Two Bills Drive

‘A regular Joe is what Joe is. This is a man who, when he emerged as one of the NFL’s best guards in the 1970s, joined a bowling league.’

(James Lofton) was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January and brought before reporters, assembled at the Super Bowl in San Diego, shortly after the balloting. Lofton spoke fondly of his years with the Packers but suggested that his ties to the Buffalo Bills were just as strong.

‘Bledsoe and his wife, Maura, paid an estimated $1.5 million for the land, which abuts a rhododendron preserve, to build their dream manse. In the time that it’s been on the market, it has been looked at — with reports of some big-paycheck pro athletes among the interested parties — but no serious takers have surfaced.’

‘”I told the team that football is not a very complicated game,” DeLamielleure said. “You take it just one play at a time. The game doesn’t have to be played by rocket scientists. Jim Ringo, who was my line coach for eight of my 13 years was a man of few words, but that’s what he taught me.”‘

I think Drew Bledsoe looked sharp in his work against the Browns secondary. He told me he thinks the offense will click fine without Peerless Price because of the impact Josh Reed will make in the passing game, and because Travis Henry has been doing a much better job hanging onto the ball than he did last year, when fumbling became his Achilles.

‘Buffalo got solid contributions from Travis Henry, Sammy Morris and Joe Burns in totaling 100 rushing yards on 29 carries.’

Photo gallery from today’s practice.

‘Cleveland ”won” the scrimmage 18-6. Travis Henry had a short touchdown run for Buffalo’s only score.’

‘"I thought defensively we really swarmed the ball very well in that first series," Head Coach Gregg Williams said. "It was good work but we’re a long ways off. We were a little bit stouter inside on the run defense, today against Cleveland. The pass rush was better today. It was fun to see Takeo (Spikes) and Jeff (Posey). New situations for them and they perked up."’

Few players know more about catching footballs, running patterns, staying in shape – just stuff about the game – than Lofton, who is beginning his second year as the Chargers’ receivers coach. And fewer still are articulate enough to explain it all at a level only a physicist could understand as well as at a level only a raw-boned rookie from an SEC school could grasp.

‘Fletcher said the crowd of 37,818 9,000 were walk-ups helped fire him up. So did Buffalo’s starting defense, which looks vastly improved from a year ago. ”When I went out there and saw my friends and family it really got the juices flowing,” he said. ”I just fed off the energy of the crowd.”’

Most eyes, from a Bills perspective, will be on all the newcomers and changes this off-season brought.

Bill Walsh was in his first weeks as coach at Stanford when he found Lofton, who was preparing for his senior year. “Bill was the first collegiate coach, in football, who had confidence in me,” Lofton says now.

‘It doesn’t matter whether it’s St. John Fisher or Berea, Ohio, every single practice session so far this summer, the best player on the field is Eric Moulds.’

‘Last year the Bills did not get a single interception from the safety position.’