Archives for August 19, 2006

‘"Preseason games remind me how important and critical it is to hold onto the ball," Losman said. "I can guarantee next week it’ll be all about ball security."’

‘Willis! You didn’t eat before the game? C’mon. A Salad? Beef and Weck? Wings? Applebees? Something. You’re too good of an athlete not to have that fuel for the game.’

‘”We have the potential to do a lot of good things,” Evans said. “The main goal right now is consistency, consistency, consistency. At times we did good things in the first half and at times we didn’t. It’s already hard enough to win in this league. Then you beat yourself, it puts more pressure on you.”‘

‘Brace yourselves, folks. This is what you’re in for with J.P. Losman as the Bills’ starting quarterback, at least in the short term. It will be an adventure. Losman will lift you out of your seat one minute, cheering his name, and the next you’ll be cursing him and wanting to smash a drum set over his head.’

‘”It’s trying to come back,” said McGahee of his speed. “There’s plenty of more to come, to tell you the truth. It felt real good, like a monkey off my back. I really didn’t want my teammates riding me about getting caught from behind.”‘

‘”He’s doing good, and he’s feeling a little bit improved,” said Levy on Friday before the Bills’ 44-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. “He debated about coming to camp, but he wants to be sure he’s right when the season starts. But he sounds like he’s improving.”‘

‘”It was very disappointing; you can see what happens when you turn the ball over,” said coach Dick Jauron. “You can’t win a lot of games doing that. Thankfully it’s the preseason.”‘

‘It’s obvious that the team’s new coaching staff wants Losman to win this job under the guise of a competition that keeps the former first-round pick on his toes and offers him the chance to earn the respect of the locker room. How else to explain why Losman received 2 1/2 quarters of work in the first preseason game at Carolina, was declared the “front runner” by Jauron, was awarded three-quarters of the snaps in practice all week, then received a whole half of work against the Bengals? Not fair, but not necessarily wrong.’

‘”It still speaks volumes for our team. We turned the ball over so many times and we’re still in the game.”‘

‘NFL owners should have the option of lifting preseason blackouts when common sense dictates. It is ridiculous that heretofore invisible Arizona Cardinals “fans” watch their team’s preseason home games in a new stadium this year while long-suffering and vastly more devoted fans of the Bills have to settle for live radio play-by-play and a tape-delay replay on TV the next night.’

‘But for all the changes ,the performance on the field didn’t look much different. The offense made game-changing mistakes and the defense couldn’t get off the field at times. Levy’s presence and Jauron’s refreshing truthfulness with fans and media alike are nice elements to have, but they mean little if the team’s not competitive.’

‘And so the story continues to be the same with J.P. Losman.’

‘”I had stayed close to the game,” said Levy, who coached the Bills to four straight AFC titles (1990-93), losing the Super Bowl each time. “I did a lot of broadcasting and television work, and stayed close to (Bills owner) Ralph Wilson. “He called me and told me he was changing GMs, and asked for some recommendations. I gave him a couple, and finally he said, ‘How about you?”

Pointing in right direction (Cincinnati Enquirer)

QB, Chad get on the same page in Game 2 (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Bengals notebook (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Photo Gallery (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Win exposes weaknesses (Cincinnati Post)

Wright doing solid job (Cincinnati Post)

Bengals 44, Bills 31 (Cincinnati Post)

Big plays fill second preseason game (Dayton Daily News)

Hall-of-Fame coach Levy couldn’t resist GM offer (Dayton Daily News)

Bengals see good, bad (Columbus Dispatch)

Bengals outscore Bills, 44-31 (Bengals.com)

Postgame quotes (Bengals.com)

Photo gallery (Bengals.com)

‘The Bills (0-2), coming off a 14-13 loss at Carolina last weekend, had a mixed outing. The 44 points they allowed is the fifth-most by a Bills team in preseason, and most since a 45-14 loss at Chicago in 1985.’