Spiller may miss just one game for Bills
By: John Kucko
Updated: September 24, 2012
The Bills returned to work Monday in Orchard Park following Sunday's win in Cleveland. Chan Gailey began his comments by addressing the shoulder injury to C.J. Spiller, below is a transcript of his comments, among others:
On the status of RB C.J. Spiller:
Maybe not as bad as originally thought. Not going to completely rule him out this week, but I think it is more of a chance that he will not than he will.
On what the injury is:
I do not know. Do not ask me all that stuff.
On RB Fred Jackson saying he is 70-75 percent confident he will play this week:
From the workout and rehab this morning, it went extremely well. It looks like he is going to practice Wednesday and we will see how he feels during the course of the week. I am very optimistic.
On he feels they caught a break without losing Spiller or Jackson for the long-term:
We lost Fred and C.J. You say we are catching a break?
On that the injuries could be worse than they are:
They do look like they could have been and if you look at it that way, we probably are fortunate they are not long-term.
On maybe getting Jackson back as Spiller goes down:
It is big. Anytime you can get a good player back, it helps your football team. I do not care who you are or what league you are in It helps your football team when you can get a really good player back.
On the likelihood Spiller can play in two weeks:
I think there is a good possibility for the second week, whoever we play after this week. We go to San Francisco. Yeah, he will be back for that. He has a good chance to be back for that one.
On WR Stevie Johnson maturing:
I do not know. You would have to ask him. Maybe. He is doing what we ask him to do and doing a great job of it right now. I see him being the player that we all thought he could be. I think he is going to get better and better every week to be honest with you--as long as he and (Ryan Fitzpatrick) keep working together.
On Johnson calming down his celebrations:
I do not worry about that. I did not worry about it or we should not have signed him back, to be honest with you.
On calling QB Ryan Fitzpatrick 'underrated':
A lot of people give him a hard time. He is not your prototypical guy. He does not have the big name. I think he is better than people give him credit for. That is why I said that. I think he is better. I am biased, I understand that. But I think he is better than people give him credit for.
On the team showing resilience after Spiller went down compared to what happened when Jackson got hurt:
I cannot compare the two. I think it was different, but I think that the way our team responded in the fourth quarter was different. It was different. I think that I saw a better football team-a team that believes in itself a lot more. Hopefully that bodes well for us in the future.
On the play of the linebackers on Sunday:
They did a lot of good things. They ran on a ton of tackles, made a bunch of big plays and defended the pass extremely well during the course of the day. The thing that stood out the most for me in the course of the ball game was our tackling. I thought we did a great job of tackling in the ball game. And when you play against a back like (Trent Richardson) you better be good at tackling during the course of a game. I thought we made some open field tackles. I know we missed a couple here and there, but for the most part we tackled extremely well during the ball game.
On not having to worry about point production:
You do not worry about it. I worry about it every day. It just does not happen. You have to have players who go make it happen. We have been fortunate that we have had guys to make the plays that are needed to play. The line has played extremely well to this point, which always helps you. When you do not get sacks and you can run the football, it makes life a lot easier.
On how the cornerbacks are playing:
They have become a more aggressive group. To me that is one of the things that has been bright spot--the way they have played more aggressively in the last two weeks. I thought they were kind of on their heels in the first game. Since that they have started to come on and play a lot more aggressively. That has been something we needed.
On CB Leodis McKelvin's ability to return punts and kicks:
He is probably another guy that is underrated in his area. I think he is an extremely talented returner and he has a chance to take every ball, whether it is a kickoff or a punt, he has a chance to take it all the way as we saw two weeks ago. Our guys will keep working because when they know he is back there, they are working extremely hard to block and to do their assignments. It takes everybody. One guy cannot do it. You cannot have one guy back there and him do it all. Everybody is working extremely hard to get that done.
On if teams might start kicking the ball out-of-bounds on punts:
They might. If they do then they might get one of those 32-yarders that really helps field position. That would be good.
