Buffalo Bills HC Rex Ryan
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Opening Comments: Obviously this week we face a new challenge against an opponent that we don’t know very well. One thing we do know, they’re 3-1 and coming off three straight wins against some good football teams. A very physical football team, especially in their defensive line. Obviously the Gurley kid is an amazing player, so they definitely have a lot of talent. They do some things offensively where we’ve got to be super sound in what we do and we better tackles well. But with that, I’ll open it up for questions.
Q: Marcell Dareus said in the USA Today story that he never went to rehab back in August. What can you tell us about what happened there?
A: I think anything dealing with Marcell, I think it’s more prudent for him to answer questions regarding what he did or didn’t do during the suspension. For me, I’m looking at it, it’s my job right now and what I’m focused on in regards to Marcell is getting him ready to play this week, getting him up to speed and getting him ready to play this week. So that’s really where my focus is.
Q: Aren’t you worried about the chemistry developed within the defense? Especially the front seven, how he’ll fit in right away there? Won’t he disrupt that?
A: I don’t think he’s going to disrupt, I think he’s going to add to that group. Obviously he’s a tremendous player individually but Marcell is a guy that is a team guy. He plays within the structure of the defense and he plays hard. That’s all we ask, and he’s going to do a great job. We’re excited about having him in. I think with the other guys, I know everybody’s excited to have Marcell back.
Q: Whatever happened, something troubled him enough that he tells USA today that it’s ADHD and getting a life coach and mentioned Bruce Smith as a mentor. He had some things thrown on him. You as a coach, you guys have a chance to talk to him. What do you think you’re getting back after this four week stretch of him seeking some form of help?
A: Well I think first off with any player you hope that—there’s two things that I look at. You hope that they learn from the mistake that they make, that’s the first thing. And you hope that he’s ready to go and he’s eager and excited about the opportunity to come back and be part of this football team. And I can tell you right now, the answer is yes to that. So it’s a great thing. We’re happy, I’m happy to get him back. I can promise you that.
Q: Does he have a play count?
A: I don’t think there’s going to be anything specific on that number but obviously if you’re in shape, here’s the difference. I mean football shape is way different than, you know, you’re running, you’re doing all that type of stuff. So getting him into game shape. We’ll see. He wouldn’t play as if he had been here the whole time, it’s not like he’s going to have that role. I think we’ll be smart in how we bring him back. With that being said, I want him out there, and we need him out there. I think this is a week that I’m happy he’s back.
Q: Can you outline your offensive tackle situation?
A: I think I’ll start with Jordan (Mills). I think Jordan is going to be just fine. Cordy (Glenn) did a great job. Played through—we had 86 snaps on offense, so we hope we have that many again. That would be outstanding. But Cordy you know, he played well in the game, got through the game, but he’s sore right now. So we’ll probably back him off in practice today for sure. But he is sore. Then having Seantrel (Henderson) back, we’ll see where he’s at. And then the new guy, (Michael) Ola, steps in and he was ready to go. I mean quite honestly guys, we thought he was going to have to start after two days of practice and then Cordy is like “no, I’m ready.” So, I love the kid’s attitude.
Q: Cyrus Kouandjio?
A: Yeah, Kouandjio, he’s coming back from an ankle, and you know, he’s rehabbing. I don’t think he’ll practice. But I know he’s—today I don’t believe he’ll practice—but he is making strides and quickly.
Q: Through four weeks without so many pieces, of the guys who have stepped in, like Corbin Bryant and Lorenzo Alexander, have they exceed your expectations?
A: Well we knew we were getting really good football players, but I think so. I think that when Zach Brown leads the NFL in tackles, I think that’s a great sign. I mean that probably exceeds expectations. We thought he’d play well, but I don’t think anybody expected he’d play this well. Lorenzo Alexander I believe is second in the AFC in sacks along with Jerry Hughes. And he’s doing a great job, and oh by the way, playing great on special teams. We all knew he’d play great on special teams but at the beginning of the year, we did not see this role coming for him. But he earned it and he’s doing a tremendous job for us. You know, Corbin Bryant has always been a good football player. Every time we asked him to step in, he does a great job. And so I’m really not surprised by the way he’s contributed. But overall I think it would be ridiculous for me to not say that those guys combined had probably exceed our expectations.
Q: What do you make of the way that the team has handled adversity of everything that’s gone on, suspensions, injuries, and the firing of Greg Roman?
