BucsBTA102224.mp3

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Buck not three? What's the three?

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Please these Buccaneers Total Access with head coach Todd Bowles.
Stop the hell of the job.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Going back back.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Here mate field shotgun look looks right nop?

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Back to up those twarters.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Left coldball Evans at the five another three?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Two?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
What touchdowns? Have a bay there you go.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Fire the cannons, Mike.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Evans, brought to you by at vent Health.

Speaker 4 (00:27):
No matter what helps you feel whole, swimming, laughing, or
finding peaceful moments in your day, at vent Health is
here to support you with world class expertise and whole
person care, because feeling whole always speakins at advent Heealth
dot Com.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Fire the cannons.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Now your host Bocks, team reporter Casey Phillips and head
Coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 5 (00:47):
Welcome into Buccaneers Total Access.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Casey Phillips here And normally we start the show with
Todd Bowles because of the schedule, we're gonna have to
flip flap it. So now I am so excited to
be joined by quarterback coach Thad Lewis. And again we'll
have Todd Bowles coming up in the second half of
the show. But now, Coach, thank you so much.

Speaker 5 (01:03):
For joining us. I really appreciate you taking the time.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thanks for having me case.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
I know it's a short week and also man, just
a rough one. I feel like there's there's losses. All
losses are hard and tough, but then there's where it's
also a loss of a couple players with injury, and
that just feels like it's a very different situation. So
what are the emotions you felt in the locker room
among the coaching staff and coming out of this game,
and how much more challenging that can be to deal
with than just a typical loss.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
You feel bad for the players because they're teammates and
they're round those guys and it's unfortunate to see guys
go down injury. But as a coach, you know, sometimes
you got to have short term memory, and being a
quarterback coach, sometimes when you turn them all over, you
have to have a short term and bringing on to
the next and we just have to get the guys
ready to step up, you know, next man up mentality

(01:49):
that coach Bulls always preach. So you really don't have
time to dwell on it, but at the same time,
you keep those guys in your thoughts and your prayers
while being able to get the other guys ready to
go to continue to transition and continue to keep the
train rolling and the ball rolling with the team because
hopefully we can get those guys back. But at the
end of the day, the end go always remains the

(02:10):
same and we have to stay focused on that.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
I know, the chemistry between Baker and Mike, Baker and
Chris had just been off the charts an incredible looking
great this year. Let's start with talking about Mike a
little bit. What did you see about the way that
Baker and Mike had been able to grow their chemistry
to this point.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Just one year under their belt, knowing each other, understanding
body language, some of the things you can't coach being
on the same page. Even though I'd be like, oh what, okay,
there it goes. You know, you have some of those moments.
But I think that's what a quarterback and the number
one wide receiver you usually do. Just get on the
same page. And they've been They've done a great job

(02:48):
doing that, and we've roped the benefits for that early
with him catching six touchdowns already through seven weeks or
eight weeks or whatever it is right now. So unfortunate
and he's down right now. But at the same time,
next man up and so hopefully Baker Riley the troops
and get one of these young guys to step up
and fell avoid.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, you mentioned the touchdowns. Mike got his one hundredth
career receiving touchdown. Only ten players in NFL history have
twelve thousand plus receiving yards and one hundred plus touchdown receptions.
The only ones not already in the Hall of Fame
are Mike and Larry Fitzgerald. Again, the guys that just
aren't eligible yet. Tell me what those stats say to

(03:30):
you about Mike and specifically his skills of we know
about the thousand yard seasons, but then also being able
to get in the end zone the way that he has.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
It's a testament to the guy coming in and do
already has had to do as a rookie. You know,
you think about the thousand yard every year come in.
That's unheard of. I even played, and I never seen
guys be able to do that, you know, that's uncommon.
That speaks to the longevity of him being healthy and
being available and able to go, and just his knack

(04:01):
for the end zone. Though it's just him being a
great guy and then obviously being in a red zone
threat when he down. Now, I'm anxious to see how
many of those touchdowns with Fade routes down in the
red zone with his background being a basketball player and
he been going up to grab rebounds like that because
he's very good at that. But I mean, just a
testament to the guy and to work at the end
of the time that he's put in at some of the

(04:22):
things we don't see in the off season that carry
over to the season. So hopefully him and Larry Fazgil
be first ballot Hall of Famer since it's on the
other twelve guys that don't do it, you know. So
I mean speaks to him and the work is out
there for everybody to see. The body of work, even
though the media don't cover you know, the South like
that as much, but his body of work is out

(04:43):
there women a lot of numbers don't lie, so you know,
he has to resume for it.

Speaker 5 (04:48):
I like it.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
And Chris Godwin man, I mean, I feel like the
injury is devastating because we all know what a great
guy he is and everything, but it also feels even
more devastating because at the level he was playing this year.
I mean, it just unbelievable what he'd been doing on
the on the field. Tell me what you had seen
about both the Baker and him and their chemistry, but
then also this new offensive scheme putting him back in

(05:10):
the slot. What had all kind of added up to
the work that Chris had been doing.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Just see him, a guy like that come off injury
and get his confidence back, get back to the natural
position that he was playing. When we was here earlier
with Ba in the slot and just him and Baker
getting on the same page. You should see the communication
between those guys. It's almost like a power forward or
a center and a point guard talking to each other,
going over the play to get him the rock, you know,
and and they're on the same page. And just him

(05:37):
coming back off that knee and working tremendously. It's unfortunate
to see him go down, but the guy with his
caliber and his mindset, his character, he I'm sure he'll
come back bigger, stronger, and faster from that. Pray for
speedy recovery. You you wish a guy nothing like that
happens to a guy like that because of what he

(05:57):
means to this team. He is the heartbeat. So we're
gonna need some guys to feel that void for sure,
but I'm pretty sure just his presence around to have
the team in the right mindset.

