Robert Woods, Buster Skrine, Donte Whitner

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Robert Woods, center, is tackled by Cleveland Browns cornerback Buster Skrine, left, and strong safety Donte Whitner during the first half Sunday in Orchard Park, N.J.

(Bill Wippert | The Associated Press)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Donte Whitner didn't want to say anything.

The Browns safety, who made waves by hurling insults at Buffalo Bills fans on Twitter and saying he was in his former team's head, had said too much already. So after the 10-minute cool down period following the Bills' 26-10 win over the Browns on Sunday, Whitner was among the first to emerge from Cleveland's locker room, already showered with luggage in hand and ready to board the team bus and leave Buffalo behind.

When flagged down by reporters, Whitner obliged, answering questions in a humbled tone. Gone was the anger, gone was the animosity. Maybe the "WHIT-NER" chants that echoed throughout Ralph Wilson Stadium were still ringing in his head, or maybe he simply realized the time for talking was over.

"Loud stadium and good opposition," Whitner said when asked about being back in Buffalo, where he spent the first five seasons of his career. "They made more plays than what we made. That's why they were able to win."

From the moment Whitner stepped on the field, Bills fans booed him. Every time his name was called for making a tackle, the boos came out. And once the game was in hand and Bills fans knew they had the last laugh, the audible "WHIT-NER" chants were the verbal weapon of choice for Bills fans.

"No back-and-forth from me (with the fans)," Whitner said. "I think it was all fans towards me. It's part of the game. It's the nature of the National Football League. Fans are passionate. When you have a passionate fan base like this, it's what you expect. My hat goes off to them with the win.

"You never get a true look at a stadium or a fan base until you're actually on the other sideline. It's a pretty crazy fan base here.

"It's a tough place to play."

Bills safety Aaron Williams, who mixed it up with Whitner on Twitter over the summer, called the Whitner chants bittersweet but said it was nice to be on the good side of it. He was also more than happy to send the former Bill home with a loss.

"Absolutely, I absolutely enjoyed it," Williams said. "It is what it is for our situation. I felt like Donte is a good player, and I have nothing against him whatsoever, but it's not between me and him. The game was the Bills vs. the Browns. The whole Donte, me and Sammy (Watkins) thing, we have to squash it. As long as we got a team victory, it's fine with me."

All Whitner wanted to do after the game was squash the pre-game drama. Standing in the tunnel of Ralph Wilson Stadium with his hood over his head, Whitner didn't have any retorts or fighting words for the Bills or their fans. He also said he didn't exchange words with Fred Jackson, the Bills running back who called him dumb this week.

"Nothing was said," Whitner said. "Shook his hand before the game, nothing was said. If that's how he feels personally, that's towards him. But I actually like Fred. I have no problems with him. You know, he used his words, he said what he had to say, and then we went out there and played a football game."

That football game was one the Browns didn't give themselves a chance to win. Despite numerous Bills turnovers and missed opportunities, Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer found a way to squander every offensive chance Cleveland had. The Bills converted just two of 15 third-down opportunities and somehow won the game by 16 points.

"That's crazy, right?" Whitner said. "I think we went, like, 1-of-13 on third down. I think we had two turnovers. We fought, we just can't turn the football over, especially when one goes back for a touchdown. When we get into the red zone on offense, we have to get into the end zone. But it's a team. All of us fight together. We're not going to overreact to this one. We'll get ready for next week. We just wish we could have had a few of those plays back."

Either way, Whitner left Buffalo a lot quieter than he entered. He finished with six total tackles, one for a loss, and the defense did its part. But at the end of the day, he had nothing left to talk about, and that was the hard part.

"It makes it tough, but we feel like we laid it all out there, especially on the defensive side of the football," Whitner said. "We made some plays. They made a few more plays than we made. We've for four football games left and we're still in the playoff race. We still have some winnable football games, so we'll just look forward to the next one. My hat goes off to the Bills for playing well today."

Oh, and Whitner even thinks the Browns lost to a playoff team.

"I believe so," Whitner said. "I believe they can compete for the playoffs. I believe there are a bunch of teams with about the same record or (within) one or two losses. So we'll see how it comes down at the end of the season."

That's a much different stance than Whitner was taking a few days ago.