The contractual impasse for rookie first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin reached its 19th day

but both sides remained in negotiations Wednesday. That created the hope that a deal could be

reached sometime this week.

Maybin is one of five first-round picks who remains unsigned. The others are overall picks

Nos.6, 8, 9 and 10. If Maybin can reach a deal this week he still could see action in the

last three preseason games.

Game sold out

Saturday's game against the Chicago Bears at Ralph Wilson Stadium is sold out, marking the

sixth straight year the Kids Day promotion has been a sellout. The game, which starts at 7

p.m., will be televised on Channel 7. The Bills will host Kids Day activities in the Parking

Lot C from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Those include an interactive games area, a Buffalo Zoo exhibit,

Jills cheerleaders, Billy Buffalo, face painters, clowns and ice cream. The first 6,000 kids

14-and-under to enter the game will receive a Trent Edwards growth chart.

Fisticuffs

A little scuffle added some intensity to what was a pad-popping practice Wednesday at St.

John Fisher College. It started when defensive end Chris Kelsay appeared to take exception to

guard Eric Wood's aggressive finishing of a running play. Running back Dominic Rhodes jumped

in and wrestled with Kelsay. Then defensive tackle John McCargo jumped in and traded a few

swings with Wood. It took about a minute to break it all up. No one was hurt.

Asked if he rubbed some people the wrong way on the field, Wood said, "Oh, possibly. I mean

..." Then he broke into a wide grin. "I've got to stay politically correct," Wood said. "We

were competing out there, and that stuff happens. It happens at every level. You go to a

pee-wee football team, a high school football team, NFL team, tempers are going to flare at

points."

"We've been out here practicing a couple days now and it finally flared," Rhodes said. "We

hadn't had a fight yet. It was about time. It's every training camp and maybe that's going to

start us into what we really want to be, and that's Super Bowl champs."

Asked what the fracas shows, coach Dick Jauron said: "I don't think it shows much of

anything, except the lack of discipline. So you know these guys are very competitive. They're

more competitive than most people, and sometimes it gets the better of them. But you know if

it happens on game day, it really costs them, and that's what we try to preach to them."

Meanwhile, the running game had some good plays in the two-hour workout. Marshawn Lynch

took the first snap of 11-on-11 drills and burst up a big hole through the middle. Later on,

Lynch had a good run around end for a TD of about 8 yards. Rhodes popped a run up the middle

for a red-zone TD. George Wilson had an interception of a deflected pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick

that went off the hands of Shawn Nelson.

Directions

From Buffalo take the Thruway to Exit 47. Take Route 490 East for 25 miles to Exit 25

(Fairport Road - 31F). Follow signs to fan parking and shuttle bus lots.

Schedule

The team works at 7 tonight. Tickets are sold out. Friday's practice is closed to the public,

as is customary the day before a game. The Bills are off Sunday. The final three camp sessions

are 10:45 a.m. Monday, 10:15 a.m. Tuesday and 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

TO Today

The Bills' wide receiver sat out with a sprained toe and was not watching practice.

Quote of the day

"It's good for team morale and we get closer that way. At least we know that we've got some

scrappers out there I guess."

— Dominic Rhodes on the fight during practice.