Speaker 5 (06:06):
We're talking a quarterback coach Thad Lewis.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
I know that next man up is one of the
most commonly used phrases in the NFL, and it makes
a lot of sense. But at the same time, what
is the balance between just saying people have to step
up versus understanding that everyone has different skill sets and
how you try to, you know, potentially have to change
things or what it means to Baker and how it
might change what he's able to do that knowing no

(06:29):
one is Mike Evans, no one is Chris Godwin, how
do you balance the hey, next man up versus Hey,
maybe we might have to change some things.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's not about your Scheme's about what the past can do.
So everybody have a specific skill set. So it's our
job to make sure we play to the strengths of
those guys that have to fill a void. We know
what they can do, we know what they can do best.
Just put them in the advantageous situations where they can
be the best they can be out there and not
aks them to be Michael Chris, but be the best
version of themselves. And if we can do that and

(06:58):
put them in great situation, then we'll be off and
you can see the next man mentality showing the skills
that they can do, not with the other guys that
are out could do.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
So let's talk about some of these guys who are
gonna have to step up. Jalen McMillan, we know coming
in as a rookie, a lot of high praise for
him in the preseason and the off season and his
confidence level coming in, but it's felt like it's been
a little harder for them to connect recently than it
had earlier before. Tell me what the potential is for him,

(07:29):
how he could step into some of these roles, and
what needs to change to let him be a guy
that is getting a few more catches, few more targets.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
I mean, he has a high ceiling, but at the
same time, he would get more opportunity, which he probably
didn't get as many opportunities with Mike and Chris being
the first and second choice of guys that you want
to get the ball too. So anybody that has the
opportunity to see the green light and eyes light up
when they say, okay, my numbers called. Now I'm gonna
get more targets, more opportunity. You should see a kid

(07:57):
like that thrive and be able to go out there
and play more and be more confident in his role
because his role will expand. Sometimes when your road is
not big and you know it, you kind of just
sit back and relax and watch the other two guys.
But right now, I just feel like he should be
able and go mold like the kids say, because now
he gets the opportunity and his role we'll expand.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
And what are the things that he does best, and
what are the things that Baker likes about him? And
the routes the throws that they've really been able to
do well.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
The kid can run routes and he can get open.
Now he just have an opportunity to display that. And
just like anybody, just make sure you're on the quarterback
on the same page where you need to be. We're
all be in detailed, we're all on the same page,
and then you guys can connect like that. And I
think moving forward with a great week of practice. You know,
practice don't make perfect and make permanent. You know, guys

(08:47):
will be able to get the chemistry down path which
you probably don't get as many throws in practice with
the other two guys getting more targets, and I think
that will help him out this week for sure.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
And then Sterling sheppards On, I'm get the two point
conversion and then just the last several weeks that he's
come up big in some key moments and you know,
it's funny that he came in and it was like, oh,
they got that chemistry going back to OHU. I mean
that was a long time ago. So how much was
there still Lingering chemistry from that? How much are they
having to rebuild it? How much could Sterling be one
of the big guys that has to step up in

(09:18):
this moment.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
I mean, you just have a veteran guy that's played
in big moments, that's played in games, that has done it.
His role get to get it expanded as well. So
when you get him and expand his role and him
going in practice and get more reps and being specifically
put in a position to know exactly what you're going
to do, that just helps out. And the chemistry between

(09:38):
him and Baker, I don't think it goes nowhere, you know,
because once you have it's like riding the bike, you know.
But now just understanding and all where he's going to
be at and things like that because of where he's
going to be put with the injuries to the other guys,
that helps out a lot.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
And then Man kid new career high in receiving yards
and his first one hundred yard was game of his
career despite Man taking some taking some hits, taking some
shots down there towards the end of the game in particular.
I know earlier this season, Liam Cohen even said on
one of our shows that he felt he needed to
apologize to Kate after one of the games of not
getting him more involved early on. And that is obviously

(10:16):
changed in recent weeks. What has changed to let Cad
be so much more involved and what is his potential
to again be one of these guys that steps up
in the wake of this.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
It's just you never know, any numbers called, and every
time his number is called, he step up. He's not
a guy that asks for the ball a lot. He
does all the dirty and work down there, tight end
and blocking, and I think because of that he's been
rewarded and being able and being forgotten by defenses sometimes
and they lose on his just understanding that he's a
pass catcher as well, so sometimes he get lost in

(10:47):
the shuffle. But he's going to be a guy that's
going to step up big. I've seen him grow since
Brady was here, you know, now from a young pup
to now he's a veteran, so he understands if his
role is going to get expanded and what's going to
be as of him. He's a pros pro and he's
his go idea and do whatever you ask him to
do to the best of his ability. And yesterday we
was asked to catch the ball and run a little

(11:08):
more routes and he had a career high. So I
think moving forward, as his road expands in the passing game,
he has just continued to, you know, be that gritty,
tough guy down there blocking, but as well be a
threat in the pass game for us moving forward.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, that guy that's like, I don't need no gloves,
I don't need them stick and gloves.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Just whatever, old school.

