nick in* england

See - I told ya it's not just down to coaching...

I REALLY don't think it was purely Mularky&Co who were the sticking point for Lionel last year. Chris Brown said to me that he still had a ways to go before he was NFL ready, and being a 7th round pick you'd expect that. I suspect that his development may have been hampered a little by the coaches, but I doubt (based on the comments made to me by people close to the Bills and with regular access to prac tise) that he'd have been ready to play last year under any coaching regime.

I spoke with Chris Brown and ALex Van Pelt when I was in Buffalo last year. Lionel Gates had popped on my radar screen during camp last year, and I wanted to know why he was constantly on the squad, but in active. Their reply (and I am surprised Brown has not referenced this in his coverage this year) was that Mularky and the coaches really didn't feel like Gates was making the progress he should have been. He was never hitting the holes as hard as they wanted him to, was too tentative getting between blocks and didn't have the pace to take it to the edge like they wanted him to. I think Gates emergence this training camp/preseason is a result of a few of factors: 1. He's had a year of 'coaching'/bedding in and knows what is expected of him at this level. He knows now to hit the holes hard, and not automatically bounce it to the outside where he doesn't have the speed to make the edge. 2. He's been coached differently this year to really hammer home exactly what they want him to do. 3. The coaches want something different out of the backs this year and Gates is more in that mould (just as Shaud Williams is increasingly out of favour).

taken from the following - linked on TBD yesterday

How could you argue that appraisal?

Haha - well if I get tix I will defo write Van Miller... he was such a nice guy.

no message... see title but if anyone has tickets to the SD that they can't make I'd gladly pay you for them. Making my annual trip - this time with my Dad and a Buddy... PM me

...for months now. Evidence: http://www.nickandjulia.com/ploggertest/in...picture&id=3337 A picture of me, during this Sundays game when my team guaranteed a playoff spot. We have a shot to be conference champions next Sunday. Football rocks hard.

Crowell was always goingf to start this year and Courtney Watson brings starting experience and a better fit to our D than Posey. Poseys days were numbered in this scheme, he was a good fit in our old D, and can go elsewhere and do a job. I'm glad the Bills made a move now to give him a shot in another camp. He won't be on waivers for long.

I am defo in again this year... I just need to wait til I get home before I can enter.

The Top 10 picks can sign 6 year contracts. The remaining First Round picks are capped at 5 year contracts. Other rounbd picks may sign a max contract of 4 years.

