Aaron Schobel having second thoughts?

Buffalo Bills players are scheduled to report to training camp on Wednesday. Simply put, Aaron Schobel won’t be there. He likely won’t be there when practice opens on Thursday, but the 9-year veteran told Eyewitness Sports on Tuesday that he hasn’t ruled out playing for the Bills in 2010.

Reached at his home in Texas, Schobel told Eyewitness Sports Director Jeff Russo on Tuesday that he’s not made a decision on his future, but that at this point he’s at least considering coming back next season. That’s a change of stance from when Schobel stopped just short of saying he was retiring about a month ago, but the veteran says he’s on a diet, working out, and is leaving the door open for a possible return.

“I would say I’m leaning more towards doing it (playing) then I was a month ago”, Schobel said on Tuesday. “At this point I’m thinking about it. At that point (a month ago) I didn’t want to even consider it. I wanted to enjoy my life like I was done with football. Lately both me and my wife have decided we have to do something.” (WKBW)

Mind of Joe

I guess I’m suppose to be happy that Brett Fav…err…Aaron Schobel may decide to finally grace his presence at Bills training camp at some point. Look, I’ve said it before, I’m not a big Aaron Schobel fan and now that it is becoming clearer that the guy doesn’t like training camp, I’m starting to dislike him even more.

Look, I know that in most cases I would chalk up missing training camp as much ado about nothing. However, if Schobel comes back to the Bills, he’s going to have to learn a new position and a new scheme. Those sort of job demands should light a fire under Schobel’s ass to get to camp, or at least make the Bills press the issue with him.

Now, I understand what Schobel fans will say, “Hey, the Bills have no proven pass rushers and need all the help they can get.” I get that logic, but you have to understand that the Bills are rebuilding. Sure, fans will start reading previews about the Bills and the excitement of training camp will make people dream of the playoffs, but this team isn’t close to competing. And by the time this team starts contending, Schobel is going to be raising cattle in Texas 24/7. Now, if the team isn’t going to do anything this year, then what’s the point of keeping Aaron Maybin on the bench? What? So he can work on his special teams tackle celebrations?

The Bills have to get Maybin on the field to find out if he can play or not. Sorry, but Maybin isn’t going to learn much riding the bench, especially since he’s learning a new position. If the Bills didn’t have a young player like Maybin waiting in the wings, then I could deal with Schobel returning. However, Maybin’s development takes precedent over dealing with Schobel’s retiring or unretiring.

As for what the Bills should do with Schobel if he returns; I say trade him. I know that’s easier said than done because of the money he makes, but there has to be a market for a guy coming off a 10-sack year. I think having a defensive end combination of Mario Williams and Schobel would be pretty impressive if you’re a Texans fan. As for the Bills on the field, it would be a step back, but in the long run, it would workout for the Bills and Maybin. Now, if the Bills decided to cut Kelsay and put Schobel at the other outside linebacker spot, then I could deal with that as well.

On a side note, you have to wonder if Schobel is just planting the seeds for other teams to at least call the Bills and gage interest in trading for him. This marks the first time since the end of last season that Schobel is showing signs of wanting to play football. Hearing that statement would only entice other GMs to make calls to the Bills and enquire about his availability. It has to sound a lot better to a hear from a guy that wants to play football, instead of staying home with his kids, right?

Lets not forget (Even though the media did when reaching Schobel for comment) that it was just a month ago that Schobel said, “The ball was in the Bills’ court” with regarding his future. Now, no one has asked Schobel what he meant by that, but on the surface, the logic seemed to imply that he wanted to get moved and it was up to the Bills to make it happen. At least, that’s what I got from it. So, stay tuned.