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00:00Question for Joe Brady, save that, because he's not really here.
00:03This happened earlier.
00:04But we're live and reacting in real time.
00:07So let's get back on that, Zach.
00:09Here's Joe Brady.
00:14Yeah, we're still, like, no different than the quarterback position.
00:17You know, we're right now not in a rush feeling like, hey, it's something that we have to, hey, we're
00:22naming things right now.
00:23And I like the competition.
00:25I like the guys being able to wake up and know that, hey, regardless of anything, I'm going to just
00:29keep going.
00:29And so, you know, all of them are, you know, Bo Schuyler.
00:34Both Corbett and Alec, they're competing, and they're going to be alternating in there.
00:37It's going around the mine.
00:41I love their personality.
00:47You know, you can tell they're, like, I speak about connection all the time.
00:51And I do feel that the coaches and the players are doing a really good job of emphasizing that.
00:59And you can see, by the way that they play, the excitement that they have for one another, the connection
01:03that they have.
01:04You see, you know, before they're going on the field, you know, it's preseason two, and Bradley Chubb's bringing them
01:08all together and talking to them before the drive.
01:10Like, it's – and then when they get on the field, you can see their excitement for guys making plays,
01:14and they're selling each other's success.
01:16So, to me, they have the right mentality about how they're going about it, and there's a lot of versatility
01:21to it.
01:22And so, I think that that needs to be an advantage for us going into the season.
01:24There's a lot of personnel groupings, a lot of different ways to get guys on the field, move things around.
01:29That should put a lot of stress on opposing offensive coordinator, figuring out where guys are going to be and
01:33what personnels are going to be on the field while they're running said play.
01:37I do a lot of talking on this station.
01:39I also do a lot of listening to the station.
01:41Two words that have not been said nearly enough this offseason, I believe, are Bradley and Chubb.
01:48That's a real, legit, star, pass rusher who, yeah, he was hurt two years ago, and last year he wasn't,
01:57and he was real good for a not-so-great team.
02:00That addition is flying so under the radar right now.
02:05I can't, like, I don't even, I never, every time I hear his name, I'm like, oh yeah, that's right,
02:09he's here.
02:10Yeah, that's a good point.
02:11Nobody's talking about him.
02:12I don't ever think about him, and that's not a good job for a guy that talks about the team.
02:18Like, I, I, and you should.
02:20Just doesn't come up, he doesn't come up.
02:21Because he's, yeah, he's a guy that has been good and done the job in a, you know, in an
02:28impactful way for a lot of years in the league.
02:33The most I've thought, here's the most I've thought about him.
02:35When T.J. Parker talked about going to a train with him.
02:39That's the most I've thought about Bradley Chubb this offseason, and that's probably not right.
02:43We should be thinking about Bradley Chubb more than we're thinking about T.J. Parker.
02:46I think that's, yeah.
02:49Now, if your name was Owen Chubb, maybe you'd think about him more.
02:51Right.
02:52I, you know, first round pick, big free agent signing.
02:56Yeah, I, I think, yeah, Chubb, Chubb over Parker.
02:59I don't disagree with you there.
03:02I, I think that that's a, that's a, you know, very, very fair point to bring up.
03:08I think how much better, like, that, that position, that unit, pass rushing specifically, is so critical for them and
03:18has been such a weak point and has been so lackluster.
03:23And, and is this finally a guy that, like, he doesn't need to be a superstar, but he's just got
03:28to be pretty good.
03:29Well, I think we're jaded by the Von Miller thing, followed by the Joey Bosa thing, where it's like, oh,
03:35a former star pass rusher comes in and we don't really get production out of him.
03:40So I think we're just kind of, uh, attempting, attempting to soften the blow collectively if this one also doesn't
03:47work out.
03:47But this isn't like a one-year contract.
03:50Yeah.
03:52Well, maybe it is a one-year contract, but that's not my point.
03:54He's not a rental.
03:55Right.
03:56It's not, it's not a trade at the deadline to bolster yourself for the playoffs.
04:00Like, no, it's a guy who's been a star in the league for a long time.
04:05He's a fifth overall pick the same year that Josh was drafted.
04:07He was drafted ahead of Josh Allen.
04:09The whole thing was, Brady Chubb was there, and so Denver took him.
04:11They were going to take Allen if Chubb is gone.
04:13Right.
04:13I mean, they're connected in that.
04:14Yeah.
04:15I think a big thing with the Chubb stuff, and I remember talking with Marcel Louis-Jacques, who covers the
04:19Dolphins for ESPN.
04:21Like, he mentioned, like, he loves the idea of Chubb on the Bills.
