Two Bills Drive

‘During his first press conference in eight days, Reid confirmed yesterday there is a chance none of the three starters knocked out of action in the season opener — Taylor, safety Brian Dawkins and defensive end Brandon Whiting — will be returning in time to face the Buffalo Bills.’

‘There will either be a 1-2 football team recently off twin NFC final games, finally victorious, revived after having upset the Buffalo Bills, just a stride behind in its determined march to double-figure victories, back in contention in the NFC East. Or there will be an 0-3 team all but officially doomed to 2003 failure, an injury-stricken, demoralized slice of football yesteryear hopelessly trapped in a cyclone bearing down on NFL parity.’

‘Despite their 0-2 start and McNabb’s league-low 41.4 quarterback rating, the Eagles are just one game in the loss column behind the other three teams – Washington (2-1), the Giants (2-1) and Dallas (1-1) – in the NFC East.’

‘Word is Henry will be fitted for a rib protector and try to play Sunday.’

‘Jaworski said McNabb has had “an incredible regression in his mechanics.”‘

‘Under Reid, the Eagles are 4-0 after a bye week.’

‘McNabb is the worst quarterback in the league right now. It’s right there on the NFL stat sheet. His quarterback rating of 41.4 is the lowest in the whole league, worse than Quincy Carter in Dallas, Kordell Stewart in Chicago and Drew Brees in San Diego. McNabb is the only starting quarterback in the NFL who hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass yet, and with a completion percentage of 45.1, nobody’s hit targets less.’

‘”We’ve got to worry about getting a W,” Reese said. “That’s the most important thing right now. Trying to get a positive atmosphere around here. Nobody is giving up on the season. I’ll tell you what – a win does wonders to your psyche, to the atmosphere around here. We know the way we’ve played in the past. We can take one win and snowball it to two, three or four and get on a nice little roll. That’s what we need – to get that first one out of the way. It’s not going to be easy this weekend, though. I hope everybody is going to bring their lunch pails and their hats because that’s the type of fight it’s going to be.”‘

‘The injury bug has hit the running back corps of the Buffalo Bills, and it may give former Oregon State star Ken Simonton a shot at playing in his first regular season game.’

‘Henry’s backup, Sammy Morris, is expected to miss Sunday’s game while recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia. That means third-string back Joe Burns will take the load during practice this week.’

‘Henry says he has cartilage damage and is still extremely sore. He did not practice Wednesday. Henry says he does not want to let his teammates down and will do anything he can to get on the field.’

‘"I’m just working right now and looking to do my best Sunday if they ask me to play."’

‘“I know that there’s been a lot of talk about whether he’ll play, and I can tell you what he told me and told the team this morning that he’s planning on playing,” coach Gregg Williams said. “He wanted to make sure they knew, and he is a warrior.”’

‘The Bills today announced that the team has added running back Nick Maddox to its practice squad and released practice squad wide receiver Jerel Myers.’

”’I know that there’s been a lot of talk about whether he’ll play, and I can tell you what he told me and told the team this morning that he’s planning on playing,” coach Gregg Williams said. ”He wanted to make sure they knew, and he is a warrior.”’