Buffalo Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
Q: Any injury update for us?
A: Yeah we…Guy’s that’ll be limited, I don’t have my sheet, but Sammy Watkins will be limited today. Corey Graham will be limited. Just taking a shot right now. I think Tyrod’s (Taylor) full. Karlos (Williams) is full. I think (AJ) Tarpley is a guy that I think is, he still is in the concussion protocol. Which I think is no contact today, he seems to be doing better though. (Cyrus) Kouandjio and Seantrel (Henderson), John Miller, all those guys should be ready to go today, full speed.
Q: Percy Harvin?
A: Percy, nope. He’s no work today.
Q: Do you anticipate him not being able to play Sunday?
A: I’m not sure, you know we’ll see. Again I think they’re still really looking at him and things like that. So I don’t have any update on him. Maybe they will at the end of the day and Scott (Berchtold) can inform you.
Q: The last time the matchup was pretty good for you guys against the Dolphins. Can you break down some of the ways that you had the edge on both sides of the ball?
A: Well I think where they’re different right now, where Miami’s different, is there you see a stronger commitment in running the football and you know probably see the biggest difference with the head coach or whatever. I think it’s that that’s a fact. You’re seeing more tiger personnel, which is more what we call it, which is more the two tight end stuff and more physical play that way. Using those tight ends different ways. Some are, they’re all over the place or sometimes they’re in the back field, sometimes they’re both on. You know its different things that they’re doing with that personnel group and it’s probably the biggest change. They did a lot of no huddle against us last time, almost trying to mirror more the New England game plan against us. I don’t anticipate that this time we play them. Schematically though, like going into it, I think it’s more…defense it looks the same, you know like it wasn’t like whole cell changes from what they did. But I’m excited, we’re getting healthy and that’s what I think I’m more excited about.
Q: Several defensive players on Monday talked about how you maybe plan to introduce a simpler defensive scheme. Is that accurate and have you made any adjustments?
A: You always are constantly making adjustments. You know on what you do, what you ask your players to do. Getting familiar with your players. I think it’s, you can’t be…you know sometimes you assume that you walk in, hey you’re gonna go exactly what I did in Baltimore I’m gonna do here, or whatever. You’re always looking at ways…Again we’ve always said this is a player driven system. It’s not a square peg and a round hole system. You know ours is very multiple and we’ll take advantage of our personnel, what we see. You know trying to give our players the best chance to be successful and always will do that. Do we simplify things? We hope it’s becoming simpler to our guys. That we’re not making the mistakes that we’ve made. So I’d say it’s, you know always are looking at that and maybe this will be always an opponent driven as well. So it’s not you know, we’re multiple in the fact we can adjust what we do schematically based on specific opponents that we play. So that’s always gonna be the case.
Q: Preston Brown said if we can play base defense the whole time and just get after that ball, that’s is what we do best. Is that accurate?
A: I mean I don’t know, I guess. I mean whatever. Like I say from a personnel standpoint, from whatever, you try to…you know it’s kind of a chess match. You’re always looking to do that and I think with this group you don’t need to have as elaborate of a call sheet you know as maybe you’ve done in the past. You know I think is probably maybe a more accurate thing. The big deal is, it’s not the…You know I always say this, the brilliance isn’t in the – and this is where some of my mentors in the past, where it was obviously my dad, you look at a Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, a Sid Gillman, a Paul Brown, the real innovators in this game – it wasn’t necessarily about…you know as you look at it, the scheme sure, obviously is one thing there’s no question. But it’s the execution of the play call. It’s not the play call itself. You just gonna go out and say hey I’m gonna put my call sheet, I’m gonna out coach you this way or out do whatever. It’s the execution of the calls and I think that’s the thing that we’re trying to make sure that we’re dialed in. Is it give and take on what you’re asking your players to do? Maybe, and I think there’s always that.
Q: Going into this game do you think this is the healthiest that LeSean McCoy has been? If yes he can become the guy you thought you were getting?
