BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH REX RYAN
Opening Comments:
Obviously it’s great to get a win, man. I mean our fans were awesome. The thing we really gotta start working on is, I gotta pump the volume up for our defense in practice because we kind of blew some communication things out there. But it’s because our fans were so awesome, but we gotta expect it, our team has to expect it. So I gotta really work at it and dial it in, but man it was unbelievable. I mean you could barely hear yourself think or anything else but it was…this game was all about our fans and it was all about the preparation of our players. So I tip my hat to our players and our fans especially.
Q: Did it feel like the defense fed off that fan energy?
A: No question. I’ll tell you where I felt it – we come out and our fans were up the whole time. It was unbelievable, and I was like you can sit down anytime soon but I’m like I forgot this is Buffalo, and it was awesome…and the introductions, they were standing the entire time, it was just incredible. They knew it was gonna be a special day and so did I.
Q: What was your feelings when Tyrod Taylor dropped that pass in to Percy Harvin in the first quarter?
A: Well I don’t know if those other two can’t make it, they’re pretty darn good quarterbacks but I was proud of Tyrod, he made it and Percy Harvin…you know it’s funny I told the team the night before, I said guys are gonna find out why Percy Harvin’s here. Cause they haven’t got to play with him any of the preseason games but I’m like wait till you see this dude and he popped out. You know what’s funny we talk and we’re about a team and that’s all it is. And I looked over at the sideline and I said remember… I said Sammy there’s gonna be a day like this where you’re not gonna get any catches or something, it might be Percy next time, whatever. He’s like yeah but man we won, like this feels great and I’m like that’s it, that’s what we built here. Talks about the character of the men that are in that locker room and it’s all about winning, it’s all about each other and they feed on it. So I was proud of them.
Q: How about Tyrod Taylor’s day?
A: I don’t know you guys. I mean shoot average guy, 123 quarterback rating and that team right there is one of the best third down defenses in the league. I’m embarrassed about my third down defense play to be honest with you, awful. But I’ll blame that on Dennis (Thurman). But yeah Tyrod had a great game. 40 some yards rushing and then 123 quarterback rating. You’re gonna win a lot of games that way.
Q: Tyrod does more than manage a game, can you talk about the added dimension he brings?
A: Well that’s it. I mean we said it all along and you can ignore practices, you can ignore the film if you want but we know who he is, we felt great about it. So it’s a tough decision because all three guys played well. But at the end of the day this guy’s got some magic to him with his legs, he’s smart, he did a great job…Greg Roman had a great plan, Dennis Thurman had a great plan, so it was awesome…and this just in, man I’m glad I ripped (Dan) Carpenter. We have a hate, hate relationship but he keeps going like that I’m gonna love that dude.
Q: Tyrod looked confident and that he belonged out there. Did you get the sense that today didn’t look like his first NFL start?
A: That was his first start but he wouldn’t have been out there if we didn’t think that he belonged. I mean we have two other good quarterbacks that we could have gone too but we chose him because we know he belongs.
Q: What was your defensive thought process against Andrew Luck?
A: We were mixing everything. It was tough because we had a pretty decent player never played this week. So we mixed it up a little bit on him. That kid, he gets the ball out of his hand quick, he’s smart. That was real competition out there. But yeah you mix it up, we mix personnel groupings and things like that. I thought the guys for the most part did a good job, but we did have some blown assignments in there. Like some mental things where we just didn’t get the calls out. But that’s a great problem to have and like I said we can fix that with the volume in practice. But man keep those fans humming, it was awesome. I mean the fans were better than our players and our players played pretty darn good today.
Q: Is it important to get off to a big start and keep the momentum going?
A: It’s important to get wins. That’s what it’s all about and the message is clear. When I think about this football team, the personnel that we have here, the organization, like we feel great about this team and like I say we also feel the responsibility not to let our fans down. So that’s the way it is.
Q: What was your thought process starting Matt Cassel at QB, and starting Tyrod at WR on the first play of the game?
A: That was something G. Ro (Greg Roman) came up with and I was like what was this, a little smoke screen or something like that. I really thought that play looked great in practice, man we were hitting it for touchdowns every time. Did it for a six yard loss. Not exactly the way we wanted to start. I was bragging about it to the officials before the game, bragging to Terry (Pegula) about it. I said wait till you see this one, oh my goodness. But it was great and you know Greg, we’re gonna use our roster and whoever’s up we’re gonna try to use.
Q: How do you allow yourself to absorb this win and can you describe it?
A: Man, fantastic feeling. I mean absolutely fantastic and I gave the game ball to Terry (Pegula) and like I told him, it’s because Kim (Pegula) wasn’t in the locker room. But he had the courage to hire me, and that probably isn’t real easy to do. But he did and it wasn’t what I bring it’s the staff that we put together, the vision that we have as an organization, that’s what’s gonna make it work. But man am I proud to be the coach of the Bills.
Q: Can you sum up having your dad here today?
A: Yeah put a little more 46 out there just for his deal. But no it’s just awesome. Anytime you can have him out there it’s special.
