Langston Walker understood the question before it was completed, how fingers of blame from every corner of Western New York are pointed directly toward Dick Jauron. The Buffalo Bills coach has been under scrutiny that has intensified as their season draws closer to total collapse.

The Bills have lost six times in seven weeks. Their offense has sputtered with only six points in the past two games. Buffalo lost at home to weak teams in Cleveland and San Francisco and dropped another one to rival Miami in Toronto. All this after opening the season with five wins in six games.

So, Langston, has the coach lost the locker room?

"Don't even try that because he hasn't," Walker said. "Dick has my utmost respect, and you can ask the guys in here. He's a good coach and a good person. Everybody knows that. Unfortunately, we've gone through a bad spot. People on the outside, that's what sells papers, making comments like that, and I'm not going to fall into that."

Jauron long ago built a reputation for being a players' coach with his soft-spoken approach and refusal to publicly criticize them. He doesn't bark at his players, the way Gregg Williams did, and he's not confused the way Mike Mularkey was. But he also doesn't win the way Marv Levy did.

Week after week, loss after loss, he has suggested how the Bills are working hard. All that hard work hasn't quite worked out. Buffalo has a razor-thin chance to make the playoffs this season, and there's speculation that Jauron will be shown the door if they lose their final three games.

The only thing he hasn't lost over the past two months, apparently, is the respect of his players. They have filed minor complaints about the Bills' play-calling, but more than anything blame themselves for a once-promising season turning into a debacle.

"We're the players," Walker said. "We go out on the field, and we have to execute what's called. It's the same thing with the coaches. They call plays. It's their job to put us in the right positions. Coach Jauron hasn't thrown anybody under the bus, and I don't expect him to. I definitely won't throw him under the bus."

Players rarely criticize coaches in public but typically will get their message across one way or another. Walker and receiver Lee Evans spoke about Jauron with admiration. Last week, Donte Whitner made a point to say Jauron has been unjustly criticized. They all know that it might not matter if the losing continues.

"If the offense plays bad, everybody looks to the quarterback," Evans said. "If the team plays bad, everybody looks to the head coach. It's the nature of the business. Valid or not, that's just what it is. When things aren't going well, as a head coach, you're going to take the fall."

Jauron, Walker and virtually every offensive player have suggested that video review reveals myriad problems that change from week to week, if not quarter to quarter, in contributing to the offense falling apart. It could be a breakdown on the offensive line, a poor read by the quarterback or simply a poor play call.

Evans suggested Monday that the most frustrating aspect of the season has been facing the reality that the Bills have underachieved. Evans said a few weeks ago that the Bills should have been making better use of running back Marshawn Lynch, but he refused to criticize Jauron and thought the coach still has a handle on the team.

"It's a little bit of everybody," Evans said. "Everybody takes some fault in that. It's not just one person, one position or one thing."

Asked earlier this week if he generally agreed with the play-calling this season, Jauron said, "Yes." So if the play-calling has been fine, and the players are working hard, why haven't they scored more points and won more games?

"I'm not saying we call all the right plays all the time," Jauron said. "I'm not sure anybody does. It's a combination of a number of things, and it's never the same thing. People make errors, including us and the players."

Buffalo has scored 24 points or fewer in nine of its 13 games this season while holding their opponents to 24 points or fewer eight times. All told, they still have a 6-7 record with three games remaining.

Their opponents — the New York Jets, Denver and New England — are all 8-5 this season. The Bills still haven't beaten a team with a winning record.

"It's the players," cornerback Terrence McGee said. "It's not on Jauron. You can watch film and see that we're not making plays like we need to to get these wins. It's the sad part of the game, seeing coaches go through stuff like that when the players aren't making the plays that need to be made."