J.P. Losman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

J.P. Losman
Date of birth	March 12, 1981
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Tulane
NFL Draft	2004 / Round 1/ Pick 23
Statistics	Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
2004-Present	Buffalo Bills

Jonathan Paul "J.P." Losman (born March 12, 1981) is a football player for the Buffalo Bills franchise.

The Bills drafted Losman, a quarterback who played at Tulane, in 2004 with the 22nd pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Losman grew up in Venice, California, the son of an American father and Mexican mother and played quarterback at Venice High School. Losman's parents divorced when he was 5. His mother juggled a full-time job as a customer service representative and a part-time job as an usher at the Great Western Forum. He attended college at UCLA and transferred to Tulane.

In 2002, in his first year as a full-time starter, Losman led the Green Wave to an 8-5 record and a victory in the inaugural Hawaii Bowl.

Losman finished his collegiate career having completed 570-of-987 passes (57.7 percent) for 6,754 yards, 60 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He also ran for 241 yards with 10 scores on 237 carries.

In 2004, he had made brief appearances in three games, completing 3-of-5 passes for 32 yards and 1 interception while backing up Drew Bledsoe.

Following the Bills' February 2005 release of Drew Bledsoe, Losman was named the team's starting quarterback by head coach Mike Mularkey.

In the first game of the 2005 season (Losman's first professional start), Losman led the Bills to a 22-7 victory over the Houston Texans. Losman was unable to repeat this performance in following weeks - guiding the Bills to three consecutive losses. This below-average performance caused the Bills to bench Losman in favor of veteran quarterback Kelly Holcomb. After Holcomb suffered a head injury in the first quarter of the Bills' Week 10 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Losman saw playing time and led the Bills to a 14-3 victory. Since then, the Bills went on to lose all but one of their remaining games in 2005 with Holcomb and Losman splitting time under center.

The Bills cleaned house during the following offseason with changes in management and the coaching staff. Marv Levy (the team's new general manager and former Bills head coach) and Dick Jauron (the team's new head coach) planned on having Losman compete for the starting job against Holcomb and free-agent signee Craig Nall. Losman won the job during the preseason.

Losman has had a better 2006 season. He's thrown 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 13 games, with 300-yard games against the New York Jets and Houston Texans. Losman led a last-minute drive to beat the Texans and contributed to a last-minute field goal kicked by Rian Lindell to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. Losman tried to repeat a last-minute comeback against the San Diego Chargers but failed and lost by three points (24-21).

The Bills are currently 6-7.