For Losman, poise is paramount

[The_Philster]

When he's off the football field, Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman isn't someone that people accuse of being flustered or nervous. However, as a first-year starter last season, the former 22nd overall pick was anything but calm, as he recorded a 2-7 overall record and appeared to show almost no poise on the field.
If he wants to succeed this season, though, the laid back Californian will need to channel his off-field serenity and transfer it onto the gridiron. more (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2006/07/jp-losman-bills060706.html)

[YardRat]

Certainly, the best way to settle a vacant starting spot is to let candidates battle for it, since it makes them better football players and truly awards the most deserving athlete with the job. If Losman ends up winning the three-way duel, he'll earn newfound respect from experienced teammates while gaining confidence that he can, indeed, take the reins of a pro football team.




Unfortunately for Losman, there's never been a successful quarterback who was terrific in practice, yet awful during game situations. So far in his two-year career, the Tulane product has followed that mold, which hasn't been encouraging to Bills fans. However, if the ever-maturing thrower can finally get his emotions in check, he could find himself leading a Buffalo Bills roster to positive things in the near future.

To improve upon his eight touchdown passes and 49.6 completion percentage from last season, the first step Losman will have to take is to calm down. The answer to whether or not he can will, of course, play itself out eventually. Until then, all will have to wait patiently to see if Losman is the Bills' next Jim Kelly, or just another Rob Johnson.


:clap:

Good article...

[Jan Reimers]

When a kid has all the physical tools to lead this team to greatness, but lacks game experience, why would you sit him behind guys with no ability to become great QBs?

Play the kid, for pete's sake.

[justasportsfan]

"Unfortunately for Losman, there's never been a successful quarterback who was terrific in practice, yet awful during game situations."

huh?

It's kinda impossible to be successful when success is based on gameday. If there's anyone though who was great at camp and sucked at gameday, Robosack was the poster child.

[ICE74129]

When he's off the football field, Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman isn't someone that people accuse of being flustered or nervous. However, as a first-year starter last season, the former 22nd overall pick was anything but calm, as he recorded a 2-7 overall record and appeared to show almost no poise on the field.
If he wants to succeed this season, though, the laid back Californian will need to channel his off-field serenity and transfer it onto the gridiron. more (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2006/07/jp-losman-bills060706.html)

I think you will agree with me Experience will cure most of that.

[ICE74129]

"Through the Bills' spring minicamps, it was also well-documented that Losman got the better of his two counterparts, demonstrating accuracy and sharpness with his passes."

Well, wasn't most of the holcombites/ JP haters issue with his accuracy? So it seems that is shored up and is more accurate than their hero Holcomb. Couple that with holcombs comments on Fairchilds offense...Bye bye kelly.

[YardRat]

I think you will agree with me Experience will cure most of that.

It might, and it might not.

It was disappointing to watch JP keep taking two steps back game-to-game over the first quarter of the season last year.

Having said that, it was encouraging to see him play a little bit better when he was inserted into the line-up a second time.

Hopefully, if he does win the starting job this year, he (for the most part...I understand any QB is going to have bad games) exhibits an upward tendency on the performance/learning curve.

If he sucks consistently again, though...yank his ass and consider the experiment over :D

[YardRat]

"Through the Bills' spring minicamps, it was also well-documented that Losman got the better of his two counterparts, demonstrating accuracy and sharpness with his passes."

Well, wasn't most of the holcombites/ JP haters issue with his accuracy? So it seems that is shored up and is more accurate than their hero Holcomb. Couple that with holcombs comments on Fairchilds offense...Bye bye kelly.

Read it again, ICE...



Unfortunately for Losman, there's never been a successful quarterback who was terrific in practice, yet awful during game situations. So far in his two-year career, the Tulane product has followed that mold


I don't think I've ever heard anybody ***** about JP's accuracy in practices...just the games.

[TigerJ]

"Unfortunately for Losman, there's never been a successful quarterback who was terrific in practice, yet awful during game situations."

If that isn't one of the weirdest and dumbest statements I've read in a long time. . .

[Captain gameboy]

"Unfortunately for Losman, there's never been a successful quarterback who was terrific in practice, yet awful during game situations."

If that isn't one of the weirdest and dumbest statements I've read in a long time. . .

Yes it is. When I first read it, it had not been commented on, now folks have been all over it.

In my view, that particular quote serves a greater purpose, which is to point out how absolutely stupid these pre-training camp opinioneers are.
Everyone of them- from anybody here up to and including ESPN.

They are worse than worthless.

The Bills are a case in point.

These guys look for continuity.
Specifically, continuity in the head coach and quarterback.
Their favorites are teams that made it to the playoffs or came close, but finished strong, and added a guy or two that they like in free agency, while keeping the same QB and head coach.

Nobody has a clue. Injuries and unknowns are so much a part of it.

Two total wastes of time:
Mock drafts
Pre training camp predictions.

[Carlton Bailey]

The quote is confusing. But I think he's saying that Losman has been good in practice and bad in games, and that doesn't do him any good. He's gotta improve his in-game play. I'd agree with that.

