Bills coach Sean McDermott on Joe Brady's third-down play: 'We're better than that'

Bills coach Sean McDermott on Joe Brady's third-down play: 'We're better than that'

Bills coach Sean McDermott expressed his frustration to offensive coordinator Joe Brady as they rewatched the game Tuesday morning at the Bills’ practice facility. For the second time in as many weeks, Brady called an end around that resulted in a fumble.

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For the second time in as many weeks, Bills coach Sean McDermott watched from the sideline Monday night in Atlanta as his offense fumbled a play that he wished wasn’t called.

“I feel we’re better than that and we need to handle that better next time,” McDermott repeated to reporters Tuesday following the Bills’ 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

McDermott expressed his frustration to offensive coordinator Joe Brady as they rewatched the game Tuesday morning at the Bills’ practice facility. For the second time in as many weeks, Brady called an end around that resulted in a fumble. The Bills were facing third-and-1 with 11:08 left in the fourth quarter when the reigning NFL MVP, Josh Allen, handed the ball to wide receiver Elijah Moore.


Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady hugs wide receiver Keon Coleman before a loss to the Patriots at Highmark Stadium.
Derek Gee, Buffalo News

The Bills were forced to punt because they fumbled the exchange. One week earlier, amid a loss to the New England Patriots, Brady’s offense fumbled when Allen tried to hand the ball to tight end Dawson Knox on an end around. Afterwards, McDermott lamented that the play calls were “too cute at times.” He wanted to see the Bills win the line of scrimmage with their offensive line and run downhill with one of the best backs in the NFL, James Cook.

Cook touched the ball seven times in the first half Monday night, and he averaged 5.7 yards on his 10 carries during the second half. In consecutive losses, the Bills averaged 17 points and 2½ turnovers. Allen has thrown four interceptions over the last three games, and he’s already been sacked 12 times through six games. Allen was sacked 14 times in 17 games last season.

McDermott expressed confidence in Brady during a video conference call with reporters Tuesday and both agreed that it was the wrong play-call at the wrong time given how the Falcons were defending.

“Joe’s a great offensive coordinator,” said McDermott. “He’s a great play-caller. No one’s going to be perfect, right? But there are always calls you want back. He knows how I feel about that situation. We talked about that and had a great conversation again this morning.”

“Those are ones in the heat of the moment that you’re like, ‘Ah, I want that one back.’ Listen, at the end of the day, whatever play we call, we have to execute at a high level as well. That’s a piece of it. But I remain confident, very confident in Joe and his ability to put us in the right situations and put our players in good positions on offense.”

Here are other takeaways from McDermott’s video conference call.

Injuries​

Reinforcements may be waiting for the Bills (4-2) next week when they return to practice to prepare for the Carolina Panthers.

Tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique), wide receiver Curtis Samuel (neck/ribs), linebacker Terrel Bernard (ankle) and linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral) are considered day to day. Bernard was the only one in the group to play in the game Monday, but he exited late in the second quarter and did not return.

Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf) and wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle) are considered week to week after both were injured in Atlanta. Both injuries put the Bills in a precarious situation because they were down to three defensive tackles – rookie Deone Walker had four tackles for a loss while playing a career-high 56 snaps – and Palmer was one of the few players on offense who was getting open for Allen against the Falcons.

Jones’ injury will be worth monitoring because the Bills’ defensive tackles were problematic Monday night while the Falcons rushed for 210 yards.

“That hurt us, but it’s not an excuse,” McDermott said of Jones’ injury. “We’ve got to step in, and we have full confidence in the guys that went in there. We were only able to rotate three of them for the most part, but I think all three of them had some good moments and all three of them had some moments that they can grow from. I remain confident in them.”

Returners​

Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and edge rusher Michael Hoecht are officially cleared to return to practice next week following their six-game suspensions for violating the NFL’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs.

The Bills will count on both to be part of their rotation on the defensive line. Ogunjobi should help them, especially against a running back like the Panthers’ Rico Dowdle, and Hoecht is a pass rusher who can also line up inside. McDermott isn’t counting on either one to be in late-season form, though, because both missed six weeks of practice and they haven’t played in a game since the preseason.

“Somewhat unique when you practice in training camp and you go on this hiatus, if you will, and then you come back and practice again,” said McDermott. “It’s natural to expect there’s going to be a knocking off of the rest, so we have to manage our expectations with that.”

In other news Tuesday, the Bills released linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo from the 53-man roster and released cornerback Jalen Kimber from the practice squad.

Practice window​

Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston, the team’s first-round draft pick, has made enough progress in his recovery from an LCL sprain that he may be ready for his practice window to be open next week.

