Bills Notebook: Four more timeouts wasted
It has been a recurring, and disturbing, trend for the Buffalo Bills. Almost every game, they have to waste a timeout.
It happened again Sunday as the Bills spent four timeouts (three on offense, one on special teams) they could have used at the end of the first and second halves.
"We certainly talk about conserving our timeouts," head coach Dick Jauron said after a 10-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. "But we also say if we have to use them we're going to use them. It's not a positive thing, obviously."
The first three burned timeouts occurred in the second quarter.
On a first-and-10 at their 46-yard line, the Bills let the clock go down too far and had to call time to avoid a delay of game penalty.
Late in the second quarter, the 49ers were lining up for a field goal attempt at the Bills' 32. But the Bills were late getting an 11th man (Terrence McGee) on the field.
The Bills burned their final timeout of the first half with nine seconds left when James Hardy lined up on the wrong side of the formation and quarterback Trent Edwards had to direct the rookie wide receiver.
In the fourth quarter, another timeout was lost when there appeared to be some indecision on the sideline whether to go for a first down on fourth-and-2 from the 49ers' 7 or kick a field goal.
"Just some of the calls kind of get mixed up every now and then," Edwards explained. "Sometimes last week the headset went out for us and burned a couple of timeouts then. It more so is just us getting a little bit more organized with getting the calls in sooner and then getting us in and out of the huddle a little bit sooner. It's a combination of a bunch of different things, but that's something we need to fix, too."
. . . The Bills' already staggering offense took another blow when Edwards left at halftime with a groin injury. It is unclear if he has a pulled or strained groin, but it was enough to keep him out for the second half.
Edwards said his groin started bothering him before the game and got worse the longer he played. His day ended when he scrambled to avoid pressure on the last play of the first half.
"I was trying to work through it after the first couple of series," Edwards said. "I got knocked down a couple of times and tried to get back up and work through it. It was just kind of aggravating it here and there a little bit more throughout the course of the game and at the end of the first half on that last kind of rollout was when it really put it over the top for me. I came back in here and was talking to our trainers and talking to our coaches and was telling them what I was going through. We made the call to just shut it down."
Edwards will be reevaluated today, but his availability for next Sunday's game against Miami in Toronto probably won't be known until later this week.
"It's just kind of nagging me right now and prohibiting me from doing a lot of things I need to do out there," he said. "It's unfortunate, it's frustrating and I need to get in the training room and get better."
. . . One week after a breakout performance, cornerback Leodis McKelvin saw the other side of life for a rookie.
McKelvin, who returned one of two interceptions for a touchdown at Kansas City, was beaten on a 12-yard touchdown by 49ers wide receiver Isaac Bruce. McKelvin also was charged with defensive holding and pass interference penalties on two third-down plays.
"The referee made the call," McKelvin said. "I was just being physical and just trying to do my job. You've got to live with it."
Bruce's touchdown was a case of the rookie getting schooled by a cagey 15-year veteran.
"I was overplaying him for the slant," McKelvin said. "All week long [the scout team] ran that same move on Terrence McGee during practice that they ran on me. I broke on it to the inside and [Bruce] made a move and went outside. Everybody's going to get something caught on them on one play or another. That's not going to stop my aggressiveness."
. . . Linebacker Jon Corto's mind was at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but a piece of his heart was in Syracuse, where his high school alma mater, Orchard Park, won its first state football championship.
"They are a great team and I'm happy for them," he said. "It's great for the school, the program and the town."
The only downside for Corto was the game was played on Sunday.
"I would have loved to see the game," he said. "But hopefully I'll get another opportunity somewhere down the road."
. . . While cornerback Nate Clements and linebacker Takeo Spikes made their return to Buffalo, two other 49ers could have been playing for the Bills this season.
Wide receiver Bryant Johnson and defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga drew interest from the Bills during free agency last spring. Johnson actually visited One Bills Drive and lingered on the free agent market before signing with the 49ers.
. . . The Bills sat four starters … strong safety Donte Whitner (shoulder), cornerback Jabari Greer (knee), tight end Robert Royal (hamstring) and defensive end Aaron Schobel (foot) … because of injuries. Also sidelined were defensive end Copeland Bryan (foot) and linebacker Teddy Lehman (hamstring). Offensive tackle Demetrius Bell was the only healthy scratch.
