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00:00Sal Capaccio joins us now on the Western Hotline, and I just saw a tweet from Sal that the end
00:06zones on Sunday will again be red.
00:10And I didn't, I guess I was naive here, I didn't realize that they could actually change that.
00:15I thought a decision was a decision on this, but Sal, is this like sort of a week-to-week
00:20thing?
00:21Yeah, yeah. I mean, now that you have the ability to do that, I mean, I guess you would before
00:25at the turf, but teams do it all the time.
00:27I mean, think about all the Dolphins have different kinds of end zones.
00:31Checkerboards and stuff, yeah.
00:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:33Yeah, right.
00:34But I mean, like, they won, and I think they got good public feedback on it, so why change?
00:40I've learned that the end zones will be red once again.
00:43That doesn't mean it's going to be again next week against the Patriots.
00:47My guess is they win, probably keep it the same.
00:49So, you know, keep it rolling here.
00:51But yes, they will be red again this week is what I've been told and learned.
00:53Okay. Why mess with a good thing?
00:55On the stadium, since we're there, and forgive me if we asked you this already earlier in the week, but
01:03I don't remember.
01:03Like, what did everyone have to say or anyone that you heard talking about the turf itself have to say
01:09about the turf on Sunday?
01:10Or Thursday, excuse me.
01:14Oddly, and it's funny because I thought about it on Friday, like, we really didn't hear much from anyone, which
01:19I think is really good news, right?
01:22You know, I think a lot of the stuff that came out on it, even in Tim's article, was, hey,
01:26how's it holding up over three weeks?
01:28You have three straight games.
01:30So maybe there's a little bit more about that this week and then next week against the Patriots.
01:33But honestly, like, I didn't hear anybody talk about it positively or negatively, but I think when it comes to
01:41turf, that's a good thing.
01:42Yeah, I think it's like an offensive lineman.
01:44If you don't hear his name, he's probably doing a good job, right?
01:47That's exactly right.
01:48There was one play, not the play Coleman hurt his ankle on, but there was one play where he caught
01:54a ball and looked like he went to cut and his feet went out from under him, but that could
01:57happen anywhere, I think.
01:59Like, I wouldn't necessarily look at that as like, oh, the turf.
02:02You know, like, that happens.
02:04But what you didn't see was guys consistently losing footing and clumps of turf coming up and all that kind
02:10of stuff.
02:11It seemed like it went pretty well, at least for one game.
02:15And I would say I think there was a play late in the game with James Cook.
02:18Maybe something similar happened.
02:19But again, you just played close to 60 minutes.
02:23It's been beaten up a little bit.
02:24It can happen.
02:25It was a humid day.
02:26You know what I mean?
02:26So I don't know.
02:28I don't necessarily want to chalk it up to anything other than just playing football and that happens.
02:31Right.
02:32But, hey, you know, let's get through another week here and see where we're at because I think it's been,
02:37you know, pretty good so far with no news is good news, basically.
02:41Sal, what is the news from practice today?
02:43Who was on, who was off?
02:45Oh.
02:48You guys got me?
02:49Yep, we got you.
02:50Sorry about that.
02:51Go ahead, guys.
02:52Just who was not present today at practice?
02:56No DJ Moore and no Keon Coleman today.
02:59So, interesting there.
03:01DJ Moore did practice yesterday in a red non-contact jersey.
03:05Keon Coleman was not at practice yesterday, nor again today.
03:08So that's not trending well.
03:10And it doesn't mean, you know, we'll see tomorrow maybe.
03:12And then Ed Oliver was practicing today.
03:15No TJ Sanders, which is expected after we knew and we learned that he had an appendectomy a couple nights
03:20ago.
03:22But Ed Oliver was there participating.
03:24No Keon Coleman, no DJ Moore, which is a bit surprising to me considering he did practice yesterday.
03:28Yeah, and Coleman, not surprising that he missed today because he did miss yesterday, but maybe surprising because he left
03:35the game with an injury and then came back and finished the game.
03:39Maybe it's one of those deals where they taped him up during the game and he was able to keep
03:44going.
03:44And then maybe it got, you know, it became bothersome enough that he's missing practice.
03:50So, I don't know.
03:51I feel like if I, not that this is worth anything, if I could bet right now, I feel like
03:56Coleman, even, I'm not expecting him this week.
