McCoy x-rays negativeThe Bills got a bit of good news concerning LeSean McCoy's injured ankle suffered in Sunday's win over the Dolphins.
X-rays were negative on his ankle so there is no break. Head coach Sean McDermott is hopeful his feature back can recover in time for Sunday's playoff game against the Jaguars.
"He's going to have a chance we'll see," said McDermott. "We're continuing to go through the medical evaluation on that. We got some good news this morning. So, we'll continue to monitor that as we go forward."
Naturally, having McCoy in the lineup would improve Buffalo's chances of pulling off the upset.
"That'd be big. He's obviously a big part of what we do," McDermott said. "That said I loved what we saw yesterday which is true of our entire team. You see 63 guys prepare all season long. I think that was on display against the Dolphins when (Marcus) Murphy stepped up and Mike Tolbert did as well."
McDermott admitted that he and GM Brandon Beane have discussed potential contingency plans if McCoy's ankle does not recover in time. Making a roster addition to the running back position has not been ruled out.
"Those conversations are ongoing with Brandon (Beane). We talk a lot about… we've already discussed some of that and will continue to discuss it along with other areas," McDermott said.
Valuable experience aheadFor a Bills team that has a good number of players short on playoff experience and meaningful football at the end of the regular season, coach McDermott sees an enormous benefit for his team.
"That's huge. I was asked last week what it would mean to make the playoffs and I said it would be another step in our development as a football team, as an organization," said McDermott. "The experience that we got this last week of playing in that type of game, a must win game and also the experience we're getting now going into this week, that a lot of our young players and players who have been around the NFL, but haven't been in this situation. There have been some leadership challenges within that.
"There's also a mindset challenge that we have to get buckled back in after (Monday) and hit the reset button so we can focus on the task at hand. But there's so much valuable experience our players can learn and take from the last two weeks here. And we'll see how far we go."
Thanking the BengalsBills fans were grateful to the Cincinnati Bengals for their improbable comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens to help Buffalo qualify for the postseason. Coach McDermott received a call from one of his coaching colleagues in Cincinnati not long after the Bengals game with Baltimore was over.
"I was on the phone with their defensive coordinator shortly after the game, Paul Guenther. He actually called me to congratulate us, which was a class move and I thanked him," McDermott said. "Then since that time I've reached out to a couple of their coaches, Marvin (Lewis) and Bill Lazor their offensive coordinator.
"I wanted to say first congratulations to them and then also show our appreciation.
"Hope comes in a lot of ways. For us it came in the last week of the season. For other teams, it comes before the last week of the season. We were thankful to get it, no doubt about it."