A: Well yeah. Same thing with Sammy Watkins. Same thing with a lot of our players. You know Tyrod Taylor. We’re healthy now. I think it’s hard in this league to win when you’re healthy, it’s really hard when you’re not. It’s not an excuse but that’s a fact. Look around. Look around. But I’m just saying right now it’s like yeah we think he’s gonna be healthy, and I think if he is that’s great for us because he’s a dynamic player. Is Sammy Watkins a difference maker as a player? I believe he is. Is this kind of the team that we kind of envisioned leaving training camp with? I think we’re getting closer to that all the time with the players coming back and so not just with LeSean’s case, but with our team. I think you’re gonna see the team that we kind of envisioned.
Q: Can you finally give LeSean McCoy the work load to be a run first team?
A: Well again you always have that presence to be that and I think that’s a big thing about…when you’re healthy, you know yeah of course we want to be able to run the football, but they’re gonna put nine guys down there, we don’t want to go three and out. You know keep running it for whatever reason. We want to be able to take advantage of our playmakers and he’s certainly a huge bit of what we do and he’s a big play maker. There’s no doubt about it and the fact he’s getting healthier and you know I think it’s huge for us.
Q: You talked about Leodis McKelvin possibly having a different role on defense, what about special teams returning kicks or punts?
A: That’s a possibility but we’ll see. We’ll see where he’s at. He’s definitely working at it.
Q: You can argue that Richie Incognito has been your best player so far. How gratifying is that you gave him the chance?
A: I think it’s gratifying because he is good. Whether it’s us giving him a chance, you know I don’t think it makes any difference. But maybe a little. But he’s been everything we’d hoped he’d be, I mean he really has been, and maybe even a little bit more. Like I said I’m really happy he’s with us, he’s been outstanding on and off the field, and in the locker room and everything else. All the things that he wanted the opportunity to show. But he’s also been a great football player. So really happy he’s with us.
Q: How realistic is it for a player like Leodis McKelvin, who hasn’t played safety since high school, how quickly could he actually get into the lineup?
A: I don’t know. I don’t know about him just being all out as a safety. That’s…He’s not the biggest dude of all time. What is he, 160 pounds, 170 pounds of something? I’ve had the biggest safety before. That would be the, he’d probably be the lightest safety if that was the case. Cause you know he’s got heart, he’s got heart there’s no question about that, and he’s smart. Loves to play. You know we’ll find, he’ll be on that field somehow, someway.
Q: Other than health, what else is encouraging you after the last two losses?
A: I love the fight, and the determination, and the competiveness of this team. I think those are the things that I like most about this team. You know hey I feel, and look I…You know this isn’t where we want to be man. I mean this, you know 3-4, is not what we want to be at. It’s not what our fans signed up for too. I feel bad for our fans. You know they’re all in. They’re all in with us, you know sold more season tickets than any, not to be 3-4. We don’t want to be that, you like that’s disappointing to me. But this season’s a long way from being over and do I think the outcome be a little different maybe if we were healthier? That’s a possibility. But right now it is where we’re at. Right now we are 3-4, we earned being 3-4. We have a tough opponent here. Very talented opponent coming in to our place. But you know shoot, I love the fact that we’re getting healthy because I think that gives us, that obviously gives us the best shot to be successful and you know we’ll see. Let’s see where we are. We’ve got two games in five days. You know we’ll see where our teams at.
Q: How has team morale changed knowing that the hill to get to the playoffs is maybe not that high?
A: Well I think it’s still gonna be a huge climb. It’s hard to get in the playoffs. It’s hard to get in the playoffs in this league. But yeah we’re one game out of I guess, you know from that picture that the other teams have 4 wins or something like that. I’m sure that’s better. I’m sure that helps. But for us everything that we want is still in front of us. We have nine games left. You know the sky is not falling, and I know it you’re 3-4, well yeah we expect this and this. I get it. I get it. I certainly understand where you’re coming from. Where fans will be coming from. All that, the disappointments and all that stuff. But don’t make the mistake of stopping believing. Don’t make that mistake.