Q: Today they put Coach Lou Saban on the wall of fame. How do you feel to be the Bills first head coach to win his opener?
A: Wasn’t aware of that but that’s cool, glad we won it. But if I could duplicate some of things that he did I’ll sign up for that right now, I think we all would. But he was a phenomenal coach and his kid is pretty decent too.
Q: When you look at Tyrod Taylor play, what kind of problems can he cause?
A: Oh a ton of them. He’s decent with his arm, he’s smart, you can’t trick him and well I mean it’s hard to trick him, and obviously that added dimension that he has with his legs… and not just running the ball, like zone reads and all that type of stuff, but the plays he makes scrambling. You know he’s great, he’s got a great feel for it…most of your top quarterbacks have a great sense of pocket awareness. Look at the kid on the other side, I mean we couldn’t get to him to save our you know what but it was…you know those great ones they just got that presence and he has a presence to him.
Q: What did you think of Karlos Williams overall?
A: Overall, this kids been great. We saw it in camp the whole time and I think this is a little stat for you guys, see if I’m wrong on this one, which I probably am. But I think that his first carry at Florida State was a touchdown run, and I think his first carry for us is a touchdown run. So that’s a little useless knowledge for you.
Q: How much confidence did you have after seeing the scores after the first and second quarters?
A: Oh, it was huge. Huge boost and for us to come back out there…by then you’re trying to manage the clock to where…and Greg (Roman) did a tremendous job…you don’t want a team to get a two minute drive on you and then for us to knock it in there, that was tremendous and then to come out and take that first drive in the third quarter down the field for a touchdown, that was huge. Great momentum for us and obviously send a message to the Colts too.
Q: Could you have scripted today any better?
A: Maybe a little bit, I think we would have gotten a shutout I think if we would have scripted. But you know what you’re playing the Colts, that ain’t gonna happen too often. That team is loaded. I mean Chuck Pagano’s a great coach and we knew it was gonna be tough sledding against this team. But it wasn’t like we were holding our breath. We wanted to go out, we knew we had to make some plays, we got some things to clean up. Like I said we had some communication issues, we turned a guy completely loose. But I thought for the most part our guys did a tremendous job. Especially you know the back end. Man that’s some tough match ups back there but I thought our guys really played well.
Q: Any injury updates?
A: We had Corey (Graham), I think is on that concussion protocol so we’ll see how that goes. Obviously that’s tough to lose him, he’s a tremendous player and that was like the first play of the game. But (Bacarri) Rambo went right in and did a tremendous job for us and but that kid was ready. It’s funny because you sit back in the meetings and he’s firing out everything, all the communication. Not just for his position, but all the corners and everybody else. So he’s a sharp guy, he prepared like he’d be starting and that’s what happens sometimes. You gotta step right in and he did a tremendous job for us but hopefully Corey’s okay.
Q: Any other injuries?
A: No, I think that’s the only one.
Q: When do you start talking and preparing for next week’s game?
A: After I have a couple of beers then I’ll be thinking about it.
BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK TYROD TAYLOR
Q: Can you comment on how the first touchdown pass ignited the offense?
A: It was more of a match up thing. Seeing how they were playing our receivers. 21 [Vontae Davis] was traveling on Sammy [Watkins] and we liked the match up that Percy [Harvin] had. He was able to run a great route and a great catch. But it all starts with the line, they gave me the protection to go out there and make that play. They have done a great job of protecting me the whole game.
Q: What was this day like for you anticipating it for so long?
A: It was very exciting. Just the whole week tried to stay focused on practicing, not think too far ahead. And that is how I am going to be moving forward. Celebrate this with the family later on in the day, keep my mind focused on New England now.
Q: Have anyone special in town?
A: My parents, Granddad, uncle, aunt and my cousin.
Q: Four years as a backup what are your emotions like right now?
A: I am excited. I am excited for the team. I think we showed how special we can be especially as an offense unit and the defense played well, they have been playing well for years. The offense is very explosive and we have a chance to be very special and we are just looking forward to continue to keep getting better.
Q: Technically you don’t have a start at quarterback yet?
A: 1 and 0. 1 and 0.
Q: After you got the first interception and then the touchdown how big was that in taking over the momentum of the game?
A: It was very big. When playing a team like the Colts, we know how good they are. As far as answering back to those type of plays and especially they are very good in the second half. So our main focus was get up and stay up. Continue to keep focused in and dialing in and don’t get complacent out there.
Q: Did that play loosen them up defensively?
A: They changed up their coverage’s a little bit. It definitely loosened them up, the threat that we could go deep. They were playing with a low shell safety early on in the game. Just forcing us to throw those balls in. We were able to hit that play and they changed their defense up.
Q: Could you have imagined this going any better?
A: Just the main thing is execution. Go out there and do the things we have been practicing. We have been practicing over these plays the last couple weeks. To go out there and see some of these things work that we have been practicing on is definitely a good feeling. More so just execution focusing on each play.
Q: You don’t take any personal satisfaction?
A: Nah, it is not about me. It is never about me. It is about the team. This is a team sport and we went out there and played well as a team. There is some things we could clean up, but it will never be about me.
