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September 6, 2006

Buffalo's take

Bills coach Dick Jauron and running back Willis McGahee spoke on conference calls.

Jauron, who was named one of the top 10 high school athletes of the 20th century by the Boston Globe after a standout career at Swampscott High, spoke a lot about his days in Massachusetts and said he'll never forget his roots here.

After a difficult five-year stint as head coach in Chicago (1999-2003), Jauron spent the last two years with Detroit before getting another chance to be a head coach with Buffalo. The Bills gave Jauron his first chance in the NFL coaching ranks, as a defensive assistant in 1985. Patriots coach Bill Belichick actually coached Jauron in 1976-77, when Belichick was an assistant special teams coach and Jauron was a standout safety.

"First and foremost, it's great to be back in the National Football League," Jauron said. "There's only 32 of these (head coaching) jobs in the world and this is a real opportunity. We have a young team, we're certainly hopeful...we know this is going to be a very difficult start for us."

McGahee said it took him until the end of last season to feel 100 percent after suffering a torn ACL to end his career at Miami, though he clearly was feeling good against the Pats in game seven, when he gained 136 yards on 31 carries.

McGahee said the last thing to come back was his ability to sustain a long run, and he finally did that in the Bills' last preseason game, in Detroit.

"It was a weight off my shoulders," McGahee said of the 20-yard scamper. "I waited three years for it to happen. It happened in the preseason, but it counts in my book."

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:37 PM | Permalink