DETROIT -- Heard and observed in the New York Jets' locker room after their 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills:

Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson took this one hard. For several minutes, he sat alone in the bathroom, leaning against a wall, staring at nothing in particular. Later, when he gathered himself at his locker, Richardson -- on the verge of tears -- expressed the kind of frustration and disappointment you'd expect to hear from a player on a 2-9 team.

"I've never lost nine games," he said. "That's not me at all. I didn't get drafted to lose games, period. If it don't hurt nobody like it hurts me, they shouldn't be on the team."

Richardson didn't want to point fingers, saying, "They outplayed us in every aspect of the game and it ain't nobody's fault but the players. ... They kicked our tails from pillar to post." He refused to question Rex Ryan's leadership.

"I don't want this organization broke up in no type of way ... but that's what happens when you have seasons like this," he said. "They clean house. I don't want it. I play for a lot more. All I am is a number with a name on the back of my jersey. I play with my heart. I don't take L's like this, especially to the Buffalo Bills. My God, man."

Richardson offered a vote of confidence for Ryan even though it's probably too late.

"[I like] everything about the man," he said. "The passion I play with is the passion [with which] he coaches, even in meetings. If people want strict coaching and fines by the book, I guess this isn't what they want then. That's my guy. He might as well have a number on, too. For real."

Richardson refused to comment on why he was removed from the game in garbage time. It may have been an injury; his back stiffened late in the game.

Ryan addressed his job status in a way he's never done before, a clear indication he knows what's coming.

"One thing I know for a fact, unless it changes drastically: I'll be the head coach for the next five weeks," he said. "That's what I know. I'm going about my job like I always do. ... I'm the coach here and that's all I do. My team will get everything I've got."

Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, giving only curt answers, refused to comment on his toe injury, referring questions to the trainers. A clearly agitated Wilkerson, injured in the second quarter, said he wanted to go back in the game.

"I'll be all right," he said, declining to give specifics.