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who does Doug Whaley answer to. evidently, it's not Bills fans. jw if that's the company line we heard on Monday, then i'm not sure what it is. jw

i will say this, and i missed this with my initial response. Russ is more of a backer of Whaley than he ever would have been of Rex. jw

was just having this conversation via text with someone. perfectly agree. jw

the only thing i'm missing is accountability on Whaley's part. at the very least, I'll credit Tim Murray for being upfront and open in discussing his team and his decisions. jw

they aren't meddling. can tell you that from what i know. but they do take great interest in their two teams, which is good. and i fully believe Terry when he said he made "an executive decision" to fire Rex, because that's likely what was going to happen. the trouble to me is a failure to assess the job the GM has done. jw

these are all fair observations. my fear is we'll be experiencing angst in 12 months once again. jw ALSO NOTE: not that anyone's done this, but don't PM because I think that things nearly full.

he comes from a steelers organization where i couldn't name the GM without doing a google search, and where continuity and coaching stability have been the rule. and yet, there's this overwhelming sense that the script should be flipped here in Buffalo. have a hissy fit all you want that Hue Jackson wasn't hired. be a team player and respect the owner's decision -- not just when it agrees with yours. jw

i agree with most of this, except the outcome. Whaley's failure to be a team player and put his agenda ahead of what's best for the franchise is not what i want from a "loyal" employee. the trouble here is this is how the franchise operated in filling the power vacuums left open with Tom Donahoe's dismissal. everyone was scrambling to find the new position and grab hold of what was left while leaving the franchise in the lurch. and that's why i refer to this offseason as being the most dysfunctional since post-2005. this will not be received well, but i credit Russ Brandon for doing just that when he stepped down as GM and hiring Buddy Nix. jw

i raised the question of continuity on several occasions before Whaley's news conference, including once or twice in a few stories i wrote. so, when the chance presented itself, i was the one who raised the issue over continuity with Whaley. and yes, i did so with a straight face. sorry for spoiling your narrative. you seemed to be on a good roll there. jw

and sorry, i have no new insight on the state of the coaching search. i've been stuck in front of this computer all day dealing with my bills wrapup and a few features from the Centennial Classic over the weekend. I pitched to go to Toronto in November fully not expecting a coaching change to happen. guess i misjudged the franchise. and for those wondering, i was on board with two options: keeping Rex, Doug and Tyrod not keeping Rex, Doug and Tyrod. jw couldn't tell you. i texted Terry and Kim within 10 minutes of the news conference being over fully not expecting a response. jw

bah. but thanks. jw

since my name happens to be on this one, i'll chime in. i did ask the first question to Whaley in regards to the team seeming to be in a state of dysfunction. it's clear Whaley either wasn't prepared to provide answers or was busy sticking to a script or was merely not interested in providing anything of merit to the discussion that he helped prompt with his lengthy silence. it wasn't a good look.and it didn't sound any better. i'm well aware some Bills executives were not happy with how that went down with Whaley saying he's speaking for ownership and then making everyone in the operation look bad. that it took the Bills to resort to getting Terry and Kim to explain a thing or five does not reflect well on Whaley. he was supposed to help by start putting out the fire, not add more kindling to it. it became imperative for the owners to speak. and i know a lot of people are glad they finally did. whether i was "used" or not, i can't judge that. all i know is that i sent a text to both Terry and Kim and Terry responded within 15 minutes. the fact is, some clarity was required, and finally provided. jw

Wait. ... wait. What ... what? I'm ... i'm Having ... having Trouble ... trouble With ... with This ... this Echo ... echo. as for the last part, the answer's clearly never. jw yeah, dug-gummit! jw

For what it's worth, that news conference wasn't the media's finest moment. We have off days, too. For what it's worth, also, those painting their criticisms of the media with a wide-sweeping brush are wrong. jw

Unknown yet as if any Patriots were fined as the only way to find out is if players reveal it, as Blanton, Robey-Coleman and Aaron Williams did today. The NFL doesn't disclose what players it has fined until Friday, and only if asked about specific players. The AP has submitted a list to the NFL asking about the three Bills as well as Brissett, Mitchell and Pats coach O'Shea. jw

i don't know if it was optimism as opposed to realism based on what philosophies the Bills are operating with under the Pegulas. now, things might change based on results, and this is not a great start to Rex's second season. however, this win-or-else talk is just that: talk. jw The more teams try to control the media, the more leaks that happen. and this isn't just the bills. it's every where, with sports teams across the gamut trying to bang home the company message with their own "journalists." that said, i had the best access to folks under Dick Jauron's regime for some strange reason. jw

and crickets. typical jw

It's easy to buy the Pegulas are meddlesome narrative because that's so easy to believe. And yet, even when Terry comes out and openly says Rex has oversight over team and staff, it barely moves the meter. And I mean barely. I don't know if I'm more disappointed in the "media" for being lazy, or disappointed in some Bills fans for accepting lazy journalism. Not one "national" reporter reached out to the Pegulas for a comment on "the Pegulas fired Roman" story. Not one. And even Rappaport's story was incredulous given his leap of logic, as in: "Sources tell me Pegulas met with players behind closed doors, without Rex so I must assume he wasn't involved on the decision." That's just plane irresponsible journalism. And yet, it is adopted as being written-in-stone-cold-hard-fact. Shameful. jw

might -- stress, might -- have more details today so long as nothing else happens at 1 Bills Drive to sidetrack plans. jw

one of these days you'll have an answer, and it'll still be wrong, but, hey, it'll be an answer. and i'll respect that answer just as much as i'll respect Colin Kaepernick's decision. not that you'll ever get it, but spare me the details, given that you have all the wrong answers. i'd agree to disagree. but let's face it, if i agreed with you we'd both be wrong. jw

i did. i'm just finishing my drink. jw

this ^ jw

i swear. i'm laughing at the corner WEO has painted himself in. jw Thanks for punting, Mr. Jauron. jw

love these trick questions. let's cut to the chase and have you provide me the answer that best reflects your pov. jw

shrug. if you say so. you seem to have all the answers, so deal with this francis. jw