Head Coach Robert Saleh, 11.4
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Opening Statement:
Corey (Davis) is going to be out. Hopefully, we’ll get him back after the Bye, and everybody else is going to be full today.
Brian Costello, New York Post: With Corey, is that a sprained MCL? What does he have that’s keeping him out?
We’re just going to leave it at a knee, but we feel very confident that he’ll be back after the Bye Week.
Brian Costello, New York Post: How much of this, Robert, is the Bills the defending division champs, they’re obviously a lot better than other teams in the League. You said earlier in the week that they’re probably the most complete team. How much of this is kind of a measuring stick for your team this week?
We always feel like the ultimate measuring stick is ourselves. Every week you play in the NFL, there is so much parity that every game is a measuring stick. It’s not necessarily a measuring stick against your opponents, it’s a measuring stick against yourself and what can you do better than the day before, if you will. You have to have that mindset. You can’t make one team bigger than the other, otherwise you’re going to create inconsistency in the way you play. For us, the challenge is to go out there, and you’re really measuring yourself against you. If you are better than you were the day before, then you feel like it’ll be good enough. So, in regards to a measuring stick, it’s always about us.
Antwan Staley, New York Daily News: How would you assess where your team is near the halfway point of the season?
We’ve done good things. We’ve done not so good things. We’re young, and I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better. I still feel like we need to get a lot better if we want to be in the conversation with regards to some of the great teams in football. There are still a lot of stripes we have to earn, but at the same time, the progress that these young guys are making and the things that we’ve been able to do in all three phases of football have been exciting, but we still have a long way to go.
Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic: What has (Denzel) Mims shown you these last two weeks that he’s kind of gotten on the field?
His attitude has been awesome. I feel like three weeks ago, something flipped. From his daily approach to coachability, all of it has really amplified for him. He’s really taking the bull by the horns and really showing a lot of maturity, not that he wasn’t mature before. Really like where he is mentally, like his mindset. So, hopefully he continues to grow.
Connor Hughes, SNY: Is there a chance that even when Corey comes back that Denzel can still find himself involved in the offense — active and involved in the offense?
Absolutely. The sad part of injuries is that you’re not playing. The good part is that it gives somebody a chance to step up. All you can ask for is to have the door open — just a crack. Then, it’s the individuals job to blow it open. He did a nice job last week, and he has another opportunity to do it this week.
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: When I asked about your defense last week, you said, ‘Coverage you to death’ is what you like to do. How hard is that to do against this quarterback, this receiving core, and what type of opportunity does that mean for your secondary?
They’re explosive. Obviously, Gabe (Davis) and Stefon (Diggs) get a lot of publicity from a receiver standpoint, but their tight ends, the depth at receiver, the running backs, they just added a speed demon, their quarterback, their protection is really good. They’re a very complete football team. They do a good job calling it. They are very detailed in how they approach things, so, yeah, it’s going to be a challenge, but at the same time, a challenge that we think we’re up for.
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: It’s kind of strength on strength. Wouldn’t you look to your secondary as one the strengths to your team?
We feel at all three levels we’re pretty good, too. We feel like we got a good d-line, linebackers, secondary. It’s going to be, obviously, a tough challenge, but like I said, it’s a challenge we’re up for.
Brian Costello, New York Post: How has Zach (Wilson) bounced back in practice this week after a rough game?
He’s been good. Zach (Wilson) has a lot of confidence in himself, we have a lot of confidence in him. The challenge for every player, not just Zach, is to never allow one play to lead to another play, unless it’s a positive momentum builder, but you never want things to just deteriorate. For Zach to be able to continue to grow and mature and understand that one play doesn’t define you and to keep sticking with your principles, your fundamentals, your core values, and keep attacking every play, and every moment as an individual moment. He’ll get in a rhythm because he did a lot of good things against New England and like I said before it’s about four or five plays that just derailed the entire game, but at the same time, I think he recognizes that which is good, he’s owning it, which is good, and he’s attacking practice and preparation to find ways to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Antwan Staley, New York Daily News: He’s taken a lot of criticism this week. How do you tell him to block out the noise and just focus on the task at hand?
