Sammy Watkins Says Fans Are Great Plus other Bills Postgame Comments

BUFFALO BILLS WR SAMMY WATKINS

Q: How do you feel?
A: Feeling great. Got the win. Played a great game on both sides of the ball. Just to be back on the field, I feel great.

Q: Did you feel confident today, to go at 100%?
A: Most definitely. I just want to thank the staff for getting me healthy and getting me back on the field. That was the biggest part. To gain confidence through practice and during routes I didn’t think I would do before the game. Just want to thank the staff and the coaches for having a great game plan to where I am put in a position to think about the injury.

Q: Can you comment on the two long catches?
A: We just got a great look. From Shady [LeSean McCoy] running the ball getting good yards on certain plays. We seen the safety kept down and interesting it was just a great one on one situation, a great pitch and throw, great blocking, and the offensive line did a great job today.

Q: How about the first throw and the second throw he didn’t have as much room to work with?
A: One thing I know he can throw the ball, he can throw just about any pass. I wasn’t worried about him throwing the ball and getting it to me. If he got time he is going to deliver the ball the right way. It was just great execution, I think we executed the plays that was presented to us. Of course the coaches, we game planned for them this week and we just got to keep meeting as a whole group without the coaches, the extra hours, that’s what matters when you are in the NFL.

Q: How satisfying was this for you coming off the injury and the Instagram comments?
A: I just put that behind me. I don’t have, I don’t be on Instagram or Twitter. It is not on my phone. It is just really getting back on the field, being healthy with the team. If I am 85 or 90 percent healthy I can go out there and make plays. We just played great as a whole offense. Everybody did their job on the offensive line, the quarterback, the receivers, the running backs. I think we are getting back and healthy that is what we needed for everybody to be on the field.

Q: What did you think of everyone cheering your name?
A: Oh, the fans are great. They come out every week, even the away games. Scream and shout for the players. I think that is a big factor in this game, even on that fumble that Miami had when the guy just hiked it, the fans were so into the game I don’t think they knew what they were doing. We just need them to keep believing in us. And we just need to keep on playing and giving them something to watch so they can be here every week and cheering us on.

Q: That was directed at you and there was some animosity from some of the people who forgive when you produce on the field?
A: Most definitely. I thank all my fans. The comment wasn’t to anyone, I didn’t mean that comment. So I just want to thank everybody for coming out still and chanting my name and still having faith in this team and me. That is why I came out and played the way I played, I felt like I owed it to the fans and to the team and the organization.

Q: Were you starting to feel a little pressure to have those big games?
A: Not at all. I think for the most part when I am healthy, I can go out there and make plays. It is really just staying healthy, staying on the field and being consistent. And with everybody playing, Shady rushing the ball for a 100 yards. Karlos Williams, having Tyrod [Taylor] 95% healthy. Just having everybody make it makes everybody jobs easier. You don’t have to put that pressure on yourself. Like I said, I think for the most part we had everybody doing extra. Even the defensive players, from the offensive players we were meeting extra. Doing things on ourselves to make us a better team.

Q: You look like you limped up to the podium with such a quick turn around are you going to be ready Thursday?
A: Most definitely. I just got to do the right things with my body. Hydrate, get in the cold tub, treat whatever injury that is hurting. I think I should be fine.

Q: The 63 yarder what was going through your head with the ball up in the air?
A: Really I knew I was getting the ball. I seen the safety insert so I was so anxious to catch it and I just wanted to score so bad. It got lost in the sun, I couldn’t see, I just kind of put my hands out and it hit my finger tips and I kind of tipped it to myself and bobbled it. I tried to cut and score but he kind of tackled me.

Q: On the two big plays the cornerback said he was mad you beat him off the line, what were you doing?
A: I live by the film. I watched him, every game from two and three years ago and watched how he plays press. He doesn’t switch it up. So I kind of set it up to and on run plays, kept taking inside releases kept selling it and I beat him inside on the first go so I knew when in doubt that he is going to jump inside if I do an inside release. So I kind of double moved him inside, sold it with my body and he jumped and I just put my hand up and Tyrod delivered the ball.

