London (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills have completed their journey across the pond to London, England, where they will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
While this is the second time the Bills have traveled to England to play a game internationally, this is the first time this group of players and coaches have headed overseas.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott says the team took no chances, in terms of planning, when heading to London.
"We've got to be able to trust our staff. They're the experts in this area in particular," said McDermott with WGR's own Sal Capaccio while in London on Friday. "So along with Joe Collins - who I mentioned earlier in the week, being from London - doing a lot of research on the soccer league out here and so on and so forth, it's been well-researched and detailed."
Along with the extensive planning for travel, the team needed to game plan for their opponent as well.
Through the first four weeks of the 2023 season, Bills quarterback Josh Allen has registered the best completion percentage in the NFL, completing 74.8% of his pass attempts. McDermott says Allen has been very disciplined, to this point of the year.
"It starts with self-awareness," he said of his quarterback. "You mentioned self-correcting, but you've got to be self-aware first in order to correct what you need to get corrected, and adjust what you need to adjust. I think he's been disciplined, and that needs to continue."
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills suffered a major loss of cornerback Tre'Davious White, who will miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles suffered this past Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
While the injury to White will be a significance absence in the Buffalo secondary, McDermott feels this could be a great opportunity for players like Kaiir Elam and Dane Jackson to step up.
"Well everyone gets an opportunity at some point in time, and this is what we've talked about when Kaiir was not active," McDermott said of Elam. "It was, 'Hey, make sure you're ready.' This potentially could be an opportunity for him to show and showcase what he has"
As for Jackson, McDermott calls the former 2020 seventh-round pick an "against all odds"-type of person.
"DNA, chip on the shoulder, however you want to say it, underdog mentality. He just continues to work and continues to believe in himself and be a team player at the same time, which takes an unselfish character trait. That's important on good teams," McDermott said.
Related
Hear more from McDermott's appearance during the "Extra Point Show" available in the player below:
