Even if Terrell Owens won‘t confess, he knows it was supposed to better than this.  It doesn’t matter Buffalo was the only team that showed serious interest when he became a free agent this summer; things were supposed to go better.

Owens with Lee Evans was to be a deadly combination.  Who were defenses going to focus on?  Add a budding Pro Bowler at running back in Marshawn Lynch, and Trent Edwards was prepared to bust out in 2009.  Owens expected to be the catalyst for an offense ready to explode and end a nine-year playoff drought. I mean, surely his signing was more than a $6.5-million marketing ploy by Russ Brandon, no?

Even if he were only here for one season, he’d be the toast of the town.  Jerseys, hats, cereal– the works.  Lead the Bills to the postseason and the playoff-starved Bills fans would embrace him like none other since the arrival of Drew Bledsoe.  From the time he arrived at the airport to hundreds of psyched well wishers, to getting a key to the city of Buffalo the next day, T.O. mania was in full force.  If you don’t believe me, ask the ticket office.

But things haven’t quite worked out that way.  The Bills are 2-4, perfectly on pace for that perennial Dick Jauron-led  four-peat of a 7-9 record.  With the exception of the Tampa Bay blowout in week two, Owens has had little impact on… or off the field.

Owens has been nearly robotic in his dealings with the media.  If you’re not looking closely, you’d think you were hearing from Josh Reed.  He’s taking the “I’m just going with the plays that are called” company line to a whole new level.  He didn’t even want to speak to the media at all following games, but the organization forced him.

He may or may not rub you the wrong way, but for all the hype about his past media meltdowns and the tossing of teammates and coaches under the bus, Owens is one smart cookie.  He knows with his one-year Buffalo deal he’s playing for one final big payday.  He’s not going to further damage his ticking time bomb reputation by being controversial in the team-first Buffalo organization.

Even though Edwards has struggled badly, Owens hasn’t said, at least publicly, a single negative thing about him. When Owens takes the field Sunday he’ll be doing so with a new starting quarterback.  Had this been 2006, Owens probably would’ve challenged him to a fight by now.

With  Edwards out with a head injury, it will be up to Ryan Fitpatrick to get a lethargic offense going.  Fitzpatrick only completed 10-of-25 passes in relief of Edwards last week in New York, but he clearly was more determined to get the ball in the hands of his wide receivers, rather than check down on nearly every play.

It showed with his teammate Evans, who caught a 37-yard catch and run touchdown when Fred Jackson was open for a dump off, and had another long catch in overtime called back by blind guy in press box instant replay.

Owens is confident in Fitzpatrick’s ability to move the team along.

“We know that Ryan has that experience,” Owens said.  “He’ll put us in the right situations and its up to us to kind of make those plays materialize once he gets the ball into his hands.”

But regardless if it’s Fitzpatrick, Edwards or Jim Kelly under center, Owens needs to take advantage of his opportunities.  He’s had more than his fair of drops when the ball comes his way.

For his part, Owens admits he needs to play better.

“ Personally I feel like that I need to play better,” Owens said. “Both sides of my game and that’s running and the pass game.  We all have to step our games up now.”

For that to happen, Alex Van Pelt is going to have to find ways to get Owens the ball more.  With the exception of the Jets game (he was thrown to eight times) teams have been able to take him out of the game with various coverage.  The onus is on the staff to find ways to line him up in different positions and get him the ball at spots he can make defenders miss and make big plays.

“With the limited amount of touches I’ve had obviously it’s not anywhere near where I’ve been throughout my career,” he said.  “Guys that understand the game, and just to help you guys (media) understand the reason I’m not getting the amount of catches is because of the defensive coverage’s.  A lot of teams are rolling coverage my way so the quarterback’s progression is to not force the ball.”

“It’s up to the coaching staff and everybody involved to communicate and try to create some ways to get myself more involved.  We’re doing that.  It’s a work in progress.  You can see I haven’t had any gripes about anything, I’m just going with the flow of what’s going on and going with the plays that are called.”

“There are plays that I need to make that I’m not making out there, and so I put that on my shoulders.”

Owens is used to facing different coverage packages throughout his career.  He’s just not used to not getting the ball plenty anyway.

“ I’ve faced a number of coverage’s throughout my career.  With those coverage’s, the (offensive) coordinators have been able to kind of move me around in the offense, create plays and do things with formations and shifts and things of that nature.  With this offense it’s not like that.  I understand that and you just have to go with the plays that are called and again, I put the amount of plays that are have come my way and I’m not making I have to put that on my shoulders because I have to make those plays.”

While Owens continues to take the Bills team-first approach, his receiver counterpart this Sunday, Steve Smith is not.  He’s clearly frustrated over his lack of production in Carolina’s offense.  Smith only has 21 catches for 259 yards in five games and has been shut out from the end zone.

Again, Owens is smart enough to know anything controversial he says could damage his chances when he becomes a free agent after the season is over.  He’ll never say it in public, but barring an unforeseen change in circumstances Owens stay in Buffalo will be figuratively nothing more than a “New York Minute”.

Having said that, Owens’ understands Smith’s irritation.

“Well, I feel his frustration. I know where he’s coming from.  Especially when you know you can play this game at a high level.  For whatever reason I can’t really comment on why he’s not being involved.  Obviously he’s voicing his opinion and I’ve been there before and they have to deal with that on that side.”

But I totally understand where he’s coming from, especially when you feel like you have the talents to be a game breaker as you’ve always been.  For whatever reason it’s not getting done down there.

Owens should be able to relate to Smith.  He’s on pace to have his worst since all the back in 1996 when he was just a rookie in San Francisco.  At this current rate Owens will only finish with 40 receptions for about 574 yards.

“For myself, I understand the situation I’m in here. Everyday I just go out and practice hard and try to get better everyday.”