National Football League

Bills WR Parrish eager to build off last season

Published Aug. 30, 2011 9:54 p.m. ET

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Two years ago Roscoe Parrish wanted out of Buffalo. This season, the Bills receiver can't wait to get back on the field.

All it took to inspire Parrish's change of heart was the arrival of a new coach in Chan Gailey, who provided Parrish the chance to prove, once and for all, that he can be more than a bit player on offense.

And not even a left hamstring injury that's wiped out much of Parrish's preseason can dampen his eagerness.

''I'm ready. I'm fired up,'' Parrish said, after returning to practice this week for the first time since Aug. 10. ''I'm just appreciating every moment.''

He expects to be ready once the Bills open the regular season at Kansas City on Sept. 11. And he has every reason to be upbeat.

For the first time in his seven-year career, Parrish enters a season with a clearly defined role, having already secured the slot receiver's job. He has a quarterback who trusts him, and a coach who believes in him as a receiver, and not merely a dynamic, but one-dimensional, punt and kickoff-return specialist.

And the 2005 second-round draft pick finally has the production from last year to prove it, even though his season was cut short after breaking his right wrist in November.

''Man, I'm very confident,'' Parrish said. ''Last year was a privilege. I was able to play wide receiver and show some of my skills.''

His numbers last year might have been modest by NFL standards: a career-best 400 yards and two touchdowns. And yet, Parrish did that in only eight games before getting hurt.

It was still good enough to finish third among Bills receivers in yards, and also more than doubled the production he had in his previous two seasons combined. That includes a career-worst 34 yards receiving in 2009, when he opened the season being the odd-man out behind Terrell Owens, and was then left to ride the bench after losing the trust of former coach Dick Jauron.

Parrish wanted out after 2009.

''I'm a competitor,'' he said. ''Any competitor would rather go somewhere else to compete, because if you're not a competitor, you'll just sit back and be complacent with it. And that's not me.''

Parrish didn't get his trade wish granted. What he got instead was the arrival of an offensive-minded coach in Gailey, and a real shot to shine.

Awarded the slot receiver's job out of training camp, Parrish wound up blossoming, particularly after Ryan Fitzpatrick took over as starter three weeks into the season.

In Fitzpatrick's first game, Parrish had five catches for a season-best 83 yards - the most he had since a career-best 104 in 2006. He then added another 25 catches for 233 yards and a touchdown in his final four games before getting hurt in the fourth quarter of a 22-19 loss to Chicago.

''I don't want to be selfish and say it was enjoyable,'' Parrish said, referring to his production in a season the Bills got off to an 0-8 start and ended with a 4-12 finish. ''But at the same time, it was a good feeling to be a permanent wide receiver and not just be a package guy.''

The Bills are counting on getting even more out of Parrish this season, and not only because he's now the team's senior receiver after Lee Evans was traded to Baltimore three weeks ago. Parrish is small, generously listed at 5-foot-9, and yet fast and shifty. He's capable of stretching defenses and also cutting off routes short to find open spots.

''He's got another gear than everybody else. The quickness that he has definitely adds another element,'' Fitzpatrick said. ''Today, he was out there running around a little bit, and you almost forget how talented he is because the last few weeks he's been nursing back to health.''

Gailey has such trust in Parrish that he's held the slot spot open for him all preseason.

''I'm confident he can do it,'' Gailey said. ''If I wasn't confident in that, I would've been working some other people really hard to take that spot.''

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