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Trent Edwards is entering his fourth season in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and he is also in the last year of his rookie contract. To me, Edwards hasn’t done anything to prove that he is worthy of becoming Buffalo’s franchise quarterback. His whole career has been filled by inconsistent play and an inability to get it done. Last year, things were so bad that Bills fans started calling him “Captain Checkdown” for his reluctance to throw the ball downfield despite having Terrell Owens and Lee Evans as deep threats. In my opinion, Edwards is too concerned with making a perfect throw because, quite frankly, he has a history of making the wrong reads and throws, thus resulting in him being gun-shy. I do understand that quarterbacks can’t always make a perfect throw, but if you have two proven, veteran receivers you should at least throw the ball up and let your receivers make a play. Although Edwards does deserve a lot of the blame, I do think that his offensive line and the Bills front office should take some of it as well.
Just before last year’s NFL Draft, they traded away star left tackle to Jason Peters because he wanted to become one of the highest-paid players at his position. With a right-handed quarterback, the left tackle is one of the most important positions on a team because he is protecting the quarterback’s blind side. Due to Peters departure and multiple injuries to the offensive line, the Bills used upwards of twelve different players last season on the O-line. If Edwards wants to become the ‘man’ in Buffalo, he has to perform at the top of his game and show that he will not make the same mistakes he has made in the previous three seasons. Trent Edwards joined XX Sports Radio in San Diego to talk about how it was playing with Terrell Owens last season, Jim Kelly saying that the Bills need a new QB and that he shouldn’t be from California, and whether he was nervous that the Bills were going to draft a first round quarterback.
On the amount of offensive lineman they used last year:
“I think we went through at least a dozen, maybe a baker’s dozen. We had a lot of injuries, unfortunately. We had a lot of young guys get hurt early on. Our right tackle blew out his ACL against Tampa in Week Two. A couple of other guys went through there.”
How it was playing with Terrell Owens last season:
“It was good. Honestly, because he is a guy that is a hard worker, he is a talented football player who has been around the league. He knows what it takes to win. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel like we had the right pieces around us and lost some games that we shouldn’t have lost. At that point we were out of the playoffs and it is tough at that point. Your fans kind of get frustrated and you get frustrated as a player and it is tough working conditions after that.”
Whether he feels like the Bills have the right people in place for the upcoming season:
“I do. I mean optimism is at an all-time high right now because of our coaching situation. I think that as a player you have to believe in the coaches that you have coaching you and I am the type of player that is going to believe in the guys that are in front of me, believe in the guys that are coaching me and I do believe that we have the people in place now, yes.”
On Jim Kelly saying that the Bills need a new QB and that he shouldn’t be from California:
“It is definitely frustrating because I don’t know how much time Jim has spent in California. I love the state of California. Obviously, I am pretty biased towards where I grew up in, but it is a little bit naïve that he makes comments like that. It is frustrating because I feel like there are a ton of great quarterbacks out there that have played in the league for an extended amount of time. I mean we can go down the list right now. He unfortunately said some things that aren’t always the best things to say but I guess that is kind of the way that he is.”
On his relationship with Jim Kelly and whether they have talked or had any discussions:
“I haven’t. I haven’t unfortunately. (Host: Whether he has a relationship with Jim Kelly?) I did. I still do. I still do. I don’t think any less of him. If I was in Jim’s position, honestly if I was Jim, I would say draft Tim Tebow, draft Colt McCoy. That is what is going to make headlines… If that is what you believe in than go right ahead and say it. I definitely don’t worry.”
Whether he was nervous that the Bills were going to draft a first round quarterback:
“It doesn’t mean that they do not like you anymore. The same thing has happened with other situations. Brady Quinn got drafted a couple of years back and Derek Anderson had a Pro Bowl year… He went to the Pro Bowl and got paid. I mean he did pretty well that season. There is no reason why he can’t still play in the shadows of a first round pick but, was I happy to see that we didn’t draft a first round quarterback, yes. That is a boost of confidence, yes.”
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