AFC Notes: Sean McDermott, Michael Onwenu, Connor Williams, Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills HC Sean McDermott spoke in-depth about the team’s exit from the playoffs but not before saying that it is only a matter of time before Buffalo wins the Super Bowl.

“It’s not a matter of if. It’s just a matter of when,” McDermott said of winning the Super Bowl, via Tim Graham of The Athletic. “That is the relentless pursuit. I believe we’re doing things the right way. You only fail if you quit, and I’ve never done that. I’ve never been about that. Whatever it is, you always figure it out. You always find a way to get there. The only thing left to do for us at this point is win an AFC championship and win a Super Bowl, which is pretty darn good. There’s not too many organizations that can say that over the last seven years. We’ve done everything else you can do, and that is what gets us out of bed in the morning.”

“You want it for them,” McDermott added. “I want it for the pain of that kick right there, and those faces remind me of what I saw when I got here or what I watched of Buffalo growing up in the early 90s. I want it for the fans as much as I want it for myself and for the organization. That’s what we’re here to do, and the fire burns deep. Anybody that says they’re not affected by a loss in this line of work isn’t being honest. There’s a degree of, ‘Hey, did I do the right thing? Did I do enough to help my team?’ But then you need to be able to come back to ‘No, I know I gave it my all. I put in everything I could have put into it.’”

McDermott noted that he will continue to ignore false narratives and criticism of his mistakes as long as he continues to give his team the best chance to win.

“Had I not faked that punt, with what I knew going into that situation, it would have been a failure had I not tried,” McDermott continued. “I would have gone home that night saying, ‘What would have happened had I faked that punt?’ It didn’t work out that specific situation in that in that particular moment, but I need to do everything I can to help our team win. Protect the team and give it the best chance to win, that’s my No. 1 goal. My job is to do everything that I can to help this organization win and do what we haven’t done yet, which is win an AFC championship and a Super Bowl.”

“I understand the fans’ frustration,” McDermott concluded. “They’re passionate. That’s, to me, one of the great parts about being a Buffalo Bill. Where else can you go in the NFL and experience this type of passion? You’re part of the fabric of the community here, and I love that. I still have a responsibility, though, to give us the best chance to win, and I believe you do that by shouldering whatever you need to shoulder as the leader of the organization, the leader of the team. That means sometimes I can’t say everything that I know or what people want me to say. I know they want me to explain things, but that’s only going to create certain distractions that get in the way of winning.”

Dolphins

When it comes to Dolphins C Connor Williams, his agent Drew Rosenhaus said he may wait until he is feeling better physically before signing this offseason.

“I do think that we’re going to be very methodical and take our time relative to the contract,” Rosenhaus said on The Joe Rose Show. “A lot of it may be predicated on how Connor is feeling physically. He may not be a player who signs at the very start of free agency. He may take more time based on how he’s feeling physically. Connor’s situation has a degree of uncertainty that’s going to be tied to how he’s feeling. And really, we’ll just take it one day at a time once we get into the offseason. But I’m not sure that that is one that’ll be resolved as quickly as some of the other players that we represent.”

Patriots

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Patriots G Michael Onwenu has informed teams via email that he has terminated his prior relationship with his agents ahead of free agency