Buffalo Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan
Monday, November 30, 2015
Opening Statement:
Obviously looking at the tape it is pretty much what I expected to see on the film. No different, we struggled stopping the run obviously, when we went to seven man spacing. So that was pretty much what you saw. Then offensively I think the thing that really hurt us offensively we dropped way too many passes, especially in the second half and that is really. I thought our offense, we controlled the game, we were very effective moving the football and then we had some key drops. Which is really uncharacteristic. That is what kind of hurt us there. And then like I mentioned on defense stopping the run, you got to be much better at stopping the run in seven man spacing. And then we still have to find a way to be aggressive without selling the farm. I thought Kansas City did a good job when we did pressure. They ran some screen passes, things like that. It almost kept us from bringing all out pressures and things like that. They hit a couple of those on us. Then on special teams we had the penalty which has been a recurrent theme. I think on special teams we have been doing a much better job of it, but we had a penalty there that hurt us. So with that I will open it up for questions.
Q: Seven man spacing you mean like seven in the box?
A: Yeah pretty much seven guys in the box. Sometimes seven man spacing is that if you extend a guy then we may extend a guy. So it might not necessarily be seven but they are not with all their guys either. In other words you have got to get off a block. They have numbers, you are basically giving up your advantage in numbers if you play eight man spacing you should have an extra guy. That is pretty much what it is really.
Q: There is a report Alex Carrington tore his quad is that true?
A: Yeah that is the thing it doesn’t look good. So that could be very accurate, I know it was just above the knee. We knew it was a significant injury. So it doesn’t look good.
Q: Karlos’ shoulder?
A: Karlos’ shoulder is, we will see how it progresses through the week. Obviously it is not near the severity of Alex [Carrington]’s injury. But hopefully we will see where he is at later in the week, hopefully he can play. We are not 100% sure. And then we had another injury to Nigel [Bradham] and that is an ankle injury. To be honest it doesn’t look great for this week for him to play. And that is a big loss also obviously.
Q: Is that a high ankle sprain?
A: Yeah, but it doesn’t seem to be. There are different degrees of high ankle injuries just like any other one. But it, obviously it is a significant injury but it is not where it is going to be a five week injury.
Q: With Alex out, and Mario hurt, will Mario come back or who will start if he doesn’t?
A: You know I am not real sure yet. We haven’t even looked at the plan or anything else, but haven’t even looked at the opponent. But hopefully Mario [Williams] can play in some capacity. I am not sure. We certainly need him
Q: You said that the decision to throw the challenge flag is ultimately your decision can you explain your teams protocol for that?
A: Well I am not going to name names or anything like that. But obviously there is a process in place, did that process let us down yesterday, absolutely did. It failed on a couple of occasions obviously. I think for the most part that thing has been pretty decent. But clearly just for… like I had no idea about the catch by [Jeremy] Maclin or the one that was not a catch until I came down for the press conference, and you guys asked me about it. And I was like I had no idea that was even in question. That ought to tell you that it wasn’t, for whatever reason I was not informed by that.
Q: Do you plan to make changes to that process?
A: Yes. Yup.
Q: Will you tell us what they might be?
A: No I am not going to get into specifics of it. But it will be where there is something that clearly we have to improve in it. We thought, I thought it was going well this year, obviously we need to find a way to where it is better. Where something like this, like people at home can see something and we don’t see it. Like that to me, that can’t happen, and it won’t happen in the future.
Q: Sounds like people at home might have watched and seen James Trapp telling you no on one of the calls, what is his role in the process?
A: Yeah he is not in the process at all. He is down on the field and things, I think he was echoing what was being said, but you get a lot of voices. But the one that is important to me is the one that is in the headset. And there is times I will even ask the player, I never talked to Chris [Hogan] about it, but sometimes when a guy for instances a guy will catch a ball think it is a completion, they will look at you and I will even go to that player a lot of the times, but that never happened there. And that was something where, that happened in front of me, I truly believe, I pulled the red flag out, I had it out, I was going to challenge it. Because I saw it with my own eyes, I believe it to be a catch. However at that time we have one timeout left and I am sitting back there. I know there is, everybody talks about what is a catch, the Dez Bryant deal all that stuff. Well the thing that actually happens is you have to be able to survive the ground. So to make it a legal catch you have to survive the ground. Now with that being said he clearly made a football move before he had to survive the ground. That was kind of the thing, how many things, that was what was going through my mind he didn’t survive the ground. Clearly he didn’t survive the ground, however he had already made a football move. In hindsight I should have thrown it, regardless of how much help you get or don’t get in that case. I saw it with my own eyes I should have believed it.
Q: How frustrating is that?