A: Well I think that we knew, I knew this team was a resilient group. I don’t think there was any doubt. You know it’s never a smooth road that things happen over the course of a season. You know, I think we were more shocked by the way we started the season at 0-2 than we were how these last two games have gone. It’s a confident team, but it’s one that I feel has really come together. They’re so accountable to each other, number one. I think that’s been a real positive for us. They push each other, they drive each other, and man they study. They’re doing an unbelievable job and they work hard. So I think that’s been a real positive for us.
Q: What do you make of Robert Woods’ increased responsibility?
A: Well I definitely think he went from being a number two receiver, to being a number one receiver, you know, through Sammy Watkins’ injury. But he’s always been ready for that. I think he’s an excellent receiver. He’s a complete receiver. You know, he can catch, he can block, he can track the deep ball, he’s courageous. So I think he’s a complete receiver.
Q: Pro Football Talk posted something last night about a comment you made in 2014 about Aaron Donald, saying that he couldn’t hold Sheldon Richardson’s jock strap when he was picked over Sheldon for the Pro Bowl. Supposively this is still stuck with Aaron.
A: I don’t blame him. (Laughs) I never knew the guy. I never even saw him. That was said to me, so I made the comment. Like, hmmm after watching him, oh I want to take that back. You know me, I make some comments that aren’t really good. That’s one of them. This guy is ridiculous. I’ll be honest, he reminds me of John Randle. His quickness, change of directions, I mean, unusual. You just don’t see it. So yeah, that probably wasn’t the smartest comment of all time.
Q: Do you anticipate that Todd Gurley will have some sort of breakout game, similar to last season?
A: Well I think the priority when you go against that team is that you better try to stop him first. I think that’s—this guy is a phenomenal talent and so yeah it’s probably just a matter of time before he does have one of those games. We’re obviously going to do everything in our power to hope that doesn’t happen against us. You know he is, what a talent this kid is. I mean size, speed, vision, you know all of it. So he’s an amazing talent.
Q: Have you looked into acquiring Josh Gordon at all?
A: I have not.
Q: What would it mean for the Bills to win three in a row for the first time in five years?
A: I don’t know but after the game, maybe I’ll have a better handle on it. We’ve got a big challenge in front of us. We know that. You know, going all the way out to the west coast, this team, you know one home game they’ve had and they beat Seattle. So we know they play well at home is what it looks like and you know, right now they’re flying high. So a very talented team that’s physical.
Q: Any plans to deal with the time change?
A: We’re going to head out on Saturday. We did big studies. I don’t know. What is it? US something or other. The Olympic deal. What is that like USOC or something like that? A lot of letters in there. For a dyslexic person, that’s hard. Lot of those. But you know it wasn’t like I just said let’s go on Saturday. No, we did a lot of research and quite honestly they said you’ll be at your peak performance if you go out a week early, or you go out the night before. So in the past I’ve gone out Friday, every time I’ve gone out Friday. I tried to stay in East coast time, all that stuff. That never worked. So we leave it in the hands of the people who know what they’re doing. That’s why we’re going out, treating it as a normal road game, leave Saturday.
Q: What changed for Nick O’Leary?
A: Just the fact that I think he’s really comfortable, the mental part of it. Sometimes when you have a lot on your plate, unless you’re dialed in, you’re super sharp with it, you can’t be as physical as you want to be. And now I think he’s handled—he knows our system. He handles what we have and that allows his physical talents to show and I think that’s what we’re seeing. I mean this guy was a Mackey award winner in college, for the best tight end in football, so we know he’s a good football player. He’s always had production, and now we’re starting to see it. You know, really through his hard work I think is why you’re seeing his play elevate.
Q: Do you have any plan to when you’ll formally activate Marcell and/or Seantrel?
A: We’ll probably let the week go. We have time on our side so we’ll see how the week goes and then as I mentioned, I’ll anticipate definitely having Marcell up this week. Seantrel, we’ll see how it looks.
Q: What kind of shape is Marcell in?
A: I can’t even tell you right now. I think we’ll have a better idea after we practice today.
Q: You call him a team player but in the team’s own release, said they’re disappointed in him putting himself ahead of the team. Have you had any personal conversations with him about that issue?
A: I mentioned it myself that I was disappointed that we’re having to deal with it but I think what I se in the meeting rooms, in the classroom, on the practice field, I’d say he is a team player. I don’t think there’s any question about that. You know, he made a mistake off the field. I’m not standing here saying he didn’t. He made a mistake. There’s no doubt about that and it’s disappointing.
