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October 9, 2020 • 12 mins
Bruce Gradkowski Joins Tunch & Wolf In The Locker Room - Oct. 9, 2020

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Who we got Bruce grab Cows, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer,
former St. Louis Ram, former Cleveland Brown, former in Oakland Raider,
former Cincinnati Bengal and former Steeler. And he's from Dormant
Uh And I played with his uncle at Indiana State.

(00:21):
Right next to me, Mark Mark grad Calci played left
guard and I played center. And well, welcome to the
locker room, Bruce. Ee man, it's good to be back
with you, guys. I gotta I gotta say you know,
I was waiting for more teams to keep being rattled
off as you were reading my list, but I'm glad

(00:43):
you stopped with the Steelers. And first I want to say,
I saw the news of the of a l S
and I'm praying for you, brother, than the initial thought
that when I saw it, Honestly, I'm like, you know what,
because Punch is a warrior. He's a man of eight,
and he's a beast, and he'll fight this thing and
he'll be a great inspiration for so many people. So

(01:05):
like when I saw it, it wasn't a sense of
like getting sad. It was a sense of motivation of like, hey, yeah,
I'm in this with tounch. I know he could do this,
you know because of just everything you stand for. So
I'm with your brother, praying for you. Thank you. I
love you, Bruce, thank you for your prayers, and thank
you Ford standing with me. Absolutely. I let's get let's

(01:31):
get to the What are you thinking about? What's going on? Bruce?
What do you think it's all? It's going on? It's
it's insane, man, right, all this COVID stuff. I mean,
and we all have to be light on our feet
during this season with COVID and schedules are going to
change and all that. But I just think with the
Titans not following protocol now that that's when it goes

(01:54):
to a different level, right, That's when I think the
punishment should be more severe, and the Steelers the bills.
They shouldn't have to pay the price of rescheduling nerds
schedule and missing a bye and all that stuff. But
I mean, it is what it is at this point, um,
And the thing that stinks the most for it, I
think it's just the Steelers were on a little rule.

(02:16):
Ben's getting back in action. You're finally getting the flow
of games, and the last thing you won is another
week off. Um, so, I just don't think it came
at the right time. Guys. This is what I was
wondering about, Bruce. One of the things I wanted to
ask it was, what what does this mean for a
guy who basically had six quarters last year, doesn't have

(02:36):
any offseason. He rehabs and and let's face, Ben's a
Hall of Famer. I got you, but you still got
to get back on the horse and ride and you
just get your mojo rolling. Then suddenly you go into
operations shut down. That's got to be discouraging, but it's
also got to be something that you considering. You go, Gee,
I wonder if I took a step backwards, you know

(02:56):
what I mean? Does it play in your mind at all? Oh? Absolutely?
I mean I think you know, because Ben's ultimate competitor.
You know, I've been around him in training camp and
we're playing darts and stuff like that, and I'm thinking,
this guy just wins at everything, you know. So he's
the ultimate competitor in that sense. And you know, when
I watched him the first few weeks, you know, I

(03:18):
saw him do some great things. I'm like, man, it's
just the balls coming out of his hands. Nice. It
looks good. He looks like he's back, and now now
you're then I started looking at the football things. You know,
there's some mis throws that I see him making that
that's not not normally him. Like Ben's the type of
guy that hits a receiver no matter what, even if

(03:38):
the route wasn't perfect. I, on the other hand, needed
guys in the right spot at the right time, and
I needed it to time up. And you know, if
a guy did a little bit too much on his route,
it would throw my timing off. Ben's never been like that.
So when I see him missing some passes in the
last few weeks, I just know it's kind of him
getting back used to the speed of the game, the action,

(04:00):
you know, that the rush around him, you know, and
he's dealing with receivers that he's never played with. So
it's all of that. So I think that's why you
see a lot of disappointment in him of you know,
missing the Titans game and they're just getting postponed because
you're in a role you feel like you're finally get
back in the group and then you've got to sit
out another week. So is that that game that was

(04:25):
a bye? Do you think it's gonna freeze him, uh
for his development. Yeah, I mean I think, you know,
it might sew him up a little bit, but I
think it just depends how much work he's been getting done.
You know, I'm sure Tomlin is taking care of the
guys that he always does, and especially not knowing, you
know what what the rest of the season will hold.

(04:47):
But I think this has given Ben. I don't know,
it might sold up a tap, but I think hope
you despined. I I was always fearful of like how
slow the Dealers will start the season, because they've been
a team that I feel like it take some a
few weeks to get going. So I hope they don't
have to restart right now. I think the one thing
I'll tell you that I'm more positive in is I

(05:09):
don't think this defense has to restart. I mean, these
guys phenomenal wants in them play, only giving up five
explosive runs in the last few weeks their number two
in r PFF data. Uh, and then you know the
most pressures generated over four weeks with nineties seven, so
they get after the quarterback. So I'm just I'm just
excited to watch this defense back in action. One of

(05:31):
the things I wanted to ask you too about Bruce
is what's going on with Carson Wentz R. Is it
merely wide receivers being injured not being all the timing
up or is there something in the offensive line? Obviously,
but is there something more a foot with him? What
do you think? Yeah, yeah, I mean I think with
when it's just that was one of the stories that

(05:52):
I've been really surprised at starting to see it, like
the way he started off and he is just missing
too many open guys. I mean, you know, the first
game against Washington, he had big throws there to be
made and he's just not connecting on it. And you know,
so I see that happening. You guys know how it is.
I mean, when you have a franchise quarterback, you're like,

