Edwards confident in reclaiming Bills QB job

Football Betting Lines

09/07/2010 -

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) - Shortly after Buffalo Bills coach Chan Gailey finished discussing how much Trent Edwards has improved this preseason, the quarterback in question walked by and took a spot on a bench outside the locker room.

``I think he's gotten better, and that's the best way I can judge somebody,'' Gailey said after practice Monday, providing his first in-depth insight on Edwards since naming him the starter two days earlier. ``I've seen a light at the end of the tunnel. And that's what you're looking for.''

However bright that glimmer is - or how much Edwards might have overheard - is not entirely apparent.

So when it was Edwards' turn to speak to reporters, the quarterback wasn't prepared to acknowledge he's accomplished anything just yet by having won a three-way, offseason-long competition for the job.

``I'm fortunate to be in the position I am,'' Edwards said. ``But I can't sit here and be proud of myself by any means.''

What does mean something to Edwards is the insight he's drawn from the few ups and many downs he's endured in three previous seasons in Buffalo. He's gone from being a fan-favorite as a rookie starter to having many of those same supporters derisively label him ``Captain Checkdown'' and ``Trent-ative'' a year ago before being benched midway through last season.

``I feel like I've been through a lot in my career here. I feel like I've seen it all,'' Edwards said. ``I've seen the highs and lows and I'm still standing here.''

With a newfound perspective, Edwards prepares to make the most of his second chance in leading the Bills as they get ready to host Miami in the season-opener on Sunday.

It's a fresh start for the former third-round draft pick out of Stanford, who spent the past three seasons struggling to find his rhythm in a conservative attack employed by defensive-minded coach Dick Jauron, who was fired in November.

That's all changed under Gailey, an offensive specialist who has introduced a more aggressive approach.

Edwards refuses to dwell too much on what happened in the past.

``I know we want to sit here and try to find reasons on why we're working better, and why we weren't last year,'' Edwards said. ``For some reason, we're clicking right now.''

What's evident is the increase in production the offense enjoyed this preseason when Edwards led the starters to score five touchdowns in four games. That was a switch from last year, when the Bills starting offense was limited to two field goals in five preseason games.

Just as important, Edwards has begun shedding the checkdown label by showing he is, in fact, capable of completing deep passes.

This preseason, he connected on four passes of at least 25 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown to Lee Evans. In seven regular-season starts last year, Edwards completed just 11 passes over 25 yards - and that was despite the Bills offense featuring the one-two receiving tandem of Evans and Terrell Owens.

Evans is impressed by what he's seen from Edwards, who has proven to be more assertive on and off the field.

``You see him taking control of the quarterback position. And what I mean by that, he's understanding what defense are trying to do and making adjustments,'' Evans said. ``From his point of view, people can't be telling him what (the adjustments) are, he has to see them. And so that's where he's grown.''

Bills defenders have even seen a change in Edwards.

``He's carrying himself like a veteran quarterback,'' defensive end Marcus Stroud said. ``Despite what everybody was saying and writing him off and everything, he still came in here like he was the leader, like he was the starting quarterback. And everybody took notice of that.''

Edwards was conscious to make sure he carried himself with more confidence in a bid to lead by example.

``I'm carrying myself the way I want to see my teammates carry themselves,'' he said. ``That's what I want out of my teammates and that's the attitude and approach I'm taking.''

As impressed as Gailey's been, so far, he's aware there will be challenges ahead. One key to Edwards' success is getting protection from an offensive line that hasn't been healthy this preseason. Another key is Edwards continuing to develop.

``He's got a chance to have a very good year,'' Gailey said. ``But we've got to keep progressing.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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