Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said after head coach Dick Jauron was fired that he thinks he and his teammates — not the coach — deserve the blame for the team’s 3-6 record.
“I feel like we let him down a little bit,” Stroud said on Sirius XM radio, per Sean Leahy of USA Today, “as far as us not being able to produce and do the things we should have done to help the coach keep his job.”
Of course, when a team is in the middle of a disappointing season, it’s a lot easier to replace the coach than to replace the players. And Stroud, who has started all nine games for the Bills this year, stopped short of saying replacing the coach was the wrong move on the part of Bills owner Ralph Wilson.
“Mr. Wilson is the guy who pays the bills around here,” Stroud said. “Any time he wants a change, you have to adhere to that.”
Marv Levy, the coach who led the Bills to four Super Bowls and later hired Jauron during his stint as the team’s general manager, told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle he was surprised that Wilson made the move.
“Well, I’m saddened and a little bit stunned honestly,” Levy said. “I saw the furor that was stirring around the team but I’m still a little bit surprised it took place at this juncture.”
Jauron has not commented publicly. When reached on the phone by the Associated Press, he said, “I really don’t have anything to say.”