Speaker 5 (11:27):
Old school. And then man the run game.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Talk about how that is always important, how much more
important it could potentially be moving forward, but to watch
you know, like of course against the Saints, just the
explosion of two hundred and seventy seven rushing yards and
then seeing that you got three running backs all, you know,
making a case for themselves to be out there a
lot more. How much has the run game coming on

(11:50):
affected this offense affected Baker? You know, the confidence that
he feels in that and just the pressure it could
potentially take off.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
Of him running the ball. It helps any quarterback, it
don't matter who. It takes the pressure off of you
because you can hand it off to a guy. He
can make guys mins he can get positive yards. You
don't have to make the perfect play all the time.
You don't have to drop back, pick up the blitz,
you know, always be a guy that points out and
get the protection right. I mean. It also keeps the

(12:17):
defense at bay because you can run the ball and
guys can take it at distance at anytime. And now
we have a three headed monster, which is good, and
we're gonna need all hands on deck. And then what
a better time to see us put all the pieces
together and let these young guys shine and play up
to their strengths, to the best of their ability. So
I'm excited to see that continue to grow and his
offense continue to grow with the guys that we're going

(12:38):
to have moving.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Forward, and then especially Rashan in the past game. I mean,
that guy has proven to have incredible hands. I've heard
people joke even of like, hey, maybe we just throw
him out of wide receiver now with these different injuries.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
But how important has that aspect been to him?

Speaker 3 (12:52):
And especially now again when you do have three different
running backs with very different skill sets and in the
wake of these injuries, what is the importance of Rashawn's
aspect in the past game and just how much again
has he grown in that area and the confidence that
Baker has in him to know that, hey, this is
a guy that's gonna that's gonna catch it.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Just get to see his versatility shine a little more.
We know he has it, and he was great in
the pass game last year for us, and he would
continue to be great in the past game. He's running
the ball better and now he's he's done a great
job at that and now he just did get to
span his role and maybe get to be used more
in the past game, which he don't mind doing because

(13:28):
he's great in space. It's hard to go down one
on one tackle. He's just all around complete back and
you y and you appreciate a guy like that, and
just with the things that he's he's able to do
and to run in the pass game open it up
for the other two guys once they get in the game.
Sometimes he takes the beating and the pounding and then
the hoes open up because he done, you know, wore
the defense down a little bit and the other guys

(13:50):
get to shine. So we're just gonna need everybody all
hands on deck. Man, I'm pretty sure he would be
great to embrace his role and whatever we aks him
to do. And he is shine. He's a prospoy as well.
And he's a veteran guy. Now he knows what he
expected of him, you know, and I expect him to
go out Dan shine bright for sure.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
All Right, we're gonna take a quick break here. We're
talking to quarterback coach Thad Lewis. Later in the show
will have head coach Todd Bowles. This is Buccaneers Total Access,
brought to you by advant Health. This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by ad Van Health.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
Shotgun look Jared Goff Bell high snap.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
He there comes a.

Speaker 6 (14:22):
Pressure, He's sacked in the backfield of the thirty one
yard line.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Levonte David shoots like.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
A rocket up and got it.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Bell high on the rocket. Now more with Bucks team
reporter Casey Phillips.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access. Casey Philips here with
quarterback coach Dad Lewis.

Speaker 5 (14:37):
Again.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
Later in the show, will have head coach Todd Bowles
that I would love to talk a little bit more
now about Baker specifically, and we'll start with this last
game and then get into the kind of the big picture.

Speaker 5 (14:47):
Man.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
I feel like two interceptions in the first five games
and then now several in these these last couple. Is
there something you can point to. Does it seem like
he's maybe just kind of having to force some things
or you know what has kind of led to this
this switch where he had been protecting it so to
start the year.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Sometimes you gotta protect the playmaker from himself. That's just
him being aggressive by aggressive, you know, by aggressive nature.
But sometimes we just gotta just understand, like you don't
have to be aggressive all the time. We can check
it down and get out the ball in the playmaker's hands,
and he's had so much success being aggressive that it's
hard to kind of doubt it back. But you know,

(15:21):
in certain situations we would need him to not be
as aggressive as he's been. Moving forward, I'm pretty sure
he's a self corrector. He's a pros pro. I mean,
he's a veteran. He know what he has to do
moving forward, because turning the ball over kind of hurts
us in situations that. You know, once you see the
turnover margin and the percentages for the win and lost

(15:41):
column and things like that, he want to understand it,
and he'll watch the film and get better for it. Man,
he's he's an honest guy, and he understands some of
the things you know that some other people can't have
tough conversations with, and he embraces all of that. And
moving forward, I'm pretty sure you'll see a guy say, hey, Okay,
I'm gonna be a little more careful with the ball,
but at times when I need to be aggressive, I

(16:03):
will be aggressive when the defense give it to me,
you know, instead of sometimes trying to force the ball
and get the guys to the ball. To his playmakers,
especially moving forward, where Mike can criss out because sometimes
you can make that throw, be aggressive and they and
they'll make the play for you. But right now, I'm
pretty sure move forward, you know, he might have to
change the game a little bit, you know, and give

(16:23):
the ball and check it down, and I'll be as
aggressive as he's been.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
And then outside of the interceptions in the game against
the Ravens, what stood out to you about his performance?

