Archives for September 2004

‘The Bills can rationalize all they want, but the leader of their offense is running out of time. And they’re running out of options.’

‘To borrow a political phrase, it’s the offensive line, stupid.’

‘And Drew Bledsoe, the biggest tree in the Petrified Forest, is still Buffalo’s quarterback.’

‘“I think our best chance to win right now is with Drew Bledsoe, who has to be surrounded by a bunch of guys who are playing at a high level. Making a switch at one position would be the easy way out but that’s not the way we would go.”’

‘He recently came to terms on an injury settlement with the Bills. He is currently rehabbing in the Valley and cannot re-sign with the Bills until Week 12, but he can sign a free-agent deal with the league’s other 31 clubs at any time. "My plan is to get healthy. I should be fully healthy in two to three weeks and see if I can land on somewhere," the Phoenix Moon Valley High School graduate said.’

‘”When we win, I’m going to get more credit than I deserve. When we lose, I’m going to take a lot of (criticism). I understand it. If I couldn’t handle it, I wouldn’t be here 12 years into a career still fighting to win games.”‘

‘"When you think of a professional athlete, any pro athlete, you think of the good life; millions of dollars, fancy cars, big houses, beautiful women. You think everything is fine. He’s living the good life," Thomas said. "I’ve had problems ever since I retired from football. It’s hard for me to talk about it, but the one thing I could not conquer was … I’m a recovering alcoholic. That is the hardest challenge I have right now. I have control now in that I know when to stop. I can take one drink but if I take two drinks, I’ll be back to where I was two years ago."’

‘Aiello says coaches send in plays every week. The league goes over them and gets back in contact with teams either through phone or fax. Teams are then told what is legal and what is not on a specific play so coaches can coach their players correctly. Aiello said the NFL does not send out letters of apology to teams for blown calls.’

‘"Every player on the offense needs to pick up his game," wide receiver Eric Moulds said. "We’re just making mistakes that we shouldn’t be making right now. We get things done in practice but it doesn’t mean anything if we can’t bring that to the field. We just need to focus on our own jobs and that will make us more efficient."’

‘"Obviously, we have to eliminate having things called back on us," said special teams coach Bobby April. "But I think the prospects look really good."’

‘In establishing the ball-control identity coach Mike Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements feel is best for their team, the Bills have called 60 run plays vs. 51 pass plays. But while that commitment to the run bodes well, the production has been less than scintillating, raising questions about why Mularkey and Clements have been unwilling, or unable, to capitalize on McGahee’s talents.’

‘While acknowledging mistakes by its officials, there is no recourse. The Bills still lose.’

‘Thursday the team practiced with much of it designed to work on the things that keep plaguing them in games. I’m sure there are parts of practice to work on New England, but the players won’t get the actual game plan until after Friday’s done.’

‘Henry also believes in Bledsoe. "Everybody is on the same page. We gotta finish drives. Number 11, he’s going to take us where we need to be. We just gotta follow behind him, protect him and get this thing moving." Henry said. We expect big things out of myself, Moulds and Drew. We gotta make it happen. We gotta be the spark for our offense."’

‘"There were only three of us in the beginning," McComb said. "We had a television and a speaker box on a table … but from word of mouth it’s gotten quite big."’