Edwards gets the #1 seed for the Bills QB race
Paul Hamilton Reporting
Pittsford, NY (WGR 550) -- Trent Edwards took the snaps today as the number one QB. The team worked harder today IN PADS than any Dick Jauron coached team has in three combined training camp practices. Ryan Fitzpatrick the number two behind Edwards. Brian Brohm says they will alternate and tomorrow he'll be the number two.
Gailey went through what he was thinking, "After evaluating all the OTA and minicamp things, we just felt like Trent deserved to start the training camp with the first group. We'll have the other guys, Fitz and Brian alternating with the twos during the course of the first few weeks here. And then we'll get Levi as many reps as we can get him. But that was how we evaluated it coming out of the OTAs. He just made a lot more plays that we thought were positive plays during the course of the minicamps and OTAs. He did a good job of handling the team. He did a good job when he had the threes, as well as when he had the ones. And that was impressive to me, to be able to go out there and work with whoever he was throwing with."
Now Edwards is number one, but Gailey said he has not won the job, "No, competition is not over. Anywhere. Competition is always open. 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."
Edwards is not getting too giddy over being number one in camp, "Honestly, it just means I'm working with the ones right now. I feel like I still have a lot to learn, a long way to go, but I must [have been] doing something right in the OTAs and mini-camps, so it's nice that you're appreciated for what you've done in the past. But that's in the past now, we need to grow off that and get ready for the Dolphins week one."
Even though Edwards lost his job to Fitzpatrick last year he was still confident even in May, "That was just my outlook, I was pretty confident that I would be the guy and I'm hoping to be the guy at the end of this camp. But I think if you asked that
question to Ryan or Brian or Levi, they'd say the same thing, that they want to be out there with the ones. I know it's a competitive situation, I'm going to take that as a competitive situation, and I need to use that to my benefit. I feel like I feed off of that, that there's guys right behind you that want to be in the position you're in, so I need to make sure I'm out here working every day, out here improving, so that's the situation that I'm in right now."
Brian Brohm thought he had a real good spring, but he said he wasn't disappointed when he got the word today, "It wasn't a disappointment, we still have a long way to go and still trying to get better so I'm still upbeat, still positive and going to come out here with the attitude that I'm going to get better every day."
Chris Kelsay left practice with a shoulder injury and could miss a little time. Gailey said, "He banged up his shoulder a little bit and it looks like he'll be out a little while. I don't know how long."
Demetrius Bell was in full pads and took part in individual drills, but no team stuff. Chan Gailey said, "He's not quite ready. We're being cautionary with him, we're going to ease him back in. He didn't have the advantage that Eric Wood had of taking the last couple OTAs and minicamp practices. So we're trying to let him ease into it."
Watching today were Paul Posluszny and Keith Ellison who's still hurt from OTA's.
Head Coach CHAN GAILEY
On his impressions of the first practice:
I told the players, I thought we were a little sluggish out there. It was the first day with pads on, first practice, they're trying to get back into it carrying pads and that's not an easy thing all the time. But I thought the mental retention that we had during the course of practice was very good. From what they did in OTAs and minicamp to today, they retained a great deal, which
will pay dividends down the line.
On the quarterback pecking order:
After evaluating all the OTA and minicamp things, we just felt like Trent [Edwards] deserved to start the training camp with the first group. We'll have the other guys, Fitz [Ryan Fitzpatrick] and Brian [Brohm] alternating with the twos during the course of the first few weeks here. And then we'll get Levi [Brown] as many reps as we can get him. But that was how we evaluated it coming out of the OTAs.
On if the QB competition is over now:
No, competition is not over. Anywhere. Competition is always open. 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.
On what jumped out to him about QB Trent Edwards that separated him from the other two:
Well he just made a lot more plays that we thought were positive plays during the course of the minicamps and OTAs. He did a good job of handling the team. He did a good job when he had the threes, as well as when he had the ones. And that
was impressive to me, to be able to go out there and work with whoever he was throwing with.
On Edwards' mindset after last season:
I wasn't privy to all that, so it's hard for me to evaluate. I just evaluate it on what was here and what they did and I try not to let anything in the past play into any kind of thought process that we might have.
On practicing in pads on the first day of practice:
We're in training camp, aren't we? Training camp is a time to go to work. We only have a certain number of opportunities to get out here and get better and be a physical football team so we take advantage of every opportunity that we have.