Q: You lost three straight home games. Are you at risk of squandering that home field advantage?
A: It is still a huge advantage for us. It just hasn’t shown up that way. But I think it’s gonna be a big advantage for us, I do. Our fans have been unbelievable. I mean their records not 3-4. Their records not 3-4 on the road. I mean they’ve been unbelievable. We gotta follow suit as a team and I get it. There’s some circumstances that probably have not weighed in our favor. But you know what, I haven’t given up faith. I know where I truly believe where it’s gonna end up, and we’re gonna be that team, and we get to see it. We’re closer to that team that we envisioned from a personnel stand point than probably we’ve been in a long, long time. You know I’ll be it without Kyle Williams, without Aaron (Williams), you know without some of our guys. But we got a good group of guys and some difference makers getting healthy and I think that’s key for us
Q: How much do you look forward to Tyrod Taylor returning and potentially stabilizing your offense?
A: Well I think he’s got a chance. You know I truly believe that he can a lot of special things. You especially with the teammates he’s surrounded with. He’s a unique talent in the fact that he gives you explosiveness as a ball carrier, he can make a lot of good throws, he can throw a deep ball with accuracy, he can do a lot of things that will challenge a defense for sure and you’re right I think he’s calm. He’s got poise and I think that helps us.
Q: How much of a concern is it having him take off and expose that knee?
A: There’s no other added risks. So he’s healthy. This is as healthy as he’s been all season. So I’m excited to see that. I’m excited to see a guy that can run a 4.4 back there at quarterback. I’m excited to see his arm talent and the weapons that we can surround him with. I’m definitely excited to see that.
Q: You’ve been game planning for Joe Philbin’s Dolphins for a long time. How much has the change that they had taken away from your first game plan when you played them earlier this season?
A: Well I think schematically, I mean there’s very few differences…You know I see that the difference would be maybe in the personnel group. Number 80 (Dion Sims) wasn’t healthy the first time we played them, he’s healthy now. Like I said they committed to running the football more now than they’ve been. The personnel group has changed a little bit more in the factor, like I said the two tight end stuff. That has popped up more. But it’s similar offense, defense. It’s not a huge change from a schematic stand point.
Q: Does it feel like a different team than the one you played?
A: We went into the game, the last time expecting…you know this is a talented football team. That’s what we’re going into the game with. You know the head coach is not playing. They’d have a big advantage if he was playing and our head coach had to play. They’d have a big advantage and the fact that I go into most games thinking I can whip the head coach of the other team, not this time. I’m like, I’m 52 I wanna see 53, I’m gonna pass on that. But he ain’t playing. But you can see that his temperament about running the football, the commitment to being a physical football team, I think you definitely see that. The personnel group alone will show you that. So I think you definitely see that. But I thought Joe Philbin was an outstanding football coach so we’ll see. It’s a lot of the same coaches are over there.
Q: Aside from what Tom Brady and the Patriots did to them last week, is their defense playing better? I mean you guys put up 41 on them.
A: Yeah, so hopefully we can do the same. I don’t know, I mean we’ll see I guess. You know we’ll find out there on Sunday. But yeah I think they played well. You know against Houston, against Tennessee, they played extremely well and offensively also. I mean they were explosive in a couple of those games.
Q: Dan Campbell said he doesn’t want dirty players, but wants to be close to that line. Do you see that when you watch them play?
A: Well I think the commitment, like I said, to being more physical, the running the football and things like that. I think I definitely see that. You know it’s not a whole lot different from what we talk about. Want to be the most physical team on the field. That’s the same thing that we wanna be as well.
Q: What are your thoughts on returning to New York for the first time since being in Buffalo?
A: Yeah I’m gonna get some good food dude. I mean I know where to go. That’s as much as I’ve thought about that.
Q: It’s no thought at all coming into this week?
A: No. I mean you got to start preparation wise, because it’s a short week. You know looking at them schematically or whatever and starting to build a game plan. But nah, I mean there’s none of that.
Q: What is your opinion of playing in Thursday night games?
