Bills' Sean McDermott, on What Makes Patriots so Tough: Everything

The fifth-year coach explains how Buffalo's chief AFC East rival has ascended back to the top of the standings.

It's not just the New England Patriots' top-ranked defense, which has surpassed the Bills as the stingiest unit in the NFL.

It's not just their head coach, Bill Belichick, who is running out of fingers on which to wear his Super Bowl rings.

It's not just a quarterback (Mac Jones) who is running further out ahead in the race for NFL Rookie of the Year than Secretariat did at the Belmont Stakes.

What makes the Patriots, who next invade Orchard Park on Monday Night Football, so tough is ... everything, according to Bills coach Sean McDermott.

"They're a good football team and they're doing it the right way," McDermott raved before Thursday afternoon's practice. "They're playing complementary football, they've got one of the best coaches, if not the best, who ever coached the game. They've got a great young quarterback, playing really well on defense. Special teams as well. So they're where they're at for a reason."

Pressed for more details, McDermott continued to paint with broad but revealing strokes that essentially were made to challenge his team, which he has admitted has not been as tough as he'd like at times this season.

"They're physical," McDermott said. "I think that's a big part of it. So they're moving people off the line of scrimmage, they're beating people up by how they play and they're winning that line-of-scrimmage battle.

"So then that opens up the passing game down the field for the quarterback. So they've got a real good thing going."

Despite losing start cornerback Tre'Davious White for the season, the Bills should be in better shape than they've been in any time over the past month to stand up to those bullies.

Guard Jon Feliciano's practice window has opened as he moves closer to coming off the injured reserve list. Right tackle Spencer Brown is off the Reserve/COVID-19 list, as is defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who has missed the last three games.

McDermott wouldn't say whether any would be ready to jump back into game action by Monday night, but that's only because that's not required and the next opponent is the team they have to beat to defend their AFC East title. A reasonable expectation is that all three will start and finish.

The only guarantee McDermott made was that White's replacement, Dane Jackson, will be tested.

"That's just the reality of the situation," said McDermott, who added that the challenge isn't just Jackson's.

"It's everyone's to raise our game to another level," he said. "That's what we have to do as a team."

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.