Sean McDermott: “Playing Together” | Buffalo Bills

Sean McDermott: “Playing Together” | Buffalo Bills

Uh, good morning. I’ll give you what I have injury-wise. Uh, Joey Bosa, Joshua Palmer, Terrell Bernard, all three will not practice today. And then, uh, limited will be Deion Dawkins remains in the concussion protocol. Spencer Brown and and Dalton Concincaid. Uh, time’s yours. Brown and Concade are not practicing or the last three are limited. John, how how worrisome is the is the Bosa injury? I mean, the hamstring, those are tricky. and your pass rush clearly uh needs them. Yeah. No, we’re, you know, we’ve got some of those injuries on the on that side and some of that is up front as well. So, um you can never replace a player like Joey. So, um but it is someone’s job to step step up and that’s what we’ve been doing and counting on all year pretty much. So, um the same is expected this week. Is this a week that Morgan Fox might might have a chance to get elevated because of the Bosa injury? Uh we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. just, you know, take it one day at a time here. John, with all the the different pieces you’ve had rotating around in the coverage group this year, you’re first in yards per game a lot in terms of passing. What What has been the the connective tissue or the thing that developed among that group that’s really brought it together last few weeks? Well, I believe the coaches have done a great job. You know, their development of some of those players back there. We’ve got a couple young guys, Cole, uh, Max back there. Um, you know, we were a little bit banged up earlier in the year there with with Max being out. So, um, you know, that his development’s been big for us. Trey as well is is is mixed in. And, um, again, just the players commitment to improving, getting on the same page with how our coverages work. U, you know, like I’ve said before, it’s it’s never one player, never one position. It’s it’s really all 11 guys playing together. And um you know I think that’s some of what you’re seeing now. What have you seen in that Bengals offense since Burl came back? Yeah, different different team, different offense. Um you know, he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league for good reason. Um they have weapons outside and and inside. So, I think Coach Taylor does a really good job of uh play calling, scheming, and uh putting his players in position to make to make plays, and they’re special. Um the rapport that’s been, you know, built up over the years with with uh with the quarterback and and and the uh receiving core is is uh is is it operates at a high level, so it’s impressive. You guys are number one in the league in rushing. Um, what stands out to you in that regard aside from James Cook being really good? Uh, you know, again, I give credit where credit’s due. Um, you know, Joe calling the plays at the right time, Chromemer, um, putting it together, putting the the run plan together and, uh, and then the players executing, you know, being on the same page, and that’s that’s critical. It sounds easy, but when you when you talk about the run game, and sometimes when people think execution, they think of the pass game. But just as important is execution in the run game and that understanding of where everyone’s supposed to be and you know the landmark of the back and on certain runs in particular. So um and it’s it’s been by committee. I mean you saw Ray get involved this past week as well and that’s been great to that was great to see. Um so yeah I mean I couldn’t be happier um in terms of the way we ran the ball last week. John, just continuing with the running backs over the last month or so, they’ve become a lot more involved in the past game. Can you just tell us a little bit about the evolution of the offense and what the dimension that brings and what you’ve seen? Um, yeah, I mean, it’s it’s getting everybody involved. It’s um Josh taking what the defense gives him as well from you know using checkdowns to flares out of the back field to other styles of pass um of the passing game that we use and um again it’s been well put together by Joe and everybody’s been involved in this case getting the backs involved and um making sure that you know people have to address where they’re at um coming out of the backfield at times and uh again it’s just it’s Um, it’s just kind of the rhythm of the offense and I think it’s healthy for us. I really do. What you say though about your running game when you can run the same two plays pretty much over and over again knowing that they’ve got eight men in the box and prepared for it and you’re still getting five 10 yard gains on it. Yeah. No, it’s it’s good. Fullback dive is my favorite run. So, if we could get that going uh as over and over and over again, I think that would make life a whole lot easier for me selfishly speaking. No, it’s you don’t always have that. You know, it’s this is the NFL. People adjust. So, we got to get back at it this week. That’s, you know, that’s that’s the truth of the matter. And this is going to be a big challenge for our football team. Um, this is this is a really good football team coming in here. James Cook coming off a career high in carries. I don’t know if that’s a number you constantly want to hit week in and week out, but Ray Davis was able to come in and make some big plays. How important is it long term to have somebody be able to come in and spell Cook? No, it’s big. I mean, James James’ energy this past week in particular stood out. I mean, he was he was uh he was on fire. He was in the right head space and he was rolling. Not that he hasn’t been, but it it just really to me when I reflect back on the game and of course we got we got to look forward right now, but that’s that’s where we got to go. I mean, James is is our number one back and but to have, to your point, uh, whether it’s Tai or Ray or anybody else for that matter, step in and spell him the way that those two have in particular of late is is huge for us and something that we have to make sure we continue as we move forward here. Hey, with with Matt