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00:00Again, I understand the frustration. I understand everything that kind of goes into that.
00:04Moving forward, I just want to focus on football.
00:09Deshaun Watson, today, apologizing, I think, for his comments after the game against the Bills.
00:18You know, I was going to say, like, I'm no Deshaun Watson fan. Like, who is?
00:25But I kind of, in a way, respect it when a player sticks up for himself after a game.
00:32And you know what? You're not helping me.
00:36I mean, booing is what you get.
00:39I said already that the Browns coach made that point.
00:43And it's the right point.
00:45We all signed up for this super high-profile existence.
00:49When we suck, guess what's going to happen?
00:52But it still doesn't mean anybody really should ever do it.
00:57Watson is almost like an extreme, I think he is, an extreme example.
01:02Because you might have just hated your favorite team for trading for him.
01:08I mean, deeply rooted stuff.
01:11But you also know that, what is your team there for?
01:16It's not to win community service awards, it's to win games.
01:19And that's what you love about them, is when they win games.
01:23I know I'm not speaking for everybody, but that's kind of what most people make it about,
01:27is the performance on the field.
01:29So, you could always say about the Browns, as much as they would have known how bad a look it
01:36was,
01:37I mean, geez, we haven't had a good quarterback in forever.
01:41Here's a chance to get one.
01:43He's damaged goods.
01:44But still, like, we'll take that chance.
01:47And I'm sure they were thinking that in a year or two, maybe even less than two,
01:53that he would just sort of, they could roll out Deshaun Watson and have a contending team.
01:59And obviously that didn't happen.
02:01And as time goes on, and you watch him struggle so badly, it just makes it all feel and look
02:07worse and worse.
02:08But, you know, even though his team is going to want him, as I'm sure happened here,
02:13his team is going to want him to publicly apologize and try to redefine what he was actually trying to
02:21say
02:22on Saturday after that game, at least he was willing to say, like,
02:26yeah, this is the same fan base that cheered when I got hurt.
02:29So, can't say I'm that surprised.
02:31And, you know, you're always going to see, almost always going to see players walk that back
02:36because the team is going to make them do it.
02:38But I doubt, I doubt, I mean, heat of the moment, I doubt he wasn't speaking from, like, real emotion
02:44when he said what he said on Saturday.
02:47Well, that's it for the Bills and the Browns for this year, probably, right?
02:52I mean, imagine a Browns playoff team that would pay pretty well if you were to hit on that.
02:58And so we're, you know, Cleveland is, you know, that's, they have, they're in the rearview mirror here.
03:06The Bills look forward to Houston, if not Pittsburgh, first in this preseason finale.
03:12I wanted to bring up, as I said a few minutes ago, James Cook.
03:18And, you know, he's always interesting to talk about.
03:21He's been so good for the Bills.
03:23I especially like, not looking for extra credit,
03:26I especially like bringing him up because I was never that into James Cook.
03:32And then he went and has set records the last couple of years.
03:37And as a fantasy player, that's happened on a team with Josh Allen rushing still
03:44for double-digit touchdowns every year, which is insane.
03:48So all the credit to Cook.
03:50He's been durable.
03:50He's been very good.
03:52Imagine if he ever got their trust on third down.
03:55Telling what kind of numbers that would all be.
03:58I just, I still think any team, any team can withstand a running back injury.
04:08And now here you have the Raiders with Ashton, or should be able to, I should say.
04:13Now you have the Raiders with Ashton Gentry.
04:15And that's really sort of a tough example to use because they haven't been good at all.
04:23So what happens if they don't have Ashton Gentry?
04:26I mean, probably the worst case scenario is what it's already been for the Raiders.
04:31The guy behind him, as it happens, has looked great, apparently, in the preseason.
04:37And this is Mike Washington, who was at UB before, where'd he go, Louisville, Washington, is that right?
04:45Arkansas.
04:46Arkansas.
04:49After leaving UB.
04:51But, you know, some ties to the area, if you will.
04:54And it looks like he's been, sounds like he's been tremendous for them.
04:59We'll see.
05:00Gentry, they have the Dolphins in Week 1, the Raiders.
05:03And I'm sure they're hoping for some kind of real step forward.
05:07New coach, new quarterback, first overall pick.
05:09And Gentry and Bauer are still young.
05:11But this is a blow.
05:13I just don't think it has to really affect their wins and losses.
05:17Which is always the, I always love it, the fun debate when you have running backs who end up hurt.
05:23Not that, you know, injuries are fun, per se.
05:27But, you know, like, alright, what happens to the 49ers if they lose McCaffrey?
05:31What happens to the Ravens if they lose Henry?
05:34What happens to the Bills if they lose James Cook?
05:37Not something you really want to think about, but these kinds of things happen in the NFL.
05:43And I just wouldn't want to predict that they would really suffer.
05:48Because there's somebody else who can go in and do, I think, mostly the same job.
05:53Not always true.
05:55803-0550 is the number.
05:57Let's go to Tom here.
05:58Hi, Tom.
05:59Mike, thanks for having me.
06:00Colin from Webster, New York, where life is still worth living.
06:03I know you used to be out this way.
06:05Yes.
06:06So, just really quickly, two preseason games we've seen now with Joe Brady at the helm.
06:12Just wanted to get your thoughts on how have you felt about his presentation so far?
06:17Does it seem like he's up for the task as far as what we can tell?
06:22And also, just the second part of my question is, you know, just kind of think about what our expectations
06:29are for the season.
06:30What's the more likely scenario come January or February where do we look back and say, man, we've missed McDermott?
