|
|
 |
| NEWS ARCHIVES - SEPTEMBER 6TH - SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2004 |
PREVIOUS WEEK |
Bills Lose Heartbreaker On Opening Day
 Defense Dominates: This game was eerily similar to last year. The defense dominates most of the game but unravels at the worst time after giving into pressure of not getting enough points on offense. That side of the ball looked like a Kevin Gilbride offense, throwing the ball on third and goal from the one and using a bit of the no huddle. Same old offense, same old results. Gameday Grades.
Jags Stun Bills: It was completely shock that was witnessed before more than 72,000 fans as the Jaguars scored on a desperation touchdown catch by rookie wide receiver Ernest Wilford on the final play of the game. With three guys draped all over him, he came down with the ball and the 13-10 victory for the Jags. The Bills defense held the Jaguars to just two field goals unitl the 80 yard drive in the final two minutes of the game. The Bills could manage only 10 points but blew many opportunities as Eric Moulds lost the ball twice but the Bills defense did manage two takeaways of their own. Game Review.
No Injuries: The only bit of good news about the loss is the team came away without any major injuries. Travis Henry miss most of the fourth quarter with leg cramps but he should be fine. Injury Page.
Bills Reach Injury Settlement: The Bills and Travis Brown reached an injury settlement yesterday Brown is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign on with any team once he's healthy. He cannot sign with the Bills until after week 10 however. This is what he did last year.
Saturday September 11, 2004
Weather Report: It should be a beautiful day for the opener tomorrow. The last two openers were played under a stifling heat, this one won't be. High temperature on gameday should be around 75° with humidity at about 70%. It will be partly cloudy with only a 10% chance of showers. There will be light winds of 11mph out of the south, southwest. All in all it should be a beautiful day for football.
Friday September 10, 2004
Adams Added: Sam Adams has been added to the injury report and is questionable with a toe problem. He hurt the toe in practice on Wednesday. As we reported yesterday, Adams was bothered by a toe injury and may be added. He did not participate fully in Friday's practice. The Bills now have seven players on the report. Injury Report.
Brown's Future To Be Decided: Travis Brown is still deciding on his future but until it is, he continues to attend meetings and is helping Drew Bledsoe prepare for the season. Brown was placed on injured reserve with his sprained knee that will take 4-6 weeks to heal. Brown may reach an injury settlement with the team and then he would become an unrestricted free agent. If he doesn't do that, he remains on the team and then would probably be released when he's healthy.
Thursday September 9, 2004
Opener Soldout: The Bills announced today that the opener is soldout and the blackout has been lifted. The announcement was just a formality since the game has been basically soldout for months now. This is the ninth straight time the blackout has been lifted for a home game.
Schobel Happy With Deal: Aaron Schobel said he's happy with the new deal he signed yesterday with the Bills. The five year extension now reportedly pays $23 Million and has a $6.75 Million signing bonus. Schobel acknowledged that a good season would have probably landed him more money on the open market next year but he didn't want to risk an injury hurting his chances at the big pay day. He said he couldn't imagine making this much money three years ago and is very happy.
McGahee Not Happy With Role: Coach Mularkey made the inevitable official yesterday that Travis Henry will be the starting running back when the season opens on Sunday. Willis McGahee wasn't too happy with his role saying he's paid good money and if they want him to be a backup, he will be a backup but he isn't happy about it. He said he'll be patient and his time will come.
Adams May Be Added To Report: The Bills may add Sam Adams to the injury report. He is suffering from turf toe and may end up on the updated official report today or tomorrow. He should play on Sunday however. Injury Page.
Wednesday September 8, 2004
Schobel Signs Extension: As the Bills get ready to start a new season they have done some work for shore up the future as the team announced that they have signed Aaron Schobel to a five year contract extenstion that can keep him in Buffalo through 2009. He was due to become a free agent at the end of the season and is one of three big names that were due to hit the market along with Jonas Jennings and Pat Williams. Tom Donahoe had said the team had enough cap space to lock one of them up before the season starts. ESPN.com reports that the deal is worth $28 Million with a $7 Million signing bonus immediately and a $2 Million roster bonus in 2005.
