Buffalo Bills

Sammy Watkins calls for big changes in Buffalo: 'It's the culture'

Published Dec. 29, 2016 2:44 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The state of the Buffalo Bills is not good right now. Rex Ryan is out, Tyrod Taylor is benched for Week 17 in what’s been called a “business decision” and players are frustrated by missing the postseason yet again – an annual occurrence for the Bills.

While Ryan’s firing was almost inevitable, it won’t change the turmoil-filled culture in Buffalo. Those issues go higher up the chain, beyond the head coach. They haven’t drafted particularly well and a few players have had character flaws brought into the spotlight.

In response to the bevy of problems the Bills have, Sammy Watkins is calling for changes to be made. He got intense on Thursday when asked about what’s happening in Buffalo, saying the team needs to change the culture.

“It’s the culture. That’s something we gotta change. Whether it’s us as a player, the coaches, the organization, the mindsets of us,” he said. “We gotta change. We gotta think like the fans – be all in. Whatever happens, we win the game, we come out on top.”

“Very stressful. In college, I probably lost six games my whole career. Coming here, losing four in a row,” he continued. “It’s the culture.”

“Discipline. 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 working on a couple things we’re not good at,” he said. “I think just being professional. As players, we gotta fix that first. Then the coaches gotta be hard on us, not scared of us – get at us, curse at us, yell at us. Whatever to get the player to do their job, that’s what they have to do.”