Wintry Buffalo, humble style can't totally obscure gifted Evans

His logic: He's not getting the air-time someone like Owens does, and the less you see the less you know.

So this is what you should know about Lee Evans. In his first two years in the NFL he had 16 touchdown catches, which isn't just good; it's outstanding.

In fact, only two other receivers in today's game -- Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald -- had more in their first two seasons. Yet Evans pulled it off in Buffalo, where winter comes in September and the offense is run first, pass later, and the team shuffles quarterbacks like the city shovels snow.

So maybe there is something to what the guy said, even if Evans is skeptical.

"Maybe that's the case," he said, "I don't know. But I'd be going against myself if I didn't do what is natural. So if I'm penalized for doing what is natural then that's fine. This game is not about me. I just want to win, and I don't know how else to explain it."

That will do just fine.

Intriguing, though, is how Evans explains his reserve in the face of some trying times. I mean, he's suffered while Bills' quarterback J.P. Losman finds himself, but you don't hear a peep out of the guy. I mean, he went his first seven games with one touchdown, which is so different for him, but where's the static? There isn't any.

Nor do you hear him complain about the team's conservative game plan, with Losman reduced to 28 passes in two weeks, or its sputtering, inconsistent ways where the Bills steal a win here, then lose two there. When you ask him about the team's future he's encouraged; when you ask him about Losman he's positively ebullient.

"He's a very special player," he said.

Well, so is Lee Evans. He'd much rather talk about his team than himself, and he's unconcerned about the antics of others. Ask him about Owens, Randy Moss or Chad Johnson, and he's supportive of what they do and how they do it.

"They're great players," he said, "and I have a great deal of respect for them. They make plays for their teams, and they win. It's just a different way of expressing yourself. They're very outgoing and extroverted. It doesn't matter to me. It's just how they do what they do."

Here's hoping Lee Evans never is tempted to follow.