04:00More, I think, because of how he sounded yesterday and his reputation, I feel like today could very easily be
04:08a, let's just protect him from himself kind of day.
04:11And that I would bet on him playing Sunday.
04:14But that's just, that's just my, I guess, for my part.
04:18I would read it the same way.
04:20You know, and not only just protect him from himself, just lay off his body a little bit.
04:24He got back out there.
04:25Things went well.
04:26Let's not push anything, risk anything, make sure he's good to go for Sunday.
04:30You still have a few days here.
04:32You know, tomorrow you can have a practice tomorrow.
04:34I mean, heck, they can take it all the way up to Sunday with any of these guys.
04:36And then I really like what I saw from Ed Oliver today, at least just kind of going through a
04:40couple position drills.
04:42He was wearing a regular white practice jersey, not red non-contact.
04:45That's a good sign.
04:46So, you know, they could very well have Ed Oliver.
04:48And then, although I didn't actually have eyes on him, I do believe that Ty Johnson was out there again.
04:56I didn't hear anybody in media circles talking that they didn't see him.
04:59I saw footage of him practicing today.
05:01So, yeah.
05:02Good, good.
05:02Assuming that was today.
05:03I was more looking at the receivers and Ed, and then that's good.
05:06So, yeah, it looks like they should get him back as well.
05:09Yep.
05:09I was about to ask you about him, but that's covered.
05:12So, when it comes to the, really, a story that's sweeping the region, if not the nation,
05:19the call-ups of Greg Dortch and how that stands going into week three.
05:23So, they have one more of those they can use.
05:26They really, or am I wrong, do not have the injury where they can put a player on IR
05:31and kind of just call him up and make that easier, which I guess is good.
05:34But maybe, we've talked about it for the last couple of weeks.
05:37Maybe that was kind of what they were bargaining for, was that they would have a situation where
05:42they could just do that.
05:43Right.
05:44And now they still really don't, or what?
05:46I think that that could happen with T.J. Sanders, depending on, I don't really honestly know
05:50the timeline of an appendectomy.
05:52You know, I mean, like, is that one game?
05:55Is that two games?
05:55I think there seems to be some people kind of talking about that and trying to figure
06:01it out online.
06:01And some of it is, well, maybe a guy had an appendectomy, but they listed it as an
06:06illness, so we don't know.
06:08So, if T.J. Sanders is out for multiple weeks, that could be your guy.
06:12That could be a guy where you say, okay, let's do that.
06:15I mean, they did, for what it's worth, sign somebody to his position on the practice squad.
06:21So, sometimes that's an indication that they're not going to be having him.
06:24And it could just be for the week, for sure, because you just want to have enough bodies
06:27there.
06:28But that could be the guy.
06:30And then you do also have, after this week, guys, a decision coming at that position on
06:36Fedarian Mathis, his suspension is over.
06:38And that's not one where you could just keep him on suspended.
06:42He's got to come off suspension.
06:43So, you've got to do something with him.
06:45Whereas Zane Durant, he has two more games left on IR.
06:50You could just keep him there all year if you want.
06:51Zane Durant could literally get a redshirt year if you want.
06:53That's up to the team.
06:54But Fedarian Mathis, you've got to make a decision.
06:57But if you're looking for someone, if it's trending that way, the one I would say would be
07:02probably T.J. Sanders, considering, you know, that he had the
07:06appendectomy, and he's going to miss this week, at least.
07:09Are you, I don't want to say you're surprised.
07:12I'm guessing you're not surprised, necessarily.
07:14But we have a clip of D.J. Moore talking about, like, yeah, I'm okay.
07:18I felt better.
07:18You know, he was all positive about it from yesterday.
07:22So, I don't know if that does a lot for you in terms of predicting his status for the
07:26game.
07:27He hasn't missed a game in, like, more than five years.
07:29So, he's probably someone who takes a lot of pride in that.
07:32Any instincts here?
07:34Yeah, I'll just go back to what Bulldog said, which I agree with.
07:37I think today is probably a day where, to me, that's a guy where, okay, you felt good.
07:41Everything went well.
07:42Let's just back off today.
07:44Protect you from yourself.
07:45Protect you from anything not happening.
07:46But we'll see.
