Bruce Smith appearance
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 3:00 PM ET
BRUCE SMITH APPEARANCE: Already in town for Sunday's Wall of Fame festivities, Bills future Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith will be appearing at Tops Friendly Markets at 4777 Transit Road in Depew on Saturday between 11am and noon.
In addition to hosting the Bills all-time sack leader Tops is sponsoring the Bills Kickoff Kid contest. Eight winners have been chosen for each home game of the 2008 season to retrieve the tee after the Bills kickoff the football. Tops will also be announcing additional exciting game day promotions and events leading up to the Monday Night Football contest between the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.
Throwing money around
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 2:51 PM ET
THROWING MONEY AROUND: Just for fun I decided to look back at the big money the Raiders spent this past offseason. Everyone has made a big deal over the $140M in contracts that the Jets doled out for free agents (about $152M now with Favre). But the Raiders money dwarfs that.
Based on reported contracts at the time of the signings the Raiders handed out $224M in contracts and to just 5 players!!!!!!!!!
Those players were
Nnamdi Asomugha - Franchised at $9.765M
DeAngelo Hall - 7 yrs. $70M (after trade)
Tommy Kelly - 7 yrs. $50.5M
Javon Walker - 6 yrs. $55M
Gibril Wilson - 6 yrs. $39M
Add in top picks JaMarcus Russell ($68M) and Darren McFadden ($60M) from the past two years and you've got a grand total of $352M for 7 players!!!!!!!!!
Now those players likely won't see half of that money, but even adding up the guaranteed money for those players it totals $115.7M. Unbelievable!
Kiffin on Trent
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 2:32 PM ET
RAIDERS WOULD'VE DRAFTED TRENT: Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin made a very interesting comment about Trent Edwards when asked about the second-year QB. Kiffin had good knowledge on Edwards having been out west and coaching at USC and the Raiders when Edwards was in college and said if JaMarcus had not been taken 1st overall they would have had Edwards on their radar.
"We had him very high," said Kiffin of Edwards. "If the scenario would have happened where we would have not taken JaMarcus, we would have went with another position in the draft, then we were going to take (Edwards) with our second pick at the top of the second round. We had him very high. We had him in here for a private workout. He's a local kid and we were very high on him. I'm not surprised at all to see him having so much success."
As for how Edwards is playing now Kiffin remains impressed.
"He's playing great," said Kiffin. "He doesn't look so young. He's not making poor decisions that young guys make. Guys are making plays around him, and his completion percentage is unbelievable. That's very unusual for a young guy."
Lynch interview up
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 1:24 PM ET
LYNCH INTERVIEW UP: Marshawn's first interview since early this past spring is up in the multimedia section. You can only see video coverage of this interview here.
Marshawn speaks
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 12:27 PM ET
MARSHAWN SPEAKS: Bills RB Marshawn Lynch spoke for the first time since early in the offseason and addressed this week's game and a few other topics concerning the team. He chose not to address any of the off the field events from this past offseason. Here's the latest on it.
Injury update
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 12:25 PM ET
INJURY UPDATE: Derek Fine is out for Sunday's game against Oakland. The tight end is still week to week according to head coach Dick Jauron.
Terrence McGee and Roscoe Parrish have both been listed as probable and are expected to play Sunday. Both practiced Friday.
Bills D-Line coach questionable
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 12:22 PM ET
BILLS D-LINE COACH QUESTIONABLE: Bills defensive line coach Bill Kollar has been excused from practice the past two days due to personal reasons. Head coach Dick Jauron would naturally prefer to have his assistant on the sidelines Sunday, but his availability for the game is up in the air.
"We're really hoping so," said Jauron as to whether Kollar will be on the sidelines Sunday. "We're very much hoping so."
Handling the defensive line through the course of the practice week has been defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.
On game days Kollar handles the defensive line rotation. Fewell will handle those duties as well in the event that Kollar is not able to work the game.
Bills pretty healthy
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 11:05 AM ET
BILLS PRETTY HEALTHY: Everyone on Buffalo's roster is practicing today, which not a lot of NFL teams can say even this early in the season. The Bills certainly had more than their fair share of injuries last season, so the good health is probably well deserved in light of last year's circumstances.
McFadden still not 100 percent
September 19, 2008
Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 9:41 AM ET
MCFADDEN STILL NOT 100 PERCENT: Raiders rookie phenom Darren McFadden is still fighting through that turf toe injury suffered last week against the Chiefs. He practiced on just a limited basis Thursday after missing Wednesday's practice.
Seeing him slowed by a turf toe would likely please the Bills knowing how dangerous he can be when he gets to the outside. But Michael Bush is no slouch either. He's more than just a big back. He's got some wiggle and pass catching ability.