04:24And his big part was, the Dolphins were terrible last year.
04:27Chubb was constantly double-teamed, coming off a torn ACL, and he had eight and a half sacks.
04:32Yeah.
04:32And my point was always, I mean, man, if he put up eight and a half sacks for the Bills
04:35last year, he would lead the team in sacks.
04:37Russo had seven, Bosa had five, Milano had three and a half, Daquan Jones three, Ed Oliver three, Epinesa had
04:43two and a half.
04:43A lot of those guys are not going to be on the team this year.
04:46Putting him above, he goes above them.
04:49So that's a big deal.
04:51But I think where it maybe burns Chubb, and this happens with a team that's in this window that the
04:56Bills are in,
04:58he wasn't one of the big names that people wanted.
05:00He isn't Garrett.
05:01He isn't Crosby.
05:02He isn't Trey Hendrickson.
05:03Right.
05:03You know, he's not those guys, and so when you do get the fourth or fifth option, it could still
05:08absolutely work.
05:09I think the Bills need to be a top 15 defense, and I mean 15 or 14, and they should
05:14probably be in the Super Bowl.
05:15Based on how the offense has been the last couple of years, based on how close these games have been,
05:20they don't have to have Trey Hendrickson.
05:21Would it be awesome?
05:22Sure, I'd love to be the Rams.
05:24But I think that's where maybe Chubb himself, you know, nothing to his fault.
05:28I think it's where he gets in trouble is just, I had the names of supermodels in this universe going
05:34on,
05:35and it's just a solid 8 out of 10.
05:37Like, no fault.
05:39Just I had other things on my mind first.
05:40Looks like a solid 8 out of 10 on taper, but what is it when it's actually a part of
05:44this defense,
05:45and as Jim Leonard gets control of it?
05:47Do we actually have things in common?
05:49803-0550 is the number.
05:50Let's talk to Mike next.
05:52Hey, Mike, you're on WGR.
05:53What's up?
05:54Hey, guys.
05:55I just called.
05:56It's finally nice to hear someone say the truth about other players getting injured on other teams.
06:01For years, I thought I was a bad person.
06:03You are.
06:04We are.
06:05I wanted Tom Brady to get hurt every year, and I'm not going to lie to you.
06:09When Mahomes hurt himself last year, I was like, it's about time something went against Kansas City,
06:14and I was not unhappy about it.
06:16You know what I was unhappy about?
06:17It was so late in the season, they were dead anyway, and then he got hurt.
06:21And I was like, this is bad timing.
06:22I've been rooting for this guy to be severely injured on the field for years and years and years,
06:27and now it happens when they're a non-factor.
06:29I thought that was garbage.
06:31Well, yes, and it also gives their fans an out.
06:34It's not like they were going to make it anyway.
06:36They were definitely not making the playoffs, whether he got hurt or not.
06:39But you still hear him saying, well, if Mahomes wouldn't have been hurt, well, they weren't making it anyway.
06:45They stonked before that.
06:46And you know what?
06:47It's still good, because this year I don't think he's going to be 100%, so that's good for us.
06:53That's the truth.
06:54That's right.
06:54That's the one good part about how late in the season it happened, is that there's a reasonable chance that
06:59it impacts this season, too.
07:00But I was disappointed that he waited until they were dead before he got injured.
07:05Right.
07:06Sorry, America.
07:07No, it's all right.
07:08I think you can quietly go like, yes, when an injury happens.
07:15Yeah.
07:15I think where you cross into bad territory is like outward cheering.
07:20I think that's your line.
07:21I'm not going to do it on a UB broadcast.
07:24You're doing it on the WGR.
07:26Yes, but this is not the game.
07:28This isn't the game.
07:29That's true.
07:30If I'm doing the game.
07:32And the guy's fine.
07:33So this whole conversation doesn't need to, you know.
07:35Maybe he's fine.
07:36Or, fingers crossed, no, he isn't.
07:38Right, or he's lying.
07:39We're allowed to do this.
07:40All right, back to Joe Brady.
07:43How do you weigh his recovery, wanting to see him against NFL competitions versus where he is and maybe how
07:50the whole room is in terms of a lot of guys being banged up?
07:54You're saying with these rest of these days or just in general?
08:00For Thursday night.
08:01Yeah.
08:01Will he play?
08:02Yeah.
08:03And you said you'd like for him to.
08:04But how do you weigh that decision, meaning he's a little banged up, so is your room.
08:08Yeah.
08:08He's a little banged up.
08:09Yep.
08:09And wanting him for week one maybe is more important than just what goes into that?
