OT Ed Wang had surgery on his hand, and is out indefinitely. The rookie struggled early in training camp handling edge rushers."Any guy that misses time as a rookie...The only guys that can kind of weather that storm is a vet, a guy that's been around five or six years and has got his position firmly entrenched. It's hard," said coach Chan Gailey.
--And the winner is ... Trent Edwards.
It was no surprise that Edwards was named the No. 1 quarterback to open training camp, and he himself figured he was going to get the nod.
"I was pretty confident that I would be the guy and I'm hoping to be the guy at the end of this camp," said the fourth-year veteran who has underwhelmed Bills fans for most of that time. "Honestly it just means I'm working with the ones right now. I still have a lot to learn, a long way to go, but I must be doing something right in the OTAs and mini-camps. It's nice that you're appreciated for what you've done, but that's in the past now."
New coach Chan Gailey used the OTAs as a measuring stick to determine who would be the top guy on the depth chart.
"After evaluating all the OTA and mini-camp things, we just felt that Trent deserved to start training camp with the first group," Gailey said. "He made a lot more plays that we thought were positive plays during the course of the OTAs and mini-camps. 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 that he was able to do that with whoever he was throwing with."
--Like most coaches, Chan Gailey has a disdain for pre-snap penalties, and he let that be known to his team.
"Don't accept it," Gailey said when asked his reaction to those penalties. "We work on it every day. We talk about it every day. I make it a point every day. I don't have any magic wand, I don't have any pixie dust. We're going to work on it every day. We make it a point of emphasis. Guys generally will respond to things you make a point of emphasis of."
Always talkative safety George Wilson is fine with wearing pads in practice.
"We're definitely going to get a lot of work in pads because coach Gailey is trying to change the culture around here, change the mindset and attitudes and the way we prepare for games. He's trying to set the tone from day one. I think the guys in the locker room kind of expect to be in pads just about every day we come out here. It's a different change-up from what we've had but hey, the past 10-12 years for this organization haven't been working so hey, let's give this a try."
--The Bills waived second-year LB Nic Harris and signed LB Donovan Woods. What's interesting about Woods, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers in 2008, is that he began his career as a quarterback at Oklahoma State and set a school record for touchdown passes by a freshman with 13 in 2005. Midway through his sophomore year he was switched to safety, where he finished his career. He was then moved to linebacker by the Steelers and now he will try to play that role in Buffalo's 3-4 defense.
--Gailey has made the offensive linemen wear knee braces in practice, and there's no getting out of it.
"I've done it for many, many years," Gailey said. "I've seen too many times where that saved an injury on the practice field. It's just made all the difference in the world. It's hugely important."
Gailey said the linemen complained a bit, but not much.
"They don't like it, but they're smart enough to understand why. And with all the injuries we've had around here, they weren't quite as reluctant."
(AP) -Quarterback Trent Edwards has a renewed perspective on what it takes to be an NFL starter after being given the opportunity to reclaim his job with the Buffalo Bills.
For Edwards, it's one thing to open training camp as the leading candidate, as he did on Thursday. It's another to keep it after he was benched midway through last year.
"I've grown from that. I'm a year older. I'm a year stronger. I'm hopefully a year better," he said. "And I'm going to use that to my advantage, just like I'm using this competition out here to my advantage."
Edwards has the inside track for the job, as coach Chan Gailey delivered on his promise to establish a pecking order after providing his three quarterbacks equal time during the team's offseason minicamps.
Edwards enjoyed the majority of practice time throughout the two-plus hour session, and primarily worked with the first-string offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who finished last season as the starter, worked with the second-stringers, followed by third-stringer Brian Brohm.
Gailey said Edwards deserved the opportunity to lead the pack based on how he saw the quarterback perform in practice through spring.
"He just made a lot more plays that we thought were positive," said Gailey, who provided all three quarterbacks a clean slate since taking over as coach in January. "He did a good job of handling the team."
Gailey said Fitzpatrick and Brohm will split time working with the second-stringers over the next few weeks. And he stressed that the competition is far from over, noting he'll continue gauging the players' performance through the preseason.
Aware that the job is not his yet, Edwards isn't taking anything for granted.
"I must have been doing something right in minicamps, so it's nice that you're appreciated for what you've done in the past," Edwards said. "But that's in the past now. We need to grow off that and get ready for the Dolphins Week 1."
Edwards was referring to the Bills regular-season opener against Miami on Sept. 12.
At the very least, opening training camp as the starter marked a first step for Edwards in what's already been an up-and-down tenure in Buffalo.
Selected in the third-round of the 2007 draft out of Stanford, Edwards supplanted J.P. Losman as the starter during his rookie season. The following season, Edwards helped the Bills get off to a 5-1 start, before he and the offense struggled in contributing to the team losing eight of its final 10 games.
Last season was all too forgettable with Edwards taking the brunt of the blame for running a popgun offense that had numerous problems beyond his control. Coordinator Turk Schonert was fired two weeks before the start of the season, followed by the Bills releasing starting left tackle Langston Walker.
Edwards then lost his job in early November after Dick Jauron was fired and replaced by interim coach Perry Fewell.
Looking back, Edwards acknowledged he didn't handle the adversity very well.
"I think I probably got overwhelmed or stressed over too many little things, and paying too much attention to too many things I shouldn't have been paying attention to," he said. "I feel like that was almost good for me."
Edwards was already considered the front-runner for the job as he entered this year with the most statistical categories, including career starts (30), pass attempts (826), yards (5,498) and touchdowns (24) during his three NFL seasons. Fitzpatrick, entering his sixth season, was next with 23 starts, 4,104 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Fitzpatrick accepted Gailey's decision, but added that he intends to continue competing for the job.
"You can't be disappointed," Fitzpatrick said. "I just have to continue to get better and that's the only way I can approach it, and do whatever it takes - whether it's me in there or not - to help the team win."
Brohm is regarded as a raw talent. Selected by Green Bay in the second round of the 2008 draft out of Louisville, Brohm eventually landed in Buffalo last November when the team signed him off the Packers practice squad.
He struggled in his first career start last season, going 17 of 29 for 146 yards and two interceptions in Buffalo's 31-3 loss at Atlanta in December.