07:47Maybe, you know, we'll see what he's listed as on the entry report.
07:50If there's anything else going on other than shoulder, when that comes out later.
07:53But my instinct is what Bulldog said earlier, which is, he's probably a guy that you're
07:58just going to kind of play the long game this week and then, you know, think you're going
08:02to come back on Sunday.
08:04How do you, oh boy, this is going to be tough because last week was kind of, week two was
08:08just kind of cross it off because he got hurt like he did.
08:11But through two weeks in general from what you've seen and who you've talked to, do you
08:16feel like Moore is playing the role that he was brought in to play?
08:21I mean, he had big plays in Houston.
08:23Again, the injury makes this kind of a lame question because last week we didn't get to
08:26find out.
08:27But I was listening to a podcast where they were talking about him and the host said
08:31how in week one they got him off.
08:33And I thought, well, eventually, a little, kind of.
08:36I mean, he had big plays in that game, the one long touchdown, plus the interference call
08:40that doesn't count on his stats.
08:42And then last week, it wasn't right away, again, before he saw anything and then he
08:46was injured.
08:47So, I don't know.
08:48Do you think, what's the right question?
08:50Do you think the Bills might want more, no pun intended, from him, from what they're
08:54getting?
08:54Or is it maybe game script?
08:56Or just how do you see it going from here?
09:00Absolutely not do they want more from DJ Moore.
09:03He has been terrific.
09:04He is drawing coverage because of him and what he's doing.
09:07Other people are open.
09:08You can't just defend against him.
09:10Dalton Kincaid has been terrific, partly because DJ Moore is on the field.
09:14I mean, what happened after he got injured was the passing game kind of slowed down because
09:18now everybody's got to play different roles.
09:20So, I don't care what any stats say.
09:23I don't care what targets and yards.
09:25It is clear the impact DJ Moore is having on this offense.
09:28And I think the Bills are very happy with it.
09:30Yeah, I almost wonder, Sal, if his shoulder injury, I don't know what his range of motion
09:37might be and how safe it would be to play him if he's not 100% or close to 100%.
09:44But I almost feel like if he can run and draw coverage, that's valuable enough to get in
09:51the lineup.
09:51I don't want him blocking downfield on running plays, probably, if he's got a damaged shoulder.
09:57But I think I could defend playing him and just seeing how it goes.
10:03If they're still rolling coverage to him, that's to my benefit.
10:07And that might be worth enough giving him a uniform, even if he's not catching five passes.
10:12Yeah, absolutely.
10:13I agree with that.
10:14I mean, he has shown that he is going to draw some attention.
10:18And that happened in week one.
10:20And, you know, he is a guy that's going to play through some things.
10:23So even if he is a little bit banged up, he's probably still going to be useful for you.
10:27But no, I think the Bills are very happy with what they have in DJ Moore.
10:30I think that the returns have been excellent so far.
10:33And despite, you know, having to leave the game early last week, I think you saw the impact
10:37after he went out.
10:38And you certainly saw it in week one.
10:40I mean, even that play we talked about at the end with Joshua Palmer.
10:43Now, there may be some debate.
10:45And I think maybe the safety was cheating a little more until Stoughton Kincaid.
10:48But he certainly had a bit of a hiccup because he saw DJ Moore kind of running this little
10:53belly route.
10:54And you're like, oh, wait a minute.
10:55Oh, then there's Joshua Palmer because your eyes go to DJ Moore.
10:59I mean, that's what number one receivers do for you.
11:02They don't have to be a number.
11:03Yeah, you want them at the end of the year.
11:06120 targets and, you know, whatever amount of catches and yards.
11:09But, man, he's a guy that's a very big part of the highest scoring offense in the league
11:14over two weeks.
11:15Yeah.
11:15I know there's, you know, we don't know what Bullock was the safety in question in week
11:20one was looking at.
11:21But I think Allen even said when talking about the play and how it was designed and in practice
11:26it never goes to Palmer, I think he said, I saw the safety looking at DJ or something
11:32to that effect.
11:33And so, you know, that's how Allen identified it.
11:35And then I think everyone just kind of took their cues from there.
11:37But, yeah, you're right.
11:39Kincaid was in the area.
11:40It could have been that.
11:41Whatever it was, I think the point holds.
