Gailey Angry at Team and Fans

PITTSFORD, NY (WIVB) - Normally, everybody's happy to see the end of training camp.  But not Bills coach Chan Gailey.  Maybe he likes the dorm rooms and the football-only lifestyle.  Because the coach was agitated as the Bills ended camp with a morning practice in Pittsford.

Immediatelly after practice ended, Gailey hurried to the railing and lectured a group of about 5 teenage fans.  Those fans had been loud througout the workout.  Some of their comments, clearly heard by the coach, were critical of the Bills players, especially Trent Edwards.

Gailey told the fans that no players would be signing their autograph requests.  He said "if you dog one of us, you dog all of us." 

Later, in a meeting with the media. Gailey explained his actions.

"They said some things during practice that were derogatory to a couple of our players, and if you say something derogatory to one of us, you’re saying it to all of us. So I told them don’t go sign it for that crew."

The Bills players appreciated the coach's effort.  Here was Edwards reaction.

"It’s nice. Obviously, I’m going to get some criticism. Hopefully there’s more people praising me, but that’s nice that you have a coach that will fight for you. We have fans that want to win. I want to win and they’re more than willing to say what they need to say. I’m a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and they’re not playing very good baseball right now and I could probably go off on a couple of their players. I probably wouldn’t say [anything] to their face, but If I did I would expect Joe Torre to come after me and say something to me. It’s nice that I have a head coach that will do that, but they’re more than willing to say whatever they want."

Gailey also wasn't very happy with his team's performance as they wrapped up camp.

"The guys worked hard. I told them I thought we worked hard, I’m not sure we worked smart everyday, but we worked hard everyday. We’ve got to learn to work both ways. We’ve got to mentally be sharp every day. I thought we got lax a little bit, but overall it was a good camp."

He was then asked if the sharpness improved as camp moved along.

 

"No, it got sloppier, and that’s what makes me madder."

Finally, Gailey expressed some disappointment that camp is over and the team is moving back to Orchard Park.  He thinks that doesn't alway improve a team's focus.

"I don’t ascribe to that. I think sometimes at home, especially those guys that are married, they’re changing diapers at night, so there’s a lot of distraction in that respect too. Guys kind of want to go out at night, and that’s kind of a distraction. I think being here [at St. John Fisher College] and having it at a place like this is a pretty good situation to keep their full attention for the whole time you’re here."

The Bills begin preseason workouts at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Wednesday.