|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gregg Williams wrapped up a discouraging Buffalo Bills season by briefly addressing his players on Sunday. Whether it was one of his last acts as the team's coach is uncertain.
Williams is completing the final year of a three-year contract. His status is expected to be determined within the next week -- and possibly as soon as Tuesday -- after he meets with team president Tom Donahoe.
Donahoe has insisted
that he hasn't yet decided whether to make a contract offer to Williams, who's
record in Buffalo is 17-31. But Donahoe can't be happy with how the Bills unraveled
down the stretch in finishing 6-10, capped by a 31-0 loss in their season finale
at New England on Saturday. They missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive
season.
Williams didn't make himself available to the media on Sunday. A day earlier,
Williams wouldn't speculate on his future, saying: ``That's not my decision
to make. We'll cross that next week.''
If a coaching decision tops Donahoe's immediate agenda, a close second has suddenly become the curious status of Pro Bowl guard Ruben Brown, who was excused for unspecified reasons from playing on Saturday.
Brown was spotted walking down a hallway at the Bills complex on Sunday, but did not make himself available to reporters.
The team has said his absence was related to ``a personal matter.'' And Brown has not spoken publicly since he questioned his motivation to finish out the season during his weekly show on a Buffalo radio station on Dec. 22.
Brown's agent, Eric Metz, said the team barred his client from playing as punishment after Brown showed up late for practice on Tuesday.
Brown's locker remains intact, and includes a picture of him and former Bills general manager John Butler, as well as an Oakland Raiders' helmet that hangs from a hook.
While saying that Brown has not been suspended, Donahoe noted the player's status is something ``we'll have to deal with.''
Without providing a reason for Brown's absence, tackle Jonas Jennings spoke up on his teammate's behalf, defending Brown to those who have questioned his actions.
``Ruben's OK. He's still a human being,'' Jennings said. ``He's actually mad at some of the accusations that are going around. He'll be OK.''
It's been that type of a season in Buffalo, one the Bills opened with a revamped defense, high expectations and a 31-0 win against New England, and now close amid turmoil, question marks and a 31-0 loss to New England.
``It's like we just fell apart,'' cornerback Antoine Winfield said. ``It seems like a lot of confidence was lost and we just didn't regain it.''
Coach Williams, for one, didn't anticipate such a finish after he turned down the team's offer last spring to extend his contract beyond this season.
The Bills -- and perhaps, Williams -- were ultimately undone by an inept Drew Bledsoe-led offense, which ranked among the NFL's worst a year after finishing among the league's best.
Buffalo's finished with 4,348 yards offense, seven better than the franchise low, and managed 243 points, the second-fewest in a 16-game season. The Bills also went seven games without scoring a touchdown.
The numbers were just as bad for Bledsoe, an 11-year veteran.
His 11 touchdowns were the fewest he's completed besides the 2001 season, in which he appeared in only two games. And Bledsoe's 2,860 yards passing were the fewest in a year in which he's started 13 or more games.
``It has been surreal,'' Bledsoe said. ``Based on the way that the season started, you never would have guessed that that is the way that it would've ended.''
Bledsoe voiced his support for Williams, noting how the coach has held up through this season of uncertainty.
``The strength of character
that he has demonstrated for this team, and the leadership that Gregg demonstrated
has been tremendous,'' Bledsoe said.