Rex blasts Mario for 'bitching' about coaching calls

The Mario Williams saga may be over in Buffalo, but his presence in the division is still very real.

Rex Ryan went off about the former defensive end's decision to speak out about the coaching decisions Friday, comparing him to other former greats that he's coached who acted less selfish in similar situations.

Per Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com:

"He's a good kid, but I am used to some mean motherf—ers that play out there. The Terrell Suggs, Jarrett Johnsons of the world. I screwed them, too; I had them drop [into coverage], too. Not one of them bitched. 

Von Miller [dropped into coverage] in the Super Bowl. Why? Because that's what's asked of him; that’s what his job is. Your job is to play. Coaches spend a hell of a lot more time studying tape and everything else. They are trying to put the team in the best position to be successful, not an individual."

Tell us how you really feel, Rex.

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Rex says he's not involved with team's media policy

The Buffalo Bills made some waves Tuesday, releasing some curious standards regarding media coverage during OTAs.

Per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News, it is now apparently "prohibited" to report on play outcomes, who plays where in the depth chart, or pretty much anything having to do with an injury -- at least until the end of July.

While the team clarified that the new standards only pertain to activities leading up to training camp, Rex Ryan was still asked about it, to which he answered, "Our media policy isn’t something that I’m involved with."

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Rex thinks Ed Reed can be a head coach in five years

No knock on his defensive intellect, but Ed Reed is a 37-year-old rookie, starting his first season as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills.

The nine-time Pro Bowler won't be at the bottom of the food chain for long though, according to his boss.

"You know Ed, when we had him his last year with the Jets he was the pied piper," Rex Ryan said via BuffaloBills.com. "They all followed him and they all learned the game. And that is why I know this guy is going to be a great coach, and I am sure, I would not be shocked if in five years this guy is going to be a head coach, that’s how quick this guy is going to rise."

Reed will be working with Tim McDonald, a third-year DBs coach and Reed's coach during his final season with Gang Green.

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Rex happy for Hogan, still wants to 'kick his butt'

Rex Ryan doesn't seem completely over the loss of wide receiver Chris Hogan just yet.

The 27-year-old shipped off to the division rival New England Patriots on a three-year, $12 million deal this offseason, simultaneously creating holes on Buffalo's wide receiving and special teams depth charts.

And while it's clear Ryan and Bills weren't willing to pony up that type of dough for the fourth-year pro, he certainly understands what he's lost.

"That kid's tougher than heck. I really like the guy," Ryan said via ESPN.com. Big, physical, another great contributor on special teams and he's a good receiver. [Belichick] knew what he was getting.

"I'm happy for [Hogan]. Still going to try to kick his butt, but I'm happy for him."

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Ryan on Dunbar firing: 'We needed to make a change'

Apparently, free agents aren't the only thing Rex Ryan's focused on at the moment.

Two months after making his other coaching moves, Ryan decided to relieve defensive line coach Karl Dunbar from his duties, saying in a statement:

Karl Dunbar had been relieved of his duties as D-Line coach.@buffalobills HC Rex Ryan’s statement: pic.twitter.com/tbwMZ63EER

— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) March 14, 2016

While the timing is odd, the case for keeping Dunbar around is a tough one. Buffalo ranked 16th in average rushing yards allowed per game and 25th in yards per attempt last season, while only tallying 21 sacks (31st).

A replacement for Dunbar has yet to be announced.

'Exciting' times for Bills as first female coach is hired

The Buffalo Bills made history this week, promoting Kathryn Smith to its coaching staff.

Coming on as the team's quality control-special teams coach, Smith becomes the league's first-ever full-time female NFL coach, though she's no stranger to the game or to Ryan.

Smith has worked for seven years under Ryan, and 13 seasons in the league (12 with the Jets). She delved into game-day and special events, college scouting, player personnel work with Gang Green, and acted as administrative assistant for Rex in his first year with in Buffalo.

"She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities, and I just know she’s going to do a great job serving in the role of Quality Control-Special Teams," Ryan said via BuffaloBills.com.

"You can see the success some of these young ladies are having in the coaching profession, such as the young lady that is an assistant to Coach (Gregg) Popovich at the San Antonio Spurs, and realize how exciting this is for women like Kathryn Smith as well as the Bills organization."

READ SMITH'S REACTION HERE >>

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McCoy prefers Rex's coaching style to Chip's

LeSean McCoy's feelings toward former coach Chip Kelly are well documented.

You can now add his coaching style to the list of things Shady is happy to be away from.

Talking on NFL Network's Total Access, McCoy broke down the differences between his new coach, Rex Ryan, and his old one, saying he much prefers to work under the former.

"Rex definitely has that NFL approach. Let guys be veterans," McCoy said via BuffaloBills.com. "He's coached with guys like Ray Lewis and Bart Scott and Darrelle Revis, who are guys that are leaders. So you let the veterans lead and you have your troops. Your soldiers will follow.

"I think Chip is kind of the opposite. He dictates how things are supposed to go and pushes the message like that."

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Rex adds former Ravens safety Ed Reed to staff

Rex Ryan always puts a high priority on the quality of his defensive backs.

