Bills Loss to Chicago Bears 'Wasn't Our Standard!' Says WR Khalil Shakir

It might only be preseason games, but that doesn't mean players don't want to win and for the Buffalo Bills, while the 33-6 loss to the Chicago Bears in their preseason opener isn't the end of the world, it did shine a light on the areas needed for improvement.

With Buffalo only mustering 200 total yards and going 6/17 on third down, it was a sorry day for the defending AFC East champs. But again, it's preseason, so we aren't throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Conversely, it doesn't mean that the performance should be swept under the rug either, and for receiver Khalil Shakir, the loss highlighted the roster's areas for improvement.

“Obviously we all knew that that wasn't our standard,” Shakir said . “From top to bottom, we were all sitting there after the game, and it was just like that's not how we do things, that's not how we prepare, that's not how we prepared ourselves to play the game. It's more just doing the little things the right way I think that's what we really missed out on. It was as simple as somebody having the ball and getting tackled and the guys rallying to him and helping him up, sideline catches, hitting the ground guy rallying around and picking him up, running to the ball just all those little things that we got to make sure that we stay on top of to be successful as a team.”

So, while the result wasn't ideal, it did have some positives and perhaps a reality check of sorts for Buffalo—things aren't going that smoothly.

Now, how much stock you take out of the first preseason game is in the eye of the beholder, but it's clear that Shakir and the rest of the playing group know that what was dished up isn't acceptable.

Could that be due to the significant roster turnover this offseason? possibly. Could it also be that it is the first preseason game? Again, possibly.

Related: Do 'Remodeling' Bills Have a 'Leadership Problem'?

But at least the Bills know where their deficiencies lie. They can put their noses back to the grindstone and work on fixing the elements of their game that need it the most before they face the Pittsburgh Steelers in their second preseason game.

Buffalo's efforts were substandard, and we will see just how tolerant the organization is of such performances when we see how they attack the Steelers on Saturday.