11:44I think there's value in him being on the field even if he doesn't catch a pile of passes.
11:50Now, look, if you don't have DJ Moore and you don't have Keon Coleman.
11:53Right.
11:54Or even if you don't have Keon Coleman, you know, things will change a little bit.
11:57And that's where Skylar Bell comes into play.
12:00You know, and obviously this is a player that I think the team has some hopes for here.
12:06He's not DJ Moore.
12:07Can he be Keon Coleman?
12:09We talked yesterday with him about, I asked him about playing the X and playing the slot.
12:14And he said, yeah, he's been doing both.
12:15He's learning a lot from Khalil Shakir about doing both those things and how different they
12:20are in their own right.
12:22So, you know, I think there's some, there's some, you know, intrigue about what, what Skylar
12:27Bell can bring.
12:27I don't think we want to be at the expense of DJ Moore.
12:30Of course not.
12:31Right.
12:31Um, but no, there's, there could be a little shuffling of the deck a little bit this week,
12:35whether that's on who gets a jersey because of health or actually who plays what roles.
12:39And what about just to close the book on receiver Palmer as a substitute, like a more of a full
12:46time role than, you know, from, from either guy, but whether it's more Coleman or just what
12:50they do, I mean, he's got the, the two big touchdown catches already.
12:53Uh, might you see, might you expect to see Palmer play more or a lot more that would seem like
12:59logical if guys miss.
13:01I, I would think that if DJ Moore, you know, missed it all, then yeah, maybe, maybe there
13:07with, with, uh, Coleman, if that's the case, you're probably right.
13:11I think, I think Joshua Palmer is going to be kind of what Joshua Palmer has shown us to
13:15be so far this year, which is a guy that at any point in the game could make a really
13:20big play for you.
13:21And you don't know when that's going to come.
13:22I don't know if there, there might be a game down the line where you're like, okay, he
13:25had seven catches for a hundred yards and scored a touchdown.
13:28Like he was a big part of the offense, but I don't think that the volume is going to be
13:33there for him all year, but there's going to be plays where you're going to say, okay,
13:36that's why he's important to this offense.
13:37And certainly if guys are out, he's going to have to have an uptick in his usage.
13:43Sal Capaccio on the Western hotline with us, uh, the bills, uh, continuing to ramp up
13:48for week three, uh, home game with the chargers Sunday, one o'clock at Highmark stadium on the
13:55defensive side of the ball.
13:56You mentioned observing Oliver.
13:58Uh, we know he missed the game with the last minute, you know, thing in, in warmups last
14:02Thursday.
14:02Um, given that the chargers are somewhat compromised in the interior of their offensive line, well,
14:10it feels like a really great week to take at Oliver and Dion Walker out for a spin.
14:15Oh yeah.
14:15You're right about that.
14:16And you know, they can get a healthy at Oliver back and pair him with what we've seen with
14:20Dion Walker.
14:21I mean, you're right.
14:22You, you, you have big expectations about what this interior can do and what the interior
14:27is doing is allowing a guy like Greg Rousseau right now to lead the league in sacks and
14:31then force fumbles because, you know, you drop back and all of a sudden you saw it last
14:35week, but Jared golf sees big Dion Walker coming up the middle and he's like, okay, what do
14:39I do here?
14:40So he basically turns right into Greg Rousseau in that situation.
14:44And I think that's exactly what they'd like to do.
14:46And look, I think there's a team, the chargers who kind of want to run the ball under Mike
14:51McDaniel.
14:52They think they have the running backs to run the ball, but if you can disrupt because they
14:57are, as you put compromised, I think it's a good word on the interior.
15:00And Ed Oliver is there penetrating.
15:02You could make it a much longer day.
15:04And, you know, if you can make them one dimensional, that would obviously be exactly what Jim Leonard
15:08wants.
15:10Sal, what's your take on Justin Herbert and his career to date?
15:14It's a great question because I feel like there's like whichever, whichever way you go on
15:20that, um, there's polarization, right?
15:23There's no middle ground and I'm not saying there should be necessarily, but I think he's
15:28a really good quarterback.
15:29I do.
15:29I think he's a good quarterback.
15:30He's very talented.
15:31I think he has a lot of skill.
15:33I can't put my finger on why it hasn't gone specifically right for him.
