Bills Coaches Thursday Media Transcript

Buffalo Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan
Thursday, September 17, 2015

Injury Report:
Guys that did not participate today: (Marquise) Goodwin with the ribs. (Tony) Steward with the knee. Guys that were limited today: Corey Graham, concussion…concussion protocol and then (LeSean) McCoy was limited with a hamstring and then Percy (Harvin) was full today with a hip.

So with that obviously I know the first things gonna be woah, woah, woah, what’s up with McCoy’s hamstring? It was a little tight and a little sore so I think that’s where it is. Do I expect him to play? I certainly hope so. But you know that’s pretty much it.

Q: Is Corey Graham cleared yet?
A: No, still waiting on it. I think tomorrow he comes, you know tomorrow they do some more tests and things like that. But I know he feels really good but obviously you gotta go through the protocol and make sure that’s 100 percent ready to go.

Q: Sign King Kong yet?
A: Still negotiating.

Q: Is that something that happened during practice with LeSean McCoy?
A: No, he just felt sore so we just backed him out of it.

Q: So it wasn’t the plan to rest him today?
A: No. I mean it was just that he was sore and it was like eh.

Q: Would it be next to have Karlos Williams for Sunday if LeSean isn’t ready to go?
A: I don’t even want to think that way. But I mean yeah, I mean it’d be definitely but like I said I’m not giving up on McCoy playing.

Q: Your reaction on the sideline when Ronald Darby came back with the interception, how impressed and how excited were you for somebody you put a lot faith in?
A: Well it wasn’t just the faith that I put in him, everybody did. Obviously when you draft him as our first pick, all be it in the second round, so that was big and then the way Donnie Henderson’s worked with him and all our coaches and obviously his teammates. So I felt great obviously getting the interception. I don’t care who got it. If DT (Dennis Thurman) was back there and got it we’d be happy. But yeah and it’s just you know he just keeps proving people wrong and you gotta love that.

Q: How do you think Stephon Gilmore has embraced his role as one of your top shut down guys?
A: I think he’s playing extremely well. Obviously you know you wish he had that one back but man he makes a great play. He made several great plays in that game so you know he’s playing like we envisioned him. He’s one of the top guys certainly at that position so he’s playing extremely well.

Q: Do you think he’s underrated league wise and doesn’t get the recognition he deserves?
A: I think he will though, I think it’s coming. I don’t think…you can’t ignore it, it’s on tape. People will realize how good a player he is so you know the days of him not going to the Pro Bowl or something’s probably…you know those days are long gone.

Q: You mentioned how Manny Lawson handled some extra things on the game plan last week. How often do you anticipate other players having more than usual on their plates?
A: Well I think it does change week to week and who you put that extra load on. Depending on the opponent you’re playing, you know what kind of defense you want to play and things like that. So yeah there will be different guys challenged throughout the year and obviously I’m not gonna say who this week. But it’s, the good thing about Manny is Manny’s one of the sharpest guys I’ve ever been around. His Wonderlic score was right there with Eric Smith’s, you know like in the…You know I would have had to take it twice I think score. So that’s kinda where he’s at.

Q: But do you anticipate coming up with a guy who can handle it?
A: Well it may be the same it may change depending on like we say the opponents or whatever. But we’ll challenge our roster and like I said we teach the system not just a positon. So a lot of times that can change as well. Like this week you’re gonna play the X, this week you’re playing the dime, whatever it is. So we’ll do that. We have a smart group. This is a smart team so we’re really blessed to have a smart group.

Q: You run a lot of picks and routes. Is that something you bring to the official beforehand?
A: No I mean the officials know, I mean that’s what happens. But you know you play your guys on the same level that’s kind of a given. So you’re almost picking yourself. Don’t anticipate us playing on the same level and they know we’re not gonna play on the same level. But if you do then you open yourself up, and that’s against any team in the league.

Q: From a defensive perspective, what makes Chandler Jones so special?
A: Do I get in trouble if I talk about another guy?

Scott Berchtold: Probably

Probably, New England will think that I’m tampering or something like that with him.

Well you said nice things about Tom Brady.