QB Tyrod Taylor
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Q: Tyrod, this defense obviously looks pretty good, especially up front where do you see it posing a challenge?
A: Definitely very good at rushing the passer and they’ve got a bunch of good guys, very good players on the back end as well at the linebacker level and in the secondary. Definitely have to be fundamentally sound and disciplined against this group they do a good job at trying to pressure the quarterback and every play is definitely going to count.
Q: These last two games, especially this last one, the involvement of you continuing; is it more so that you’re in a comfort zone and is this change that has been done to the offense, the tweaks or whatever it is really benefiting you? Do you notice that?
A: I would say that the main focus is that we just continue to get better. We were one or two plays off in the first couple of games that we lost. I would just say we continue to keep learning from the things that we put out that fail. We didn’t play a perfect game by any means last week, but we did a good enough job to get a “W”. But if we continue to keep learning and getting better in areas that we can I think this team, this offense will continue to take strides in the right direction and that’s what we’re planning to do.
Q: There were a couple of those long throws that you just missed on or over threw; is there still a timing thing that goes with limited work that you kind of had before the season, are you still finding your way?
A: Definitely. We’re definitely building chemistry every week and I try to stay out there at the practice with the guys that I’m just getting reps with just trying to contain and build that trust with each other. Those plays that come, we’re looking for them sooner than later, but just have to continue to keep trusting those guys to be out there to make plays and I have tremendous confidence in their ability and we just have to connect on a couple of those plays.
Q: What did you like that you saw in those guys to keep singling out those guys to step up?
A: Robert (Woods) has always done a good job at his match ups and sometimes coverage just dictates where the ball goes and sometimes match up dictates where the ball goes sometimes as well, but going into this game I felt very confident that Robert (Woods) would go out there as a success and he had a heck of a game. He did a good job like I said winning his match ups and he’s a hungry guy. He wasn’t the football and he’s going out there and playing with that attitude, so the more we continue to connect the better off we are.
Q: Coming from the same general area have you practiced with Justin Hunter at all or is this your first exposure to him?
A: Of course we know of each other. I actually played with his cousin, Marcus Davis, was my receiver at Virginia Tech, so I’ve seen him on campus visiting his cousin a bunch of times, but we ran into each other a bunch of times back home as well too. As far as playing with each other this is our first time.
Q: His size can’t hurt in the red zone I would think.
A: For sure, definitely rushing to a receiver of course size wise an athletic guy can go up and get the ball too. We’ll see what type of playing we have for him. I just have to keep playing with him and see if we can work him in.
Q: What do you notice from Nick O’Leary just seems like he’s coming on strong this year.
A: Confident guy. He always has been able to catch the football. It was just a matter of time him going out there playing with the confidence that he could play at this level. If you watch his preseason games, every time the ball comes to him he makes the play, but preseason versus regular season is different. He’s had a couple opportunities to go out there and make some plays and he’s done it so definitely a valuable receiver and a play maker. Every time the ball gets to him he makes the play, so it’s hard to beat a guy like that in football.
Q: Yeah he seems pretty confident, is this the best you’ve seen him since you’ve been here?
A: Yes, for sure. Healthy wise he’s playing at a top notch level right now. One of the top backs in the league and you can just see that extra burst when that ball is in his hands. Hopefully we can continue to keep that going and keep getting him the ball.
DT Marcell Dareus
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Opening Comments: First and foremost, I just want to thank Terry and Kim Pegula for supporting me, the organization. I want to thank my coaches, my teammates and my family for the support. You know the Hall of Famers of the organization, they really had my back. They really supported me big time and I’m just happy to be back, happy to be playing football, happy to be a part of my guys, be a part of the team.
Q: Marcell can you walk us through what happened. From the moment we got that release, the statement from you and the team on August 20 (2016) saying that you were going to go to a rehabilitation facility and then as it turns out you, according to what you said to USA Today you did treatment for ADHD, explain kind of what the path was.
A: To be honest, we just took a course of action. I just wanted to seek out some professionals to help me out with my everyday situations that I kind of deal with and from there just looking to move passed it. Just kind of continue my ongoing help and helping me with my decision making. To be honest.
