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Head Coach Rex Ryan Conference Call
Q: What can you tell us about this Patriots running back Dion Lewis?
A:Well he is no Jim Nantz. What is funny is I am saying I got a lot of things to be concerned with but the backup running back, look I am going to recognize him, but I don't know the name. Right after a game I watched it or whatever, but Blount is the main runner I see. So we will see. I don't know, I guess he can try to make me learn his name, go ahead I am all nervous about it.
Q: Do you feel more equipped to go against the Patriots with what you have in Buffalo than New York?
A:Well I am not sure. Well obviously this year I feel better about you know where we are in the back end than what I had last year. You know last year you talk about a challenge now, I mean shoot we had poor kid we had a safety playing corner, we had some guys we just got off the streets and they had to start for us. So yeah I feel a hell of a lot better about where I am at now in the backend compared to what I had before. But other than that team, those Jets teams were pretty damn good on defense. It's just we probably never had the back end that you would hope for.
Q: How important is attitude, confidence, swagger to your team it is a far different team than last year?
A:Well I have no idea about that. I wasn't there. So I am not real sure. One thing about this if you want to beat the Patriots. You don't do it by tip toeing around. You don't just sit back and oh man, I hope this breaks. No. You better believe, and then go out and make it happen. We recognize this is going to be a tough challenge there is no question about it. Make no mistake, we fear nobody.
Q: What do you think we will be saying about Tyrod Taylor after Sunday?
A:I have no idea. You guys, I have no idea what you are going to say.
Q: Can you explain more on how you would defend Gronkowksi?
A:Obviously you don't just put one guy on this guy that has been proven. I will say this though it is better to put one guy on him than nobody on him. This just in. So we will try to put… we will try to have somebody on him at least.
Q: How is coaching in Buffalo different than New York?
A:Look I love coaching period. And that's it. I will say this I love my days in New York. I did. The fans were awesome and things like that. The fans that I have here are absolutely fantastic. I love every minute of being here. Look we haven't lost a game yet so they are behind me. But you know what this fan group I feel like they are going to be behind me for a long, long time. It feels terrific to have them in my corner.
Q: Any place would be a good place as a head coach, but it has to be good after the media cycle of New York City?
A:You know the media has a job to do so I recognize that, regardless of where you are at. Is it much more…many more people involved in New York City of course absolutely is. But it never bothered me. The thing I recognized, they had a job to do. If it didn't go well you certainly hear about it, but that is to be expected. But you know what ours isn't…we don't have near the numbers here in our community but they have a job to do just the same.
Q: You don't appear the need to feel the need to muzzle your players when talking to the media what is your philosophy on that?
A:Well I just think, mine is a little different than other coaches and things like that. This is not…we are not performing heart surgery or something like that. I mean this is the NFL and I understand it is important and everything else. But at the same time you know I don't think you need to go in and say here is the message for the team only and things like that. That is fine if that works for others. Obviously that is pretty much the way it is with Bill and that's fine. But that fits him. If I was trying to do that we would all be like god that ain't going to work, that ain't who I am. And so I want our players to be themselves as much… I think I do it this way because I am more comfortable with it.
Q: What is the line of being aggressive and Brady using that aggressiveness against you? Have you looked back at a game and thought you were too aggressive going after Brady?
A:Yeah if your blitzes don't work then absolutely you feel like that. You don't go in there just tap dancing if you come after him than so be it. You understand there is always risk involved especially against a quarterback of that stature. But at the same time you don't want to make it a seven-on-seven where he just sits back there all day and he throws it wherever he wants, you don't want that either.
Q: When you hear a coach or someone in the league say something that discredits the Patriots, how does that strike you or do you think it's fair game to say things like that?
A:Well I've never discredited anything about them. That's just the way I am. If somebody wants to discredit something or whatever. Look am envious of the fact that they've won four super bowls and I'm sitting back there, you know I've won one. Of course, but never to the point where…Look I love competition. I recognize the best coach in this game is the guy I'm up against. I don't concede anything though cause I'm gonna give him my best shot and that's what you want, as a competitor you want that. But my twin brother was fortunate enough to win two super bowls there so we're very proud of the fact that he's won two rings there. I think our families been to six and won five of them so we're proud of that. But to discredit them or whatever, I certainly don't discredit them.
Q: Would your brother take exception to you if you did?
A:No, if he did I'd kick his ass.
Q: After beating the Colts on Sunday how do you make sure your team doesn't get too big of a head going into this week two match up?
