Archives for October 19, 2004

‘Shaw was just released by the Buffalo Bills last week after slipping to fifth on the teams depth chart.’

‘Yes, I checked with the NFL offices today and victories over the Miami Dolphins still count in the regular league standings.’

‘"I just said it’s been far too long in coming," said Bledsoe. "I wanted to give (Mularkey) the ball about a month and a half ago for the first win, but Mike has been a great head coach through this stretch. I don’t think any of us envisioned this scenario where we’d be 0-4 coming into this game. That just was not really on the radar for us."’

‘"It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a win," said linebacker London Fletcher. "A lot of people in Western New York can go have a good week at work now. A lot of guys can sleep easier tonight. But we still have a long way to go to be the type of football team we want to be."’

‘Coach Len Jankiewicz of Lancaster High School has been named the Buffalo Bills high school football "Coach of the Week" for the seventh weekend of the 2004 season (October 16-17).’

‘BRIAN MOORMAN: Posted a 53.0 average on three punts and helped the Bills win the field position battle despite winds of nearly 30 mph. Going into the wind in the second quarter, Moorman booted a 47-yard punt out of his end zone to maintain the Bills field position advantage. Had a long punt of 59 yards today and has 50+ yd. kick in 40 of 53 career games.’

‘He’s not stopping there. Agha said the 15-cent discount will be offered during those hours every Monday through Friday after a Bills victory through the end of the season. "I’m losing money but I don’t care if it costs me $400 or $800 a week," he said.’

‘"I didn’t go, "Hey, this is getting easier,’ " Mularkey said. "If anything, you have to have a greater focus. It would be easy to take a step back, but you can’t, not right now. You need to take a step forward and take what they did (further). We’ve had a productive quarter, a productive half. If we can keep those things going . . ."’

‘"I’ve leaned on Sam a number of times," Mularkey said Monday. "I can’t say I can remember being 0-4, but I can remember situations I was in as a position coach, as a coordinator, as a player, and fortunately I experienced them and have been around some head coaches and saw how they handled the situation and made a difference in the outcome of the season."’

‘The team’s next three games – at Baltimore and home to Arizona and the New York Jets – are against opponents that are a combined 9-6. But they are teams the Bills have to defeat in order to climb back to .500 and give themselves a shot at a playoff berth over the last half of the season.’

‘Rookie coach Mike Mularkey earned a well-deserved game ball for his first NFL win. He had a rough first half, which including some dubious decisions that helped put Buffalo into a 10-7 hole. But he made the right adjustments at halftime and the Bills hammered out a convincing victory by sticking to the run.’

‘Bills owner Ralph Wilson winced watching the Bills’ lethargic two-point loss to the New York Jets, calling his team “boring,” and that he was tired of coach Mike Mularkey’s smash-mouth style of football. What did he think after his team ate the final 6:22 of Sunday’s 20-13 win over Miami by running the football? “Am I happy with smash-mouth football? Today, yes,” said Wilson, who was celebrating his 86th birthday.’

‘It’s amazing how different a win feels. Mondays have been brutal for a long time. I go to the gym or the grocery store and people want me to give them answers. But, the questions change. People start to get that crazy feeling. They look at the schedule and ask. Do you think they could roll off a few wins in a row, and get back in the playoff picture?’

‘Mularkey feels Sam Adams on the field tantrum with the coaches that cost him a benching for the second half was just a heat of the moment thing.’

”’Travis will be the starter and Willis will get more playing time as we go,” coach Mike Mularkey said on Monday. ”I think due to injury, I don’t think that’s any case to make a change right now. (Henry) has been productive.”’