A: Yeah, that’s frustrating. Without question. One is a 37-yard play, we got the game going the way we want it. That is obviously a huge play in the game, next play the score or get it all the way down to the three or two yard line. And if that is an incompletion that can affect an outcome of a game clearly. And then the one at the end with Chris [Hogan] I know that is the one that comes up as well. It is a first down, that one like I say….everything ultimately is my responsibility there is no question about it. Not pointing fingers at anybody else, it is my responsibility, it is my responsibility to get a process in place that is effective. Like I said I don’t know where we rank statistically or anything like that, I think the process has held up until this. And what is important now we better, we have to find a way to get better at it. I believe we have one in place now that will be more effective.
Q: It is screwy that it is in your hands then but 15 seconds later the call would come down from the booth, or should it be more like college where almost every play is reviewed?
A: Right and I get it. Clearly that works in the college game, I get it. When you get burned by something like that, then sure you want the rule to be like that. But the NFL is also, we want the game to move along we don’t want a review every two seconds or whatever it is, every play. So I believe in the process, I believe in our game, I think our game is a great game. There is a human element to it still and sometimes it works to your favor and sometimes it doesn’t.
Q: In your experience asking the player how effective is that, and is that a fair way to measure the play?
A: Well it is just one of those things you are going to hear about it up top from what we see on the video. But sometimes it is, like a player sometimes will be totally adamant about it and he will know he caught that ball, or as an example and sometime it will give you an indication hey we got to look at this and all that type of stuff. Sometime it is a gut, you got to throw it out there. Same thing on an incompletion, a player generally if they see it hit the ground they are going to be jumping up and down letting you know that hey that is an incompletion. So that is really it. Sometimes I have had some where they guy goes, ‘I caught it, I caught it,’ well no you didn’t. Because maybe you can’t overturn it for instance. You may very well have caught it, but it is inconclusive.
Q: So on the Wood’s challenge was that more listening to the player?
A: Well I heard it from up top as well to challenge it even people on the field that thought they had a good vantage point of it as well, wasn’t necessarily the case.
Q: Jerry Hughes has seven personal fouls this year, why is it he can’t get the message you are trying to get through?
A: You know I am not sure. He is an outstanding player, he plays with great passion, great heart. That number is alarming to me. That seems, like that is almost hard to believe because I thought he was playing you know with more self-control and things like that. You know he is getting double and tripled team. I recognize there is frustrations and that is when the personal foul he actually get he doesn’t hit the quarterback with his front at all, he actually hits him with his back. So I don’t know if I have ever seen a guy get a personal foul by hitting a guy with his back, but it happened there.
Q: How difficult it is with your defense playing so well last week and the piling up of the injuries?
A: Well I mean it is what you sign up for. But we went in thinking you are going you are going to have Aaron Williams all season, he has played in two games. Kyle Williams, you get all that, but that happens. That is where your depth is tested and all that. But you have got to make the proper adjustments. Clearly some of the adjustments I made at half time, you know weren’t good enough. We have got to find a way, what is missing is the most important thing is the performance, the outcome. And that, I am happy with the effort, I happy with a lot of things, but I am disappointed with the outcome. And that is something that we have to get better at. So when I look at it we know that there is give and take on anything. If you are all of sudden start taking away a certain player then others got to step up, and the challenge it now. Instead of a corner for instance maybe now the challenge is on the front seven, on different people. There is that chess match in there and I have to do a better job of it.
Q: How much have these injuries handcuffed you?
A: Well it doesn’t help you.
Q: For the fans sense of frustration with 15 years without playoffs, do you get a sense of that even though you haven’t been here for it?
A: Well I definitely feel it. I take it, my responsibility. I said it from day one I don’t want to let our fans down. I know the frustrations, but I want to take that head on that I look it, this is fully my responsibility, that is how I am approaching it. Now I am not admitting defeat by any stretch of the imagination that we have some opportunity. And clearly right now in my opinion we can win the rest of them, but we are also a team that can lose them. We can win all these games or lose them. We are not, we have not shown the consistency to play at a certain level yet. Now we got to find it, we got to find it in a hurry. The team we are getting ready to play, they are on a four game winning streak I believe. They are playing extremely well, it doesn’t get easier.
Q: When you went back and watched the film did you find any more answers to why Sammy wasn’t involved more in the second half?
A: Well they did roll their coverage to him. So they did a lot of things, quite honestly it was a mirrored game plan. I mean both teams tried to make the same adjustment. So that was one thing, and we got to be able to win one on one’s on the other side. The thing that is disappointing we dropped, we had guys, we had the match ups we wanted but we have got to come down with the football. We dropped too many balls, where we could have kept drives going.
Q: Who steps in for Bradham, is it Tarpley or Steward?