QB Preview Overall Position Rating: 4 out of 10 Projected Starter: JP Losman Preview: The Bills have spent nearly a decade searching for a QB to take on the mantle of Jim Kelly. Fans in Buffalo were spoilt by having a Pro Bowl QB for so long, and almost all the men who have lined up under centre have been barely up to the job - despite brief flashes of great things from Doug Flutie and Drew Bledsoe. So Bills fans go into the 2006 NFL season with one thing at QB: hope. Hope that at some point one of the three contenders finally straps on his gloves and starts punching at the right weight. The problem for Buffalo, is that with years of uncertainty, disagreement about who should plays has become the norm; this season promises a variation on that theme. One things most Bills fans will agree, is that Kelly Holcomb is not the answer. Distincly average when taking the reigns from JP Losman last year, he has neither the arm strength nor the football savvy to be a long-term starter and at 32, his days as an every down player must surely be limited. It's tough not to like Holcombe though - he's hard working, uncomplicated, a blue collar type of guy - but the bottom line is that he doesn't have the physical skills to light a fire under an impotent offence. He is backup material thorugh and through - superb as a reliever if the starter is injured in game or out for a week or two (remember that 400+ yard game for Cleveland) but not the guy you want to lead you team. So that leaves Losman or newcomer Craig Nall and, unfortunately for the Bills, both players remain something of an enigma. Losman the three year veteran does have the edge with experience and 8 starts to his name, but has been patchy and not really given the extended run he deserves. Annointed starter after the departure of Bledsoe before the 2005 season, Mike Mularkly quickly benched the former first round draft pick just a few weeks in the season and never really settled on who would QB his team. JP's confidence took a blow - and the results suffered. His cannon arm and quick feet are perfect for the modern NFL, but there are concerns about his mental aptitude and attention. Dick Jauron and Steve Fairchild have coached Losman 'hard' since joining the organisation and an offseason of being treated as an equal (as opposed the the king) may be all it takes for Losman to put together his impressive physical skills with some football moxy. Nall - tutored in Green Bay by legend Brett Farve - has some great physical attributes too. Built like the prototype QB and with a strong arm, many Bills fans would like to see Nall in the starting job. He's not the mobile QB that Losman promises to be but he does not lack the ability to move - he could be the closest thing to Kelly that the Bills have right now. So far in preaseason he has lagged behind the other two QBs as he struggles to learn the offence but towards the end of the OTA schedule he had managed to make up ground. He is a complete unknown quantity in games, with little exposure to the real NFL during his 4 years in Green Bay. The battle for Nall - despite the insitence at One Bills Drive that this is an open competiton - will be overcoming the level of investment the Bills have in Losman. The Bills can ill afford another average season without development at the QB position - so Holcomb is all but guaranteed to be holding a clipboard for most of the 2006 season. Nall must make quick progress when the pads go on at Training Camp to have a shot at the starting job, but with a mountain to climb, it may be too high a peak to conquer. He projects to be the backup that can carry the team for a stint. Losman is favourite to start and keep the job for a year or two hence. The poster boy looks, bulging biceps and style make him a good front man for the Bills. His physical skills are the best of the three QBs and an extended run at the helm will add to his experience to improve his consistency. There is a long way to go before the Bills can revel in a Kelly-esque performance, but Losman provides the most promise. All Bills fans can do now is hope he pans out.

and in any case: who cares?

Uh - whats the deal with this myth that ESPN bears a grudge against us??? We suck. We have sucked for nearly 10 years. Until we do anything worth a damn, ESPN won't give a rats ass about covering us in detail.

Driving under the influence of dope and caffeine is not only bad - but they cancel each other out!! it's stupid too.

gee thanks... not the greatest lunch I'll agree. c-minus is fair. i'll work harder tomorrow. i have a barbeque pork sandwich to make tonight to eat tomorrow.

A Tuna Salad Nicoise, with a bag of Costa Coffee hard, cheesey, dough ball type things and a summer berries frappuccino.

What would he know about this: http://www.buffalobillsproshop.com/main_de...ProductID=11569 ???

You're a Liverpool fan?? Ah well... No fight from me - I can't get worked up about club soccer.

It's a documentary about the mating habits of the blue adder that lives on the plains of northern spain. Taking the mantle on from the recent success of 'March of the Penguins', Snakes on a Plane emulates the format with beautiful animal photography, detailed dtudies of the life of the blue adder and it's mating rituals - and is narrated by a well known black Actor. This time not Morgan Freeman, but Samuel L. Jackson. It is believed Jackson attempted to spice up the narration with his own unique brand of dialogue. In a now deleted section of commentary - as the male blue adder slithers up behind his mate to find his own children humping her - Jackson exclaimed: "We got mother f*ckin snakes, on the muthaf*ckin plain."

It's better in the UK nowadays. But I hear ya point...

You're kidding? I guess someone stole your identity... look out!! UK Backers rule!

Over there sucks. Here is good. But I am registered in The Other Place as i feel it is my duty as a Backers President.

SD will sell out - Gates, Tomlinson and Rivers being a pull... But it's hard to get people out right after Thanksgiving and usually right around the first snow... Jax will sell out - the revenge deal for opening day a couple of years ago. I hope SD DOESN'T sell out - I want to come over for that game, but not sure yet whether I can. I could probably scrounge someones season ticket seats for that game, but better to have my own for certainty... We'll see... Fingers crossed tho. It's the same day as my Birthday - so I might ask family to club together for flights.

WHO IS POOJER???