15:37You know, when you get to the playoffs or, you know, other areas, I guess, I mean, he
15:42puts up, he's put up some monster games.
15:44I think that he is very talented.
15:46I think that maybe he's been a little bit held back philosophically, whether that's
15:51from his head coach or offensive coordinator.
15:53In this case, I've, I've heard this week, several people talking about how, including
15:58I think Greg Cosell, who made a really good point about it.
16:01Just maybe he's just not the right fit for this offense.
16:04And that makes sense for what Mike McDaniel wants to do.
16:06It's more of a rhythm-based timing, run game, offense and passing game.
16:11That's not Justin Herbert's game necessarily.
16:14So I don't know if he's had quite the right fit there.
16:16I like him though, as a quarterback.
16:18I mean, I think that if you, you know, had a, just a straight up quarterback draft, regardless
16:23of anything in the NFL, I think he probably goes in the top third of the QBs in the league.
16:30Yeah.
16:31It's interesting, and I'm not sure I want to get into the whole discussion here necessarily,
16:35but how some guys just, it doesn't stick to them.
16:38Right.
16:38And other guys, it does.
16:40Herbert, it doesn't seem, maybe now it's starting to happen, but it.
16:43Yeah.
16:44That's where I'm at.
16:45I mean, I feel like at some point you have to be capable of showing you can elevate the
16:51whole program.
16:52Yeah.
16:53And the, this coach is, it's this coach, it's this coach, it's this coach.
16:56So, I mean, you run on a runway at some point or another, you just have to say, like, turn
17:01around and look at the guy and go like, dude, you know, we've run through three different
17:05systems and nothing has taken yet.
17:08You know, it's time to wonder about whether the guy that's handling the ball is got everything
17:14buttoned up.
17:16If you, if you point to legitimate things, like he's had drops, I guess there's been
17:23drops, there's been injuries.
17:25We know that the charters are typically a pretty banged up team.
17:28And again, this year, um, you know, just got the, the offensive line legitimate things
17:33that like any quarterback would have trouble dealing with, or would make it go.
17:37If you point to those things, I think they come off as excuses for a guy that hasn't done
17:41what you said, Bulldog, which is elevate because like, you could do that when Patrick
17:46Mahomes has it, like, yeah, but it doesn't matter.
17:47He's Patrick Mahomes.
17:48He's already won Superbowls.
17:49Like, it doesn't matter when he has a down year.
17:51Like, yeah, but we know what he can do.
17:53You can't do that with Justin Herbert.
17:55I think that's where the issue comes in to trying to say, like, I come on the radio and
17:58go, I think he's really good.
17:59I think he's really talented.
18:00Well, what have you really, what, what evidence do you have of that?
18:04Right.
18:05Because I can say, well, he's had this happen and that happened, but that only takes you
18:08so far.
18:09A little bit of a scary game with how one-sided it feels like all the picks will be.
18:15I saw a graphic from football guys, 15 people, 15 bills, even one guy who picked Atlanta and
18:22the Jets in Detroit couldn't bring himself to the Chargers in this game.
18:26So, you know, I think we have one of those here.
18:29Well, what would be the reason to pick the Chargers in this game?
18:32I know.
18:32And I think that's why, right?
18:33I mean, like, I get it.
18:35I think from a, from a, you know, a scare standpoint, I don't know what you want to say, superstition
18:39standpoint from somebody, you'd be like, oh my God, it scares me that everybody's taking
18:43the Chargers.
18:44And I understand that totally.
18:45Or the bills.
18:46But like, what, what would be the reason?
18:47Give me a reason to pick the Chargers in this game.
18:49The only thing I can think of is, okay, the Chargers are very desperate and they're just
18:54going to start doing anything they can.
18:56And the bills secondary has been leaky and suddenly Herbert goes off, but that still
19:01takes a set of circumstances to me to say, he's going to have time and he's going to
19:05have to have wide receivers be able to do that.
19:07And I just think it's going to be really hard for those things to happen.
19:12We'll talk about that some more.
19:14Thank you, Sal.
19:14Maybe we'll connect again tomorrow.
19:16You got it guys.
19:17Thanks.
19:17That's our Sal Capaccio on the Western hotline.
19:20His appearances are brought to you by New York's only outlet liquor.
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