McCoy Says Players Back Rex

RB LeSean McCoy

December 14, 2016

Q: Looking back at the film of the game on Sunday is there anything specific that you can point out on why the running game didn’t go the way you wanted?

A: They just played our scheme. They did a good job. They made some plays, they just adjusted. Everything that we wanted to run they just guessed right. A lot of credit goes out to them. So that’s it. I can’t really say anything more about it. I mean they played well, they just got done what they wanted to accomplish as far as blitzing to the run. You know, they made plays. Simple as that.

Q: You hear a lot about Rex Ryan being the worst coach in the league and he’s going to be let go. How does that affect you guys as players?

A: I mean as players, you know we support our coach. A lot of the blame goes to the head coach, but there’s some things that we account for. As players we’re not always playing well. You know, coaches’ jobs are to put us in the right position to make plays. They’re giving us the opportunity and that’s really it. So we can’t really control if he’s here, if he’s not here. We’ve just gotta go out there each day, playing and getting better. If it was up to me, I’d want my coach here. I think that Rex (Ryan) is a good coach. I think he’s the guy for the job, so that’s my opinion on it, but that’s above my pay grade. Myself and all the players, we can’t control that. So that’s just rumors.

Q: How do you expect the team to react to what’s being said in the media?

A: I can just talk for myself. I don’t really get into what the media says or what the rumors are. That’s something I never got into, so I’m just speaking on experience. I’ve never paid too much attention.

Q: You talk about how much you feel you can do better, your yards by yourself you’re about 30% of the offense. How much realistically can you do to help this offense because 30% is pretty good.

A: Yeah that’s a nice number. There’s just different plays that I wish I had back. That maybe if I made a correct move or broke another tackle, those are all the things you think about. If there’s a play that I might have lost a yard or two that I could have stuck with the play how it was designed the right way and got the amount of yardage. It’s hard to just pick out different things, but just knowing myself, evaluating myself every game. Most players, good players, they aren’t really honest. The media will find a way to blame it on the next player, but if I’m not playing well I’ll say it. If I’m not playing good, if I need to improve or there are plays I miss I’m not scared to point that out because I know the type of player I am, personally. So, it’s all about being honest with yourself. You start talking about 30%, but there’s also some room for improvement in different runs, different reads, that I can get better with.

Q: Is there ever a feeling of will it be us? When you’re going into a team that hasn’t won a game?

A: Yeah you’re right. You’re totally right. When a team loses almost every game, it comes that question well who will be the team that they will beat. You know, you never want to be that team, so I don’t know how it feels to be in that situation, as far as losing every game, but I’m sure that they’re anxious to win. I can just imagine getting hyped for every game and getting pumped up and then you lose every game. I’m sure they’re coming here and they’ll be pumped to get a win. But we don’t want to be the team that gives them their first official win, so that’s just the mindset.

Q: Is there any satisfaction that you can take out of your season?

A: First of all, the seasons not over.

Q: Sure, but individually?

A: It’s hard to really think about, individually. It’s hard to think about success when you’re not winning games. You know, one of my best seasons was a losing season, stats wise and that kind of sucked. So, you always want to win, I mean that’s why you play the game. You play the game to win, compete, take care of your family. That’s the main reason that I play this game.

Q: Any concerns with your running this much?

A: No. I feel young, I feel good. I’m not like other back that can’t really take a pounding. The way that I maneuver out of different tackles, you see my playing style. I don’t really take any blows, knock on wood. And thank God especially, for not having too many injuries. The most I’ve ever been hurt, was here, with hamstrings and small things, so I’m really excited about the running. I think we have enough talent in the players that we can get it done.

Q: LeSean you know your football history, you know stats, things like that, do you have any goals you want to obtain before statistically maybe or team wise that you want to obtain before you’re done?
A: I just want to get a championship. I have a lot of different friends that have won. Just the joy they get out of that, having won a championship.  That’s something you can’t take from that person, from that group of guys. You know that 10 years later, when I’m gone and out of the league I’m sure that I can call my guys up Jerome Felton,  hey man, we talk about the championship drive. You know, the whole process, the whole journey. That’s something pretty cool. I know a lot of old superstar players with championships, some with no championships. If you go back to my college, Pittsburgh, there’s so many guys that haven’t won championships like Dan Marino. I’m sure, Dan had a great time, but we have small talks about that and other guys like Tony Dorsett, so you always want to get that ring, that’s that ultimate goal.

