Roscoe Parrish Confident with Bills

Roscoe Parrish has heard this one before.

Whether it was Mike Mularkey in 2005, Dick Jauron the previous four years, or now Chan Gailey this season, Parrish has been paid more lip service than the Kiss Cam regarding the potential role he could play in Buffalo's offense.

Yet year after year, Parrish was basically a non-entity when the Bills had the ball, and his only contributions came on special teams as one of the NFL's best punt returners.

So why is the diminutive wide receiver convinced that 2010 is going to be different?

"This year I feel much better about my role," Parrish said the other day as he walked off the practice field at the end of his sixth training camp at St. John Fisher College. "I'm very excited. I'm just really looking forward to this season. Everybody is going to get an opportunity, and I can't ask for anything more at this point. That's all I ever wanted."

And it's what he has really never been given.

Choosing Parrish in the second round of the 2005 draft was deemed a dubious decision by many Bills' followers, but then-general manager Tom Donahoe argued that Parrish could be a dynamic weapon both on offense and as a return man.

Donahoe got the latter part right. Parrish is the Bills' all-time leading punt returner and his 12.25-yard career average currently ranks him fourth in NFL history.

However, neither Mularkey nor Jauron ever figured out a way to effectively use Parrish on offense. In five years he has only 100 catches for 1,086 yards and 5 TDs. And last year he hit rock bottom when Jauron lost all faith in him, not only on offense but on punt returns.

Parrish muffed a punt against New Orleans in Week 3 that set up a second-quarter field goal by the Saints during a 27-9 loss. And then in the Week 5 debacle against Cleveland, Parrish muffed another punt, but this one occurred late in the fourth quarter and set up the Browns' winning field goal in that forgettable 6-3 loss.

"I made a bad decision, but every guy makes mistakes," said Parrish of the Cleveland gaffe. "And the ones that make mistakes are the ones that try."

Jauron benched Parrish the next four weeks, and he didn't get back on the field until Jauron was fired and Perry Fewell took over as head coach. Still, Fewell only used Parrish on returns. The 5-foot-9, 168-pounder caught only three passes for 34 yards all season, and after leading the NFL in punt return average in 2007 and 2008, Parrish averaged just 5.5 yards per return in 2009.

"Every year wasn't frustrating, just last year was frustrating," said Parrish. "One of the main things I had to overcome last year was to just not get down on myself. I just continued to work hard during the season last year and just prayed and hoped the best would come."

The overhaul of the coaching staff, with Gailey in charge, was the answer to those prayers.

"This offseason with Chan Gailey and a new coaching staff, it just made everything better," Parrish said. "He's the kind of coach that gets the ball in playmakers' hands."

There was some real doubt whether Parrish would even be back with the Bills, but Gailey came in and almost immediately began devising ways to get Parrish involved in his offense. Throughout training camp Parrish has been the regular slot man in three-wide sets, and he has been a frequent target of whichever quarterback happens to be under center.

"I'm excited about Roscoe Parrish and what he's going to bring to our football team this year," Gailey said. "We're going to work to try to make sure he's a major part of this offense."

Trent Edwards is on board with that because like Gailey, he thinks that if Parrish can get the ball in space, he can be a legitimate threat.

"I'm very excited for Roscoe," Edwards said. "I think he's very excited and I feel like we're putting him in good spots to win. He's been in spots in the slot and there are not a lot of people that can cover him. We just need to do a good job of protecting and I've got to be accurate with the football, and he's got to catch the football. He's a big weapon for our offense and I know Chan wants to use him."

Lee Evans is the undeniable No. 1 receiver, but with Josh Reed and Terrell Owens gone, Parrish is now the Bills' second-most experienced receiver, and he's also one of the longest-tenured players on the team.

"In this profession nothing is given to you and you never know what will happen," Parrish said. "That's how I have to approach it now as a six-year veteran. I'm taking the approach that whatever is going to happen will happen. You can only control what you can control. I know I can help this team when my opportunity is given."

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(wgrz.com)