2001

Philadelphia 3
Bills 6

Attendance:   

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Gregg Williams' first preseason victory as Buffalo Bills rookie head coach was a costly one.  

Williams said Ostroski will be re-evaluated on Sunday after which the team will further determine its options.

The Bills also lost starting center Bill Conaty to a shoulder injury, while rookie tailback Travis Henry was pulled after straining his groin on the first play of the second quarter.

Ostroski's loss is a big blow.

Not only is he a versatile and durable veteran who has missed only one game in his last five seasons, Ostroski was being counted upon to stabilize the right side of the Bills line.

"I'll tell you this, leadership is what you miss," Williams said. "We've got a lot of young guys that have to step up."

Despite the injuries and the close score, the Bills dominated the Eagles on both sides of the ball, evening their preseason record to 1-1.

Alex Van Pelt, starting in place of injured Rob Johnson, completed 17 passes for 173 yards, setting up both first-half scoring drives.

Steve Christie made field goals from 37 and 29 yards, while tackle Pat Williams had a rare interception, underlining a solid defensive performance, which limited the Eagles 187 to net yards of offense and 11 first downs.

The only drawback was Buffalo's inability to put up points despite having the ball in Eagles territory eight times.

"The biggest thing I'm disappointed about was in the red zone," Van Pelt said. "We have to do a better job than that. We had some penalties and made some mental errors that hurt us."

The Eagles looked like a team that's a week behind after last Monday's scheduled opener against Baltimore was canceled due to unsafe turf at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

Philadelphia's lone score came on David Akers' 32-yard field goal with 4:15 remaining.

Akers had the distance but missed right on a 60-yard game-tying attempt with no time left on the clock.

"There were some things with the (first unit), particularly on offense that we need to knock off some of the rust," said Reid, who played his starters for just one quarter. "We kind of stopped ourselves."

Eagles starter Donovan McNabb put in a respectable effort, finishing 6-for-11 for 51 yards. He was intercepted once.

The Eagles' new core of wide receivers were inconsistent. Todd Pinkston led with two receptions for 35 yards, but also dropped an easy pass to end a drive.

Philadelphia's best player was middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who was in on five tackles while playing only the first quarter.

"As a whole, it was good for us to finally come out here and get in game tempo and get adjusted to one another," McNabb said.

Most significant for the Eagles was the return of running back Duce Staley, making his first appearance since sustaining a serious foot injury in Week 5 of last season. Staley, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, looked strong in limited action, finishing with two carries for four yards. He also caught a pass for four yards.

"He looked like the old Duce," Reid said.

Staley wasn't satisfied.

"As an individual, no. As a group, no," Staley said. "I thought maybe we could have came out with a little more sense of urgency as a team. As far as going through rehab, I felt OK about coming out tonight."

NOTES - Ostroski was hurt on the second play of the Bills' opening drive. Pulling to the right to set a block for Henry, Ostroski had his leg cut out from under him by Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent. Unable to put any weight on his right leg, Ostroski was eventually carted back to the locker room. ... Johnson, who missed three straight days of practice, will have his finger re-evaluated when the Bills return to training camp outside of Rochester, N.Y. on Monday. ... The game marked the Eagles' latest preseason start since 1948, when they opened against Chicago on Aug. 28.

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