Buffalo Bills HC Rex Ryan
Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Opening Statement: Alright guys. Here [are] the players that will not participate today: Lorenzo Alexander, that’s kind of a veteran day off; Charles Clay, knee [injury]; Cordy Glenn, back [injury]; Lerentee McCray is still in the concussion protocol; Sammy Watkins, foot [injury]; and Kyle Williams, back [injury]; and then Shaq Lawson and Tyrod Taylor will be full participants – Shaq Lawson, knee [injury]; Tyrod Taylor, groin [injury]. So that’s pretty much it on the injury front. Alright? So with that, go ahead. Open it up to you guys.

Q: Can you say any more about Kyle [Williams]?

A: No, he seems to be doing, obviously, much better than he was. But, you know, what that means – very hopeful that he goes this week.

Q: You have enough problems to worry about, obviously, but you’re playing an 0-13 team. Is there any sense of “Man, you don’t want to be the team that loses to an 0-13 team.”? Is there any of that in the building? That “We can’t be that team.”

A: I think we need a win so bad that it doesn’t matter who you’re up against. The fact that the team’s 0-13, I don’t think, changes that. I could be wrong. Somebody may be thinking that, but right now we’re just trying to win a game.

Q: Rex, last week it seemed – for good portions of that game – that a lot of your guys were just not putting forth effort. It was just half-hearted in many ways, going through the motions. Getting ready for, as Sal mentioned, an 0-13 team and wanting to avoid that, do you think that will be a challenge in itself – when they see how bad this opponent really looks? I mean, that was the Steelers and they’re in this thing. Will it be a tougher challenge for you just to get – how do you go about getting your team to where you need it to be, mentally?

A: Well, first off, I would disagree. I don’t think we just mailed it in. We got beat. I would definitely agree with that – that we got beat. They outplayed us, there’s no doubt. There’s no arguing that. But I don’t think our guys just mailed it in. I think that discredits the team that beat us and also discredits the men that I have in that locker room. I don’t believe that’s the case, and we’ve got guys playing on a high ankle sprain, a fractured leg, and he’s still playing. So I don’t think that’s the case. We might not have been – we might not have played well, but I don’t believe that’s the case. And as far as getting ready to play a team – and albeit, look. We know the likelihood of us making the playoffs, to say the least, is not good. You still mathematically have a chance, but we recognize it. The likelihood of that is, like I said, not very good. This is pro football. This is what you get paid to do. We’re paid to try to win, and that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do, so I don’t think there’s any of that here. We’re going to try to play to the best of our ability and coach to the best of our ability.

Q: Who played on the fractured leg?

A: James Ihedigbo.

Q: He broke his leg and was still playing in the game on Sunday?

A: Right.

Q: Rex, if it’s not motivation, then is focus the right word? Do you have any issue with the level of focus with some of your players?

A: Well, right now I can say no. I don’t know how the rest of the week is going to go. I don’t assume that we will, but –

Q: I’m talking about the issues with communication, getting the right people on the field – that stuff that was apparent on Sunday. How it manifests itself on the field in those types of situations, do you have any issue – I’ll use the word focus but I don’t want to put words in your mouth.

A: Yeah, no. I mean – that wasn’t the issue. That wasn’t the issue. Sometimes a team has a late substitute and you’re going to be late at substituting. I think it happened once when [Bryson] Albright went on the field or whatever. I think I can remember that being a thing, where he’s really late [getting onto] the field. But other than that, I think it’s – that wasn’t what I see as – I don’t think that was an issue.

Q: You said on Monday that maybe you were guilty of trying to do too much on the defensive side of the ball. Was that just a one-week thing? Or might you take that a step further and maybe reduce some of your volume on defense?

A: Well, I don’t think the volume was the issue heading into the game. I thought we had – we’ve been actually cutting down our volume way back from what we’ve done in the past. However, I’ll always look at it this way: say your game plan is – and I’ll just give you a visual – is like this. There [are] times when you’ve got to extend it. You make some adjustments. But if you’ve got to extend it that far, you’re probably not going to do very well, but I think I was guilty of that. I think going back to calls we had run in previous weeks, we didn’t really practice them and expect them to [know] that we would play it like we had been practicing it all week. I think I contributed, without question, in some of that. I’m trying to run some inside blitzes and they split us right down the middle. We weren’t where we should’ve been, you know? But that’s on me. That’s not on the players. That’s what I look at first, is “Where did I go wrong in that situation,” and I contributed to that.

Q: So it’s more of a one-week instance than [all season], right?

A: Yup.

