Cameron Wake – October 19, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Defensive End Cameron Wake Conference Call with Buffalo Media
(How do you like how the defense responded as a unit against a very good offensive Pittsburgh Steelers team last weekend?) – “I think we did alright. For a while, I’ve been preaching that as a unit – not just a defense, speaking as a team – we’ve got to come out and play complementary football. The offense does their job and helps out the defense. The defense does their job and helps out the offense. The same is true for defense – front end, back end, side to side – everybody has to play complementary. I think we did a decent job of that.”
(We read the reports coming out of Miami last week that [Head Coach] Adam [Gase] really may have tried to kick you guys in the pants in some ways by saying you have to play better. Did people make too much of that? Or did you guys maybe respond to what Adam said?) – “To be honest, we’ve needed to play better for about four weeks. It’s not something that is any different. Obviously he is a guy who is good at motivating the team. He’s got practice set up so that we’re put in tough situations and making sure that we try to simulate the things that we’re going to be seeing in a real-world game situation. Needing to play better, is there more made of it by guys on the outside? I think that’s just a general rule in football. We have to take care of the business that we take care of in this building and I think when we do that, we’ll be alright.”
(What have you seen from Mario [Williams] since he has joined the team?) – “(He’s a) hell of a guy, great football player, great teammate, and I’m glad that he is on our side.”
(What have you seen from the Bills running game so far this year, especially the last couple weeks) – “It’s something they’re doing well. It’s a situation, of course, where on our side, we’re focusing more on getting our job done. It doesn’t matter who you put back there or who you are playing, if guys are doing their job and in the places where they’re supposed to be, I think most of the things will take care of themselves. It’s just another week where you have to focus on your job at hand and I think the rest of the stuff will take care of itself.”
(When you look at what [the Bills] are doing with that run game, a lot of power runs and LeSean McCoy running as well as he has in his career, does it seem like a daunting task for a defense that obviously has had issues against the run) – “It’s a daunting task to play football in the NFL. No matter which team you’re playing, which week you’re playing, you’re going to be playing against the best of the best, the best to do it ever, the best in the world, so on and so on and so on. We did it last week and we’re going to do it next week and the week after. That’s just what happens when you play in this league. Any week where you’re not playing up to the best of your abilities, teams are going to find that missing link or find somebody out of their gap or find somebody not doing it right and take advantage of that. It’s no different this week, next week and for the next 10 weeks of the year. Daunting? It’s always daunting. Every week.”
(Is LeSean McCoy a different kind of back – unique – where maybe you have to approach him differently when he comes into a hole, because he’s so shifty and has such great vision, like maybe even slow-play him a little bit, whereas maybe other guys you can be a little more aggressive with, otherwise you might miss?) – “What do you think? How would you play him? (laughter)”
(Probably that way. I don’t want to tackle him. You have to do it.) – “You have to play your game. Be aggressive. Again, (LeSean McCoy is) a great running back. We played great running backs before. There will be more great running backs to play. There will be great receivers. There will be great quarterbacks. If every week you’re playing to them, then you’ve already lost. So, it is another week. Like I said, we’re going to go out there and do our job. When we do that, it doesn’t matter who’s the running back.”
(Are you surprised that Mario Williams got so few snaps last week?) – “I wasn’t surprised or unsurprised. I don’t really count snaps. I don’t even know how many snaps he played or not.”
(Mario Williams played 13 (snaps). It’s kind of small for a guy that got such a big contract.) – “Really?”
(I’m just wondering … You mention him being such a great teammate, a big part of the addition this offseason, I thought maybe you might have noticed that he wasn’t on the field that much.) – “No, I was worrying about the great football players I was playing against when the ball was being snapped.”
(Some people here questioned Mario [Williams’] effort, including his teammates. What have you noticed from him in that department?) – “I haven’t had any issues or noticed anything of that nature. Like I said earlier, he has been a great football player, great teammate, great guy. We’re semi-locker mates. We have great conversations, long walks on the beach – all that fun stuff.” (laughter)
(Have you noticed anything different? Is [Mario Williams] extra excited or nervous for the Buffalo game?) – “You have his number?” (laughter)
(No, I was asking you. You’re locker mates.) – “You want to call him (and) ask about what he’s got going on? (laughter) Honestly, I’m worrying about the quarterback, the running back, what plays they’re playing, how they’re playing, the tackles. I’m not a psychologist worrying about other guys and how they feel and what they’re doing. I couldn’t care less about of that business, because it doesn’t help me on Sundays. That’s really all I’m concerned about. If you all want to ask him when his birthday (is) or his astrological sign, maybe you guys should call him and find out about that. It’s not really (any) of my concern, and this is really a pointless conversation as far as football is concerned.”
(What do you make of the Bills offensive line, speaking of what you have to face, and how they seem to be working as a unit coming back in tact after last season?) – “The guys play well together. That’s something I think that – being a guy who has played against not this exact unit, but played against the Bills – that’s something they’ve been good at for a few years. Again, that’s another situation where we as a front, we’ve got to do the same thing. We’ve got to match as far as any kind of schemes or whatever they got put together. We’ve got to go out there and put it on the line. That’s the nature of the beast. If they’re going to be running the ball, you’ve got to be out there and play physical and play hardcore and see if they’ll be able to match our intensity.”
