Losman grabs handle of new offense
Backup QB earns coaches’ confidence
It appears there will be no confidence crisis for the Buffalo Bills if Trent Edwards gets knocked out of action this season.
J. P. Losman again demonstrated a firm grasp of coordinator Turk Schonert’s offense in helping the Bills to a 20-7 preseason victory against Indianapolis on Sunday night.
“J. P. did well, and that’s what we expect from J. P.,” said receiver Justin Jenkins. “He had the attention in the huddle. You could see the confidence out there.”
“It’s good we’ve got two quarterbacks who can go out there and get the job done,” said receiver Josh Reed. “It seems like the offense picked up where it left off the last game.”
Losman led two scoring drives — a touchdown and a field goal — in three possessions against the Colts. Combined with Edwards’ play in the first two games, the Bills’ first-team offense has five scores in seven possessions during the exhibition season.
Losman’s 13-of-19 passing performance brought his preseason numbers to 24 completions in 33 attempts for 200 yards. That’s a 73 percent completion percentage.
“I thought he did a terrific job,” coach Dick Jauron said. “He handled the information. We got in and out [of the huddle]. It was a loud game. . . . The first series he did a nice job moving us for a couple first downs and changing field position.”
Losman was encouraged the offense was able to overcome some of its mistakes.
“It wasn’t like we were hitting and hitting,” he said. “We got a penalty here, an incompletion there, a stuffed run here. And we were still able to come back from those type of things. That was the most impressive thing, I think. I was just taking what they could give me. I wasn’t looking for one guy in particular. If things are even, we’re going to go to Lee [Evans]. He’s going to be our guy. But when they don’t give it to us, other guys have got to come through.”
Sixty-four different players started at quarterback in the NFL last season. Losman said he is trying hard to be prepared.
“The role is not easy,” Losman said. “I’m always going to be wanting to get in there. I’m not used to this role, I don’t want to get used to this role. So the toughest part and the challenge, like we’ve talked about before, is preparing myself so that if something does happen I can come on the field and perform like I did [Sunday night]. That’s going to be my biggest challenge. I just have to be ready week in and week out.”
Like the rest of the Bills’ offensive players, Losman is encouraged by what he’s seen of the scheme this summer.
“It seems that Turk has that confidence in his players to call those plays,” Losman said. “We had three passes in a row. It’s not just going to be run, run, pass. We’re going to have opportunities. An incomplete pass? So what; we’re coming right back at you. That type of mentality definitely helps quarterbacks, in particular, get into a rhythm. It’s nice to see. It’s going to be fun for everybody.”
Losman aggravated a sore thumb that has bothered him a bit in training camp but said after the game the injury is not a problem.
