Archives for October 9, 2003

‘It may take a minor miracle for Moulds to play. He didn’t practice Wednesday and appeared to walk stiffly around the field. He went directly into the training room for treatment after practice and did not comment.’

‘”When our doctors say he’s cleared, I’m anxious to watch him practice,” coach Gregg Williams said Wednesday. “But he’s got to be cleared first.”‘

‘The Bills tried to run no-huddle on the first series versus the Bengals but were chased off the field too fast to keep it up. Bledsoe likes it. Expect them to do it again on a limited basis.’

‘No, Moulds did not practice, yes, he is feeling a little better, and yes, he’s going to take it day by day and see what happens. It made for great comedy, but when the laughing stopped, the cold reality remained that it is not likely that Moulds will play Sunday in New York against the Jets.’

‘”It was good to get a turnover and we scored on it, so that was good, but I’d trade it in for a sack/forced fumble,” said Schobel, who picked off Jon Kitna’s deflected pass because the Bills were in a zone blitz with Schobel in pass coverage.’

‘Buffalo Bills running back and top draft pick Willis McGahee has received medical clearance from his personal surgeon to start practicing next week. The Buffalo Bills said hold everything.’

‘Abraham will not lose his salary if he is benched. Edwards’s options are limited by N.F.L. rules that allow only the league to suspend or fine a player for an incident involving alcohol or drugs.’

‘Doctors originally estimated that Pennington would be out 10 to 12 weeks, which at the earliest would have made him available for the game on Nov. 2 against the Giants.’

‘The Jets can circumvent the suspension by deactivating Abraham, the likely scenario. (He still would get his weekly game check, $95,000.) Bryan Thomas, the disappointing No. 1 pick from 2002, would replace Abraham as the starting right end.’

‘”You saw him practice; I can’t hide it anymore,” Edwards joked. “I can’t keep him in the (practice) bubble forever. Poor guy needs a tan anyway.”‘

‘”I wanted to see everybody in their face when we talked and I apologized,” said Abraham, who crashed his 2003 Hummer Sept. 30 in Baldwin and pleaded guilty Tuesday to a reduced charge of driving while impaired. “Instead of doing it as a team thing, that doesn’t seem as personal to me. I had different things to say to different people so I talked to everybody one-on-one.”‘

‘In NFL terms, “doubtful” means the player has a 25-percent chance to play. Pennington, though he’s starting to practice a little bit, will not play Sunday. The earliest hope is Oct. 26 against the Eagles in Philadelphia and the more realistic return date is Nov. 2 against the Giants, the team that sent him into surgery and rehab in the first place.’

‘While Vinny Testaverde ran the starting offense against the scout defense, Pennington took snaps from Lott about 20 yards behind the line to mimic the plays. Pennington, who had surgery on his dislocated left wrist 6 1/2 weeks ago, did not work with the scout team in seven-on-seven drills. He is expected to do that today.’

‘”It’s Herm’s decision,” Abraham said. “Whatever he says, I’ll live by. It has not been discussed whether or not I’m going to play.”‘

‘”Then, right before I was getting on the plane to come back here, I saw that story and it kind of showed me that maybe it was for a reason that nothing happened to anybody. I wasn’t hurt and no one else was hurt. Sure, the Hummer was (damaged) and the pole, but they can be repaired. Someone’s life can’t.”‘