Q: LeSean dubbed you the prince of the team, if you are the prince what is he?
A: He is probably the king. That is the guy we went and got. I just thank him for playing tough and coming back off the injury he was suffering. And he has been playing great since he got back.

Q: Different level of confidence with Tyrod when he is back there throwing you the ball?
A: Most definitely. I mean any quarterback in the league can make those throws, but I think for the most part when you in the huddle and the guy controlling everybody, be quiet or say, ‘Hey we need this first down and I am coming to you.’ Those types of guys you consider special. I mean he is a young player, I am a young player, we just got to keep working together and being consistent every week. Just keep being positive, even with losses or bad plays, we just got to stay together.

Q: Did you say you deleted Instagram from your phone?
A: Yeah. Me and my girlfriend are trying to work on just staying off of it because you know when you are being home, you are constantly looking at your phone. Twitter, Instagram and we are just trying to stay off of it.

BUFFALO BILLS RUNNING BACK KARLOS WILLIAMS

Q: How did it feel to get back out there?
A: It felt great. Coming back in early this week, getting back in practice, getting back in rhythm of doing some things, getting on special teams first with coach (Danny) Crossman and getting some reps in there with coach (Greg) Roman. Trying to get me back in the flow of things, kind of giving me some extra reps, making sure my conditioning was back up, and also getting back on a roll with these guys. With Shady (McCoy), Boobie (Dixon) with Jerome (Felton), it feels good to be back on the field with my teammates.

Q: On Tyrod Taylor and Sammy Watkins returning to being healthy and making plays:
A: Most definitely. We have big playmakers and the ball went deep, and Sammy makes those plays down the field. Makes some consistent catches. The big challenge that we had, made a great catch, got his elbow down in bounds, two feet also. We’re happy to be back. All of us have been out for a while and we’re watching our team go we were watching our team play and we just wanted to be apart of it. We’re just happy to be back and be able to put some points on the board and come out with a great win.

Q: Two games against the Dolphins where you have played well, what is it about the Dolphins that lets you have success?
A: It’s about the game plan. Coach Roman a great offensive coordinator, Coach (Anthony) Lynn’s a great running backs coach. And when you put those things together and the kind of offensive line we have, the quarterback leadership we have, great things are going to come out. Great play calling and great up front today. Dominating off the line, dominating up front and able to move the ball down the field. Also Tyrod’s a great quarterback, only had one incompletion today so there’s not too much you can complain about.

Q: With everything you went through, did you feel anything different today?
A: No. Felt great. Like I said, got back early this week got back in the condition of things and felt great going through the week. Little bit of contact in practice and felt really really great. Contact in the game was fine, I was ready to roll and happy I had a great game.

Q: How do keep finding the end zone?
A: The big guys over there to my left. Those guys love when I run the football, they love the way I run the ball. Very aggressive, very downhill and we have that kind of offensive line that’s going to push, grind it out, and make those holes. They want me in the end zone, and I’m going to find a way to get in there. When they open the holes up, you have to be able to run through them, and they did a great job of that today.

BUFFALO BILLS RUNNING BACK LESEAN MCCOY

Q: If this were a closer game, score wise, would you be playing?
A: Yes, for sure.

Q: Was this the healthiest you’ve felt all year?
A: Yes. My ability to cut, my burst, just open up and finish the runs. I feel like my rust is really knocking off and both of my hamstrings are feeling excellent. This is my first time really feeling good.

Q: Was there something on film that you saw this week that made you want to cut a lot against their pursuit today?
A: We have these couple runs that are meant to go to the sideline, you try to open pursuit and try to get underneath it, and it worked a couple times today. Then the long one… Look at Karlos’ [Williams] 38 yarder: kind of the same pursuit, cut it up and took it the distance.

Q: Is your shoulder going to be any issue at all for Thursday?
A: Man, injuries. It’s another one. I’ll be all right, though. We’ll treat it up and do different things. I’ll be fine.

