Two Bills Drive

‘"They’ve progressively gotten better and better," Mularkey said. "Especially offensively, whether it’s a new system or not, you’re always behind. Yesterday was probably the best practice these guys have had. If you can move it on our defense, that’s pretty good. So I’m very pleased with where we are at right now."’

Preseason Opener Live: The preseason opener against Denver on Sunday Aug. 15th at 7pm will also be the inaugural live broadcast by the NFL Network. The crew of Kenny Albert, Dan Fouts, and Terrell Davis will broadcast the game. The NFL Network will be showing every preseason game that is not being nationally televised by one of the broadcast partners. Only a handful of them will be live, the rest will be on tape delay. The Broncos game will be at Ralph Wilson Stadium and will be the debut of Mike Mularkey’s head coaching career. The NFL Network is seen in 20 million homes, mostly on Directv.

‘”We’ve been here since March and it can definitely take a toll,” said backup defensive tackle Justin Bannan, who hails from Fair Oaks, Calif. “It’s good for the guys to get away, to go back to where we’re from, to keep doing the training and keep in shape, but do it somewhere else and rejuvenate your mind. It’s more mental than anything. This will allow us to come back ready to go.”‘

‘The last couple days, we’ve finished installing and now we’re going back and reviewing. So it’s the second time through it in the last few weeks for us, so we were able to be a little bit sharper. When you’re just doing things for the very first time it’s hard to be extremely sharp, but we’ve made some strides.’

‘As far as the players, it progressively got better and better and they know that, especially offensively where you’re going to be behind no matter what if it’s a new system or what. Yesterday was probably the best practice these guys have had. If you can move it on our defense, that’s pretty good. I’m very please with where we are at right now.’

‘The Buffalo Bills will be part of the first live game produced on the NFL Network when they host the Denver Broncos on Sunday, August 15, at 7:00 PM. The NFL Network crew of Kenny Albert, Dan Fouts, and Terrell Davis will serve as the on-air broadcast team and veteran producer Mark Wolff, who produced last year’s Super Bowl for CBS, has been hired to produce the game and FOX’s Rich Russo, one of the premiere directors in the business, will serve as the Director. Additionally, Solomon Wilcots will serve as the sideline reporter.’

‘Head Coach Mike Mularkey says he is pleased with the progress the offense has made over the last three months, "It progressively got better and better and they know that especially offensively where you are going to be behind no matter if it is a new system of not, you’re always behind. yesterday was the best practice these guys have had and if you can move it on our defense that’s pretty good."’

‘On the final day, Mark Campbell left the action to have his right hamstring wrapped with ice. He watched the final few minutes of practice. Jerel Myers and Terrence McGee watched with injuries. Ross Tucker did some work on his own with a leg bruise. Missing were Pat and Mike Williams, Sam Adams, Takeo Spikes, Troy Vincent, Joe Burns and Izell Reese.’

‘Earlier this week, during an hour-long interview on Buffalo’s WGR radio, Donahoe said: ”I never felt that Drew’s skills were diminishing. He didn’t play well and in many cases we didn’t help him,” Donahoe added. ”But as far as his ability to get back, throw the ball, make the throws, read the defense, we felt that the skill level was still there.”’

With Losman in close pursuit of his job, Bledsoe will play well in 2004 and the Bills will get close to the .500 mark. Whether nine victories will be enough to get to the playoffs is another question.

The intra-division play can best be described by the Buffalo-New England games last year. Buffalo beat the Patriots in the season opener 31-0 and finished up the season losing to the Patriots 31-0.

‘"I do travel a lot back and forth to Pittsburgh to make sure I’m involved in my sons’ lives," Mularkey said. "I’m probably a little more physically drained because of that, but I try not to let that carry over to coaching. When I’m in Buffalo, this is my job and I’ve learned how to separate the two."’

‘The Bills had sent out initial contract offers to the agents for tackle Jonas Jennings, defensive end Aaron Schobel and defensive tackle Pat Williams earlier this spring. All three will be free agents in March 2005. However, negotiations have not gone far. The Bills faxed out letters last week that said they were suspending negotiations for the time being, according to two NFL sources.’

‘”It was nice to sit down with those guys and discuss football,” Gildon said. “They’re optimistic about the upcoming season. They definitely feel they’ll be better offensively and defensively … they feel they’re basically one player away. It was comforting to hear those comments and hopefully, maybe this will be the stop.”‘

‘"Winning definitely plays a role in the decision making process," Gildon said. "I really don’t want to rush my decision, but I’m definitely looking to make a decision pretty soon. I just have to go back with my family, sit down and discuss the offers out there and just go from there."’

‘"I think they have the potential to definitely challenge for a championship," he said. "It’s definitely a situation I’m looking to go into."’