Bills look ahead to Foxboro trip
By: John Kucko
Updated: November 7, 2012
The Bills look ahead to Sunday's game at Foxboro against the Patriots. Below are comments from Wednesday beginning with head coach Chan Gailey:
Q: If there any update on WR Stevie Johnson?
Q: If there any update on WR Stevie Johnson?
A: No, but he is looking good. I think he will be just
fine. I think he will get back to the field tomorrow. I think things are looking
positive at this point unless there is a major
setback.
Q: Can you talk about the addition of WR Marcus
Easley and the decision behind that?
A: First of all, we did not know where Stevie was so it
was a little bit of an insurance policy. He has played extremely well on the
scout team. He deserves an opportunity to come up and see what he might able to
do. I do not know if he will get active soon or not, but we would like to give
him a chance to have that opportunity at some point. We will see how it goes and
how he practices. Let him get some reps and go from
there.
Q: Realistically, it is going to be tough for him to
get on the field?
A: Oh yeah. It will be right now, this week in
particular. As time goes on...We just put ourselves in a position to be able to do
it if we want to.
Q: SS Da'Norris Searcy got more plays in the last
game. Was that more of a dissatisfaction with SS George Wilson's play or are you
satisfied with Wilson's play?
A: No, very satisfied with George's play. Da'Norris is a
good football player and he has worked his rear off. He deserves an opportunity
to play in the ball games. George was a little bit hurt last year and we think
that if we can take 15, 20 plays a game off of him he will have a longer season.
Be able to stay longer, healthier and prolong, not only this year, but his years
down the road. If we did not have a good player, we could not do that but we
have a good player. We feel like he deserves the opportunity to play some and
somewhere somebody is probably going to get nicked up with only three safeties.
We need somebody that has some experience, too.
Q: We are assuming with CB Aaron Williams out, CB
Leodis McKelvin will step into that spot?
A: Yeah, he will step into that spot.
Q: Do you feel like you have a motivated player there
after he was demoted off defense and now going to get his chance
again?
A: Yeah, I think he is very motivated. I think that
Leodis (McKelvin) has never lacked confidence. He has a great deal of confidence
in himself, his abilities and ability to play. He
practices hard every day he walks on the field. You have to ask him to get the
answer, but I think he has a chance to go play extremely well. Hopefully he
learned from some of the things that happened in the past.
Q: Knowing the caliber of the Patriots passing
weapons, is there an easy answer to their run game against your nickel
personnel?
A: No. There is not an easy answer. If there was an easy
answer to it, there are a lot of people that would have found it and a lot of
people that would have copied it. There is not an easy
answer.
Q: How much was tackling a part of the issue last
game?
A: That was the biggest part of the issue last game. We
missed 12 or 15 tackles in that ball game. You miss that many tackles, you are
going to give up some runs and they happened to be on the running
plays.
Q: One of the themes coming out of this last game was
red zone execution. If there is ever an opponent that accentuates the need to
produce in there, would it be this one?
A: Sure it is, but it is every week. We had been pretty
good in there but we had a bad week last week. We do have to get better at that
because you have to score touchdowns against this team. They have a great
offense. They are going to put up points, so you have to go score touchdowns
every time you get the opportunity down there. That hurt us last game we played
them. We fumbled at the one (yard line). You cannot do that.
Q: With CB Terrence McGee and OT Erik Pears, it seems
like things have taken a drastic turn from where you stood Monday. Is it just
bad reports on them?
A: Yeah. Just not able to get back. Them not feeling
completely well. They both would have, to be honest with you, they would both
fight like everything to get on the field and do what they could. Physically it
is just going to be hard for them to be productive players with where they are
right now.
Q: Do either of them need another
surgery?
A: Both.
Q: Last week GM Buddy Nix raised the discussion of
finding a franchise quarterback and having a guy to compete for the quarterback
position with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. How much does Ryan need a challenge and what
is your assessment of Ryan at this point through the
season?
A: Ryan has played extremely well at times, and I am
going to go back to that word consistency that I have been using for our whole
football team. We have not been consistent at a lot of places. I think that over
the last couple of weeks he has completed almost 70-percent of his passes.
Playing better and I think that if we can get everything working together like
we need to and it is my responsibility to get done, then I think we will be fine
there. We have shown spurts and we have shown glimpses of what we can be, but we
have to do it on a consistent basis.
Q: Generally quarterbacks
are judged on their record. Is Fitzpatrick running out of chances after two-plus
seasons?
