Bills Defense Not Happy with Rex Ryan’s Schemes, Coach Says he is not ‘perfect as a play caller’

Rex Ryan, who is known for his defensive schemes, is not living up to the standard in Buffalo and now some of the Bills' highest paid defensive players are questioning his decisions.

"Hey, like [Mario Williams] said, they pay us a lot of money," defensive lineman Marcell Dareus said to Yahoo! Sports at a Play 60 NFL promotional event. "And we want to use our talents the best way we know how. If we're going to be dropping we don't want to get questions about not getting sacks. That's just how it is."

Dareus added, "We want to make some plays. We don't want fans looking at us crazy. We like making plays. We like getting sacks, just being out there exerting a lot of energy and having fun. But when we're dropping, when I'm not out there on third down or just I'm dropping or Kyle [Williams] is dropping or Mario is dropping or Jerry [Hughes] is dropping.... It's not been a lot of times where there have been all four of us, full tilt, ears pined back and we're going after it. We haven't had a lot of that this year. Hopefully Rex is going to implement it. There's nothing we can do."

Dareus and Williams's deals are worth around $100 million each. Dareus' concerns about how they are being used were echoed by former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.

"Dropping Mario Williams into coverage a lot?" said Kelly. "Didn't we pay him a lot of money to hit the quarterback? And if I'm the opposing quarterback and I see him dropping into coverage, oh that's a big plus. I'd definitely have a smile on my face."

The Bills only have nine sacks this season after leading the league last year with 54 sacks.

Ryan addressed the defensive linemen's criticisms Wednesday in London where they will be playing the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"I would say that I probably agree with them," Ryan said. "When you look at it, should we rush more this past week in particular? That's probably true. I'm not perfect as a play caller and all that. And I know that surprises you guys. But I try to do the best. If I'm going to make a mistake, it's something that I feel strongly about but if it doesn't work out at the end of the day, then that happens."

Despite the criticism, Ryan remained optimistic overall about his team, who are 3-3.

"I know where it's going to end up. I'd be willing to bet anyone that wants to bet," Ryan said.

Aside from the play calls, Ryan has also had to deal with several injuries. Starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor is out with a sprained ligament in his left knee, defensive Kyle Williams is dealing with a "significant" injury to his left knee and receiver Percy Harvin is out due to a "personal issue"

''We've had a ton of injuries, just a bunch of them, that's kind of offset us a little bit,'' Ryan said. ''Right now we got to make do with where we're at. Did we want to have a better record? Absolutely we did. But we've earned the 3-3 record.''

The Bills will play the Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium at 9:30 a.m.