- 7 weeks ago
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00:00Alright everybody, I hope you got your pencils all sharpened up. Get your workbooks out. It's time to put together
00:06your 53-man rosters. Nate's already done his. I'm sure of that.
00:10Many, many times.
00:11I don't have to prod him, but it's time to get to work, everyone. Time to take your turn at
00:16the... Okay, I'm kidding. Hi, good afternoon. I'm the Bulldog. Mike is away again today. Nate Geary is decent enough
00:25to swing by and hang out with me for a few hours today, which is nice. Hi.
00:29Hello.
00:30How relieved are you that the Bills got through, I want to say relatively healthy, but there are still some
00:41injuries that we don't really know the severity of because of the way that they're handling the injury rules, but
00:46it feels like it was a pretty smooth summer.
00:50I mean, there's still a couple of weeks of practices before they play a real game, and we know, I
00:54think, you know, from history, especially like last year when the Bills seemingly lost someone in practice, it seemed like
01:01weekly that was happening, there is still, you know, anything could happen at any moment, but it feels to me
01:06like they got through pretty well.
01:08There wasn't a lot of... There was almost... No, was there any cart action? I feel like they got out
01:15really, really pretty well.
01:16Knock it on wood there.
01:17I saw one stat from one of the injury accounts.
01:23Banged up Bills?
01:24Yeah, maybe banged up Bills.
01:25I was going to refer to that as well.
01:26Kyle Trumbly.
01:27Maybe 47% fewer injuries this summer.
01:30A reduction in players injured during preseason compared to last year.
01:33Yeah, that seems like a lot.
01:35Significant.
01:35That seems like a big number.
01:36Yep.
01:37So I don't know how much they did differently from a load management standpoint, because I'm not there counting snaps
01:43during practices or whatever, but they've gotten through it, I think, relatively unscathed.
01:51I mean, the biggest injury concern you probably have is Conor McGovern and or Ty Johnson.
01:58One player, obviously a starting player in Conor McGovern.
02:01Yep.
02:01Johnson, you know, a key, important third down role player for the team, but, you know, they've got other running
02:07backs, so that's, to me, not...
02:09If he misses the opener a couple of weeks, or if they can even, I don't know, if they maybe
02:14even IR him for four weeks because of what we think is a hamstring injury, maybe that's not the biggest
02:20deal in the world.
02:21Yeah.
02:21Because you've got other running backs.
02:22You do.
02:23They're not equipped necessarily as specifically as Ty Johnson is for his role, but you're going to get by.
02:29And McGovern looked pretty good walking into the stadium yesterday.
02:32I saw footage of him.
02:34I mean, I don't know if that means he could play football tomorrow, but it has been a pretty successful
02:39summer, I think.
02:41Yeah, Kyle Trimble banged up bills.
02:43He did a kind of a, I don't know, a study, a research study on this, and that 47%
02:49reduction in players injured from this preseason compared to last.
02:53I might want to point to a couple of obvious things, one being the guys that have been oft injured
03:02aren't really on the roster anymore.
03:05I'm thinking Matt Milano, and I'm thinking of Daquan Jones, guys that have had injuries.
03:10Having said that, you know, Ed Oliver, he got injured right before the start of the season last year and
03:14then got, had like multiple injuries last year.
03:17Ankle, pack, and then I forget what happened, was it knee or something at the end of the year where,
03:23you know.
03:24I don't remember.
03:24But I guess I look at it and I say, okay, the oft injured guys aren't here anymore.
03:30I also look at them and I say, I don't know that I necessarily have the average age to back
03:36this up, but they feel younger than they have.
03:39Like, their median age, like the guy in the middle, I would think right now is probably a little younger
03:46than they were.
03:46And especially the average age, just because.
03:48I think that probably tracks.
03:50I mean, you're.
03:51Prater alone is going to bring the average down.
03:53Prater alone.
03:54Yeah.
03:54I mean, Bradley Chubb and Bosa is probably close to a wash.
03:57Yep.
03:58But, you know, you're right.
04:00Daquan, the defensive front.
04:02Is all young.
04:03Is very young.
04:04Yeah.
04:04The secondary, like even the depth corners are, like Dane Jackson was a depth corner for this team.
04:10Right, and now they have a second round rookie as their depth corner.