On the Jets losing CB Darrelle Revis to injury:
People were probably asking the other coaches in the division about losing Fred and about losing C.J. and how does that effect things. You do not know. We will see how it plays out. They have good players. They are all pro players.
On McKelvin always wanting to be aggressive in the return game:
Oh yeah. He was mad at me right before the end of the half because I called for the block instead of the return. Has he become a better decision maker? Yeah, I think he has. I think he knows how to set up things. He has a feel for setting up things better than when I got here. I know that.
On McKelvin having a positive outlook:
He has a great outlook. He wants to win. That is the great thing about him is that he wants to win. He will do his role, whatever it is and try to be the greatest he can be at it. Whatever that is. I am glad we got him. I know that.
On what RB Tashard Choice showed yesterday:
I am not shocked, as I said yesterday. Everybody else seems to be but I am not. I know what kind of player he is and what kind of competitor he is. He is great to have on our football team. I have a very high comfort level when he is in the ball game.
On cleaning up WR Stevie Johnson's holding penalties:
One of them was debatable. One of them probably was. They can get you a lot of times. He just has to be a little bit more careful, which is true for everybody.
On why Fitzpatrick has struggled to play well against division opponents:
The team is not playing very well. It is not him only. None of us are playing that great when it comes time to play. That is the challenge, to win our division. That is our division.
On the opportunity to put the Patriots in a hole:
It is big. It is a great opportunity for us. They are going to be at an all-time focus level for this ball game just because of who they are. They are the defending (AFC) champs until somebody knocks them off. You are going to get the best they have got and we have to go play. It is a great opportunity.
On how the team came through the Browns' game injury wise aside from Spiller:
I think fine.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Monday, September 24, 2012
On the chances of RB Fred Jackson playing Sunday:
That would be great news for us. We know Fred and the competitor he is. If they allow him to go, you know he is going to. I am not sure what the trainers are saying or what anybody is saying. I am sure that is between him, them and coach. It would be a big boost for us to get him out here.
On how big of a boost it would be to have Jackson back:
Everybody here knows how much he means to our team in terms of the inspirational leader that he is, really the go-to-guy we look to in key situations. To have him back would be great. I think everybody understands that.
On the team bouncing back from RB C.J. Spiller getting hurt:
It was a very good team win in the second half. Defense gave us a chance after it was 17-14, we went three-and-out. They gave us another chance and we went down there and scored the touchdown. Then they basically closed the game out. It was a really good team win I thought. We feed off that stuff. We feed off of each other.
On having momentum heading into a big division game:
Just like the losses, I think we do gain some momentum. Just like the losses when they happen, you learn from them and you move on. There have been some good things that have happened the last few weeks for us, but there have also been a lot of things I think we can learn from and get better. That is what we do. We looked at the tape today. We take it as a win. We think it is great but there is some stuff we have to learn from the tape. We have already watched a little bit of New England. We move on and get ready.
On New York Jets CB Darrelle Revis being done for the season:
That is terrible. You never want to see somebody get hurt, especially somebody lost for the season and have a serious knee injury. He is obviously somebody that has been a thorn in our side for a long time in terms of the competitor he is and the great player he is. As a player, it is something you never want to see happen, somebody getting hurt like that.
On WR Stevie Johnson being more responsible this season:
Yeah, I think so. I think he is also a guy that is very hard on himself. He's so competitive and wants to get out there and score a touchdown on every play. He is an emotional guy and he knows that he has to play with those emotions. I think he has found a way to bring them in a little bit. That comes with maturity and that comes with all that stuff. He is definitely a guy that is a leader for us and a guy that we look to, especially the guys in that room looking at him and what he brings to the field with his emotion. It has been nice. The first three games he has been able to get in the end zone and he is able to be happy, show his emotion and celebrate but no penalties.
On if he saw Johnson's touchdown dance:
No, I did not. I saw T.J. Graham's touchdown dance. (Laughs) I was making fun of him for it and then he said he did it for his parents and it is like 'Oh, OK you cannot make fun of him for that.' He got some grief for that one.
