Ryan, Bills try to be upbeat
But games against Cardinals, Patriots could lead to 0-4
Rex Ryan was a conflicted soul Monday morning.
He said he was about as low as he could get Friday, the day he fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman less than 12 hours after a demoralizing and damaging loss to the New York Jets dropped the Bills to 0-2.
And then he turned on the tape of the Arizona Cardinals’ 40-7 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and began to recognize the enormity of the challenge his team faces Sunday.
“Anybody who watched the Cardinals this past week realizes the task at hand,” Ryan said. “If they’re not the best team out there, they’re certainly one of them. We know what we’re facing, and I’ll be honest, it’s an impressive group, there’s no doubt. Bruce Arians does a great job, and he has those guys humming right now.”
Ryan, who has never been one to quiver in his Nikes about playing anyone, didn’t stay morose for long, however, and the usual bluster quickly returned when he basically said, in so many words, “Bring it on, Cardinals. And I see you lurking, Bill Belichick.”
“It might be the best team in the league, and maybe this is the exact team we need to play,” Ryan said. “And it’s back-to-back weeks, by the way. Bruce Arians this week and Belichick next week. There’s a few more easier options than those two, but maybe this is what we need. We’ve had struggles, we’ve been far from perfect, but we’ll see how we measure up against maybe the best in the league.”
It’s hard to imagine anyone who doesn’t draw a check from the Bills owners feels that way. Yet as nearly all of Bills Nation is in panic mode over the awful start and the real possibility of a 0-4 record with Arizona up next and a trip to New England the following week, there was no sign of concern inside the locker room.
After a short walk-through practice, players were loud and boisterous as they entered the room, and no one looked all that upset about the fact that they were two games behind the Patriots in the AFC East.
“When I read media reports, it feels like a lot more crisis than we feel in the building,” center Eric Wood said. “Sitting on the couch and watching games yesterday, I read like eight different reports of what went down Friday. It didn’t feel nearly as hectic as everyone made it seem.”
Wood said firing the offensive coordinator two weeks into a season was not ideal, but in the end the Bills’ problems were more about the players performing than the plays that Roman was calling.
“We’re moving on, business as usual, and we’ve got a big game this weekend,” Wood said.
The Bills rank 30th in the NFL in total yards, 29th in passing yards, 29th in third-down efficiency and 31st in first downs, so Roman paid the price. As for the decision to let him go, Ryan reiterated — contrary to news reports — it was his and his alone.
“I’m very aware of some of those reports out there,” Ryan said of media outlets describing internal strife in the organization and that Ryan was left out of meetings between owners Terry and Kim Pegula and several players before Roman’s release.
“I made the decision on letting Greg Roman go. That’s it, final, I made the decision,” Ryan said. “In regards to the reports about how players were seeing ownership, that happens all the time. They talk to our players, everybody. I’m in full support of our owners, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, does it? They own the football team, they don’t need permission to talk to anybody.”
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins met with the Pegulas but said it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“I think it was moreso what we need as a team,” he said. “I think it went well. I wasn’t asked anything, just kind of showed up, like, ‘Hey, we need to talk.’ It had nothing to do with anybody, it just had to do with the players, and I think it went well.”
Watkins was asked if he’d been summoned to meet with the owners before, and he said, “I met with them plenty of times, so I don’t think it was an issue. ... I think they wanted to see where my head was and other guys, the leaders on the team, where our heads were. I told them it’s up to our play, we can’t blame anybody.”
Ryan thinks his team can do it, even though the level of competition is going to spike dramatically the next two weeks.
“Being around the guys and the coaches this morning, I feel fantastic,” Ryan said. “I’ve never been 0-2 in my NFL career — about 20 years, I guess — so I never really know how to feel, but I feel rotten. I don’t want to let people down, I don’t want to let this team down, don’t want to let our fan base down, so it’s important to me. Yet now, let’s go, man. I’m doing whatever I can to avoid being 0-3, albeit against one of the best teams in the NFL.”