A: I do not even want to talk about that. To me, that is
not even right to talk about. Everybody goes out and does the best they can.
Then you evaluate everything when you get to the end of the
year.
Q: In a league where young guys have to come in right
away and contribute. Do you think you are getting enough out of your young
people right now?
A: It is funny--I do not evaluate guys as far as young or
old. We need more production out of a lot of people. We do. We need everybody.
There are veterans, we need veterans that can participate and produce better.
Young guys, I do not even look at guys as young guys or old guys. I really do
not. If he is on the field, either he is doing it or he is not doing it. That is
the way I see it. I do not see age or any of that stuff. I see production or
non-production. Doing the job or not doing the job. I really do
not.
Q: You guys have done a really good job the last two
games against the Patriots of seizing that momentum early, but that coaching
staff rarely lets a team have momentum for the entire game. How do you prepare
shift gears as the game goes on to maintain your own momentum against
them?
A: I talked to the team this morning about the same old
term that we all use--finish. We have had them in two ball games in a position to
finish and win the game. We have not done it. We just have to go learn to finish
out, whether it is finish out the last three quarters or finish out the last
quarter and a half. We have to learn to finish against this football team. It is
not easy. They are good for a reason.
Q: Seeing how many injuries McGee has had the last
couple of years, does there come a point where you evaluate his future with the
franchise in light of his health?
A: I think that all guys at some point ask the question
and you ask the question. You sit down and you see if a guy can get healthy
enough to help your football team. That is a truism in our business. There does
come a time. Whether that is Terence's time? I do not know. Let's let him get
completely well, see how he feels and make a decision when the time comes. That
is not something to even be...we are not even talking about that now. I just want
him to get well and see where he is going into next
year.
Q: The decision on K John Potter, does that just come
down to production?
A: Yeah, we just were not getting what we hoped we were
going to get out of that position.
Q: DE Mario Williams says he would like to move
around more now that he is healthy and play on the right. Do you think we will
see that?
A: Maybe. We might see that.
Yeah.
Q: Is there a bad taste in the team's mouth after the
second half of the Patriots game? I know you say you take 24 hours and everybody
is self-motivated, but the way that game
ended...
A: Yeah, it sticks in your crawl. Yeah it does. If it
does not, something is wrong with you. If it does not...the way with a 21-7 lead
with 11 minutes to go and for that game to end up like it did. It more than
sticks in your crawl. It probably makes you sick. It does
me.
Q: Big plays have been a major problem for them. They
have given up a ton of them. Are you kind of encouraged about what the
possibilities are?
A: Each game is totally different. I look at it and see
the possibilities of some things, but you do not know what they are going to do
to adjust either. And they get a lot of their secondary players back this week.
They have had to move people around. They lost both safeties. They had to move a
corner to safety. They have been mixing and matching in their secondary to try
to create some kind of continuity and they had not found it. So getting
everybody back, I am sure we will see some different things this week. We are
sure to see some different faces.
Q: Of all the quarterbacks you have been around,
where does QB Tom Brady rank?
A: Really high. I am not going to put a number on that.
I have been around some great quarterbacks. I have been very blessed during the
course of my career to be around the Elway's, the Aikman's and some of those
guys. I am not going to rank guys, but he is great. There is no question about
it.
Q: Does OT Sam Young take that swing tackle now or is
he sort of just the prime reserve now?
A: Yeah, he may take more than two spots. He may have to
play tackle and guard before it is over with. We are trying to get David Snow
ready. We signed Thomas (Welch). We will see how quickly he can learn everything
to give us a little bit more depth.
Q: Can you give us some insight on the new
guys?
A: We had Thomas (Welch) here earlier. Once before and
liked him. We were hoping at some point to maybe get him back. It worked out
that we did. We have had our eye on Crezdon Butler for a while now. Buddy (Nix)
has always liked him. He is a guy that we looked at a few weeks ago when Arizona
let him go. We were trying to get him at that time, but it did not work out. Now
it worked out that we had a spot and were able to get
him.
Q: Butler is probably going to have to be active,
right?
A: He might be. You are right. He might
be.
Q: How is CB Ron Brooks
doing?
A: He has done great. He really has. He has not had one
setback physically. He is right on track mentally to do everything he needs to
do.
Q: Will Brooks work inside or
outside?
A: He will work corner and nickel. He will do
both.
Q: Brooks did not get any snaps on defense last week,
right?
A: No.
Q: Fitzpatrick said something interesting about the
Wildcat that people maybe expect 50-yard gains every time when they see that
special package. Is there something to that? Are expectations too high and is a
four or five yard run OK?