04:13Right.
04:13And an undrafted rookie.
04:14Right, who can I walk her, who I think is going to make the team.
04:17I think so, yeah.
04:18It sure feels like he's going to make the team.
04:20So, yeah, I think that tracks.
04:23Yeah.
04:24I mean, like, Damar Hamlin is like the senior member of the secondary.
04:28Yeah.
04:28Like, he and Benford, I guess, really.
04:31And neither of them are old, I would say.
04:34Like, they're veterans.
04:35Benford's, what, 27?
04:36Yeah, right.
04:37I mean, it's.
04:38So, I mean, you know, golf clap all around.
04:41You know, they get, I think they got through it, and so that's good, and so, I don't know.
04:46Now what?
04:46You know, there's really nothing.
04:48And even to your point, though, about McGovern and Ty Johnson, those are injuries that happened
04:53that they look at least with, in the case of McGovern, he's going to be ready for week
04:56one.
04:57We don't exactly know.
04:57Like, there hasn't been.
04:59Right.
05:00The oh my gosh.
05:02But they have.
05:03And I know that there had been, at least that's what Kyle Trimble, who, again, we are referring
05:08to his tweet about the percentage and reduction of injuries this preseason compared to last
05:13year.
05:14And one of his follow-ups, and I think it might have been to somebody that quote tweeted it,
05:19but that there had been at least rumblings, rumors, that McDermott and their sports science
05:27team had sort of been at odds about practice schedules and keeping more veteran rest days
05:34and kind of some of the stuff.
05:35And we started seeing last year, I think, maybe more than ever, a lot of guys getting
05:39veteran rest days because they had a lot of veterans, and especially guys like Milano and
05:42Dequan.
05:43They wanted to keep healthy with a previous injury history.
05:47So, like, all in, it just does feel this year, I don't know, I mean, I know I've been
05:53to the scrimmage, and, you know, I didn't get a chance to get out to training camp.
05:57It was a short training camp this year in Rochester.
06:00But you hear the players talk, almost see it in body language, that there is definitely
06:07a different vibe within the organization at one Bills Drive or 10 Plaza, whatever they're
06:15calling it now, and they're joking about this on the morning show yesterday, and I can't
06:18remember the address of the stadium.
06:20Oh, yeah, I don't know.
06:21It's like 10-something, maybe Zach knows, I don't know.
06:25But one Bills Drive, right?
06:26Like, within the organization...
06:28Zach's pretending he can't hear you.
06:29Perfect.
06:29I think he doesn't know the answers.
06:30This is what most people do to me anyways, pretend they can't hear me.
06:33But where I guess my conversation starter here is going is it just feels there's a lightness.
06:40There is a still, obviously, they still have that sort of McDermott professionalism that
06:45they've always kind of had under McDermott.
06:47But it just, there does feel and look like there is a bit of a freedom, a relaxation about
06:53really the leaders of the team.
06:55Well, I think it's interesting.
06:56I saw there's a clip that I think is, a few different people have said it, maybe Josh
07:01Allen and Joe Brady have said it, in numerous different appearances with the media.
07:08But I'm thinking of an Allen clip that I either saw while I was watching the game last night
07:13on my Twitter feed, or that they even aired on the broadcast last night.
07:19But I think Allen recently did the Adam Schein podcast or radio show and talked about the
07:27slogan, one of the slogans this year, I don't know if there's numerous ones, but certainly
07:31one I've heard about is just put the ball down, right?
07:34That's Brady talked like that when it was raining the first day of camp, like, just put the
07:39ball down, we're going to put the ball down.
07:41And along with that, Allen tagged that with, you know, we're trying to have more of an attitude
07:47of they got to play us, you got to play us, like we're coming, and you got to deal with
07:53us, as opposed to, you know, what's the opposite of that?
07:57The opposite of that is, like, let me react to you, let me prepare for you, and I'll do
08:04what I'm going to do based on what you do, instead of, you know, sort of, it's all word
08:11play, and it's all coach gobbledygook that, you know, a new guy is going to throw out there.
08:16But I do feel like, you know, the shadow of McDermott, I think, is still there, I think
08:22it'll be there until we get into the regular season, and maybe even through a regular season,
08:26and see Joe Brady at the helm of a Bills team that can, you know, match or exceed the results
08:32they were getting from McDermott.
