Two Bills Drive

‘OK, so Urlacher falls short of Butkus in the nasty department. But he has the potential to rank with Butkus and the other all-time great NFL middle linebackers in just about every other category.’

‘"Ted has been something special for us since we got him," Jauron said. "He’s been great for us in the locker room. He’s great for us on the practice field and he’s great for us on Sunday. It was a loss, no doubt about it. But Alfonso Boone stepped in and played a good game. Hopefully he’ll get better and we’ll go on."’

‘”[Rams coach] Mike Martz, if he’s asked the question, he’ll tell you. He definitely probably underestimated the loss of me, not only what I brought to that defense but also in terms of challenging guys who were not playing up to their abilities. You can’t just plug in certain guys with that personality. It’s just not there. I’ve talked to players on the Rams and they’re telling me it’s not there. So it’s not just me talking.”‘

‘It may seem incongruous now that he has thrown for a league-leading 1,017 yards in his first three games with Buffalo, but there were conflicting views on Bledsoe in the NFL scouting community after last season. He was only 7-19 in his final 26 starts for the Patriots and was generally considered to be on the downside of his career because of the terrible beating he’d taken the past few years.’

‘”He got sacked (four) times and probably got hit another 20. But he still had the ball up in the air, and they put up 23 points on the scoreboard. He stands in there. He doesn’t flinch. If you sack him on first down, he comes back and still converts the third down.”‘

‘Bledsoe utilizes an offense which basically is an evolved form of the same run-and-shoot Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride ran while dodging Buddy Ryan’s punches along the Houston Oilers’ sidelines in the early 1990s. The difference is a few formations designed to get running back Travis Henry more running room and to use tight ends in red zone situations.’

‘”There’s only been one technique error, changing it in traffic (against the Jets). The one in the Vikings game was not all his fault. Then last week, he got a big hit that occasionally will happen. I’m sure he’ll get it fixed, but we have good backs and if he doesn’t get it fixed, we’ll give those backs a chance to play.”‘

‘Boone started in Washington’s place against New Orleans and held his own, and Traylor was his usual dominant self as he clogged up the middle of the line and tied up two blockers at a time, allowing star linebacker Brian Urlacher to do his thing which is make lots of tackles.’

‘”I’m certainly delighted with some of the players we have, but I think more importantly the football players we have are buying into what we are doing,” Gilbride said.’

‘Here’s the problem for the Bills. The numbers – 14 run plays, 41 pass plays – were suspiciously like the 14-49 mix of the week previous, and their smoke-and-mirror overtime heist of the Vikings. That’s two weeks in a row of pass-first and you wonder whether it’s Henry, the offensive line, the coach’s lack of confidence in them, or Bledsoe calling the real shots that is behind something so out of whack.’

Drew Bledsoe talks about Brittany Spears and Austin Powers among other non-football topics.

Excited by his performance, and the stability he has provided the secondary since joining the team late last season, the Buffalo Bills have signed starting free safety Pierson Prioleau to a three-year contract extension. The extension is worth $4.465 million in so-called "new money."

‘Prioleau, who makes a base salary of $550,000 this season, is scheduled to make $750,000 next year, $1 million in 2004 and $1.25 million the following season.’

‘”This team is exciting when it comes down to crunch time,” Bills coach Gregg Williams said. “And I think that comes from our quarterback. He plays with an air about him. But you have to be exciting at the start and the middle of the ball game, too.”‘

Prioleau joined the Bills as an in-season free agent during the 2001 season and saw increased time as the season progressed. He kicked off the 2002 season with the second most total tackles on the team (6 total, 4 unassisted).