Bills: Sean McDermott admits players may have been ’emotionally worn out’ but ‘not an excuse’

Sean McDermott has admitted his players may have been “emotionally drained” after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in early January, but insists it is no excuse for Sunday’s Divisional Round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, as the Bills coach claims Buffalo has ‘to make every move possible’ to win a Super Bowl soon.

Speaking to reporters Monday, a day after the Bills’ 27-10 loss at Orchard Park, McDermott reflected on what might have contributed to the downfall of a team that had set out to win it all before the New Year.

“I’m not going to rule that out,” he said when asked if his players were mentally or emotionally worn out after what they and the city had been through this season, including Hamlin’s collapse and Buffalo’s harsh winter conditions, which showed in Sunday’s loss when both teams played in one to three inches of snow.

“But I’m not going to use it as an excuse,” he added, through NFL Network’s Mike Giardi.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott wants his team to improve to make it to the Super Bowl

McDermott suggested that his players may have suffered mental fatigue against the Bengals

“I’m not going to rule that out,” McDermott said of Hamlin’s collapse that could affect the Bills.

‘I’m a big believer in you, you are who you are in the last game of the season you showed on the field. That’s what we have to address,’ the 48-year-old added, according to the buffalo news. “We have to address those areas and do whatever it takes to get to the Super Bowl.”

Asked what particular areas need to be addressed in the offseason, McDermott said, “Like I said last night, it starts and ends with line of scrimmage, look at that.” You have to watch the quarterback’s play. We have a quarterback that we feel good about. […] We all need to improve in certain areas for this organization to move forward.’

The Bills’ sixth-year coach later admitted that Buffalo’s “offense needs to continue to evolve” and that its players may have developed a bad habit of throwing the ball down the field too often instead of relying on their running backs.

He may be right, as the Bills’ leader in rushing yards this season was running back Devin Singletary with just 72 yards to his name. James Cook, the team’s other running back, and quarterback Josh Allen follow with 52 and 46 yards each, respectively.

McDermott said his ‘offense needs to continue to evolve’ and not rely heavily on quarterback Josh Allen.

Also, to prove McDermott’s point, Allen only threw for 265 yards against the Bengals, completing 25 of 42 passes (a 59.52 percent completion rate) with no touchdowns. He too was intercepted once in an uninspiring display.

Asked if offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier could have prepared better for Sunday’s game, McDermott said: ‘I’m not going to go on the staff right now. It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the last game.

Commenting specifically on Dorsey, who was promoted to his current role from his previous one as the team’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, McDermott said: “There’s a first year for everyone. Dorsey did some good stuff and so did he.” you can learn some things you can learn from.

‘Like all of us, we have to learn from experience.’

McDermott refused to place Sunday’s loss on offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s shoulders.

McDermott praised his players for finishing the season as the top seed in the AFC East with an overall record of 13-3, but insists there is still a lot of work to be done after an early exit from the postseason in the eyes of many.

“At the end of the day, we are going to win a world championship and we have to make every possible move to do it, otherwise we are wasting time.”

Buffalo will enter the offseason with 21 unrestricted free agents and is limited to making trades due to only having $8,492,236 in cap space ($1,663,000 in ‘dead money’), the 21st-biggest in the league, according to overthecap.com.

The team had 39 players under contract for $230,498,244 for the 2022 season.

“Every year is a new challenge,” McDermott said. ‘We found a way through it [before]. We’ll find a way to get through this. That’s what we do.’