FOXBORO, Mass. — Rex Ryan’s conference call with was going swimmingly until someone asked the Buffalo Bills head coach about his recent record against the New England Patriots.
Here’s the question that set off Ryan:
Q: Rex, you’ve lost eight of nine to the Patriots. Is that something that kind of keeps you up at night, considering how much time you spend talking about them?
RR: Well, you know what, the only reason I talk about them is that they’re the No. 1 team in our division. That’s where we want to be. I know you guys always say that I’m obsessed with them and all that. You guys are obsessed with them, not me. I want to beat them, but you guys are the ones who talk about them every single day. We prepare for them the same way we prepare for every team that we face. But do we want to beat them? Absolutely. I want to beat them more than any team, yeah, because they’re the standard. They’ve won. They’re the ones who win the division. That’s why, but do I obsess with them and all that you guys write about — I’ve lost seven of eight, so why are you talking to me? I obviously have no clue how to attack them or defend them. So, you guys should talk to someone else who’s got a better record than I do against them.
Check out Ryan’s terse answers throughout the rest of the call:
Q: It’s a quarterback driven league, so what improvement have you seen from Tyrod (Taylor) from Week 2 to Week 11?
RR: I don’t know. You guys are the experts. You’ll figure it out. I know he threw three interceptions last time we played them, so we’ll see. You guys will pick out the positives.
Q: Has Taylor’s lack of interceptions been a case of good decision making?
RR: I don’t know. You guys need to do a little more of your homework to find out. I’m not going to answer your question. I think it’s pretty obvious the guy’s been pretty decent, but you guys will figure it out.
Q: Why are you mad at us?
RR: I don’t know. I just like the way you guys spin everything, you put everything I say, you take whatever it is, hey, you guys put it out there the way you want to, and I understand it. You guys have covered this matchup for years and years. We got no business being on the same field. That’s what you said, we’ve lost seven of eight, I’ve lost seven of eight against them. So, don’t talk to me. I’m sitting back here, I’ll answer the question, whatever, but I don’t know why you even bother.
Q: Do you use past wins after losses to the Patriots as a teaching moment for your current team?
RR: Well, that would be both ways, because we beat them — we must have lucked into one — we beat them the second week of the season that year, then they’re the ones who bounced back and beat us 45-3, so it was a bounce back, they bounced back, and then we bounced back. So that’s what happened then. Every year is different. You got different players, you got different coaches with you and things like that, so every year is different.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
