Buffalo Bills quarterback Brian Brohm says his first two years in the NFL have taught him

the value of confidence.

"That was one of the things that hurt me my first preseason, when I lost a little bit of

confidence and didn't play the way I should have played," Brohm said of his 2008 season in

Green Bay. "There's no doubt about it that I played well below where I should have been

playing. Just stay confident, stay the course, believe in your abilities and work hard every

day."

Brohm got a confidence boost two weeks ago when the NFL Draft came and went and the Bills

did not pick a quarterback in the early rounds. That development meant that Brohm would get a

true shot to win the Bills' starting QB job, in a three-way competition with Trent Edwards and

Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Brohm got the first crack at the position Friday as he joined 49 of the other Bills' young

players in their first three-day minicamp of the spring. Players with two years' experience or

less were invited to join the rookies. The only other quarterback on the field was Levi Brown,

whom the Bills selected in the seventh round out of Troy State.

Brohm admitted he was parked in front of the television set, looking to see if the Bills

would pick a high-profile contender at QB.

"I'm not gonna lie, I did watch the draft," Brohm said. "I've watched it for probably the

last five years, so it's nothing new for me to watch it. I'm a huge football fan. And I had a

personal interest in what was going to happen. So I definitely watched it."

His reaction?

"I think it just shows that they had confidence in the three guys that were already here,"

Brohm said. "I think we all have talent, we all have ability and it's definitely going to be a

fun competition."

Brohm has made just one NFL start, compared with 30 for Edwards and 23 for Fitzpatrick. But

coach Chan Gailey reiterated Friday that the competition will remain wide open heading to

training camp in late July.

"There's not a first or a third right now," Gailey said of the QB depth chart. "That's the

situation. We're going to go to camp with it being an open deal. If you say that, then it's

gotta be. You can't just say it and then get to camp and you already got your mind made up or

you stack it up a different way. To me anybody has a chance to win the job right now. That's

really the way it is. It's not just lip service."

Brohm was the highest drafted of the Bills' three veteran QBs, taken in the second round

(56th overall) in 2008. The Packers have an established starter in Aaron Rodgers. Brohm was

beaten out for the No. 2 job in Green Bay last season by seventh-round pick Matt Flynn. The

Bills signed Brohm off Green Bay's practice squad on Nov. 19.

Brohm started the second-last game of last season, at Atlanta. It was a 31-3 loss, but

given the low expectations entering the game, he didn't look overwhelmed by the situation.

In college at Louisville, Brohm went 24-9 as a starter. He completed 65.8 percent of his

passes and set a Big East Conference record with 18 300-yard passing games. He was most

valuable player of the Orange Bowl as a junior. His best strengths coming out of college were

considered to be his accuracy, his ability to see open windows to put the ball in the

secondary, poise in the pocket and the ability to get the ball out of his hands. The downside

was his lack of exceptional arm strength and the fact he needed three surgeries in college.

Brohm, 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, had gained 10 pounds since last year through strength

training.

"This is the best I've felt since I've been in the NFL," he said. "I've had many different

experiences since I've been here. I feel very good about where I'm at."

He's glad to get to work with the rookies this weekend.

"We've been doing a lot of work in the classroom with coach Gailey and [quarterbacks] coach

[George] Cortez, so to finally get out here and see it all in action was a lot of fun," he

said. "It's an opportunity for me to get better, for me to get in here and get familiar with

the offense. I think the more reps you have the better you're going to play, the more

comfortable and confident you're going to play. So it's definitely good for me to be here."

The Bills have two practices today and one on Sunday. They are closed to the public.