Bills players step up to defend Jauron
Published: October 06, 2009, 11:03 pm
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The vultures are circling coach Dick Jauron, but Buffalo Bills players are doing their best to shoo them away.
Despite an approval rating among fans that makes Gov. David A. Paterson look popular by comparison, the Bills are united behind the embattled Jauron.
"We do have a lot of faith in our coaches and a lot of faith in our team," linebacker Keith Ellison said. "We're all at fault for what happened [Sunday]. We'll correct it this week and have a much better showing Sunday."
For Jauron's sake that had better happen, since the heat under his seat will undoubtedly be turned up more if the Bills lose at home to the winless Cleveland Browns. For his part, Jauron is approaching this weekend's game like any other.
"I've always felt the same in the professional game of football as a player and as a coach. Every game is the game. Every game you're playing for your job, every game you're coaching for your job," he said.
Jauron's words echoed his comments after other tough losses, including last season to the San Francisco 49ers.
"I always feel like I'm playing for my job," he said on Nov. 30, 2008, after the 49ers won, 10-3, at Ralph Wilson Stadium. "The first game you ever coached, you feel like you're playing for your job. It's just the nature of our business. You could say that any game. Any game and every game."
Bills quarterback Trent Edwards reiterated Monday what he said after Sunday's 38-10 loss to Miami — that players need to look in the mirror before placing blame on the coaching staff.
"Players make plays, coaches just coach," he said. "The schemes that are drawn up [and] players can trump those schemes and make plays on Sundays. ... So it has nothing to do with our head coach. It's frustrating because [Jauron] is the type of guy that is a perfectionist, wants to take ownership and that's what we expect out of him, but to be perfectly honest every player in the locker room needs to take that same attitude, too."
Support for Jauron should come as no surprise. He's long been known as a players' coach, partly because he rarely criticizes a player in public and always shoulders the blame for his team's shortcomings, as he did Monday. Four times, to be exact.
"Whenever we lose a game, I question everything that I've done in terms of preparation, start there, and then we work and correct our mistakes and get on with it," he said.
Moving on is something the team will have to do when it gets back to work today, but the sting of the Dolphins' domination is likely to linger.
"Nobody likes to get beat like we did," Ellison said. "We're a little angry, and that's a good thing."
The Bills' 1-3 start has done little to help fans forget their negative feelings toward Jauron after he led the Bills to a third consecutive 7-9 season in 2008. Despite the addition of Terrell Owens, the offense remains stuck in neutral, and the defense has struggled to get big stops.
"I'd say I'd be more embarrassed than anything just in the way that we played," defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. "It is what it is and we have to learn from it. We have to get better and we have to prepare ourselves better."
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