Drew Bledsoe will start his 13th season in San Diego on Sunday, and his fifth year, playing under Bill Parcells. Apparently, they've grown accustomed to having each other around.
“I'm not trying to be funny,” says Parcells. “He's a lot crankier than he was when I first had him. He's starting to sound like me.”
Which is a scary thought in itself.
“Oh man,” says Bledsoe, “That's what he told me. Your starting to act like me. I told him, I'm going to retire if I ever start to act like you,” he said with a grin.
But no matter how he acts, Parcells likes they way his offense has progressed during training under Bledsoe's leadership.
“He’s much more experienced and he knows the league much better,” says Parcells. “He knows the problems much more readily, and his knowledge base is far greater than it was when I had him.”
Bledsoe may be a little crankier, but he has leaned enough to visualize a coaches perspective. “I think he places a little more value on my opinion,” says Bledsoe, “and when he asks me for input, he places a little more weight on that. He knows I've been around, enough now, to kind of know what's going on.”
The offense has shown signs during preseason, that things might actually be coming together. Says Bledsoe, “I feel like we've progressed each week in the preseason, to the point where the last preseason game, we went out and executed very well. “I also feel like we came out of the preseason right where we needed to be, and I think everybody is excited and confident going into this game.”
There are comparison's to last year, Vinny Testaverde came in, as a much older and much slower Quarterback.
“Drew is just a bit more tempo,” says Tight End Jason Witte. “He expects a lot more out of his guys. I think that's something we need on offense, somebody holding you accountable and that's what makes us a good football team.”
Parcells is convinced, that if Bledsoe wasn't playing in Dallas, the 33-year old would be playing somewhere in the league, even if other teams didn't pursue him as aggressively as the Cowboys.
Asked if he was the beneficiary of their decision, Parcells replied. “Well I don't know. I don't know if I'm the beneficiary or not. I could be a victim,” laughingly. “You never know. I'm just teasing now. Don't put that in there as a story.”
Oops, already have. Parcells says Bledsoe is the best quarterback he has had since he arrived in Dallas, so is he the Beneficiary or the Victim? We'll see if he can cash in, once the playoffs begin in January. If they don't, we know who the crankies guy will be.
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