Archives for November 2015

'Pryor took a shot at Ryan on Twitter earlier yesterday, when he wrote, "This guy does anything for attention," accompanied by a sleeping-face emoji. Ryan had worn a Clemson helmet during the news briefing and evidently thought Pryor was annoyed with the coach because of Louisville's loss to Clemson earlier this year.'

'"It's nothing that has to be explained. The story's already written,'' Smith said. "I'm not here to make statements about that. I'm really not. I'm more focused on football. I have a normal life that I live. I'm not worried about IK.'''

'"We have guys, Richie Incognito had some issues, I guess, in Miami, but we named him captain," Ryan said. "He was a former Dolphin and he was out there with some of his former teammates, and I knew that was special for him. That's the same thing. You guys know how I always handle things. It's not a slap in anybody's face. It's not a sign of disrespect. It's just what we do and you guys know, I've done it that way ever since I came into the league."'

'"You know what? I respect every one of those guys. They played their butts off for me. If they don't play well, I wouldn't have been given this opportunity [to coach the Bills" target="_blank">. All that stuff, it really makes no difference."'

'He also may have participated in press conference history: He and Jets safety Calvin Pryor traded barbs live, with the latter using Twitter to communicate.'

'"I don't get it," Ryan said. "I really don't get it. It's not a slap in anybody's face. It's not a sign of disrespect. It's just what we do. You guys know I've done it that way ever since I came into the league."'

'"He's always done that," Smith said of Ryan. "He's always done that. I was with him for two years. He's always done that whenever we go up against another team. I fully expected that. It wasn't something where I thought he was going to take a shot at me or anything like that."'

'"I don't really want to get into it," Ryan said. "I think it's more appropriate for me to just learn from the experiences I had, both positively and negatively, and grow from it."'

'Pryor said of the move “that’s just Rex being Rex. Over the years, he’s had his antics. It was definitely kind of disrespectful. At the same time, he has his reasons. It doesn’t matter. We still have to play the game on Thursday night.”'

'But with Rex, it’s always personal, because with Rex, it’s always about Rex. Sometimes, that’s a great thing, bringing a dose of levity to a league whose initials have been known to get mocked as the No Fun League, bringing a depth of personality too often missing when this business takes itself too seriously. But these are serious times in the NFL with regards to off-the-field behavior, from a string of domestic-violence incidents so bad they forced Roger Goodell to change the personal conduct policy to incidents like the bullying scandal that rocked the locker room of the Miami Dolphins.'

'Ryan then proceeded to credit Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for being "one competitive dude," while critiquing his unruly beard. "He's not a handsome kid," Ryan said.'

'"At the same time, he has his reasons," Pryor said after practice Tuesday. "It doesn't matter. We still have to play the game on Thursday night."'

'"I get it, this is going to be a passionate game, it's going to be an exciting game, but not for the reasons you may be thinking," Ryan said. "This is strictly about us versus another opponent. Both teams are battling to get to the playoffs. That's what this is about. That's really where it should be, attention should be on that. It shouldn't be about me or anybody else."'

'Ryan always chooses his captains based on the opponent, and what city they are from. For instance, when the Bills played Miami Sunday, the captains were former Dolphins Richie Incognito, Dan Carpenter, and Charles Clay, former University of Miami standout Seantrel Henderson, and Leodis McKelvin because that was his first game back after a long ordeal with his ankle. When the Bills played Jacksonville in London, Ryan playfully sent out the starting offensive line because former Bills head coach Doug Marrone is the offensive line coach for the Jaguars.'

'The Bills need to become efficient road warriors because in five of their next six games they will be away from Ralph Wilson Stadium. They enter this stretch 4-4 and right in the thick of the wild-card race, but now they face back-to-back prime-time games against AFC East rivals New York and New England, which very well could determine the course of their season.'