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"The hold-the-ball-too-long one, there are times when that is true," Bledsoe acknowledged. "It's a battle you're always fighting because as a competitor, you're always thinking, 'OK, I can make this next play. This can be the difference in the game.' That's something I've always battled against, going back to college.
"As far as making bad decisions, that's not true. Do I make some bad decisions? Yeah. You play this position, sometimes you're going to throw it to the wrong place. But as far as percentages, compared to anybody else that's playing, I don't make bad decisions. I'm a smart player who makes good decisions. That one's a little crazy."
"As far as taking sacks … part of that also is there were times when people said I was holding on to the ball and there wasn't much time, period. And as far as the turnovers, I had a year two years ago where I was getting hit a lot and fumbled the ball a lot. But that's never really been a big problem of mine.
"The lack of mobility, that one, I've just kind of let that one go forever. I'm not fast. But there are a lot of guys that are a hell of a lot slower than I am. Somebody wants to do a pay-per-view race between me and [Tom] Brady, sign me up."
As much of a beating as he's taken on the field, Bledsoe's been hit with even more in the press for his play over the last 2½ seasons, particularly in big games. He points to the loss of several supporting cast members on offense following a 2002 season in which he passed for 4,359 yards as contributing to his decline in production, though it should be mentioned that fullback Larry Centers (retired), tight end Jay Riemersma (Pittsburgh), and receiver Peerless Price (Atlanta) saw their numbers go down after leaving the Bills.
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