A: I’m surprised we’ve only got this one to play. Surprised we haven’t played more of them. But nah you know what, it’s more…I mean you thought about it man. I just wanna win. I don’t care if it’s Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Tuesday. We’ll play whenever. Just want to win.
Q: Now that Karlos Williams and LeSean McCoy are healthy, do you plan on having Jerome Felton on the field more?
A: Yeah I mean I would think so. He’s an outstanding player. I think when we came in to who we really wanted to be was more of a physical team and more of a…You know so yeah I could see that as a real possibility.
Q: What type of stuff determines how much he’s used on a week to week basis?
A: Well the playing number one, and if you’re down two or three touchdowns that probably effects it as well. I hope we’re not there. But there’s a lot of factors that go into it. But again we’ll always do, we’ll attack an opponent specifically and if we think that us being in regular personnel benefits us then I’m sure we’ll play it more. If it doesn’t then we won’t. But I know we know what kind of player Jerome is and there’s a lot of teams in the league that they don’t even have a fullback, they don’t even carry a fullback. In fact Miami’s using a defensive lineman at fullback. You know some big dude. But we obviously will utilize a fullback more than most teams.
Q: How much would your characterize Cyrus Kouandjio’s play after the two games with extended playing time?
A: I tell you what, I was really happy with the way he played. You know it’s just unfortunate at the end he kind of got injured a little bit at the end there. But man he is, he really stepped it up and I was proud of that. Sometimes when you see a guy that’s kind of been a backup and all that, even from a preparation stand point it slides or whatever. Just the opposite with this guy. He stepped in and did a tremendous job for us and I believe that.
Q: With Seantrel Henderson struggling, does Cyrus Kounandjio’s performance give you someone to go to?
A: Well I think Seantrel’s, obviously when he got the concussion that limited him, but I wasn’t…You know Seantrel maybe had some ups and downs or whatever, but I feel confident in him as well.
QB Tyrod Taylor
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
Q: Coach Ryan said you are 100 percent and as healthy as you’ve been all year. Do you agree with that?
A: Yes I agree. Had a little chance to get back healthy over the bye week and the last two weeks that I missed of the season. So I had some time to really get some treatment and like you said get back to 100 percent.
Q: You easily had the best game of the season against the Dolphins earlier on. What was it about that game?
A: It just comes down to our execution. I think across the board. We executed as a team and on offense we executed and paid attention to the details of the game. And everybody bought in and went out there and played team ball.
Q: Why then and not other times?
A: Week by week…I mean that’s obviously the goal. That was one of our games that I think that we executed the best. Different teams present different challenges for us. But we was able to go out there and run our offense to the fullest.
Q: How much are you looking forward to getting back out there?
A: Definitely very excited. As a competitor you never want to miss games. You don’t want to miss practice, but you definitely don’t want to miss games. So the times that I, last couple weeks I’ve been sitting back and watching. Just eager to get out there and play and get healthy. So I’m excited about going out there. Just plenty more days of preparation leading up to this game and that’s what the focus is on now.
Q: How important is it getting back for this week? This is arguably the most important 5 days of your season so far.
A: Definitely. We have a quick turnaround. If that’s what you’re talking about as far as our Thursday night game next week. But definitely all our focus right now is on Miami and this is a big game for us as well as each game for the rest of the season is gonna be big. But you gotta take it one game at a time.
Q: Does wearing that brace in practice limit anything that you can do?
A: No it doesn’t limit me. I don’t have any problems wearing it. I feel like I can do everything that I was doing before without it. Trainers just right now think it’s best that I wear it for right now, and whether I wear it in the game or not – it’s gonna be probably a game time decision. But right now they think that’s what’s best.
Q: Is it totally their call or do you have a say?
A: They’ve dealt with these injuries more than I have. But they’ll tell me what they think is best and we’ll go from there.
Q: You’re good either way?
A: Yes.
Q: How much greater of an opportunity do you feel this week can be to reestablish a run game?
