Two Bills Drive

Travis Henry has quietly emerged as a productive workhorse for the Bills the past couple of years. He’s tough, breaks tackles and plays hurt. At the same time, he puts up good numbers. Now add a hopefully healthy Willis McGahee to the mix. McGahee provides more athleticism and versatility blended with the tools to become an outstanding feature back himself. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Bills blend these talents together.

‘”I’m anxious for the first game,” McGahee said. “I’ve got the jitters. I want to play.”‘

‘The Buffalo Bills and Labatt USA have signed a three-year marketing agreement that will bring the Canadian beer to the stadium. Under the terms of the agreement, the brewery will have the Labatt Blue Zone just outside the stadium, almost underneath the main scoreboard. In addition, Labatt beers will sold inside the stadium.’

‘That was the case for Bills 2003 fifth round pick Ben Sobieski who saw two of his fellow offensive linemen from Iowa also get drafted as guard Eric Steinbach went to Cincinnati, and Carolina took center Bruce Nelson. Also on that Iowa line was Robert Gallery who still had a year to play before being drafted by Oakland this past spring, and a relative unknown who went undrafted by the name of David Porter.’

‘The 2004 camp schedule includes seven days of double practices, including a joint practice session with the Cleveland Browns on Friday, August 6th. In addition, the Bills will host a full scrimmage on Saturday, August 7th.’

‘"I wasn’t there for the building blocks of what propelled the Bills to those four Super Bowls," Hansen said. "The building blocks of those teams were the same guys, the continuity, and that happened in the late ’80s. I got to experience the best part of it which were the Super Bowls. One thing that I remember in all of those years, with all the core guys being together, is no matter how far we were down, there was always something extra. ‘Ah, don’t worry. We’ll come back and we’ll win.’ It was just a sense. It was nothing I could write down on paper. It was just a feeling that we always knew we’d win. And we did most of the time."’

‘Q: Last year, who was the biggest proponent and orchestrator of the blitz package: Coach Gray, Coach LeBeau, or Coach Williams? Do you see our "D" being more or less aggressive with the blitz this year?

CW: Coach Gray is definitely the orchestrator. He loves the aggressive style of play and I believe we will be just as, if not more, aggressive this year because Jerry Gray is back. Also Mike Mularkey is a firm believer in aggression on the football field, so I think we’re are going to be even tougher this year than we were last year.’

‘"If Hunter’s disease had been detected at birth through a program like newborn screening, he would have had access to life-saving treatment," Kelly said during an appearance at the new Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus at Virginia and Ellicott streets. "Children who are born with Krabbe Disease who are identified pre-systematically have had their lives saved and are now growing up and are expected to live productive lives. Unfortunately, for my son, this was not available back then."’

‘Pierson Prioleau, who started at free safety in 2002 and in four games last season, practiced at strong safety in minicamps. At 5-11, 188, he doesn’t have great size for the position, but he’s tough and physical. At strong safety, Prioleau would back up Lawyer Milloy.’

‘Kelly said he will lobby lawmakers in Albany next month to improve New York’s performance. The state currently screens newborns for 12 diseases, compared to Hawaii, which screens for 48. ”New York state needs to immediately put in place a plan to provide all children with the newborn screening tests that are currently available,” he said.’

‘"I came in for a tryout with 127 other guys," said Koons of the en masse player call out. Of those 127 players Koons was the only one who got a call back from the team.’

‘The restaurant will have a sports-related theme, playing off Smith’s two-decade career as a defensive end with the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins.’

‘"I told them this morning and after practice they do need to get away, to be around family and friends," Mularkey said. "And I know they’re all going to work out, lift and be in condition. But the thing they need to focus on and is hard to do is stay up with the football part of it. As coaches, we’re going to stay in contact with them. Whatever it is (we do), they won’t get away from football because that level, as much as conditioning, is important and we don’t want to (lose) what we’ve accomplished to this point."’

‘The Bills’ interest in former Pittsburgh Steelers’ All-Pro LB Jason Gildon isn’t surprising – he was drafted by Buffalo GM Tom Donahoe when Donahoe was the Steelers’ director of football operations and played all during coach Mike Mularkey’s eight seasons on Pittsburgh’s offensive staff. What is odd, however, is that Gildon came in for a visit just four days after Donahoe said, "He’s not really a good fit in our defense."’

‘LB Takeo Spikes has no use for people patting him on the back for Buffalo finishing with the NFL’s No. 2 ranked defense last year. "Winning, that was the whole objective," he said. "Nobody’s going to say, ‘Man, Buffalo had the No. 2 defense in the league.’ Shoot, the first thing they mention is, ‘You were 6-10.’ That’s the only thing people remember."’