Buffalo Bills coaches and players discuss their upcoming NFL Week 8 game against the New England Patriots.
On facing the Patriots...
"This is the kind of game we want to play in where it's going to come down to us in the fourth and it's going to be a smash mouth four quarter knuckle brawl. I'm excited and I know the guys in this building are excited to get after it."
- Bills Defensive End Jerry Hughes
"It's still Belichick. You know they got Cam. He was the MVP a few years back. It's still respect even though they haven't been playing as well as they want to be. We know they are going to bring their 'A' game for us."
- Bills Running Back Devin Singletary
"They're a team we haven't had very much success against in the past. It's a good NFL team, an AFC rival coming into our place and so we're going to have our hands full.
- Bills Safety Jordan Poyer
"You've got to prove yourself every week in the NFL. We're in late October, early November, and that's what we're focused on right now."
- Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott
"I see a Bill Belichick-run team that is still very solid. I think that 2-4 record doesn't show how talented this football team is. And I think we're treating it like we're playing the New England Patriots, and that's a team that's formidable and a team that's well-coached. If we don't bring our absolute, very best, we can be embarrassed come Sunday."
- Bills Center Mitch Morse
On feeling if this a changing of the guard game...
"I feel you've got to take that title away before we can make that statement. So I'm going to hold my tongue because I know I don't like to put anything out there in the universe and then have to come back and eat crow. I will say that we're going to be ready for this game."
- Bills Defensive End Jerry Hughes
On the Patriots offense...
"They're well-coached, starting with Josh McDaniels, I have a lot of respect for Josh and what he's done over the years and his body of work. They've shown an ability to run the ball, they've shown an ability to throw the ball. Certainly, Cam's been involved in both. Cam's a dynamic player … he gets the ball to his weapons. So, they're a challenge to handle because of all the different things they do in the screen game and the gadgets, as well."
- BIlls Head Coach Sean McDermott
On the Patriots secondary...
"They're fundamentally sound. They do a lot of things well on defense, they are active, they have some great players and they're smart. All the guys play as a unit, everybody's always on the same page, they are big on communication, and everybody's in the right spot so it's definitely a challenge for us. It's something that I look forward to for our offense to go out there and try to execute at a high level, make some plays, and fly around. It's more so that we have to execute better than they do. They do a great job, have a great scheme, and have great coaching staff so it's definitely going be fun."
- Bills Wide Receiver Stephon Diggs
On the Patriots run game...
"I know they're running the ball extremely well. That's been a little bit of a problem for us at times, so that's something we'll have to dig deep into and get a handle of their run game."
- Bills Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier
"They give you a lot of misdirection pre-snap, just making you think about football, making you second guess your job, but for the most part it's the New England Patriots offense. It's a lot of downhill runs and smash mouth football. They're going to challenge you in the first quarter. They're going to challenge you in the fourth quarter. We understand that this will be a game up front where we need to stop the run. You've got to be physical and you've got to bring your lunch pail because the same runs we're going to get in the first half will suddenly show up in the fourth quarter. For us up front it's just how we do our job. Can we out-execute them and do our job longer and harder. We know what kind of game it's going to be, strictly smash mouth just because that's our division. Guys like to run the ball late in the year, especially with how the weather will play in effect."
- Bills Defensive End Jerry Hughes
"Look at the games that they have won, against Miami and against the Raiders, those games they won they had over 250 yards rushing. When you put that together, they're successful when they're running the ball well. Even in the games that they lost; they're running the ball well. So, in order for us to be successful obviously, we have to be able to stop the run and that includes the quarterback as well. We know there's going to be some quarterback power and quarterback runs, and we're going to have to put eight men in the box and be able to defend it. I think stopping the run is going be huge for us on Sunday."
- Bills Safety Jordan Poyer
