Archives for October 2, 2006

‘On Villarrial and the concern about the lack of depth behind him – Duke (Preston) doesn’t have a lot of experience, but that is the way we went. We needed to invest in that area with some youth and develop them. Of course we don’t want anybody to get hurt. If Chris can’t go, then we’ll probably stay with what we have. As a professional sports team, we always explore every option and they change on a daily basis because you never know what’s going to happen around you or as a team. We like our guys and they’re working hard and developing, but they are young. Duke did a pretty good job. It was going to be a lot of hard work in there no matter who was in there.’

‘On Minnesota abandoning the run in the second half: It makes it nice, kind of turns it into a one-dimensional team. It’s good and shows us that they had respect for our run defense.’

‘The last several years, Bills teams have been defined by their ability to find new ways to lose games. There are so many young guys on this team, maybe they can turn the tide, and this can be a team that consistently knows what it takes to win games.’

‘”I was nervous,” said McGahee of the Vikings’ final possession, “I had to go sit down … I didn’t even want to watch.”‘

‘”We struggled too much on first down to get another first down. When you get third and 12 and third and 10, it’s tough to recover. It seemed like that’s the kind of ball we were playing all day long.”‘

‘”Our fans certainly played a part in it,” he said of the victory, “and it was great to have ’em in it to give them something to cheer about. They were clearly a factor in the game and they kept us going when things looked shaky there at the end.”‘

‘Of his induction onto the Wall, Reed said, “Just to be mentioned and honored in that manner is a great accomplishment. There are a lot of guys from those (four) Super Bowl years who deserve to be up there, also. Back then, we were a family, a team – not that they aren’t now – but we’re identified with those Super Bowl years and that’s a good thing because people never forget that.”‘

‘Angelo Crowell had another monster game as he led the team with 10 tackles and posted his second interception of the season. The outside linebacker now leads the teams in tackles with 39 and has tied a personal season high with two INTs. And when Crowell has an interception the Bills are 4-0.’

‘You’ve got to admit, though, that Losman looked pretty good.’

‘”It’s been coming, me making plays when given the opportunity,” said Price, who played in only nine games last year with Atlanta and Dallas combined. “Sunday was a step in the right direction, not only for me individually, but for our passing game, and for our team.”‘

‘Coach Dick Jauron did not have an update on Villarrial’s status following Monday’s walk-through practice. The typical recovery time for this type of injury is normally about three weeks.’

‘”J.P. performed at a high level,” said head coach Dick Jauron. “The idea offensively is to go with your reads and put the ball where it is supposed to be, and he did that well. He distributed the ball well.”‘

‘Fewell mixed coverages and used a ton of zone blitzes in the second half. He had the Bills’ mobile defensive ends – Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay and Denney – dropping into underneath zones, while adding either a linebacker or cornerback to the rush.’

‘”I think we’ve been doing that all year, just concentrating on no turnovers and managing the game,” said Losman, who finished the game with a 101.3 passer rating. “We’re being a little extra conservative in some areas on the field, but as our confidence grows and we jell a little bit more, the coaches will trust us more to maybe take a shot here or there. We have to prove that to them and make them more comfortable.”‘

‘Still, it seemed peculiar that the Vikings would abandon the run game against a Bills defense that had allowed 4.1 yards a carry, the sixth-worst average in the AFC. Instead, Brad Johnson completed 25 passes to eight receivers. By contrast, Bills running back Willis McGahee had 28 carries for 78 yards. “It starts at the line,” said Taylor, whose longest run was 11 yards. “Whoever wins at the line of scrimmage is going to win the game anyway. . . . To me, I thought we should have stuck to it a little bit more, but I’m not calling plays.”‘