Inside The Bills

Friday player radio appearances

Here’s the rundown of player radio appearances for Friday.

The WEASE Show – 95.1 The Fox ON CAMPUS
Jon Corto – 7:40 AM
Gibran Hamdan interviews Trent Edwards – 8:00 AM

Norton in the Morning – 97 Rock
Paul Posluszny  – 8:10 AM

The Howard Simon Show – WGR 550
Kyle Williams  – 8:00 AM

ESPN’s Schefter maintains Bills talked to Vick

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is still of the belief that the Bills made contact with the Michael Vick camp. At this point however, that’s all it is based on his tweet, his belief. See below.

Adam_SchefterAnd I also firmly believe Vick was contacted by Buffalo, it’s just that those talks never really seemed to go anywhere, for whatever reason.

I’ll state why it never went anywhere. It didn’t make sense. They hitched their wagon to Trent Edwards spent an entire offseason giving him the keys to the offense. To sign Vick now would cut Edwards at the knees.

Even if you were bringing him in to just run the Wildcat like Philly supposedly is, the situation in Buffalo would be different. If and when Edwards has a bad quarter of play, the public pressure to put Vick in the lineup would create a mess and possibly a split locker room as well. It wasn’t worth the trouble.

Jauron on whether Vick was discussed by Bills

Bills head coach Dick Jauron was asked following Thursday night’s practice if he and Buffalo’s front office had ever discussed Michael Vick as a possibility for their team. Here was his response.

“Over the last years it certainly has been,” said Jauron. ”We’ve discussed him every time we played him. Over the last few weeks, absolutely we stand by what we said earlier. About two weeks ago we said we have no interest and that’s still exactly the same.”

So while Vick may have been discussed as an option by the Bills front office it doesn’t sound like discussions got very far before he was ruled out.

Simpson injury update

Ko Simpson did not participate in practice on Thursday due to an ankle injury.

“His ankle just got sore on him and we thought we’d give him a couple days off and just see where it takes us,” said head coach Dick Jauron.

Jauron did not say whether the ankle would sideline him for Saturday’s preseason game. Taking reps in his place was free safety Antwain Spann.

Owens not expected to play Saturday

Terrell Owens is not expected to play Saturday according to head coach Dick Jauron.

When asked if Owens would play against Chicago Jauron said, “I don’t think so. Bud (Carpenter) said he is improving and improving quite a lot, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

When asked if Owens personal prognosis of returning to the practice field on Monday was accurate Jauron didn’t deny it.

“Bud and I haven’t talked about that, but I’m sure Bud has talked to him. I’ve been out here and we’ve kept him off the field as you know. I haven’t seen a whole lot of him. I’m out here and he’s inside getting treatment as often as he can. As far as I know he’s really coming along well.”

Practice non-participants

Steve Johnson, Felton Huggins, Ko Simpson, Pàt Thomas,Ashlee Palmer, Terrell Owens are all not practicing.

Xavier Omon and Ashton Youboty are doing individual position drills. We’ll see if they do more as practice wears on.

Manalac to play MLB

Newly signed Ryan Manalac is going to line up at MLB. And that’s due primarily to an injured Pat Thomas who is not participating in practice tonight.

From what I understand the injury is minor for Thomas.

T.O. says could return next week

Bills injured WR Terrell Owens tweeted that he could be ready to return to practice next week.

terrellowens@Ka_Mitchell55 I’ll b back possibly on mon, I’ll make sure things r back 2 normal! I do apologize tht the fan enthusiasm has been down! Lol

Owens was responding to a tweet from teammate Kawika Mitchell who said the fan enthusiasm hasn’t been quite the same without Owens on the practice field. If Owens prognosis on his toe is right, it obviously means he will not be playing in Saturday’s home preseason game against Chicago.

T.O. says his toe will be OK

Have faith Bills fans. Terrell Owens while receiving treatment on his toe this afternoon has tweeted that his toe will be fine.

terrellowens81: Here goes…T.O. On the T.O.e!! It’s gettin better, getting treatment on it rite now as I tweet!! 2 the fans, No need 2 worry, I’ll b ok!

Manalac jersey number

Newly signed LB Ryan Manalac will wear jersey number 61 at practice tonight.

Bills reiterate stance on Michael Vick

It has been communicated to me through the chain of command at One Bills Drive that the Buffalo Bills stand by their original statement that the team has no interest in adding Michael Vick to the roster at this time.

Friday practice closed to public

Just a note for Bills fans concerning Friday’s morning practice this week. It’s NOT open to the public. So tonight’s Thursday evening practice is the last one for fans this week before Saturday’s preseason game (Kid’s Day) against Chicago.

