Bills camp report: Welcome to the pressure cooker

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- The heat is on at the Buffalo Bills' training camp, and it is centered on the club's quarterback, offensive coordinator and head coach.

In case you missed the memo, the Bills must start winning or else. So they will try to do it as they haven't in years, with an overhauled offense that promises to -- honest, folks -- get the ball downfield.

A year ago that happened too infrequently. But a year ago the Bills didn't have Terrell Owens as Lee Evans' bookend receiver, and a year ago they didn't give quarterback Trent Edwards the latitude to check in and out of plays at the line of scrimmage.

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Now, you hear people like Edwards and Evans talking about an "up-tempo offense" where, Evans predicted, "everything is going to be different." You can only hope. For too long the Bills have been dull, predictable and, occasionally, lethargic with their attack, with fans demanding something, anything, change.

Well, something will, and it starts with Edwards' command of the offense. Unlike last season he can call as many audibles as he chooses -- provided, of course, he feels the necessity. At Tuesday night's practice, he did, more than once switching calls after the defense stacked the line of scrimmage, with Edwards checking to a pass.

"We're ready to put it in his hands and give him more autonomy at the line of scrimmage," said offensive coordinator Turk Schonert. "I'll give him a play, and if he sees that it doesn't look very good based on [the defense's] alignment or what they're doing he can get us into a better situation or a better play.

"He's going to have a group of plays he can go to, so he must know those, he must master those and, as soon as he sees (what the defense is doing) it's got to hit him. It's got to register, and he's got to get it to us." OK, that's different, and it could be good. So could the no-huddle offense that Schonert has introduced. And so could the offensive line in front of Edwards, though it changed all its starters for the first time since the inception of the franchise.

But there are so many variables, and so little time. The Bills must win this season to avoid a major upheaval, and they know it -- which is why they're willing to take risks, beginning with how they handle their third-year quarterback and how he handles the offense.

Edwards is young, determined and improving, and the Bills were 7-5 with him a year ago and 0-4 without. The Bills believe in the guy and, as evidence, they're willing to entrust him with play-calling at the line of scrimmage.

Only there's a catch: They're asking him to do it behind an offensive line that has five new parts and alongside an outspoken wide receiver who used his three previous quarterbacks as doormats. Furthermore, they're asking him to do it in a season where they absolutely, positively must win.

Talk about pressure. It's everywhere here. It's on Schonert to make the right calls, produce more touchdowns and keep everyone happy. It's on Edwards to make the right audibles, stay healthy and keep T.O. happy. And it's on both of them to help make a winner of coach Dick Jauron, otherwise he's looking for another job after this season.

All of them must get something out of this offense that they did not a year ago when the Bills failed to score a touchdown in three of their last five games. So Schonert will put more responsibility on the shoulders of Edwards, getting him to run the no-huddle as much as, say, Peyton Manning runs it in Indianapolis -– choosing plays as he sees defenses unfold in front of him.

The problem, of course, is that Edwards must do that while working behind an unfamiliar offensive line that could –- no, should -- include two rookies.

The Bills don't view that as a problem but as a solution to a problem a year ago when the left side of their offensive line was underwhelming (and I'm being kind). Jason Peters is gone. Derrick Dockery is gone. Centers Duke Preston and Melvin Fowler are history. Guard Brad Butler is now the right tackle, and right tackle Langston Walker moved to the left side.

I think you get the idea. The Bills weren't happy with what they had, so they agreed to a complete tear-down for one reason: Despite all the "T.O.! T.O.! T.O.!" calls that cascaded down the stands at Tuesday night's practice they know it isn't Owens who determines how far they go; it's the offensive line.

"It all starts up front," said Edwards. "With any football team at any level it all starts with those guys up front.

"I just want to make sure I don't get frustrated with answering questions about our wide receivers all the time. I know there are other guys on the offense who get those same questions about number 81 (Owens), and I'm getting those a lot, too. But I can't come across frustrated because I'm not frustrated with him; it's more frustrating because I'm getting the questions all him the time.

"I would like to talk about our offensive line, and I would like to talk about our running backs. I feel like we have a lot of others weapons that no one really gets asked a lot about."

He does, which is why this year's Bills should be intriguing. Of course, one weapon in particular gains most of the attention, with cheers accompanying every one of his catches. There was a hand-made sign at practice that read "The Pandemonium Theorem: T.E. + T.O. = TD," and a child who asked a reporter if he could get Owens to sign an autograph for him afterward.

"Tell him I'll give him $20," the kid said.

That didn't happen the last few years, and neither did audiences of 4,000 to 5,000 people at evening workouts. So the Bills -- at least, for now -- have that "wow factor" Dallas owner Jerry Jones once crowed about. But it's not "wow factors" that win ballgames, especially in Buffalo and especially in November and December; it's an efficient, balanced offense that operates with an offensive line that can block the run and protect the quarterback.

"It starts with the offensive line, the tight ends and backs protecting," said Schonert. "If you can't protect it's going to be tough to get the ball down the field no matter how fast the receivers are. So that's where it starts. It always does.

"I was a big believer in that when I played. You went as far as the line was going to take you."

A year ago the Bills' line took them to the bottom of the division, with Buffalo dropping seven of its last nine. Having Edwards bow out with a concussion didn't help, but that goes back to the Bills' protection issues. Now they have an offensive line they believe will give him the chance to make the throws he could not last season and a veteran wide receiver they believe will take the heat off Evans.

Will it work? It better. I know some people whose jobs are dependent on it.

"There's pressure on the quarterback, there's pressure on me, there's pressure on Dick, there's pressure on everybody here," said Schonert. "We all want to go the playoffs. We want to end this drought. But is it on one guy? No. Is it on one coach? No. And we've all accepted that. We know what we're up against, and we know where we want to go."

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