TigerJ

That makes sense. So does the thought that he'll put in some time in NFL Europe. That would be preferable to the CFL because of the timing of the season.

Sure, I'd want to take a look at him. We might not have any room on the active roster, but if no one else signs him, he might be more worthy of a spot on the practice squad than some of our own scrubs. Sign him to the PS, then send him to NFL Europe to get some training. That is undoubtably the root of his shortcomings. He's a small college guy and needs a little more seasoning.

Teague seems to have responded well to McNally's coaching. Pucillo, for all the hype regarding his strength and offseason work has no balance. If a DT knocked him off balance he was worthless because he couldnj't get it back. They say Lawrence Smith has very good balance and he recovers well. Beyond the starters there are three reserves that I think are serviceable: Marcus Price, Ross Tucker and Ben Sobieski. They can cut Pucillo and Sullivan as far as I'm concerned. McFarland is to raw to contribute this year, but I wouldn't write him off yet since he's a small school player in addition to being a rookie. Everyone else is camp fodder and scrubs.

He's a rookie. Don't be too hard on him.

It really depends quite a bit on who you talk to. I've heard comments really dissing Mike Williams in the last game for instance, saying his run blocking early in the game was horrible, that he couldn't even get out of the way of teammates who were trying to block. I didn't see it so I can't say. Against Indy, a lot of things kind of fell appart, so maybe that's not a good game to judge. Overall, I think there is at least more potential for the line, though with the little nicks and bruises it's been kind of frustrating. I don't know that all five projected starters have been on the field at the same time yet. I do know that Mike Williams has lost about 30 lbs, though I would guess he could easily stand to lose another twenty pounds. He is getting in better shape, and hopefully McNally's coaching is going to be sinking in. Villarrial has, I think, been solid. Teague appears to be playing much better than a year ago from a lot of reports. Lawrence Smith had one holding call in the Indy game. I can't complain too much about that. Ruben Brown was good for a couple of those every game. In any case he seems to be more athletic and possesses better balance than Pucillo, the stiff he replaces. Jonas Jennings is the latest nicked up lineman. I think he missed the game Saturday, but I don't think there is any worry about him, except maybe he could use more practice time paired with Smith so they know better what to expect from each other. As far as depth is concerned, hopefully Marcus Price can be effective backing up both tackle spots, though he's had some problems this preseason, including injury (turf toe I think) and he's not been as effective as he's been in the past. Sullivan still appears to be useless. Pucillo is no better in games than last season despite the hype about his conditioning during the offseason. He has no balance, and when the DTs knock him off balance he can't recover. Tucker seems serviceable as a backup at both center and guard. I've heard a few positive comments about Sobieski, but frankly there's been precious little on him either way. He's as close to an invisible player as there is on the team. McFarland shows he may have potential, but he's still at least a year away. I think he's a practice squad candidate. There are some others, but no one of note. I suspect a few of these scrubs will be on the cut list tomorrow.

I'm not a doctor, but my brother is. Really he is. In any case, Whether it's a cyst, a tumor or an aneurysm, the good thing is they found it and can hopefully repair or remove it. An aneurysm is a ticking time bomb. It may never burst or leak, but you never know when or if it will. When an aneurysm bursts in a major artery, you can bleed to death in minutes.

I think Buffalo may keep 5 DTs. The first four are set. The last spot is a battle between Bannan and Sape. Bannan is a journeyman level player whose strength is the run. Buffalo does have plenty of guys who can do that. If Sape can be disruptive in his play, Bannan is beatable.

It is not necessarily true that the most viable options are always the last cuts. Sometimes if a team knows that a player is not in its plans they will release him early to give him a chance to catch on with someone else, even if he is a guy that has some ability.

Almost every team in the league is going to release someone who has some intriguing quality. The toughest guy to find is going to be someone with some starting experience, at least a few games, who still has at least a few miles left. Frankly, I'm not interested in a Seneca Wallace. I think we want a guy that at least short term can be plugged into the same offence the Bills run with Drew Bledsoe, not a runt who has to run around to be able to see downfield. Maybe Shane Matthews would fit the bill. Brian Griese is intriguing too. Other guys I'd consider are Anthony Wright and Tuiasosopo. NOt on your list is Ricky Ray. He started in the CFL last year and was brilliant. It's far from the NFL, but I think he has good qualities to be an NFL backup. The Jets signed Quincy Carter, so Ricky Ray might get released.

Ricky Ray is the player I'm wondering about. He has average tools and average size. However he was known in the CFL as a serious student of the game who is very cool in the pocket.

I'd want to know more detail about his alleged arm problems. If they are not chronic and his salry demands weren't out of line for a guy who might be a second or third string QB, then I wouldn't mind having him in the mix, but he'd have to beat out the guys who are here. He gets no free ride.

Probably none since Freeney is most likely Jonas Jennings' man.

"Some people have neither conscience nor common sense." That was me. I had the same problem as Albany.

Happy birthday, but I have to tell you you're still chasing me!

Good to hear! If the only options available are active roster or IR, I think they'll go with active roster. The 53 man roster and 8 man practice squad give them enough wiggle room.

If I read this right, Ricky would miss 2004 because he filled out retirement papers, and 2005 on a drug suspension. Am I right? If so I don't see him as any more than a backup after two years out of football, and being 30 years old. Five years is the average career for an NFL RB. IMO he's going to run awfully low on weed before he can collect an NFL salary again and restock, and when he does comeback he's going to find his earning power has slipped considerably. In essence he made a HUGE mistake. In fact he's made multiple HUGE mistakes.

Buffalo played part of last season with only two QBs on the roster, and could do the same this year. They will need to be convinced that TB is going to be a solid reliever (to borrow terminology from baseball). They will certainly want to carry a QB on their practice squad, in whom they have at least some confidence that he will at least be competitive if he had to play. I think Zolman is going to get some playing time this week to see what he can do. Thus far in camp, I think he's done absolutely nothing, but then I don't thnk he's had enough reps to really get in any kind of rhythem. I'm sure he doesn't wish an injury on anyone, but this is probably as much chance as he's ever going to get from the Bills to show what he can do. If he looks really bad, you can bet TD will be scouring the waiver wire when cutdown day comes.

As others have said, he wasn't being counted on to play this year, even in a backup role. The main loss is in practice reps. If the Bills really think it's going to take 12 weeks, they may go ahead and put him on IR. The only problem with IR is that it is for the whole season, and I think by rule players on IR cannot practice with the team. I don't know if there is any other status they can give him where he doesn't cost a roster spot, where he's protected from other teams, and where he is allowed to get some practice in when healthy. Anyone else know?