Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus fully expects the Buffalo Bills, who have lost two consecutive games and five of their past seven, to hand the winless Cleveland Browns their 14th loss of the season Sunday.
"That's just a guarantee," Dareus told Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News on Wednesday. "We ain't gonna be that team. We're not going to be the team that busts [the Browns' losing streak] on them, no. Nobody in the league wants that to happen [to them], no."
Other players agreed.
"We can't let that happen," wide receiver Sammy Watkins said. "It'd look bad on everybody. Not just [Coach] Rex [Ryan], but the organization, the players. We gotta go out there with the mentality that we're going to try to blow this team out. Our effort has to be there."
"When a team loses almost every game, it comes that question: 'Well, who will be the team that they try to beat?' You know, you never want to be that team, so I don't know how it feels to be in that situation as far as losing every game, but I'm sure they're anxious to win. We don't want to be the team that gives them their first official win, so that's just the mindset," running back LeSean McCoy added.
Veteran Browns left tackle Joe Thomas heard about Dareus' guarantee from Cleveland media outlets. Thomas joked he was furious, according to a report from Cleveland.com.
"I hate that guy. I'm going to kill him," Thomas said, laughing. "That's great. The mindset we're going to have is just the same way. We're going to make them the team we break the streak on so I think that's, as a football player, our competitive nature. That's the way we train ourselves to think every single week because you want to go in on that Sunday expecting to win."
Orlando not cutting it
Darius Slay wanted to go to the Pro Bowl last year. The Detroit Lions cornerback felt he had played well enough to be invited and was excited about the opportunity.
Then, he was snubbed.
This time around, with the announcement of Pro Bowl rosters coming up in less than a week, Slay isn't as worried about it. He doesn't think it's a big deal at all.
The reason why he isn't worried may be the most interesting part.
"As long as my teammates really see me as a Pro Bowl player, I ain't really worried because I feel it's a politic thing anyway," Slay told ESPN staff writer Michael Rothstein. "But, I'm mad. Is the Pro Bowl even in Hawaii no more? It's really pointless. That's what I really wanted to do.
"That's why I wanted to go. I'd rather just get the All-Pro status and don't go [to the] Pro Bowl. Because I just really wanted to go to Hawaii, really wanted to just to go to Hawaii for the free."
The Pro Bowl will be played in Orlando, Fla., starting in 2017.
Slay, 25, is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL and is Detroit's top corner. He signed a four-year, $50.2 million extension before training camp this year. As part of the deal, he has escalators in his contract for Pro Bowl selections, although that does not start until the 2017 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
As of the last release of fan voting for the Pro Bowl, Slay was not among the top-five players at his position.
Sports quiz
Where did Darius Slay play college football?
Answer
Slay played at Mississippi State, where he was a second-team All-SEC selection as a senior in 2012.
Sports on 12/16/2016