Rex Ryan Comments on Tom Brady, Bills' Win vs. Patriots

The Buffalo Bills earned an important win over the New England Patriots Sunday, but Rex Ryan isn't letting it get to his head.

As much as the head coach likely enjoyed the 16-0 win, he is aware it comes with a major asterisk.

"It's satisfying, but let's face it, they had a player out," Ryan said after the game, per Mike Rodak of ESPN. "They had a player out, and we had our team, so we expected to win."

The player he is referring to is obviously quarterback Tom Brady, who was serving the last week of his four-game suspension stemming from his role in Deflategate. The 11-time Pro Bowler is set to return for the team's Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns.

Meanwhile, the Patriots were down to their third-string quarterback with backup Jimmy Garoppolo dealing with a shoulder injury. Rookie Jacoby Brissett got the start despite his own thumb injury and struggled to sustain drives in the loss. 

Despite the qualifiers, this was still the first time New England was shut out at home since 1993, according to Gil Brandt of NFL.com. The team had never been shut out at Gillette Stadium.

Ryan also raised question marks by claiming he knew the Patriots' plans at quarterback earlier in the week.

"My sources inside the New England Patriot building said that Jacoby Brissett would be the quarterback," Ryan said. "How about that? I'll stir some stuff up. Who was it? Who was it? I don't know who it was."

Rodak noted this was a claim the Bills coach made on Wednesday. This would be especially impressive considering the Patriots reportedly hadn't made a decision until Sunday morning, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Mike Garafolo of NFL.com also noted the wide preparation Buffalo worked on during the week:

In any case, it was an important win for the Bills to move to 2-2 on the season while staying competitive in the AFC East.