Two Bills Drive

‘”I don’t know what they really based letting me go on,” said Stambaugh, who was puzzled by the move. “I didn’t get that many reps in training camp (after Van Pelt signed). I guess that should have been a sign. Signing Van Pelt eliminated that No. 3 spot. “I was shocked,” he admitted. “I could see if they cut me after Philadelphia, if I got some time and couldn’t do the job. I didn’t really get to play. I got time in an intra-squad scrimmage that I did OK in. Over the last couple of weeks, I was running the practice team, and I thought that’s what was on their mind for me.”‘

‘Rookies and younger backups figure to get the bulk of the playing time for the Bills tonight when the team closes its preseason against the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium. Quarterback Rob Johnson may not play at all, coach Wade Phillips said. Many other Bills starters probably will only make cameo appearances, if they aren’t also held out altogether.’

‘It’s obvious that these guys aren’t bosom buddies. In fact, you have a better chance of seeing Al Gore at a Limp Bizkit concert than of Johnson co-starring in one of Flutie’s cheesy long-distance commercials. The task now is not to let this tension infect others. The two don’t have to hang out, but they must be able to coexist.’

‘The 27-year-old quarterback didn’t take over the team until the last regular-season game last season, irritating Flutie fans and Flutie himself. After Buffalo lost its playoff game with Tennessee, Flutie charged that it wouldn’t have happened had he been the quarterback. Maybe, but the popular opinion throughout NFL circles was that Buffalo made a move it could have – maybe should have – made earlier. Johnson has the better arm; Flutie was running into trouble. Johnson could perk up an offense that wound down as the season wore on; Flutie was trying to do too much by himself.’

‘The Bills saw the potential of losing Smith a few years ago and drafted Marcellus Wiley and in this year’s draft, they got Erik Flowers. So that brings an infusion of young talent to the defense, but what about the invaluable veteran leadership Smith took with him? SS Henry Jones and DE Phil Hansen have taken on that role. With 10 seasons each under their belt they will carry the torch of the great Buffalo teams of the early 1990s to the class of the new millennium.’

‘The Buffalo Bills didn’t make the playoffs last year because of their offense…No, this was the type of team defensive-oriented coach Wade Phillips loved.’

‘There are two things they’ve got to figure out right away in Buffalo. One, who’s the man at quarterback, Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie? And two, if it’s Johnson, can he stay healthy? The team has thought for two years now that Johnson was the guy, but there’s another faction of the team that knows the wins have come mainly with Flutie. While Flutie is hurt right now, he’ll be back, but Johnson is going to get the nod.’

‘Quarterback controversies germinate in the strangest places but few more strange than the pages of Penthouse where, it often is said, the two tight-end offence was perfected.’

‘"I’ve missed two games and I’d like to get back in the flow of things," he said. "I know I have to get back on top of my conditioning and you don’t want to get that label as injury prone. I want to come back this year strong and be productive and help us take a step forward."’

‘Johnson’s dad once said that there is indeed substance to Rob and we would see it in time. Now that he has been firmly reestablished as the team’s starting quarterback, that time has arrived. He truly has gone from the outhouse, ahem, to Penthouse. With any luck, Johnson will say a few more things this season — hopefully to the local media — that are worth quoting.’

‘There has been friction between the two men during much of the last three seasons, as they battled for the starting quarterback job, but Johnson said the conflict has been exaggerated. “If it was that bad — I mean, we’re around each other eight or 10 hours a day — something else would have happened by now if we hated each other that much,” Johnson told the Buffalo News. “It was just a situation last year.” Andre Reed criticized Flutie on his Web site around the time of Reed’s departure and other players are rumored to have privately criticized Flutie promoting himself at the expense of the team.’

‘…Johnson was quick to add, “There’s no ill will (now) we help each other all the time. What I said referred just to that week.” He did wonder, though, “Why are you guys asking so much about this now? You didn’t do that (when Flutie made his remarks in Canada)?” But we quickly pointed out that, to be sure, we had made a very big issue of Flutie’s annoyingly self-serving comments to the Canadian press. “Oh,” Johnson said sheepishly, “I guess that didn’t get to me out in California.”

‘Penthouse asked the question, "How did you feel when Doug Flutie said the Bills would have beaten Tennessee if he’d started at quarterback instead of you?" "If he was covering kicks, maybe (laughs) . . . maybe he could have been out there on that final play," he said. "I think that (what Flutie said) was more of an insult to the entire team. That’s just the type of guy Doug is. He’s not much fun to play with – you just have to deal with it."’

‘Little things can have a massive impact on a team. Johnson has taken a big step forward as a leader. By telling Penthouse that Flutie had insulted his teammates with his incessant whining about the Tennessee playoff game, Johnson told the fans, his teammates, the entire football world, that this is his team now.’

‘Buffalo Bills right guard Joe Panos will be sidelined for at least the first three games of the regular season after partially tearing ligaments and a muscle along the arch of his right foot. Panos was still on crutches but moving better Tuesday after he received results from a magnetic resonance imaging exam. The injury, to an area called the plantar fascia, is not expected to require surgery. He could be back by the bye week Sept. 24. "The first week is nothing but rest and ice until the swelling goes down," Panos said. "We have to let it heal and start some aggressive therapy. It’s not completely torn."’