A: Definitely excited to get those guys going. I mean we definitely had some guys out. But even the weeks that we went out there and didn’t have all our players in the backfield, we were confident with the ability that they have. Of course the guys that we have back are some special playmakers and I’m excited to see them play. But regardless of who’s back there taking the ball, or whoever’s catching the ball, we have tremendous confidence in those guys to go out there and perform well, and they’ve done it. It’s just about all of us coming together and going out there and playing well.
Q: In some ways is there just a thought in your mind how good that last Miami game felt and how good it looked all the way around?
A: We definitely learned a lot from that game. We didn’t play a perfect game. There’s some things that we had to clean up and we’ve worked on since then. Can’t put a whole lot of focus on it, I mean that game’s in the past. Different players, some injuries for both teams throughout the way. You watch film, you learn from that game. But you know that they’re gonna come in eager to play and we have to go out there and accept the challenge.
Q: Do you feel like you guys are recharged?
A: Definitely. Recharged and ready to get back down the field. That’s coming from me and I’m speaking for the team as well. Eager to get back out there and play in front of our own fans, and get a W. But we’re focusing on preparation right now, and everything that leads up to that game for us to play a good…well a great game.
Q: What difference do you see defensively since the change of coaching in Miami?
A: Definitely playing hard. Watching their last couple of games since we’ve played them, definitely playing hard. Playing with a lot of effort. Guys are coming together, rallying together, and going out there and trying to accomplish a goal. Like I said it’s a different challenge for us each and every week and it boils down to our execution and us going out there and playing our style of football.
Q: You feel as healthy now as you did week one?
A: Yes I do.
LB Preston Brown
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: How much do you guys look forward to this stretch? It’s kind of a make or break time for you guys.
A: It is. These are must win games. Starting off with the Dolphins, we got to go out there with a division opponent, go out there and get a win.
Q: You say must win, it’s arguably the most important five days of your season. Two divisional games against two teams you’re going to fight with for a playoff spot. Is there a thought that, I mean this season can almost be determined between Sunday and Thursday for you guys.
A: Oh, it definitely can. This is a big stretch. This is what you want, though. I mean division opponents, you got to go out there and get two back to back wins. That’s just how it is. We got to start with the Dolphins, that’s where our mindset is now. We got to go out there and get that win on Sunday.
Q: Is there something to be said, or how good of a feeling is it that your best game as a team was when you played them and you match up really well with them. Is there something to be said that, now you got them again and it gives you a chance as a team to go back and look at your best?
A: Yeah, it gives us a lot of confidence to know we’ve had success against this opponent but we did the same thing last year against the Dolphins. The first game, we had a pretty good showing but the second time they beat us down in Miami, so we got to make sure we don’t go in there like, “Oh we’re going to get the win,” we got to go out there and play every play.
DT Corbin Bryant
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: Do you still feel like there’s a lot of opportunity for this season left for this team?
A: Oh yeah. Yeah, why not? Of course. Oh man. We got guys healthy, we’re feeling good, we’ll be ready for Sunday.
Q: What is it about the Dolphins that you guys seem to have all this success getting a pass rush and getting pressure?
A: I mean, we deal with this every given Sunday. We go out there and we see things on the field that we sometimes don’t see on film and we take advantage of it.
Q: It just seems with Miami specifically there’s something you guys are able to do to have the success, at least over the last three years.
A: I mean, we rush the same every Sunday. We have different game plans and things like that, but for some reason we’ve been lucky with them and have been able to go out there and get (Ryan) Tannehill on the ground and hopefully we can do that again on Sunday.
DT Marcell Dareus
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: You guys are still in the thick of this thing. You got some help with the bye week. How do you look at the last nine, I know it’s one of a time, but you guys are still right in the thick of this thing. How do you look at it coming out of this thing knowing you still have three division games in a row here? This is make or break time now, right?
A: We’re going to sit back, we’re going to do what we have to do, we’re going to lean on each other and pull this thing out. We’re going to do the best we can.
Q: How important is it to get on a winning streak at home here? The fans, the last three games you guys lost, would it be good to get a win for the fans?
