Originally Posted by
Chris Brown
As a rookie, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards got his share of ribbing in Buffalo's locker room from the veterans. A good portion of the needling was directed at Edwards' arms, which were not exactly Gatling guns. But now after an offseason of NFL training those jokes are likely to stop.
Buffalo's starting quarterback has added 10 pounds of lean muscle to his frame since the end of last season and came into the team's offseason conditioning program noticeably bigger and stronger through his upper body.
"He loves to lift," said Bills strength and conditioning coordinator J.T. Allaire. "He likes working out. He's very conscious of what he's eating. That commitment is making a difference for him."
Edwards had trouble keeping weight on his rookie season, and it showed by the end of the year.
"I lost a lot of weight during the season," said Edwards. "I was down around 210 pounds going into the Philly game."
But now Edwards is a solid looking 226 pounds, though he claims some of it is "offseason weight." Still Allaire considers Buffalo's signal caller ahead of the game.
"Most of the quarterbacks around the league are somewhere between 11 to 13 percent body fat," said Allaire. "Trent and J.P. (Losman) are usually in the single digits."
Edwards credits Allaire's offseason program for helping him to build his body up, thereby enabling him to better handle the rigors of the game. That wasn't an option a year earlier when he was prepping for the NFL combine.
"Training for the NFL and training for the combine are two totally different things," said Allaire. "When you're training for the combine you're training to perform well in the drills they want you to do. In the NFL, it's movement training specific to your position."
Even though Edwards is still striving to make the majority of his 226 pounds muscle, Bills offensive coordinator Turk Schonert has to be happy with where Edwards is at this point in the offseason.
"Turk wants me at about 225 pounds so I'm better able to take hits," Edwards said.
With extra muscle on Edwards' frame he'll likely be able to withstand more punishment through the course of the season, and have the strength to escape from the clutches of NFL defensive ends at times as well.
The only thing Edwards is guarding against is sacrificing one asset to improve another.
"Now that I've added the muscle I have to work to maintain my flexibility, speed and quickness," he said. "I don't want to lose that."
And while that will be another challenge for Edwards to deal with through the remainder of the offseason, just having the opportunity to immerse himself in an NFL conditioning program for the first time has paid off in a big way. It leaves Edwards feeling better equipped physically for Sundays.
"Last year at this time I didn't even know where I was going to end up and now working with J.T. and the strength coaches, Turk and our new offensive coaches, and all the players on offense, I'm physically more ready to take on this season as opposed to last season," he said. "I've made strides within this offensive system and have made strides in the weight room that will physically allow me to perform at a much higher level this year."
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