Getty Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer (L) & Bills head coach Sean McDermott (R).
The Buffalo Bills had countless reasons to celebrate after their 38-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, but head coach Sean McDermott isn’t ready to party.
“It’s Week 5 and certainly things are going to be said about that win and we recognize those but we have to dial back and get ourselves ready for another road test, a team that beat us last year,” McDermott said of the Bills’ upcoming Week 6 tilt, in which they face the Tennessee Titans in yet another primetime game.
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On Monday, October 11, 13WHAM’s Jenna Cottrell reported on Twitter that McDermott “came straight into the office from the airport after the #Bills flew in from Kansas City” after the late Sunday kickoff and 70-minute weather delay.
The statement was received by many social media users as potential shade being directed toward Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, who was seen in a bar after the game.
While McDermott didn’t say Meyer’s name during the media conference, the bulk of the responses on Twitter couldn’t help but point out the connection.
@YardsPerPass he didn’t go to his bar in Columbus?
“You mean he didn’t stay in kc and party with some co eds?” one person tweeted, while another man wrote, “Urban Meyer got confused on what Daily grind means lol.”
“Meanwhile urban Meyer was leaving his team behind to go lose fingers inside a person,” another tweeter replied. “McDermott and Beane are honest professionals and we could all learn a lot from them.”
Meyer in Hot Water & on the Hot Seat
After the Jaguars’ narrow 24-21 Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on September 30, Meyer chose not to join his players on the plane ride back to Jacksonville and instead traveled to his old stomping grounds in Ohio to visit family, according to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco.
Subsequently, videos of him partying closely with a blonde-haired woman who was not his wife went viral on Twitter in the hours following.
Per DiRocco, the incident took place at a restaurant named after the former Ohio State Buckeyes coach:
Meyer did not fly back to Jacksonville with the team last Thursday night and instead went to Columbus to visit with his grandchildren. Meyer said he and family members went to his restaurant — Urban Meyer’s Pint House — on Friday night, and people at a nearby event asked to take photos with him.
While ESPN commentator Booger McFarland joked on Twitter, “Nothing like a Thursday night game and the weekend off,” Meyer’s family, fellow staff and players found nothing funny about the incident.
After apologizing to the Jaguars, Meyer publicly apologized on October 4, saying in part, “Just stupid, and so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. Should not have put myself in that kind of position.”
Here’s #Jaguars HC Urban Meyer apologizing for what happened over the weekend. Meyer didn’t travel back with the team after the game and stayed in Ohio. Full explanation:
One day later, NFL insider Michael Silver wrote in an October 5 Twitter thread:
The Urban Meyer situation in Jacksonville has reached a crisis point, especially in the locker room. One player told me, ‘He has zero credibility in that stadium. He had very little to begin with.
Players were particularly put off by the fact that Meyer canceled Monday’s team meeting, as he dealt with the uproar over the videos of him and a young woman getting cozy in that Ohio bar. ‘He even canceled the team meeting. He was too scared,’ a player said.
Needless to say, this is the exact kind of drama that NFL front offices work to avoid.
McDermott Has QB Josh Allen Focused on Continued Success After Chiefs Win
JOSH ALLEN HURDLE 😳
(via @NFL)
As for Allen, who created numerous big plays in Week 6, including a 61-yard pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, a 53-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox, and a 35-yard touchdown pass Emmanuel Sanders, he’s also keeping his head down and focused.
“We came into a hostile environment, played a really good team, ended up with a win and that’s our goal each and every week,” Allen said during his postgame press conference.
“Away games are never easy, no matter who you’re playing, and each week it’s a different situation, different matchup. You gotta go out there and execute a game plan that’s what we did today and then we’re gonna have to continue to do that.”
Dion Dawkins Sees No Reason to Gloat Over Win vs. Chiefs
Dion Dawkins was asked in various different ways about this win meaning more, but doesn’t bite. Says it feels good, but every win does and they have a long season ahead of them. Also speaks to the #Bills growth that these wins are all business now. “This wasn’t the Super Bowl.”
“This is not the Super Bowl, this is not the championship game, this is just another win, another game on our schedule,” Dion Dawkins said, per the Buffalo Bills.
“That just shows that we’ve been in a situation like this before, and that just honestly shows the maturity of our team. The Kansas City Chiefs are a great team and they have been a great team. It’s just stacking days and stacking plays.”
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