With Trent Edwards unable to practice for a second straight day it appears likely that J.P. Losman will make his first start of the season for Buffalo when they "host" the Dolphins in Toronto.
The 2008 season has been the most watching and waiting Losman has done since his rookie year, when a broken leg and Drew Bledsoe were the biggest factors keeping him off the field.
Having only appeared in three games this season, getting the chance to make his first start has him focused.
"It's exciting," said Losman. "From my standpoint, I know when I got to play last week, it was fun. I was having fun out there, having a good time."
Losman went 11-17 passing for 93 yards in the painful loss last week to San Francisco. He also got some snaps late in the lopsided win at Kansas City, with his most extensive action coming at Arizona when he came in for a concussed Trent Edwards.
His playing time the past two weeks came on the fly, but those snaps in the last two games, combined with him taking first team reps all week in practice should make for a smooth transition for the other 10 players on offense.
"It should be 100 times more comfortable," said Losman. "For everybody, them hearing my voice, cadence, calling the plays, everything. Everything is going to be much, much better, more fluid if a quarterback is able to prepare himself one week, knowing he's the guy."
"He'll certainly be prepared to step in and play," said Lee Evans. "We all know what J.P. likes to do, he likes to move around and let it go down the field a little bit. I'm sure he'll step up and take advantage of his opportunity. I'm excited to see him play and excited to see what he's going to do."
Losman's numbers this season have been respectable. He's completed over 68 percent of his passes with a touchdown and an interception. He's averaging over eight yards a pass attempt and has a passer rating of 91.2.
The former first-round pick has also had some success in his four career games against the Dolphins. The former first-round pick has seven touchdowns against two interceptions and a passer rating of 99.2 against Miami, but Losman doesn't believe it means much.
"They're a completely different team than those teams, we're a completely different team, so I don't really think that way, who you've had success on and who you haven't," he said. "I know who I haven't had success on, and that's pretty much all I think about."
Losman and his teammates are also aware of the fact that in some ways Sunday could be an audition for him knowing his contract is up after the season.
"You never really know what the future holds, so regardless if it is here or somewhere else, it's a chance for him to come out here and play and show everybody, the rest of the league, not just us, what he can do," said Evans.
But Losman is more focused on helping this team down this week as they face a situation where they have to win out to have any hope for the postseason.
"It's a great opportunity for me to get a chance to play and do well for numerous reasons, but I don't really think about it," he said. "Right now, we're very close. I want these guys to experience winning, I want to experience winning. We're a very, very good football team and we just have to keep putting it together and we have an opportunity right in front of our face to do so. I personally want to do well for them, for my teammates. Succeeding… it'll be fun."
