Archives for October 2006

‘The Bills will take on the hungry and winless Detroit Lions this Sunday at Ford Field in the Motor City. Buffalo couldn’t ask for a better opponent to try and beat up on after its embarrassing loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.’

‘The Bills have signed offensive tackle Randy Hand to the practice squad today. To make room for Hand – the club has released tight end C.J. Leak.’

‘The Bills made the move to make room to sign offensive tackle Randy Hand to the squad. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, Hand started 39 games at Florida and was signed in May by New England as a rookie undrafted free agent before being released by the Patriots last month.’

‘"He’s doing well, he’s doing fine," said Jauron. "We have faith in him, but there’s still a season in which you’re fighting every week. If it was clear who you would sit down then it would be no problem. You’d say this guy isn’t helping us and you’d just make the switch, but that hasn’t happened. We’ve had eight guys up in the secondary and they’ve all been productive in some area. They help us on teams or back up in some area, so it’s hard."’

‘The up-and-down Bills look to get well again Sunday when they travel to Detroit to face the winless Lions. The Lions don’t have much of a rushing attack, but you can bet they’ll watch plenty of tape from the Bears game.’

‘Coaching the Bills means craving adversity. You have to be willing to school a young team all week until you see signs of improvement. Then, once progress is at hand, it’s time to sit down and devise ways to heighten the challenge by undermining their effort. Which is why the Bills are no worse than 4-1 on preparation, a scant 2-3 on game day. To coach the Bills is to see the enemy on Sunday and fail to realize it’s you.’

‘McCargo suffered a stress fracture in the same foot last season, missing five games during his final year at North Carolina State. The 6-foot-2, 295-pound McCargo was part of the Bills’ four-man rotation at defensive tackle that has been reduced to three. “It’s a tough loss,” said Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay. “Anytime you lose somebody you hate to see it happen, but we have to move forward.”‘

‘Schumer, D-N.Y., will be in Orchard Park today to meet with Bills owner Ralph Wilson and announce the formation of the coalition, which aims to keep the pressure on the National Football League to develop a new revenue-sharing plan that doesn’t hurt small-market teams like the Bills.’

‘”I’m a lot angrier inside than I’m projecting on the outside, very much so,” Levy said. “I’m distressed. But I also realize it’s not a matter of lashing out, it’s a matter of evaluating, going back to work, making the corrections we need to make, and being supportive of the coaching staff that, despite what happened, I still have a high regard for.”‘

‘”We’re optimistic that the surgery will rectify the problem, but there will be a recovery time,” the coach told the team’s Web site. “We’ll just have to see how severe it is and how long it is going to be.”‘

‘I’m not even sure I know what a bandwagon is. Besides, if one does exist, it’s in cyberspace where fans jump on and off chat rooms and message boards and blog boards professing their undying faith or their unilateral disgust with their favorite team. I’m guessing it might be the latter this week for Bills fans.’

‘Schumer, who sits on Senate judicial and financial committees that handle issues of interest to the NFL, will urge new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to commit to the preservation of small-market teams. The Democrat is also expected to announce that Goodell will personally meet with Wilson in early November to discuss the needs of the Bills.’

‘Nall, who is the No. 3 quarterback for the Bills, is scheduled to attend the event, which is timed for the team’s bye week.’

‘Through four games, Losman had done a good job of protecting the ball, except for a fumble-prone day in a loss to the Jets. Jauron said he likes the way Losman is able to bounce back and analyze his own mistakes. “I’ve been around him long enough to get a feel that he likes it, he’s a good guy, and he stays in it,” Jauron said. “He’s into it mentally. If he makes errors, he can generally tell you immediately what happened. If he can do that, then he can get better from his errors. So I don’t see him taking a lot of steps backward. I hope I’m not proved wrong in that area.”‘