Yeah. You know he said something nice about me, it was misquoted. So I got that in there for him. But no Chandler Jones is a great, you know obviously he’s got…the first thing you notice is that length and the motor he plays with. Obviously you don’t want to get in a martial arts fight with him. You know because the blood lines with Jon Jones and all that. So you know you make note of that too.

 

Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman
Thursday, September 17, 2015

Q: Do you expect Coach Belichick will try to do more things to confuse Tyrod Taylor?
A: I think Coach Belichick and their defensive staff, you know they’re gonna do what they feel is best to win the game. That’s been their M.O. for a long time and you know he’s seen a lot of balls kicked off and I’m sure he’s devising a plan that’s gonna try to give them the best chance to win, and whatever that is, it is. We’ll be ready for it.

Q: Was it any of a disappointment that Sammy Watkins could not get involved more this past Sunday?
A: Well I think he graded out very high and I think he graded out very high and to me his leadership skills and demeanor, while not getting the ball and getting doubled and all that, I mean spoke volumes to me and it was so encouraging to see. It’s a long season but we’re not gonna just throw the ball to Johnny (Sammy Watkins). Sometimes you got to throw it to Billy (Percy Harvin/Robert Woods) when he’s open, and we’re fortunate that we’ve got really good Billy’s too. So when he’s getting doubled and Percy (Harvin) goes and makes a big play and…You know we try to play winning football and like we said the first day of training camp, some weeks some guys we’ll be putting IVs in them, some weeks they’re gonna be helping somebody else be successful. So I was really, really encouraged and pretty impressed actually by how he displayed his leadership skill and I thought he graded out very high as a blocker. I mean he sprung the one for a touchdown. I oppose this to you – what is more valuable, blocking for a touchdown or catching a touchdown? I’ll let you think about that, get back to me.

Q: Can you identify and reasons why the run game didn’t start or go the way you wanted it too?
A: You know I think I gotta do a better job of couching, really. I think it’s that simple and I think I can do that.

Q: Rex Ryan said that first play was going for a touchdown every day in practice. Were you surprised they had a pretty good handle on it?
A: Yeah I mean like I said I gotta do a better job coaching it really. You know it’s the first play, it’s the third play, it’s the 10^th play, it’s the 60^th play, you know we gotta execute it and we gotta do a better job coaching it.

Q: What are your hopes as LeSean McCoy progresses?
A: Yeah I mean you know I think we had a pretty good handle on where he was at and I think that game served…I think he was very valuable part of the win. I could name a bunch of different ways but I thought he played a really good game and we all know that he’s gonna be getting better and better as the season wears on. I mean we knew that coming out of training camp.

 

Defensive Coordinator Dennis Thurman
Thursday, September 17, 2015

Q: How do you feel about defensive communication and how that’s coming along, given how loud the fans were this past Sunday?
A: We have to be sharp. Last week was tough at times because of the crowd noise, but it’s all about us being on the same page. If we’re on the same page we feel like we’ll play well.

Q: How do you like how Ronald Darby responded?
A: He continues to work on his craft, he’s a very talented young man. We believe the sky is the limit for him, we expect him to play well. If he’s out there we’re expecting him to play well. We don’t look for him to play like a rookie. We know at times that he may get himself in trouble but if he’s focused on what his assignments are we feel like he’s talented enough to get the job done.

Q: How does Tyrod Taylor make it difficult on other defenses?
A: When you can throw the football as well as he can throw the football, and when you can run as well as he can, and improvise, and create plays with your legs – then it makes it tough because usually in pro football you don’t really plan on having to stop the quarterback. What he forces you to do is play more 11 on 11 football which can be difficult at times.

Q: Rex Ryan mentioned during his time with the Jets he wanted to trade for Tyrod?
A: Well yeah, I mean he brought it up a number of times but it wasn’t the right time, wasn’t the right situation. But fortunately for us now everything’s fallen into place, so we’re happy to have him.

Q: How important is it to disrupt Rob Gronkowski right off the line?
A: I mean that’s a part of it. Teams have tried a number of different things against him with minimal success. I mean the guys a very talented player. You know like Rex (Ryan) said yesterday, heck if you were having the draft all over again he’d go much higher than where he went. I mean he’s a very talented man, he gets the job done for them. I understand how and why they use him the way that they do. We have our work cut out for us, but we feel like we are up for the task.

 

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