Spiraling up: lost as a rookie, J.P. Losman is grading out well in his early days as the Bill's starting quarterback

Eric Moulds chuckles as he recounts the difficulties J.P. Losman experienced calling plays at a Bills minicamp last spring.

"He was just a rookie, and the coaches were throwing so many things at him, his head was spinning," says Moulds, the Bills' veteran receiver. "A couple of times, he blurted out some plays that must have been from his high school, college and Pop Warner playbooks.

At the first minicamp of his second season, though, you see a new and improved Losman. You see a self-assured quarterback who has become as familiar with the playbook as he is with the back of his passing hand.

Since early February, when the Bills released Drew Bledsoe and handed the offense to Losman, he has spent more time in a film room than Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee and Oliver Stone combined. Losman's six-day-a-week regimen, under the tutelage of quarterbacks coach Sam Wyche, has paid early dividends.

"It's night and day," Moulds says of Losman's transformation. "Last spring, he didn't even know what he was supposed to do on certain plays. Now, he knows what all 11 guys are supposed to do on every play."

That's good because the pressure soon will weigh heavily on the guy who was carrying Bledsoe's helmet off the practice field last year. Now, Losman is carrying the hopes of a football-crazed region that's still yearning for the second coming of Jim Kelly--nine years after the greatest quarterback in Bills history retired.

After handing the ball to running back Willis McGahee, Jonathan Paul Losman curses at himself. He is upset that it took two fumbled exchanges to finally get a simple running play right.

"I think he is going to be one of those guys who gets madder than a riled-up hornet's nest when things don't go right," says Wyche, who aided in the development of Joe Montana with the 49ers and Boomer Esiason with the Bengals. "I don't think he's going to lose control. But I do think he's going to demand a lot of himself and his teammates, and that's not a bad attitude to have as a quarterback."

Despite the botched handoffs and a few passes that sail so high that Yao Ming would have been hard-pressed to pull them down, Losman is pleased with his first official practice as the starter.

"Whether the coaches or players want to say it or not, I think everyone was looking to see if I actually knew what I was doing," he says. "I could see more focus on me than usual, so it was exciting."

The veterans, some who were Bledsoe backers, liked what they saw. "He's light-years ahead of where he was last year," says right guard Chris Villarrial. "You can tell he's done his homework by the command he showed in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. There was no hesitation or confusion on his part. He knew his stuff."

Losman was so confident he even corrected his coaches during the second day of minicamp workouts.

"Now, that's impressive," Villarrial says, grinning. "Of course, you don't want to get in the habit of correcting coaches--that might get you in trouble--but he definitely showed me something there."

Losman also earned points by saying he needed to earn the respect of the veterans.

"To me, that was a very mature statement from a guy who's only 24 years old and hasn't started a game in this league," Villarrial says. "So far, I think he's going about this whole situation the right way."

All of the receivers are covered and a blitzer is boring in on Losman, so he takes off. He puts a spin move on Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes and isn't forced out of bounds until he has gained 25 yards.

"Whew, look at that boy run," says Bills strong safety Lawyer Milloy.

The play would have resulted in a sack if the cement-footed Bledsoe had been at quarterback. A big reason the Bills drafted Losman in the first round is because he can make something out of nothing. Despite playing behind a shaky line at Tulane in his four years, Losman dodged enough defenders to throw for 60 touchdowns and run for 10 more. He accomplished all that even though he was a starter for only his last two years.

"J.P. has the ability to make guys miss and complete passes for big gainers," says Milloy. "And if he sees a seam, he can take off for some serious yardage. He's going to enable us to do some things offensively we couldn't do before."

Milloy, who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots, began bonding with Losman at the beginning of last season, when Milloy was rehabbing a broken forearm and Losman a broken leg. Their chats reminded Milloy of ones he had in New England with Tom Brady early in his career.

"J.P. was saying all the right things and seemed so eager to learn and get better and get out there and help the team," Milloy says. "That's exactly how Brady was. I gave J.P. the same advice I gave Tom. I told him to do everything you can to prepare yourself for success when your opportunity comes."