Buffalo Bills: Rex Ryan Claims Everyone is Still All-in
By Paul Taylor
Buffalo Bills’ head coach Rex Ryan attempts to convey a united front, despite various reports and speculation suggesting otherwise.
In many ways, the relationship between professional sports teams and the media is an awkward one. It doesn’t help that the two sides often have contrasting agendas.
From a team’s point of view, they would prefer the media only report good news and put a positive spin on everything. However, many a sports journalist has admitted their job is more interesting, when a franchise is suffering through a tough period.
(There is also the interesting question of whether the media drives the general public or vice versa, in terms of what subject matters are covered more frequently. That’s a conversation for another day, but consider that a common saying among journalists is “One death equals a thousand lives”, essentially alluding to the average person’s natural tendency to levitate towards negative storylines.)
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In that respect, the current situation surrounding the Buffalo Bills must be a public relations nightmare for the team. Every day, more anonymous reports emerge, regarding the apparent turmoil behind the scenes.
Of course, you can question the validity of some of this speculation, given the very fact it is anonymous (although this often has to be the case, for a source to continue talking to its contact within the media). However, this is countered by there often not being any smoke without fire.
It also doesn’t help that Rex Ryan is a marked man after his initial honeymoon period, when he predicted a playoff spot for the Bills last season. All most fans see now, is a man who makes claims he can’t back up and who has overseen the systematic dismantling of a defense which was ranked fourth in the league before he arrived.
Ryan met with The Buffalo News and the rest of the media on Monday, and discussed the perception that the team is in crisis: “Well, and I understand it because when you look at it from afar and you make a change at a coordinator position, we are 0-2. So I get that.
“I think in our room, our guys are focused on getting better and as I mentioned, we know the task at hand, but we want to get better ourselves and I think taking a good hard look at what we’re doing, we made some changes.”
Of course, the biggest change was the decision to fire Greg Roman, a move which received significant criticism, especially because of the timing of it. This led to claims that the decision was made by the owners.
Whether true or not, it is understandable that Ryan wasn’t happy about having his authority challenged by the press: “No, and believe me, I’m very aware of some of those reports out there.
“And you know what…I made the decision on letting Greg Roman go. I think that’s it, final, that’s it. I made the decision.”
The 53-year old went on to add: “And as I look at it, some of the decisions that I made, the decision I made to move on, is because I truly believe that we can get better by making a change. And that’s the only reason I did it.”
Ryan is renowned for his mantra of all “all-in”, something he still firmly believes is the case with the Bills organization. This led to the media asking him why there are so many conflicting reports on this?
Ryan said: “Well because not everybody is right there in the locker room, is seeing the things that I see, so I understand it, especially when there has been a move like I made, but it’s something I feel very confident in. I believe this organization is all-in.
“I know one thing, we’re all-in in the fact that we’re disappointed that we’re 0-2. I know that for a fact. I also know for a fact that we all expect better things in front of us.”
In truth, everyone being disappointed about the 0-2 record is not a sign of everyone being all-in, per se. Yes, the team will be unhappy as a whole, but this doesn’t necessarily translate to being all-in on the Ryan regime.
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In any event, the gathered press weren’t quite finished with the former New York Jets head coach. The feeling was that all the negative reports weren’t being pulled out of thin air, with particular reference made to Ian Rapoport’s and Adam Schefter’s contacts within the organization.
Ryan said: “People can say whatever they want, that’s the beautiful thing about this country, you can say exactly what you want. Do I believe some of the reports that are out there? No.
“There’s a lot of them that I know are—I’m not going to throw the letters out there—but I know that some are ridiculous. But that’s okay and I understand it comes with it. It comes with the territory.”
The question is, how much longer will Ryan be a part of that territory in Buffalo? With games coming up against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, we should have a clearer idea within the next couple of weeks.
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Where are you at with the Rex Ryan regime? Are you still convinced he can turn the Bills into a winner, or are you already resigned to another season without playoff football? Let us know in the comments section below.