08:33I think that shadow is going to be there until, you know, Brady shows that he's the right
08:37guy for the job, and he can only do that when they go win regular season games, and maybe
08:41even win playoff games to really show that, but I think it makes you think that maybe there
08:49is and was a lot to, or at least something to, the idea that McDermott's level of, I don't
08:59know, tension, seriousness, anxiety, just fear of the opponent as opposed to making the opponent
09:09through you, and again, I don't want to get bogged down in it because it is, it's all
09:13stuff that they just put on signs to hang in locker rooms and try to motivate people
09:17largely, but, you know, Ty Dunn's written thousands of words about how tightly wound McDermott had
09:25been at times during his tenure here, and I mostly was a defender of McDermott, a supporter
09:30of McDermott, but I think, you know, objectively, I can see some of that, and I feel like this
09:37put the ball down, make sure they know they've got to play us, is some reaction to that, like
09:44we're not, we're not approaching this that way anymore, you're going to have to deal with
09:48us, and you know, of course, we're going to pay attention to what you do well, but we're
09:53not going to curtail necessarily what we want to do because, you know, you are good at something
09:58or bad at something, necessarily.
09:59And not that I, because I, it's just going to not come off the way I want it to come
10:04off,
10:04and it's going to sound like an overly critical way of describing Sean McDermott's defensive
10:09philosophy, but isn't, wasn't his whole defensive philosophy really like, you can do whatever
10:15you want, you just can't beat us deep.
10:16Right.
10:17Like, you want to bully us, you can bully us.
10:19Go ahead, run the ball.
10:20Run the ball a lot.
10:21Go ahead.
10:21Right.
10:21If you want to play bully ball, it's almost like that's what we want you to do because
10:24you're not going to beat us over the top, you're not going to get the big play.
10:26Right.
10:26And, and I think that it's been a very clear change of philosophy, um, at least through
10:32three preseason games and what you can gather from three preseason games or hear from salad
10:36and some of the beat reporters that have been at practice, we're not going to really have
10:40a real firm understanding of just how aggressive this Jim Leonard defense is going to be, but
10:44it, it obviously this is obvious.
10:49Like it does look different defensively.
10:51It does not look the same.
10:52It doesn't have the same vibe.
10:53We're talking about the sort of ethos of the locker room being different under Joe
10:57Brady versus, you know, Sean McDermott, but it's very obvious to me that the scheme is
11:01very different defensively.
11:02It is, it is a, if you don't fully understand the differences of a four, three and three,
11:08four, and you're not, you know, listening to the, the, the smart guys on Twitter talking
11:12about it and breaking that stuff down, all you have to really do is, is look at it and
11:17it looks and feels different.
11:18Yeah.
11:19Yeah.
11:19That is, that is probably where I think the idea of they got to play us, you know, I,
11:26it's Alan saying it that I'm referring to.
11:29Um, but the defense is the, I mean, Alan has maybe had that approach his whole career.
11:34Like, you know, he's always going to like look, you know, Oh, I gotta, I gotta scramble.
11:38Let me look downfield.
11:39Right.
11:39Like he's always going to be looking for that.
11:41Um, and sure, certainly maybe now Brady, we've pondered this for months now since Brady
11:47got the job, he's untethered from anyone above him, at least on the coaching staff.
11:52I mean, he has bosses obviously, but he's the head coach.
11:55So he doesn't have someone to answer to on like, Hey, second and one, why did you call
12:01that play?
12:02Or, you know, what, why are we throwing so much on first down and that sort of stuff?
12:06Like he, he can do what he thinks is best and not have to please anyone.
12:10Um, again, other than, you know, Brandon Bean and, and, and the owner, but that, that
12:15might free that part up.
12:17But I think defensively, that's where that mindset really comes from because if they're
12:23it's funny, I retweeted yesterday, uh, uh, a series of tweets that some, someone that
12:29had put together, like all these press releases about defensive coordinators in college and
12:34like, like, there's like more than a dozen of them and it coaches new aggressive style.
12:40Like, you know, that's always the pivot, you know, very rarely do you go from, although
12:45I guess, you know, the bills did from Rex to Sean McDermott.
12:49Yeah.
12:49I guess, you know, they, they did, they did go from aggressive to passive.
