Archives for August 28, 2006

‘"We’re going to leave it as it is," said Jauron. "J.P. is clearly the frontrunner and played pretty well the other night. We made a number of errors the other night as a team and as individuals and as coaches and we all have to improve. I think he’s improved every week and every day in practice. We’ll leave it like it is and if anything changes we’ll let you know."’

‘On the releases and his relationship with Gibson: I wouldn’t say it was tougher, they’re all tough and they’re certainly a lot tougher on the players than on me. I feel for them. They really gave us great effort and they really want to play. It’s a dream of theirs to play and you have to make decisions, unfortunately you can’t keep them all. They were all tough. I knew Aaron from before and he did a real nice job for us in Chicago, but I couldn’t really say it was significantly tougher. You don’t really want to tell anyone that they aren’t going to get what they want.’

‘Nance’s release was considered a mild surprise after he made numerous strong receptions during training camp. Nance signed with Buffalo in May as an undrafted free agent out of Miami (Ohio), where in 2003 he was the favorite receiver of current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Bills, however, have a deep receiver corps, led by Lee Evans, Peerless Price, Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish. Veteran free-agent addition Andre’ Davis and returning backups Sam Aiken, Jonathan Smith and George Wilson are left to compete for the final spots.’

‘There aren’t many excuses for a guard lining up in the backfield, as Chris Villarial did in the second quarter. Or for letting the play clock run out on first down, which Losman accomplished shortly before dropping that snap. Or getting flagged for having 12 men on the field when Dawson missed a 51-yard field goal try, then having to burn a timeout to finally get it right. Such blunders are, in theory, why they play these exhibitions, even if it really has much more to do with getting fans to buy tickets to a month’s worth of meaningless scrimmages. If they’re still happening come September, then you really worry.’

‘The Bills tried to convert Gibson to offensive guard but he was never able to work his way up on the depth chart. Setta had a good camp, showing range up to 50 yards plus the ability to pinch-hit as a punter. Yet he simply was not going to make a team that featured steady Rian Lindell, who’s made more than 80 percent of his field goal attempts the last two years, and Pro Bowl punter Brian Moorman.’

‘The Bills now have until Saturday at 4 PM to get their roster down to 53 players.’

‘The coaching staff released cornerback James Bethea, defensive end Josh Cooper, wide receiver Chris Denney, offensive lineman Aaron Gibson, quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, safety Rob Lee, wide receiver Martin Nance and kicker Nick Setta. Offensive lineman Dylan McFarland was waived-injured.’

‘Simpson has shown marked improvement the past two weeks of training camp. He has three interceptions in practice and flashes the ability to be around the ball. "I’m happy to get in there as much as I did," Simpson said. "Coach told me he was going to get me in with the second unit because he wants to see me more."’

‘For the most part, Nall got the ball out of his hands on time. He hit 8 of 14 passes for 126 yards. Another decent outing in the preseason finale may give Nall the No. 2 spot over Kelly Holcomb.’

‘”I feel good about that first group,” Jauron said of left tackle Mike Gandy, left guard Tutan Reyes, center Melvin Fowler, right guard Chris Villarrial and right tackle Jason Peters.’

‘This is a rebuilding team with a huge question mark at quarterback. The best hope is for the team to be significantly better at the end of the season than it will be at the start. The young team should be measured by how much it improves rather than by how many games it wins.’

‘Penalties, penalties, and more penalties – The Bills ended the evening with nine for 55 yards, which isn’t deplorable, but some came at extremely inopportune times.’

‘This is a rebuilding year. The quarterback position isn’t solidified, both lines have much to prove, and the team is learning new schemes. The Bills appear to be at least another year away from ending their playoff drought.’

‘Jauron inherits a team that went 5-11 last season but does have good talent on both sides of the ball. The biggest question mark is at quarterback. J.P. Losman still has yet to show he’s ready to make the leap forward into NFL competency. If Losman can get things clicking, this team will look good. Regardless, the defense should be better with the return of Takeo Spikes and an infusion of rookies.’