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Article: Trust me - The kid stays in the picture
Jerry Sullivan: Trust me -- the kid stays in the picture
COMMENTARY
By Jerry Sullivan
Updated: 10/01/07 8:11 AM
The future arrived at a little after 3 p.m. on Sunday, in the middle of the fourth quarter, when Bills coach Dick Jauron realized he had misjudged the line of scrimmage and sent his offense back onto the field to try for a huge insurance touchdown on fourth and goal from inside the Jets’ 1-yard line.
On his way back out, rookie quarterback Trent Edwards jogged over to Steve Fairchild, the offensive coordinator. Fairchild told him they were going to run a play-action pass off the same running play that had been stopped short on third down just a moment before.
Edwards nodded. No problem. He liked the show of faith, and he liked the call. He had been in similar situations in college and felt capable of pulling it off. He made his play fake, rolled to his right, and threw a perfect pass to tight end Michael Gaines for a TD to give the Bills a 17-7 lead.
It would have been a risky call under any circumstances. But asking a rookie to do it in his first NFL start showed an extraordinary level of confidence. As Gaines said, it was a powerful show of trust in a rookie QB.
“I should just say yes and leave it at that,” Jauron said. “So I’ll say yes and leave it at that.”
Jauron got a laugh out of that one. I doubt J.P. Losman was laughing. Losman’s hold on the starting job became increasingly tenuous when Edwards turned in a bravura performance, completing 22 of 28 passes for 234 yards in a 17-14 win that sent his team’s spirits soaring and ignited a full-blown QB controversy in Bills Nation.
Let’s stop kidding ourselves. I’m not sure when it’ll happen for good, but Edwards is the future at the position. Sometimes, you have to trust (there’s that word again) what you see with your own eyes. Edwards made a stronger case in one afternoon than Losman made in his two years as the starter.
Was this a good setup game for Edwards? Yes. The Jets played soft coverage and allowed Edwards to pick them apart with short, precise throws. Will he have a lot of rough moments along the way, as he did in the second half at New England? Certainly. He’s a rookie. He’s learning.
But Edwards showed the elusive “it” we’ve been waiting to see in Losman. It was a different offense Sunday. Edwards made quick reads. Suddenly, receivers seemed open. On the opening drive of the third quarter, which ended in a Marshawn Lynch TD run and a 7-0 lead, Edwards completed four straight passes — to Roscoe Parrish, Peerless Price, Lee Evans and Josh Reed.
Edwards completed his first nine throws of the second half. He used the middle of the field. He completed seven passes to the tight ends. Seven! That’s not a misprint. Fairchild called passes on nine of the first 12 plays.
They had such faith in Edwards that they considered using no-huddle, but the passing game worked so well they didn’t bother.
“You wouldn’t even know he was a rookie,” Gaines said. “He handled himself great.” ........................
~The Answer
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