ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the Buffalo Bills' 21-13 win over the Green Bay Packers:
Marrone not thinking about future: With the Bills improving to eight wins for the first time since 2004, the case is growing stronger for Doug Marrone to remain as the head coach next season. Marrone, as one might expect, wasn't willing to talk about his job security. "I never even think like that," he said. "I just try to win each game. It's my job. It's an opportunity, and I really don't do it for me. ... The coaches, the fans, the region: When we win, I'm happy for them, and when we lose, I feel like I let them down. That's just the bottom line."
Players support Marrone: Bills players were quick to praise Marrone after the game. "He's a great motivator. I don't think people know that about him," running back Anthony Dixon said. "He knows how to get us going. He don't got the best personality, but he just grinds it. He works hard, and he makes sure we work hard and we're accountable. We love him for that. ... He has our support 100 percent. Because at the end of the day, he makes us better. He makes us realize what we need to be doing, what we need to focus on. We all need that in our lives. We all need that seriousness to be able to go far with this thing. To win a championship you need to have a leader with some fight and some fire inside of him, and that's what he is."
Running back Fred Jackson echoed the thoughts. "It was a quality win against a quality opponent," Jackson said. "[Marrone] got us prepared to do so. That's all you can ask for a coach. We love playing for him. We'll continue to fight for him."
Defense riding high: The Bills held Aaron Rodgers to the lowest quarterback rating (34.3) of his career, something that even caught Bills players by surprise. As I mentioned that stat to one player in an interview, another defender an adjacent locker turned his head in surprise and asked, "Really? Wow."
