Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott was still so aggrieved over how his team’s season ended, he called a reporter from the team plane to complain about it.
McDermott was furious that what he saw as a clear catch by wide receiver Brandin Cooks wound up being ruled an interception by Denver’s Ja’Quan McMillian during overtime of Saturday’s AFC Divisional game. Even after criticizing the call during his postgame press conference, he doubled down by calling reporter Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News while on the team plane to offer some further frustrations.
McDermott argued that the play was “not even close,” and that he was angry over what he saw as a rushed replay review for such a pivotal play.
Sean McDermott called The Buffalo News after the game with more frustrations about the Brandin Cooks interception play in overtime.
— Andy Young (@AndyYoungTV) January 18, 2026
Here are McDermott’s quotes via @JaySkurski: pic.twitter.com/eTB9SDiUHF
Skurski went on to admit that getting a phone call from McDermott for this express purpose was “so unusual it probably won’t happen again in my career.”
A couple #Bills thoughts:
— Jay Skurski (@JaySkurski) January 18, 2026
– That was as crushed a locker room as I've ever been around, and I've seen some tough playoff losses.
– Sean McDermott calling me from the team plane to stress that the Cooks play was a catch is so unusual it probably won't happen again in my career.
Like many Bills fans, McDermott was clearly trying to make sense of how Saturday’s game got away. The team was devastated not just by the loss, but the nature of it. They missed several opportunities to finish off the Broncos and failed to do it, and some mistakes loomed very large in such a narrow overtime defeat.
As for the play in question, the league said it was reviewed properly by New York and determined to be an interception because Cooks failed to complete the process of the catch. Since the ball never hit the ground, it had to be either an interception or a catch, and the Broncos wound up benefitting from the ultimate decision.
The NFL's pool report: pic.twitter.com/UNDOPLuaNV
— Jay Skurski (@JaySkurski) January 18, 2026
