--J.P. Losman was like a law school graduate cramming for the bar exam. For three months, the Bills' new starting quarterback did practically nothing else but work out and study film and talk shop with quarterback coach Sam Wyche and offensive coordinator Tom Clements.

Finally, Losman got the chance to come outside and see some daylight.

Taking the field for five practices with his teammates during the club's recent mini-camp, Losman officially took the reins from the departed Drew Bledsoe and began the process of making Bledsoe's old huddle his huddle.

And by all accounts, things went incredibly well.

"It was exciting," Losman said. "I was telling everyone, 'I got it, I got it' in the film room, but you never know until you come out here. It was exciting ... and I can't wait to strap it up for real."

Losman, who felt awkward being handed the Bills' starting job instead of winning it through a training camp competition with Bledsoe, said his top priority this off-season is winning his teammates' respect. He's off to a very good start.

In mini-camp, he shook off some expected rust and threw the ball with authority. Most impressively, he had a complete handle on the playbook, even correcting an assistant coach one time.

"He called one of the coaches out on one of their mistakes," veteran guard Chris Villarrial said. "I don't know if that was made up but he's making sure everyone is on top of everything. That's impressive, calling a coach out and saying 'Hey this is how it's called.' That's pretty impressive."

Dumping Bledsoe was a move many players second-guessed management on. Even though he struggled at times on the field, Bledsoe was popular in the locker room. But the Bills have turned the page. It's a business, after all. And Losman is coach Mike Mularkey's guy.

"He's taken charge of the situation," said veteran wide receiver Eric Moulds, who has now caught passes from seven different starters in his 10 seasons in Buffalo. "He's putting guys in the right positions, making the right reads and calling the right audibles. You don't expect someone that young to take command of the huddle the way he has. He's already established himself as a leader."

The Bills didn't treat Losman with kid gloves.

In fact, Mularkey gave defensive coordinator Jerry Gray the OK to throw some blitzes at Losman, knowing full well that's going to be the game plan of every team Buffalo faces this fall. Conversely, Mularkey had Losman prepared with an audible package, hot reads and plenty of rollouts.

"That's the thing every year, people coming after inexperienced quarterbacks," Mularkey said. "We want to practice that plus our defense is an aggressive, attack style. It's really for both sides' benefit. Us coming after them and them coming after us, let's start it now."

Mularkey used the word "proud" more than once when talking about Losman. He left the mini-camp convinced that he and his staff can throw even more material at their young gun the rest of this off-season.

"I think the three months so far have been positive for him, there's no question about it," Mularkey said. "His presence in the huddle, his play calling, his cadence, all those little things people take for granted. We're giving him more now so the quicker we can advance, and you can tell it has been beneficial for him."

Losman, a native of California, has purchased a home in Buffalo and has no plans on escaping town from now until July. As soon as mini-camp ended, his plan was to hole back up with Wyche with the tape deck.

"I worked hard to get to where I am and I'm not going to stop now," he said. "It's exciting to see the players actually seeing the work that I've put in this off-season, knowing the plays, knowing where to go, telling them what to do. It's fun.

"Whatever I did from the end of January I'll continue to do, because like I said, it's a good start but we want to perfect it and that's what we're going to do."

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