Jim Kelly, like most Buffalo Bills fans, hopes coach Chan Gailey selects a starting

quarterback capable of leading the team to more victories. And by the sound of it, the Hall of

Famer figures that player is Trent Edwards.

"I hope it's Trent," Kelly said on Friday at Coca-Cola Field for Hunter's Hope Night for

the Buffalo Bisons game that was called due to poor field conditions. "I know Trent, I've

known him for a couple of years and I think everyone hopes that one guy will step up."

Kelly, 50, has apparently changed his tune from last November when he told USA Today that

while he admires Edwards, he believed it was time for the team to move on.

"I like Trent personally," Kelly told USA Today. "He works hard. But he's had three years.

It's time to find somebody who is the future of the Buffalo Bills. If I'm the owner, that's

what I'm thinking."

Now, Kelly said there are legitimate reasons for Edwards to play, like an offensive line

that couldn't remain healthy and an offensive system under former coach Dick Jauron that,

Kelly said, "stunk."

"Everyone talked about the thing between me and Trent and the bottom line is he didn't have

an offensive line last year with all the injuries, and he had a system that I totally thought

stunk," Kelly said. "It's a new start, not many people get a third opportunity to show what

they can or cannot do."

Gailey said after the team's minicamp last month that there would be a "pecking order" for

the start of camp, and didn't reveal at the close of the camp where the team's three

quarterbacks — Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Brian Brohm — stand. Kelly said

Edwards has the potential to emerge as the starter.

"He's a good kid and he works hard," Kelly continued. "He's got the ability but I hope he

gets in a system and has some healthy guys in front of him. It's unfair to judge someone to

totally over the season when a guy has an offensive scheme that I was mind-boggled that they

stayed with."

. . .

Friday's game with Scranton-Wilkes Barre will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 1 at Coca-Cola Field.

. . .

The Bisons announced that New York Mets' left-hander Oliver Perez has joined the team on a

major-league rehabilitation assignment. Perez is scheduled to start for the Bisons on Sunday

in Rochester against the rival Red Wings.

The Mets placed Perez on the disabled list on June 5 with patella tendinitis in his right

knee. He's made two rehab starts with Single-A St. Lucie of the Florida State League and was

1-1 with a 4.63 ERA. He struck out seven in each start.

Prior to the injury, Perez was 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA in 11 games and seven starts with the

Mets, and pitched in two games for the Bisons during the 2009 season.