Two Bills Drive

‘When rookie defensive end Erik Flowers got his first playbook before the Buffalo Bills’ minicamp in April, he must have thought playing in the NFL would be a cinch. Then he got a look at the real playbook. "It looks like a dictionary," the Bills’ first-round draft pick said following Tuesday’s minicamp workout at Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Field House. "It was stunned. I looked at it, and said to myself, "What am I supposed to do with this?’ It taught me my first lesson that there’s a lot more to learn."’

"The Bills’ third voluntary June mini-camp under head coach Wade Phillips opened with 73 players present from the 77-man roster. Missing were left offensive tackle John Fina, Sam linebacker Sam Rogers, kicker Steve Christie and non-drafted rookie wide receiver Corey Jones."

‘But don’t try to tell head coach Wade Phillips that this is a rebuilding year, or that the team will be revamped, retooled or redesigned. In Phillips’ mind, there’s no reason the Bills should not be expected to build on its 11-5 record of a year ago and get deeper into the postseason that the division wild card game. Las Vegas oddsmakers clearly concur, recently listing the Bills at 8 to 1 to represent the AFC East in the Super Bowl.’

‘The Bills signed Giancola primarily for kickoffs, which is not a strong suit of veteran placekicker Steve Christie of Oakville…To be sure, the Bills need work in that department after losing to Tennessee in the first round of the playoffs on the Titans’ miraculous last-play touchdown return.’

Obviously, JetBlue Airways needs a better spell-checker!

‘For Polian, it was a chance to reminisce about his days as the Bills’ general manager. “Those were some really special times,” said the President and General Manager of the Indianapolis Colts. “Western New York remains a very special place to everyone in my family. Seeing all the guys again is very special.’

“Broncos officials said Friday the visit wasn’t finalized yet but any decision likely would be made before the staff goes on vacation after the team’s mini-camp Tuesday through Friday.”

“The difficult fight against Krabbe disease could not have found a much more fitting poster child than Hunter Kelly. The son of former Buffalo Bills quarterback has proven to be a fighter extraordinaire. He was expected to live only 14 months. He now is 3 years and 3 months old.”

“Yes, I know. The issue became moot long ago. The pass was completed. The Titans scored the touchdown. The officials reviewed the pass and decided it was a legal lateral. The Bills lost the game. The NFL published two photographs of the play to convince everybody that the referee’s decision was correct. After a preliminary analysis, I decided that the officials were probably correct.”

“I know what happened, I know what I had to say,” Kelly told the Buffalo News. “I know that when you get out of a plane and you go underwater, it’s a little deeper than six inches. I know I’m not a goldfish, I know I’m not that small.”

“Around the NFL, Phillips is admired for the work he did in picking up the pieces of the 1997 team, which bumbled to a 6-10 record in Marv Levy’s farewell season. Phillips’ first team reversed the record to 10-6 and made the playoffs.”

“(The pilot) said he landed in the tidal zone, in 6 inches of water,” Jim LaBelle, who heads the National Transportation Safety Board in Anchorage, told the Associated Press.

“Up until reading the Page 1 article on the Bills (May 28), I was feeling great, playing tennis daily, and enjoying the 80-and-over international tennis tournament in Austria.”

“Not enough, apparently, that he quarterbacked in four Super Bowls for the Buffalo Bills. Not enough that he takes his vacations in remote sections of Alaska accessible only by airplane and hundreds of miles from the nearest limo for hire. Not enough that he hunts bears there and not just defenseless ducks.”

“Do you avoid Buffalo Bills games because you’re afraid of having beer spilled on you by strangers? Or do you cringe at the thought of wading through a sea of tipsy, rowdy tailgaters in the Ralph Wilson Stadium parking lots?”