Sean McDermott spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills and even after being fired ahead of the 2026 campaign, he remains supportive of the organization.
McDermott has had nothing but positive things to say about the franchise and, especially, the fan base. He also believes the team has the right pieces to contend, even with their early struggles on defense.
Buffalo enters a Week 5 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, 30th in the NFL in passing yards surrendered. Fans have been frustrated by the performance as the secondary has allowed far too many big plays.
In Week 4, Drake Maye and the New England Patriots abused Bills' cornerback Maxwell Hairston with Romeo Doubs catching two touchdowns on the 2025 first-round pick.
McDermott, however, believes things will improve.
While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, McDermott said the Bills are a Josh Allen-led team and praised the offense. Defensively, he says they have had some good moments, adding that communication issues have been a problem. He also expressed confidence that Buffalo will get that cleaned up as they get more experience in Jim Leonhard’s defense.
“Defensively, they've had some good moments, and they've had some moments I'm sure that they want back. And that's natural. I would say that, you know, just I'm super proud of watching Deone Walker and Greg Rousseau in the years that they're off to. At this point in the season. And I expect both great things to continue for both of those players,” McDermott said.
“And, you know, it just takes some time once in a while to get some things connected the way you want it to get connected, the way it needs to get connected, and then the communication between the back seven and the front and the front and the back seven. And that's imperative that they get that, they continue to get that ironed out. I'm sure they will.”
Leonhard is a first-year coordinator and had some big shoes to fill in taking over a defense that had been led by McDermott for nearly a decade. It was also a lot of pressure on first-year head coach Joe Brady, who replaced the man with the second-most wins in franchise history.
Sean McDermott praised two defensive studs
It was nice to hear McDermott praise both Greg Rousseau and Deone Walker. Both players were added during McDermott’s tenure and have flourished under Leonhard.
Rousseau has developed into an early Defensive Player of the Year candidate while Walker has become one of the more disruptive defensive linemen in the game.
If the Bills do get their communication figured out, and these two keep playing at such a high level, they could be a real problem for every team they face.
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