Two Bills Drive

‘”It would be great,” Rivers said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Jim Ritcher was a great center up there, his son was my teammate at N.C. State, so I’ve heard some good things about the place. There’s really not a team that I don’t want to go to. But certainly Buffalo would be a great place, and you’ve got a great franchise and a great bunch of guys surrounding you.”‘

‘I think the biggest difference is going to be that I’ll need to make instant identification of names and numbers which I really haven’t had to do as a color commentator. You get a chance to look at the play and think about what you see for a second. This will be a little bit more instant identification of names of numbers.’

‘Still, even after that success, Henry’s role figures to change. Last year’s first-round pick, Willis McGahee, is expected to be recovered from a major knee injury and will press for time. In a perfect world, the Bills would be confident enough in McGahee’s health and ability to trade Henry for draft picks. Because the Bills will have a tough time judging McGahee by April, it is more likely that Henry will be the feature back and McGahee will siphon off some carries, then one would be dealt in 2005.’

‘Wide receiver, quarterback, cornerback, interior offensive line, defensive end and tight end will be the positions of interest for Donahoe, assistant GM Tom Modrak, head coach Mike Mularkey and the rest of the Bills’ assistant coaches and scouting department when they evaluate the 337 college players at the annual NFL Scouting Combine in the RCA Dome.’

‘”We still would like to sign him, and we have made that clear,” Donahoe said. “But one thing we did remind them is that when free agency starts for Antoine, it starts for the Buffalo Bills. We have to make sure that we prepare ourselves and help our team and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”‘

“This was a flat-out pity hire,” said Wyche, who never lost the will to crack a joke. “I was with Mike Mularkey at a golf tournament in Memphis and I wouldn’t let go of his leg. He was dragging me around and I was begging him. It worked out.

‘”Besides being a good football coach, he cares about people,” Mularkey said. “I’m glad to have him back.”‘

Donahoe and new Buffalo QB coach Sam Wyche said Henson’s workout last week was impressive. Donahoe didn’t say whether his team would bring Henson in for a workout, but the Bills and Green Bay each brought in at least five coaches and/or personnel people to look at Henson.

Henson, who scored a staggeringly high 42 on the Wunderlich aptitude exam, also impressed Wyche with how much he retained after being away from the game for three years. The two talked after Henson’s workout.

"He’s a coach’s son, so you know that he understands a lot of this stuff from way back," said Wyche, referring to the fact Henson’s father, Dan, was a small-college football coach in Michigan. "But the time away didn’t hurt him at all. He didn’t forget much. Or if he did, he faked it pretty well."

‘Frankly, there is no limit to interest in the college football draft.’

‘”We’re in the process right now, personnel wise, of evaluating everybody. We just had completed the coaching staff with Sam Wyche. Their job now, before we can start looking anywhere else, is to evaluate ourselves offensively, defensively, and with Bobby April with special teams. We’re here to get a feel for the players that are here but before we do that we have to start with our own. We are in the process of that right now.”‘

‘Clements isn’t afraid to deliver the big hit and when he gets his hands on the ball he has a knack for finding the end zone.’

There are some teams that, taking a cue from the Buffalo Bills’ maneuver of a year ago, will use the franchise tag to retain a player’s rights just so they can trade him. The Bills kept the rights to wide receiver Peerless Price via the franchise marker and then dealt him to Atlanta for a first-round draft pick.

‘The Bills representatives who will be handling most of the interviews together will be Coach Mularkey, Tom Donahoe, Tom Modrak, and either offensive coordinator Tom Clements or defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, depending on whether the prospect is an offensive or defensive player. The other assistant coaches will conduct some interviews as well.’

‘About the only positions where the Bills could stand pat and be fine are running back and linebacker, two areas upgraded substantially last year with the additions of Willis McGahee, Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey. That leaves a lot left to address, which is why Mularkey, to this point, has been reluctant to state his team’s top priority.’

”’You don’t play five years and get this close to free agency and say, ‘No, I’m not going to see what my value is,’ unless there’s something on the table that we can’t refuse,” Katz said. ”And there’s nothing there that we can’t refuse. Tom and I have talked a lot and have agreed to disagree as to what the value is.”’