On if Johnson thinks the Patriots can take him away:
I do not think so. You can try to take one guy away and all that, but if you put a couple guys on him then all of a sudden you should be able to run the ball. There should be less guys down in the box. Stevie is a guy that a lot of times no matter how many players you put on him he is going to find a way to get open. We will see what they do. I do not know if they will do anything special for him or not. We will go from there.
WR Stevie Johnson
Monday, September 24, 2012
On having scored a touchdown in four straight games dating back to last season:
I thought about it the year before and I ended up not continuing the streak, so now it is just trying to get wins. Not really thinking about a record or a streak. Just being able to continue to get points so we can win.
On how the team overcame RB C.J. Spiller's injury:
There was a game to win. Just because somebody goes down does not mean we all need to stop playing. We still have to go out there, win the game and keep on pushing. We know we are going to have some people go down. We know things are not going to be right all the time. As a professional, you just have to keep on working.
On if being able to rebound like that is a maturation of the team:
The way I saw it was we were on the road and everybody was saying our intensity level was low when we were on the road. That was all we were thinking about was trying to step it up on the road and get a win. We weren't thinking about what if this happens or what if that happens or how will we react to it. It was just basically an away game, let's go out there and play like it is a home game-which it actually felt like a home game. We had a lot of fans out there. That was all on our mind, just make it so we handle business on the road.
On having momentum before facing the Patriots on Sunday:
Even if we were have to lost that game, we still go into this week saying we have the Patriots. We lost Week One but we bounced back and won these games. I guess it sets it up well for the Patriots to come in to our house and have a battle.
RB Fred Jackson
Monday, September 24, 2012
On where he is at health-wise:
I did some more work today. I will come back tomorrow and do some more work. We will go out Wednesday and see what it feels like.
On if he is going to practice Wednesday:
Yeah. If all goes well, hopefully I can be out there Sunday.
On if he feels good about playing Sunday:
I do. I think that with the work that our training staff is doing, with the preparation trying to get me out there, and then you just focus in on trying to get back out there. I think I have a really good shot, I like my chances. Hopefully all goes well on Wednesday, Thursday and things are good for me.
On how to balance wanting to be out there and whether he should be out there:
It is just knowing that I can get out there and help or if I am getting out there and not helping. We have guys like Tashard (Choice) who stepped up and made plays and Johnny (White) behind him. If I think I can get out there and make plays to help my team and I am not hindering them, so to speak, then I will get after it. That is what this next week is for. See what I am able to do when I am out there and if we like what we see then I will give it a shot on Sunday.
On the percentage that he plays Sunday:
From my point of view, I am giving myself a 70-to-75 percent chance. I just feel it is a game we need to go out and play well. I need to be out there I think to play. I think that I will have that opportunity to get out there if I keep working and those guys keep doing the tremendous job they are doing, I will get out there.
DT Kyle Williams
Monday, September 24, 2012
On what LB Bryan Scott has meant to the defense:
He can come down and cover guys, tight ends and do some different things in coverage for us because of his secondary experience. He can also come down and play in the box because he plays physical and makes plays for us. He has always made plays since he has been here. He has always showed up and made plays. He has made big plays for us every game.
On needing to get pressure on Patriots QB Tom Brady with the front four:
If you are not on top of your game he can make you pay whether you blitz or whether you rush four. If you are not doing the things you need to do up front and in coverage he can do some things to hurt you. We are going to have to have a good week of preparation to get ready for him and go out there on Sunday and give it all. Lay it on the line and hopefully come out with a win.
On the chemistry of the defensive line:
We look around when we are out on the field and at any time if any of us gets on opportunity in a one-on-one we could win. A lot of times, the first guy in on the quarterback is not getting the sack. He is the guy moving the guy off his spot and somebody that is following up is getting the sack. I think we have guys that can beat one-on-ones, get guys off the spot and create things for other guys. It all works together. I think you saw that Sunday. We all got in on it a little bit. It is fun when things like that are happening.
