Archives for September 2006

Wiggins believes his time will come (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Former Michigan star Henson signed as No. 3 QB (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Depth at linebacker becomes a concern (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Buffalo QB showing leadership (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Vikings Report (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Vikings grind away loss to Bears (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Overheard (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Pat Williams pumped up to play Bills (AP)

Vikings notebook (MinnesotaVikings.com)

Quotes on the Bills game (MinnesotaVikings.com)

Vikings announce roster moves (MinnesotaVikings.com)

Inside slant (The Sports Xchange)

Strategy and Personnel (The Sports Xchange)

Notes, quotes (The Sports Xchange)

‘The Bills have improved against the run but their smallish front is still cause for concern. Opponents are still averaging 116 yards per game and a healthy 4.4 yards per carry.’

‘The Bills were committed to keeping draft picks Donte Whitner, Ashton Youboty and Ko Simpson for their secondary. That kind of youth movement also created an urgent need for some experienced depth. Thomas, who has 11 NFL starts, has been a welcomed addition so far.’

‘Since the Bills had more pressing needs at offensive and defensive tackle, the selection of WR Roscoe Parrish was considered a luxury pick for the Bills in 2005. But he’s sure fun to have around.’

‘The Bills have to battle the 2-1 Minnesota Vikings this weekend, who have a terrific secondary, meaning Losman will have difficulty finding a target through the air before the Vikes’ impressive D-line closes in on him. When that happens, he’ll have to run. For the 6-foot-2, 217-pounder, there will be no way around it.’

‘In and of itself, Sunday was a horribly frustrating afternoon – an inexcusable home loss to a relatively weak division team. But in looking at the larger picture, Losman showed something he hadn’t.’

‘”I had a problem with the old coaching staff, but they’re all gone,” Williams said. “They didn’t know what was going on there.” Gregg Williams, Wade Phillips and Levy were the coaches Williams said he liked, but he called Mularkey a “joke” and was not a fan of Donahoe’s direction. The Bills were trying to re-sign Williams in 2004, but he decided to play the year out and enter free agency.’

‘”Nobody comes into your backyard and whups your butt,” he added. “If you’ve got to go into the house and pick up something and go beat them back, you do whatever it takes. But nobody beats you at home.”‘

‘On the biggest problem in the red zone: “The red zone is a difficult area of the field to score for offenses and it puts a lot of pressure on the defenses so when you are down there your margin for error is very small. Even if you are off a little bit it can throw you off and you have to be pretty much perfect to get some points.”‘

‘On Antoine Winfield and Pat Williams: “It is what it is they are not here.”‘

‘On the red zone: You have to be precise, most definitely. The thing that’s hurt us the most are penalties and our own mistakes. It seems like when we get down there, something always happens, there’s a penalty or something. You guys don’t see it, but it’s more internal stuff that we can correct. Paying more attention to details, we have a lot of guys doing a lot of different shifting, a lot of guys moving. One play I’m a Z, next play it might be Robert (Royal) and I’m the X. We have to get in our playbooks and study it.’

‘All quarterback J.P. Losman would say is "I heard some guys talking about it, but I really don’t know any of the details. If it’s true, our prayers go out to him ,and best of luck on a fast recovery.”’

‘On the difficulties on the red zone: It’s the short field. They don’t have to cover as much ground. Safeties can sit short. We have a lot less room to work with and there’s no threat of going deep. We just have to punch it in with the run game, but if you can’t somebody is going to have to make a play. It’s going to be tight throws and a great catch. Coaches can only take you so far in the red zone. You can’t just draw plays for guys to get wide open all the time. It happens once in awhile. For the most part, it’s going to be executing the play and picking up the extra couple yards.’

[Scroll down to Jauron/McGahee]

Q: What is JP Losman like as a leader on offense?

A: He’s coming around. I would say he’s a whole lot better than what he was last year. He’s actually sitting in the pocket, making the right reads and making the throws. You can just tell that he’s actually developing a whole lot more than what he was from last year.

‘On trash talking with Pat Williams: I don’t anticipate any chatter. If I’m talking to him, that means I’m not getting past the defensive line. I plan on getting to that next level. Maybe talk to the linebackers.’