A leader emerges: Confident Losman earning Bills' respect

[The_Philster]

They began getting to know one another early last season, while rehabbing their broken bones at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The more veteran Bills safety Lawyer Milloy conversed with rookie quarterback J.P. Losman, the more he felt like he was experiencing déjá vu.

"It reminded me a little of when I was with New England and I would have conversations with a young guy named Tom Brady," Milloy was saying after Buffalo's minicamp practice Saturday morning at the field house across the parking lot from Ralph Wilson Stadium...more (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050501/SPORTS0102/505010337/-1/COLUMNS)

[Jan Reimers]

Great read. You couldn't ask for anything more from JP at this point.

[Novacane]

good article. Can't wait to see him play. :lmao: at ......Losman's athleticism will enable the Bills to do things offensively they weren't able to with the sloth-like Bledsoe under center

[Novacane]

About the only negative so far has been the negative comparisons to another quarterback from southern California who played for the Bills — Rob Johnson.

"At first, it didn't bother me much," says Losman, a native of Venice, Calif. "But lately it's become annoying and is said to me in a put-down way. I can assure you I'm not Rob Johnson. I come from a working-class environment. My dad poured concrete for a living and my mother worked two jobs. I just wish people would give that comparison a rest."



:bf1:

[justasportsfan]

About the only negative so far has been the negative comparisons to another quarterback from southern California who played for the Bills — Rob Johnson.

"At first, it didn't bother me much," says Losman, a native of Venice, Calif. "But lately it's become annoying and is said to me in a put-down way. I can assure you I'm not Rob Johnson. I come from a working-class environment. My dad poured concrete for a living and my mother worked two jobs. I just wish people would give that comparison a rest."



:bf1:This is gonna drive Phil nuts. Losman runs like Flutie,wears his no. and hates being compared to Robosack. Even though he never met Rob, he's blasting him like Flutie did. :snicker:

Playoffs, here we come :D

[The_Philster]

why should it bug me? JP isn't causing locker room problems, is he?

[justasportsfan]

why should it bug me? JP isn't causing locker room problems, is he?oh cmon Phil. He just took a shot at your boy :snicker:

[The_Philster]

oh cmon Phil. He just took a shot at your boy :snicker:

:laughter: The only R.J. I can stand at all is you



and that's up for debate somedays:snicker2:

[justasportsfan]

:laughter: The only R.J. I can stand at all is you



and that's up for debate somedays:snicker2:not sure f that's a good or bad thing :D

[The_Philster]

not sure f that's a good or bad thing :D

open for debate :laughter:

[Michael82]

I LOVE hearing this stuff. :drool: :clap:


The more veteran Bills safety Lawyer Milloy conversed with rookie quarterback J.P. Losman, the more he felt like he was experiencing déjá vu.

"It reminded me a little of when I was with New England and I would have conversations with a young guy named Tom Brady," Milloy was saying after Buffalo's minicamp practice Saturday morning at the field house across the parking lot from Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"J.P. was saying all the right things and seemed so eager to learn and get better and get out there and help the team. That's exactly how Brady was. I gave J.P. the same advice I gave Tom. I told him to do everything you can to prepare yourself for success when your opportunity comes."

The 24-year-old Losman has taken Milloy's advice to heart. Since the Bills jettisoned veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe three months ago, Losman has been putting in six days a week, studying film, lifting weights, running stadium steps, throwing passes and memorizing the playbook.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

You know what I really like about Losman and hope he's successful? He's our own. We picked him. If you look around, almost all successful NFL teams have key players of their own; the reason is simple - teams keep their own key players even in this salary cap age. The Bills haven't had one of their own QBs that did anything in NFL since Jim Kelly! And it's not surprising that the Bills haven't done anything since Kelly retired.

At this stage I'd rather take a wait-and-see stand. Let's face it, he's not Bills first choice. It's been widely reported that Dom Caper declined the Donahoe's last ditch effort in last year draft to get Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh actually had Losman coming in for a visit (in contrast, the Bills did not fly him to Buffalo before the draft) last year and had extensive discussion about him (I'm sure) in South Side (Steeler's facility), and on radio. Several Pittsburgh based scouting services also chimed in. The one reported concerns the Steelers had was his ability to read defenses; some of his ran-around style at Tulane was because of that, an effort to buy more time (I'm sure some people would point fingers at his teamates exclusively).

Maybe it is one of the reason that he has spent 6 days a week to study films this year because the obvious way to improve in this area is to understand defenses and your own offense better. But, to me, the more subtle part is the ability to process all this information quickly, especially under duress. Brady and Manning are great examples. In fact none of them even has Losman's feet to buy extra time. To fans, this kind of ability can only be shown in live game action. To coaches, maybe they can pick up some in practices.

If Losman has the traits to process plays and defenses quickly, regardless if he can do pin-point throwing, eluding pass rushers, etc., he will be a keeper for the Bills.

[Drive 4 Five]

Sounds like this kid has the tools, attitude, and the drive needed to be a star in this league. If a guy named after a burger can do it, then why can't J.P.?

You heard it here first ladies and gentleman...

The Bills will be in the PLAYOFFS next year!!!

:band: :band: :band:

[LifetimeBillsFan]

While I think that it is very true that we won't know what kind of QB he is going to be until we see him on the field actually having to face tough situations in a game, the thing I really like about JP Losman at this stage of the game is the way that he has approached things since coming to Buffalo.

The big knock on him prior to last year's draft was his cocky attitude, but he hasn't come across that way to me and he seems to be totally dedicated to working his butt off to get better. In addition to all of the work that he has done up to this point in the off-season, I was struck by the fact that in the WGR report (http://www.wgr550.com/bills/fullstory.php?id=0823) on the BZ front page, he remarked that he wanted to work more with E.Moulds because he wasn't as comfortable throwing to him as he was with L.Evans and R.Parrish. What I like about that is that he saw there is a need to improve on something and he wants to work on it to correct it right away. That's a great attitude for him to have--you couldn't really ask for anything more!

As I see it, any player that comes into the NFL has weak parts to his game that need to be improved on and it's the ones who recognize that and work to address those problems and get better across the board that become the standouts. I'm sure JP had and still has a lot to improve on, but I like that he's shown himself to be so willing to work to make himself better. And, I really don't see any of the attitude problems that the scouts made such a big deal about before last year's draft.