The Bills are the NFL's worst team and, somehow, they appear to be getting worse. After being dismantled by the Ravens in Week 1, they were outclassed at home against the Chargers, falling behind 28-6 at the half before losing 31-20.
Bills cornerback Vontae Davis didn't get to hang around for the final 30 minutes because he retired. At halftime.
"This isn't how I pictured retiring from the NFL," Davis said in a statement, explaining that after multiple surgeries and playing through injuries, "today on the field it really hit me fast and hard: I shouldn't be out there anymore.
"I meant no disrespect to my teammates and my coaches. But I hold myself to a standard. Mentally, I always expect myself to play at a high level. But physically, I know that isn't possible, and I had an honest moment with myself. While I was on the field, I just didn't feel right, and I told the coaches, 'I'm not feeling like myself.'
"I also wondered, Do I want to keep sacrificing? And truthfully, I do not because the season is long, and it's more important for me and my family to walk away healthy than to willfully embrace the warrior mentality and limp away too late."
You can read the entire statement below:
Davis' decision, as you might imagine, did not sit well with them or their coach.
"I don't want to get into all that," second-year coach Sean McDermott told reporters after the game.
"Never seen anything like that -- Pop Warner, high school, college, pros. Never heard of it, never seen it, and it's just completely disrespectful [to] his teammates," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander told reporters, via ESPN.com's Mike Rodak. "He didn't say nothing to nobody," Alexander continued, adding, "You know as much as I know. I found out going into the second half. [Guys on the sideline] said he's not coming out, he retired.
"So ... that's it."
Defensive lineman Kyle Williams seemed shocked too.
"I've never been around that, I've never heard anything like that so I think the only thing to say is that he's where he needs to be right now," Williams said from the locker room, via NewYorkUpstate.com's Matt Parrino. ... "That's the hard part about it, you can't really wrap your mind around it."
There's more:
Davis signed a one-year deal with the Bills in February after six seasons with the Colts. Davis was originally the Dolphins' 2009 first-round pick though he was traded to Indianapolis just before the 2012 season.
With Davis retiring, can add another position to the ever-growing list of needs facing this team.