08:14Yeah, I think there's the component of wanting guys out there to, you know, play football and get in the
08:21stadium and go through.
08:22It's no different than, you know, Josh Allen.
08:23And so Skyler hasn't had that opportunity yet.
08:26And so, but there's also, like, today's going to be a hard practice.
08:30And so I also want to make sure that, you know, we're progressing as a football team while also getting
08:35guys ready to go for the game.
08:36And that's where you're trying to balance in two different things.
08:39And so the full intent is he's going to be playing on Thursday.
08:43And we'll see kind of how it goes about, you know, this practice with the amount of reps that he's
08:46getting.
08:47But, you know, I would love to be able to see him in, you know, a live competition.
08:55Yes.
08:57I didn't hear who he said.
08:59Whose absence?
09:00Terrell Bernard.
09:01Okay.
09:01No, no.
09:02I think he's in such a good place mentally.
09:04It's some, there's some, there's some guys right now that the focus is making sure that they're ready to go
09:09for week one.
09:11Terrell Bernard is not a guy necessarily fighting for a roster spot.
09:15You know, he's the leader of our defense and a starter.
09:17And I think he's in a really good headspace.
09:19He wants to get out there.
09:20And sometimes it's keeping him from himself.
09:22And so, but no, TB's going to be good to go.
09:25Hold on.
09:26Hold on.
09:26Hold on.
09:27Do we accept that he's not fighting for a starting spot?
09:29I accept that he's on the roster.
09:30Or do we accept that he is just penciled in as a starting linebacker on the team?
09:35It's a question that should probably be asked because he was not great last year.
09:41I know he dealt with an injury that really, really hampered him.
09:44Of course.
09:44And his game even more specifically.
09:46Like that, not being able to go side to side for a guy like Terrell Bernard is tough.
09:51So I try to hold that in my mind when I think about last season.
09:55But there were points of last season where it was like, man, is this guy worth the deal he's on?
10:00And that's under McDermott.
10:02So this is the head coach telling me that the defense, which is not his side of the ball,
10:07that the new coordinator, that clearly this guy's a starter.
10:10And I don't think that's 100% clear.
10:12I'm not saying he's lying.
10:13I think that's the right way to talk about Terrell Bernard.
10:15Right.
10:16But I don't know that he, when all is said and done, that he is on the field as a
10:21starter for this team all year long.
10:24I don't think he needs to be definitely, like, I would not be surprised if you told me at the
10:29end of the year
10:29there was a moment where Bernard got off and was not starting for them all the time
10:36because of Kalei Belarmzor and how just impressive he seems to have looked.
10:42And we know how they feel about their other backers.
10:44I think it's a very interesting position for them.
10:48I like when Dorian Williams is on the field.
10:49I know.
10:50A lot.
10:50It's interesting.
10:51He's very, he's aggressive and fast and pretty fun.
10:56And, like, doesn't that kind of sound like Jim Leonard defense to you?
11:00So, yeah.
11:01Not that Bernard isn't fast.
11:02Like, that is, like, maybe his defining trait.
11:04No, like, he's a quick, agile backer, linebacker, but he's not.
11:09I would say skinny might be his defining trait.
11:11I mean, when he was taken out of Baylor, the prevailing thought was, is he going to move to safety?
11:15Is that a safety?
11:16Yeah.
11:16Are we sure this is a linebacker?
11:17I don't mean he can't be on the team.
11:18This is in no way me bashing Bernard.
11:21It's just there are people on the team that I'm more excited to see on the field than him.
11:26Yeah.
11:27And maybe it's just recency bias.
11:29I mean, I love that last year they picked one defensive captain, and that's who it was.
11:33So that gives you an idea of the respect that people have for him in that building.
11:38But I just, I don't think it's a fair assumption that that guy is the starter all year long.
11:42No, I do.
11:43That's fair.
11:43I do wonder, though, with him, real quick, I wonder with him with Jim Leonard.
11:46Because I would say, outside of his size and his speed, the big thought was, when Bernard
11:50gets the starting middle linebacker spot after Edmonds leaves was, oh, hell, he can make
11:54a big play.
11:55Because you went for two years with Edmonds of, oh, he just missed that interception.
11:59Oh, he just missed that sack.
11:59He just missed that tackle for a loss.
12:02Where Bernard's entire first year was, man, that seems to be the only thing he can do.
12:05Like, if I want the little stuff, maybe not so much.
12:07The big plays, yes.
12:08And talking with Sal the last couple of weeks, like, that's the Jim Leonard defense, which
12:12is, they might give up more big plays than we're used to, but they're going to have more
12:16big plays.
