Gailey's faith leads to Roscoe Parrish's rebirth

It was a simple gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Bills receiver Roscoe Parrish.

After catching a third-down pass on the Bills' first drive of the game Sunday against Baltimore, Parrish fumbled after he was hit along the left sideline by Ravens safety Ed Reed. The ball pinballed in the other direction and was recovered by Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick but not before a loss of 17 yards that forced the Bills to punt.

The Bills didn't hesitate to put the ball right back in Parrish's hands on their next possession. He went in motion from the left side and took a handoff from Fitzpatrick around right end. The gain on the play was 6 yards, but the message to Parrish was clear: We've got your back.

"He's dangerous when the ball is in his hands, so you try and get it in his hands when you can," Bills coach Chan Gailey said.

"That was a good look," Parrish said. "Chan Gailey is a good guy. On a play like that, you don't want your player to lose confidence, and when he came back to me, that kind of made me be like, 'Ok, I've got to step up.'‚"

Just a season ago, such a sequence would have been unimaginable. Parrish was glued to the bench under former coach Dick Jauron. He had a career-low three catches for 34 yards ... over the entire season. He fumbled five times and lost three of them.

After a fumble on a punt return in Week Five of the 2009 season, which set up Cleveland to kick the winning field goal in a dreadful 6-3 loss, Parrish was made a healthy inactive for four straight weeks.

He made it clear he would welcome a trade. Things changed, however, when Gailey was hired in January.

"When Chan Gailey got the job, he called me in the offseason and told me I can make some plays in this offense, but nothing's going to be given to me," Parrish said. "I have to continue to work. That was one good sign, that he gave me the call and gave me the opportunity."

Parrish has made the most of it, reviving his career and proving he can contribute as a receiver.

"He's an exciting player. He's got amazing quickness," Gailey said. "He's got great hand-eye coordination. He's making plays for us. A guy continues to make plays, you continue to find ways to get him the football."

Parrish has 22 catches for 226 yards this season. He's on pace to finish with 59 catches for 709 yards, numbers that would blow away his career-best 35 catches for 352 yards in 2007.

Parrish said that despite the hardships, he never doubted himself last season.

"I won't say my confidence ever went down because I continued to practice throughout the week and just worked on my craft because in this league you never know what will happen tomorrow. That's something I had to learn," he said. "A couple of the older guys told me just stay in tune with everything and just never lose confidence, because that's the worst thing that could happen."

Parrish is also back in his familiar role as punt returner. The Bills' all-time leader in virtually every notable punt return category has a healthy average of 9.2 yards per return this season.

But it's his contributions on offense that have given the Bills an added dimension.

"The good thing is right now I think we've got three or four guys that fall into that category that can make plays for us, so we're not having to be one-dimensional or having to get it to one guy," Gailey said. "We can spread it around. The more we can stay balanced, the more dangerous we'll be."

The Bills started the game against the Ravens in a two-receiver set, with Stevie Johnson joining No. 1 wideout Lee Evans. Johnson had a breakout game with eight catches for 158 yards and a touchdown, so that look -- which is a change from Parrish being on the field in two-receiver sets -- could continue.

Parrish, who was targeted eight times against the Ravens, is fine with that.

"We all know we're going to get opportunities for playing time, so it doesn't matter who's starting," he said.

"Whether it's Lee or Stevie or Roscoe, those guys have confidence," Fitzpatrick said. "... Offensively, it was good to finally see some results."

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(buffalonews.com)