Cortez impressed with Bills QB

TORONTO -- George Cortez has worked with star quarterbacks such as Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Henry Burris and Dave Dickenson, and the former Canadian Football League veteran assistant coach likes what he sees of Buffalo Bills' pivot Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Cortez, in his second season with the Bills as quarterbacks coach, has seen the improved play of Fitzpatrick and continues to be impressed by his command of the team's offence and leadership skills. The Bills, 4-2, play host to the 3-3 Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre, and there's a lot of excitement about the team.

The Bills have staged incredible wins this year against Oakland and New England, rallying from behind. Fitzpatrick is a big reason why.

"Ryan is a real student of the game," Cortez told Sportsnet. "He's very much into studying the other teams and seeing his vision of what we do. He's really taken ownership of the offence with the players and offers suggestions about how to do better things, especially the receivers, getting them to see what he sees and everyone understanding of how it's supposed to be happening. That's probably the biggest thing -- taking ownership of the offence.

"Ryan has played well this year. He's as determined as almost anybody. I think he's definitely improved from last year. He's been fairly consistent this year and always gives us an opportunity to win. The fact he has confidence in the guys and they have confidence in him helps him to be successful."

The Bills were a dreadful 4-12 last season, but from Cortez's perspective the team really improved in the second half of the campaign.

"We gained some confidence," he said. "Now we're not hoping to win, we're expecting to win in those situations. Having been down and coming back in some games -- the fact we were down by three touchdowns against Oakland and almost the same against New England -- the players understand if we keep plugging good things happen.

"We came back in Cinci (down by 21 points to win 49-31) last year from the biggest deficit I've ever been involved to win -- and that includes some pretty good ones in the CFL. I think that speaks to the confidence the players have to be able to do that. They have the attitude if we keep playing and doing our thing, we'll make plays."

Having started out 0-8 last year in his first season with the Bills and first in the NFL, Cortez is feeling more comfortable this year.

"It's obviously better because we're winning some ball games," Cortez said. "The other thing is you have a little better idea of how it works, getting a better feel for how we put things together as far as making a game plan and all that sort of stuff. Other than that the best part is winning some games.

"Winning is a hard job no matter who you are or who you're playing. There are no easy games. I think the score doesn't always indicate that, but every game is hard.

"It's never easy to lose games because everyone involved is about winning -- athletics in general and professional athletics especially. It's not playing hard or looking good, it's about winning games. But you also know if you're doing the right thing and working hard and you have the guys that can accomplish what you want, you'll ultimately be successful."

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.