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The Buffalo News: Bills & NFL: Edwards’ biggest critic: himself

Completing nearly 70 percent of your passes and throwing a touchdown in one half of preseason work would make most quarterbacks happy. But Buffalo Bills rookie Trent Edwards took no pleasure in his performance during Friday’s 13-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

For every completion he made, he was more bothered by the few throws that were off target. Instead of focusing on the good things he did, he was more fixated on his mistakes.

“There were a lot of missed opportunities on my end,” Edwards said. “There are a lot of plays out there to be made, and I need to make those. I almost feel kind of like I let some guys down. I’ll learn from the tape and try to get better next week.”

It seems Edwards is being a little too hard on himself. He was 11 of 16 for 101 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown toss to receiver Roscoe Parrish.

But Edwards is a perfectionist. In his mind, that is what it’s going to take to succeed in the NFL.

“It’s a preseason game and it doesn’t count [in the standings], but it’s a chance for me to prove to myself and this organization and prove to my teammates that I belong at this level,” he said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that.”

Edwards may not be happy with himself, but the Bills aren’t the least bit disappointed in their young passer.

He has shown flashes in training camp and in the exhibition games, completing 21 of 27 and engineering the Bills’ only two touchdown drives in the preseason. He has shown a good grasp of the offense and has looked poised in the pocket.

On Friday, Edwards stayed in the pocket under a heavy pass rush and delivered a 15- yard strike to Parrish. On his third-quarter touchdown pass, Edwards was flushed out of the pocket and rolled toward the sideline to get away from the pressure. But he kept his eyes downfield. Just before taking a hit, Edwards fired a pass beyond Falcons cornerback Chris Houston’s hands to Parrish, who managed to keep both feet in the end zone.

“The primary guy I missed, and [the Falcons] double-covered the secondary guy, which was Roscoe,” Edwards explained. “I was kind of in a panic and rolled to the left. Fortunately, Roscoe had the corner turned and I saw the back of the corner. Roscoe made eye contact with me, and I put it up in the corner of the end zone.”

Edwards was unable to take the Bills on a game-winning drive in the final two minutes, but his mobility, accuracy, poise and strong arm were all on display Friday. Those attributes are why the Bills drafted the former Stanford star in the third round.

“I believe he’s going to be a good player,” said coach Dick Jauron. “He’s got a feel for the game. It’s all new to him, clearly, but he throws the ball well. Pressure doesn’t seem to rattle him, and he made some accurate throws. He missed some, too. But all in all, I thought he performed pretty well.”

The Bills didn’t draft Edwards to challenge J.P. Losman as the starter. It would have been unrealistic to think that was possible this early in his career.

The Bills were hoping Edwards could push veteran Craig Nall for the No. 2 quarterback spot.

Nall did not play Friday, but he remains Losman’s primary backup. Edwards is doing everything he can to close the gap, but he’s smart enough to know that he has a lot more work to do before a move up the depth chart can happen.

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