Speaker 1 (16:31):
He fought, He battled, and that's all you want to see.
And the guys they never wavered. And even though we
got down, you see, we try to come back at
the end, and and guys just continue to fight and
just let you know we have a good football team.
And if we don't get behind and we do the
right things to stay in the game, we can play
with anybody, you know. And you know, it's just unfortunate

(16:53):
that we didn't put it all together last night, but
it's everything is a learning means nothing's ever lost. So
hopefully we can learn from this moving forward and do
some of the things necessarily needed to move forward and
win games instead of lose tough games like we did
last night.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
And what do you remember about last season for him
that made the organization say yeah, this is the guy
that we got to resign.

Speaker 5 (17:16):
This is our dude.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
And what he had shown you guys, especially at being
in the wake of Tom Brady leaving so much pressure
on a guy to try to fill some very big
shoes and the way he handled it. What stood out
about both on and off the field about Baker last year.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
His personality is infectious. He's tough, he has grit, He's
going to go out there, He's going to lay it
all on the lines. You see last year, a couple
of games we thought he wouldn't come back in the game.
We thought he would be out, We thought he would
be hurt. Like Coach Moore always say, if Baker goes out,
we probably have to carry him out boots first. And

(17:51):
I think the guys respond to that knowing that, hey,
we got a guy that has our back and he's
never gonna quit on us. He's going to give us
everything he has, and the guys rally around somebody like that.
But he's also off the field, caring. He's got out
here in the community, he's embraced the city at Tampa.
He's brown guys along with him. And when you have
a leader like that that could just fit inside the

(18:11):
locker room and give a positive, infectious attitude and also
have fun doing this job that's very stressful for us.
I think that's what won everybody over on and off
the field. For sure.

Speaker 5 (18:23):
That's pretty incredible.

Speaker 3 (18:24):
And I also feel like it's not just even the
attitude off the field, it's the way that attitude can
carry onto it. We see him throw a stiff arm
here and there, see him scramble a little bit and there,
which I'm sure times probably gives you a mild heart
attack as you're watching it, but also has definitely been
that spark at times that the teams needed.

Speaker 5 (18:44):
Tell us the ways.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
He's used his legs, the kind of putting his head down,
you know, taking on a whole defense at times, getting
some of those first downs where he is using the
legs exactly how you want him to. Where do you
feel like you sometimes need to pull him back or
you know, and especially moving forward, does change now with
the way this.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Offense could luck, No, I think you're an extra threat
for the defense when you use your legs. So we're
not runners, we're scramblers. I would tell people that. So
sometimes when the defense covers everything we might have to
move around in the pocket and get down. Now you
said him taking on the defense, I would rather him
not take on the defense some of the times like
you do. And I would rather him be careful sometimes

(19:23):
stiff arming with the ball in his left hand and
stiff and on with the right hand. He you know,
he needs that one. But you never want to take
the toughness away from a guy like that. But you
just always just kind of remind him about situational football.
If it's for the first down, if it's for a touchdown,
I don't mind you being aggressive. But if it's just

(19:43):
a couple of yards and we're not thereing just to
get the defense on their heels and it's a play
that they have us, you move around and get down.
But sometimes I don't want you to get too happy
because you're moving around and you got them on their heels,
and we don't stand in the pocket a little longer
enough and then go through and progress and leave the
pocket too early. So it's a happy medium right there.
But at the same time, you don't want to take

(20:05):
that away from the guy because he does it more
majority of the time at the right time and when
we need it. So we just wanted to continue to
do that, but make sure it's always at the right time,
not at the wrong time. But he's doing a great
job of that, and I think that has been a
difference going forward with different defenses and people that we've
been playing, because people didn't think about that Baker moving around,

(20:28):
scrambling getting first down. Now he's a threat, so some
people have to put a spy on him, you know,
every now and then. As you can see the Ravens
did last night. Zero was actually spinal, you know, and
I could talk to him and be like, you're not
that fast. But at the same time, man, you a threat.
They watched some respect, some respect, So I like that.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
That's pretty great.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
And also we've seen I think most people's one of
their favorite moments of Bigger was last year him telling
somebody to get their weight.

Speaker 5 (20:51):
Don tell me about the.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Trash talk ability of Bigger. How much is this a
factor practice games? How good is he at it?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
He's great at it. I mean if he was a
dB that it'd be great. But you know, as a quarterback,
I wanted to do it all the time. Yeah, because
guy's a gunning for you. But at the same time,
he embraced it, he could back it up. He's not
going to shy away from competition. He's not going to
shy away from contact. As we see, he's not going

(21:21):
to shy away from a challenge. He lives, you know,
with a chip on his shoulder all the time. So
I think some of that gets some going. I e.
If you looked at Antonio Brown when he was out
there talking, he was talking to himself, getting hisself going,
and I think that fused back a little bit where
he could talk a little trash and try to get
you out of your game, but stay on top of
his game, you know, to get at advantage your edge

