In 2015, when the Bills missed the playoffs in Rex Ryan's first season, team owner Terry Pegula felt inclined to issue an emphatic statement in support of his coach.
There will be no such vote of confidence as the franchise nears a 17th consecutive year without a postseason berth and with a coaching change reportedly imminent. Addressing the rumors of Ryan's job security for the first time, Bills general manager Doug Whaley said little to indicate the coach would return in 2017.
"Let's put it this way: None of us know our future," Whaley told WGR 550 in a Friday interview, via ESPN.com. "Look where we are. We owe it to our fans and our owners to keep it focused on Miami, because we're still in this."
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It was first reported two weeks ago by CBS Sports that Ryan would not be retained for a third season, and a Week 15 win over the lowly Browns did little to quell that speculation.
Whaley, whose job reportedly is safe, has been under duress in the weeks since for failing to speak to local media about the Bills' tenuous situation. WGR 550 counts a number of team-sanctioned talk shows among its programming, and Whaley had yet to be asked about the coaching rumors during his weekly appearances.
The CBS Sports report indicated Ryan's deteriorated relationship with Whaley is a contributing reason for the internal decision to hire another coach.
Whaley called the rumors "totally ridiculous."
"First of all, it's constant communication," he said of his relationship with Ryan. "During the year, I know he's always busy, so I'll wait for him to come into my office. Now in the offseason, I kind of take the lead role, so I'll go into his office. But it's constant, and it's one of those things that I have the 53, he has the game day 46.
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"We've been around each other long enough, everybody has catch phrases in football, and I've learned his catch phrases and I've started using some of them, and he's learned mine and he actually implements some of mine into his vocabulary. Any stuff to the contrary or that we're at odds with each other that's totally ridiculous."
At 7-7, Buffalo remains mathematically alive in the AFC playoff race heading into Saturday's home game against the Dolphins, but FiveThirtyEight gives the Bills a 1 percent chance to make the postseason.
