Bills notebook
Bills' Edwards, WRs work OT after OTA
Quarterback Trent Edwards spent more than 20 minutes throwing passes to wide receivers Terrell Owens and Lee Evans after the Buffalo Bills completed a 90-minute session of organized team activities Wednesday.
The purpose of the extra work was to improve Edwards’ timing with his top wideouts. It was especially beneficial for Edwards and Owens to get a better feel for each other.
“Well, I think it’s very, very important, especially for me being new to the system,” Owens said. “Obviously, I have to get used to the way he throws the ball and he has to get used to my body language as far as when I’m going in and out of cuts. We’re just trying to get a sense of timing and some chemistry and just working through some routes we’re going to be running throughout the course of the year.”
Edwards initiated the post-practice session after a fairly ragged showing by the offense, which included several incomplete passes. He asked Owens and Evans to stick around a little longer so they could work on getting on the same page.
Edwards believes this offseason is going much better than last year because he has both of his starting receivers on the field at the same time. Evans sat out the OTAs last offseason due to shoulder surgery.
“I feel like we’re ahead of where we were last year because those guys are here, they’re working out and that’s nice for a quarterback, where I can see guys,” Edwards said. “It’s not when we show up in Rochester at the end of July, this isn’t the first time I’ve thrown to these guys, much like it kind of was last season.”
Owens admitted that he is still making some mistakes as he learns the offensive terminology and gets all the plays down. But he’s confident that he’ll get adjusted to the system in time.
“I’d rather make mistakes out here and I can learn from those mistakes,” he said. “And that’s sometimes how people get better, and that’s really how I tend to get better is if I make a mistake on something then I tend not to make it the second time around.”
Owens has never had a problem getting in sync with his previous quarterbacks, and predicts it won’t take long for the chemistry with Edwards to develop.
“He’s been throwing passes for awhile, I’ve been catching passes for awhile and what we did today is all about learning each other’s body language,” Owens said. “Especially for a quarterback, having someone new, getting adjusted to my speed, the way I run the routes and so on, that’s what OTAs are about. It’s mental preparation as well as physical preparation, but I think overall, we’re taking it day by day and just installing new plays day to day and trying to get better.”
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The Bills got a little scare Wednesday when cornerback Terrence McGee suffered some type of upper body injury while defending Owens on a pass play about 30 minutes into practice.
McGee had Owens well covered on a long pass down the sideline when they went up for the ball. Owens, who was behind McGee, got his hands on the ball but McGee reached up and ripped it out of Owens’ hands.
The two landed awkwardly on the turf, with part of Owens’ body falling on McGee. After lying on the ground for several minutes, McGee got up slowly and appeared to be favoring his right arm or shoulder. He was taken into the trainer’s room and didn’t return.
Bills head coach Dick Jauron did not have an update on McGee’s condition after practice.
“It was just a competitive play and he did what he was trying to do,” Owens said of incident. “He was trying to break it up and I was trying to make a play on it.”
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The Bills’ other starting cornerback, Leodis McKelvin, will likely sit out the rest of this week’s OTAs because of a hand injury. Last year’s first-round draft pick watched Wednesday’s practice on the sideline while wearing a sweat suit.
Also not practicing Wednesday were cornerback Ashton Youboty, linebacker John DiGiorgio, wide receiver James Hardy, cornerback Cary Harris and receivers C. J. Hawthorne and P. K. Sam.
Defensive end Aaron Schobel, rookie safety Jairus Byrd and first-year placekicker Dan Urrego were the only players not in attendance.
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One reason for the offense’s struggles Wednesday was the defense installed some of its blitz packages.
Edwards said the offense was not aware of the defensive practice plan, but he preferred it that way.
“That’s tough on an offense when you have a down-the-field pass called and you have to adjust to it,” he said. “I think that’s great. That’s something we’re going to face and I have to be able to adjust to it, much like the 10 other guys have to adjust to it. We need a good defense to go up against us every day, and that’s what we’re getting right now.”
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