Sean McDermott said Thursday that he regretted mentioning 9/11 in a 2019 training camp talk with the Buffalo Bills and "immediately apologized" to his players.

McDermott emphasized he made the comments "to discuss the importance of communication and being on the same page with the team."

The coach said he "regretted mentioning 9/11 in my message that day and I immediately apologized to the team. Not only was 9/11 a horrific event in our country's history, but a day that I lost a good family friend."

As first reported by Go Long, McDermott told players in a speech to come together and used the terrorists on 9/11 as an example, asking players questions about how the attacks were executed and referencing the hijackers getting on the same page.

Asked why he mentioned 9/11 and whether hijackers were specifically referenced as an example of a group coming together, McDermott said, "It was mentioning 9/11 in the context of the team meeting. The goal of the team meeting was the importance of communication and being on the same page as a team."