(21:43):
over you. So I think he used it, you know,
strategically out there, not so just talking trash. But I
mean he's a trash talker no matter what, and he's
a competitive no matter what and everything he does. So
that's just a part of him. You never want to
take that away from a guy. You want to got
it all be himself. And I think they get some
going and that's just a part of who Baker is.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
We're talking to quarterback coach that Lewis tell me about
though his mental preparation. I feel like we do see
a lot of the attitude of this that, but like,
he's a cerebral quarterback, and guy, tell me about that
side of him that we don't always get to see.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
He's very cerebral. He's going to talk about the pros
and the cons of every play. You know, what it's
good against, what it's bad against, what's my answers if
they give me something differently, And he's done a great
job of pre snap, post snap reason having a plan
if they present something else, And that's helped us out
a lot. You know, he's growing in his offense and

(22:37):
he's continuing to grow, and he's showing people his cerebral side.
Just like that two point conversion, there was three checks
he had basically right versus for his own man and zero,
and he had all three and he got us into
the right one and got shut the ball. So a
lot of people don't see what goes into it, you know,
during the week and him coming in with questions, and
him coming in with plays and seeing the defenses and

(22:59):
understand know what they're presenting and some of the things
he wanted to get done, and being able to be
incorporated in the game planning because he's so smart. People
don't see that side of him, but testament to him. Man,
he's just growing and he's showing you that. You know,
he could be one of the top guys because he's
so smart. So, I mean, it's paying off for us

(23:19):
on Sunday. So we just want to continue that aspect
of it for sure.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
All Right, we're gonna take one more break here on
Buccaneers Total Access. We were talking to quarterback coach Dad Lewis,
and in a little bit we'll have head coach Todd
Bowles brought to you by Avant Health.

Speaker 5 (23:30):
This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
You were listening to Buccaneers Total Access with head coach
Todd Bowles and Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips brought to
you by advand Health.

Speaker 5 (23:40):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
I am talking to quarterback coach bad Lewis. Right before
the break, we talked about the cerebral side of Baker
Mayfield and of course this four guys had to learn
more offensive systems at this point in his career than
anyone should have to do, which I imagine probably hasn't
been pretty good at it and knowing how to pick
it up. So tell me what you've Sai sing about
his ability to learn Liam Cohen system and then just

(24:03):
how that system suits him, you know, how the how
Liam and Big are able to help each other out.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
I think for him is some of the things that
he's done with learning all these systems is you just
learn a new language. And I think he's very good
and learning the language. But most of the concepts are
the same. If he if he came across the concept
before he remembered, it might have been called different. If
it's something similar that he's done, he's able to, you know,

(24:32):
put the old with the new and and go idea
and and and mix it all together. But to his
testament and his ability to just remember things and and
and have I a would say, a vision that other
people don't don't see like he gets. You can show
him something one time and he gets just boom right
for the genie memory, he can get it like that.

(24:54):
Or he can remember the play call. You can start
calling the play and just because it's on the call,
she he could just turn around in the huddle and
continue to call it. So that's just what he does
off the field, and his study habits him getting here
early in the morning, him watching film, him studying, you know,
him taking things, you know seriously like that, him him
getting the guys going around him. It's just some of

(25:16):
the stuff you don't see. And I think you know,
Liam appreciate that. You know, he was here early, like
let's meet, let's talk, you know, let's get on the
same page. You know, what you expect out of me,
what you want? You know, how do you see this?
How do you see that? What do you call this?
What do you call that? Maybe? Can we call it this?
You know, can we call it that? Because I'm used
to call it so you know, it's a give and tape,

(25:37):
you know, and it's a it's a working relationship. And
I think we've done a good job of that, just
helping him where you don't have to remember something totally
totally different, you know, if we can kind of keep
things the same. But at the same time, I think
the concepts that we did last year, concepts that he
did when he was with him a little bit, and
and LA and then coming back just remember some of

(25:58):
the stuff man and putting all the get and I
think they helped them out a lot.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
We also talked about the chemistry between him and some
of his weapons, But talk about chemistry with his offensive line,
he's basically an honorary member at this point. I think,
how important is that relationship and how have you seen
that affect the offense as a whole that he is
so tight with those guys.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Smart any quarterback that has success, it starts up front
and then he goes to the playmaker. But without the
guys up front, Yeah, it's no U. And I think
they go out to dinner every Thursday. I think they'll
spend time with each other at the house. They talk
about the protections. They're on the same page. They able
to laugh, joke, have fun, get on each other, hold

(26:37):
each other accountable, and with that chemistry, you know, it's unmatched.
And I think with any quarterback you should always always
have that relationship with your offensive line first. And I
think he gets it from that standpoint, and they've been
able to be on the same page. And you see
they protect them. They go out there, they fight for him,
and he'll do the same for them. If somebody gets

(26:58):
in one of their faces, he gonna be the first
one up there. Somebody get into his faith, they gonna
be the first one to come and protect him. So
you love that about that situation.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Right there and having a rookie center. Tell me the
ways that has affected Baker and the way that he
and Graham have worked together in terms of who's calling
the protections and how Baker tries to help him out,
and then how Graham is progressing in terms of maybe
shouldering a little bit more of that responsibility as well.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Big better, little better relationship. You know, big brother has
been in the league and he's had a bunch of centers.
Little brother's first time here, but he's eager to learn
from big brother, to show me the way whether you
need and sometimes you're a little brother and you want
to do everything right for your big brother because he's
the example. I think that go hand in hand with them.
But at the same time, guys just corralling him, bringing

