Buffalo Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan
Friday, September 4, 2015
Opening Comments:
I don’t know really where to start. Obviously this is a tough day, when you let some young men go. There’s probably a good opportunity that there’ll be other guys that will be part of this football team, especially the practice squad moving forward. But it’s tough because you know what these guys are giving you, they worked extremely hard and then to come up short at this time is tough. But certainly appreciate all those guys, all the efforts that they gave us and through their competition I think they’ve helped this football team. With that I’ll open it up for questions.
Q: You still have more roster moves to make, is Matt Cassel under consideration?
A: I’m not gonna get into anything that we’re gonna do, specifically with the rest of our guys for strategic purposes or anything else. So we’ll see what happens going forward.
Q: Is it still a challenge for you to find a number two at QB?
A: To me we’ve had a good body of evidence, what we want to look at, but right now to say final roster spot or all these type of things it’s…there’s a reason right now that our roster is where it is and there’s a few moves that are still to be made, I get that. But to go and to talk about a specific player I think it’s not helpful for us and I won’t talk about them.
Q: Are you actively looking for another kicker?
A: We will definitely look at anything that we think can help our team and that’s at any position. That’s kicker, that’s any spot and that’s every single one. You know I’m concerned, and I’ll tell you the reason I’m concerned about it is going into the year I thought we had everything nailed there. I thought that ‘Hey look, we got a kick off guy, we got a kicker, we got a punter, we got a long snapper.’ You know feel great about this and really we weren’t looking for anything. But to say that I’m just gonna turn a blind eye to the fact that we missed four kicks, that’s not me. You can criticize me all you want about it, but I could care less. I’m about right now, about this team and if there’s somebody that we feel can help our team, regardless of the position, then we’ll certainly look at it.
Q: How much do you factor in how accurate Dan Carpenter has been in the past plus his injury?
A: You always factor it, look I know the history. This guy’s been a clutch kicker for many years, and kicking here, not all kickers can kick in this condition so I recognize that. But I’m also not blind and obviously he had some issues, but how he responds now…I think the important thing is right now, what’s important now. We’re in the win business, what’s important now and if he’s the best kicker, we think he’s the best kicker, he’ll still be here. That goes for any position. If somebody that we feel is better, then that person will be here.
Q: How disappointing is it not having Leodis McKelvin to start off the season?
A: It’s disappointing, there’s no question that’s disappointing. Here’s a guy that again you talk about a proven player, he is a very proven player. He’s an outstanding returner, outstanding corner, I love his passion, all that that he plays with. But yeah will definitely miss that.
Q: To clarify, he’s on the short term list, so he can’t come back until week six?
A: I believe that’s the…I think is it seven or something. I think he’s out six weeks for sure and then there’s…that’s my understanding of the rule.
Q: Any LeSean McCoy updates with week one? There has been a report he might have a tear in his hamstring.
A: Apparently that person knows more than I do.
Q: So you are not aware of a torn hamstring with LeSean McCoy?
A: No I’m not aware of…I’m hoping that he’ll be available to us and I think the only thing I mentioned was cautiously optimistic and I remain optimistic.
Q: In the event LeSean McCoy can’t play week one, who will you look too?
A: I’m not gonna get into those type of scenarios, the ‘what ifs’ and all that type of stuff. I know one thing, this football team will be ready, period.
Q: Are there trade talks going on right now?
A: There’s always trade talks going. This time of year there is always trade talks about availabilities of maybe this team is deep at this position or that position. So I think this time, today in particular, there’ll be discussions, people calling us, or us calling somebody else.
Q: Do those trade talks involve your QB?
A: You really think I’m gonna get into that? I think you know the answer to that.
Q: What are your thoughts on IK Enemkpali getting cut?
A: There’s always…You can go right down the list of all these players. But one thing rest assured we will do what we think is in the best interest of our team, in fielding the best football team that we possibly can, and that’s what we’ll do. So when we get to our 53, that collection of players we think will give us the best chance to win.
Q: How confident, or concerned, are you with Ronald Darby starting at cornerback?
A: I’m confident that he’ll do a good job for us. I’ve been confident in training camp and everything else. You’re not at liberty to discuss calls and all that stuff that you get back from the league saying that…whatever, pretty much what I thought.
Q: There was a report IK Enemkpali was getting suspended by the league, have you heard anything of this?
A: I have not been in contact with the league at all.
Q: Have you been looking at all for a more veteran cornerback?
A: Again, we’ll be open to anything. Anything that we think can make us a better football team then we’ll certainly look at that.
Q: Did anybody make or break the team last night?
A: Yeah I’ll mention (AJ) Tarpley I think was a guy that really did a tremendous job for us and I think that’s…We were judging some different factors and he did a great job, he really jumped out. Now if Terrell Suggs is cut or something like that then see you later Tarpley, but he did a hell of a job.