A: We will see. But I think it is going to end up being Tony Steward. I think that is the way we are going to go is with Tony. You know he is doing a decent job on the practice field. I think with a full week’s preparation he will be ready to go.
Q: Are you going to make a move to add some depth to that position?
A: That is definitely a possibility.
Q: Where do John Miller and Marcus Easley stand?
A: Well [Marcus] Easley we are getting good news on him. He looks like he is turning the corner. Obviously he is still in the concussion protocol, so that is out of our hands. But I think we feel pretty good about that. And as far as [John] Miller that, he is a high ankle so obviously we don’t anticipate him being back this week.
Q: Are you encouraged by the play of Kraig Urbik’s play in replace of Miller?
A: Well I thought he did a good job. That is a team that can really get after the quarterback. We allowed the one sack, albeit it was a big one because it was a fumble. But I thought for the protection for the most part our guys did a tremendous job in protecting the quarterback. When Tyrod [Taylor] gets that kind of protection he is going, he can make the throws. So I think we saw that, that was a positive I thought.
Q: Going back to Sammy some of catches he made seemed like he was doubled already, so was it that they rolled even more coverage?
A: You are exactly right he did catch a couple balls into double coverage, there is no question. And sometimes you don’t concede it, you got a great football player you get him the football regardless of what the coverage is. However we did have a lot of one on one match ups that we felt really good about it, to other players as well. And it is about moving the ball as a football team not just feeding the guy. But Sammy [Watkins] clearly is a guy even if you double him sometimes you give him opportunities, I certainly agree with that. If we would have extended drives or maybe got the ball back more on the defensive side that would have provided us more opportunities to maybe get Sammy the ball more.
Q: Is Seantrel Henderson still the starting right tackle headed into this week?
A: Yes. And you know what. That was a short week that was a tough deal. Going against two young men that are really good football players in [Justin] Houston and Tamba Hali. That was no easy task. Obviously this week you are only going to have the best player in the league. So that is going to be a huge challenge for everybody.
Q: What was the reason behind making Cyrus inactive?
A: Well I mean he is ready to go. He is still, he is out there. But feel right now we think that Jordan [Mills] is our better option for us right now.
Q: When it comes to down to what is and is not a catch, is it something the NFL might need to fix?
A: I think the NFL has addressed it. I think part of it is trying to doing the football move, the act of, I think that is okay. I think the biggest thing they have talked about it surviving the ground, on some of those things. Clearly [Chris] Hogan had the three steps whatever, I think he did make a football move protecting himself and then when he went to the ground it just so happened it popped out. More times than not they get it right, but the ones that are missed, like I said I should have been there to challenge it. Obviously I regret not challenging it.
Q: How do you fix your inconsistency?
A: Well that is tough. We just got to go, you got work every day at your craft, you got to get better. We have had some unique challenges. Obviously three in a row on the road with two short weeks that is not the easiest thing. You know like last week like I said it was a mental preparation thing. And for the most part mentally I thought we were pretty sharp. However we get an opportunity to get an interception, we blow a coverage and it is a touchdown. So those are the things, the consistency we have got to get better at. I think we are getting and then, it only takes one mistake and you give up a touchdown or something when you don’t need to. So that is the thing that is a little frustrating. The fact that we really never practiced. I mean you are walking-through to give yourselves a chance because you are off a short week physically. It is different–you are walking through things a 100 times. But that is why practice is generally the way you want to go. You see things at a live-er speed, clearly. If not we would walk-through, that is all we’d do. So there obviously the benefits there, in doing that. And again it is not an excuse it is just a fact.
Q: Will Aaron Williams start to practice this week?
A: I doubt that.
Q: Yesterday it was announced to us that Darby was in concussion protocol he was back out there quick, what he did go through, he is going to be okay this week
A: Well they don’t just go through our doctors, they go through an independent doctor as well. So a player, the thing that you learn with the league now is they are going to make sure the young man is healthy and ready to go back in, which I think it a great thing. But that he was obviously cleared to play.
Q: Are you preparing not to have Aaron the rest of the year?
A: Well I am pessimistic about him playing this week. But I mean you ask me about practicing, I don’t see him practicing this week, I don’t. He is progressing though. There has been some positive signs about his recovery, but as far practicing, I don’t see him practicing this week.
Q: When do you anticipate Kyle Williams going on IR?
A: Well we will see what happens in about five hours from now. I can’t be more truthful than that.
Q: Would that make sense to get more linebacker depth?
A: Well you might see obviously if in fact that [Alex] Carrington is gone for the year, if in fact Kyle [Williams] is gone for the year you are obviously going to have to improve your depth on the defensive line. I think would be the number one priority.
Q: Is Jerel Worthy ready to come off the practice squad?
A: Well we will see. He is on the practice squad right now, there may be other options we look at also.
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