Sean McDermott addresses the Matt Araiza situation

Bills head coach Sean McDermott was visibly emotional as he addressed the civil lawsuit filed against punter Matt Araiza at the start of his postgame press conference Friday night.

“I want to talk about something that’s more important, which is what we have going on with one of our members of our team right now. And Matt Araiza is a situation that is extremely serious,” McDermott said. “It’s just hard to go through and it’s not a situation that I or we take lightly whatsoever. It’s very serious. I understand the sensitivity of the situation. It’s clear we have work to do to continue to figure this thing out here, and we’re going to do that.”

Araiza, who is the only punter on the roster did not dress for the game against the Panthers Friday night. McDermott said not having the rookie participate in the game was his call.

“It was my decision and at the end of the day I didn’t feel like it was right to (have him play),” he said. “That’s what I’m after is doing the right thing.”