no matter how well he played this pre-season) unless we were giving up on the season, the loss of Losman's ability to play for 9-12 weeks is no loss at all as far as my interest in the fortunes of the teams are concerned. 2. I do see JP's first year as a Bill providing him with great stuff to insure his future as our future. However, I think he can get the same benefits I have hopes for him to get injured as he would as our disaster QB. In fact, his ability to not even bother with tugging on a uni because he can't play may actually make this learning process even better for him. I think the highest and best use of Losman this year is to surgically attach his ear to Wyche's mouth and have him watch, absorb and learn how the game is played. I know that players can best learn the speed of the game by playing the game at real speeds. However, as shown by his two pre-season and scrimmage performances, the key to JP's game is not learning to cope with the speed. The key to his becoming a great QB in my mind is him learning and mastering the game by watching. Jim Kelly is still the prototype Bills QB. However, the differences between the very talented rookie and this HOF player are obviously huge because one is a rook and the other and HOFer. Yet the I'm not worried about JP building on his obvious moxie, his obvious leadership ability, his obvious commitment and even his escapability which his has shown great talents at though he is at a rookie level. Where I think the biggest difference is that understanding the game and being able to even call most of his game is a Kelly forte that JP will need a lot of work to even begin to be comparable. I think this learning process will be greatly speeded by Losman sitting and watching with nary a worry about what he will do if he is called to play (Billy Joe Hobert showed us all how important this preparation is even when you think you won't play but you might). I always had JP pegged as my #3 and hoped he never saw the light of game day. Now this will clearly be the case. 3. One worry I had about Losman was that his running habits garned running for his life at Tulane influneces the way he plays as a Pro. No one wants a player to get happy feet, but if this unfortunate injury in practice results in JP sliding insted of diving, or in him giving up a couple of yards to go OB, I think this is a very good thing. So I hate to see any player get injured, but this bummer doesn't bother me at all.
Dan III Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 In fact, his ability to not even bother with tugging on a uni because he can't play may actually make this learning process even better for him. I think the highest and best use of Losman this year is to surgically attach his ear to Wyche's mouth and have him watch, absorb and learn how the game is played. 6900[/snapback] My thoughts exactly. After watching JP for 2 qtrs, I'm extremely impressed by his athleticism, hopefully he'll learn the sideline is his friend.
Dennis in NC Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 What is weird is that he recently said that he did not feel coordinated enough to slide! Sam will have to teach the young man how to slide. And to get his butt out of bounds safely...
eball Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 well put, FFS. an additional "benefit" to the injury -- although i really do feel bad for the kid -- is that he won't have an opportunity to be "upset" by his inability to get reps in practice or a game. he has had some success in the first two preseason games and was beginning to be "talked up" by the media. this injury squelches any and all talk of him playing this year, which coincides with the original plan and is a benefit to his development.
jester43 Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 at least it's not a KNEE or a SHOULDER! bones heal pretty good.
KnightRider Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Well said. It seems that every mobile QBs go down hard at least once in his career. Somehow, in the future, I doubt a late hit will catch him off guard. Besides, could you imagine what it would be like if he went down in the first game of 2007 (or 2006)? That would be much worse for his career, and the Bills. Marv Levy had a policy about not playing rookies. Personally, I thought it was a good policy. They learn the game better. When they finally hit the field, they don't have think about the game because it is almost second nature. That makes them better as a player and reduces the risk of injury...
IDBillzFan Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 but from my experience it is a virtual gurantee they would not have and cannot win consistently with a rookie QB starter. Good to see you back, sir. Why this comment above is not the simplest concept for some people to understand is completely beyond my ability to reason.
AKC Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 3. One worry I had about Losman was that his running habits garned running for his life at Tulane influneces the way he plays as a Pro. No one wants a player to get happy feet, but if this unfortunate injury in practice results in JP sliding insted of diving, or in him giving up a couple of yards to go OB, I think this is a very good thing. 6900[/snapback] I agree that the overall injury effect could end up accelerating his preparedness for a starting role. At the same time the first thing I thought of when I read the story was "maybe now he'll learn to slide instead of exposing himself to a career ending injury in the quest for a couple of extra rushing yards". The problem with the injury for the QB obsessed minions is that they had their whole posting season planned around demanding a Losman start every week. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll adopt Travis Brown ;-)
Larry Playfair Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Nice post. This is why its important to have depth. Losman's injury doesn't hurt that badly b/c we have bledsoe and brown. Same with Travis - we have mcgahee to step up. I hope this time allows him to sit back and really study the game and what wyche has to offer. Its too bad though!
