“Little T” Returns to Practice

WR Terrell Owens returned to practice on Monday after sitting out of team drills for the past three weeks, thanks to a toe injury he suffered during the Bills’ first preseason game.

His timing couldn’t have been much better, as the Bills’ no-huddle offense has turned for the worst, leaving players, coaches, and fans listless for improvement.

Fresh off a 17-0 shutout at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bills are desperately searching for an offensive sparkplug that can give their plays some new life. The Bills’ starters failed to cross the 50 yard line against the Steelers, and have scored a total of three points in 15 series during the preseason.

The Bills brought T.O. in during the offseason to take some pressure off star receiver Lee Evans. So far, the Bills are very much in a wait-and-see mode.

The Bills close out their preseason schedule when they host the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.

Monday, August 31, 2009 at 10:46 pm by bryan

Bills Offense Sputters Against Steelers

The Bills new no-huddle offense has created more questions than answers two weeks before the regular season opener.

The Bills offense racked up only 50 total yards in the first half en route to a 17-0 shellacking by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night. Startng QB Trent Edwards was more or less miserable, only completing six of his 13 attempts for 31 yards, including a pick-6 that James Farrior returned 22 yards.

With star offseason acquisition WR Terrell Owens still sidelined by a bad toe he injured three weeks ago in the Bills’ Hall of Fame game, Edwards and the rest of the offensive starters could not find a rhythm all night, never threatening to score against the defending Super Bowl champions as they failed to move across the 50-yard line all night.

In the four preseason games they’ve played so far, Buffalo’s starters have racked up a miserable total of 303 yards, 15 first downs, a field goal and five turnovers.

“We’ve got a lot of issues that we’ve got to solve,” coach Dick Jauron said. “We’ve got to solve them very quickly.”

Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 11:41 pm by bryan

Bills sign Maybin

The Buffalo Bills have finally agree to a contract with first round draft pick Aaron Maybin, ending the defensive end’s holdout.

Maybin said that he was ecstatic and overjoyed at finally being able to sign a contract and push on with his NFL career.

Because Maybin has already missed so much of training camp, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to compete for a starting spot at the beginning of the season.

Nonetheless, Maybe was still happy just to know he had officially signed a contract that will pay him a handsome, guaranteed $15 million over five years.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 7:33 pm by steve

Owens Out Against Steelers

In the continued rehabilitation of his injured toe, Terrell Owens will not play this weekend against Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the Bills’ fourth preseason game. This will be Owens’ third preseason game that he’s missed since suffering the injury in the Bills’ first preseason game, the Hall of Fame contest against the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 9.

Owens took part in personal drills today for 10 minutes, marking his first appearance on the practice field since Aug. 17. Coach Dick Jauron mentioned that T.O. claimed he felt the best today that he’s felt since suffering the injury.

Owens went through a regimen of running and stepping drills, showing no signs of the injury and an ability to push off both feet. He also demonstrated the ability to stand and watch the rest of practice, something that he hadn’t displayed earlier in the preseason.

The Bills got some less-than-ideal news Tuesday, as RB Fred Jackson re-aggravated a previous left thumb injury. With starting RB Marshawn Lynch set to be suspended for the first three games of the season, Jackson was previously slated to be the Bills’ opening day starter.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 9:27 pm by bryan

Bills offense tamed by Packers

A week after looking borderline-unstoppable, the Bills new no-huddle offense couldn’t get out of its own way.

Buffalo committed turnovers on three of its first four possessions, looking sluggish and ineffective in a 31-21 preseason loss to the host Green Bay Packers.

Quarterback Trent Edwards was 7 of 11 for just 45 yards and an interception, making a Packers defense that was one of the worst in the league look like world-beaters. The offense was without Terrel Owens again, who missed the game to nurse a sore toe, but that can’t be an excuse after shredding a seemingly better Chicago Bears defense a week ago. Buffalo didn’t get on the scoreboard until the third quarter.

The Bills still have a few weeks to work out the kinks of its new offense, but if they don’t soon, the season-opening Monday night game in Foxboro against the New England Patriots could be an embarrassment for the entire nation to witness.

Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 2:07 pm by reggy10

Bills Sign First Round Pick Maybin

No. 11 overall pick Aaron Maybin has finally agreed to a five-year deal that could be worth upwards of $25 million, according to ESPN’s John Clayton, ending a four week holdout.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter first broke the news about Maybin’s signing Friday morning, however; the news first broke Thursday night… on Terrell Owens’ Twitter account (between T.O. and Kevin Love, sportswriters are turning into the middleman that’s been getting cut out!).

T.O. first tweeted, “Congrats 2 our #1 draft pick Aaron Maybin!! He will b officially joining the Buffalo Bills 2morr!!”, then followed up an hour later with a second tweet: “Yayyyyyy! Aaron Maybin signed!!! I think! (Puzzled look on my face & scratching my head!).”

The Bills scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon to announced Maybin’s signing. He reported to the team’s headquarters on Friday to sign the contract.

Maybin, a defensive end out of Penn State, led the Big Ten with 12 sacks last year and was voted an All-American, despite never starting a full season with the Nittany Lions.

Maybin’s signing now leaves only two first round draft picks unsigned – No. 6 overall, OT Andre Smith of the Cincinnati Bengals, and No. 10 overall, WR Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers.

Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:26 pm by bryan

T.O. Will Sit on Saturday

Terrell Owens missed his second straight practice on Wednesday due to his sprained toe, leaving head coach Dick Jauron to rule T.O. out of the Bills’ preseason game against the Packers on Saturday.

ESPN quoted Jauron as saying Owens will not return to practice until “next week some time.”

T.O. originally injured his toe in the Bills’ first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans, a 21-18 loss that happened nearly two weeks ago. Owens returned to practice Monday (see: two entries ago), but besides that quick 20-minute workout, he hasn’t been active in practice since the injury occured.

After Saturday, the Bills have two more preseason games: at Pittsburgh on Aug. 29 and home against Detroit on Sept. 3.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 8:34 pm by bryan

Contract Negotiations Stall With Maybin

The Bills’ talks with their first draft pick, No. 11 overall Aaron Maybin from Penn State have stalled with no resolution in the near future; in fact, the Bills have become worried that Maybin may not report to camp soon enough to be ready for the regular season.

As of tonight, Maybin has already missed 21 practices, 15 walkthroughs, a number of film study sessions and two preseason games.

“If the guy’s not on the roster, you don’t have plans for him,” Jauron said. “We’d love to get him in as soon as we can. I know they’re working at it, and I know our people are certainly working at it. I hope it happens fast.”

Former NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington, who happens to be Maybin’s publicist, originally partially blamed Michael Crabtree’s deliberations for holding up Maybin’s, as the NFL rookie contract system is based on slotting in descending order of where the player was drafted.

However, with the Green Bay Packers having signed the No. 9 pick, defensive tackle B.J. Raji to a five-year, $28.5 million contract, and the Washington Redskins having signed defensive end Brian Orakpo for a five-year, $20 million deal, Maybin’s value should fall between then.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 11:12 pm by bryan

T.O. Back At Practice

Wide receiver Terrell Owens returned to Bills practice Monday in a very limited fashion, testing his sprained toe which continues to improve but is not fully healed.

ESPN reported that Owens ran routes and caught passes for 15 minutes in individual drills. He then took off his jersey and helmet, watching part of the practice session before going in for treatment.

Owens did not speak to reporters Monday night. He jammed his foot during the first series of the Bills’ 21-18 loss to Tennessee in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 9.

Bills coach Dick Jauron credited T.O. for feeling okay after practice, however, he did not downplay the injury, noting that T.O. was still sore. He did not mention when T.O. could be cleared for a full practice and whether he would play in this weekend’s preseason game against Green Bay.

“We’ll have to see how he tolerated this evening,” Jauron said. “We’ll talk to him [Tuesday] and see where it goes and keep taking the next step.”

Monday, August 17, 2009 at 11:08 pm by bryan

Lynch still working hard

Despite his three-game suspension, Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch is still working hard to stay in shape.
 
The team gave Lynch plenty of work in the team’s first preseason game, giving him eight carries on the first 11 offensive plays.
 
It is expected that the team will give him more preseason work than normal because of his pending suspension.
 
Lynch will be able to play the rest of the preseason but will have to be away from the team for three weeks, beginning with Week 1.

at 6:53 pm by steve