Bills To Stick With Edwards At QB
by Chris Brown, Lead Journalist Last Updated: 10/23/2007 4:27 PM ET
Last Sunday wasn't a spectacular performance on paper for Trent Edwards, but consistent decision making and two victories in three NFL starts carries weight. Head coach Dick Jauron has elected to start the rookie signal caller at quarterback again this week against the Jets in the Meadowlands. It also sounds as if the Edwards will hold onto the role beyond this Sunday's game.
"We are naming Trent Edwards as our starting quarterback," said Jauron in a statement Tuesday. "I have spoken with both Trent and J.P. Losman and want to get the word out to our fans."
Jauron plans to address the details of his decision in a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
It will be Edwards' fourth straight start and fifth appearance after he played virtually the entire game at New England following J.P. Losman's knee injury. It will be his first start on the road.
In his three career starts Edwards has completed 70 percent of his passes while throwing for 563 yards and one touchdown against three interceptions for a passer rating of 78.3.
But what appears to have Buffalo's staff most impressed is the play of Edwards that's not revealed in the statistics.
The rookie quarterback was almost flawless in his execution of the no huddle offense last week against the Ravens.
"He did a really good job, making the right calls on run plays and pass plays," said Lee Evans. "He passed the ball efficiently, finding guys over the middle. I think he did a really good job of knowing what he's seeing and just playing."
"We played a lot of no huddle snaps," said Jauron following Sunday's game. "There are a lot of options at the ball. He's got some options up there and he has to get us in the right stuff and he did a nice job doing it. He didn't miss much."
Relying on a rookie quarterback to effectively execute a no huddle attack in his third NFL start was a strong indication as to the faith the offensive staff has in Edwards.
"The no huddle package that I know our head coach likes a lot and our offensive coordinator feels comfortable with puts a lot of ownership on the quarterback to make some decisions out there," said Edwards.
The staff also relied on Edwards last Sunday to slow down Baltimore's pressure defense by mixing up the cadence before the snap. The Stanford product proved successful in this area as well, drawing the Ravens defense offsides five times in the first half.
"They knew we run a blitz package and a lot of that is built on timing," said Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs after Sunday's game. "You slow us down by changing the cadence up. They did a good job."
At this point Edwards (219) has been on the field for more than twice as many snaps as Losman (103) and the other offensive players now appear to have a familiarity with how Edwards operates. Jauron did cite continuity as a factor in his decision to make Edwards the starter at quarterback last week.
Momentum was likely a factor too. Coming off the bye week Jauron stated to his team that it was an 11 week season. After their win over Baltimore last Sunday, Jauron's message to his club was that they were 1-0. To change the person playing the most important position on the field following a hard-fought victory over a physical team would probably leave a lot of players scratching their heads, especially after most were of the opinion that Edwards performed admirably.
"He had a lot on his plate last week and I think he handled it really well," said Evans. "He made plays when he had to, he made some right reads and we were effective in the passing game."
Link Looks like Buffalo could end up being in same QB quandry as Browns next season. No surprise here, that Trent Edwards might be their QB of the future. Tom Modrak still knows how to draft. In 2007 he gets starting LB in Posluszny (IR); starting RB in Marshaw Lynch and starting QB in Trent Edwards and a S/CB John Wendling who will be a good safety in time. JMHO Can't wait to see them play here on Dec. 16th.
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