A: Of course. Any win is good for the fans.
Q: If they’re here though, at home…
A: Any win is good for the Bills Mafia, for the fans, for the organization in general.
G Richie Incognito
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: You can make the argument you’ve been the best player on the team this year.
A: That’s too gratifying.
Q: To know that there’s some truth to it?
A: I don’t know how much truth there is to that. I’m playing well, I’m doing my job and that’s it.
Q: The time off, did that help you to get back to what you were?
A: Yeah, definitely. The time off helped. Getting the mind right, body right, some extra time to train and I’m just appreciative of the fact that I got the opportunity to play again and really just taking every day in and enjoying every day and being grateful for the opportunity.
Q: Do you approach things differently now than maybe you did before?
A: I think so. I think I’m definitely more appreciative going out there and practicing. I guess in my younger days I’d go out to practice and be like, “Oh we got to go practice,” and things like that. Now, I’m excited to get out there, I missed it. I had something that I loved taken away from me and it’s given me a new appreciation for it. I’m surrounded by great teammates, they really make it fun to play. Being around guys like (Eric) Wood and (Kraig) Urbik and Cordy Glenn and John Miller and Seantrel (Henderson), it’s fun every day.
DB Leodis McKelvin
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: How frustrating was it for you to stand and watch so far all season and how excited are you to finally get a chance to put it on and get back out there?
A: I mean when you see those guys out there pretty much playing lights out and trying to get this organization the most wins we’ve had in a lot of years, just not being part of a team that’s so loaded and so talented and gifted is like, I wanted to be there, I wanted to be a part of it. I feel like I’m one of the most talented guys on the team so I just want to be there and play with the guys.
Q: We’ve been covering you long enough, I know I have, it’s been killing you sitting out and not playing for this long. It’s been killing you, hasn’t it?
A: Most definitely. Seven games? That’s awhile. I mean it’s almost like I missed last year, I missed six and played 10. Similar to last year, I just got to be ready when my name is called and just go in there and play ball.
Q: What’s it like to come back…before you’ve always come back to play corner and now your role is not certain. You might return kicks, you might play safety. What’s it like for you coming back with so much uncertainty about what exactly you’re going to do?
A: It really doesn’t matter, I just want to get out there and play. I just want to go out and play with the guys I’ve been working hard with in OTAs. I mean those guys are my brothers. Actually, they’re my younger brothers since I’m one of the oldest in the room, but other than that, I just want to go out there and play ball and do what we came out to do. Our goal was to be the number one pass defense.
RB Karlos Williams
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: You had a huge game against Miami that first time around. What were you able to do in that game?
A: Work. Just like I do each and every day with my teammates and fellow running backs. We went in there with an excellent game plan and Coach Roman put together another excellent game plan and we just want to go out there and execute plays and the big plays will come when you make the small things happen like that.
Q: Are you cleared for contact?
A: Yes sir.
Q: When did that come down?
A: Late last week. I got cleared for contact late last week. I got a bump and run with a couple defensive guys today, felt pretty good, head’s fine, just ready to go play football.
C Eric Wood
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Q: Playing with more of a swagger, maybe an attitude, maybe that’s Dan Campbell, some of his influence, but they seem to have more of a chip on their shoulder on defense.
A: Yeah. Coaching change, any kind of change can spark things and it definitely looked like it did down there.
Q: Eric, how much of an opportunity are these, I mean you’re looking at Miami first, but these next two games, five days, last year your season kind of went sideways in five days. This year, you can go completely the other way if you win both these games.
A: Yeah, that’s the plan but obviously we have a big one Sunday, or else the next one will still be big, but we got to take care of business first.
Q: Is there a sense in this locker room that there’s still plenty of opportunity left in the season?
A: Absolutely. We have a whole lot of division games left, I think somebody told me earlier we’re one game out of the Wild Card. I mean, a lot of ball left to play and a lot of season left.
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Tagged with: Buffalo Bills, Karlos Williams, NFL, Rex Ryan, Sammy Watkins, Tyrod Taylor
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