12:17And that's, I think, Bernard's rookie year, he maybe has, or not rookie year, but his
12:20first year starting.
12:21He has, like, six and a half sacks.
12:23He's got, like, three picks.
12:24Like, it was all big plays.
12:26Yeah.
12:27All right, back to Joe Brady.
12:29Michael Hyde in his rank-up for the season.
12:32Yeah, he's, the whole intent, the ramp-up ball long has been him continuing to get a lot
12:38of reps, you know, and he's, I think he's in, like, obviously, I was never even athletic
12:44enough to hurt an Achilles, but to see how fast his recovery has been and the way that
12:51he's attacked it and going out on the field and seeing some of the movements, I mean,
12:54he's, he should be a very, very productive football player for us.
12:59And so we've been very intentional about what we've done with him, and again, he's
13:03going to take a lot of reps today, and then we'll talk after practice, but I know he's
13:06a guy that would love to get out there and get on the field and be able to get some
13:09contact
13:09and hit on Thursday, and it's a matter of, is that the best thing for him as we kind
13:14of come away from today?
13:16That's another, oh yeah, guy.
13:18Like the Bradley Chubb thing, the six quarters that we watch this defense with Michael Hoyt
13:24active was an entirely different defense from what they had the rest of the season, and
13:30I like that, I'd like to play him on Thursday, but I'd much prefer to play him next Sunday.
13:35Right.
13:36So that's kind of what I was hearing there, and I'm excited about that.
13:38I agree.
13:39I have been a little bit of a, like, okay, Michael Hoyt was awesome for those six quarters.
13:44First, he's not Aaron Donald.
13:47He's not Miles Garrett, everybody.
13:50Like, he's going to be fun.
13:51I think he's going to be very good, and the way he spoke about him there is like, that's
13:55a bankable asset, they think.
13:58I appreciate that, but I think his folklore maybe is getting a little sizable for what
14:07maybe we should all be expecting.
14:08Even if I'm expecting good to great things, the way I hear people talk about him is like,
14:15oh, he's going to come change the game for them.
14:17Like, okay, I'll believe that when I see that, because, like, you know, he's not, he's never
14:23been a dominant every down sort of player.
14:27But he's an oh yeah, him too.
14:29Right.
14:30In this mix.
14:30I don't disagree with that.
14:31Every time I hear it, I was like, oh yeah, cool.
14:33That's a good piece.
14:34All right, back to Joe Brady.
14:34What are you looking for in your punt return, and how much of that communication is to Jack
14:41and what he wants?
14:42Yeah, there's, I mean, there's a lot of different factors.
14:44The number one thing is I want the ball back, right?
14:47And that's a, I know that sounds like that's not a big deal, but that is, that's a huge
14:53component is, right, you know, we have to be able to win fourth down.
14:56In order to win fourth down, we got to get the ball back to the offense.
14:58And so that's such an easy thing, but that's a really hard thing to do.
15:02And then it's about us making great sound decisions with that, right?
15:06And, you know, I'm not necessarily saying we need a guy that's going to score a touchdown
15:10every time he touches the ball, but is he going to consistently, consistently make sound
15:14decisions?
15:15But if he's available, I'd take him.
15:16And I think we have a group of guys that are still kind of competing for that.
15:21And it's hard to get, you know, they're also catching two different punters.
15:26And so that's been really beneficial to us, you know, just the different type of styles.
15:29And it's hard to get a lot of reps.
15:30And so we can't, just like we couldn't manufacture some of the punts, it's hard to manufacture
15:35some punt returns in the game on Thursday, but I'm hoping that we'll get some of those
15:40opportunities to be able to, for someone to be able to kind of take that and run with
15:42it.
15:43All right, I'm going to throw this in there.
15:43You absolutely can manufacture punts.
15:46You can punt whenever you want.
15:47If you have the ball, you can punt.
15:48You can't manufacture punt return opportunities because the other team decides when they punt.
15:53You want to punt on third down, or if you want to not go for it on fourth and three,
15:56because you'd like to test out your punter, you can do that.
15:59You're allowed.
16:00He has mentioned this multiple times.
16:01Like, we had no chance to punt in the Carolina game.
16:04Sure you did.
16:05How many snaps did you take?
16:07Any one of them could have been a punt if you wanted it to be.
16:09I'm not saying it should be, but you can't just say we couldn't.
16:12You couldn't.
16:13You could have.
16:14All right, we've got to take a break.
16:15Time out.
16:15Owen Parker is here.
16:16I'm Brad Ryder.
16:17In for show up in the Bulldog today on WGR.
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