Archives for August 2009

‘"It’s amazing," he said. "Just watching from Fred to Lee [Evans] to Roscoe [Parrish] to T.O. [Terrell Owens] to Dominic. Even on the defense, with the linebackers Kawika [Mitchell], Poz [Paul Posluszny], and our D-line has been having an outstanding camp. So just looking all through the field, you get to see something special from every position on every play."’

‘But based on the series debut last night on Citytv, Owens had better stick to his day job. This was basically two minutes of entertainment packed into a full hour, though if pressed to recount which two minutes, I’d have to pass.’

‘”I’m going to settle in there for now, and as he comes in, gets familiar, we’ll see what happens,” Whitner said. “The coaching staff will make an assessment, and we’ll go from there. As it is, me and Bryan are the starting safeties and we’re going to continue to prepare and get ready for the preseason games and the regular season games.”‘

‘In Edwards’ case, the Bills coaching staff is closely monitoring his throws after he complained of a dead arm late last season. The coaches want his “pitch count” for training camp to be around 600 passes and Edwards had already hit the 200 mark. He hasn’t complained of soreness so far, but the coaches are mindful of overworking their No. 1 quarterback and rest not only benefits him, it gives backups Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gibran Hamdan the extra work they need, Jauron said.’

‘”I feel more pressure selling these boxes of T.O.’s than going out and scoring touchdowns. It’s a breakfast thing of choice. This is the equivalent to (being on a box) of Wheaties. It’s better than Wheaties.” — WR Terrell Owens, at his news conference hawking his new cereal.’

‘One false step from the corner assigned to him, and Evans is off to the races. Sure, Edwards must improve on his deep-ball accuracy, and a reshuffled offensive line must jell, but those should happen with enough reps. As Evans has demonstrated time and again, he’s lethal with the ball in his strong hands in the open field. He has caught touchdown passes of at least 83 yards in each of the past three seasons and has six 70-yard-plus TD receptions since 2000 – the most in the NFL over that span.’

‘”Eric is doing a great job so far,” Stroud said. “He’s only been here a couple of days, and in those couple of days he’s showing why they picked him in the first round.”‘

‘Fitzpatrick might lack the "wow factor," but the Buffalo Bills aren’t looking for wow. They just want him to be a solid backup behind starter Trent Edwards.’

‘"Outside of getting the proper rest and practice, that’s what my day consists of, studying," Harris said after practice Saturday at St. John Fisher College. "It’s a continuous strain for myself."’

‘Even if Spann doesn’t stay, he may be pushing players in practice.’

‘”There were just some off the field issues that I had to deal with,” Levitre said last Monday in his first day at camp. “I’m glad to be here and ready to get started. Too bad it was a couple days late, but I’m excited as heck to be here.”‘

‘The offensive line had some good execution on Saturday. They executed a few screen passes in team work, which has been inconsistent in years past.’

‘”To have a guy like that will work wonders for us,” Stroud said. “He’s got that chip on his shoulder and is ready to make an impact.”‘

‘Spann (6’0″ 195) has spent most of the last three seasons with the New England Patriots serving primarily as a special teams player. He had been called up from the Patriots’ practice squad to the team’s active roster five times over that time period appearing in 19 games.’

‘Reed is still awaiting his ticket to the Hall of Fame, but whether he gets in or not he is pleased with how he represented the Lehigh Valley over his football career. "This is where I grew up," said Reed. "This is where it all started. This is where the foundation was laid. So anything I do is all reflected upon where I came from and what I have done. It’s always good to come back and see people."’