Sammy Watkins blasts ‘culture’ in Buffalo

To hear Sammy Watkins tell it, firing Rex Ryan won’t be enough to turn around the fortunes of a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999.

“It’s the culture. That’s something we gotta change,” the Bills wide receiver said Thursday. “We gotta think like the fans, be all in.”

That’s a refreshing take in an age when multimillionaire athletes don’t seem to care about winning and losing as much as the fans.

Watkins pointed out that he didn’t do much losing at Clemson. In his three years there, the Tigers lost eight games. The Bills have lost eight games in each of the last two seasons.

Things got real with #Bills WR Sammy Watkins today on the state of the team and what they need. Worth a listen by all fans. pic.twitter.com/FL7waXY3FD

— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) December 29, 2016

Watkins suggested that the Bills don’t need a players’ coach but rather a coach who can whip him and his teammates into shape. He called for more accountability for shortcomings and mistakes on and off the field.

“I think just being professional. As players we gotta fix that first,” Watkins said. “Then the coaches gotta be hard on us, not scared of us.”

Watkins has played in just seven games this season because of injuries, but he caught a season-high seven passes for 154 yards and a touchdown in the Bills’ 34-31 overtime loss to Miami on Saturday. That loss ensured the Bills’ 17th straight non-playoff season, the NFL’s longest active postseason drought.

Watkins did all he could to keep the Bills’ playoff hopes alive, and it sounds like he wishes more of his teammates would, too.