Sammy Watkins, Bashaud Breeland

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins (14) pulls in a touchdown catch under pressure from Washington Redskins cornerback Bashaud Breeland (26) during the second half on Sunday in Landover, Md.

(Andrew Harnik | The Associated Press)

Landover, Md. — Sammy Watkins sat and stared at his locker at FedEx Field following the Buffalo Bills' 35-25 loss to Washington that eliminated them from playoff contention. He's not used to losing and has now missed the playoffs in each of his first two seasons in the NFL. Despite his personal success, he's frustrated.

Watkins isn't satisfied with the team's 6-8 record in its first season under Rex Ryan. He's not happy with how the team responded on the road the last two weeks, and he knows there's going to be plenty of changes in Buffalo this offseason. He's all for it. He held court with media following the game for more than 10 minutes and tried to make sense of what went wrong in 2015.

"I'm going to step up and talk," Watkins said. "I'm going to make sure things get changed. I'm pretty sure the staff is, the organization, the coaches, we've got to address every problem. Whatever the problem is, we've got to address it. I think once we do that we'll be alright. We've just got to keep fighting as a team. We can't get down on ourselves. We have to build off these next two games and keep fighting. I think we can't quit on ourselves. We've just got to keep winning.

"I'm just disappointed. I'm not used to losing and I'm pretty sure most of the guys are not. We've got the team, the coaches, the staff. We've got to figure it out. We've got to do some evaluation on both sides of the ball. I believe that the organization, the coaches, the staff will fix it."



Watkins went on to say it's not about the coaches. He thinks he and his teammates have to make more plays.



"We've got to take over as players," Watkins said. "We can't put everything on the coaches and blame whatever the situation is. We've got to go out and play every week and we've got to demand that from each other and forget the coaches. It's not the coaches' team. It's the players' team. It's player-driven. We've just got to work on ourselves and gain more leaders.

"Our coaches do a great job with being aggressive and calling plays. I don't think it's about the plays. I think we just have to execute the plays. We can't blame coaches for calls. We have to go out there and do our job whatever call it is. We have to make our coach look good, they going to make us look good. It's vice versa. We have to help each other out. That's what comes with making plays. If it's a bad play just go out there and make a play. Just like they call great plays for us. There's no perfect play on the field, so we have to go out there each week and know he's not going to make the best call every play, but let's get him out of trouble."

Watkins didn't want to blame quarterback Tyrod Taylor, either.

"Tyrod's going to continue to get better as a player as a QB as a leader. I'm not worried about his play," Watkins said. "We just need to stop, eliminate the penalties and the little things and do your job. Stop worry about everybody else's job. Do your job. You get paid to do your job so just do it.



"You can't blame it on nobody. It's a new team, everybody coming together as a whole, guys don't even know each other. Like I said, we've got to figure out the problem and I believe in the coaches that they're going to figure it out. We've got to step up as players and say how we feel. We've all got to evaluate each other and ourselves and the coaches and we're gonna get it fixed."

Watkins is sick of hearing the noise from outside the organization. He's not going to point fingers at the coaches because he knows the change needs to happen on the field.

"This needs to be a players-driven team," Watkins said. "Forget the coaches. At the end of the day, the coaches, all they can do is call the plays. They can't go out there and make plays physically for us. This needs to be within the team. We need to address whatever needs to be addressed. Like I said, we need more leaders. I need to step up and lead a little bit more. I put that on myself. We just have to come out each week as a team. Like I said, forget the coaches, we need to be a team and come together and talk and communicate more and we need to win.

"The organization's going to do what they need to do, the coaches going to do their job, we just need to do our job as players and come together and kind of take over like I said. Forget about the coaches and the calls and whatever the situation is. We have to come together as a team and get the job done."

The Bills have two games left in their 2015 season. They've been eliminated from playoff contention and can't finish any better than 8-8. So what do they do know?



"Everybody got to fight. There should be no giving up or quitting or anybody pointing fingers to anybody. I don't care about (anybody saying) the coach is the cause. We've got to come together as a team and a group and it's within us. If we don't fix it, then it'll never get fixed.



"We've just got to be disciplined. It's really the penalties on both sides of the ball. I think once we fix the penalties and the little things, we'll be alright on offense. Like I said, it comes with the players. We've got to take more accountability. If we need to watch more film and less practice, that's what we need to do, because everyone needs to know their job and do it full speed.

"We just have to fix the things we need to fix and come next week ready to play. Nobody needs to get down. This is something that we need to build off of. You need to realize, you can have the top players and the best players and the biggest players, but at the end of the day, it comes down to discipline and playing for the guy next to you and execution. I think once we come together as a team and nip everything in the bud and call people out, it will be fixed."

Watkins wasn't just ranting to the media, either. He plans to start talking more in the locker room. He thinks that's where the accountability starts.



"I think we're close," Watkins said. "I just think we just need to focus a little more and forget what's going on on the outside. We need to forget about anybody's feelings. We need to call people out. If I'm doing something wrong, call me out. If the line is doing something wrong, messing up, call them out. If it's the defensive line, the secondary, we need to call that out, because at the end of the day, we're doing it to win, not to get on somebody and make them feel bad. We're grown men and this is our job. We get paid millions and hundreds of thousands of dollars. And forget the money. You've got to go out there each week and play for the guy next to you. I think when we get to that point and realize that you can get fired the next day and make it known, 'Hey, this is your job.' If you're not going to do your job, cut him. It needs to be a business. I think once we get to that, we need some nasty coaches. If they ain't doing their job, get them out of here. If I'm not doing my job, step to me and get me out of here. I think once we address those problems, we'll be alright."

Maybe Watkins is the vocal leader this team needs. He's clearly fed up with how things have gone in his second NFL season.