A: Yes it is. What you are trying to do is, just like
any other part of your offense, is you want to be consistent with it. You want
to not have negative plays. If you can go get four or five, six or seven (yards)
then it is just like any other thing. You have made them work on it because the
possibility of a big play is there. You have made them spend time on it, but you
have done something that did not hurt your offense. It probably helped it in
some ways. I think that sometimes we think the Wildcat is going to produce
something unbelievable. If it is just consistent, we will be alright.
QB Ryan
Fitzpatrick
Wednesday, November 7,
2012
Q: 3-5 with a road game at New England. Is there a
sense of reality setting in that it is almost now or never? You lose this one
and it really gets tough.
A: We have put ourselves
in a difficult spot, especially with the last slate of games that we have had.
We have put ourselves in a tough spot now in terms of falling behind and our
record not being where it needs to be, especially if we want to be a playoff
team. Every game is important. When we play New England, they have obviously had
our number. You look at this team and how we have played the past few times, we
have to be able to...we gave the momentum to them in the last few games and we
have to be able to overcome some of that. It will be a game for us that will say
a lot. We are kind of down right now. We do not think we are out. I think there
is a positive vibe in the locker room. I think you have to have that otherwise
you are beat before you go play.
Q: How do you keep that edge from start to finish,
just keeping your foot down on the gas--knowing that at any time they can explode
for 20, 30 points?
A: They are a tough team to go against for a lot of
reasons. Their offense is going to score points, we know that. Consistently they
have performed at that level and they are going to put up a lot of points, so we
have to make sure that we stay within ourselves, that I stay within myself and
we just play what we are trying to play. Possess the ball. The turnovers have
been a big deal for us in the last few games versus them. That is something you
cannot do versus those guys if you expect to
win
Q: You had seven plays of over 20 yards against these
guys the last time. That has been a consistent problem for them. How encouraged
are you that you guys are going to be able to make some hay
there?
A: If you look at our first game, or the last few years
the games versus them, a lot of it is they have been very opportunistic. They
have let up some plays, but they have also created a lot of turnovers. That will
be a big thing for us--limiting those turnovers. Just like last week where we
really felt that we let the defense down, we let our team down in terms of how
we performed in the red zone. That will be a big emphasis, too, making sure that
those trips result in seven (points) rather than three.
Q: Are you happy to see WR Marcus Easley get a shot
here and what have you seen from him?
A: I think everybody here kind of knows his story and
everything he has been through the last few years. He works extremely hard and I
think everybody was excited to know that he got called up. He has worked and put
in a tremendous amount of work this year. You watch him on the scout team every
day and the stuff that he has done. He has really made some plays and runs hard
every play. It is good to see. I think we are all happy for him because it has
been a long time coming for him with all of the injuries he has
had.
Q: So you have seen an improved Easley in practice
compared to what we saw in training camp?
A: Marcus has not been out there a lot, so I think the
more that he is out there, more comfortable he gets in running routes and doing
those types of things the better he is going to get. He has progressed. I think
he has gotten better and better throughout the
season.
Q: You have a lot of young guys on this roster. It
seems like it is the veteran guys that keep carrying the day and the young guys
have not been producing the way a lot of people thought they would. Do you think
you need more from your young guys on the roster in
general?
A: I have a hard time
talking about anything except offense. I do not really pay attention to stuff on
that side of the ball. In looking at the offense, T.J. (Graham) is a guy we
brought in-a speed guy that is going to be able to stretch the field for us. I
have to be able to get him more involved. I think that is something the last
eight games where we want to figure out what we have there. I think he has had a
long enough period of time here to get acclimated, feel comfortable and I guess
offensively speaking having Cordy (Glenn) back and in it. He was playing well
before he got hurt. We have to get those guys
involved.
Q: Further generalization. In general in the NFL, you
have to have guys that come in and play well right away, right? In the league
now, there is no more breaking period. You need the young guys to come in and
play. Would you agree with that?
A: I think, especially the high draft picks, you have to
have impact players that can come in and play. If you look at a C.J. (Spiller),
C.J. came in and slowly kind of got broken in. Now he has turned into a very
dynamic player for us. So I think there is different ways to do it. I think that
guys go through different processes. C.J. is a guy that is one of the most
dynamic in the league and is one of, if not the best player on our team. He is a
guy that did not really get thrown into it right
away.
Q: The Wildcat has been sporadic in its success and
really in its frequency, too. How much of a wrinkle can that add if you guys can
make some big plays?
