Bills interim head coach Anthony Lynn says he and Rex Ryan were ‘raised by different mamas’

After firing Rex Ryan, the Buffalo Bills named offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn the interim head coach for Week 17. On Wednesday, Lynn addressed the media and explained a key difference between Ryan and himself.

Ryan was fired by the Bills Tuesday, and Lynn said that although he considers Rex a friend, he understands that moving on from him was a business decision.

“Him being my head coach and friend, I wanted him to get more time,” Lynns said. “But this is a business. As much as I like to think football is a relationship business, there is a business side of it, and ownership made that decision and there’s nothing we can do about that now but move forward.”

Shortly after announcing that Ryan had been relieved of his responsibilities with the Bills, the team announced that EJ Manuel would replace Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback in Week 17.

Lynn discussed that during that press conference, but he initially misspoke.

“Cardale Jones right now,” Lynn said about the starting quarterback for Sunday. “I mean — I’m sorry. Not Cardale, but EJ Manuel.”

Lynn did also say that the team wants to see what it has to work with at quarterback. He wasn’t certain Jones would be active for Sunday’s game, but it is a possibility.

“We want to look at the depth of our quarterback position, and we’re out of the playoffs, so we want to see what these other two guys can do,” Lynn said.

Lynn called the decision to bench Taylor and start Manuel “our decision,” but also said he was not in the room when the decision was made.

According to Lynn, Taylor was disappointed by the decision to bench him and start Manuel, but Taylor understands.

As the Bills look toward the future, Lynn said he’s just focused on beating the Jets this week. That’s the task at hand, and since he’s still serving as offensive coordinator, too, he has to game plan and get the team prepared for the final game of the season.

Still, this week may be an audition for the permanent head coaching job, and Lynn would like to be “the guy” in Buffalo next season and beyond.

“I want to go out and play well, absolutely, and I want to be the guy here, make no mistake about it,” Lynn said. “So yes, I want to get this team ready to go and go out and play well.”

Lynn began the season as the Bills’ running backs coach and an assistant head coach to Rex Ryan. When the team decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Greg Roman following a 37-31 loss to the Jets in Week 2, Lynn was promoted to fill the vacancy.

Under Lynn’s leadership, the Bills offense has been productive. The Bills rank 12th in the NFL in total offense with 362.4 yards per game. Buffalo has a league-best rushing attack, averaging 170.8 yards per game, and they rank seventh in the NFL in scoring, averaging 25.9 points per game.