A few days before the season began, I asked Ralph Wilson to speculate on the future of his beleaguered coach, Dick Jauron. What if he starts off 0-5?

"I ll hope he doesn t go 0-6," Wilson said with a laugh.

So here we are, one month into Jauron s "must-win" season. The Bills nearly upset the Patriots; they beat a bad Tampa Bay team; they fell apart late against the Saints; and last week, they were annihilated in Miami in the most distressing loss of the dreary Jauron era.

Today, they host a winless Browns team in what some believe could be Jauron s last stand. As the thinking goes, if the Bills can t beat a wretched, winless team that

just traded away its best player, Wilson will come to his senses and fire Jauron.

I m not so sure. What does Wilson need to find out about Jauron that he didn t know in January? Is 1-4 any worse than 2-8, which is how the Bills finished last season?

I can t pretend to predict Wilson s moods. He turns 91 next Saturday. He does things his own way. Today, he will get his Hall of Fame ring in a halftime ceremony at the stadium bearing his name.

It will be an ambivalent day for Bills fans. Wilson s induction to Canton was a celebration of 50 years of Bills football. But while fans are grateful to Wilson for the team s continued existence in Buffalo, they hold the owner chiefly responsible for the Bills decade-long run of futility. Some are even rooting against the Bills, hoping a loss might mean the end of Jauron. Wilson might be booed. The ring ceremony could turn ugly. It could push Wilson into firing his unpopular coach.

Still, I doubt it. The Bills brought back Jauron in the name of continuity. Firing him after five games would make the decision seem even more ill-advised.

It would have cost $9 million to fire Jauron after extending his contract (Wilson fought with Wade Phillips for one-tenth of that). The remaining $8 million or so would be a lot to swallow.

Wilson traded Jason Peters, because he didn t want to pay top dollar. He cut Langston Walker, a $25 million mistake, to save money. He saved money by not bringing in a veteran linebacker and leaving Jauron without any experienced backups. Looks to me as if saving money was a bigger consideration than saving Jauron s job.

You almost feel sorry for Jauron. He s a career failure as a head coach. But how can you judge the guy on the team s performance this year?

If Jauron was on the hot seat, why did management turn the burner up to high? It s almost as if Russ Brandon and Co. created a trail of excuses, so Wilson wouldn t have to fire Jauron this season.

Jauron is the perfect coach for this situation, a man who stands up in the worst of times and tells us all is well. His players work hard. He loves them, and they love him. They even sang him "Happy Birthday!"

The Bills have bought Jauron s silence. To borrow a quote from one of Terrell Owens former advisers, Jauron has 9 million reasons not to complain about the hand he s been dealt. Why make a fuss about inferior backups when you got the deal of a lifetime for losing eight out of 10?

The closest anyone has come to questioning management lately was Perry Fewell, the defensive coordinator. Fewell said last week s effort against Miami was unacceptable. He showed his players 26 plays on film, and there was a mistake on every one.

"So I m not going to stand there and say, Well, that s OK, fellas, " Fewell said. "We re not going to put the same guys on the field and do the same thing again. Bull crap. We re going to get it right."

They weren t going to stand for it, no siree. Fewell took out middle linebacker Marcus Buggs, an undrafted free agent whose only previous NFL experience had been on special teams. He put in Ashlee Palmer, an undrafted rookie, and moved Kawika Mitchell to the middle.

Fewell gave his front four a pass, saying they were "decent" in Miami. They give up 472 yards rushing over two games, and they re not really the problem.

Mitchell said it wasn t as if they were getting run over. Really?How many times do we have to hear that Jauron s brilliant schemes have been compromised by someone not "filling his gap?" Somebody make a tackle once in awhile. How about Aaron Maybin, the first-round pick, making a contribution?

Mitchell said, "A lot of people just have to take ownership." Funny he should use the term "ownership."

Chances are, the Bills will make it a happy occasion by beating Cleveland, giving Jauron another notch on his belt against bad teams. Beat the bad teams, lose to the good ones. That s continuity.

Fire Jauron? It seems to me that things are going according to plan.