Former Bills great Andre Reed a welcome visitor to camp

Bills great Andre Reed paid his former team a visit at training camp on Monday. The greatest wide receiver in franchise history was in terrific shape and looked like he could still contribute if called upon at age 48. Here are a few highlights from his conversation with the media:


On his expectations for the 2012 Bills:

“Nobody expected them last year to do anything and they started 5-2 last year and they got a little bit of the injury bug and kind of lost a little mojo there towards the middle of the season. I’m definitely expecting some big things. With the addition of Mario (Williams) and how he is going to work with (Marcell) Dareus, Kyle Williams and how’s (Shawne) Merriman going to be this year. The expectations on defense are phenomenal.”

“Offensively, you just have got to rely on your main guys, that’s Ryan (Fitzpatrick) doing what he has to do. It will be interesting to see what they do with the running backs with Fred Jackson and (C.J.) Spiller. I think in the league now you’ve got to have two guys that can do different things. Both of those guys are phenomenal at what they do. If Chan (Gailey) does it right, uses those guys right, that will take a lot of pressure off of Ryan and the passing game.

“The bottom line is it all comes down to the guys blocking up front. You need to have a stud left tackle and I guess Cordy Glenn is doing a good job. We’ll see who they plug in (there). That’s been a problem for them the last couple of years, that left tackle spot. It will be interesting to see who that guy is going to be.”


On what he sees in WR Stevie Johnson:

“I see a little bit of me in a way -- maybe not some of the little antics he does, but Stevie’s one of those players where he’s just consistent. I think he definitely brings that experience; you look at their roster and you look at the receivers, it’s not a lot of experience on the field that they have. He’s (five) years in the league, he’s kind of at the peak of his career right now. So they’re going to look to him. You never know who’s going to be that No. 2 guy, but that’s a battle that’s going to go through training camp. It will be interesting to see who is going to take some pressure off him.


On being bypassed for the Hall of Fame again:

(Laughs) “No, I don’t even think about it any more ... (actually) it’s not that I don’t think about it. My Twitter (account) was going crazy yesterday and the day before. There were a lot of Bills fans actually there in Canton even though nobody got inducted from the Bills ... just getting a lot of love from Bills fans and people all over the country that (say), ‘Next year we want to be here when you are here.’ So, you know, when it happens, it happens, but it’s been eight years now. So it’s no different than any other year. I did a lot of media last year and I think this year I’m probably not going to do as much of the media thing. I’ll talk about it a lot once it comes up a little bit more. But I’ll be more interested in watching this team this year and getting out of this 13-year funk of not being in the playoffs. That’s just not acceptable around here.”

For more updates on the Bills follow correspondent Mark Ludwiczak on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLBUF and @MarkLud12.