Q: Describe the touchdown to Harvin, take us through it.
A: The corner had been playing off Percy early on in the game but the safeties were playing with a low shell. They were 10 to 12 yards deep and we felt with Percy’s speed we could get him over the corner. And he was able to hold the defensive back and stack him on top and I was able to get the ball over.
Q: You put that right exactly where it needed to be?
A: He ran a great route. He ran a great route, made a great catch.
Q: How did this day compare to how you had envisioned it?
A: It was everything that I kind of envisioned it to be. The fans were super loud and they created a great atmosphere for us to go out and play our style of ball. The main thing is that we came out 1-0. And that was the main focus.
Q: Were you guys expecting them to focus a lot on Sammy and how important was that to open up to get everyone involved and force them to respect everybody?
A: It was definitely good to get everybody in the pass game. Like you said they traveled 21 who is a very good corner on Sammy so you could tell they were trying to focus in on Sammy. It opened up other guys and put them in one-on-one situations and I was able to get the ball to him.
Q: Did you audible on the touchdown to Percy?
A: No, not on that one. There were a few audibles throughout the game but that wasn’t an audible. Me and coach talked about that on the sideline.
Q: Looked like you picked up a blitz on the tight throw to Robert Woods, what did you see on that play?
A: Yes. Just watching film all week, just showing how they tip their coverage’s towards their blitzes and things. Me and Eric Wood got on the same page and I was able to get the ball out.
BUFFALO BILLS RUNNING BACK LESEAN MCCOY
Q: How did you feel?
A: I felt all right. I didn’t feel 100-percent, but I felt all right. Next week, get in the flow of things, watch some tape, we have a tough opponent again, we’ll be ready. The cool thing is having that defense. They’re stingy. They don’t … it’s hard to get first downs over there so, we’ll get tons of opportunities.
Q: Did you feel better in the second half?
A: Like I said, it’s never one side. It’s never just, “Oh the lines doing terrible, oh the running backs doing bad.” It’s a group thing. We have to do it together. And give them some credit. They did some things before we could get going with certain plays in the running game, they kind of stopped us, but they get some credit for that. But overall, we won. So you can make up this play, that play, but we won. I mean I had worse days than this.
Q: What did you see in Tyrod Taylor today?
A: Tons of respect man. He had guys in the right formations, playing well, I mean he looked good. Looked explosive, made the right passes, put us in the right place so … it’s only a matter of time before the NFL knows about him. I’ve seen this, it’s happened before, so I’m used to it.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS QUARTERBACK ANDREW LUCK
Q: Andrew how would you access how things got progressively worse for you guys in the second half?
A: Yeah, it was a poor performance by us on offense. We should have come out and put some points on the board and made it a good game, we had some good stops by our defense but we obviously didn’t do enough to win. They beat us pretty badly but we’ll bounce back next week.
Q: Just right off the bat it seemed like Buffalo was attacking you from the beginning and you couldn’t get any throws in in the first half, what was it like in the huddle trying to get something?
A: Yeah you know the first couple plays were positive, we had it going and then it was self-inflicted negatives. Penalties sort of shut that drive off, we would get going again and then throw an interception and shut that drive off, broken record sort of, they forced us into those errors. They are a good team and they made it hard for us to do things that we wanted to do. That’s a heck of a front four and they beat us pretty badly.
Q: What did you learn from going 0-2 last year to be able to turn things around to start the season?
A: It’s always a long season and you realize that, you don’t let one game necessarily define you but that doesn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow. It’s a tough loss.
Q: Andrew the pressure obviously pushed you into some three step drops and quick throws, did it restrict your game plan at all or did your game plan kind of account for that?
A: No, I think the game plan accounted for it. I think the way the game went, you fall behind and you need to get into some quick stuff, you can’t give up big sacks. That’s a tough front four and they got us out of rhythm, they really did, and I think we helped with some penalties and interceptions. They beat us pretty bad.
Q: Did you take a shot there at the end on the interception return, was that a kind of keep your head on the swivel thing, are you okay?
A: Yeah, fine. It’s a part of the game and we realize everyone is fair game out there, it was a legal block and there’s not much to say about it.
Q: You guys started 0-2 last year and we’ve had a lot of similar conversations this week, what do you recall about regrouping from that and some of those things you carried over?
A: Yeah, it is a long season. You want to go and win every game, it doesn’t make it any easier, like I said earlier it’s tough to swallow this pill. You guys say it’s okay we have a bunch of games left, but it’s not something we’re into. You just go back to work, realize that this game is done and you have to learn from it–that’s the most important thing, and you need to move on and improve and if you’re not improving you’ve got issues.
Q: You worried about T.Y. [Hilton] at all?
A: No, I think he’ll be alright.
Q: Their corners were really aggressive today, were they allowed to be that way maybe because of the score or the situation?
A: They played well, kudos to them for playing well. I’m sure it’s a combination of a bunch of things. When T.Y. [Hilton] gets behind them and we throw the deep one and it gets picked you know that doesn’t help with that style of play.
Filed under: Buffalo Bills
Tagged with: Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, NFL
Sorry, comments are closed on this post.