(27:44):
him along, you know, not actually big brother in him,
but treating him as an equal, and it's telling him
and giving him encouragement, like, hey man, you can do it.
We trusting you. You know, you was drafted in the
first round for a reason, so just have fun and
show us what you can do. But we're gonna show
you along the way, help you out and everybody's did
a good job of that for sure.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
What types of throws would you say Baker's best at,
and the types of throws that you guys are still
maybe kind of trying to hone in on with him
of his biggest physical and mental strengths in the passing game.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
I mean, he could make them all. And it's not
just to pigeonhole him to a specific type of throw,
because he's made every kind of throw for us this
year when you need it, Like if you look at
the play with Bucky scrambling and him getting the ball
to him and looking at the whole shot, he threw
the mic, you know. And if you're looking at the
go ball, he threw the mic, you know, and things
like that. So I just think, you know, for him

(28:36):
in situational football, you know, it's just it's just us
making the right decision, because he can make every throw,
you know. And I think you know, guys be able
to have been able to see, you know, his growth,
especially him throwing so many touchdowns, getting so many completions
because of that, he can make every throw, and I
don't think we've limited him to anything because we have
routes and every throw all over the field because we

(28:59):
believe that he could make every throat for sure.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
We're talking to quarterback coach Dad Lewis looking to this
Atlanta game now. Is always interesting to get a rematch
so quickly after playing them. So what is most fresh
on the mind of what you guys took away from
looking at their defense, the way they played us and
some of the big things you're gonna have to be
focusing on and looking at to make sure the outcome
is different this time.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
Just giving that one away. We all felt like we
should have had that game and we gave it away,
and you don't want that feeling again. We know it's
a division opponent somewhere, the rivalry in my mind because
of you know, it's a state when this game is played,
and I think guys got that tasting them out from
last time and don't want to have it and they
understand what the defense presient is gonna be a tough,

(29:43):
hard nose for a game because it's at stake and
winning this division. And I think we don't have to
get the guys ready for this one. They'll be ready
on their own because they know what we have to
do and know what happened last time, and obviously we
know where the defense presents from itself. We went up
and down the field, we score points, but we didn't finish.
So the biggest part is and everybody in mindset is

(30:03):
finished by all means necessary.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
How much does it affect now?

Speaker 3 (30:09):
I think one of the benefits of getting a rematch
is you look and say, this is what they did
against a Mike, A Chris or whatever. Now with it
being different, how does that affect the kind of pros
and cons of this preparation of Hey, they don't really
know what you're gonna do, but you're not able to
see to use what they did last time as well
because it's gonna look so different from an offensive perspective
For us.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
I think it's to our advantage. Sometimes you can dictate
what the defense do by basically doing what you do.
And I think we should just have a game plan
and go out there and do what we do best
and hopefully dictate what the defense do based on you know,
what we have out then if they give us something different,
you ready for the CounterPunch and just go out there
and be tough and finish the game like we should

(30:51):
like we should have last time.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
For sure, and tell me about facing a guy like
Kirk Cousins of what you've seen from him as a
quarterback over the course of his career, and you know
what he looked like it is other stops and then
what he looks like here in this Falcon system.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
We know we let him go out there and throw
the football up and down the field last time. But
at the same time, he had a great game against us,
and sometimes quarterbacks do. And then that was the one
game that he came out hot. The week before he
wasn't so hot. You know, in another weeks he hasn't
played so hot, so we know he can get hot.
So that's the thing about it, and that's been being

(31:26):
Kirk Cousins like, you know, he's he's good enough quarterback
to dice you up, and then he's he's human as well,
you know, just sometimes you're not perfect on that day
and sometimes you're off on that day. So we just
got to go out there like like the defense do anybody,
and put pressure on him. Make it tough on him,
not make it easy, because we make it easy on
any quarterback and they can go out there that everybody's

(31:47):
pros is the National Football League, but I mean he's
a pro. I mean he got what he deserved because
of some of the stuff he did in the past.
And we just got to go out there and know
that anytime if you just make it uncomfortable for them
and we could have the advantage for sure.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
And I know, having one day less never easy as
a coach or as a team, especially if you do have,
you know, some injuries and things that you're gonna have
to make some changes on how much does that impact
what you guys do as coaches on the players that
you say, oh it's one day, but it's a big
deal in terms of how you guys typically have your
week scheduled.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
Right on twenty four hours in the day, so you
lose twenty four hours if you look at it from
that standpoint, So you got to catch up on the
back end in some way, shape, form or fashion. So
just might be a long week for us, might be
more preparation, but at the end of the day, at
the end of Sunday, you come out with the w
is all worth it, you know, and so you just
got to do what you have to do. Just put
your mind to a game plan, understand what we did

(32:44):
well last time, what they did, well, how can we
counter it and just put the best plan together for
these guys and put them in advantageous situations from their
skill sets and go out there and play to the
best of our ability.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
Of course, most importantly thoughts on the Creamsiculet jerseys.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
I'm a big color guy, so I'm all for it
as a kid, you know, just seeing that and seeing
those throwbacks. You know, when the throwback jersey's first came out,
you know, that was one of the ones that hit
Michel in there. So the store was the cream Cipple
for the Bucks, and I think it was John Lynch
if I'm not mistaken. So I'm a big advocate for it.