Kelsay, Reed To Start: Coach Mularkey said in his media day press conference that Chris Kelsay and Josh Reed will start Sunday's opener against Jacksonville. He said there will be plenty of reps for Ryan Denney and Lee Evans. The rotation at left defensive end will continue however as Denney is expected to start next week. Mularkey said he's impressed with Evans and he will play in many of the formations. The coach feels Reed held off Evans because of his solid play and experience, not because Evans didn't perform well. Mularkey also said he's excited about his first game as a head coach for himself and for the rest of the team. He says the team has impressed him this summer and is looking forward to getting it started for real. Depth Chart.
Injury Report: The Bills have six players listed on the official NFL Injury report for Sunday's game against Jacksonville. As expected, Lawyer Milloy joins J.P. Losman as out for the game. Four players, including Travis Henry, are listed as probable with lingering injuries from the preseason and training camp. Injury Report.
Tuesday September 7, 2004
Milloy Definitely Out: Tom Donahoe on the Simoncast on Empire said that Lawyer Milloy will definitely miss the opener with his broken forearm. This is not a surprise but it is the first official announcement that Milloy won't play. After this week, Donahoe said they will take it week by week and he expects Milloy to come back quicker than most. He has started his rehab work. It would make sense to at least hold Milloy out week 2 since the Bills have the bye the following week. Injury Page.
Jags To Be Tough Test: The Bills opener will be a tough test as the much improved Jacksonville Jaguars come to town. Jacksonville has a tough run defense that will test the will of the Bills coaches to run no matter what this year. It may be a slow start for the offense but they will try to wear down the Jaguars as the game progresses. Bills Daily has launched our 2004 gameday homepage. This is the page that will offer one stop coverage for all gameday issues including previews, reviews, and links to gameday grades and other game summaries. Check it out! Jaguars Preview.
Starting Role Split: Coach Mularkey confirmed that there was no clear cut winner in the battle for the starting left defensive end spot. Chris Kelsay and Ryan Denney battled to a draw all summer. They will split the starting job at least to start the season. This isn't a big deal since the team would like to rotate their linemen anyway. Depth Chart.
Losman Checks In: J.P. Losman was at practice on Monday for the first time since he broke his leg in training camp. He got his cast off and was allowed up and around for the first time. He was in practice with crutches and a protective boot on his lower left leg. He said he has no ill feelings towards Troy Vincent and that he knows his injury was just a freak accident. Vincent brushed Losman with his shoulder pad during a drill in camp when Losman got hurt. Injury Page.
Monday September 6, 2004
Practice Squad Set: The Bills set their eight man practice squad and it consists entirely of players that were cut by the team over the past two weeks. On the squad are: OL Jasen Esposito and Ben Sobieski, WRs Drew Haddad and Jonathan Smith, TE Jason Peters, DT Lauvale Sape, LB Darryl Town, and QB Greg Zolman. Smith was the lone draft pick cut and he was an obvious add to the squad. The one surprise not making it was FB Luke Lawton who had a good camp. Haddad and Sape barely had eligibility left to be on the squad. Peters was a good coup since he was being courted by the N.Y. Giants. This is the first year of the eight man taxi squad, it was five players in the past.
Former Draft Picks Get Cut: The new regime wasn't kind to former draft picks of the Tom Donahoe era, and one pick from the new regime. Their second of two seventh round picks in this year's draft was released. Jonathan Smith showed flashes in the preseason and may be a candidate for the practice squad when it is formed later today. Also among the 14 cuts were two picks from last year's draft class and one pick from the class of 2001. Last year's fifth rounder Ben Sobieski and sixth rounder Lauvale Sape are gone along with Marques Sullivan who was a fifth rounder in the 2001 draft. Sobieski was moved around during his tenure in Buffalo and was seen as the backup center, that job will go to Ross Tucker who has more experience than Sobieski. Sape was a raw talent who never materialized but sill may have eligibility on the practice squad. Sullivan was also moved around in his tenure with the Bills but never really found his niche. He had a poor training camp and preseason and was beaten out by the first of two seventh round picks this year, Dylan McFarland.
Defensive End Cuts Interesting: Some of the most interesting cuts were at defensive end. Jason Gildon and Keith McKenzie were both cut. It was thought that one of them would survive. They are both gone and the Bills kept raw undrafted free agent prospect Constantin Ritzmann. They could have kept one of the veterans and stashed Ritzmann on the practice squad. Depth Chart.
News Archives index
Latest News Section
Archives Library
Back to Bills Daily Homepage
|