Tonight’s practice by the way is sold out.  Friday’s practice is going to be little more than a walk thru as most NFL coaching staffs keep hitting to a minimum the closer they get to a game (preseason or regular season).

The ‘Kids Day’ preseason game kicks off on Saturday night vs. the Bears at The Ralph at 7pm.  Kids Day activities run from 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. and gates open for the game at 5:30 p.m. 

The Bills are back in training camp on Monday for their last night practice on August 17th.

No Owens at am walk thru

Terrell Owens is not in attendance at the team’s morning walk thru.

Dick Jauron indicated Wednesday that when Owens is not out on the field watching practice he’s usually receiving treatment on his ailing toe.

LB Ashlee Palmer (ankle) is also not present.

Vick rumors persist

The Michael Vick rumors continue to swirl involving the Bills.

The latest comes from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who tweeted the following

Adam_Schefter: Here are the two sleeper teams on Vick not getting mentioned, but that I now sense could be in play here: Buffalo and Dallas.

Schefter doesn’t mention that he got that info from a specific source. He also tweeted this morning that there will not be a Vick signing today. Though he did say that Friday through Monday is now on his radar.

Stay tuned.

Owens says toe feeling better

Bills head coach Dick Jauron relayed a conversation he had with Terrell Owens Wednesday concerning Owens’ ailing toe.

“He said it felt a little better,” said Jauron.

Jauron didn’t elaborate much other than to say that he’s still considered day-to-day

Bills-Bears preseason game to air live

The Buffalo Bills announced that the Bills vs. Chicago Bears game this Saturday at Ralph Wilson Stadium is sold out and will be televised locally. 

The game will air live Saturday at 7 p.m. on WKBW-TV in Buffalo, WHAM-TV in Rochester, WTVH-TV in Syracuse and WBNG in Binghamton. 

It’s the sixth straight year the Kid’s day game has sold out.

The game will air on a tape-delayed basis on CityTV in Toronto.

Thursday radio player appearances

Here’s the list of Bills players scheduled to be on the airwaves Thursday.

The Morning Bull – 103.3 The Edge  ON CAMPUS
Andy Levitre – 7:45 AM
Fred Jackson – 8:00 AM

The WEASE Show – 95.1 The Fox ON CAMPUS
Nic Harris – 7:50 AM
Steve Johnson – 8:05 AM

Janet and Nick – Kiss 98.5
Fred Jackson  – 7:45 AM

Hofstra Pride Radio Network – Hofstra University
Shaine Smith  – 11:15 AM

Bills exploring QB options?

According to NFL Network reporter Jason LaCanfora the Bills are exploring their options at quarterback behind Trent Edwards.

He says the Bills are “sniffing around” for backup options at quarterback. This naturally has everyone speculating that Buffalo may have an interest in Michael Vick.

I don’t see the Bills bringing Vick to Buffalo. It would undermine the commitment and investment in time that they’ve made to Edwards. Brian Griese or Gus Frerotte however, are available options.

I’m not saying I know they’re looking around, but if LaCanfora’s sources are giving him accurate information then I think those veterans are more likely options for Buffalo than Vick.

Rhodes feels fight could help

Dominic Rhodes, who was one of the principle players in the fight at practice Wednesday didn’t mind that some tempers flared feeling it might develop some mental toughness and confidence that they’ll stick up for each other.

“We hadn’t had a fight yet, it was about time, every training camp,” said Rhodes. ”Maybe that’s going to start us into what we really want to be and that’s Super Bowl champs.”

As to whether the coaches like it or not, Rhodes thinks they like it.

“They were coming up and backing me up,” said Rhodes. “In football you’re fighting every play. They know if you’ll step in there and get into it with your own teammate, they know you’ll get into it with a guy you don’t know.”

Head coach Dick Jauron indicated otherwise.

“I don’t think it shows much of anything except a lack of discipline,” he said. ”We know these guys are very competitive and they’re a lot more competitive than most people. And sometimes it gets the best of them. If it happens on game day it really costs you. That’s what you try to preach to them. They know the difference between practice and game day. Sometimes it happens.”

Jauron is no doubt recalling the shoving match Duke Preston had at the end of the first half in the season finale last year, when the time he took to engage in a wrestling match with a Patriots’ player kept Buffalo from attempting a field goal before the clock ran out at the end of the first half.

Good scrap between 90 and 70

Chris Kelsay went after Eric Wood and Dominic Rhodes linked up with Alvin Bowen. And that was followed by a bunch of players that jumped in on both sides.

Kelsay appeared ticked that Wood carried out his block as long as he did and went after him. Rhodes was mad too and he and Bowen locked up.

It was a big wrestling match and once all the bodies were in there I couldn’t tell if any punches were thrown.