(33:23):
I love it. I love that uniform. I wish you
could wear it more than one time. I don't know
if these guys love it. I hope they do. But
I mean I like to put on clothes, I like
to dress, so I'm like them, and I was able
to play the game. And I just feel like when
you have a good uniform and sometimes you play really good.
So hopefully uniform help us out, just no doubt about it.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
All right, Well, Matt, thank you so much for joining
us again on this short week. We really do appreciate
its having all right. Coming up next on Buccaneers Total Access,
we'll have head coach Todd Bowles, brought to you by
Aving Health.

Speaker 5 (33:53):
This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Buccaneers Total Access with head Coach Todd Bowles now continues,
brought to you by a Bad Health.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
Welcome into the Todd Bowles show Casey Phillipier with head
coach Todd Bowles. Man, I just feel like the emotions
in the last few weeks have got to be a
lot on the team. And I know every NFL season
again has its ups and downs, but it does feel
like there's been quite a few crazy highs and then
some big lows.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
What did it feel like after this game?

Speaker 3 (34:18):
That a a tough loss, but then the injuries on
top of that, just the emotions for you as a coach,
the team overall, and how you guys try to process
that well.

Speaker 6 (34:26):
The injuries were a big deal, especially for because of
who it was, Mike and Chris, two of our best
playmakers on offense. And you know, for what they put in,
the time they put in the game and what they
do for the league is and what they do for
us is unbelievable, So that part hurt a lot. The
grind of the season is the grind of the season.
The middle of the season, we got other guys that's

(34:46):
just gonna have to step up. And you know, while
we wait for those guys to get back, if they
get back, we'll have to step up in other ways.

Speaker 5 (34:53):
And what do we know at this point about the
severity for Mike and Chris.

Speaker 6 (34:57):
Mike has a hamstring, He'll be out a couple of
weeks and be done for the year.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
When you talk about the next man up idea, I
know that's just one of the main mantras of the NFL.
But I know we can also probably say no one
is Mike Evans, no one is Chris Godwin in so
many ways. So how do you balance the idea of
just telling people, hey, it's time to step up versus
also knowing as you guys as coaches, working to with
who you have and trying to get the most out
of them instead of asking them to be someone maybe

(35:22):
they're not.

Speaker 6 (35:23):
It's about them being themselves, not trying to be Mike
and Chris. No one can be Mike and Chris or
do the things they can do. So the guys that
have to play. We as coaches have to do a
great job of understanding what they can do, what they're
good at, and allow him to do that and play fast,
and I think we'll be okay.

Speaker 5 (35:39):
Talking about Mike so far.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
I mean, man before he got hurt getting his one
hundredth career receiving touchdown.

Speaker 5 (35:46):
Take us through that.

Speaker 6 (35:47):
Play, Liam Drive, a heck of a play. We've been
practicing it all week. Chris cleared it out for him. Mike.
That are out and up? How the dB fell for
the outcut and he was wide open.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
Only ten players ever in the NFL have had twelve
thousand or more receiving yards and one hundred plus touchdown receptions.
The only ones on that list that aren't in the
Hall of Fame are Mike and Larry Fitzgerald, again not
eligible yet but obviously heading that direction. I feel like
there are just always new stats to talk about what
he has done.

Speaker 5 (36:15):
But hearing one like this, what does that say to you?

Speaker 6 (36:18):
It says a lot about the man. The man the
work he puts in every year, week in week out,
during the season, no matter who the quarterback is. He's
been on some bad teams, He's been on some good teams.
His production has never dipped and it says a lot
about the character of the who he is.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
And when Mike had to leave the game part way through,
what did that do to the offense in that moment?
Because it's one thing now this next week you get
to go in game planning without him, but to expect
to have him for the game and then him leave midway,
what did you see about the way the offense tried
to adjust to that? And then what it meant of
how the Baltimore defense was able to play us might allowed.

Speaker 6 (36:51):
Him to concentrate on Chris a little bit more, but again,
the other guy's got to step up. We can switch
game plans in midstream and make sure everybody has a
role and what they're trying to do and be successful
doing it.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
I know that early on, jumping up to ten nothing lead,
I mean, that's just kind of the dream of how
you want to start a game. And Baker was eight
of nine for one hundred and one yards in that
beginning quarter and a touchdown. Offense had the ball for
ten and a half of the fifteen minutes in the
first quarter. What did you notice about the way you
guys were able to get off to such a fast start.

Speaker 6 (37:21):
Moving the ball through the air and on the ground.
You know, getting off to a fast art against them
was a premium because they have ball control all the time,
which they end up getting anyway. But getting off to
a fast art was great. We just got to sustain.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
It a touchdown on the opening drive for the fourth
straight game, which is the longest streak in franchise history.

Speaker 5 (37:39):
What have you seen specifically.

Speaker 3 (37:40):
From a play calling standpoint, knowing how often that first
drive is the most scripted of what you guys are doing.
What has happened from a play calling standpoint or an
execution standpoint to get you guys to this place after
having such a drought in that.