Q: So, were you an outpatient at a facility? What exactly did you do? Because you didn’t go away from what we understood. Were you like an outpatient that you would go somewhere one day, you’d come back here. We heard you were in meetings and stuff. What exactly was the treatment that you underwent?
A: To be honest I just want to move passed it. I sought the help that I needed and with Dr. Hollowell we just kind of worked on some things and he helped me a great deal. And now that I’m back I just want to focus on football and be the person that I want to be and just continue to move forward and be the best teammate and person period.
Q: Marcell, back in training camp you had said “Judging from my actions”, how important was it for you to make this decision and seek outside help?
A: I mean, I just really wanted to be proactive with this, this time and I just saw some issues with myself that I’ve never sought out help for and I started reading a couple books and wanted to get in contact and the team really helped me put forth this action that was set to really seek out the help that I really needed and from there we’ve just got to move on forward.
Q: Did you ever suspect when you were younger that you would have ADHD? Were you ever tested for it at any time before this?
A: To be honest, I just really want to move passed that, that’s not why I’m here.
Q: Yes or no, we understand that you want to move passed that, but did you ever suspect that you might have ADHD?
A: Well, I already said I did, so let’s just move passed that. Do you have any other questions?
Q: You said you dealt with that when you were in Alabama, that’s the story, so do you want to go with that?
A: Mhm, yeah. I mean that’s the story. You can pull the articles. I’m not here to talk about that.
Q: No, I just want to make sure that’s what you said in the USA Today, so we’ve got the story and we can forget about it. Marcell one thing from that though is life coach was an interesting thing from that and the reference to Bruce Smith, just what does a life coach mean in this dynamic in Bruce, what kind of help did you go through with that?
A: Bruce just gave me a lot of positive reinforcement. It’s pretty big to talk to a Hall of Famer. And I really sought out the help and he told me he needed to talk with me and I talked a little bit with the Hall of Famers and they were really like you need to go talk to Bruce and we sat down, I went to see him and we had a good time and he really put things into perspective for me.
Q: Kyle Williams said you’re in a really good place, but in your words can you describe the place you’re in now.
A: I mean I’m just happy with what I did over the four weeks. I really was proactive to better myself to be honest. Just did exactly what I wanted to do. I’m happy with what I’ve done. I’m happy for the future. I’m really optimistic for the future.
Q: Do you feel a sense of determination now that you can play again? To show what this defense has been missing even though the defense has held pretty well without you, but how do you sort of see now that you’re back what you can do for it.
A: Talk is cheap. It’s all about excellence. I’m going to do the best that I can. I mean we’re all doing good. I’m not trying to mess up anything. I just want to come in, and be smooth and do what I can to help where I can and just be the person on the team that I can possibly be.
Q: Marcell, had you ever had much contact with Bruce (Smith). I’m sure you saw him around here on an occasion, but had you ever really spent any time with Bruce?
A: On occasions, briefly in passing. I met him a couple times, but it wasn’t like a solid sit down to really get to know the guy.
Q: Did he seek you out or did you seek him out?
A: I knew we were retiring his jersey and he was coming into town so I called him and just kind of said; Bruce I would like to talk to you before you go out to the field like that and we sat down and had a heart to heart and got to know each other a lot better.
Q: He had a similar situation and he was suspended under the same circumstances earlier in his career. Did you guys get into that?
A: Our conversation, I’d like to keep it confidential.
Q: Did you go down to his place in Virginia?
A: Yes. I spent some time with him to really just get to know him as a person.
Q: Can you give us a break down of the itinerary workout that you followed over these four weeks. What kind of things were you able to do and what kind of condition do you feel you’re in?
A: Well, I did exactly what I needed to do. I stayed on track, so now I’m here and I’m ready to go.
Q: What was it like watching your team play?
A: Oh man, it was a killer because I love being around my guys. We bleed, we sweat, we work hard together and to know that I killed four weeks of being here with these guys; it ate me up. They constantly messaged me. They constantly kept me in the loop. It was really just; Marcell, we’ve got your back, we can’t wait for you to get back, just be ready when you get here. It meant a lot to me.
Q: Which guys reached out in particular, were there certain guys? It sounds like Kyle Williams was pretty close.
A: A couple guys. I really keep it confidential because it’s between me and them.
Q: Marcell, in that sense, how eager were you to be back on the field come Sunday?
A: I’m pretty eager I mean I was chomping at the bit for a while, so now I’m ready to get back out there.
