Rejuvenated Bills ready to strike
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

Receiver Roscoe Parrish and the rest of the Buffalo Bills are upbeat and rested from the bye week and look to turn around the season beginning with this Sunday's home game against the Baltimore Ravens. Photo by Patrick McPartland

Matt Murphy and Melvin Fowler sat in front of their lockers, playing a game to see who could toss a tape ball into a trash can the most times.

Lee Evans talked through his wide smile about his wedding this past weekend and how the balance of power in the house is now fully in his wife's corner.

Robert Royal, always a jokester, relayed stories of how he played Madden Football and threw to himself 12 times for 150 yards in a game. "I never throw to Lee Evans when I play," he joked about his locker neighbor.

Yes, good times were flowing around the Buffalo Bills locker room following Monday's practice.

To see it, you'd think this team was amidst a lengthy winning streak, rather than sitting near the bottom of the AFC at 1-4. You'd think the Bills posted a big win over a division rival in their last game, rather than taking a serious punch to the gut in that last-second loss to Dallas a week earlier.

But getting a week off from the grind of the game, visiting family and friends, and enjoying some relaxing personal time has a way of revitalizing a team. Thoughts of that heartbreaking loss to Dallas, 25-24, and the eerily similar defeat to Denver, 15-14, early in the season, not to mention the crushing losses to New England, 38-7, and Pittsburgh, 26-3, are as old news as Brittany Spears's singing career.

"In the bye week, everybody does their own thing," Evans said. "To come back is kind of like a reunion all over again. You just come back feeling a lot more refreshed, feeling better and excited to get going again."

But when that week is over, like it is for the Bills, it's back to reality.

"That's the great part about it," said Royal, who took the spare time to check out Niagara Falls. "You get a chance to get away for a little bit. Some of the guys was able to see their family members that they haven't seen in a long time. Some guys did things that they just wanted to do, like myself. I just wanted to relax. I didn't want to go nowhere, I didn't want to get on a plane. I just wanted to sit back and relax."

But the best part of the bye week for a lot of players was the chance to rest and heal from whatever injury has nagged them. And on an injury-plagued team like the Bills, that extra time paid off. Keith Ellison, Coy Wire, Ryan Denney, Ashton Youboty, Brad Butler and J.P. Losman have all come back to practice after suffering sidelining injuries.

That can only help a team that is basically two plays away from being 3-2 instead of a disappointing 1-4.

"It's a lot better than it was," said coach Dick Jauron, who has had to send nine players to the injured reserve list this season. "We lost a lot of guys that we're not going to get back, obviously. But to get guys like Ryan back, and to get Coy back and to get Anthony (Hargrove) back for the game and Keith back for the last game we played, those are important guys. They help us everywhere, not just at their defensive positions. They really help on special teams, too."

Jauron could not specify on when all of those players would be back on the field in a game, but just having those players suit up and take the practice field is uplifting to their teammates.

"It's real good," Terrence McGee said. "It's been a slow process, but it's good to see a couple players get out there."

"We've had so many guys down and had to plug other guys in, it's good to get the people who worked throughout training camp back," Evans added. "Hopefully, we can play to a much higher level and win some more games."

Keeping the focus on the remaining 11 games, the Bills will host Baltimore Sunday.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com