Fewell injection: Bills interim coach makes impression, says QB Fitzpatrick will start

Fewell makes impression on 1st day as Bills coach

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Bills have a new starting quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. They practiced in pads on a Wednesday for the first time that anyone can remember.

As for addressing all those false-start penalties the Bills have been committing this season?

Well, Perry Fewell joked that he threatened to start cutting off players’ fingers if they jump the snap count in practice.

However interim his title might be, Fewell made some lasting impressions on his first full day as Bills head coach after Buffalo abruptly fired Dick Jauron on Tuesday.

“We had fun,” Fewell said, who has little time to prepare for his debut on Sunday, when the Bills (3-6) travel to play at Jacksonville (5-4).

“I’m probably a little bit more fired up, a lot more emotional I would say,” he said, comparing his style to that of the ever low-key Jauron. “Whether (the players) take on those characteristics or not, I don’t know. I just know that I’m going to get the team to try to focus on one game, Jacksonville.”

Fitzpatrick was among several players who noticed an immediate difference.

“He’s got some fire in him and I like what he did in the first meeting,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s here to kind of break us out of our little funk, and I think he’s a good guy to do it.”

After spending the past three seasons as the Bills defensive coordinator, Fewell’s first big decision, not surprisingly, came on offense in an attempt to spark a unit that’s sputtered this season.

Electing to go with Fitzpatrick over Trent Edwards, Fewell said he and the staff believe Fitzpatrick gives the Bills “the best opportunity.”

The switch in quarterbacks comes after Edwards was yanked after having an interception returned for a touchdown with 3 minutes left in a 41-17 loss at Tennessee last weekend. It was Edwards’ first game back after sustaining a concussion in a 16-13 overtime win against the New York Jets on Oct. 18.

Fitzpatrick rallied the Bills to beat the Jets and then went 1-1 in two starts. The offense has struggled no matter who’s called the plays. It ranks 29th in the NFL in yards gained, is averaging a little over 15 points and hasn’t generated 300 yards in any of its past seven outings.

Though Fewell said the job is Fitzpatrick’s on a week to week basis, the quarterback said he’s been told something different.

“I think right now it’s my job,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think right now he’s handing me the job and I’m going to go ahead and try to take it.”

Receiver Terrell Owens backed the quarterback switch, noting that Fitzpatrick, in his fifth season, is more experienced than Edwards, who is in his third year. And Owens noted he thought Fitzpatrick had earned the right to take over after winning two of three games.

As for the coaching change, Owens shrugged.

“What’s new?” he said, referring to a Bills team that’s switched offensive coordinators in September, when Turk Schonert was fired. Owens added he contacted Jauron to thank him and wish him well.

Jauron was fired after going 24-33 in three-plus seasons in Buffalo, and with the team in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a 10th straight year.

Fewell showed he’s not afraid of trying something new. He had his players practice in pads, and intends to do so again on Thursday. Under Jauron, the Bills normally only practiced in pads on Thursdays during a game week.

“I just felt like Jacksonville is a very physical football team, and I felt like going into this week that we needed to have a mindset of being physical,” Fewell said.

He’s also concentrating on correcting the numerous mental errors that have cost the Bills on offense. Buffalo has been penalized 22 times for false-start penalties, including nine in a 6-3 loss to Cleveland on Oct. 11, and five more against Tennessee.

Fewell said he was ready to cut off a player’s finger during practice, but joked that Bills head trainer Bud Carpenter advised him against it.

“So I kind of got up in their face a little bit and just made my presence felt,” Fewell said.

Safety George Wilson is no stranger to Fewell’s fiery approach, and credited the coach for rallying the players during a team meeting prior to practice.

“He’s in control, he made that impression,” Wilson said. “He conveyed his message in a way that guys wouldn’t automatically just turn off the switch. He did a great job of setting the tone.”