Q: How was it to be a part of an offense that was finally together today?
A: This is what they brought us here to look like. We draft certain players, like Karlos, to make plays. And John [Miller], on the line, blocked tremendous today. By the way, the offensive line really kicked butt today. I shouldn’t use the word bully, but they were bullying up front. We expect some plays man, and we kind of got to the edges. But, anything you wanted to do today was free. There was a lot of space with guys missing, get some extra yards. But then, Sammy [Watkins], he’s been battling injuries and you see what he did today. That’s kind of the look that we want–pounding on the ball. And every once in awhile, let Tyrod [Taylor] show his true talent: throwing the ball and actually running the ball. And then, powering the ball and throwing the ball to [Charles] Clay also. So, that’s the type of offense we want to have. You want to have that kind of offense with the defense when it’s done well. It’s called the game plan.

Q: How much more confident is this offense when you guys are all healthy–particularly you, Tyrod and Sammy?
A: You always want to think about it from the defense standpoint. When you watch it on tape, “How do you stop the guys?” You have this player, you have that player. It’s always a lot to scout and defend. When everybody is healthy, it’s like when you go to work or you go to war–you want all the right troops, all the right armor, all the right weapons to go out there and battle. I think it’s the same here. You want to have all your guys to go out and compete so you have the best chance to win.

Q: How was it having the offense carry the defense once in awhile? That’s rarely the case.
A: That’s in the past. When it comes to Buffalo, I think the fact is that the defense goes on there and makes all the plays and offense is just behind them. Well, we actually want that. We want the defense to be the front-runner of the team. The guys up front they really get out there, the secondary as well and the linebackers. As offense, we want to go out there and put points up. So you need a team type of thing, you really do.

Q: What did Sammy show you and this team today, knowing that he dealt with some distractions a couple of weeks ago with Instagram responding to criticisms that he’s injury prone?
A: He’s young. He’s a young player and I’ve been in his shoes before. You always want to prove yourself. He’s been a great player at Clemson and now he comes to a new environment where the expectation level is so high and you want to prove yourself and you battle injuries. That’s part of the game. And critics are saying this and saying that. Everybody has their own opinion, but you just can’t get mixed up someone else’s opinion with the true facts. He’s a hell of a player. He’s really God-gifted. As a young player, I understand the feeling so I don’t think he really needed to apologize because you go through those things. Out of all players I’ve ever been around, in their second year, the most exposure, the most hype is Sammy because he’s like the prince of the team. I mean, we need him to win games, which showed today. So, two years from now he’ll probably be laughing about the Instagram and all that type of stuff. He’s a good player, it’s just that you go through those things.

Q: What did you think about the Dolphins’ defense?
A: Anytime you get free points like that, you’ll definitely take it for sure. But also, just the defense–they make plays in the end too. The last fumble with Jerry [Hughes] was big for us. But also just talking about Sammy and other players, the defense has to struggle. “Do we want to start the run with the safety in the box? Do we leave one-on-one with Sammy Watkins?” It’s the things you had to do when you face the offense when we’re all together.

BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH REX RYAN

Opening Comments
Real, real good team effort. The guys, you know off the break, you know we’re fresh. That showed today. I love the way our guys prepared all week. Did a great job preparation wise. That being said, man oh man I think Miami got us a few times since the misdirection. It seemed like the whole game was misdirection and things. But they did a good job. Made it a close game. But you know I think our offense when you…we got our guys back obviously. This just in – it kind of helps having Sammy (Watkins) back, and Karlos Williams back, and everybody else. Tyrod (Taylor) back. Even though he did throw an incompletion today. So with that I’ll open it up for questions.

Q: Was that the first time we saw the offense you anticipated?
A: Well you know I don’t know if I’d say it’s the first time. But it was the first time in a long time for sure. You know we think we have a lot of talent and unfortunately we had so many injuries that we haven’t necessarily seen than. But today you got a chance to see a healthy Sammy Watkins out there. Healthy LeSean McCoy. Healthy Karlos Williams. All those type guys and they all contributed and like I say, when we’re healthy we’re gonna be pretty tough.

