For the first time in six years the Bills have gotten off to a 3-1 start. Bills fans are excited, and while the players are certainly pleased with their first quarter of the 2017 campaign, they're not getting carried away.
"There are no statement wins in Week 4 of an NFL football season," said Kyle Williams flatly minutes after their win over the Falcons in Atlanta. "We've got a long way to go. Like I said we're going to continue to work and get better and we'll take them as they come. We've got the Bengals this week."
Naturally the win over the defending NFC champions was exhilarating, but it didn't take long for the Bills locker room to re-focus their energy. Kicker Stephen Hauschka attributes the team's ability to hit the reset button to their veteran players.
"You look around this locker room there's leadership at every position," said Hauschka. "Guys that have played for other teams, played in big games, but not only that, guys who are professionals and know how to keep a level head. It's just the fourth week of the season."
Buffalo's head coach, who has been largely responsible for pushing the mindset of respecting the process, was also trying to slow down the wave of opinion that the Bills have arrived.
"I'd say hold your horses a bit. One step at a time," said Sean McDermott. "This is a great win. What more can you say? It's a great win. But it's the next game. That's what we have to keep our focus on. After we take 24 hours to enjoy this we turn our attention to the Cincinnati Bengals."
Some players on defense were already lamenting the plays they failed to make in the victory Sunday. Micah Hyde was particularly disappointed that he gave up the team's first passing touchdown after they couldn't completely get the call straight before the snap.
The offense wasn't happy they managed just a single touchdown.
Members of the kickoff coverage unit were ticked that they allowed a season-long 61-yard return after taking a 20-17 lead late in the fourth quarter.
"I think we've got a long way to go," said Jordan Poyer. "We've got a lot of things to fix and continue to keep growing and we're going to keep doing that."
"One thing we talked about was trusting the process and take the same approach each and every week. Don't make one win any bigger than another," said Tyrod Taylor. "Continue to keep doing the things we're doing, continue to keep practicing hard, preparing hard and take each game one game at a time. I think we have a bunch of great leaders in our locker room. We're not looking too far ahead. We're focusing on one day at a time and getting better."
"Really at the end of the day it's the same approach, whether it's the fourth week of the season or the second week of the playoffs," said Hauschka. "It's the same deal and I think this team is starting to get that."
So, while a win like Sunday will likely put the Bills on the radar of the national media, believing in the hype and the rhetoric is not something in which the players want to participate.
"We can't start drinking the Kool Aid," Lorenzo Alexander said. "We've got to respect the process, understand we have to continue to work the way we worked when we were underdogs. That's kind of the mantra of this team—blue collar. We grind games out and find a way to win."