Q: It was pretty devastating when the league called you out for being a player that smoked pot, do you still feel that way?
A: I’m not even really here to talk about that. I’m happy to be here. I’m just happy to be back with my team. This just is my world. I love football. I’m just happy to be back.
Q: What was your reaction to the NFL saying they ban synthetic marijuana?
A: I don’t know anything about that.
Q: You just said talk is cheap. Have you delivered to management to ownership to coach any sort of message like look, this has happened, this is five games that I missed in my career, this will never happen again. Have you gone down that road at all?
A: We’ve had extensive conversations, we spoke before.
Q: What would be your message?
A: I mean I’m happy to be a better person, I’m happy to be back. I’m just going to do the best that I can. Talk is cheap. It’s not about words, it’s all action now.
Q: Marcell, how do you feel this whole incident, the last four weeks has changed you?
A: I really feel like I got exactly what I needed. I really sought out help when I never really asked for it. So I took the proper steps to really help myself be the person I want to be.
Q: What do you feel that you needed? Was it mental support? What do you feel that you really needed?
A: I really just needed to talk to some people. Just needed some positive reinforcement to give me some good direction, from people that don’t really want anything from me that really just wanted to help me.
Q: Do you plan on continuing treatment?
A: It’s an ongoing process.
Q: How ready do you feel to be back out there?
A: I’m extremely ready.
Q: Do you think you need a play count? A certain amount of plays that you can be doing?
A: I mean coach doesn’t want me to kill myself now. I’m pretty eager. They can tell by the way I practiced, the way I was out there with the guys. I’m pretty eager to get out there. I have a lot of built up aggression, so I’m just ready to go. I can say that much.
RB LeSean McCoy
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Q: Can we talk about the Rams defensive front? What have you seen in them?
A: I mean they’re a good team. They’ve got an outstanding player from Pittsburgh University, Aaron Donald, heck of a player. Better watch out for him. And they’re a fast group. Not very big, but they move all together. They want to get after the quarterback. They want to penetrate the run game. Heck of a group. I can see why they’re 3-1.
Q: What did you see differently than Arizona? How do you adjust to teams that’ll focus on the run?
A: Well just like we did. They kind of tried to stop the run. They did a pretty good job. I thought we converted the running game when we needed to. Made some plays. I mean the guys up front blocked well. Defense on their side, they did some different things just to try to stop the running game, brought an extra guy down time to time. But like Tyrod (Taylor) had a great game. He converted third downs, the “give me” throws, he took them. Whatever they kind of gave us, he took advantage of it. So I think it’s tough to kind of stop this offense. When you want to stop the run and have an answer to all the different kinds of runs we have, with the pitches and the options and Q and dot formation, so a lot of the different things we’re doing, you know, even with the wildcat formations we’re doing. Doing all that, you’ve got to prepare for it.
Q: How do you like taking those direct snaps in the wildcat?
A: I like it. I did it in Philly, I did it in college, so I like it a lot. So different. Gives a different type of look to the defense to kind of prepare for.
Q: What’s the advantage?
A: Yeah, just getting the ball immediately and letting me run. That’s pretty much it. You try to get the fast snap, try to get the defense out of line. It’s simple, easy.
Q: What’s it like receiving a bit more with Sammy Watkins out?
A: Yeah we’ve been doing different things to get me some one on one opportunities in the passing game. Depends what they bring out. A lot of teams don’t really bring their linebackers out on me. You know so if that happens, you know, guys in the slot can be effective.
Q: What do you make of running the option more?
A: Yeah felt good. Feel like getting the ball more and more so I can be involved in the offense from the running game to the passing game. You know, still some plays I want back. And I think it’s having the option of the with the quarterback runs, with me and Tyrod making the defense putting pressure on the “pick me or pick him,” and that helps out. I think more and more I’m getting better and better. Next time I look up, we should be in that top five running game. And that’s what happens. This is a long season, but I’m feeling good. We’re winning games. This is a big game for us to win this week. Good team. I think that if you have a big divisional game that you win, the next one really matters.
Q: Any thoughts on Todd Gurley?
A: I haven’t watched too much of him, but from the clips I’ve seen, highlights, he’s looked really good. He looked good in college and he bounced back from an injury and he looks good to me.
Filed under: Buffalo Bills
Tagged with: Buffalo Bills, Marcel Dareus, Rex Ryan, Tyrod Taylor
Sorry, comments are closed on this post.