12:54Uh, but the results kind of speak for themselves to, to a large extent.
12:58Um, passive was probably the right word I wanted to use to describe Sean McDermott's
13:02philosophy.
13:03I think that's, I think that's right.
13:05So if you're attacking now, I think maybe the, the mindset of the whole team is more
13:09sort of, you know, on their toes than, you know, sort of sitting back, like waiting to
13:13see what, what are you going to do to me?
13:15Uh, you know, this is what I'm going to do to you.
13:17I think is how they sound.
13:19And again, it's all words, but in practice, I think that's what the defense is going to
13:23be.
13:24And I think what that means, Sal has made this point dozens of times, uh, already since Jim
13:29Leonard came on board, uh, the expectation.
13:31And now that we've seen it on the field in practices and preseason games, I think sales
13:35only more dug in on this.
13:37Like they may make more big plays defensively, right?
13:41Sacks, interceptions, fumbles, you know, strip sacks, whatever.
13:44They're going to be more aggressive, but the over the top stuff is going to be there.
13:49Like if you're going to play that way and the team gets the right call at the right
13:54moment, they're going to get single coverage on the right guy and you might get torched.
13:58So there might be more of that against them, but hopefully the equation leans in your favor.
14:04I mean, that's ultimately what you're trying to do here, uh, is, is make more big plays
14:08than you give up.
14:09So yeah, it's funny to thinking about, especially towards the end of last year, the second half
14:13of last season, when you'd lost that Oliver and you just, it felt like injuries were piling
14:18up quite a bit defensively.
14:19Daquan Jones.
14:20Right.
14:20And I, I think about how he was forced into being a more aggressive defensive play caller.
14:30They were, they were forced to really flip who they had been for a long time as they
14:35just want to rush for and, and drop the rest.
14:38And, and again, if you, I was listening to Joe Marino talk about this too, which was just
14:43like their, their philosophy against the run, especially in a, in a traditional four, four,
14:48three, but really a nickel four down defensive lineman and a nickel backfield behind it.
14:53Um, it never really, and, and especially, you know, when Taron Johnson's in his prime, this
14:59is less of a conversation, but the last couple of years where Taron Johnson was banged up,
15:03you could tell he'd lost a step when they're playing that base nickel.
15:07They just do not have the numbers against physical run deep, uh, run offenses.
15:11And I think most, mostly about a team like the Baltimore Ravens who frankly, the bills
15:16had had success against, but it wasn't defensively.
15:20I mean, the bills have not really other than a couple of really bad turnovers from Lamar Jackson
15:25in the playoffs in the first half that allowed the bills to create that separation.
15:29in that divisional round game, they really did whatever they wanted in the second half
15:33and closing those games out and getting off the opener last year.
15:37I mean, just, I mean, it was a open door policy.
15:40It was just, you know, long drive after long drive could not tackle.
15:44I mean, one of the worst tackling teams in football too.
15:46And I am interested if like how much of tackling is a fundamental thing, especially at this level,
15:52every, if you're in the NFL and you play defense short of a couple of corners who are just
15:56kind of smaller and maybe not physical types, you're supposed to get to the, if you're at
16:01this level, kind of know how to tackle them fundamentally.
16:04And it just didn't seem like it was something that they were good at really ever under McDermott.
16:10And it was especially on display last year, several occasions.
16:14It's just like, boy, this is bad.
16:16And the injuries and sort of a, I would say a desperation move by this, by Sean McDermott
16:24and by Bobby Babich, their defensive coordinator to change who they have been for the eight
16:29and a half years prior under Sean McDermott.
16:31But I think was, cause you talk about with McDermott on offense, I thought the firing of Dorsey,
16:39if you remember that season, it was not going well.
16:42The Denver game, there was, that was the first time where it was like, he might get fired
16:46this year.
16:47Well, that's when he got fired.
16:48It was after that game, the Denver game.
16:50And it was the miss.
16:50Well, no, I meant McDermott.
16:52Oh, McDermott.
16:53McDermott.
16:53Like this, that was the first crack in the foundation where I remember post game people
16:57were calling like, okay, it's time.
16:59Like Dorsey's a separate conversation, but we're going to have to have real conversations
17:04around Sean McDermott this year and him firing Dorsey and bringing in, or at that point, elevating
17:09Joe Brady.
