Archives for June 15, 2000

‘Johnson is the Bills’ man for the foreseeable future. That was settled at the end of last season when he tore apart the Indianapolis Colts in the final regular-season game and then Wade Phillips handed him the starting assignment for the playoff game in Tennessee. The move should have been made weeks before, but the many Flutie loyalists still have the notion that Doug will be able to wrest the job back from Johnson if he outplays him in the summer games. That’s not going to happen.’

‘Before the stabbing, Byrd was projected as an early-round draft pick. After the stabbing, he went undrafted. Now, as a free-agent pickup, he tries to cling to a Bills team replete with openings in the secondary. To do so, the Schenectady native needs to use the speed that made him such an attractive commodity in the first place. Though after the stabbing he lost about two-tenths of a second off his sprinter’s speed – Byrd took a year off from football at Syracuse to run track – he said he still runs around 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, certainly passable for an NFL cornerback. But Byrd’s natural speed will not alone win him a roster spot. He must use the June minicamp to memorize the Bills’ complicated zone defenses and multiple schemes.’

‘Although he spent his first day of mini-camp mostly observing after re-aggravating a hamstring injury, Bills head coach Wade Phillips took notice of the tools Pingel used to shatter 15 Division III records and seven all-division marks during his four years in Fulton for Westminster. "When you look at that guy and you see the mechanics of catching the football, somebody taught him something somewhere," Phillips told The Buffalo News. "Somebody did a good job with him."’

"Wade Phillips had said the Bills’ rookies and other younger, backup players would have more playing time, more reps, during the second week of the mini-camp. This afternoon, they did. A thunderstorm again pushed the practice inside the fieldhouse, where it was hot and humid."

‘Phillips was asked by reporters if he’d consider working on other HBO series, like “Sex And The City.” “Well, I don’t know about that,” he said, laughing. As for The Sopranos? “I’d get killed on The Sopranos.”‘

"Rob Johnson has come to the Buffalo Bills minicamp calm, cool and focused, having reclaimed the title of No. 1 quarterback. Johnson even was spotted sharing a couple of laughs with fellow quarterback — and sometime nemesis — Doug Flutie during practice Wednesday at Orchard Park Fieldhouse."