Bills defensive end Mario Williams hasn’t been getting sacks at his normal rate, which gives him something in common with the rest of his teammates.
But his frustration after yesterday’s loss was palpable, making it easy to wonder if he’ll be there next year or whether he wants to be. His $19.9 million cap hit next year is far too large for a guy who has 4.0 sacks, so a pay cut would seem to be in line.
“If this is the turnout of our defense, how does that even sound right?” Williams said, via Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News. “You can change. People are afraid of change and so forth. I’m all for it because at the end of the day, if it works, so be it. I don’t need to sit here and say, ‘I wish Jerry had 15 sacks, Marcell had 15 sacks, I had 15 sacks across the board.’ If we’re winning, if we’re 10-4 or whatever, hey, hats off. But if it doesn’t work, yeah, there needs to be a different change.
“If one person is singled out as that needs to be done, so be it. That’s not my decision.”
Williams has openly questioned coach Rex Ryan’s system, saying as soon as October he was dropping into coverage too much and following up this month by saying nothing had changed.
The Bills are near the bottom of the league in sacks, but the 30-year-old Williams was coming off a 15.0-sack season last year so this is all a surprise to him. That’s why he continues to express amazement at reacting to opponents rather than doing what he does best.
“At the end of the day, I want to go wherever we can go and win,” Williams said. “That’s how I see it. And I know we can win here. That’s 100. I know we can win here. Now, me personally, if I don’t fit in the scheme, if it’s just me and it’s obvious it’s just me, then so be it. But if it’s continuity across the board as far as how things are unfolding, then that’s not my decision still. But, hey, you can blame me for everything. That’s fine.”
It’s not hard to see his dissatisfaction from those quotes, and he’s been around long enough to know that big changes are coming in Buffalo.