17:10That was sort of the last move for McDermott.
17:13That was your break glass in case of emergency is we got to do, we got to make a change
17:17here
17:17where this season is slipping away from us.
17:19And obviously we know about how that ends.
17:20They ended up winning the division and squeaking that season out.
17:23But like, I think a lot about that year because there were a lot of mental mistakes, not a
17:30lot of like, these aren't Sean McDermott coach team mistakes.
17:33And it wasn't just by the players.
17:35It was by the staff as well.
17:37And now that like looking back and having this last year be the year that finally ends
17:42up being the season McDermott's gone is there was a lot of levers that McDermott ultimately
17:48pushed before it just became like, it's time to move on.
17:51But the defense changing who they were defensively to being an aggressive blitz heavy team, that
17:58was very clearly in hindsight, his last, like, this is all I got left.
18:02Right.
18:02This is, this is all, this is the only thing we can do now and hope for the best.
18:06Right.
18:07Well, you know, the, the tackling that's been a, that's been the, the, the quote from Jim
18:11Leonard has made the rounds everywhere that, you know, tack tackling, looking at the tape
18:16from last year, tackling was maybe, I think he said it, the, the, the biggest problem they
18:21had on defense and you know, not for nothing.
18:24It's a preseason game, but I don't know what last night was maybe not the best night for
18:28that.
18:28I mean, they squeaked the game out, but Harrison got torched in the open field on the first
18:33touchdown.
18:33And Igbenosin, who largely is here because he's long and physical, like the, the, the
18:39diving at the big guy's legs at the two yard line was pointless.
18:43I mean, that, that, that to me almost looked like a, like a sort of a business decision,
18:48which is weird for a rookie.
18:50That's got a reputation for being this fearless, tough dude.
18:52He just sort of, I'm going to do this.
18:55And the guy just falls over him into the end zone.
18:58So that, that wasn't great, but you know, by and large, like, yeah, I don't know how much
19:01can you improve on that aside from getting all different personnel.
19:05I mean, Harrison was not a regular starter for this team last year.
19:08Igbenosin is a rookie.
19:10You know, so those are two guys you might look at.
19:13And last night, again, in singular situations, they, they had, IGB also made a very nice
19:19open field tackle earlier in the game.
19:21I think before the touchdown or maybe it was after, I don't remember the order.
19:24It's a preseason game.
19:25I'm not taking notes.
19:26Um, but still they're, they're the, the, the question of whether they'll just be better
19:32at that because there's different people.
19:35And I'm curious to see if that is the case.
19:38And I'm never going to be the guy that's like, I'm not going to overanalyze, you know,
19:42corners, not missing tackles.
19:44I mean, it's, it's, that is not a unique thing to the bills or Buffalo.
19:47It's like that.
19:48It happens.
19:48There's not a lot.
19:49They're in the open field with a talented receiver.
19:51That's shifty and fast.
19:52I'm like, you, you, you might get torched.
19:54I think that's why you kind of really look in your, your, your middle nine, basically
19:58your safeties, your linebackers and your defensive line.
20:01Those are the guys I'm looking at the most to, to, to make upgrades in that position.
20:05And, you know, I, I think that kind of darling for, for the shift in both philosophy and scheme,
20:11the face to me has sort of been like, or I guess if you want to look at one player,
20:18that's sort of been the face of all the, all these changes, it's Landon Jackson.
20:21I mean, the size difference, I mean, the very clear, he is a physical specimen in the middle
20:27of the defense.
20:28And I don't know how much longer we'll be, because TJ Sanders didn't exactly pop in the
20:34preseason and he's been sort of a player that really, even since they drafted him, I think
20:38probably fit best under McDermott scheme.
20:41Now shifts to this Jim Leonard scheme right now.
20:43He's penciled in as the starter, right?
20:45But he didn't even play last night, but that could change.
20:47Landon Jackson could absolutely be in a full 50, 50 split timeshare.
20:53That has definitely been one of the success stories of the summer.
20:55And I want to make sure and point that out every time it comes up, because I was kind
20:59of worried about him.
21:00Me too.
21:01You know, like you drafted him to play in McDermott scheme and he had a certain athletic profile
21:06and you change schemes and like, okay, second year, you barely played as a rookie.
