The announcement was somewhat anticipated after his performance through training camp and the preseason, but head coach Dick Jauron made it official as Paul Posluszny was named the starter at middle linebacker.
"The middle linebacker will be Paul," said Jauron. "He'll be our starter."
Posluszny took the news in stride.
"I knew it was between me and John and whoever the coaches felt was the best fit was going to play," said Posluszny. "I'm happy about the news and excited about the opportunity."
The rookie linebacker is well aware of the responsibilities that are on his plate for Sunday's opener as the defense's chief signal caller before the snap.
"It's definitely a challenge, but it's something that the middle linebacker has to do in our defense," said Posluszny. "So I have to be able to handle it or else they'll find someone else that will. So I have to make all the checks and calls and be comfortable doing it."
Posluszny finished with 19 tackles and a sack in the preseason, but still sees some improvements he'd like to make in his game.
"There are hits and misses," he said. "A lot of times I can see things clearly. But I still get confused sometimes with play action. Denver is a big boot team so that's something we'll have to work on so there's always room for improvement in that area."
And though Posluszny got a feel for NFL play in the preseason he knows regular season games will be a step up in intensity.
"I'm definitely excited for it," Posluszny said. "Today in practice you could tell there's a different feel. There's a different sense of urgency now that it's real. I'm sure I'll be a little nervous and excited that it's the real thing and it counts."
Defensive end help needed again
With Al Wallace going on injured reserve Saturday, the Bills are back in the same predicament they were when Ryan Denney went down with his broken foot. No one behind Aaron Schobel or Chris Kelsay on the roster has NFL game experience.
"We're looking at all the options and really got unlucky there," said Jauron. "Of course there's Anthony's (Hargrove) situation and Al Wallace is now on injured reserve."
Jauron said they will continue to be on the lookout for defensive end talent with experience, but with time short before the opener they'll explore other options like moving a defensive tackle out to the edge to help in the rotation.
"We'll be okay to play with the guys that we have and we'll experiment with some different looks because we have three (ends) now plus Ryan Neill," Jauron said. "One of our (defensive) tackles or more will have to work some out there to get ready to help us. So we'll look at that throughout the week and then as always we'll keep watching to see who is available out there."
Practice squad QB?
With just J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards as quarterbacks on the roster the Bills plan to add a quarterback to their practice squad as insurance. Jauron however, didn't rule out adding a third signal caller to the active roster.
"The odds are we will have a third quarterback on our practice squad," said Jauron. "We're not certain that third quarterback will be on our active roster. But we're pretty certain we'll have one around in one way or another. It really depends on who it is."
Buffalo currently has an open spot on their practice squad.
