Bills Postgame Quotes (Week One)
Head Coach Sean McDermott
Opening statement…
Obviously, we didn’t play our best game tonight. We made it pretty hard on ourselves honestly. When you turn over the ball four times, it’s hard to win in this league and you’re playing two opponents. The one on the other sideline and yourself, that’s what we did tonight and that’s not the right formula to win games in the NFL. All three phases right, you have to play complimentary football and we didn’t do that either tonight. We have to make the adjustments we have to make and get ourselves ready on a short week here.
On what the Jets defense does that gives the offense so many problems…
I’ll give them credit, they’ve got good players. In terms of flying around, they play fast, they don’t do a lot schematically, but they play fast, they know their assignments and they do a good job so give them credit. At the end of the day, they won the game, but when you turn the ball over four times, again, we beat ourselves, too.
On QB Josh Allen’s performance and Allen saying he was going to improve on turnovers during the offseason…
He knows, he knows he can play better. I know he’s capable of playing better. He’s capable of playing smarter as well and he’s got to do that for us, to number one stay healthy and then number two, to take care of the football. He’s more than capable of doing that.
On making games harder for themselves with turnovers…
We made it hard on ourselves, right. Not setting ourselves up in good field position and then helping them with good field position. Usually when you turn the ball over, it’s very rarely, you’re not pinning them down with a whole lot. It’s the whole formula of all three phases feeding one another and setting each other up. I mean, go across the league, I don’t know the stats this past week but Week One in the NFL, tell me who lost a turnover battle and won, right? In this case we lost, 4-1, with turnover kinds of things. Look it’s an entire team, it’s not just one person. It starts with us as a coaching staff and making sure we’re putting the players in the proper position and then taking care of the football. I thought we did some good things tonight at times and then there’s other times where there’s just too much handing them the game at times.
On pinning them down at the four-yard line, the Jets going to three tight ends and if there was any consideration to go into phase defense…
Yeah, we were just out of our gaps there on that long run. We had an eight-man front defense, we were misaligned a little bit there and it’s something we’ll learn from.
On an overtime penalty to start the drive and why the decision to then call a running play…
Yeah, I really felt like most of the night our first down efficiency wasn’t great. We were off schedule and when you’re against a good defense, it’s hard to come back from being off schedule, you have to stay on schedule. First down efficiency is important, so you stay ahead of the chains and in a favorable third-down or second-down situation to set up the third down. So, you stay two dimensional as an offense and that’s where it’s harder as a defense to know what you’re about to do but when you’re off schedule and you’re in the gun and you’re in the drop back game that’s an unhealthy thing whether you’re running or throwing. Obviously, the goal was to get more than what we got out of it in that run in particular, but just not enough on schedule offense.
On special teams issues in the preseason and is there a concern that it’s a trend…
Yeah, it’s a concern. I have confidence in those guys and coach. I just didn’t feel like we were populated enough down there, there just wasn’t enough bodies down there on that last one I’m talking about. Give them credit, that was a good return, but not enough population around the ball more than anything.
On if Jets QB Aaron Rodgers being out of the game changed things…
Oh yeah, with all due respect to (QB) Zach (Wilson), they’re two different quarterbacks, just from experience alone. And that’s when you’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re up 13-3, I think was it halftime and you’re saying, ‘Take care of the football, be smart,’ and we weren’t smart. And again, when you shoot yourself in the foot it’s hard to win games.
On what the in-game conversations are like with Allen when he’s performing like he did today…
Well, I mean I’m telling him that we got to be smarter, he knows better and he can’t do that. The coaches are doing the same. Listen, he’s hard on himself. You guys know him, he’s hard on himself. He wants to win and sometimes that’s when the times gets the best of him and so just taking what the defense gives you and that’s a good defense, again. When they play the way that they do, they make you do things that you don’t want to do, but it can’t be to that extent like it was tonight. We got to learn from this and bounce back on a short week here.
On the punt that led to the game-winning touchdown and his perspective on what took place…
Yeah, I think the punt ended up in the middle of the field, somewhere between the hashes if I’m not mistaken, or around there. That’s not usually a good formula when the ball ends up down the middle of the field, so we’ll have to look at that and look at all the tape and know specifically. You never want the ball usually kicked down the middle, you usually want it outside the numbers, at either sideline.
On if there were considerations to kick the ball during overtime…
Yeah, we always think about different things, regulations obviously, regular season’s obviously very different than in the postseason now. But we had an opportunity to go win the game and we didn’t get it done.
On what his message is to the team…
We’ve got to learn from this. Like I told you guys, it’s one game but we have to learn fast because it’s a short week in particular. Get their bodies back, get their minds back, ready to go, at home, this week, against a good football team. We’ve got to learn from this, we talk about it a lot and again it’s hard to win in this League when you turn the ball over four times.
On how to make sure tonight’s performance doesn’t become a trend for Allen and Allen doesn’t get in his head…
Well, it’s a journey. It’s a long season in the NFL and unfortunately sometimes you have to be reminded of these things and it hurts with a loss, right. And so, it’s a constant, constant reminder of during the week of, ‘Hey take care of the football, take the football away, that wins games when you do that.’ Or in this case, it loses games so we just made it awfully hard on ourselves tonight.
On if he ever worries about Allen’s confidence…
Sure, yeah, I mean everyone mentally is up and down. Like I said, the journey of a season. He’s an extremely competitive young man that wants to be the best and so he’s just got to use what he has around him. I thought the drive at the end was phenomenal, right, at the end of regulation there was phenomenal. Just the rhythm we were in, the throws he made, I thought the protection was pretty good, as well. I thought that was a heck of a drive to go tie the game and then T-Bass (K Tyler Bass) got a great kick. That’s what he’s capable of, now it’s just about getting everybody back in the right spot.