K Dan Carpenter
Friday, September 4th, 2015
Q: Coach Ryan was pretty emphatic saying he might look at other kickers, your thoughts?
A: Yeah I mean, if you have a kicker that goes three for six in the preseason, you should be concerned as a coach. That’s their job and so obviously I need to do better. I know that, he knows that, everyone else in this building knows that, and everyone else in this building expects me to do better. That’s pretty much all there is to it.
Q: Do you see it as more physical or mental?
A: There’s really nothing to it. You have to put the ball between the yellow uprights and that’s obviously something I’ve only done about half the time and it’s got to be better.
Q: Have you tried to pinpoint something?
A: I mean obviously I’m doing what I can to figure out what’s wrong, if there is something wrong. There can be over analyzing at times so there’s not a whole lot I can do except move on and get better in the days to come and go from there.
QB Matt Cassel
Friday, September 04, 2015
Q: Do you feel like you got a fair shot looking back?
A: That’s neither here nor there. We went through an entire offseason, we competed and at the end of the day I did the best I could with the reps that I got and they made a decision to go a different direction. Like I said the decision being made now, rather than this week or next week, I think the right decision was made. I’m excited for Tyrod (Taylor), he gets an opportunity obviously and at the same time I’ve got to get ready to go and get ready to play.
Q: What can you do to help Tyrod Taylor?
A: I can do anything that I possibly can. I use my experience all the time and I help these guys whether it’s simple things like note taking or film study. Now my role changes into trying to help him, trying to do whatever I can to help this team be successful and that’s my role.
Q: Have they told you who is number two or number three?
A: You are gonna have to ask them. I don’t know if they want to go into depth about what the conversation was about who’s going to be number two or number three. But every indication was made that we’re probably gonna keep three quarterbacks and that’s all I can go off of right now.
RB LeSean McCoy
Friday, September 4th, 2015
Q: Will you be ready for the next game?
A: We’ll wait and see. We’ll see how everything plays out. I’ve just got to control what I can control and that’s just working hard and get ready to get out there.
Q: Is there a certain thing you do that hurts the most?
A: It’s a matter of just the way I perform, the way I play. Different cuts and different runs, I feel it more at different times. That’s a different story when you’re warming up and getting ready for the game, but it’s a waiting process, just got to wait it out and see how I feel.
Q: Did it feel good that you were able to get out there today?
A: Yeah, well like I said before today was light day, wasn’t too much running or too much cutting. It was more mental today. I don’t know if you guys saw it all today, but it wasn’t really that serious.
LB A.J. Tarpley
Friday, September 4th, 2015
Q: How does it feel to make an NFL roster?
A: Good, but at the same time, I’m eager. I’m excited for the opportunity. I know the NFL is a week-by-week basis and I’m just focused on getting better everyday.
Q: What do you think you did to impress the coaches?
A: I think it was just make some plays. I could have played better in the first couple preseason games. I was excited, I knew I had the opportunity coming into this fourth game. I wasn’t going to have a sub, that wasn’t going to be an option and I was going to get to play the whole game. And for me, as an undrafted guy all you can ask for is an opportunity. For coach Ryan and coach April to give me the opportunity, you know, I was ecstatic to get that and I feel like I proved myself a little bit, you know, being able to play a whole game and be able to make some tackles, make some plays out there, it felt good.
Q: And when you see some guys getting hurt, obviously you think about that.
A: You never want to see a teammate go down, that’s never how you want to get on the field, but at the same time, you can’t control that. All the guys that did get hurt, you know Ty Powell, he was still gracious enough to help me with my transition, whether it be with the playbook, with special teams, whatever it was. Him and Tony (Steward), even though he’s still a young guy like me, we always go back and fourth and make each other better.
RB Karlos Williams
Friday, September 4, 2015
Q: Can you talk about what happened in regards to your injury?
A: Yeah, bad things happen to good people sometimes, I’ll say that. But it was kind of a freak accident, kinda happened, lot of lot of pain, trainers definitely took care of that. Finally found out what it was, got it taken care of, and had a quick surgery or actually a pretty quick recovery, so just happy to be back from that. But a very, very delicate situation.
Q: How scary was it when they said it was going to have to be taken care of with a procedure? Was it scary in the beginning there?
A: No, not really. Just kind of wanted to get rid of the pain as fast as possible but also I knew it had to get taken care of right away. It was something that couldn’t wait and obviously I understand that, definitely wanted to get it taken care of as soon as possible. But not scary at all, just wanted to get the pain out of there and wanted to get the situation taken care of so I could get back onto the football field.
Q: Were you able to stay in the book the whole time?
A: Most definitely. Being home for about a week, week and half kind of resting, not really moving a lot, and not trying to walk around as much. But after that getting back to going to meetings, trying to stay on top of stuff, trying to stay on top of the offensive playbook, install and prepare for the preseason games. Trying to mentally prepare myself.
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