Sammy Watkins

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins warms up before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

(Jeffrey T. Barnes)

Orchard Park, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills need a culture change.

At least that's what wide receiver Sammy Watkins thinks. On Thursday, the third-year receiver was candid in discussing the issues with the team in light of the Bills firing Rex Ryan and suffering through the franchise's 17th straight season without the playoffs. For Watkins, who grew accustomed to winning at Clemson, this losing has been a tough change of pace.

"Very stressful," Watkins said. "Being in college, I probably lost five or six games in my whole career. I come in here and lose four in a row. It's a culture. That's something that we have to change whether us as players, the coaches, the organization, the mindsets of us, we've got to change. We've got to think about the fans. Be all in. Whatever happens, we win the game. We come out on top. That's what we've got to do."

How does a team go about changing a culture, especially one as seemingly damaged as Buffalo's?

"It's discipline," Watkins said. "Whatever around the locker room that needs to be addressed, on the field, off the field, flags. Whether it's a running drill, whether it's something to work on a couple things we're not good at. And I think just being professional as players that's got to fix first. Then the coaches have to be hard on us, not scared of us. Get at us, yell at us, curse at us. Whatever to get the player to do that job the best he can, that's what they need to do."

Rex Ryan was not considered a disciplinarian by any stretch. He's considered a player's coach, which is why players enjoy playing for him. But it stands to reason a different approach might be welcomed in the Bills' locker room.

"Well, from Clemson, coach Dabo (Swinney) was strict and I that's what I think changed the culture and changed the players," Watkins said. "We started winning. We started to expect to win. Every game I came into I never thought I was going to lose it. That's what we have to do here. Situations here sometimes guys look at games with Peyton Manning or name-dropping Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown. Who cares? They're great players, but they do the same thing we do. We've got to step up as players against those guys."