A:[Laughs] Hey don't worry about that. That aint gonna happen, that's not gonna happen. Yeah you know what we beat the Colts so you know please nobody wants to play us now. Alright come on. Trust me, we know we're not the hunted, we know who is the hunted, we get it. So don't think for a second we don't get it.
Q: What did Tyrod Taylor do to impress you and his teammates to be named starter?
A:He just won the job, plain and simple. That's it. He just was himself, this guy's got a great work ethic, he's a gym rat. From a physical stand point he was right up there with our top lifters. He came out – to just give you a little idea of who he is, the kind of way he trains and everything else – we have a conditioning test before we go to training camp and normally the quarterbacks are with the big skills as we call them, tight ends, full backs, stuff like that, line backers. But he chose to run with the receivers, the corners and things like that and we do a bunch of gassers and stuff. But he never just won one of those gassers, he won every single rep. So I think that's how he is, the kind of conditioned as an athlete he is. But he's smart, he knows what to do, he's kind of an extension of Greg Roman and don't think that the value of having Matt Cassel here also with kind of expertise and experience…that's really helped Tyrod as well in the meeting room. So that's been great. The fact that he's been with some of the greatest players in the game, with Ray Lewis, the Ed Reeds, the Terrell Suggs of the world, I think has helped. He knows how to prepare like a pro and handle himself like a pro and so I think that's been good. He had to learn three or four offenses so when he came in here he's been use to learned new offenses and he did a great job of picking things up.
Q: So is he faster than Percy Harvin and LeSean McCoy when you ran those gassers?
A:I don't know he was when we ran those gassers. Hey look we got another kid that ran in the…you know that is an Olympic guy, (Marquise) Goodwin, I don't know if he's as fast as him in a 100 but he was faster in those gassers.
Q: How do you view and what do you see out of your two running backs Karlos Williams and LeSean McCoy?
A:Well we love our backs. You know obviously it's tough because we had LeSean, he never got a whole lot of reps when he had that pull and so his conditioning and things like that obviously isn't to where you want it to be, where he wants it to be. But he's working awful hard to get back there and then with Karlos he missed some time as well. But he's a big, strong, young man that runs behind his pads so we're happy with all our backs.
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DT Kyle Williams
Q: I wanted to start out by asking, if the Patriots and Tom Brady are Ric Flair, what does that make the Bills?
A:Say that again.
Q: I saw you make a comparison yesterday calling Tom Brady and the Patriots Ric Flair. If Tom Brady and the Patriots are Ric Flair, what does that make the Bills? What does that make you guys?
A:No, I said the Ric Flair quote was, "If you want to be the man, you got to beat the man," and obviously over the last 15 years they've been the man not just in our division but really in the NFL so we're one of the groups that's chasing them and we're working hard to get there.
Q: What do you see from this offensive line? Obviously there's some moving parts up front, they have some rookies and they have some new faces. What stands out for you?
A:Well, you know, it's amazing over the years you've seen them move guys in and out of positions but they're always extremely productive. They always score points, they always move the ball, Tom (Brady) puts them in good positions to be successful so really we have to pay attention to some of what's going on offensively to try to slow them down.
Q: Kyle, you've been in Buffalo now for 10 seasons if I have it right. How would you sum up what makes this year different with Rex (Ryan) compared to the first nine?
A:Well I think with Rex coming in we've got a coach who's been in a Super Bowl, coached in a Super Bowl, who's taken teams to championship games so we have some experience there and I think some of the players we brought in have a lot to do with some the accomplishments we have. Playing defense against a lot of these guys when they were on other teams, I know what you have to do to prepare for Percy Harvin and Charles Clay and LeSean McCoy and the different guys we brought in so I think that really, really has a lot to do with how we're playing right now.
Q: Kyle, we've seen some of the different defensive alignments you guys have, especially on third down. You're sometimes standing behind linebackers and it looks very hard to diagnose from an offensive standpoint. What's that been like for you schematically playing for Rex Ryan's defense?
A:It's fun. You know, for myself and for other guys, you get an opportunity to do things you really don't have chances to do in other defenses. Now, you have to become comfortable with it, you have to know where you're going and what your assignment is, because you still have an assignment no matter what it looks like, so we're trying to find any advantage we can and sometimes that's being up and moving around, sometimes that's down, sometimes that's blitzing, sometimes that's showing blitz and not blitzing so I think that's the beauty of the scheme that he brings. We can do a number of the things or we can show that we're doing a number of things and not do them.
Q: It's still super early, but do you feel each week you're becoming more comfortable with having to do the things you weren't asked to do in the past?
