Buffalo parts ways with Ryan
He gets fired in second season
Rex Ryan’s inability to back up his boasts of building a bully — particularly on defense — in Buffalo led to the Bills firing their highprofile coach one game short of completing his second full season.
Terry Pegula, who made Ryan’s hiring his first big splash as owner, was the person who informed Ryan of his dismissal Tuesday. The decision came three days after a 34-31 overtime loss to Miami that eliminated Buffalo (7-8) from contention and extended the NFL’s longest active playoff drought to 17 years.
“We mutually agreed that that the time to part ways is now,” Pegula said. “These decisions are never easy.”
Ryan had three years remaining on his contract.
General manager Doug Whaley’s job appears secure after being put in charge of the Bills coaching search, the team’s third in four years. Buffalo is also moving on to its eighth coach since the playoff drought began during Wade Phillips’ final year as coach in 2000.
Ryan replaced Doug Marrone, who opted out of his contract following a 9-7 finish in 2014, and three months after the Pegulas purchased the Bills from the estate of Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson.
Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will coach the Bills in their season finale at the New York Jets (4-11) on Sunday.
The Bills also fired Ryan’s twin brother, Rob Ryan, from his position as an assistant head coach with the responsibility to oversee defense.
Prescott wants to play: Quarterback Dak Prescott can help the Dallas Cowboys set a franchise record with 14 wins. Running back Ezekiel Elliott could break Eric Dickerson’s 33year-old rookie rushing record.
Other than that, Dallas doesn’t have much on the line in the regular-season finale at Philadelphia on Sunday.
But Prescott doesn’t want to take a seat on the bench.
“I want to play every game,” said Prescott, whose 11-game winning streak put Tony Romo on the bench when the 10-year starter returned from a preseason back injury. “I want to keep this momentum going.”
Elliott has 1,631 yards and would need 178 against the Eagles. He had his career high of 159 in Week 15 against Tampa Bay.
Carr has surgery: Derek Carr underwent surgery to repair his broken right leg and the Oakland Raiders began preparing for a playoff run without their star quarterback.
The Raiders have given no timetable for how long Carr will be sidelined, but his brother, David, said on the NFL Network, where he is an analyst, that the initial estimates are he will miss six to eight weeks.
That would leave Carr sidelined until just after the Super Bowl, meaning Oakland will rely on backup Matt McGloin for the postseason run.
Browns cut Cooper: The Cleveland Browns waived offensive guard Jonathan Cooper, who was a first-round pick by Arizona in 2013.