Archives for November 21, 2016

'"I'm challenging him to be the player that I know he is and he has responded," Ryan said. "These last few weeks, he has been as good as any corner in the league. And that's what we need to do and that's what type of play you need from him. We need (Ronald) Darby to step up and have him play well as well. Corey White is right there too. He and Darby don't miss a beat. I thought our preparation throughout the week has been outstanding. We have to play with that type of confidence. We were smart, and we played well."'

'"Now that hurt my heart," said cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, who played with Woods at USC. "That's my boy. We go back to freshman year in the dorms together. As soon as it happened, I got on my knees and I started praying just for his family and for his health. I really hope he comes out on top of this situation he has going on right now."'

'So it's unclear who exactly Bengals linebacker was targeting when he stuck both of his middle fingers up at the crowd. Some have suggested it was Bills fans, but it may well have been his own fans. Either way, he didn't look happy.'

'More and more, it looks like the Bills may have to finish with 11 wins to get into the postseason in the AFC this season. Buffalo will be watching the Raiders' game against the Texans closely on Monday night. The Bills could use a Raiders loss in Mexico City.'

'"We have a lot of good players who stepped up for us, especially with that big run and that big third down that set up the fourth-down call. But we kept grinding, and that's what you need to do to play to the strength of our players, and they did a good job of it."'

'"Right now I'm feeling bad for myself, but yeah, probably for Robert, too," Ryan said. "He is, he's playing great and, you know, he's a heck of a receiver. Now it's the knee. He had the foot before. It's just, man, it seems like we're a little snake-bit this year. Hopefully we can get guys healthy and ready to go. I know we're a fresh team. It's what we do. We train to be at our best at the end of the year. I think we're fresh as a football team, but it seems like these injuries are hurting us."'

'Following the game, Rex Ryan told the media that the team's trainers couldn't pop McCoy's thumb back into place. Having McCoy on the field should help Buffalo in a winnable game at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville (2-8) has only won one of five games on the road this season.'

'Following an 8-yard reception, McCoy spoke briefly with trainers before heading straight to the locker room with under two minutes to play in the first half and the Bills driving into Bengals' territory.'

'This is the final season of Woods' rookie contract. He had three catches for 41 yards before exiting the game Sunday and was coming off a career game against the Seahawks in which he had 10 catches for 162 yards. Last season, Woods fought through a groin injury and he's already dealt with a foot injury in 2016.'

'Meanwhile, the Bills made Cyrus Kouandjio inactive for the first time this season with the team starting to get healthy. The only players who is inactive because of injury is defensive tackle Corbin Bryant, who has a shoulder injury. The Bills are also expected to have wide receiver Percy Harvin in their starting lineup this week.'

'Despite the win, the Bills still did have something to frown about. Injuries to Woods (knee) and McCoy (thumb).'

'“Boy, we needed that one,” Ryan started is post game press conference.'

'Following the win, players Preston Brown, Percy Harvin, Stephon Gilmore, Kyle Williams, and Tyrod Taylor spoke to the media.'

'Rex Ryan's coaching staff did a great job preparing the team for this road game. The Bengals are better than their schedule suggests, but so are the Bills. The defense was tough, the offense made some plays and the special teams unit did a great job. It's safe to say the Bills outcoached the Bengals in each facet of the game.'

'Buffalo improved to 5-5, but their playoff chances didn’t improve much. Incredibly, it’s the 16th straight season the Bills do not possess a winning record through 10 games. Once again, that leaves them in the position of having to win all, or nearly all, of their final six games to give themselves a strong shot of reaching the post-season for the first time this century.'