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted August 25, 2004 Author Posted August 25, 2004 I agree that the overall injury effect could end up accelerating his preparedness for a starting role. At the same time the first thing I thought of when I read the story was "maybe now he'll learn to slide instead of exposing himself to a career ending injury in the quest for a couple of extra rushing yards". The problem with the injury for the QB obsessed minions is that they had their whole posting season planned around demanding a Losman start every week. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll adopt Travis Brown ;-) 7230[/snapback] Exactly. In my view, some folks love the NFL as a entertainment and seeing the guy they love go down is a horrible thing. Others love it as a sport and are actually pretty callused about individuals and are willing to sacrifice any individual player for the good of the team. Both are fine and viva la difference but they are different. The loss of Losman for much of this season sucks for him as an individual and as a Bills fan I think this is bad. However, it seems to me to make little difference for the prospects of putting up Ws in 2004 for this team as long as we are in the hunt. If Losman were to play it is very doubtful that any rookie is going to lead the way to many Ws and it would mean in reality that our #1 and likely #2 QBs have been hurt or sucked. I think many who look to the NFL mostly for personalities and entertainment are really bummed by this injury, however, most of those (me among them) who get our entertainment from how the team does in this sport see this injury as a sidelight which is mostly notable because it was not a joint injury which will stop Losman from learning the game at Wyche's knee. In fact, one whould really take serious council from the words of Kyle Boller at the 2004 NFL draft that there are many important things that an NFL QB learns on the sideline when he can't play that surprisingly to him you cannot learn when playing the game. Boller may have simply been blowing smoke and trying to make lemonades out of the lemon of starting at QB for the Ravens last year and then getting hurt. However, what he says makes a lot of sense because it is a very different game with different learning when one is preparing yourself because you might play as the #2 than really analyzing not merely what happened by why it happened as the disaster QB or sitting in the press box. The irony here is that the Losman injury may be simpy the Perfect Storm for him as a Bills QB: 1. He did get to play against real opponents a few time in the 2 pre-season games and the scrimmage and experience and do well at more real speeds and wet our appetities. It does not compare to the learning of a full season at fuller speeds, but the exposure was real, important, and he did well. 2. The part of his game which is most "un-Kelly-like" in my mind is that Kelly developed an ability to feel the game and even call plays from his apprenticeship in college, in the CFL and playing behind future great players like the young Howard Ballard doing swinging door imitations. He seems to already have the pre-Kelly moxiee, leadership, arm and an additional escapability on the run. I really look forward to him gaining a better command of the game from watching what works and what doesn't work and most important learning why in the pressbox. 3. In addition to sitting and focusing most appropriately as the season begins and goes on, he will actually get to comeback and even apply these lessons on the ractice field the last quarter if the seasons and if the season situation allows and his body heels even play real games as a back-up later (though I hope this is never even possible because our real players are preparing to make and contribute in the playoffs as the season draws to a close. I have been a bigtime advocate of JP being no more than our disaster QB in 2004 and quite frankly as far as I am concerned him spending 2004 on the IR seems the good football thing to do as long as the time is spent by him learning the game. Part of this certainly may be my won making lemonade out of the definite lemon of him getting hurt. However, from a sport sense I do not feel bad about this at all as long as he makes a physical comeback which this unfortunate injury seems to allow. Its not WM and his knee in terms of severity or import as an injury and one can even comeback and contribute from that.
Guest Guest Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Kelly played in USFL not CFL; Flutie played in CFL. Just a silly substiution by you. 2. The part of his game which is most "un-Kelly-like" in my mind is that Kelly developed an ability to feel the game and even call plays from his apprenticeship in college, in the CFL and playing behind future great players like the young Howard Ballard doing swinging door imitations. He seems to already have the pre-Kelly moxiee, leadership, arm and an additional escapability on the run. I really look forward to him gaining a better command of the game from watching what works and what doesn't work and most important learning why in the pressbox.7303[/snapback] I also think it will affect how much Losman can get in incentives which may help Bills salary cap.
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