06:39Or do we look back and say, maybe we should have moved on a little sooner because of how well
06:44Joe Brady has done?
06:45I just want to get your thoughts on that.
06:46Okay.
06:47Well, I like that you used the word presentation in the first part of your question because I think that's
06:54almost all that has mattered so far.
06:56I mean, just like the games itself or practices themselves, you have an injury, then the only news is bad
07:03news in the preseason.
07:04Because for the most part, the games are kind of a lie.
07:07You're just, you're not really running game plans out there.
07:10You're not really playing against starters necessarily.
07:13I think it can be bad if it's like what the Browns just suffered through when you're, you are running
07:20your starters out against mostly backups.
07:23And it looks like that.
07:25I think this is a really bad sign, by the way, for Tennessee so far.
07:29But here, that was really never going to happen.
07:32Presentation, I think you've got to give Brady good marks.
07:36I mean, what has there been, you know, we're all looking for it, right?
07:40Maybe I'm not thinking of something, but what has there been that has been sort of a story for the
07:47wrong reasons?
07:48I don't know.
07:48Nothing.
07:50There was the matter of playing Josh Allen in the first game, but as I keep saying it this way,
07:56they got away with it.
07:57And so, you know, how much effort do you want to spend banging on them for that?
08:02So, I think, you know, so far, so good.
08:05After the season, well, who knows?
08:09It's really hard to know what we're going to feel and talk about when it's so far off.
08:16And, you know, here's what I mean.
08:17If you take the last, in all these years with the Bills and their regular season performance, which has been
08:25A, A+,
08:27and then their playoff results, which have been disappointing, ultimately,
08:32we haven't really been able to agree on what, always anyway, like what was to blame for that.
08:40Last year is a perfect example.
08:43We had Kansas City losses.
08:45I mean, there have been four, where even like in this room, Bulldog and I have often been sort of
08:51different in what we think the culprit was for their losses.
08:57And, you know, like what was Denver?
09:01Denver scored 33 points.
09:04The Bills turned the ball over, what, five times in that game?
09:07Who's to blame?
09:09And then, when you take that a step further and try to figure out like what the coach's culpability is
09:16in that,
09:16then that gets even tougher.
09:17I think the McDermott thing is all very reasonable, that he was a huge success coming in as an assistant
09:27coach nine years ago,
09:29putting down a regular season record of 98 and 50, turning the Bills, helping to turn the Bills from a
09:37team,
09:37from a loser's lose team to a team where now it's like 180 degrees different, where you get the benefit
09:45of the doubt.
09:45You might get free agents.
09:47You might get sort of that, have that expectation where, you know, people think you're going to win.
09:53They're the betting favorite in the division.
09:55Again, they're the AFC Super Bowl favorite.
09:57Again, like his departure didn't change that, but he established that.
10:04He was the head coach and he put that into motion and then rode that for, you know, a really
10:10good nine-year run.
10:12And, you know, having said that, in the playoffs, each time he had the finger pointed at him.
10:21And I think Denver is that too, even with five turnovers on offense.
10:25That was game day decisions, you know, like that's earlier on in his tenure than more recently.
10:31But without overthinking it, when you lose in the playoffs on a streak like the Bills have, the coach is
10:41always going to be, you know, scrutinized.
10:44And for a team like the Bills did to become exhausted by these losses to the point of making that
10:54change, you know, it's kind of normal.
10:57I don't know what we're going to talk about, though, this time, because we have to see first how it
11:06ends, you know.
11:06And if it's like it's been the last few years, we might not even agree on, you know, what kind
11:14of blame the head coach deserves for it.
11:17So I don't blame the Bills for making the move.
11:21I think it's interesting and even kind of strange that they stayed with Brady in this, but it also, I
11:32mean, you can understand it from a standpoint of how much, not only they themselves have valued and appreciated their
11:42continuity, but everybody outside says the same thing.
11:45You know, wouldn't you like to be like that, where you run back the same head coach and quarterback and
11:51GM and even coordinators sometimes year after year, wouldn't you like to be like that?
11:56So now you decide that you're done with the head coach.
12:03Well, GM stays, offensive coordinator comes up, quarterback, of course, stays, and we'll see where that takes us.
12:10I think without being able to predict the playoffs right now, and I really am not inclined to make any
12:17effort to do that, what I think, as I've talked about a lot, especially since Bulldog left us three months
12:24ago to go on vacation, is just how interesting the conference dynamic is and how many more teams than before
12:33seem viable as a team that could be the one seed.
12:39I think there are like seven or eight, and last year I wouldn't have said that, but then somebody from
12:45outside got it with Denver, but it had been Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore, then maybe one or two other teams,
12:53depending on their schedules, what New England did last year, you would have liked to think that the Bills would
12:58have had that season, and they didn't get to the one, but they got to the two, home game, first
13:04round, didn't happen.
13:07Thanks, Tom.
13:08We've got Sal coming up in less than 20 minutes.
13:10Bulldog is off today.
13:12He and I are both off tomorrow.
13:13This has never been allowed.
13:16There must be something really important tomorrow, because we're both off.
13:21And then Wednesday is me?
13:24Is he here on?
13:26I'm not even going to try this time.
13:27I was wrong all week.
13:28Is he back on Wednesday?
13:30I believe he is back on Wednesday.
13:32All right.
13:32I'll make sure he knows that, that you expect, that you, I'll go with you on this, that we expect
13:38him back on Wednesday.
13:39And then I'm off for a road trip here for the rest of the week.
13:44So now you know that.
13:45Hopefully it's right.
13:458-0-3-0-5-0-5-0.
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