On how he thinks training camps have changed over the years:
Oh gosh, we used to go two-a-days all the time when I first got in this league. And now, we don't go two two-a-days in a row. So, we try to be smart with our players. But, on the flipside of that, our players work harder and are in better shape when they show up than they ever have been before as well. So you don't have to play them into shape, they're in pretty good shape when they get here. So you're just trying to get as many reps in as you can without beating them down in order to be able to get the job done and prepare for the first game.
On the status of T Demetrius Bell:
He's not quite ready. We're being cautionary with him, we're going to ease him back in. He didn't have the advantage that Eric Wood had of taking the last couple OTAs and minicamp practices. So we're trying to let him ease into it.
On WR James Hardy:
I thought at the start of OTAs that he was just average. That's exactly what I thought. But as we went further and further and further down the line, he continued to improve. He got a better idea of what's going on and he's right in the thick of things. There's a bunch of them and that's a good thing probably. We have a bunch of guys- it looks like Lee [Evans] is the only one that's proven- and everybody else has got to prove themselves and we'll see who rises to the top.
On if WR Steve Johnson is at the top of the pecking order for the No. 2 receiver spot:
Today, he is. He earned it in OTAs and minicamp. We did that with most every position, whatever somebody earned in OTAs and minicamp. If you don't do it that way, then you're saying OTAs and minicamp weren't worth anything. So, we tried
to make sure we used that as our evaluation process as we go into training camp.
On if anything has jumped up as a potential issue that he has to deal with:
Not yet. I'm sure there will be. But not yet, no.
On how far RG Eric Wood has had to come since his injury:
He's had to come a long way. I think that tells you a lot about Eric Wood's makeup. He would've been out earlier if he could've. He's proven to be a fast healer, which some are and some aren't. He's able to push through the tough times, which a lot of guys are not able to do that. He's made an amazing recovery and we're the benefactors of that. Not only him, but we are as a football team.
On the status of LB Chris Kelsay:
He banged up his shoulder a little bit and it looks like he'll be out a little while. I don't know how long.
QUARTERBACK TRENT EDWARDS
On being number one in the pecking order of quarterbacks:
Honestly, it just means I'm working with the ones right now. I feel like I still have a lot to learn, a long way to go, but I must [have been] doing something right in the OTAs and mini-camps, so it's nice that you're appreciated for what
you've done in the past. But that's in the past now, we need to grow off that and get ready for the Dolphins [in] week one.
On whether he felt the quarterback job was his to take at OTAs and Training Camp:
That was just my outlook, I was pretty confident that I would be the guy and I'm hoping to be the guy at the end of this camp. But I think if you asked that question to Ryan or Brian or Levi, they'd say the same thing, that they want to be out there with the ones. I know it's a competitive situation, I'm going to take that as a competitive situation, and I need to use that to my benefit. I feel like I feed off of that, that there's guys right behind you that want to be in the position you're in, so I need to make sure I'm out here working every day, out here improving, so that's the situation that I'm in right now.
On this year's camp practice being different than last year:
It was just a little bit of a different style, a little different set-up. Some longer periods here and there, some shorter periods here and there. But for the most part, the one big thing was we haven't been in pads when Dick (Jauron) was here the past couple years, and now we're padded up, we're going full go, right away. That's kind of the mentality, that we're here hitting and banging heads right away, and that's kind of the attitude we're going to take.
On the experience of losing his starting job as quarterback last year:
The approach I'm really taking right now too is to just take it one step at a time, one day at a time, as clichéd as that sounds. I know you guys don't like hearing those, but that really is it. The only thing that right now is on my mind is we have a meeting at 7:30 tonight, and beyond that I really couldn't tell you what the schedule is. I know we're playing the Dolphins week one, we have a couple preseason games, one in Toronto. That's really what I've learned, there's highs and lows to every season, every day, and I can't get too high, can't get too low. But it's a matter of winning the small battles, one step at a time, one day at a time.
On what he learned from last year and how his attitude has changed:
I think I probably got overwhelmed or stressed over too many little things, too much attention to too many things I shouldn't be paying attention to. I feel like that was almost good for me now. I'm a year older, a year stronger, hopefully a year better, and I'm going to use that to my advantage, just like I'm using this competition out here to my advantage. I need to be able to not get too stressed out, not sweat the small stuff, and just take it one step at time.
On adjusting to the new offense and his outlook for the season:
It has to be good. I'm a glass half-full type of guy. You guys know every time I talk to you, I'm one of the more optimistic guys in this locker room. I always see the grass is green on the other side, and I'm that type of person. It's still hard though, you have to make sure that you're coming to work everyday, and it's difficult sometimes to go through the ups and downs, go through the bumps and bruises, and come back out and still remain confident.
BUFFALO BILLS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPT
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