Fresh off his offseason vacation Bills wideout Lee Evans made his way into town a week prior to the start of Buffalo's offseason conditioning program. On the heels of the team's acquisition of Terrell Owens, Evans wanted to see what the offensive staff might have in store for his side of the ball now that the dynamic veteran receiver has been added as a weapon.
"What I wanted to do was with the things we talked about before was to see if anything changed and if they were trying to do anything new," Evans told Buffalobills.com. "Certainly we'll have to account for all the talents that (Owens) has. I think moving forward for us offensively it'll give us a lot more versatility and I think that's the most exciting part about it."
Evans met with members of the offensive staff on Monday to see what tweaks might be in store for the offensive scheme now that Buffalo has two proven threats on the outside at receiver.
"I think it helps all the way around," said Evans of the Owens addition. "When you have threats on both sides of the field and guys who can work the middle like Josh and Roscoe… just talking about it and looking at it on paper it's very, very exciting. That's one of the things we're all looking forward to when offseason workouts start is how are we going to put it together and make it work?"
Bills quarterback Trent Edwards believes the strengths of Owens' game will be incorporated into the offense, but that it will not dramatically change the design of plays.
"Turk is probably not going to branch away from what he feels comfortable with," said Edwards. "There's going to be compromise and a middle ground where he can use both of their strengths to our advantage and that's going to come with practice and time in the film room and figuring out what they feel best about."
With Owens now on the roster Evans does believe the Bills attack will be able to more easily utilize all of the options that are available to them from a playmaking perspective.
"I think when you can distribute the ball evenly among everybody it really puts the defense at a disadvantage," said Evans. "That'll be the key to get everybody involved and keep everything moving so you can dictate things to a defense and you're not behind the eight ball all the time."
Dictating to opposing defenses proved difficult at times for the Bills in 2008, but with Owens now a part of the passing game, making more frequent use of Evans looks to be more realistic as well.
"Depending on what defenses want to do, we have an asset on both sides and in the running game as well, and with Josh in the middle and Roscoe," said Evans. "It's just going to be really exciting to see how it all pans out. Going into this offseason it really gives you a boost to see what could be if we make it work."
And making it work might be the most challenging aspect. The Bills offense has had high hopes before only to be disappointed when it came time to execute consistently on Sundays. That's why Evans knows as exciting as the possibilities might be, he and the rest of the offense have to turn those possibilities into reality.
"The potential is there," Evans said. "That's what is creating the excitement for everybody involved. It's going to come down to putting it together. Once we put it together, guys have the right mindset because everybody wants to win. With the addition of Terrell and some of the other things we've done it's really tangible, and (now) it's (about) putting it in motion."
