Edwards ready to return from groin injury
ORCHARD PARK (AP) - Quarterback Trent Edwards is ready to make his first start in three weeks since being sidelined by a groin injury, while former starter J.P. Losman has likely taken his last snap for the Buffalo Bills.
Edwards returned to practice Wednesday and is expected to start at Denver on Sunday. With Buffalo (6-8) out of playoff contention following a meltdown in which the team has lost seven of its past eight, Edwards will try to spark a bumbling offense and prove he's capable of shedding the inconsistencies in his game before he was hurt.
Edwards said he was pain-free during practice, and is hoping to salvage what's left of a season in which the Bills will miss the playoffs for a ninth straight year and close by hosting New England on Dec. 28.
''Obviously, we would like to be going toward the playoffs, but that's not the situation,'' Edwards said. ''We still have a ton of pride, we still have a ton of confidence and the guys in that locker room are going to come out and fight these next two Sundays.''
Edwards is 6-6 as a starter this season, but has struggled down the stretch.
After being among the NFL's most efficient quarterbacks in leading the team to a 5-1 start, he inexplicably unraveled during a four-game losing streak where he threw eight interceptions, lost two fumbles and gave up a safety. The second-year player bounced back to lead the Bills to a 54-31 win over Kansas City, but was sidelined after the first half of a 10-3 loss to San Francisco on Nov. 30.
Edwards, who has 10 touchdowns passing and 10 interceptions, said he'll wait until the end of the season to assess his performance.
''I think at times, things have gone the way I've wanted them to, and at times things haven't,'' Edwards said. ''I'll be able to answer that after these last two games.''
As Edwards attempts to move forward, Losman takes two steps back in wrapping up his five-year career in Buffalo. The second of the Bills' two 2004 first-round draft picks, Losman has gone from being the team's quarterback of the future to spending the final weeks relegated to third-string status behind Gibran Hamdan.
Losman isn't part of the Bills' plans beyond this season because he's completing the final year of his contract and has already indicated he won't re-sign with Buffalo this offseason.
Losman, who requested to be traded last offseason, is unhappy with how he was treated by the team after losing his starting job in 2005 to journeyman Kelly Holcomb; and then once again midway through last season to Edwards.
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By demoting Losman, the Bills have elected to provide Hamdan an opportunity to play to determine whether he has a shot to take over the backup role next season. Selected by Washington in the seventh round of the 2003 draft out of Indiana, Hamdan has appeared in only one NFL game, going 1-of-2 for 7 yards in a mop-up role for the Redskins during his rookie season.
Hamdan has spent the past two years on the Bills roster.
Losman's demotion comes immediately after he proved wildly inconsistent in losing the last two games in place of Edwards.
He went 13-of-27 for 123 yards and a costly interception on an under-thrown pass into the end zone in a 16-3 loss to Miami on Dec. 7. Losman's inability to protect the ball then helped cost the Bills in a 31-27 loss at the New York Jets last weekend.
With the Bills clinging to a 3-point lead approaching the 2-minute warning in the fourth quarter, Losman fumbled when he was sacked from behind. Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis recovered the ball and returned it 11 yards for the decisive score.
Though coach Dick Jauron is being blamed for calling for a pass at such a critical time, Losman can be blamed for not throwing away the ball.
Bills receiver Lee Evans lamented the fumble might be Losman's lasting memory in Buffalo.
''I definitely feel bad for him. I just hope that where ever he goes, things work out a little differently,'' Evans said. ''It's a bad way to leave a town that you've done so much for.''