On clarity on what happened during the last punt…
Well, I need to go look at it Chris. You’re talking about a punt at this point, I know it was somewhere down the middle on the catch. Where I’m standing there’s a scrum of people trying to get to the ball carry and there’s a wall of people and it’s hard to see exactly where everyone was or wasn’t, so we have to diagnosis that on the film here.
On being off schedule and how much that contributed to the turnover he saw tonight…
Yeah, I mean if you study turnovers around the NFL, around the game, a lot of turnovers take place when you’re off schedule. You’re behind the sticks or what we call, in the red, and that’s not a good place to be. So, when you’re in those situations, you’ve got to be smart knowing that, hey, pretty much a one-dimensional offensive thought in those situations, but they know it’s one dimensional also. So, you just got to be smart with the ball and don’t put yourself or the ball in harm’s way.
QB Josh Allen
On the Bills four turnovers…
Trying to force the ball. Same (expletive), same place, different day.
On what they need to do to get on track…
Mindset-wise, just trusting what I see and sticking with it. Not trying to force anything. It’s a good defense we played, but we can’t play two guys. Can’t play them and us. And I played us tonight.
On their effort to limit turnovers…
Yeah, it’s not like I’m going out there and trying to throw interceptions. I guess we’ll find out on tape, try to correct it and got to correct it fast. We’ve got a short week and can’t let this game turn into two.
On his fumble…
Just kind of slipped through my hands, we had a motion, I went to grab it. I just was trying to get yards and just got hit on multiple sides and just fumbled the ball.
On his third-and-three pass that was intercepted…
I think the kid, (Jordan) Whitehead, made a good play on that one. Still I mean, still can miss outside there. Third and three, knowing the situation, starting on that side but maybe getting back to (Stefon) Diggs running on the shallow there.
On whether he can expand on his comment about playing both teams…
Yeah, I can. I hurt our team tonight. I cost our team tonight. This feels eerily similar to last year and I hate that it’s the same. I do.
On the Jets defense…
I think their pass rush does a good job of disrupting things. I think they play smart defense. They don’t do a whole lot. They’re not overcomplicated and I think (C.J.) Mosley is a good player in the middle. And they caught the ball a few times tonight and it’s on me.
On whether the outcome was a result of what the Jets did on defense…
Again, I couldn’t tell you right now. I’ve got to go watch and learn from this one.
On whether there was a feeling that they were one score away from putting the game out of reach…
Yeah, our offense had no quit. Getting a two-minute. Getting a field goal. (Tyler) Bass kicked a hell of a kick there at the end of regulation. Gave ourselves a chance to win the game in overtime and just didn’t execute.
On DL Quinnen Williams’s pressure on him on the third quarter interception and whether Williams hit his arm on the throw…
No, didn’t hit my arm. May have forced me to make a decision. Again, it’s knowing the situation, understanding what I can and can’t do, and I can’t do that there.
On running the ball on 2nd and 15 during overtime…
Two high shell. Just trying to steal some yards back.
On him taking this loss personally and whether he feels differently after this loss…
No, at the end of the day, I still had a chance to win it and that’s one thing I’ll always have, is just the confidence to go out there and get it done. We prepared so hard. The effort was there. Our guys played so hard. Defense gave us opportunities. They played a heck of a game. It sucks when you feel like you’re the reason, and I am the reason we lost tonight.
On what he needs to do mentally while the defense is on the field and whether he is getting into too aggressive of a mindset…
I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to Kyle (Allen) and Shane (Buechele) on the sideline, and Joe (Brady) and figure out what we can do best going forward and how to control that.
On whether the interceptions snowballed or if they were separate…
They were separate. Again, I don’t think it’s anything they did. Make no mistake, they’re a heck of a defense, but I made the decisions.
On what was said in his conversations with HC Sean McDermott…
Just to keep trusting myself.
On his thought when Jets QB Aaron Rodgers was hurt…
The thought was I’ve got to still continue to play football.
TE Dawson Knox
On the Jets defense…
Yeah, they’re a great defense. We’ve got talent across the board looking back coming into it. They gave us a really tough game. It’s one of those that we’re going to get in the film room for the next 24 hours and get ready for the season.
On Josh Allen taking responsibility for tonight’s loss…
Yeah, it’s not about one person. That’s what great leaders do is take it upon themself, and there’s things we’ve all got to work on, but it’s never just on one person. It’s never just on him, but that’s kind of the nature of this business. Big wins he’ll get the credit, and big losses he’ll take the credit also. A lot of thing, but just the first game we’ll look at the film and keep practicing.
On what stands out about this matchup to him…
They’ve just got a lot of talent. Their D-Line’s great. Yeah, anytime you can affect the quarterback, and then to bring out their secondary too, they’ve got talent back there as well. Thankfully, we get to see them at least once more unlike Miami last year we got to see them three times. So, we play with this rivalry, but yeah, first game of the year, a lot of good stuff to learn from in the next 24 hours.
DE Leonard Floyd
On tonight’s game…
Just got to be better on defense. It’s our job to stop the offense, their offense. We’ve just got to be better on the execution.
On the defensive game plan when New York Jets QB Aaron Rogers went out of the game with an injury…
Obviously, the game plan changed when you’ve got more of a running type of quarterback and second screen guy, but we stayed with our game plan. We fought hard and played hard on defense. Just got to be better towards the end of the game.
On the defensive performance tonight…
I think we played well, but there’s also always things you can fix and correct. We’ve got to come in tomorrow, watch the film and just get coached on the mistakes we did. We’ve got to realize this is a marathon, not a sprint. Everybody loves the sprint game, but we get on the road next week.