Two Bills Drive

Buffalo’s first unit probably won’t play more than a quarter, but they expect to make the most of it.

“We’re just going to take this first game as a chance to learn to play together, just get out there on the field together,” safety Coy Wire said. “I guess it will give us a glimpse of what this defense will provide the team this year.”’

This will be the second time the Browns have faced each other in the preseason. The Bills beat the Ravens, 31-28, in Baltimore in 1997, and the teams played during the regular season in 1999.

“Last time, we lost to them and he didn’t even play,” Cornell Brown said. “It was a tough one.”‘

‘” I always felt in the first preseason game, you want to go out, feel sharp, put together a good drive or a good couple drives, and that’s enough,” Bledsoe said.’

‘The Bills expect their front seven to be far more stout than last season with wide-bodies Sam Adams and Pat Williams clogging up the middle of the line of scrimmage.

However, Adams and Williams figure to be far more effective if they can get adequate rest during the course of games. Ideally, the Bills would like to play Adams about 35 or 40 snaps a game. Adams reported to camp at a svelte – for him – 340 pounds. He has remarkable quickness for a man so big and has made two Pro Bowls thanks to his ability to crash into backfields. But he also has nine full years under his belt. The Bills don’t want him spent by Thanksgiving.’

‘Alex Van Pelt will be the second quarterback in the game for the Bills. Travis Brown will follow, and fourth-stringer Jason Johnson might see some time in the fourth quarter.’

‘Agent Drew Rosenhaus said Friday that Bills president Tom Donahoe has accepted a request to meet in Baltimore for lunch Saturday, prior to Buffalo’s preseason opener against the Ravens. “I’m a firm believer that, typically, if you’re having a hard time getting a deal done, it’s beneficial to meet face to face,” Rosenhaus said.’

‘"We need to come out and be efficient," added Bledsoe. "We need to put together a good drive or a couple of drives and look sharp, and then we’ll let the young guys take over. The idea with the preseason games is to go out and get something accomplished when you get a chance and then get off the field and stay healthy."’

‘"They contribute to the depth we’ve accumulated at that position," Kaiser said. "They’re all good players with great work ethics, but we have six. They can’t all make the team."’

‘Ever since Washington’s departure, Buffalo has been searching for a legitimate tackle, someone to draw double-teams away from Williams and help stuff the run. For two years, Williams has bemoaned the lack of a strong surrounding cast and suggested he would be a Pro Bowler on a better defense. He has his wish now.’

‘Tickets are required for the Monday night workout. They will be available starting at 9 a.m. Monday at all participating Tops Friendly Markets locations. Tickets are free and limited to six per person. Shuttle service that evening will begin at 4:45, and gates will open at 5 p.m. The practice will not include a full-team autograph session afterward.’

‘” You have to have a fearless attitude,” Shaw said after Thursday morning’s light training-camp session at St. John Fisher College. ” You’re going to get hit in this game no matter what.”‘

‘” Hopefully, nothing happens to our starting three guys, so he may not see much, just on special teams,” Gray said. ” But sometimes guys break into this league being a special teams player and you do so well there that you get a chance to play on defense, and I think that’s the position we’re in right now.”‘

‘In 1992, Alan Dorenbos, a computer-sales consultant and a Little League president, bludgeoned his wife, Kathy, to death with a power sander in the garage of their suburban Seattle home. Prosecutors said that Kathy Dorenbos had confronted her husband about an extramarital affair; that Alan Dorenbos, in a fit of rage, stuck his wife in the head with the heavy tool as many as 10 times. Jon, then 12 and the youngest of the couple’s three children, heard all of those details as he sat in a courtroom with his siblings before his father was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison. In an inexplicable blur, three children lost two parents.’

‘"Chris is a high-intensity player," said defensive line coach Tim Krumrie, who’s in his first year as a Bills assistant. "He’s a blue-collar player in my mind; a high-motor, high-effort guy. He’s a typical Tim Krumrie-kind of player."’

‘This was the most impressive part of practice. Coach Williams wasn’t kidding when he said that he values Special Teams very highly… the practice ended with special team drills and EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE TEAM — from Drew Bledsoe all the way down to Lovelle Sape was on the sidelines listening to the special teams instruction.’