He's done the same when it comes to his coaching staff, adding nine-time Pro Bowler Ed Reed as an assistant.

The 37-year-old former safety played under Ryan with the Ravens and the Jets, and he comes to the Bills to work under Tim McDonald, who became the main man for the DB squad after the somewhat mysterious departure of Donnie Henderson from the staff.

"Obviously he's (Reed) played in this system and been an MVP caliber guy in this system," Rex Ryan said via BuffaloBills.com. "He's going to be such a great asset for players.

"He's a real student of the game as well and he's going to be a phenomenal coach."

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Rex on hiring his brother: 'We got better yesterday'

And then there were two.

The Buffalo Bills announced Sunday night they hired Rex Ryan's twin brother, Rob, as an assistant. Rob was fired by the New Orleans Saints during the regular season after another underwhelming stint as defensive coordinator.

Monday, Rex lauded his hire.

"That's a huge thing," Rex said, via The Buffalo News. "We got better yesterday because we were able to get my brother. And one thing I know about him ... football is such a passion for him. Nobody works harder than my brother. He's prepared as well as any coach in the league and he's an outstanding coach.

"Like I said, we got better yesterday."

That remains to be seen. But the ever-optimistic Rex is confident in the move. He also said Buffalo will be "all in" with one style of defense next year as opposed to the "merged" approach of 2015. "And we're not going to be fun to play," he said.

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Whaley to focus on internal contracts this offeason

Doug Whaley and the Buffalo Bills re-signed 11 players to extensions or future contracts Monday, including seven from the practice squad.

That focus on in-house bookkeeping, particularly when it comes the offensive line, is going to be a theme this offseason, according to GM Doug Whaley.

"Right now with where we are the focus on the offseason will probably be retaining most of everything we have (that's not under contract)," Whaley said via Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com. "We have some guys coming up that we think will be core to what we need to go forward. So that will be the focus."

The same can be said for the leadership in Buffalo, as reports have pointed to Whaley and the Pegulas agreeing to a multi-year contract that is apparently set to mirror the length of Rex Ryan's deal, which is through the 2020 season.

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Bills owner looks forward to 'winning future' with Rex

The Buffalo Bills won't be shaking things up in the front office and coaching staff after this season. At least not at the very top.

The team's owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, released a statement Wednesday backing coach Rex Ryan and general manager Doug Whaley despite a disappointing 2015 campaign.

Buffalo will miss the playoffs for the 16th straight season--something Ryan said wouldn't happen when taking on the gig in January.

“As our first full season as owners of the Buffalo Bills draws to a close, management, coaches, players and fans all feel that our expectations were not met,” said Terry Pegula.

“Kim, Russ [Brandon] and I look forward to working and collaborating with Doug Whaley and Rex Ryan in forming a winning future for the organization. Our management team and coaching staff are very capable and work well together. This stable foundation is necessary to achieve long term success in the NFL.”

Ryan hasn't done better than 8-8 in his last five seasons as a head coach. After two consecutive AFC Championship appearances with the New York Jets in 2009 and 2010, he went 8-8, 6-10, 8-8 and 4-12 before getting fired last winter. The Bills need to beat the Jets Sunday to go 8-8.

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Whaley: D 'took a step back,' will be offseason priority

After finishing fourth in total defense last season, most Buffalo Bills fans were licking their chops at the notion of Rex Ryan taking over the reins this season.

The result was less than thrilling.

Despite finishing in the top 10 in turnover differential, the Bills are 20th in total defense this season and are consistently mediocre in pretty much every defensive category including sacks, where they went from third last year to 31st this season.

It's a decline that hasn't gone unnoticed by GM Doug Whaley.

"Defensively we did take a step back," Whaley said via BuffaloBills.com. "We expected there to be a transition, but we didn’t expect there would be a drop off based on our history of our defense and Rex’s history of coaching defense we didn’t expect a drop off like that.

"So we’ll make a concerted effort to fix in the offseason just like last year. We made a concerted effort to make the offense better and we accomplished that goal."

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Rex on playoff talk: I let my mouth get ahead of things

In January, Rex Ryan said his Buffalo Bills would make the playoffs and that his defense would rank No. 1 in the NFL. Neither came close to happening.

Monday, he admitted those bold predictions were probably a little premature.

via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com:

"I think we got a great thing going here. We just didn't produce the wins I thought we would," Ryan told WGR 550 radio in Buffalo. "The thing that kind of gives this team a black eye when we're looking at it is that I let my mouth get ahead of everything. And I think if I would have come in there and just said, 'Hey, we're gonna compete,' and do all that stuff, maybe we wouldn't have such a bad feeling about this team. 

"This team doesn't deserve that. This team has fought, and they've played extremely hard. We've had a lot of things happen this year where we've felt, where we've came up short. There's no question about it. But I think I could have handled it differently."

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Bowles on win-and-in game this Sunday: 'No pressure'

New York Jets coach Todd Bowles is staying even-keeled, even with a win-and-you're-in situation this coming Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

After a 5-5 start, the Jets have won their last five games and are in position to make the playoffs with a victory over the rival Bills, led by former Jets coach Rex Ryan.