Q: Rex, what do you make of – I mean, two franchises that really have a tough history going back fourteen, seventeen years. The commonalities seem to be continuity, coaching changes and quarterbacking. What do you make of these two franchises that struggle to be prevalent?

A: I mean, it’s hard to say from what it is. I’m sure it’s different for both organizations, or whatever. But I can only speak to the two years that I’ve been here. It’s tough. You think that you’re making strides, but then obviously it hasn’t been good enough to get us into the playoffs. That’s [a] frustrating thing. I think the work ethic’s there. You’re trying to make improvements to get there, but we just haven’t made enough yet.

Q: So when you watched the film the other day, you were okay with the effort?

A: Yeah.

Q: Your beef is more with the performance?

A: Yeah, I’m – with the execution, with the – like I say, I’ll look at myself first and judge myself first and where I think I contributed in reasons why you look back. I mean, 230 yards rushing to one back is obviously – it doesn’t happen much in this league. So when you look back, what could we do? Now look, the plan, obviously, we could’ve stuck a bunch of defensive linemen out there or whatever, but then you open yourself to other things. I think, in some areas, the plan was sound. But then in other areas – I didn’t anticipate that this team would have that kind of success rushing. There’s no doubt. But as far as the effort by the players, I think that the players gave effort. I think it’s wrong to say that our players didn’t give effort. I don’t think that’s the case. Now, we might not have been effective. There’s a player playing with a shoulder, he’s playing with this, that. Now he takes on a block the wrong way. Well, okay – whatever the deal is that contributed to it. I think it’s disrespectful to say that these guys never gave effort. I think that they did give effort. This team never laid down.

Q: Now, I’m confused – which doesn’t take much sometimes. But if you’re telling me that you’re happy with the effort – so what’s the other problem? Is it players on the field? Is it personnel? I mean, you’re talking about injuries – everybody’s going through that stuff right now. Is it coaching? If the effort is there, then what is the issue?

A: Well, I think the big thing is the consistency that we’re playing with. I think sometimes, you know – look, yeah, does it make a difference [with] the players on the field? Yeah, sometimes it does. I don’t think there’s any doubt that you’re a lot better off if you had – and I’ll use the receivers – that you have your starting receivers out there compared to your backups, or whatever. That’s going to affect performance.

Q: I was talking about your defense, really.

A: Well, yeah, our defense too. Would we be better off with a Kyle Williams [playing] or whatever? Absolutely. We’ve had six safeties on injured reserve. That [is not] the easiest thing in the world to go through. However, when you’re going up against an opponent, we never thought that we were going to give up 230 yards rushing. There’s no way. We’re going into that game though, saying, “Alright, pick your poison. What are you going to give up?” That team is a really balanced team, and you always do – as any defense does – you try to take away what they probably do best or where you feel that maybe you’re most vulnerable. To us, and to me – and this could be a tactical error and like I said, I’ll take full responsibility – I wanted to take away their passing game. I know I’ve seen that. I’ve seen what that looks like before, and [we] tried to make them one-dimensional and try to get it done with seven-man spacing. Well, that was a mistake. Obviously, they ran for 230 yards, controlled the clock, so I’m not denying that – I think the logic of it made sense at the time and as the game developed –

Q: You didn’t adjust?

A: I didn’t adjust the way I probably should have. That’s how I look at it. I tried to adjust by putting in blitzes, like I already mentioned, and it never worked.

Q:  When you talk about the plays you were calling or adjustments you were making, earlier in the year you said Dennis Thurman was calling plays. Has that changed?

A: No, I never said that. This is on me and that’s how I do it. It’s not a magic call. At the end of the day, we’ve got to put our players in what I feel is a good position to be successful. We can argue that, “well you never did.” Okay, that’s fine. There’s no doubt. I think if we went back and played the game right now, you could change everything about that game and say we’re going to play eight-man, we’re going to play nine-man spacing to make them throw to beat us. We’d all sign up for that now because the outcome is we never got it done, so I certainly understand it. But get to where I am. Each week is a different thing on how you’re going to look at specific opponents

Q: When you’re reviewing the tape, what were the issues? Just looking at it from my eyes, a lot of tackles were missed. That’s where it could go back to effort because the physical act of making a tackle didn’t happen in places where it looked like it should.

