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00:00Brady, things have wrapped in Cleveland but for some of the press conference stuff, including Josh Allen.
00:06All right, I have capitulated on the headphones.
00:10We have a new pair of headphones.
00:14I don't think they're high-end. That's fine.
00:16What they also are not is broken, unlike the ones I have just decided to at least temporarily retire.
00:25You know, like an athlete.
00:27You're not sure right away. Maybe someone will call you.
00:30So, it's weird.
00:32I mean, any amount of experience, I think, just this is my excuse anyway, doesn't change the fact that there's
00:38such a different sound in my ears than the last pair.
00:43But I guess that's to be expected.
00:46So, where are we at on everything?
00:48The Bills and the Browns come off the field.
00:51From what Sal is tweeting, there were no incidents or injuries.
00:55And that's, you know, you get an A for that.
01:00I can certainly understand the value that teams find in these sort of things.
01:05I was just thinking and struggling a little bit today to come up with, like, different angles on the 2026
01:11Bills season.
01:13And I welcome you to sort of join me in just kind of riffing about this.
01:17Like, what's on your mind about it, good or bad?
01:20Brady, of course, is a big topic, a big story.
01:25There's only so much we can really know or say, though, about how this is going to go with Joe
01:30Brady.
01:31I don't think there have been any missteps yet.
01:32What would that be?
01:34I mean, he did play his guys on Saturday, got away with it.
01:37And even that is one where I think people get why coaches are tempted to do that.
01:43It's sort of common sense that the reps are worthwhile.
01:47I don't think anybody plays on Saturday, but we don't know that yet officially.
01:52I think today was that for them.
01:55That's kind of how even Brady was talking and how we've been talking this week, that the controlled practice would
02:02basically be a substitute for the game in terms of, like, one versus one matchups and trying to, you know,
02:12accomplish something.
02:13Now I think you take the money and run.
02:15And Saturday is for the backups.
02:18You don't want to lose them either, but you're not going to risk.
02:21I think it would be incredible if Allen saw the field again in the preseason, but we'll see.
02:26But, you know, Brady, it's his first shot at it on any level as a head coach.
02:32And I think so far I'd say he has looked the part and sounded the part.
02:37So, again, too soon to really know anything.
02:41But nothing about what's happened here since they got on the field in Rochester has kind of changed my mind
02:48about him or about them overall.
02:52Khalil Shakir is hurt.
02:54Ed Oliver is also hurt.
02:55Like, we know from Brady today that they're both injured.
03:00I never want to root for an injury, and I've tried to make this point many times about Shakir.
03:07Like, there's no – I don't have a problem with him or anything like that.
03:10When he was drafted, it was a day three pick, and right away we were hearing good things about what
03:16kind of player he might be.
03:17I know Sigmund Blum, for one, came on our show after that draft and was like, Shakir could be a
03:21player.
03:22And he has been.
03:23But I think, as I've said many times, I think the Bills' offense is somewhat capped by him as their
03:29number one target.
03:31I mean, that's what he's been, basically.
03:32But you're getting what?
03:34You're not getting big plays unless he breaks tackles.
03:37Yards after the catch are your only real look at that.
03:41You're not getting touchdowns either.
03:42And specifically because of Kincaid, I think he can, if you want to put it this way, limit what they're
03:52capable of as an offense.
03:54I mean, if Kincaid is healthy, you want him as your F receiver, we call this now, or maybe you
04:03always have.
04:03You want him – he's not going to put his hand down.
04:07Knox is going to do that.
04:08They want Knox on the field.
04:10We've talked about this many times.
04:11Like I said a few minutes ago, I kind of feel like I've already been – this is maybe how
04:17the players feel when you get to this time of year.
04:19Like we've been over these same kind of topics so many times, but Kincaid in that position in a more
04:25expanded role, which is what you can only do, I think, if Shakir is off the field, then maybe you
04:33have –
04:35I mean, what kind of investment he is is not the point, although he is a first-round pick and
04:41Shakir has gotten a big contract.
04:43But the point is, you've got a more dangerous downfield option on the field than you otherwise would have had.
04:51You can have them – they've both been on the field before, but I just think to get exactly what
04:57you want from Kincaid, I think almost that Shakir has to go away.
05:01Then, though, you need an outside receiver who can pick up that slack.
05:07And now you have DJ Moore, and that's a big get for the Bills, and that's another one where we've
05:13talked about it to death but don't really know yet what that's going to be.
05:18I think there's a lot of optimism about him.
05:21I think I mentioned this yesterday in terms of fantasy football where I spend a lot of my time.
05:27The Carolina game did well for DJ Moore that I think mostly the community, if you will, went from kind
05:36of like, oh, we're bored, another new team, is he washed from last year in Chicago, some sort of –
05:43like you hear it in my voice, I mean, or my words, like some sort of a just general malaise
05:47and maybe negativity toward him to, okay, maybe not.