"The past couple weeks have been playoff games," Bowles said Monday, via NJ.com. "There really is no pressure. They just play together and we have fun, and we try to get better as a team. There's no pressure on us. We know have to win; we've been having to win the past five weeks. It's no different going into Sunday."

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Rex takes mild approach to upcoming bout with Jets

There's no question the regular season finale between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills has extra meaning for Rex Ryan.

The Bills coach has a chance to spoil the playoff hopes of his former team--which would be a small consolation prize. Ryan, however, isn't building it up just yet.

While running back Boobie Dixon referred to the game as the Bills' "Super Bowl" Sunday, his coach was a little less direct about the game's importance Monday.

“I think first off, it’s about getting the win,” Ryan said, via ESPN. “We know we’re facing a team that’s red hot. ... This team is a complete football team. No surprise they have the record they have.

“But just to get a win, I don’t care if we’re playing East Carolina, you want to get a win, period. There’s no question about it. The spoiler role, I think is probably, maybe, I mean, who knows. But it’s to me, I think us just getting a win against a good football team would be great.”

It's not quite the bluster we expected from Ryan leading up to this one, but then again, it's early in the week. Plus, Ryan does have a tendency to reel it in late in the season when his team is out of contention.

At 7-8, Buffalo will miss the playoffs for the 16th straight year. The Jets, at 10-5, would earn a Wildcard berth with a win over the Bills.

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Rex on playoff hopes: 'Stranger things have happened'

Rex Ryan has yet to submit.

The Buffalo Bills' playoff hopes were virtually diminished with a 23-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, as the team fell to 6-7 and two games out of the Wildcard spot with just three to play.

How about those playoff chances?

"Yeah I mean we get it. We understand what has to happen," Ryan said Monday, via The Buffalo News. "We clearly have to win our three games. That is a given. We know the Jets have to lose one of the next two and Pittsburgh has to lose two of the next three. So we get it, we can do the math. I know there are probably other ones. That is pretty much it, we recognize that. Now we have to win period. We will see what happens.

"Stranger things have happened. I have been around this game a long time. Stranger things have happened. But we know one thing for sure is we better win."

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Dan Carpenter's job with Bills isn't in jeopardy

Dan Carpenter missed an extra point for the fourth time this season Sunday in a win over the Houston Texans. But according to his head coach, the Buffalo Bills kicker's job is not in danger.

"We're not getting rid of Dan Carpenter," Rex Ryan said Monday. Via The Buffalo News:

Carpenter, through his first two seasons with Buffalo, made 90.5 percent of his field goals. He has made just 80 percent so far this year, converting 16 of 20 attempts. His latest miss came Sunday when he hit the left upright from 50 yards.

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Red flag a challenge for Rex in Bills' loss to Chiefs

In-game management hasn't necessarily been a strong point for Rex Ryan during his head coaching career. He put an exclamation point on that notion Sunday in the Buffalo Bills'  30-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Writes Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News:

"First, he failed to challenge a 37-yarder to Jeremy Maclin when the ball clearly hit the ground. Then, he (for some reason) challenged an incompletion to Robert Woods that clearly was not a catch. And, to top it off, Rex Ryan didn't challenge what would've been a completion to Chris Hogan on Buffalo's final drive. What? On the eventual fourth and 9, Tyrod Taylor took off on the run, fumbled, picked the ball back up and came close to the first-down marker. Ryan challenged this one but the call was not overturned. ... Not to mention there was an 11-yard run by Alex Smith earlier in the game shy of the market Ryan also could've challenged."

And coaching aside, the Bills had other issues. That was just the main one. The Bills fell to 5-6 with the loss and are now on the outside looking in regarding the AFC Wildcard race.

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Rex on horrible home record: The fans aren't 3-4

It's no secret that the Ralph is a tough place to walk into on Sundays. That hasn't been the case this year, though.

At 1-3, the Buffalo Bills are off to one of the worst home starts in the league -- not that their schedule has helped much. Two of their three losses have come against undefeated teams (Bengals and Patriots), while the third was at the hands of the NFC East-leading Giants.

And while the recent struggles at home are somewhat out of character, Rex Ryan isn't taking anything away from the enthusiasm the fans have put in to this point.

"Our fans have been unbelievable. Their record is not 3-4," Ryan said Wednesday. "They’ve been unbelievable. We have to follow suit as a team. I get it. 

"There are some circumstances that probably have not weighed in our favor. But I haven’t given up faith. I truly believe where it’s going to end up. We’re going to be that team."

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Bills off from practice this week as they try to heal

The Buffalo Bills are beat up, and they're using this week to regroup and repair--mentally and physically.

"Quite honestly, I don't know if I've ever been on a team that needed a bye week worse than we do," coach Rex Ryan said after his team's 34-31 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.

According to Rodak, Ryan has given the Bills the entire week off ahead of their bye weekend and hopes his injury-ridden squad can get back some key players.

He's confident quarterback Tyrod Taylor will return next week and hopes receiver Sammy Watkins will get going again.

At 3-4, the Bills will travel to the Miami Dolphins Week 9.

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