Two Bills Drive

‘Jacksonville is trying to avoid its first 0-2 start since losing its first four games in its inaugural campaign in 1995.’

‘Can they focus on the Jaguars and not look ahead to next week’s return visit to Florida to face the rival Miami Dolphins, or the week after that when the Philadelphia Eagles come to Orchard Park? We’re about to find out.’

‘”They pay me to make sacks and tackles, not to return interceptions, but it helped the team win and that’s what’s more important. It was cool. It was fun. But it was over after I did it. We still had three quarters to play and now we face Jacksonville. It’s imperative we take another step forward.”‘

‘Williams, of course, knows Alltel all-too-well. As defensive coordinator for the then-Oilers, he faced the Jags in their first-ever, regular-season home game, winning 10-3.And in his subsequent trips there, Williams’ teams are 5-2, including a 13-10 victory in 2001, his first triumph as Buffalo’s head coach.’

‘Bledsoe is sympathetic to his contemporary’s plight, and figures Brunell will land on his feet. “It has been a crazy situation for him,” Bledsoe said. “But I don’t know if there’s been a player who has been more important to his team than Mark.”‘

”He added, “It’s not a lack of fan passion for the Jaguars. It’s a large stadium, a small market, a tough economic environment and less disposable dollars. When you put all those things in the mix, we just have to work harder.”‘

‘”The reaction’s been a little bit too giddy, but that’s good,” Donahoe said in a telephone interview last week. “We suffered the past couple of years, and our fans deserved to be enthusiastic. We’re trying to keep it in perspective on the team.”‘

‘”I remember flying up with him from Atlanta – we were coming up for the first mini-camp, and somehow I got routed through Atlanta – and we were sitting there on the airplane,” Bledsoe says. “He was like a kid at Christmas. He’s a tremendous player, stuck in a tough situation (five years with the Bengals) for a long time, and now he’s got a team, a defense around him where he can run around and make plays. I expect him to continue on and have a huge year.”‘

‘The interior offensive line is the first area one scout said he would attack. “Ruben Brown hasn’t been Ruben Brown for more than one season,” he said. “If you have the bulk, you can push the pocket. (ORT) Mike Williams is tough to rattle out there, but I’d bring the kitchen sink at (OLG) Brown and (OLT Jonas) Jennings.”‘

‘"He ain’t fast," said special teams coach Danny Smith, "he’s real fast."’

‘Blaring loud music over big speakers on the edge of the field has become a weekly Friday tactic for coach Gregg Williams. Coaches have been doing it for years in preparation for games at particularly loud venues. But Williams began doing every week last season because it forces players to be more precise in communicating calls and in concentrating on getting the proper call.’

‘” My approach to the game is I want to do everything I can to make myself a better ballplayer, and for two years I had a chance to learn from probably the best third-down back in history.”‘

‘Local CBS affiliate WTEV TV-47 learned late yesterday that the station will broadcast the Miami-New York Jets game from the CBS network at 1 p.m. tomorrow, the same time as the start of the Jaguars game with Buffalo. With more than 8,000 unsold tickets on Thursday, the league mandated that the Jaguars’ home opener would be blacked out in Jacksonville and a 75-mile radius of city limits. WTEV had informed its viewers that the station would air the movie Goodfellas from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. But station general manager Susan Adams Loyd received word yesterday afternoon that the network will feed the Dolphins-Jets game to all CBS affiliates in Florida and South Georgia.’

‘The Jaguars announced yesterday that they sold 1,500 tickets yesterday for tomorrow’s home opener against the Buffalo Bills, the day after they made it official that it’ll be the first home opener in the team’s history to be blacked out.’

‘Ron VanHall, club president, said the club “started last summer with just a few die-hard fans, Tony and Mary Lou DeMarco and Stacey Kelley. But after the local Brandon paper printed a story, the membership quickly swelled.” There are now more than 100 members, and the club is seeking other Bills fans to join the group.’