Pepper Johnson might not return to Bills after failing to land job with Giants

Bills defensive line coach and former NFL linebacker Pepper Johnson was disappointed when Giants coach Tom Coughlin called to tell him Thursday that he would not become the team's next defensive coordinator. Instead, the Giants chose to re-hire former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

“I feel bottled up,” Johnson, the former Giants linebacker, told the New York Daily News on Thursday. “I have a lot of knowledge and a lot of information that I feel like I just have to keep to myself.”

Johnson, who spent 14 seasons coaching with the Patriots before joining the Buffalo coaching staff in 2014, is still under contract with Buffalo. New Bills coach Rex Ryan told Johnson that a job would be waiting for him if he didn't get the defensive coordinator position with the Giants. However, the Bills announced Ryan's staff on Thursday and Johnson was not mentioned.

“Moving away from the Patriots, spending a year in Buffalo, I was hoping it would open doors and open some eyes, that more people would be watching,” Johnson said, “and (that some team) will give me a call before all this is said and done.”