The most anticipated depth chart at Bills training camp was plain for everyone to see on the practice field Thursday afternoon as Trent Edwards took snaps with the starting offense on day one. Behind him however, there will be some fluidity as Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm will be rotating back and forth between the second and third offensive units in the early going.
"After evaluating all of the OTA and minicamp things we felt like Trent deserved to start the training camp with the first group and we'll have the other two guys, (Ryan) Fitz(patrick) and Brian (Brohm) alternating with the twos during the course of the first few weeks here," said head coach Chan Gailey. "And then we'll get Levi (Brown) as many reps as we can get him."
In the first practice Thursday Fitzpatrick was the second quarterback through in the rotation behind Edwards with Brohm third and the rookie Brown fourth.
Trent Edwards was expectedly pleased to be awarded the top spot on the depth chart, but is focused on building on his play from the spring practices moving forward.
"It just means I'm working with the ones right now," said Edwards. "I feel like I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but I must have done something right in the OTAs and minicamps. So it's nice that you're appreciated for what you've done in the past, but that's in the past now and we need to grow off that and get ready for the Dolphins in Week One."
Gailey felt Edwards' play through the spring workouts was more effective in moving the offense down the field.
"He just made a lot more plays that we thought were positive plays during the course of minicamps and OTAs," said Gailey. "He did a good job of handling the team. He did a good job when he had the three as well as when he had the ones. That was impressive to me, to be able to work with whoever he was throwing with."
Naturally Brohm and Fitzpatrick would have preferred to see a depth chart in their favor with their names at the top, but they would not say they were disappointed or discouraged.
"You can't be," said Fitzpatrick. "I've just got to continue to get better. Get better as a player myself and become a better quarterback and that's the way I approach it and do whatever it takes whether it's me in there or not to help the team win."
"It wasn't a disappointment," said Brohm. "We still have a long way to go and I'm still trying to get better. It wasn't a disappointment for me. I'm still upbeat and still positive and coming out here with the attitude that I'm going to get better every day."
Gailey maintained that the depth chart at quarterback is subject to change and not set in stone.
"No, the competition is not over," said Gailey. "Competition is always open, so we'll continue to evaluate. We'll continue to work. We'll continue to see if somebody does great or somebody does poorly. It's up to them."
And Edwards with two other chief competitors on his heels he's committed to holding onto the top spot at the team's quarterback position.
"I know it's a competitive situation and I need to use that to my benefit," Edwards said. "I feel like I feed off of that. There are guys right behind me that want to be in the position that I'm in, so I need to make sure that I'm out here working every day and out here improving and that's the approach I'm taking right now."
