Archives for December 24, 2015

'"I don't believe that," Ryan said of the perceived revolt that's occurring. "I've been around this game a long time. I don't believe that to be the truth. If we were in the playoffs, it would be a different conversation. I think this locker room is a little closer than anticipated. I don't think you're getting the majority of opinions; I know there's frustration, but I think this locker room is a lot closer than what it's given credit for."'

'McCoy's inclusion on the team seems to shine a light on the state of the running back position in the NFL. He didn't seem to warrant a spot, but may have gotten it on reputation, not that that's out of the ordinary. McCoy ranks ninth in the league in rushing, and three players ahead of him on the list — Darren McFadden (Cowboys), Chris Ivory (Jets), and Latavius Murray (Raiders) — were not selected. McCoy's average of 74.6 rushing yards per game ranks fifth in the NFL, while his 98.9 yards from scrimmage per game ranks sixth in the league. He had a streak of seven straight games with 100 yards or more gained from scrimmage snapped last week in Washington.'

'Our pick: Bills 40-13.'

'"I think as we've said before, are there different ways of doing things? Are there things you can say behind closed doors that maybe are more appropriate and things? Maybe so," Ryan said. "But I'd rather give our fans and everybody else a true picture of this team. I've never been afraid of that in my life, and sometimes it's gonna be very positive, sometimes you're gonna be negative.'

'“This goes back to my philosophy about having an open locker room and things like that. I’ve always said we don’t put muzzles on our players. We let our players speak freely,” Ryan said. “You know what, sometimes you’re going to have things like this, especially through frustrations, which obviously this season has not gone the way we wanted it to record-wise, without question. So sometimes things will happen. But I’m not going to change our policy because there’s some negative criticism.”'

'“I can tell you right now the personnel is totally different,” Williams said when asked why he thinks Ryan’s schemes have worked in other places he’s coached but has not been successful his first season in Buffalo. “With the Baltimore Ravens, they had Ray Lewis commanding the ship. The (Bills) coaches made a statement the other day about about how the control of the defense, Ray would change a call completely. The call comes in, he sees this, that’s not even what was called. He calls something totally different.”'

'"It seems like those guys who have been here longer have been rotating our defensive coordinators each and every year and they finally thought they found something that worked. That was their best year overall (in 2014), so that was just something that they thought was working," he said. "We have to understand that if we did what we were supposed to do, we would have had success no matter what we were doing."'

'“All this finger-pointing and stuff like that, for one, that's the first thing that has to go I think,” said linebacker Nigel Bradham. “We've just got to get on the same page. I mean, the blame game is only going to take you so far.”'

'The burden falls on rookie Karlos Williams and backup Mike Gillislee to keep the chains moving. And don’t forget about quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He’s got 450 yards rushing this year, second only to Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Buffalo averages 30.4 rushes per game this year, highest in the AFC.'