Rex Ryan in reflective mood as Bills prepare to host Jets

That’s far off the pace of a playoff race Ryan promised to put the Bills back in after ownership hired him soon after the Jets let him go, and while those same owners on Wednesday released a statement in support of Ryan and his boss, general manager Doug Whaley, nothing can change a level of disappointment so high that some Bills players have aired their frustrations with Ryan’s coaching decisions.

“Kim [Pegula, co-owner], Russ [Brandon, president] and I look forward to working and collaborating with Doug Whaley and Rex Ryan in forming a winning future for the organisation”. Our management team and coaching staff are very capable and work well together. He added, “This stable foundation is necessary to achieve long-term success”.

But Ryan, Jets head coach from 2009 until 2014, will be trying to end a disappointing campaign with a sweet win over his ex-employers. The answer was no. The Bills failed to make the playoffs for the 16th consecutive season: the longest postseason drought in North American sports today. To his credit, Bills coach Rex Ryan has expressed clear regret for his decision to guarantee a playoff appearance by the team during his first year on the job. “But at the same time, it’s like, ‘Eh.’ I never look at it as, ‘What if this doesn’t go exactly the way I would expect it to go?’ Well, I’m seeing it right now”. “But I get it. That’s just me, but sometimes I wish… you know, because I think you see the impact it has”.

“(The season) hasn’t gone the way we wanted it go, but I’m the guy that should be criticized, that’s fine. “You know what? I remember that”. Make no mistake, after seeing Ryan’s reaction after the Bills’ victory at MetLife Stadium in week 10, he is going to treat this like the Super Bowl because nothing would make him happier than keeping the team that fired him out of the post season.

This is another game that the Jets should win because they’re the better team on paper and are one of the hottest teams in the league.

“I can tell the truth, this thing is kind of like being dumped by some girl you have the hots for, ” Ryan told reporters in the post-game presser.

Everything Ryan says this week (just as it was when the teams met in November) will be magnified, both locally, certainly in the NY media, and by extension, nationally.

“If you’re thinking down the road, you’re not really enjoying this moment”, Marshall said in the Jets’ locker room.

And on offense, the Bills won’t have tight end Charles Clay, running back LeSean McCoy, wide receiver Robert Woods, right tackle Seantrel Henderson, and maybe not right guard John Miller.

“I think that the belief has been there from Day 1 and it hasn’t wavered”. Quincy (Enunwa) never played.

“It has some extra meaning to me because I was there for four years and the fans were so great to me and my family”, Fitzpatrick said Monday. “Guys fought hard. Beat a good Jets team”. The Bills signed Ryan in the off-season to a five-year contract. That doesn’t mean he has any desire to see them celebrate clinching a playoff berth at Buffalo. I’m no different than the rest of the team.