A: There’s no doubt that we missed tackles. There’s no doubt. I think though the running back is tough, we knew that. He’s a heck of a back; he broke a lot of tackles. But I think from an effort standpoint, I just think the effort’s there and I saw the effort and the preparation (and) everything else through the week. It’s just we didn’t get it done and I’ve been in some stinkers before in my career, there’s no doubt, and that one’s right up there. But I think the main thing is we got to get back and I look at myself first, how we can get it done and I think that’s the appropriate thing for me to do. I don’t make a tackle; I’ve never made a tackle in my life—maybe even in college. But when you go back and look at it, that’s how you address it first. Do we have to tackle better? We all know we have to tackle better, there’s no question about that.

Q: At what point in the game were you calling plays that you didn’t practice?

A: The second half of it, I think when clearly they were pounding us pretty good with that run. I tried to implement some things then almost to like, stop the bleeding. Sometimes that’s what you do as a coach. You’re trying to stop the bleeding that way and sometimes by any means necessary but recognizing we weren’t 100 percent on assignments, but that’s on me. I was just trying to get them stopped.

Q: So who is calling your defensive plays? Is it you or Dennis Thurman?

A: Everything goes through me.

Q: When did that change because in September you said that Dennis was calling them?

A: I don’t know. When we started doing bad. Like I said, I’m responsible for it. It’s not on anybody else. I’m responsible for everything on that field and that’s why—I don’t know.

Q: You might have answered part of this but when you look at the last two games, critical games with playoff hopes, you give up 29 unanswered in Oakland and then last week the numbers speak for themselves. What do you say about that type of performance from the defensive side?

A: Well I think you have to look at everything. You can’t just say that all of a sudden you have to throw out what we did fairly well against the Raiders. I get it. Like I say, the main thing is we’re in a result business, we didn’t win. When you look at it there’s some factors. I think with, shoot, we had it handed to us a little bit. This game against Pittsburgh, that’s really what you look at. Obviously you have to play a lot better. Cleveland’s going to come in here, they had a kid average 11 yards a carry last week. You don’t think they’re going to run the exact same runs? Like sure they are, it’s a copycat league. We’re going to get that, we understand it, so we’ll see how the improvements are we made in one week’s time.

Q: Do you think you put too much of a focus on shutting down Antonio Brown, which you did pretty well, rather than Le’Veon?

A: Oh there’s no question. There is absolutely no question about that and put the challenge elsewhere. There is no question doubt and it’s easy to say it now, but I wonder if we all would have said the same thing going into the game, that what would have been the priority of stopping and I bet, and like I said, I made a mistake. This is not the first mistake I’ve made obviously in my time. Maybe underestimated something or thought I could get it done a certain way and it just didn’t happen but each week you face a similar challenge. Every week is what your main focus is going to be. Do you need to be in eight-man spacing, do you need to blitz the quarterback, do you need to drop everybody? So each week is a little different.

Q: You said after the game last week that you didn’t know whether your job was in jeopardy. There were reports circulating about your job before the game and that you didn’t know. Now you know it and your players I’m sure understand that. How do you expect them to respond on your behalf?

A: Well I think it’s not just my behalf. I think this team’s going to play their butts off. I truly believe that and my behalf, their behalf, somebody else’s, we don’t want to lose, man. We want to win games and I think we’re going to give—I truly believe our team’s going to play a great game. I think our guys are going to do a great job preparation wise. I know the coaches already have done a great job I think in putting the plan together, but that’s how I see it and believe me, when I said I didn’t know about it, I didn’t know about it until all this stuff was coming out before….

Q: You didn’t know about it between then and the news conference?

A: I did not.

Q: I’m sorry, between the game and your post-game?

A: No.

Q: Nobody said a word to you?

A: No. Just up in here, right before, I never knew it– I’ll put it this way, I never knew anything about it until after the game, after I already talked to the players.

Q: You’re up there in the news conference that you didn’t know anything about it, that it was a big surprise to you.

A: It was.

Q: It really wasn’t a surprise to you.

A: Well it was a surprise to me.

Q: You just said you found out between the game and the news conference.

A: I’m saying I don’t know exactly when, that I heard from ‘this’ person or ‘that’ person.’ I can just tell you honestly that I had no idea any of this thing went on during the game, so it wouldn’t take away my focus if that’s what the point is. I promise, I never knew anything.

Q: That’s not the point. The point—you said just now that you found out after the game and just a minute before the news conference. Or at least that’s what you insinuated.

A: I can honestly say I never knew anything about this during the game or walking off the field or anything like that.

Q: (Another reporter): What difference does it make? (Reporter asking the series of questions): It makes a difference because he said in the news conference that it was like a big shocking news, like we were telling you, like you were completely flabbergasted by that.