Q: What does today say about Sammy Watkins and his troubles on or off the field?
A: Yeah, troubles with being on Instagram or whatever that thing is. Whatever they call it. But he’s a great kid, great young man and like I say it was built more on frustration than anything else. But I love the support that the fans gave him. You know it’s great. Not everybody’s ready to forgive him, but the fans were and that was beautiful. You know we’re still not able to forgive him for being injured but really that was awesome. When the fans were doing that, chanting Sammy and all that, it’s like alright man. But they get it. Our fans get it. Smart fan base. They get it and we appreciate that. I know we have four out of five on the road coming up. We had to win at home. Believe me I felt the pressure there, knew we had to win at home and our fans were awesome. I mean the fans were incredible today.

Q: Were you surprised that they accepted the penalty right before Sammy Watkins’ touchdown?
A: No, not at all.

Q: Even a fourth down, 53 yard field goal?
A: Well but I think, I mean they knew we were gonna kick it. I mean Dan (Carpenter) had been smashing it, had the wind at the back, so they can…at that point in the game they can’t take the penalty or they can’t decline penalties. We’re gonna kick a field goal and we’re gonna add three more points to it. So I think they had no choice but to back us up and when they did it was Sammy time and that worked out well for us.

Q: How did you articulate the urgency to win this game all week?
A: Well the urgency was that we gotta be all in for nine weeks. That’s what we have. Nine week season. We know what it is, we know where we’re at. We were three and four going into the game, we get it. We had just lost to a team that we thought we were better than. But at the end of the day that’s where we’re at and we’re in the…you know it’s are we…you know could we be in the middle of it? Yeah, but we gotta win or it’s not gonna matter. So we gotta take care of our business. I love the commitment. If you guys would see the commitment that I saw through the week through preparation. Guys staying late, you know with no coaches, you know outside of that, together. Collectively they’re staying in there. Tyrod (Taylor) running the offense. The defense in there. Our guys want to win and I can’t tell you…You say well that’s a stupid comment, everyone wants to win. Yeah, but to the extreme that we want to…we want to be…We want to give ourselves the best chance. And we gotta communicate better, we gotta do all that, and we gotta be all in together and supportive of each other, and I think our guys are.

Q: What is the update on LeSean McCoy?
A: Well he wanted to go back in the game so I think that’s a great sign. The fact that he wanted to go back in the game. He had 112 yards. But that was a great sign for us. But we were like nah. At that time quite honestly we never needed him.

Q: Could it be a long term injury with LeSean McCoy?
A: No, I mean I have no idea. But I can just tell you that he wanted to go back in the game so that’s all I know.

Q: Any other injuries today?
Scott Berchtold: No. That was it.

Q: What’s the process between you and Greg Roman before you are about to make a big play? For example after they enforced the penalty before the touchdown to Sammy Watkins?
A: Well no it’s funny, because Greg (Roman) makes all the calls and things. But I’m like dial up Sammy (Watkins). That was it. That’s all I said was dial up Sammy and he was, he had already had the play called.

Q: When you know you are about to call a big play, like the touchdown throw to Sammy Watkins, what does it feel like as a coach before the snap?
A: Well you just, it starts with protection and everything else. But when you see your mans protected back there. Tyrod’s (Taylor) pretty accurate so it’s like alright we got a great shot here and Sammy did a great job. (Brent) Grimes is a heck of a player but you know, Sammy is pretty darn good.

Q: What was behind the decision to flip Jerry Hughes to the left?
A: Well no this was…we went in, we planned it. Quite honestly it started with Mario (Williams). When I looked at Mario I thought we had a mismatch sliding him inside against that guard. And they knew it too cause they had to slide, you know (Mike) Pouncey a great center, they had to slide him over to help double Mario. But the time they didn’t Mario was getting great penetration and he caused a lot of things. I don’t know if he had any sacks or anything but he caused a lot of disruption. But Jerry, I knew Jerry…I liked our matchup with Jerry on that kid. Also wanted to get IK (Enemkpali) going a little bit. Put him over there on (Branden) Albert. Albert’s a good player but I thought IK could be physical with him and I thought he did a nice job.

