NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Larry Mayer at chicagobears.com interviewed Bears WR coach Darryl Drake to get a pre-training camp read on his talented group of pupils. While it's not unusual to hear coaches blow sunshine up everyone's hineys this time of year, a couple of Coach Drake's comments were eye-openers.

Drake on whether Devin Hester can be an elite receiver…

"There's no doubt in my mind that he can be. There's no doubt in my mind that Aromashodu and Knox can be as well."

The unsolicited inclusion of DA and Knox is surprising, and probably more of a motivational tactic for the 2 young WRs than anything. But it says a lot about the increased production he expects from these guys next year.

Drake on the progress of second-year wideout Juaquin Iglesias…

"It's a night and day difference compared to last year. He started to come on last year at the end of the season. But right now he's really making a push. He's doing some really good things. He's caught the eye of the coaches and the quarterbacks. He's doing really well and he needs to continue to do that."

Reading between the lines, if Iglesias continues at his current pace, it could mean he'll steal some playing time away from this guy…

Drake on Earl Bennett…

"Earl's starting to come. He had an injury and missed a lot of valuable time [early in the offseason program]. But the last few days of OTAs we saw the old Earl. He started to do some things that we know he's capable of doing. Training camp will be big for him like it will be for the rest of the guys."

Not necessarily a rousing endorsement, is it now?

Legendary New York Yankee's owner George Steinbrenner (1930-2010) passed away at the age of 80 on July 13th. Steinbrenner's legacy is that he essentially created the modern sports franchise owner. Steinbrenner epitomized what fans could want in their owner, he went all out to win every season, genuinely cared about the product on the field, and never hesitated to spend the money when necessary. Steinbrenner took over a struggling Yankee's franchise in 1973, and vowed to stay out of its daily affairs, but turned into the most proactive owner in professional sports. Steinbrenner's reign was tumultuous early on, but seemed to find the perfect balance as an owner becoming iconic after returning from a three year suspension in 1993.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, one of the premier owners in the NFL shares his fond memories of Steinbrenner in an interview with the Los Angeles Times:

"In some ways, George Steinbrenner moved the needle," said Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. "But he also crossed the border at times. There's a fine line there." Kraft counted Steinbrenner as a friend and received a handwritten letter from the Yankees owner when the Patriots won their first of three Lombardi Trophies in early 2002. "It was the nicest letter, praising us for the turnaround and making the right personnel decisions, even when they weren't the most popular decisions at the time," Kraft said. "We both want to win. We do things different, stylistically, but the bottom line is we want winners running the show."

The Date: Thursday, July 29th

The Place:  St. John's Fisher College  in Pittsford, NY

The Storyline: Buffalo Bills begin 2010 Training Camp

With just over two weeks away, we're about to embark on the Buffalo Bills 2010 NFL season.  They say that hope springs eternal, but I say that summer evokes optimism.  Whether you're the reigning Super Bowl champion or you're the team that had the first overall pick in the draft, in July we're all looking through the same rose-colored glasses.  In July, everybody's a Super Bowl hopeful.

But soon the infatuation of training camp wears off, and the real world NFL will come calling again.  How exactly these Bills will measure up in 2010 largely depends on how many questions they're able to answer (or not answer) about themselves.

It's fair to say that the majority of the football media aren't enamoured with the Bills, their new regime, their offseason and their draft.  Whether right or wrong, whether you agree or not, the public perception of the Bills isn't flattering.  And maybe in return, the Bills aren't a flattering team , so this probably works to an extent in both ways.

If you've viewed any preseason power rankings or write ups, the Bills won't be found on the first page with the usual suspects Indianapolis, New Orleans, Minnesota, New England and San Diego.  The Bills are placed near the bottom of the heap, some going as far as ranking the Bills as the worst team in the NFL.  I can remember mere days after the 2010 NFL Draft concluded that ESPN"s Todd McShay already had the Bills selecting No.1 overall in the 2011 draft, so that right there probably tells you all you need to know about the perception of Buffalo and what to expect in 2010.

But this is the world we live in.  The court of public opinion wields a lot of power and influence, and they've told us the Bills belong in the four-or-five-win-club along with fellow cellar dwellars in Cleveland, Oakland, Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

It's very hard to use the phrase contender and Bills in the same breath.  The popular view is that the Bills have three quarterbacks, which suggests they don't have any.  They're converting to the 3-4 defense with still largely 4-3 player personnel and the tackle spots remain in flux and the Bills failed to address the position in the draft. If you go a step further, Las Vegas has told us that the Bills are 20 to 1 odds to win the AFC East and 100 to 1 odds to win the Super Bowl; St. Louis and Tampa Bay are also 100 to 1 odds.

The tasks for the Bills in 2010 won't be for weak and weary, and much like the draft philosphy, the Bills will plug holes in 2010 but it's foolish to think all their problems are solveable in one season.  But they have to start somewhere.

They need to find out once and for all if Trent Edwards fits into their plans going forward as a quarterback, or whether Brian Brohm is capable of being a starter in the NFL.  They must find a way to conquer their New Englad demons; the Bills have lost 13 straight games to the Patriots.  The Bills' consecutive losing seasons stands at five, while their playoff drought is at 10 years and counting.

Sure, it's only July and there's plenty of hope in the air.  The pigskin, the pads and the helmets are about to reappear.  But in a couple weeks, simply hoping won't be good enough.  When camps breaks, and July turns into August and August morphs into September, the Bills will need  wins to accomplish their tasks and elevate out of the AFC basement.