being your kicker now, moving forward, any concern in in the late season here with the wind, the cold, you know, he’s 41, it’s been great. Um, is there a concern with leg strength in this atmosphere in December, January? Yeah. Um, I’m 51, so it’s maybe maybe I should be concerned about, you know, um, you’re not kicking field. Yeah. Thankfully, um, he he’s a veteran. He’s a veteran player. He’s been around. Um, there’s a lot of experience in Matt Prader and whether it’s inside, outside. I mean, that’s that’s been fun to watch is the the amount of wisdom that he’s been able to share with our team, with the special teams group uh, as well specifically. And, uh, he’s an extremely confident player due to that experience, but also the way he prepares. And that’s that’s uh that’s been really really neat to watch. Sean talks about consistency and consistent approach. We know the last six games it’s been win- loss, win loss. How do you maybe tweak that a little bit while staying consistent in your approach, but identifying ways to be better after wins? Yeah, I don’t think we can afford to be inconsistent. Not now. Um not that you can ever be, don’t get me wrong, but um you know, our backs are against the wall. that’s that’s the way it is and and uh that’s our mindset. So, um you know, I think we’re all aware of you know, some of that with that you discussed. Uh but there’s no time for that right now. So, we got to go. Sean, you mentioned Burrow, you the other great quarterbacks and Momes and Lamar, you’ve seen a bunch. You’ve only had two full games against him. What is it about him when you think of that player that makes him the special player that he’s been? Um, you know, usually when they’re a special player, there’s not just one thing. So, there’s a, you know, I would say just, you know, he he knows pretty much what you’re doing. Um it appears and from what I hear he’s very much in in the process of prep, you know, preparing and um he’s a hard guy to fool in terms of uh you know backend disguises, all that type of stuff. So uh and usually the good ones are and um he’s a heck of a competitor and he’s got incredible arm talent and um he can extend plays. So, if you just start with three or four of those traits, it makes it very hard to defend. Sean, when we talked to Joe Brady on Monday, um he was saying with Brandon Cooks how, you know, he had more calls for him and he was able to get to in the game and just he can get more involved and he’s been good for this room so far. Just what have you seen out of Cooks and how can you guys continue to use him? Yeah, true pro. Uh, and I think it says a lot about Brandon when the ball finds him early in that game, right? I believe it was the first or second third down. Um, and the and you could hear the sideline erupt just from a standpoint of guys are happy for him and he’s right away was integrated in into the plan. Um, and also Josh trusts him. You know, early in the game he he finds him and and they make that connection. So, um, you know, the the ball’s going to find the open receiver, the open player, and, um, you know, to this point, Brandon’s been, um, a great addition, true pro, uh, and and hopefully he feels the same about us, you know, in terms of, uh, coming here. So, um, it’s been a joy to be around. With Palmer practiced on Friday last week, was there like kind of a setback at some point over the over the weekend? Um, it’s a good question. I don’t know if it’s been a setback as much as just overall. Um he’s not in the best place right now just in terms of his body and his the injuries he was still he was dealing with. He’s still dealing with them. So, you know, we’ll just have to see how it goes through the week here. Uh but we’ve had good good communication around his situation and and with him specifically. And you know, um the key is that he continues to get himself healthy here one day at a time. Have you gotten anything um from Nate or the or his staff about where Joey’s at? Is this something that you’re looking at as a day-to-day type of hamstring injury or long some a little bit more long term? Um from what I’m being told, we’re thinking um a a week- toeek type of deal. Um but that can be you know perceived one of two ways. Is it week to week? Is it one week? Or is it like week to week as in four or five weeks? So, we’re hoping on the shorter end of it. Um, Joey’s intent on getting back as soon as he can. You know, he loves to play ball and um and so you saw his impact last week there. So, Sean, Christian Benford just named AFC defensive player of the week. What have you seen from him, especially in these last couple games? Yeah. Um, you know, I mentioned this earlier um a few weeks ago, I think it was. when you match, you know, and we match at times with CB. Um, it’s it’s new for for corners who are in their, you know, who are developing and we we matched a little bit with him last year, but even more so this year. Um, and that takes some time to adjust to and um, you know, he’s just continues to grow, continues to develop, and that’s a credit to him and, uh, and Jamal and and Joe and everybody involved in coaching the secondary as well as Bobby. So, um, you know, I think to be continued in that regard in terms of what, uh, you know, and how he develops here for us as we move forward. If I may, um, update on Ted Oliver, we’ve seen him on social media lifting his kid and um, just is he getting clo looks like he’s getting closer to coming back? Uh, you know, again, we’ll see. I I don’t for some of these guys that it takes that the windows a little bit further out. I don’t get a whole lot of, you know, week- toeek updates. Uh it is good to have him around.

Head Coach Sean McDermott addressed the media prior to practice on Wednesday December 3rd. Topics include: the development of the defensive backfield, QB Joe Burrow returning from injury, the Bills having the #1 rushing offense in football, the running backs involvement in the pass game, the need to be consistent down the stretch, and CB Christian Benford being named AFC defensive player of the week.

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