A: That is just one of the wrinkles of our offense. That
is something where I think every time we are in it, everybody expects to see a
30-yard run. Sometimes, even though it is kind of a gadgetry thing, getting
three, four yards on a run is not a bad thing. It might not be flashy, but that
is something I think we are always going to carry. I think Brad (Smith) is a
pretty dynamic player. You saw it on the kickoff return and you have seen it a
few times where he has been able to get in space. That is something for us that
is not always a 'Let's get a big 50-yard play.' Sometimes it is just looking to
control the ball and run it versus bad boxes a little bit
better.
Q: On WR T.J. Graham, Coach Gailey had said it is not
just a matter of burning routes deep. It is a matter of reading coverage back
there and making decisions. Is that it? Is he still in that breaking in phase?
Are you not on the same page with him and is that why he maybe is not as
involved as he could be?
A: He is a guy that has been getting better. I think I
am a lot more comfortable with him now than maybe I was in Week One. He has
shown some good things when he has been able to touch the ball. Some of it is
just having a limited number of plays and needing to get touches to other guys.
That is part of it, but I think he does need to become a bigger part of our
offense.
Q: On passing downs, New England can get kind of
creative in terms of trying to get pressure and stuff. Have they turned to that
more of late, maybe the last two or three weeks, on those third down type
situations?
A: One of the biggest things, I do not think you can say
they do one thing--especially on third down. There are a lot of different
coverages and they mix it up. I think that is maybe the best thing they do. More
so than maybe anybody we have played. A lot of times you can get tendencies in
terms of when they are playing man and when they are bringing pressure. New
England, they do a good job of mixing it up and keeping you off balance.
Q: Final scores have not been close the last few
games against them, but you have had double digit leads. Is the feeling you guys
are close and can get over that hump to finish them
off?
A: If you look at the last three games, we won one and
they won two in blowout fashions. You point to us getting leads early, not being
able to score more points offensively and not being able to stop them
defensively. It is one of those things that momentum the last three games
against these guys has really played a big factor. It is something on offense
that we just have to be able to continue to play. If we score, we have to be
able to continue to put points on--knowing that this is a team that is going to
score a lot of points.
RB Fred Jackson
Wednesday November 7,
2012
Q: Do you think you guys need a little bit more
production from your young kids who have stepped into starting roles and maybe
aren't doing enough to get this thing pushing
forward?
A: You can't just blame them. We have a lot of veterans
on this team that have to step as well. I think what we can focus on is that
everyone needs to step up including those young guys who are required to play
right now. But as veterans we can do our best to help get them ready and let
them know what we have seen at that position. A guy that comes to mind is Nigel
(Bradham) and he has two great guys out there, Kelvin (Sheppard) and Nick
(Barnett). And you have guys like Arthur (Moats) that have played and can help
bring him along. We all have to step up as a group to get to where we want to
be.
Q: Would you say that the Patriots are now the
opponent for the Bills, now that things are established that they are the team
to beat every year and how does the series evolve to
you?
A: It's always big. First and foremost they're a team
that has won this division the most in the past 10, 12, 15 years. They have been
constantly on the top of this so we know that it is always important to play
those guys. Since I have been here it has always been a huge game for us. This
week is no different for us. To get to where we have to be this is a must win
for us. We get a great chance to go into a great place that we haven't won in a
long time and turn this thing around. It is a huge focus for us. We can't lose
any more games and expect to do things that we want to get done. Everybody is
focused on that. We know it is going to be a huge test for us but we feel like
we can play with these guys. We just need to finish games, so hopefully we can
get that done.
Q: For a half, sometimes three quarters, you guys
have poured it on them and they have had trouble stopping you. What keeps you
from doing that for 60 minutes? And maybe to do it for 60 minutes does it
require a tweak here and there knowing how quickly their coaching staff can
adjust? And have the adjustments to stop you eventually in the course of the
game?
A: I think that is just it. We have been able to get
some leads on these guys that we haven't been able to hold onto. For us to get
to where we want to be we have to finish executing. We have gotten good leads in
games and then our execution just goes out the window. We can't afford that. We
know the great coaching staff over there that is able to make adjustments fast
and things like that so we have to counteract that with our play. We just have
to continue to go out focused and execute what we have on our game plan. It will
be a good test for us. They are a good team. We know that they are going to be
able to put up points, so on offense we have to do the same. We have to score
touchdowns this week.
Q: Going into a game like this where you haven't won
in a long time, do you and C.J. (Spiller) look at it and say put more on our
shoulders? Do you want more of that offensive game plan on your
shoulders?