(06:14):
don't take that hit, you know, throw the ball away. Oh,
be cautious. You know, you guys have seen Ben's career
right where you're kind of, you know, holding onto your popcorn, like, oh, man,
don't take that hit. How much Butter? How much? Butter? Huh?
For you a lot? But I'll tell you what, Like,

(06:35):
so Carson Wentz so he needs to play that way
He's a guy that's a gritty competitor. He's a guy
that you know. The last few weeks, I know, they
didn't win against the Bengals, but they tied him and
then they had the key win last week. He's back
to like diving for touchdowns dot for first down. I
think that's just how he has to play and they
have to accept that because it makes him feel a

(06:57):
part of the game. Um, and I saw him playing
better in that sense. I'm a fan of Went. I
think there's still a lot there, but I think the
Steers will be able to ask to be able to
get some pressure on him. He is a tough guy.
You know, he runs well and throws well on the run. Uh.
He had a big throw last week. Uh on the

(07:17):
run and uh you know when I love the uh
the boots that they run and zach Ertz is ah,
you know Scots on the flat and then gets in
the cross a shell acrosses and uh. You know, I think, Uh,
he's better on play action pass. You're right about that,

(07:40):
I mean, and that's what went to you know, like
some quarterbacks and joy R p o s, some quarterbacks
have to get the read pre snap. Some can navigate
it post snap. You know, I think Wentz is the
type of guy. Get a more play action pass, let
him drop back deep in the pocket and then just
have easy progressions. Hey, read this one to three and

(08:02):
then scramble and make a play. I mean, that's that's
the type of guy he is in the place he
can make. So it'll be interesting to see. But you
made a good point with with Earth's. I mean, I
don't know why he doesn't just target him more. You know,
when there's man and man matchups, Earth is the number
one tight end of separating in one of in one
on one UH contested areas, And I think so when

(08:26):
I see these receivers for the egos not getting separation,
I'm like, man, just rely on Earth. He does a
really good job separate and he's one of our top
tight ends in that area. So that's kind of what
I think of as far as went In um Earth's
are concerned. Give me your feedback on Miles Sanders. One
of the things that I love about this kid is

(08:46):
his nice ability to cut back. But also you look
at this offensive line and Tounch and I were talking
about this therapy. This is this is like Elephants on parade,
you know. I mean when they run that outside own,
it's not so much a cutback as they wash everybody
down on the front end of the defense. And and

(09:07):
and Miles Sanders just runs almost straight. Yeah, they don't
have to cut back and they have their uh at
their trunk on the next guy. I mean, these these dudes.
You talk about having a big offensive line, you're right,
So I think he does a good job, you know,
for what he's given there, and um, the offensive line
does a good job. I mean I even think you know,

(09:29):
you guys sparked my mind, you see, I like, I
like working with you guys. You make me think of
different things. But the defensive line for the Eagles, I
mean they just as much, just as much pressure is
uh is our Steelers defensive line, you know, and not
jumping from Miles Sanders to that, but it just made
me think of the big offensive line that the Eagles have,

(09:52):
but also defensively, how they're able to get after the
quarterback as well. That might be a test dress Doers
offense this week. You know, uh Brusie Uh. Jim Schwartz
is the defensive coordinator and they played that wide nine
and uh, you know, they they go for penetration and
so they play the run on the way to the quarterback.

(10:16):
Yeah yeah, And and and that's I mean, that's how I
like it. I mean, why not, especially this week against
big Band, you're gonna want to get after the pastor.
I mean, I'm not gonna be too concern in the
sense of uh stopping the run as I am. Look,
don't let them get off, don't let him get in
a rhythm. Let's let's make him feel uncomfortable. And that's

(10:39):
what the Eagles do. I mean, the Steelers are number
one as far as total generated pressures in four weeks
with ninety seven. The Rams are two and five, and
then the Eagles or three with one. So they really
do do a good job. I think Schwartz is a
good defensive coordinator. Um you know, so, so we'll see
what the Steelers have up their sleep. But they gotta

(10:59):
protective big guy in that pocket, you know, one of
the exciting things. And we're down to about a minute, Bruce,
But I look at the defensive line of the Eagles
that you were talking about, in our defensive line, and
this could be a battle of Hey, who's liing a
torch and who's getting after it. I mean, this could
be one of those slug fests. Pretty exciting. I don't know,
how do you see this game finishing up going down? Well,

(11:21):
you're you're totally right. We have to it on NFL
Radio yesterday, and I just love the guy. But he's happy,
he's back and healthy and it is man, it's gonna
be a showdown. Like I just can't wait to watch
the Steelers defense. I think it's gonna come down to
turnovers to they could get some turnovers from when Ben
continue to play like he is. He doesn't have to
do it all. That's the one thing I really like

(11:43):
how Bean's playing because he's taking care of the football.
He's being smart with it. He can play that way
because he's got a good defense behind him. So I
think the Steelers will be all right this week. Well
that guy, God bless you, Bruce. See. Thanks for your
prayers and thank you for joining us in the locker room.
And you're gonna do it weekly, right, brother weekly guys,

(12:04):
if you'll have me, oh, please stop that. We gotta
do it over some furies or some per many brother sandwiches.
I'd love ites pizza there you go, or baby there
you go. You guys,
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