Q: Were you surprised Sammy Watkins was that healthy to be able to make those plays?
A: Well no that’s the thing about him. Like how fast is he? I don’t know as fast as he needs to be because he’s got that top end gear as well and I remember watching that thing in college and things. And I used to laugh at people and said you know, that this guy’s unbelievable and when he’s healthy he’s right there in the mix with all those other great ones. But we just hadn’t seen it. I think that’s…he’s frustrated that way. He knows the kind of player is, all of us know it, our fans know it and so you know what- he’s back and like I say we keep him healthy watch out.

Q: How big of a deal was it to keep them out of the end zone right before the half expired, even though they marched all the way down the field?
A: Yeah, they did a few times and to their credit they did a real nice job. Really kept us off balance on defense. They did a great job. Dan Campbell, he’s a good football coach. His team plays hard man. But that was a huge goal line stand. There’s no question about it. To come away, they have no points. That was a big play. Our D never looked great during the day but we had our moments, and that certainly was a key one.

Q: Did you catch a break there with their poor clock management?
A: We were ready to play regardless.

Q: Did you talk to Jerry Hughes after his late hit?
A: Yeah at first I actually thought it was on our other player. Then I saw the replay and that’s something Jerry’s got to be smarter than that and I really hadn’t the chance to talk to him yet. He knew he had messed up but I certainly will remind him.

Q: Do you think he got the message on his own after coming back with some strong series?
A: I think he got the message on his own. He knows better than that and he’s gotta dial in and just, you know he ought to give it one of these deals and he’ll be alright. But we did have too many penalties again. I mean we’ve got to be careful. Grabbing guys too much down the field. You know we gotta get better at that for sure. And then the one, it was disappointing with Jerry because he had been doing a great job from probably week two on. But it’s something, you know we’re still now there. We can’t assume we’ve figured it out.

Q: Rumor has it you secluded yourself on the bye week. What did you do to get away?
A: It’s only a rumor that I drank a lot of beer. Nah I mean I really did. I wanted to get away and focus on where this team and how…what we need to do to bring our guys closer and I talked about today, you gain respect in this league a lot of ways and one way is through your commitment. Another way is through your loyalty. Another way is…The obvious thing is your productivity obviously overrides everything. But there’s a lot of little things that are involved in it as well. So those are things that, that you know we gotta get this thing in. We gotta get the belief in each other and everything else. And just going forward and not losing, I mentioned to the fans, don’t lose faith in this team. We haven’t even been healthy yet. So let us be healthy then judge us for who we are, and I think you get a glimpse of it. I mean obviously we still got some good players out. But it’ll be great to get Kyle (Williams) back, and people like that back. But give this team a chance. Nothing’s changed. The idea is to get in the playoffs right? Well let’s just hold on to that.

Q: Have you thought about it personally, the anticipation of returning back to New York?
A: I can’t stand ‘em. No, I’m just kidding. I haven’t thought about it for one second, I really haven’t. But tonight obviously, I’ll go out, get something to eat, go right back in the office. And we have meetings and practice tomorrow because it is such a quick turnaround. I promise you it’s just another opponent right now. Now will that change when I’m in there? That’s a possibility. But I can tell you this, it’s all about just you’re playing another team and I know that team really well. But that’s really what it is and it’s no more than that and I can promise you it’ll be the same thing, the same way I’m answering right now too at the end. Now after the game that may change.

Q: Can you clarify more on the Percy Harvin situation?
A: Yeah he’s in chronic pain and that’s…

Q: Is the pain in his (Percy Harvin) hip or knee?
A: Both. You know it was something we were hoping he could come back from. But it’s even like technically not even the knee, the quad. He’s just in chronic pain. This kid did everything he could to play and that’s the sad part about it. That he wanted to play in the worst way. He’d be here all the time. All through the break. You know cold tubs, whatever we thought could get him better, this kid tried. But at the end of the day, you know he just couldn’t do it and that’s a real shame.

Q: Is he having surgery? That has been reported.
A: He’s having a, I don’t know the exact thing about knee surgery or whatever. I know he is having a procedure. That much I know.

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Tagged with: Buffalo Bills, Karlos Williams, LeSean McCoy, Miami Dolphins, Rex Ryan, Sammy Watkins