The Bills entered the 2023 NFL season expecting to be one of the best teams in the NFL. However, at the season's midpoint, they found themselves as an underachieving squad in a tightly packed AFC.
Buffalo posted a 5-4 record over the first nine weeks of the season, including a 24-18 loss to the Bengals in Week 9. That matchup was supposed to be a good barometer for the Bills to see how they stacked up against other AFC contenders after the injuries they suffered to key defensive players like Tre'Davious White and Matt Milano.
Obviously, they came up short. As a result, they are currently on the outside looking in for a playoff spot and will have little margin for error as they draw nearer to a brutal, four-game stretch against the Jets, Eagles, Chiefs and Cowboys.
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Of course, the Bills' season is far from over. They are still within striking distance of the AFC East-leading Dolphins and they have one of the NFL's most talented quarterbacks in Josh Allen.
Even so, veteran running back Latavius Murray decided before the team's Week 10 game against the Broncos that it was time for the Bills to get on the same page. So, the 33-year-old veteran called a players-only meeting with the offense and had one goal in mind: getting back on track amid a tough, 2-3 stretch.
Here's what to know about the Bills' players-only meeting, in their own words.
Bills players-only meeting, explained
Murray was open about the reasons that he called a players-only meeting with members of the Bills offense when asked about it by reporters. He explained that he initiated the gathering to establish a plan to change the energy around the team's offense and instill confidence in it.
"We've had a few games like that," Murray said when discussing the Bengals game. "But just coming off a game like that, I just feel like we can play and beat anybody. A lot of times — it's getting redundant — but it's us beating ourselves."
So how can we avoid that? Again, what can we do possibly different during the week, whatever ... how can we find something that's different amongst us so that we get a different result?
Murray believes that his message — which stressed the importance of communication — got through.
"Those guys know I'm coming from a sincere place of us just trying to communicate, trying to figure out what we can do to be better, what we can control as players," Murray said.
I asked Latavius Murray why he felt it was the right time to have a 'players-only' offensive meeting.
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) November 9, 2023
"We can play and beat anybody. A lot of times, It's getting redundant but it's us beating ourselves. So how can we avoid that?"#BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus pic.twitter.com/oTxQ0Ko4dy
Meanwhile, Murray's teammates spoke well of the elder statesman's initiative in organizing the meeting.
"He does a really good job of just making sure that we don't lose ourselves within the process," wide receiver Khalil Shakir said of Murray Thursday after the meeting took place.
"I don't think nobody's forgetting what we have on this team or capable of doing," he added. "It's more just that extra push from hearing it from a vet like him."
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Receiver Trent Sherfield echoed Shakir's sentiment while praising the issues his teammates brought to the table.
"Latavius, he touched on some great things," Sherfield said. "And everybody — it was open dialogue. Everybody had something to say as far as what can we do better."
"The meeting wasn't called because the building is burning down or we're panicking or anything like that," he added. "The meeting was called because we know what type of talent we have in that room, and obviously, we haven't really been holding up to those expectations."
So, certainly, it sounds like the Bills believe they can get back on track.
But if their offensive struggles continue, that may expose any festering rot creating issues for that unit.
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