Doug Whaley’s Press Conference A Lot Like Sgt. Schultz

All NFL teams are obligated to hold a season-ending press conference.  From the way Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley conducted his on Monday he sounded as if it was nothing but an obligation.  His answers to questions were short and cryptic and it reminded me a lot of Sgt. Schultz on the old Hogan's Heroes sit-com from years ago.

Whaley failed to clearly answer questions, he often offered up company-line statements and at times claimed ignorance of things going on with the team that he should know.

When Whaley was asked about the firing of coach Rex Ryan he claimed he knew nothing about it before he was informed by the Pegula's that Ryan had been released. He said he knew nothing about the conversation between Ryan and the Pegula's and offered no opinion on the firing of Ryan or his two years as head coach.

Whaley did reveal that Ryan recommended Anthony Lynn as interim coach.  Apparently the recommendation of the guy heading out the door was good enough to make Lynn the acting coach.

Whaley said the search for a new coach will be solely up to him.  He said Russ Brandon will not be a part of that process because of Brandon's expanded responsibilities, but said he had no idea what those responsibilities are.  Huh?

And how about the benching of quarterback Tyrod Taylor?  Last week Anthony Lynn said it was a business decision and he was told that EJ Manuel would be the starter.  But Whaley said Lynn was brought in to discuss the matter.  It sounded like there really wasn't much discussion.

Monday's press conference seemed to create more questions than answers and the fans can't be happy with the direction the team is headed.  With what appears to be a very dysfunctional football operation it's hard to imagine the Bills 17-year playoff drought won't be ending anytime soon.