Rex Ryan says he did not lose Buffalo Bills' locker room

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. -- Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan made it clear Wednesday that he has not lost his locker room, but it seems that he is disputing reports of the noise emanating from there, particularly from the members of his dysfunctional defense.

"I don't believe that," Ryan said of the perceived revolt that's occurring. "I've been around this game a long time. I don't believe that to be the truth. If we were in the playoffs, it would be a different conversation. I think this locker room is a little closer than anticipated. I don't think you're getting the majority of opinions; I know there's frustration, but I think this locker room is a lot closer than what it's given credit for."

However, in the wake of the 35-25 loss to the Redskins Sunday, which officially eliminated Buffalo from the playoff race, newfound complaints were plentiful regarding the scheme Ryan has tried to force-feed, and how the communication and timeliness of the play-calling system has created confusion on far too many occasions.

Defensive end Mario Williams, perhaps the most unhappy of all the defensive players, had plenty to say following the game, during which he had just one tackle and did not improve on his total of four sacks. He has made it clear a few times this year that he's not thrilled about having to drop into pass coverage as often as he does. He also has taken issue with the Bills' constant switching of assignments right before the snap.

Wednesday, he took up the cause again, saying that the Bills' front four, which was the key to Buffalo recording an NFL-high 111 sacks the last two years combined, simply hasn't been allowed to play the way it had on the way to that success.

"Myself, and I'm pretty sure everyone else will say it, this is not the way it was supposed to be, hands down," Williams said. "We brought Jerry (Hughes) back, we got Marcell (Dareus), Kyle (Williams), and myself, this whole Cold Front (nickname) and all that came out, because the last two years we built a heck of a defense that was fed off the front, and that hasn't happened."

Those four players have just 12 sacks combined this year. Last year they had 40 because they were in a 4-3 scheme that fit their talents and allowed them to do what they do best: go get the quarterback.

In Ryan's scheme, there's much more complexity in the assignments, and players -- not only the linemen, but all positions -- have been asked to play a little differently and it really hasn't taken hold.

Of course, Ryan's scheme has worked pretty well through the years during his time as Baltimore's defensive coordinator and as the Jets' head coach. Why hasn't it worked in Buffalo? Williams said there's a reason for that.

"The only thing I can say, the personnel was totally different," Williams said. "With the Baltimore Ravens he had Ray Lewis commanding the ship. The coaches made a statement the other day about the control of the defense, and how Ray would change the call completely. The call came in, he sees this, and he calls something totally different. You've got linebackers of that nature doing that (in Baltimore and New York). With the Jets, same thing, linebackers who were generals on the field, safeties who would head hunt like (Ed) Reed in Baltimore and the Landry brothers with the Jets, and two lockdown corners. Three guys up front who get after it, and two linebackers who are two-backer style guys, that's what I see."

And though he probably meant no disrespect to teammates like linebackers Nigel Bradham and Preston Brown, and safeties Corey Graham and Bacarri Rambo, there's a difference between them and Ryan's old teams.

Brown, a second-year player who gets the call in his helmet and then has to relay it to everyone else, said the Bills defense has to stop complaining about the situation.

"I can't say that people didn't give it their all, I don't know what's going on with them," he said. "I know everybody's trying to make things work. I don't think it's something to do with effort, I think guys are trying, it's just ... guys just have to buy in to the system. We don't know how good we could have been because everybody wasn't doing what they were supposed to do on each play, so we can't go around saying it's the scheme or everybody's not playing with effort. I think it's just mentally everybody wasn't there.

"I mean everybody keeps saying that last year you guys were a top four defense ... everybody is still thinking about last year. We have to get over that. It's not last year."

SERIES HISTORY: 10th regular-season meeting. Cowboys lead series 6-3. The last time the teams played in Buffalo, Dallas scored nine points in the final 20 seconds to pull out a stunning 25-24 victory on a Monday night. In the last meeting, the Cowboys embarrassed the Bills 44-7 in Dallas in 2011.

GAME PLAN:

--The Bills will once again be missing some key pieces on offense as wide receiver Robert Woods is already out with a groin injury, and running back LeSean McCoy is not expected to play because of a knee injury. The Cowboys are susceptible to the run as they rank 26th, so even without McCoy, the Bills will try to pound running backs Karlos Williams and Mike Gillislee on the ground, plus use quarterback Tyrod Taylor on designed read option runs.

On defense, the Bills have had a completely discombobulated season, and part of that has to do with Rex Ryan's odd unwillingness to blitz as much as his teams once did. However, with Kellen Moore playing quarterback for the Cowboys, one would have to expect to the Bills to blitz him early and often.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

--Bills CB Ronald Darby vs. Cowboys WR Dez Bryant.

The Cowboys have virtually no weapons because they don't have a competent quarterback, but Bryant is certainly the best of the bunch. The Bills wish CB Stephon Gilmore was healthy because Bryant will have a big size advantage on the rookie, Darby.

--Bills RT Jordan Mills vs. Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence.

Lawrence has been an ascending player this year and he leads the Cowboys with seven sacks. Right tackle has been a weak spot all year for the Bills. Mills has not been good, and now that another backup, Kraig Urbik, is playing right guard, this is a definite problem up front for the Bills.