Sammy Watkins to Bills: 'You're making me look bad
'Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins sits on the bench with a towel on his head in the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) ORG XMIT: TNGH1
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By: Chris Chase | October 16, 2015 11:32 am
Pot and kettle, let me introduce you to Sammy Watkins, the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft who is a virtual non-entity on the Buffalo Bills offense this year. Watkins is upset with the Bills for “making me look bad” and told the Buffalo News about it (all quotes via the newspaper):
“I need the ball at least 10 times — I need 10 targets — and l’ll be fine with however many yards I get. And that’s what I addressed in talking with my agent. We reached out to a couple people and tried to pull some string like, ‘Hey, I need my targets. You came up to draft me and I’m not getting targets — that’s a problem.’
“‘You’re making me look bad, and you’re making yourself look bad. Why not make both of us look good?'”
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Oh, Samuel, I don’t think you need to worry about the Bills making you look bad; I think you’re doing a fine job of that yourself.
Watkins has seven catches for 99 yards this season. He has the worst catch percentage (catches/targets) on the team, has noticeably worse numbers than Percy Harvin and, oh yeah, he hasn’t played this month because of a recurring calf injury. That’s right: Watkins is complaining about targets he can’t get because he’s not healthy enough to be on the field! That’s like complaining about to your professor about your grade when you haven’t been to class in weeks. It’s a simple concept: You must be on the field to see targets, Sammy.
But that didn’t stop Mr. Watkins, who apparently feels like Rudolph not being allowed to play in any reindeer games. He went to his agent — HIS AGENT! — to whine about this and they tried to “pull some strings.” How? To who? What does this involve? Is that even a thing? I mean, I know Rex Ryan is lax with his attention to offense, but I don’t think that means even he’ll allow the guy taking 10% to come in to tell Greg Roman which plays to call. Though, again, even if he did, WATKINS STILL ISN’T ON THE FIELD ANYWAY.
(AP)
(AP)
Before his injury, Watkins was tied for the most targets on the team. But he wants more. (Someone get his agent on the line.)
“For a guy you go up in the draft to take as your No. 1 receiver, you would love those 15 targets that Julio [Jones] gets, those 20 targets that Odell [Beckham Jr.] gets. Of course I’d have 100 yards every game and a TD, if I’m getting 20 targets.”
Right, and if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a tricycle. What’s your point? Heck, even the flawed point is absurd. “Julio” has been targeted 20 times just once this season. His other totals: 11, 15, 6, 10, 10. “Odell” has 8, 12, 9, 12, 11. Again, Watkins was averaging about six before an injury rendered him unable to step on the field. I’m sorry for yelling via italics, but I just can’t stress enough how dumb it it for a guy who can’t find the field to whine about targets he can’t get. Why don’t you see if you can pull some strings with a doctor to get a better hamstring.
(AP)
(AP)
“Everybody looks at you getting zero catches, zero yards, but when you look on film, 90 percent of the time you’re open. I understand that these guys are young and they need some time to trust me. Once we get that trust, it’ll be different.”
No. You’re open 100% of the time because you’ve been standing on the sideline in street clothes. And you know who’s young? YOU. You’re 22 years old, the youngest member of the Bills’ offense. The “young” guys who need to trust you are 26 (Tyrod Taylor), 43 (offensive coordinator Greg Roman) and 52 (Rex Ryan). How about you give them a reason to trust you rather than vice-versa because, frankly, other than some cool sideline catches, you haven’t. In your team’s biggest win (over Indianapolis to start the year) you had three targets and no catches. Your biggest numbers were put up in garbage time against the Patriots. And, once again, you haven’t played since Sept. 27.You cannot trust what you cannot see. And then there’s this not-too-minor point: The Bills are 3-2 with you contributing basically nothing.
(AP)
(AP)
Sammy Watkins should be a fine receiver in the NFL. He has plenty working against him (his quarterback being a safety-first Tyrod Taylor is No. 2, that injury is No. 1) but complaining in the press isn’t the way this is going to happen. It’s alienating. It’s entitled. It’s just bad form. This isn’t the way Watkins becomes the star he knows he can be or thinks he already is.
“That’s what I get mad at: when I don’t get looked at. I can look at film, and his eyes go straight that way and I’m not getting looked at, at all. That’s when I get frustrated. When I have one-on-one coverage, go to me. I don’t care what’s going on over there. I don’t care if he’s open. When I get one-on-one, just target me.”
Let’s translate this: Forget about the good of the team. Feed my ego when I’m one-on-one because I think I’ll win. That’s more important than hitting an open receiver. Oh, Watkins says this isn’t the case. He says it’s about the betterment of the team and, in a way, it is. The Buffalo Bills will be a better team if Sammy Watkins is involved in the offense, taking away attention from secondary receivers and using his big-play ability to turn around games. But, reading his quotes, it’s clear he’s most interested in the betterment of Sammy Watkins.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/10/sammy-watkins-buffalo-bills-making-me-look-stats-draft-injury