05:50I mean, he got open, downfield plays, the one crosser against Carolina, maybe there's going to be a season there
05:58in DJ Moore.
05:59And then what?
06:00And the guy that we never talk about is Palmer.
06:05Yesterday, talking to Sal, yesterday or Tuesday, talking to Sal, it's like, right now they go to Cleveland, Shakir was
06:14not on the field at practice, DJ Moore is off to the side,
06:17and Coleman's in a walking boot.
06:20So, you've got three receivers down for this practice today, or maybe it didn't turn out that way with Moore.
06:27I know Shakir was not available.
06:29And so, that leaves Palmer, who I was not excited about as an acquisition in the first place, because I
06:38just – in several years with the Chargers, there was never –
06:42I mean, there was one year where he popped a little bit, but that was because of injuries maybe where
06:46he was needed.
06:48You never had a year where he commanded targets, where he sort of enforced his will, if you will, on
06:54the Chargers offense.
06:56And I just thought, like, that was probably going to continue.
06:59But he's somebody – if you didn't have Shakir, whether you, for some reason, wanted that or didn't want that,
07:06either way, just imagine if you didn't have him,
07:08then I think it's pretty straightforward.
07:13Moore, Palmer, or Coleman, but now Palmer, Kincaid, Knox, Cook.
07:19And then your, you know, your front five and Allen.
07:21Like, that's your 11.
07:23And we can call that 12 personnel, because Kincaid is listed as a tight end, or you maybe more want
07:29to think about it as 13.
07:31That interests me.
07:33Then you have an offense where you almost have to see more air yards from Allen.
07:41Now, it's good to have underneath, and Shakir does that, and Cook does that.
07:46Although Cook doesn't get many targets, maybe that changes, and Knox.
07:50But that, to me, looks dynamic.
07:53If you got there.
07:55And we'll see if it ever happens and how that would hold up.
08:00And that brings up another point, which is, and I think I speak for a lot of people, but not
08:06everyone, necessarily, of course.
08:08I mean, that's never the case.
08:09But we've been pining for a Bills offense that is more threatening, is more dangerous,
08:18is more about Allen and his talent getting the ball down the field more often than they do.
08:25And what I say, I know I don't speak for everybody, but there's a lot of us who have been
08:32waiting for that and begging for it, even.
08:36And at the same time, what they've been, which is not that, has been very successful with Cook and the
08:44role he plays
08:45and being more conservative, and with Shakir, and what his assets are, what his strengths and weaknesses are.
08:52What it's added up to is a team that wins 12 games every year.
08:57I mean, what can you say?
09:00And another one that I've talked about a lot is that for all that that's been worth, then you get
09:08to the playoffs and you need more.
09:10But that's like really such a fine line because their losses have mostly been so close.
09:19And you're talking about one or two plays and, I don't know, I've never really been able to figure out
09:25how to advertise for,
09:29well, this is obviously what they need to do.
09:32Well, why?
09:33Because they went to the second round or the AFC Championship and lost by a field goal?
09:38That's the difference between winning and losing?
09:40I mean, that's kind of a tough argument.
09:41A lot of teams over the years have been good enough to do that.
09:45Not every year.
09:46I mean, the Bills are coming up on some historic stuff with their run of playoff appearances and then losses
09:52shy of a championship.
09:53I mean, there have been lots of teams that have been likewise and, I don't know, like some are obvious
09:59for what they need.
10:00You know, this team, we talk about pass rush for that.
10:04And then also that dangerousness in the passing game that's been lacking at least post-Diggs.
10:11So, that's a lot of what, if you missed the summer here on WGR, that's a lot of what we've
10:18been doing for the last few months is,
10:20what is DJ Moore going to give to them?
10:24What is Joe Brady going to be able to do as the head coach for the first time?
10:28Do they have any sort of shift philosophically in how they want to play?
10:32We've talked about the schedule a lot and the fact that it's tougher starting right away with Houston in week
10:38one,
10:38a team that has been a problem for the Bills.
10:41Protecting Allen in that game last year, last couple years, there's that glaringly weird 9-for-30 Allen game from
10:48Houston in 2024.
10:51So, we'd love to know where your head's at with these guys as we get another day closer to the
10:57season.
10:57Sal will join me at 5. We're hoping for Benjamin Albright coming up in 20 minutes.
11:03A check-in on the Broncos and how things look to him about the AFC West and the AFC overall.
11:09Mike Tenere yesterday was really good on that.
11:12I want to talk about some of what I heard from him and Aaron Schatz on their podcast earlier today.
11:18Aaron at ESPN, they did an hour on the AFC North that I thought was pretty good.
11:25803-0550.
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