Hairston has been out since late July with the noncontact knee injury that he suffered during training camp at St. John Fisher University. He was competing with Tre’Davious White for a starting job. The Bills used the 30th pick of the draft on Hairston because he has elite speed and playmaking ability. Once Hairston’s practice window is opened, the team has 21 days to add him to the 53-man roster or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

Second-year safety Cole Bishop was slow to adjust once he returned from an injury last season that occurred during his first training camp, so the Bills are aware that Hairston may face similar struggles.

“Just trying to be realistic with it and manage expectations on, ‘Hey, let’s just go out there and take it one day at a time when we do open up the window and it’s not going to be perfect,' ” said McDermott. “He’s got to understand that and we have to understand that.”

 

[Victor7]

I dont know if you've seen the replays but even if the exchange had not been fumbled Atlanta had it covered. We were not going to get the first down.

Just have Josh run a sneak or give Cook the ball.

We also used to run a play back in the Dabol days that was very effective. In fact we ran it all too much I remember complaining it was becoming predictable. Josh is in shotgun and he just takes off, usually to the right of the line accompanied by a lead blocker. I'll try to find one and post it. Pretty effective play that has been eliminated from our arsenal.

 

[Victor7]

Here's a version of it at about the 1:30 mark

 

[HipKat]

Uh oh. Bickering Bills 2025!!

Bills notebook: Brady again pushes back on 'too cute'; Babich on halftime adjustments​

Bills notebook: Brady again pushes back on 'too cute'; Babich on halftime adjustments

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady is once again having to answer for a questionable play call that resulted in a fumble.

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Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady is once again having to answer for a questionable play call that resulted in a fumble.

In the Bills’ 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, Brady and the Bills were facing third-and-1 at their 48-yard line in the fourth quarter. Brady called for an end around from quarterback Josh Allen to wide receiver Elijah Moore. Though Moore recovered the resulting fumble, the Bills lost yards and had to punt.

“Obviously, it didn’t work,” Brady said over Zoom on Tuesday. “Not a good play call, not a good timing of the game.

“Like we said earlier in the season, we needed to have those elements to our offense to be able to get the ball in the perimeter, as opposed to just packing everything in at all times. But we’ve gone two straight weeks where we put the ball on the ground. That can’t happen.”

The previous week, a botched handoff from Allen to tight end Dawson Knox resulted in a fumble. The consecutive fumbles have Brady reflecting, and head coach Sean McDermott is looking for answers, too.

“And so, obviously, have to look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, are we working that enough in those situations?’ Take the whole situation out of it,” Brady said. “Are we working enough for us to even put the ball on the ground? But in that situation, with the way that the game was going, much better play calls than that one right there.”


Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady walks in the tunnel before the game Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News

But while Brady evaluates over the bye week, he still pushed back on the idea that some play calls may have been “too cute” this season.

“Yeah, again, I don’t see it as cute stuff,” Brady said.

Last year, the Bills were dominant when they used the tush push until the AFC championship game. But Brady wants the Bills to have other options when it comes to short-yardage situations.

“We’ve given a lot of sweeps to Elijah Moore this year, and they’ve been good for us,” Brady said. “But there’s timing in the situation with it. … We came out last year and we did a lot of just QB sneaks and teams packing it up in there. And we knew that was going to have to be another element to our short yardage was being able to get the ball out on the perimeters.”

Everyone will continue to eat​

Brady also defended the Bills wide receivers and their “everybody eats” mantra, even though the offense was unable to sustain drives on Monday. No Bills player had more than three catches. Allen completed just 15 passes.

After starting the game without wide receiver Curtis Samuel (neck/ribs), the Bills lost wide receiver Joshua Palmer to an ankle injury during the game. Palmer’s 60 receiving yards led the Bills, even after he was unable to finish the game.

With the receiving corps being a topic of discussion all offseason, Brady was adamant in his stance.
“I think you guys think I’m lying when I say that I’m good with our guys, like I have confidence,” Brady said.

Brady stressed urgency – but not panic – over the bye week as the Bills work to make adjustments. But those adjustments will come on the field, rather than on the roster, Brady intimated.

“I have nothing but confidence in the guys that are out there,” he said. “And it’s my job. I have to do a better job of putting in a position to have success.”

Different game​

McDermott praised defensive coordinator Bobby Babich for what changes the defense was able to make after a messy first half. Babich said the corrections were rather basic.

“There was a few adjustments,” Babich said. “But the biggest thing, I think, was the message of comes down to fundamentals. It comes down to our tackling. It comes down to doing our 1/11th.”

The Bills defense allowed 335 yards to the Falcons’ offense in the first half before tightening things up. Babich said the message to players both Monday at halftime and on Tuesday following the loss was that each player simply has to do his particular job.

“I don’t know what it was, certainly we’re all in this together,” Babich said. “But you know, it was a different game in two halves. And yes, we made a few adjustments here, there, but it was nothing astronomical to impact the game that way.”