Bills' Sean McDermott Talks Taking Over Defensive Play Calling: 'We'll See'

After taking a step back from his defensive play-calling duties in the preseason finale win over the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott must decide who'll call the plays versus the New York Jets.

The Buffalo Bills managed to end the preseason on a high note, picking up a 24-21 win over the Chicago Bears in their finale on Saturday ahead of beginning preparations for a long regular season. 

One of the keys to victory, aside from a resurgent performance by the Bills' starters, who bounced back after a rough 27-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers a week ago, was a change in defensive play-calling.

After taking charge of the defense this offseason following the departure of defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Bills coach Sean McDermott served the role of defensive signal-caller for the first two preseason games. 

But following the loss to the Steelers, McDermott wanted to go back to more of a "CEO" approach on the sideline versus the Bears, something that he may even stick with heading into Week 1 

"We'll see," McDermott said about whether he'll call the Bills defense in Week 1. "I thought John did a good job today, and it was good to be able to watch some things and see where it goes."

In McDermott's place, Bills secondary coach and passing game coordinator John Butler called the plays defensively against the Bears. And by all indications, Butler helped Buffalo's defense rebound, as they helped outgain the Bears in total yards, with the Bills netting 382  compared to Chicago's 258. 

But why exactly did McDermott need to hand over the play-calling duties? 

"There's no real detail to go into," McDermott said about his decision to hand over the coordinating duties to Butler. "I wanted to have my eyes available for watching certain things that I wanted to see, and we had talked about during the week."

One can only assume that McDermott was looking for the "juice" and "energy" that quarterback Josh Allen felt and later described to the media after the game about what the difference was this week compared to last offensively. 

McDermott and Co. will hope that the Bills can keep that same energy as they begin preparing for a tough season-opening test versus AFC East rivals, the New York Jets.

---

Thanks for reading our SI-powered coverage of your Buffalo Bills ... Bills Mafia!

You're a member of Bills Mafia hungry for more Buffalo coverage? Read here.