Bills notebook
Edwards is ‘very sore’ but may play in Toronto
Trent Edwards was still walking around with a sore groin Monday, but the Buffalo Bills didn’t believe the injury was serious enough to rule him out for this Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
Bills coach Dick Jauron expected his starting to quarterback to undergo more examinations and treatment this week before receiving an update on his availability for the game in Toronto.
Edwards, who was unavailable for comment, was being evaluated on a daily basis and might practice Wednesday.
“He’s sore,” Jauron said. “They’ll do some tests and whatever they do in the training room. We’ll have more information, but I don’t know how much significant information we will have unless the soreness goes away. He’s very sore today. . . . I would label him day-to-day.”
Edwards was injured early in the Bills’ 10-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. He played the first half and was replaced by backup J. P. Losman for the final two quarters. Edwards completed just 10 of 21 passes for 112 yards while Losman was 11 of 17 for 93 yards. Neither quarterback was effective.
If Edwards is fully recovered for practice Wednesday, he would receive almost all of the repetitions with the starting offense. Jauron said Losman would only get more time with the first team if Edwards couldn’t practice or fully participate.
“If Trent was injured and could practice partially, the second quarterback, which is J. P., would get more reps,” Jauron said. “If Trent were completely healthy, he would step in and take his usual reps. He’s very sore today.”
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Jauron was well aware that criticism of him and his coaching staff has intensified over the past month and was quick to accept responsibility for the Bills’ problems.
Buffalo could become only the fourth team in eight years to win its first four games and miss the playoffs. The others were the 2000 Jets, the 2002 Chargers and the 2003 Vikings.
“I definitely understand it,” Jauron said. “I’m where it stops. I’m the guy. The things that go wrong, I’ve got to get them corrected. I have to do my part to do that.”
He also acknowledged that the Bills should have called more plays for running back Marshawn Lynch late in the game considering how effective he was in the first three quarters. Lynch gained 133 yards on 15 carries going into the fourth quarter but had just one carry for 1 yard and one catch for 1 yard in the final 15 minutes.
Lynch’s 134 yards rushing gave him 844 for the season, third in the AFC behind New York Jets running back Thomas Jones (1,088) and Tennessee’s Chris Johnson (958). Lynch and backup Fred Jackson continue to have the most pass receptions (70) among NFL running back tandems.
“I wished he would have touched the ball more often,” Jauron said.
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Left tackle Jason Peters on the Bills’ need to play much better in hopes of winning the remaining four games, which would give them an outside chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999: “We have to go out there and leave it on the field. There’s no next year, and there’s no tomorrow. We got to go out Sunday, for the next four weeks and leave it out there.”
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Veteran receiver Lee Evans finished Sunday’s game with seven catches for 80 yards, moving him past Jerry Butler for eighth place in franchise history with 282 receptions and into seventh place past Wray Carlton with 4,762 yards from scrimmage.
Evans has 4,617 yards receiving and another 145 yards rushing in his career. Peerless Price is next on the list with 288 receptions, and Elbert Dubenion is one spot ahead with 5,635 yards from scrimmage.
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