The Buffalo Bills arrived at their home away from home today in Toronto, had a light afternoon workout at Rogers Centre and showed an eagerness to play their game tomorrow night vs. the New York Jets.
The Bills are coming off an impressive home victory against the Miami Dolphins and are looking forward to their Thursday night matchup vs. AFC East division rival Jets. The team is joining the Canadian fans in their excitement for the game and it started at the top with Perry Fewell, Bills interim head coach.
"The guys in the locker room, their main focus is that this is a division game," said Fewell. "Yes, we won against Miami last Sunday and we're going in with a win, and that's always a good feeling. Now, we are going to play a division foe so there is a little bit of confidence for us, and I think our guys are ready to play."
Fewell said the team was excited about playing the Jets in Toronto and encouraged the fans to make a lot of noise.
"We could play in the parking lot," said Fewell. "We play the Jets, and when you play a division opponent you could play in the parking lot. We're going to slug it out with each other."
Bills players seem pumped up for the game as well. Wide receiver Terrell Owens was tweeting on the bus ride over the border and posted pictures on his twitter account saying, "Toronto, here we come!"
Owens is coming off his second straight solid performance in which he had two long bombs of 98 and 51 yards both for touchdowns.
"I'm hoping for a great game tomorrow," said Owens. "Hopefully I brought some excitement here. I'm looking forward to this game and bringing American football here tomorrow. I'm hoping we can get a lot of Toronto fans to root for the Bills tomorrow."
The Bills game against the Jets will be played on the NFL Network and is the only game on television Thursday night which makes the players desire to perform well in the national spotlight even greater.
"Thursday night football is relatively new," said Fewell. "It's exciting because it's on NFL Network and you are the pro team everyone is focusing on. I know on Thursday nights when I get home, I watch a football game. It's a chance for your peers to see you. I think it's good for us."
Toronto is a big part of the Bills regionalization plans and they have seen it help market their team when they began holding their training camp in Rochester, NY ten years ago. Now, the Bills Toronto Series Game is in year two of a five year plan and tomorrow's game marks only the second NFL regular season game ever in Canada and the sixth NFL regular season game outside the United States.
"I think it's exciting, said Fewell. "It's great for the organization. It's great for the fans of Toronto and great for the fans of Buffalo to get together in a place like this. It's a beautiful city and I just think it's good for the Buffalo Bills period."
It will be even better if the Bills can duplicate the great team effort they had last week and get a victory for their Canadian and U.S. faithful Thursday.
