Orchard Park, NY (WGR 550) -- When the Bills open the season in Foxboro, Aaron Schobel will have just turned 32. The defensive end only played five games and had one sack last season before being put on injured reserve with a foot injury. Schobel did not have to have surgery in February and is not holding back in mini camp. He said, "It feels good, once I loosen up it feels good."
Schobel has 68 career sacks in 117 NFL games, but he's always strived to be a complete DE. As far as coming back he said, "After you're injured, the year before my numbers weren't as good and I really don't care about numbers as long as I'm playing good, I can't worry about sacks. Obviously I like 'em, everybody likes them but as long as I'm beaten my guy and consistently doing it, as long as I know I'm playing well that's all I care about." He added, "I feel I've always done well against the run so, I just want to play like I've always played and if I can't do that, then I have to make other decisions, but I have all intentions that I can do that again."
Last season the defense had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback. That's why Aaron Maybin was taken in the first round of this year's draft. It seems like Schobel became more appreciated around town when folks realized how the defense player without him. Schobel took the easy way out as many athletes do and blamed the media for people's perception of his play, "I've always been appreciated inside the locker room, that's what I was always concerned about. Like I've always said, as long as the coaches know how I'm doin and the players and the guys upstairs, I was never worried about that. That was you all that didn't appreciate me, you as the media."
Schobel hasn't gotten his explosion back. He feels you can only accomplish that doing football stuff and he's confident it will come back as training camp goes on.
Nick Hennessey and C.J. Hawthorne are still nursing injuries and weren't there today. LeodisMcKelvin and Jonathan Scott were back to work while Maybin did not practice. Pat Thomas participated. Marshawn Lynch and Roscoe Parrish sat out.
It was all no huddle again today. Trent Edwards and Terrell Owens were off on one play and it almost resulted in a Terrence McGee interception. Edwards threw a fade to the corner of the end zone while Owens turned into the end zone. Seventh round pick Ellis Lankster out of West Virginia had another interception getting in front of Justin Jenkins and picking off Ryan Fitzpatrick's under thrown ball. Ko Simpson intercepted a poorly thrown Gibran Hamdan pass. The QB waited to long for the play to develop.
Free agent LB Ashlee Palmer got some first team reps. He immediately got over zealous tackling Owens after a short gain.
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