Should the Rex Ryan era be coming to a close in Buffalo, it's likely to cause some cringe-worthy moments over the final 14 games of the season.
Over the weekend, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula met with the team's offensive players before the firing of offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
"I've done met with them plenty of times," receiver Sammy Watkinssaid of the meeting to the team's official website. "I don't think it was an issue or a problem. I think they just wanted to see where my head was and the other leaders on the team where their heads were."
Ryan was not a part of that meeting, which paints a grim picture of his situation moving forward.
Despite all this, Ryan is trying to place a positive spin on his situation.
"Players see ownership all the time," Ryan told reporters Monday. "I'm in full support, no problem with it. In fact, I think it's a positive."
Ryan added that new offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn's "spin on the offense will be seen immediately."
NFL organizations are strange sometimes. After taking the awkward step of announcing that Ryan would be back a year ago, the team is now allowing him to twist in the wind as he prepares to face a Cardinals team that put up 40 points on the Buccaneers this week, not to mention the Patriots, Rams and 49ers after that. Even if Ryan thinks the player-owner meeting was a positive step, there have to be some players who don't see it that way.
As I wrote the day Roman was let go, this is a mixed bag of emotions for Ryan. When it comes to the staff, he has finally gotten everything he wants. Lynn, defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman and assistant head coach Rob Ryan are the three coaches he trusts more than anyone in football. If he ends up going down, he is going down the way he wants.
