Buffalo Bills: Leadership shown with benching of LeSean McCoy

Buffalo Bills fans noticed that LeSean McCoy didn’t start in Week 16. The reasoning behind the move shows Sean McDermott’s leadership.

LeSean McCoy did not have the greatest of years in 2018.

That is reflected clearly when seeing the Buffalo Bills were led in rushing by rookie quarterback Josh Allen.

Yet it never reached the point where McCoy was held out of a game due to poor play.

A benching did come at the start of the Week 16 matchup against the New England Patriots, which seemed odd at the time. No news about why it happened were revealed until earlier this week, when McCoy appeared on “First Take.”

A Yahoo Sports article shared what McCoy had to say:

"“The honest truth about that is I was late for going to the bus to the game,” McCoy told co-host Max Kellerman, who asked the question. (McCoy’s answer comes at the 1:30 mark of this video.)“One thing about McDermott: He’s fair,” McCoy added. “I’m a captain, and he held me (to) full responsibility for it.”"

I like this move by Sean McDermott. He didn’t concede anything to one of his captains and made it clear that no one player is bigger than the team.

The constant talk of “culture” gets old with certain teams. This is not the case with the Bills as McDermott has remained consistent in how he runs the team. Reaching the playoffs in his first year helped keep everyone positive as well.

And it’s not like McDermott sent McCoy home for something minor like being late for the bus. But he still sent a message to a star to show the young players on the team how things are run in Buffalo.

The hope is that McDermott will be here for a long time leading the Bills to great things. Maintaining control of his team during a losing season is a great sign and shows why he is the right man for the job.

Now he has to get back to his winning ways in 2019 for confidence to remain high.