A: I’m telling you this; I don’t know about these reports. I can tell you this; I never knew anything about it. So you can say I did. I did not know anything about it.

Q: So just to clarify, Scott (Berchtold), your PR guy, he didn’t tell you about it from the time you walked from the locker room to the post game session?

A: Okay, I don’t know if Scott did or not. I can honestly say that I don’t remember. This is all I care about: we just lost a football game. I don’t care about some comment by somebody that knows absolutely nothing. Maybe just me. I don’t think so, okay? Somebody can say anything you want to you. I don’t know what everybody says out there in social media because I don’t listen to it.

Q: The point is you were aware of it before the news conference, that’s the thing.

A: I have, I mean I can honestly say—I’ll put my hand on the good book and say I swear I don’t know if I did or not, but I can honestly say, put my hand on the good book, I did not know anything about it during the game or whatever. Okay guys?

Okay, I knew about it before the game. That’s the truth! (Chuckles) That’s not the truth.

Q: Now that you know about it and it’s been out for three days, do you feel that pressure is warranted? Do you think that this organization should think about firing you?

A: Well you’re asking me and it involves me and my employment. Of course I’m going to say no, I don’t think it’s warranted. Now, their opinion my very well be different than mine. There’s only two people’s opinion that really matters, and that’s Terry and Kim Pegula. That’s it. And so to me, I don’t worry. I can honestly say all I’m doing is doing the best job I can. Now you might say, “Do you worry about it?” Well maybe I worry about it, but my thing is this, it’s not going to help me. I have to prepare this team and it’s business as usual and lets go get this victory. That’s how I approach it and that’s how I’ve always approached my job. Do the best job you can right now and that’s it.

Q: Have you had any discussions with Terry and Kim since we last talked to you Monday? Have you addressed that situation in any way?

A: No.

QB Tyrod Taylor
Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Q: After watching the film, did you see anything that forced the offense to struggle, especially in the first half?

A: Just left a lot of plays out there on the field. Myself, missed a couple of throws. Just lack of execution across the board. And just got to move on from that, got to learn from it, and I think as a team, we did. We addressed that at meetings. Guys are looking forward to playing the Cleveland Browns this weekend.

Q: Do you feel like you need to play well this week because you were named the starter?

A: I feel that way each and every week. I mean I’ve been on the other side as far as the backups, so I don’t take my reps lightly. I like to compete and I want to continue to keep competing, so my job each and every week is to prepare as if I’m the starter. I’m going to go out there and prepare as well too.

Q: What are the dangers of an 0-13 team coming in? The team on the other side has three weeks left to get its first win. 

A: I mean it’s still an NFL team with guys that are talented guys. I mean they have a defense that plays very tough each and every game. Sometimes it’s a couple of plays towards the end of the game and things get out of control but this group is going to come in just as fired up as any other week. It’s more about our focus and our attention to detail throughout the week, going out there and executing our gameplan that the coaches spend time putting together.

Q: What did the Steelers do to stop you from running?

A: As far as me personally? As far as the QB driven runs, they were squeezing and scraping, which we tried to go back over top, to kind of discourage those runs. As far as me running in the pocket, really wasn’t that many opportunities to take off. It was more just a lack of execution. Like I said, that falls on me, and just got to be better at that.

Q: Tickets for this week are going for dirt cheap. Does that effect you guys?

A: That doesn’t change the players’ mindset at all. We’re competitors. Any time we line up in practice or for a game, we look forward to competing. We have a wonderful opportunity ahead of us this weekend against a team that’s ready to come in here and play. As far as the fans and the tickets, I don’t think that moves the players. I know personally, it doesn’t move me one way or another but I think I speak for the team with that as well.

Q: How big are these next three games?

A: Of course these three games are definitely big for myself, for this team. And we want to finish off strong, finish this season now at 9-7. But we have our first obstacle, which is this weekend. And we can’t look too far ahead. That’s when you start pressing or forcing the issue. You’ve just got to take it one day at a time, continue to keep preparing and getting ready for the Cleveland Browns.

Q: Anthony Lynn is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the head coaching job in LA. From what you’ve seen of him, what would make him a good head coach in the NFL?

A: He’s a great person, first and foremost. But as far as coaching, he has a lot of knowledge of the game, has played it, has been in multiple offenses, has been around a bunch of great coaches, and just his confidence. When it’s time for him to speak, and when he’s talking to the team—I think he did it two weeks ago or three weeks ago—he had a great speech the night before the game in the team hotel. Just the type of person he is, he’s definitely capable of the job, and I’m pretty sure opportunities are definitely going to come for him. I mean that’s a good thing and I’m happy for him as well.

