On Tuesday, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott spoke with the media for the first time since Anquan Boldin retired. As he has done time and time again since coming over to Buffalo, the head coach was pretty vanilla with his responses while addressing the media’s question regarding the former Bills wide recevier’s departure.
“I've learned not to be surprised by anything,” said McDermott via NYup.com. “That's really the core of it. As a football team, we adapt. These players, this football team has adapted before and will continue to adapt and show grit. That's a hallmark of a good football team. I've been extremely proud of the way everyone has done that all through the preseason.”
“I think the bottom line with Anquan's situation, as a football team is we respect his decision,” he continued. “That said, we adjust. That's what we do. That's what this league is about. Adjusting on the field and adjusting off the field.”
The question on many peoples’ minds was would the Bills still have traded Sammy Watkins if they had known earlier that Boldin would depart. To that query, the coach said only that the two decisions were independent.
With Boldin now out of the mix, McDermott named veterans Jordan Matthews and Andre Holmes - both first-year Bills - as receivers who could potentially step up and fill the void. With shifts to the team’s receiver depth chart obviously to come, the coach brought up Brandon Reilly and Daikiel Shorts as two young receivers that have impressed him this preseason.
While Matthews will more than likely not play Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens, Holmes and the rest of the receiving crew will get an opportunity to show what they can do in the Bills third exhibition game, which is traditionally the most important of the preseason.