He has no choice, right? You have to, you can’t listen to outside noise, you can’t let people who have zero control over your wellbeing decide who you are as individual. You have to focus on what you have full control over and that’s your daily preparation. That goes for everybody. In the locker room, we can’t look at one individual room and say well that’s the reason why things aren’t happening. What are we doing as individuals to make things better for the team, am I doing everything? But for Zach, I think he’s got a really good mindset. He understands, a lot of these young men grew up in the age of social media, so they’re used to reading the comment section, I stay away from all that crap, it’s freaking hurtful some of the stuff people say, but I think he’s fine.
Connor Hughes, SNY: You’re not a TikToker, Robert?
No. During the pandemic I thought it was the funniest thing in the world, but the things gone now. There was nothing else to do.
Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic: There’s obviously film on Garrett Wilson, have you noticed teams trying to like scheme up specifically to try to stop him?
Yeah, he gets attention, but that’s where other guys got to step up, but at the same time, you got (Tyler) Conklin, C.J. (Uzomah), you got (Denzel) Mims had a good day last week, hopefully we get E. Moore (Elijah Moore) involved, (Braxton) Berrios, our running backs, we feel like we’ve got a really good pieces on our offense and the challenge for Mike (LaFleur) is to mix and match all the different personnel groupings to make sure that one guy, if you want to take away one, we got other guys that can touch the ball.
Neil Best, Newsday: Your rookie class has gotten such good reviews in general, are you looking forward to seeing what Jermaine (Johnson) can do and getting some consistent action?
He was doing a really nice job, it’s been very quiet for him because we have a deep defensive line, we’ve got a lot of different guys on the defensive line. I joke with him that he kind of fell into the perfect situation where there’s not a lot of pressure for him to go produce and he was producing pretty well and then he got hurt, but I’m excited for him to get back on track, he’s got this game, he’s got the Bye Week, recharge and get going, I think he’s going to have a really cool second half of the season, I think he’ll play well this week. He’s got great length, strength, power, he’s got deceptive pass rush ability and the more reps he gets, I think he’s going to be a really good football player.
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: Do you feel like James Robinson can get more involved this week? I mean obviously last week it was kind of a time crunch.
Hopefully he gets involved a little bit more, but we’ll see how the game plays out.
Brain Costello, New York Post: What stands out about their defense? We’ve talked a lot about their offense.
I feel like we’re similar. They’re relentless up front, they rotate, eight deep, and they just keep on rolling guys, and they pursue, they play hard, they’ve got good pass rushers, their linebackers have incredible length and speed, their secondary, I know they’re missing their two safeties, but the two guys stepping in are pretty darn good, too. They’ve been together now for five years? So, they’re very precise and exactly with what they’re being asked to do, they know how they’re being attacked, I mean the precision at which they operate, but they’re fast, they’re physical, it’s a fun group to watch.
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: How did Cedric (Ogbuehi) play and how has he developed here I guess in the last couple of weeks?
Big Ced tackle? He’s doing a good job. You see all the athleticism for why he was a first-round draft choice. I thought he did a couple of good things, there’s a couple of things obviously he knows he has to get cleaned up, but overall, I thought it was a good first game, well not really his first game, but I feel like he’s been getting better every week, so hopefully he can continue in that trajectory.
Brian Costello, New York Post: I asked (Mike) LaFleur this yesterday, but I’m sure you’ve talked to Matt LaFleur as well. There’s a lot of crossovers this year with the divisions playing each other, is the conversation different when they (Green Bay) just played the Bills, obviously you know the Bills from the division, but they just played them Sunday, and when you guys chat on Monday, Tuesday is it a little different talking about scouting report?
There’s stuff, but every week it’s so independent of itself, it’s pretty clear what they do. They’ve got a philosophy and defensively, we’re different than what Green Bay is it’s not going to help us much, but you can have those conversations, but at the same time even Green Bay’s offense is a little bit different than ours with how it operates, but you have talks, but most of it, no offense to anyone, it’s kind of empty at the end of the day, you still have to focus on what you can do and how you can exploit the different things that they do to help your scheme out.
Jeane Coakley, SNY: Your shirt?
Oh yeah, we’re recognizing Joe Cutrona from Wood-Ridge High School. He’s our Coach of the Week last week. Won their first playoff game in school history pretty cool, and it’s only his second year as Head Coach and they’ll host the defending state champs tonight, so good luck guys.