Published: September 17, 2008 10:29 pm      

BILLS NOTEBOOK: Whitner savors the taste of victory

ORCHARD PARK — Donte Whitner was out for dinner the other night at the Buffalo Chophouse. A Bills fan, excited about the team’s 2-0 start, saw Whitner and offered him a drink.

Not just any drink, though, a $175 shot.

Safe to say, it’s good to be the Bills — and Whitner — right now. Peter King of Sports Illustrated has them in the Top 10 of his power rankings. Vegas oddsmakers have the team as a 9.5-point favorite for Sunday’s game against Oakland.

“People around town are excited,” Whitner said. “That’s what happens when you win, and we want to continue to keep it going.”

And though there’s plenty of smiles inside the locker room, coach Dick Jauron cautioned that his team won’t overlook an Oakland team that comes into Sunday’s game 1-1.

“I don’t think there’s any way that this could be an overconfident football team. We just haven’t won enough consistently to feel like we’ve arrived anywhere. We worked so hard to get what little success we have right here,” Jauron said. “It has not been easy. I do believe we are getting better, we are taking steps, but I don’t think there’s anybody on our squad that’s overconfident, nor do they have the right to be. We’ll be challenged every single week, and every single week we have to bring everything we have to stay in a game, hopefully get the upper hand and somehow keep it at the end.”

The challenge Sunday will come in the form of an Oakland rushing attack — featuring rookie running back Darren McFadden — that put up more than 300 yards rushing in a Week 2 win at Kansas City.

“Rushing for over 300 yards, I don’t care if you’re playing against a junior high football team. You run for 300 yards, that’s a lot of yards in the NFL,” Whitner said. “We’re going to have to come out and play hard to beat this football team.”

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Sunday’s weather in Jacksonville was still being felt at Wednesday’s practice, as the Bills were a tired bunch coming off the field.

“Guys were still sore, feeling a little drained, because when we go down there and the weather is so hot, you sweat a lot and you lose a lot of sodium. So you come back here and ... you’re pretty drained,” Whitner said. “That’s why guys get massages, try to stay off of their feet as much as possible, but even that doesn’t really help us too much.”

When asked if he was fully recovered from playing in the heat, offensive tackle Langston Walker played coy.

“Being the well-conditioned athlete that I am, every thing is easy for me. But just to make sure that some of the other guys on the team don’t feel bad, yes, I did have a tough practice,” he said with a smile.

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The Bills will host their third annual “Billieve — Breast Cancer Awareness” program Sunday.

Pre-game activities will include a pink ribbon distribution to fans at the entrance gates of Ralph Wilson Stadium , breast cancer survivors on the field forming Stampede row and the presentation of the game ball, which will be a special pink football. The Jills cheerleaders will also be using pink pom-poms during the game.

In addition, the Bills have designed exclusive items such as pink T-shirts, hats, knit caps and Billieve logo mini-helmets that will be available during the season. The Bills and Delaware North Companies Sportservice will donate $5 from the sale of every such item to the Western New York chapter of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure affiliate.

The Komen affiliate promotes and aids in the work of the Cancer Services Program of New York . These county partnerships provide breast health screening and cancer treatment services for uninsured or underinsured women who qualify.