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Brian Brohm is shown in this file photo.
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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -
Quarterback Brian Brohm rejected an offer to stay in Green Bay
in order to pursue a fresh start in Buffalo with a team that's
suddenly losing confidence in Trent Edwards.
The Bills plucked Brohm off the
Packers' practice squad on Thursday, signing the 2008
second-round draft pick to a two-year contract. In agreeing to
play for the Bills, Brohm said he turned down a last-minute
bid by the Packers to keep him.
"The last 24 hours have
been good to me. I went from being on the practice squad to
having pretty much two offers," he said after his first
practice with the Bills. "I just wanted a fresh start, a
new start, and I think Buffalo gives me that."
Green Bay signed rookie Mike
Reilly to its practice squad to replace Brohm.
The timing of Brohm's signing
comes during a week in which the Bills (3-6) made wholesale
changes as they prepare to play at Jacksonville on Sunday.
Coach Dick Jauron was fired on
Tuesday and replaced by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell,
who will finish the season as interim head coach. Fewell's
first major decision was to bench Edwards for backup Ryan
Fitzpatrick.
Edwards, in his second full
year as starter, was 1-5 in games he played a majority of the
snaps this season. There's growing indication the third-year
player is running out of chances to prove himself.
Fewell said he believes
Fitzpatrick provides the Bills the best opportunity to win
this week.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van
Pelt criticized Edwards for being too hesitant and making poor
decisions.
"A little bit of it is our
fault for asking him to do some of the things we have,"
Van Pelt said. "But the bottom line is we've got to find
ways to make plays. Sometimes it's a fine line between forcing
the football in there and making the smart decision. And with
our guys right now, we felt like we needed to get some of
those balls thrown that weren't."
Edwards hasn't taken his
demotion well. He twice walked away from reporters when they
approached him in the locker room Thursday.
Edwards will serve as the
backup, with Brohm taking over the No. 3 spot, replacing
Gibran Hamdan, who was cut Thursday.
Brohm's opportunity to make
what he called "a new first impression," comes after
he became an afterthought in Green Bay. The third quarterback
selected in the 2008 draft, Brohm failed to deliver on the
impressive numbers he put up during a four-year career at
Louisville, where he finished 24-9 and set the Big East
Conference record with 9,956 career yards passing.
Inactive as the Packers third
quarterback for all 16 games as a rookie, Brohm landed on the
team's practice squad this season after being beaten out for
the No. 2 spot by seventh-round draft pick Matt Flynn.
Brohm acknowledged his
confidence dropped with his struggles in Green Bay, but noted
he's learned from the experience.
"I felt like I've grown as
a player," he said. "And hopefully, I can come out
here and just show the coaches and scouts here that I have
gotten better, and show them what I can do. And hopefully,
they like it."
Brohm is reunited with former
Louisville teammate Eric Wood, a rookie first-round pick who
is the starting right guard.
"It didn't work out the
way he wanted to in Green Bay, certainly, and that's not how I
expected it to happen for him," Wood said.
"Basically, everything's out the window that happened
before. He's only in his second year, so he's got a lot of
potential still."
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