A: Without a doubt. This is the type of game that you
want to be a feature in and make some plays. It is something that we talk about
constantly. We talked about it when we walked out of our room. We want to have
that weight put on our shoulders. We want to be guys that carry us to a victory.
Hopefully we get that opportunity, go out and we are able to make some plays for
us.
WR Marcus Easley
Wednesday November 7,
2012
Q: As you go into this week now, I don't know what
your reps are going to be but what are you anticipating as you go
forward...
A: I'm not really too sure as far as the game plan is
concerned where I fit in at. I'm just going to do what they ask of me. If that's
possibly going out and playing special teams or on offense, I am willing to do
it.
Q; How has it been biding your time here, I mean
eight weeks waiting?
A: It has definitely been a struggle but on the practice
squad I tried to carry the mentality of 'you know I am here to still get
better.' I'm still being evaluated and I just try to take advantage of that
every day.
Q: I know you don't get the game plan reps during the
week being on the practice squad, but how in tune do you feel with the game
plans that you have been looking at every
week.
A: I am still around, so I still need to know my
assignments and know what's going on because there might be an opportunity for
me which just so happened this week. So staying around and still being involved
definitely helped me keep me get up to speed with
things.
Q: How did you find out and what was your feeling.
And I'm guessing you feel that it has been a long journey but one step
closer.
A: A sigh of relief definitely. It has been a long road
for me and I am just grateful for this opportunity and I'm ready to get
going.
DT Kyle Williams
Wednesday November 7,
2012
Q: Do you think sometimes that when guys get the
money right away that they have a hard time setting that standard for
themselves?
A: Well I don't know. You know you look at the history
of the drafts and everything like that and those guys are kind of put out in the
forefront. This guy's got a lot of money... he didn't produce... he didn't play
that type of deal but the draft is what it is. It has always been a crapshoot.
Is this guy going to be a good player? Or not we don't know? He has the tools.
Like I said, I think that question falls back on what I just said. It's all a
standard for yourself and what do you want to be viewed as. If you are out here
playing for money or so that everybody knows your name, you're probably not
going to make it long. I was talking to Coach Wannstedt about it the other day
and you guys will probably remember it, Russ Grimm's Hall of Fame speech. He
said the greatest joy was talking a man from point A to point B against his will
and if that is not what you are getting your kicks out of in playing this game,
then you are not going to last long and you're probably not going to enjoy
it.
Q: Taken what you just said in the last game it was
better defensively, but yet at the end there was still a 100 rusher, there was
still a 100 yard receiver and there still was 377 odd yards. How do you view
that game? Do you just look that it was better or it is not good enough
yet?
A: It's not good enough. I mean I don't know how you
justify something is better when you lose. It is obviously not good enough when
you lose. No matter how many yards you give up, no matter how you play as an
individual, or as a defense or as an offense, it's never good enough when you
lose. So that being said, yea fewer yards maybe whatever. But there are still
plays here and there that are complete like this job should have been taken care
of, we should have played that better and you're talking about wiping out a good
bit of yardage. So those are things continue to harp on about doing your job and
playing fast. Big test this week. Guys have to obviously have to be ready for
this team and what they do offensively. And if you're not on your P's and Q's
and if you're not playing fast they will take advantage of
you.
Q: Knowing the caliber of their receiving weapons is
there an easy answer to stopping their run game against your nickel
personal?
A: No, you know I think we talked about it last time is
what has made (Tom) Brady so good over the years is he is not a guy who forces
anything. He'll just take what you give him. If you are in dime or nickel he
will look to run the ball more. If you get in your base personnel he will try to
get the receivers involved. I think it's everybody knowing their job, playing
fast and saying, "Hey, you know what. They are going to make a play, but not
letting one play turn into two and not letting two turn into three." It is easy
to talk about that one play at a time but it really has to be a focus with these
guys.
Q: You see Tom Brady twice a year, where does he rank
in terms of the guys you have played
against?
A: He is the best that I have played. I think that it is
just on the command that he has on their offense. He knows what the defense you
are in and what it might give up, what it might not give up and he puts them in
a good position.
Q: How much was tackling, just sure tackling a part
of that last game?
A: A lot we talked about it earlier. We gave up over 100
yards after contact last game on missed tackles and balancing off the tackles,
whether it was run or pass. We obviously have to tackle better. That is how you
get these guys out on third down. They are very efficient on getting it in
third-and-four or less and that's how they are such a high ranked on third down.
We have to better on first down an
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