Later.

-Matt

[Night Train]

Poise most often is a product of the gameplan given to him by his OC ( Fairchild ). If a balanced gameplan is called, he won't be exposed like last season and can be more effective than expected. Time will tell.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Yes it is. When I first read it, it had not been commented on, now folks have been all over it.

In my view, that particular quote serves a greater purpose, which is to point out how absolutely stupid these pre-training camp opinioneers are.
Everyone of them- from anybody here up to and including ESPN.

They are worse than worthless.

The Bills are a case in point.

These guys look for continuity.
Specifically, continuity in the head coach and quarterback.
Their favorites are teams that made it to the playoffs or came close, but finished strong, and added a guy or two that they like in free agency, while keeping the same QB and head coach.

Nobody has a clue. Injuries and unknowns are so much a part of it.

Two total wastes of time:
Mock drafts
Pre training camp predictions.

I totally agree.

It is impossible to accurately judge how well players are going to perform and perform together before they even put the pads on, especially younger players and players who have moved from one team to another. While you can develop some idea of how teams that are largely made up of veterans that have had little turnover will play at this stage, there are at least half of the teams in the NFL that do not fall into that category this season. Add in injuries and guys who are coming back from injuries who may not be fully recovered, etc. and a lot of it is guesswork.

As far as the article goes, I found it contradictory in its key point as well. Most young QBs who are drafted high have the physical skills to be stars and usually look good in non-contact practices. It's what happens when they face hostile opposition coming at them at speeds that they are not accustomed to, when they have to make decisions so much faster than they are used to making them, and when things are happening that are not expected or do not appear in the game plan that they all get hyper and struggle. It takes time, especially for those guys, like Losman (and Favre, etc.), who are naturally a little hyper and emotional on the field, for them to learn everything that they have to learn and for the game to slow down enough that they can make their decisions calmly enough to be successful. And, that's under the best of circumstances and with the full support of their teammates--which was not the case for Losman last season.

It's hard to say how much the game has slowed down for JP at this point--he says that it has, but that's something that is extremely hard to quantify and can't really be judged until he is in pads and facing hostile opposition. We all know that he has been a hard worker and it seems that Kelly and Jaworski have been impressed by his knowledge of the Xs and Os, but it can take awhile even for the most prepared young QBs, like the two Mannings who had the advantage of having a father who could show them all of the ropes in terms of how to prepare themselves, etc., to be able to translate what they see on the chalkboard and in films into what they see and what they need to do on the field under pressure from a hostile opponent. There's no way to tell how long it will take for a given young QB to finally "get it"--some take longer than others. But, usually guys who work as hard as JP Losman has been working do eventually "get it" (it's the ones who don't work at it or who have an "attitude" that usually don't). The question is whether JP will "get it" before the Bills and their fans give up on him.

I've gone on the record as saying that I think that JP Losman learned a lot from last season and that he surprised M.Levy and D.Jauron by performing better than they expected him to this off-season. IMHO, Losman's performance last season was comparable to that of other young QBs, given the circumstances that he was in, and he did show some improvement over the course of the season. I think that he continued to show some of that improvement during the off-season practices, but now has to show it on the field when the hitting starts. I fully expect that he will and that he will continue to improve over the course of this coming season, despite some expected setbacks along the way (they happen to every young QB!). Whether that will be enough to win the starting QB job at the beginning of the season or keep him in the starting lineup during the course of the season or not is hard to say at this point and will also depend on how the coaches see the other QBs and want to handle Losman. But, IMHO, JP is a young QB who is developing pretty much as he should (he's behind by a year because he missed his rookie year with the leg injury) and, as he gets playing time and experience, we will begin to see that--and I think we will begin to see it this season. This is a guy who needed time to mature and develop when he was drafted who is just about to enter his third season in the NFL--and really has only one season of experience playing for a bad team with a lot of players who were did not think he should be playing with them at that stage and got jerked around by his coaches. Of course he was terrible--what else could you expect from him? (Peyton Manning set a rookie record for INTs his first season and he had his whole team and coaching staff behind him!) Now, he's got to show that he can do better when the hitting starts. He should--and I expect that he will--and, if he shows enough to beat out Holcomb and Nall, he will be the starting QB. And, at some point this season, barring injury, IMHO, he will and he will get the experience that he needs to get to show the coaches that he can be the QB that he was drafted to be. (I still can't help wondering if Levy and Jauron will try to find an excuse to protect JP from having to start the first game or two of the season, especially the opener at NE, so that he doesn't have his confidence ruined by facing a tough opponent on the road behind an offensive line that is still gelling, with a defense that is still untested, at the beginning of the season--I think that could depend on how the team, not just the QBs, performs during the preseason.)

I see the Bills having a lot of questions and going through a lot of growing pains this season, so I don't really see the Bills' season depending on what JP Losman does this season, but I do see the Bills' immediate future depending on how Losman develops and plays over the course of this season. The difference is subtle, but significant.