Edwards’ third year starts now

By Anthony Bialy  |   Monday, December 01, 2008  |  Comments( 101 )

Buffalo Bills
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Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards doesn’t need to be able to run or even walk by next Sunday: if he can stand, he should be in the lineup. The franchise’s hopes for an ultimately successful 2008 may be crushed, but the current starter needs to play for 2009. He must quickly overcome his nagging groin, and not just in order to stop people from giggling about the phrase “nagging groin:” finishing this year strong is important for both this franchise’s general mental health and the specific way he must establish that he remains the best option for the future with a solid present showing.

Troubled personal muscle issue or not, he finished his half of action with a 64.0 rating against a San Francisco 49ers defense that has often played this year like it’s begging to get beaten. And this past Sunday was just part of a long-term plummeting: he’s thrown both 10 touchdowns and interceptions this campaign, a tie which is a certain benchmark of overall mediocrity even if he’s taken a wildly uneven game-to-game path there.

Most importantly, this was supposed to be a no-excuses season: the stable offense entered the campaign equipped with an occasionally sensible coordinator in Turk Schonert and enough weapons so that poor circumstances wouldn’t continually affect the quarterback’s performance. No player gets to work in a vacuum, and Schonert has been almost as bad as the quarterback recently as he must lean more on his rushers to help the pass, but Edwards has been given decent, if not quite cushy, conditions. This slump could be chalked up to the fact that he’s still only 25 and in NFL year two, after all, but he must work through the pain and revert to his former form in at least some aspects during these final four games.

The passer has to know there are concerns popping up about his destiny following his extensive funk. Is this franchise going to have to spend its third pick in six drafts on a potential starting quarterback next April? Or are conditions down to the point where sort-of general manager Russ Brandon will consider bringing in a prominent veteran passer this offseason and shelve the incumbent for a season or two? Nobody wants a sequel to the Drew Bledsoe Era, but the only thing worse would be waiting for the Edwards Era to get past the opening credits.

But Edwards has to earn that faith in the final quarter of what’s now doomed to be a failed season. He is sinking to the level of his predecessor: just like J.P. Losman displayed glimmers of aptitude among long frustrating stretches, Edwards has to avoid coasting on brief memories and potential. The Stanford man is still only 21 starts into his career, but he must not only play but also reassert himself in starts 22 through 25 in order to remain in place for start number 26 during next year’s Week 1.

It’s not that Edwards is special in this regard. Every starter on every team should be evaluated for worthiness at season’s end, even quarterbacks who appear in credit card commercials. That said, Edwards has earned close scrutiny with his recent tendency to play more like a rookie in his second year than he did as an actual rookie.

While it’s fair to consider whether Edwards should be the guy, the fact remains that he currently is the guy. He must gut it out and get on the field this upcoming Sunday to perform as well as possible as he can while sore: it’s a chance for him to both climb out of his rut and re-apply for his own job.

Opening the game behind center despite his pain would itself function as a bold statement by him. And what could be lost? Edwards played badly enough to help put the Bills in a position where the playoffs are essentially out of reach, and he may as well seize the chance to work out of his poor stretch.
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