The Answer
04-10-2007, 03:44 PM
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/bills/home.htm?csp=34
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Inside Slant</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintexclude--><TABLE height=25 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!--endclickprintexclude-->Posted 4/9/2007 9:44 PM ET<!--startclickprintexclude--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Preseason games aren't something NFL players with some job security look forward to but quarterback J.P. Losman will circle Buffalo's Aug. 10 game at New Orleans on his calendar.
The Bills' preseason opener, which will be televised nationally, marks Losman's return to the city and the Superdome where he starred in college for Tulane University from 2000-03.
A year ago, Losman was beginning an off-season competition for Buffalo's starting job with Kelly Holcomb and Craig Nall, a competition he eventually won during training camp. He went on to start all 16 games, leading the Bills to a 7-9 finish, passing for 3,051 yards and 19 touchdowns with a very respectable 84.9 rating.
With their quarterback issue resolved in their minds, general manager Marv Levy and coach Dick Jauron have gone about tearing apart the rest of their lineup and are in the process of putting it back together.
After free agent defections and trades, five starting holes need to be filled. On offense, they include finding a new starting running back after Willis McGahee was traded to Baltimore. The line, meanwhile, will have at least two new starters: free agent Derrick Dockery at left guard and free agent Langston Walker at right tackle.
Veteran left guard Mike Gandy was allowed to defect as a free agent, signing with Arizona. With so many holes to fill on defense where Buffalo must find two linebackers and a cornerback, Levy and Jauron likely won't be able to upgrade Losman's receiving corps significantly at wideout and tight end.
The team's eight draft picks will go fast.
Still, Losman is optimistic that Buffalo's 30th-ranked offense will be better.
"I am excited," he said. "For the first time here, I get to start the season as the starting quarterback with the same offense, with basically the same players. We get to critique some things as opposed to just learning this huge offense of ideas. Now I get to critique exactly what we did wrong last year and amplify what we did right."
The line upgrades can't be overstated, Losman said. He was sacked 47 times last year.
"It makes a quarterback happy, of course," he said. "It's also a sad time, because you see some friends go. You know they are not going to be here, playing with them after you built some relationships, but it is time to move on. We have some new guys and they'll bring some new excitement here. They're going to help things out and get things rolling on the offense and help all phases of it."
NOTES, QUOTES....................
~The Answer
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Inside Slant</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--startclickprintexclude--><TABLE height=25 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!--endclickprintexclude-->Posted 4/9/2007 9:44 PM ET<!--startclickprintexclude--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Preseason games aren't something NFL players with some job security look forward to but quarterback J.P. Losman will circle Buffalo's Aug. 10 game at New Orleans on his calendar.
The Bills' preseason opener, which will be televised nationally, marks Losman's return to the city and the Superdome where he starred in college for Tulane University from 2000-03.
A year ago, Losman was beginning an off-season competition for Buffalo's starting job with Kelly Holcomb and Craig Nall, a competition he eventually won during training camp. He went on to start all 16 games, leading the Bills to a 7-9 finish, passing for 3,051 yards and 19 touchdowns with a very respectable 84.9 rating.
With their quarterback issue resolved in their minds, general manager Marv Levy and coach Dick Jauron have gone about tearing apart the rest of their lineup and are in the process of putting it back together.
After free agent defections and trades, five starting holes need to be filled. On offense, they include finding a new starting running back after Willis McGahee was traded to Baltimore. The line, meanwhile, will have at least two new starters: free agent Derrick Dockery at left guard and free agent Langston Walker at right tackle.
Veteran left guard Mike Gandy was allowed to defect as a free agent, signing with Arizona. With so many holes to fill on defense where Buffalo must find two linebackers and a cornerback, Levy and Jauron likely won't be able to upgrade Losman's receiving corps significantly at wideout and tight end.
The team's eight draft picks will go fast.
Still, Losman is optimistic that Buffalo's 30th-ranked offense will be better.
"I am excited," he said. "For the first time here, I get to start the season as the starting quarterback with the same offense, with basically the same players. We get to critique some things as opposed to just learning this huge offense of ideas. Now I get to critique exactly what we did wrong last year and amplify what we did right."
The line upgrades can't be overstated, Losman said. He was sacked 47 times last year.
"It makes a quarterback happy, of course," he said. "It's also a sad time, because you see some friends go. You know they are not going to be here, playing with them after you built some relationships, but it is time to move on. We have some new guys and they'll bring some new excitement here. They're going to help things out and get things rolling on the offense and help all phases of it."
NOTES, QUOTES....................
~The Answer