A:Yeah, I think that as you continue to get reps you're always going to get more and more comfortable. I've been lucky enough, I've played a lot of snaps and done a lot of different things, I actually played in a defense that was very similar here with Mike Pettine here a couple of years ago. Now, we did a few different things than we do now but moving around but being up and being in different positions is something I've done before so I've kind of adjusted to it pretty well but we're just hoping to continue to grow in the season and get better and better and hopefully stack up some wins.
Q: How frustrating is it to go against Tom Brady with his very quick release in terms of you can have a great pass rush but he gets rid of it so quick it's almost impossible to get to him at times.
A:It is. I think the main thing with him is you really just have to stay at course. You can't get frustrated because you can win almost as quick as possible but the ball's gone, the ball's out. You have to know when and where to take your shots but really just kind of staying the course, not getting frustrated because the last thing you want to do is get frustrated and get out of your game and when the time comes where you win or could win you're not rushing the way that you should so we know what he does and how quickly he can get rid of the ball but it's on all of us to get him stopped.
Q: Also to that end too, the Patriots have a lot of youth on their offensive line right now. Do you play on that inexperience or do you figure that it doesn't really make a difference?
A:You can, but I tell you I honestly think a big factor in helping is No. 12. He can point and put them in the right position, he can get them in-and-out of good plays to put them in good positions to get things blocked up so I think he can negate a lot of the greyness or the inexperience but like I said, they go and they play Pittsburgh last week, they do a good job, they move the ball, they score some points so like I said, they move guys in and out of those positions on the offensive line but they're always productive and they always get the job done.
Q: How much does playing for Rex, obviously a really confident guy, how much does that filter down to the players, whether or not you feel a little bit more confident going into games or not?
A:I think the confidence comes from…I think we got a good collection of players, we got good plans and good schemes and ways to put those players in position to be successful and getting comfortable in there and obviously the next step in getting more confident is going out and performing well and executing the plan like we did last week against Indy. We have a confident group of guys in their ability and we have confidence in our coaches and if we continue to follow the blueprint that we've had leading up to the preseason and the first week, just putting the work in that we need to put in, I think we can be really successful.
Q: Kyle, as you've studied the Patriots, what have you seen from Rob Gronkowski in terms of how vital he is to their offense?
A:Well I think hands down, you're talking about the best tight end in the league. He can run, he can block, he can catch the ball, run after the catch, he does a lot of dangerous things in the red-zone, you can split him out and get him the ball, so he's somebody you really have to account for on every given play and you have to identify him and have to double him up when you can but you also have to ask guys to hold up when you need bodies other places so he's a tough matchup for anybody and we have to be ready for it.
Q: Kyle, your head coach took some heat up here for not knowing the names of all the running backs so what are things that you see specifically about the New England running game that stand out for your on film?
A:I think the thing you notice most about them is the more things change, whether it's guys up front or the backs, things stay the same. Their running game is very similar to what it's been over the years but they just execute. They execute the plays, they know what they're good at, and they keep going no matter what backs in there or what offensive linemen are in there. They stick with their plan and they execute it well so it's an effective running game and something that we have to be ready for especially with the big back coming back.
Q: Kyle, what do you remember about Scott Chandler as a teammate?
A:Scott's as good of a teammate as you're going to get. He has a great family, he's a great guy to have in the locker room and you really can't say enough about having a big tight end like that who can be all over the field and can catch and do different things for you so we're friends and I miss him and his family but he's going to be ready to go and getting after it this week and we look forward to prepare and play against him too.
Q: I'm sure you noticed there were times last week when New England had lots of big tight ends on the field and from what you saw, how does that stress a defense?
A:From what I saw, say that again?
Q: Well at times they had three or as many as four tight ends on the field at a time. I'm just curious, when you look at that type of formation, what complications does it cause for your defense?
A:Well that's dependent on what type of personnel is in. You know, they bring all those guys in there, we have to identify our matchups, we have to know who's in coverage, who fits where, whether it being our run game or whatever we have going on defensively, so it's obviously something they do as a wrinkle to see how you adjust to it and see how you prepare for it and hopefully we can come out and be prepared for it and be on top of it and hopefully get them out of it.
Q: Kyle, how beneficial will it be to your defense to get Marcell Dareus back on Sunday?
A:It's good. It feels like the band's back together and having a guy of that caliber coming back to play with us is only going to us better so I know we feel that way about all our guys up front but we always feel like we're missing a piece if one of us is gone so we're glad to have him back.
