–LeSean McCoy declined to speak to the media yet again Wednesday, and there are rampant rumors that he is disappointed not only with his play and the team’s standing, but that he was not traded at the deadline to a place where he would have a semblance of a chance to succeed.
McCoy is enduring what is by far the worst year of his career. He has just 267 yards rushing and a 3.1 average per carry with no touchdowns. In his last three games, he has 24 yards on 24 carries, mainly because the Buffalo offensive line is simply incompetent almost all the way across the board.
“We’ve got to do a better job starting up front,” said head coach Sean McDermott. “You can have all the different plays that you want, but at the end of the day, it’s a man versus man game and you’ve got to move a guy off the ball. You’ve got to play with great fundamentals and technique, and that’s really where it starts; it’s a mindset.”
McDermott did admit that some of the problems rest with McCoy, who has missed some holes, and then has spent too much time dancing in an effort to find room to run and has been trapped behind the line of scrimmage far too frequently.
“He’s an accountable young man and it starts with that, just taking ownership of it,” said McDermott. “There’s been some opportunities to hit some holes that weren’t hit overall, and there’s been some opportunities where the scheme was there and we didn’t get the movement that we needed. It’s been really a combination, but we have to give him more opportunities to make more big plays for us.”
As for his media silence, McDermott spoke for McCoy on Wednesday: “In terms of his decision to not to speak to the media, it’s certainly his call. If you want to ask me those questions that you would normally ask LeSean, I would be happy to answer those. He’s out there today practicing, he’s in a good frame of mind and he’ll be ready to go Sunday.”
One question that McDermott did not touch was whether McCoy asked to be traded, and if so, is he disappointed that he’s still in Buffalo.
“Yeah, all of those conversations whether they’re a player and myself, a player and (general manager) Brandon (Beane), Brandon and myself, those will stay confidential,” McDermott said. Of course, McDermott could have ended the speculation by simply saying no.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1 – Teams since 1940 that gave up 190 yards or less, and 11 first downs or less, and lost a game by 32 points. That would be the Bills last week. The two closest games to this statistical occurrence came in 1944 when the Redskins lost by 31 to the Giants, and in 1966 when the Eagles lost to the Cardinals by 31.