Archives for November 3, 2004

”’I think it’s still too early,” Mularkey said. ”I think we have to see how his knee reacts. We’ll have to see how it feels tomorrow.”’

‘Originally selected by Atlanta in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Hill spent time on the Falcons, Saints, and Lions practice squads in ’02. He was most recently signed as a free agent by San Francisco (1/8/04) and was released prior to the 2004 season.’

‘Volunteers from the Salvation Army and M&T Bank will be collecting NEW hats, scarves, mittens, etc. outside all stadium gates from 11:30 AM until kickoff.’

‘The only knock against McGee is that he still has a tendency to not follow his blockers a lack of patience that is expected to improve over time. ”I’m still working on it,” McGee said. ”I don’t know where we stand as far as return average, but it could be way more than that if I was more disciplined.”’

Q: Willis McGahee had a huge day Sunday. Why have the Bills decided to turn things over to him?

A: I think what happed was that Travis Henry was the starter for the last three years and in fairness to him, he should have been the starter at the beginning of the season. Obviously, Buffalo got off to a slow start and sputtered. Henry got hurt and had to miss the Miami game three weeks ago, and that was McGahee’s first start. He gained 111 yards, so it was obvious that here’s a guy who is a really good player that they have to find a way to get on the field. Then when they played Baltimore, they gave Henry the start back. They basically gave him one more chance. He didn’t have a great game. McGahee came into the game in the second half and ran pretty well. The Bills still lost, but then coming in the Arizona game, it was pretty obvious that Mike Mularkey had to give the ball to McGahee and he did.’

‘The 5-9, 201-pounder became only the third player in Bills history with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season (Week 4 vs. New England).’

‘"I’d like to know if there’s a fullback playing better in the league," Bills coach Mike Mularkey said. "I mean that. Throughout all these games, he has by far been our most consistent player on our offense. He is a load coming through there and he will put the lick on you. And he’s catching the ball and he has some run-after-the-catch ability. If there’s a better fullback in the league right now, I haven’t seen him."’

‘When the Bills win, the bone-chilling wind and lake-effect snow squalls that validate Buffalo’s reputation for miserable late fall/winter weather don’t seem quite so nasty. When they lose, though, a palpable depression blankets the region and people are glum until the following Sunday. Players are neighborhood heroes; prominent Bills like Bledsoe and Eric Moulds are mobbed when they appear in public. Super Bowl-era icons like Jim Kelly, Darryl Talley and Steve Tasker became community benefactors. Jack Kemp parlayed his popularity as a championship quarterback into a long tenure as a congressmen from a suburban district, a presidential cabinet position, and several attempts at the presidency.’

The Bills and Jets meet in a divisional matchup for the second time this year. The Bills are looking to avenge a 16-14 last minute loss at the Meadowlands last month.