Q: Rex says he expects the players to play their best football. How do you expect the players to respond?

A: I mean the players, anytime you get an opportunity to play, you’re definitely going to put your best foot forward. As far as being on the hot seat, you never want to hear those rumors. But the guys in this locker room, the coaches, we sacrifice and put a lot of time into what we do on Sundays. So it’s about playing for the man beside you or the coach beside you. Guys are definitely willingly going to do that. I mean it’s not just, like you said, the hot seat issues. It’s a bunch of personal things going on as well in the team. We have to go out there and play. Winning makes everyone feel good.

Q: Do the guys want to step it up a notch when their coach is rumored to be on the hot seat?

A: I think our attention to detail and our preparation each and every week has been good. We just haven’t come out on the winning side of things. So as far as us stepping up another notch, if anything, it’s for the guys, like I said, the guys that we sacrificed so hard for in the locker room. And as well as the coach that is rumored on the hot seat. But I don’t know if it’s one week or another. We’re just fired up because we have the opportunity to finish out on a three game win streak.

Q: As a player, when everyone is saying that you’re pressing too much, how do you play, I guess, passively?
A: Just prepare as hard as you can and go out there and react. Like you said, you can’t go out there pressing and make a play. Plays are going to happen. Some bad things are going to happen, but we have to remain focused throughout the game. Like I said, this is an NFL team that’s very capable of winning games coming into town and they’re looking for their first win as well, so you can’t take anyone lightly. Just remain focused throughout the game.

Q: There are reports and rumors out there about Rex’s job security. Is that something that you guys talk about in the locker room?
A: We don’t necessarily have conversations about that. It’s kind of just understood. You never want to hear [that] news. Rex is a great coach. It’s just unfortunate that we haven’t been able to win some of those games that we think we should have. It’s not a conversation that’s come up in the locker room, though.

Q: Is it hard to focus when you know you’re going up against a 0-13 team?
A: No, it’s not hard to focus. Like I said, this is not a high school [or] rec league. This is the NFL and those guys get paid just as well as we get paid to go out there and compete. NFL games come down to a couple plays, and you want to make sure that you’re focused for those couple plays and that you execute them.

Q: How do you feel like you’ve responded to the pressure over the past few weeks?
A: That’s a great question. I think I’ve done a good job with it. Like I said, we haven’t won as many games as I would’ve like to or as we would’ve liked to as a team but we still have the opportunity to win three and finish the season 9-7. That’s all my focus – that’s all my energy is going into, is finishing out the season strong.

Q: Was Sunday the first snow game you’ve ever played in?
A: Yes, it was. I’ve practiced in snow before, but I’ve never played in snow until –

Q: Any adjustments for this week? Ben [Roethlisberger] wore a glove on his throwing hand so maybe –
A: No, I’m not a glove guy. I like to feel the football. I think us being on turf kind of actually helps us. When it’s grass, the field gets a little muddy but hopefully it doesn’t get too bad.

WR Sammy Watkins
Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Q: Is there any weird kind of pressure when you face a team that doesn’t have a win this late in the season?
A: Most definitely. I think every week, you’re going to get their best. For us, it will be easy for them to come in and [say] “hey, Buffalo Bills. They’re just out of the playoffs. They’re the Buffalo Bills.” So we have to go out there with the mentality that we’re going to try to blow this team out. Our effort’s got to be there, our game plan, our focus has got to be there.

Q: Is it more annoying – or is it a distraction – answering all these questions about Rex [Ryan] and the coaching and the rumors? Is it just annoying that we’re not asking you as much about the Browns and we’re asking more about your coach?
A: Honestly, I can’t really say. Yeah, I want to focus on the Browns but I know questions are going to be asked about Rex and what’s the plan and stuff like that. But really, that’s not my focus. I know if we win out, there’s a possibility that he stays here. That’s kind of the goal that we’re pushing for. That’s the goal.

Q: Sammy, how much do you guys talk about it in [the locker room]?
A: Of course guys sit there and talk and wonder what the situation is going to be like. We know if we lose what the situation is going to be like and for me, it’s like I’m trying to be here forever. I’m not trying to start over a whole team in free agency, so my job is to really go out there and sell out and try to win out for myself, for my name, and for this team. If anybody else isn’t thinking that way, then that’s a problem.

Filed under: Buffalo Bills

Tagged with: Buffalo Bills, LeSean McCoy, Rex Ryan, Sammy Watkins