The Buffalo Bills are preparing for Sunday's season finale against the New York Jets below a cloud of uncertainty.
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Coach Chan Gailey's future is hazy at best with the Bills at 5-10, his third consecutive losing season. The organization hasn't given any clear indication of Gailey's fate, but Buffalo players admit their focus has been challenged.
"Yeah, it is (tough to block it out)," Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick told WGR-AM this week. "You try to. You try to make sure that your main focus, certainly on game day, but throughout the week is on preparing and getting ready. But it's hard, just with all the uncertainty in the air right now with what's to come. I think it's very hard at this point to block out and for it not to be on the forefront of your mind. You've just gotta make sure it doesn't affect -- and I've got to make sure that it doesn't affect the way that I play."
Said veteran safety George Wilson: "I don't think that anybody in this building should be completely comfortable with where we are and where our team has been."
The Bills have been an uneven production. The offense -- Gailey's specialty -- has shown measured progress. Fitzpatrick leads an attack that rips through defenses for yardage and points on a good day. On a bad day, Gailey often finds himself under fire for his beguiling, almost stubborn approach to a committee backfield.
The defense has improved slightly over the course of the season, but Buffalo's 22nd-ranked unit never lived up to the offseason hype. It's unclear if this staff will get another chance.
"The last three (seasons) have been frustrating," Gailey remarked. "I've been fortunate enough to be around situations in the past where we've been able to turn it around in a fairly short period of time, and we haven't been able to do it yet. So yeah it's been disappointing to me personally. It has."
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.