21:12How about you put on 25 pounds and be a different guy?
21:14Yeah.
21:15And that's hard.
21:16Right.
21:16And I mean, that's a big challenge.
21:18Look no further than Dwayne Carter.
21:19It has not worked for him.
21:20Right.
21:21He was kind of asked, okay, you're going to bulk up and play one take.
21:23You're going to play nose tackle.
21:25He was on, he was on the field for the last play of the game yesterday.
21:28He's done.
21:29He's getting caught or traded.
21:30I don't know if he has any trade value, but he's, I don't think he's on.
21:32He's gone.
21:33Yeah.
21:33He's gone.
21:34I, I, and I heard sale this morning talking about the numbers game they're going to have up
21:37front.
21:38I mean, they have, you know, Mike Dana is an interesting guy because he's had a good preseason.
21:41He's in, he's a veteran in the league, but I think Javon Solomon is such an interesting
21:45guy because a, he fits this system perfectly.
21:49They've kept him around in a four, three, and he is a three, four outside linebacker,
21:53but he goes and covers kickoffs.
21:55Like he's all four special teams units.
21:57Like he is, he's locked in.
21:59He didn't play yesterday.
22:01It's pretty noteworthy.
22:03I would say.
22:03Yeah.
22:04Yeah.
22:04Um, yeah, so, I mean, they, they've got numbers on this defensive line to work out
22:08over the next, you know, whatever week or so as they, as they start getting this roster
22:12cut down.
22:12But I, I, I guess I would feel if I was going into this season concerned about one position
22:18group or one area of their defense, to me, it was always defensive line.
22:23And obviously there's a lot of questions around linebacker and is Terrell Bernard going to go
22:27back to the guy he was two years ago is, you know, the rookie, uh, you know, Caleb
22:31alarms or is he gonna, you know, overtake, uh, Williams to be that other starting linebacker.
22:36I don't know that we've gotten necessarily a full answer.
22:38And I think they might also be in a timeshare, but I feel better today about their linebackers
22:42than I did maybe to start, but I feel, I mean, light years ahead of where I was a month
22:48ago about where their defensive line was.
22:50I just think there were so many questions about a guy like Landon Jackson, a guy, you
22:54know, how, how Ed Oliver is going to look in this defense.
22:57And I don't know that we know that yet, but I don't think that's a concern for anybody.
23:00I know the way, and the way that Leonard's talked about, they're going to ask him to
23:03do and what they're going to try to do for him.
23:06Yeah.
23:06Right.
23:06To sort of free him up, uh, is how Leonard has been talking.
23:10I, I, yeah, I'm pretty confident that's going to work to some, like, I think it's going
23:17to be successful.
23:17And I think Greg Gaines is going to be on the team too.
23:21They don't have another player like him and talking and talking to some people that,
23:26you know, are X's and O's people really love the idea of being able to timeshare that nose
23:31tackle position to move Deion Walker all over.
23:33Zach, I, I think is the one guy in the defense that I'm saying he could be a superstar.
23:39Yeah.
23:40And we've seen, we've seen teams win with, with that kind of force in the middle of their
23:45defense, right?
23:46Philadelphia comes, of course, right to mind Seattle too, uh, um, just last year.
23:51All right.
23:52Nate Geary's in pouring over the preseason finale.
23:56Skylar Bell, we'll have to talk about, which we didn't do any of this segment and that'll
24:00have to wait at least for 15 minutes or so, because Sammy P is coming up.
24:05My man, our buddy from Chicago, uh, joins us at this time on Friday.
24:10So we've got that coming up next for you.
24:11Uh, the lay land moving forward, Paul Hamilton will be with us at four.
24:15He was covering this game yesterday has been covering all of Bill's training camp and practice
24:19and whatnot, but we'll also touch on day two of Hellebuck watch, uh, after the public demand
24:25of a trade.
24:26I don't know.
24:26We don't have a, we have a crawl on the YouTube stream, but maybe we'll get one, the Hellebuck
24:30watch.
24:31Uh, so we'll talk some football and some hockey with Paul and then Sal obviously on the bills
24:36at five o'clock.
24:37He's Nate Geary.
24:38I'm the Bulldog.
24:39Mike is away today.
24:40Sammy P right after this on WGR.