Speaker 6 (37:51):
Area, It's been very specific. Baker and Liam have a
very streamlined game plan. They understand each other very well.
They can check in out of plays and get us
to the right plays and get off to a right
start and keep people off mountains.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
Would you say it is a coincidence or is there
some sort of thing tying them together? Of that the
last couple weeks, the second quarter has felt like a
rather big shift after what's started a game.

Speaker 6 (38:14):
I'm gonna say right now as a coincidence, but we
got to be better in the second quarter.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
And then for you looking at Baker's couple interceptions in
this game, what stood.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
Out to you?

Speaker 6 (38:23):
Just throw to the open guy, trying to make the
big play. He's got to throw to the open guy.
There are guys that are open, and you add all
the great quarterbacks, they play great because they throw to
the open guy. And we held the ball a little
too long and we got to get rid of it.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Does it seem like something has shifted in his approach
of where I mean, first five games, only two interceptions
and then it's definitely ramped up these last couple games.
Has he been able to kind of figure out or
diagnose why it's ramped up a little bit lately? Is
he trying to do something he wasn't maybe earlier in
the season.

Speaker 6 (38:51):
No, he's not trying to do anything he wasn't. Maybe
trying to make the big play instead of the right play.
Sometimes the right play is a small play that can
turn into a big play.

Speaker 5 (38:59):
And outside of those inner what did you see from
the rest of Baker's.

Speaker 6 (39:01):
Game, outside of the interceptions, he was fine. I mean,
he scrambled well, he found the open guys, he checked
the right plays, and he led us.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
I know that Jalen McMillan definitely one of the guys
that will be asked to step up in the wake
of these couple injuries. I know that it seemed like
they were struggling to connect a little bit where I
know he was targeted eight times just fifteen yards. What
have you guys seen about what's happening of not getting
a little bit more production out of those targets?

Speaker 6 (39:27):
Well for him, I mean, they had good defense on
a couple of those plays. They hadn't doubled up pretty good.
Once Mike went out, you kind of turned your attention
to everywhere else and we shot ourselves in the foot
a couple of times. But we can the chemistry will
be better and we'll be fine there.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
I know that one of the questions going into the
game was now, looking at the three different running backs
coming out of that game in New Orleans and how
you guys might choose to try to use all three
of them and in what capacity. We saw all three
right there in that first drive getting involved in the
game in different ways. What did you think now that
first game, really trying to use the three headed monsters.
We had talked about how that looked and what you

(40:00):
guys hope that that could look like moving forward.

Speaker 6 (40:03):
I think it's going to be different every game. I mean,
whoever has the hot hand, all of them bring something
to the table. All of them can do something, so
it keeps them all fresh. It's all competitive. It's great competition,
and I think it helps us.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
And does it put a little bit more pressure in
some ways on Liam Cohen of trying to get all
three involved? Or is it actually nice having such different
diversity of weapons and what that means for play calling.

Speaker 6 (40:25):
It's good pressure when you have good players, it's always
good pressure.

Speaker 5 (40:28):
I know.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Rashad, I mean forty yards rushing, but seventy one yards receiving,
two receiving touchdowns. He has the eighth most receiving yards
by a running back in franchise history, already in the
six most receptions by a running back in franchise history already.

Speaker 5 (40:43):
Now especially looking.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
At of course these injuries, looking at his receiving ability,
what did you see both from that in this specific
game and then what that skill set could mean for
this offense moving forward.

Speaker 6 (40:52):
It was good to see him healthy. You saw it
last year out in space. He's very good out in
space catching the ball. He's a great blocker, and he's
always going to make they miss out in space. So
continuing going forward, he'll be a target, Bucky be a target,
and Sean will.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Be a target.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Casey Phillips here with head coach Todd Bowles. We talked
a little bit about Rashad, but tell me Bucky and
Sean Tucker what did you see from the two of
them in the game.

Speaker 6 (41:14):
They picked up where they left off. They're very tough runners,
very good blockers, very competitive. They bring an extra spice
to the game. Sean coming around the corner and Bucket
going through the line. I think they all bring something
to the table. So that helps us.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Kate Onton and again another person I'm sure will have
to step up a lot after these injuries. He was
your leading receiver, had a new career high in receiving yards,
his first one hundred yard receiving game of his career,
and man took some big hits in that game as well,
So that was pretty impressive. Is what did you see
from him in the receiving standpoint of the game and
the way that we've watched these last several weeks. It

(41:48):
just feels like every week he's getting more and more
and more involved.

Speaker 6 (41:51):
He made some great catches last night. I mean the
hits he took win. He was making the catches and
still held on to the football and even ran with
the football not.

Speaker 5 (41:59):
Even wearing love.

Speaker 6 (42:00):
Guys are he's an old school football player. He's an
old school football player. He's very reliable, and you know
we're going to count on going.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
Forward after starting the year not being as big a
factor on the offense. I still remember when Liam jokingly
said he'd apologized to him earlier in the season that
he hadn't gotten more involved, and clearly took that to
heart and has done it more. Now, what have you
seen about what has changed of his ability early in
the season to now and why he's gotten a little
bit more involved, And then also the areas outside of

(42:28):
perceiving that he contributes that we don't always know about.

Speaker 6 (42:31):
I think it's just the offense growing, you know, as
it expands week by week, everybody's getting involved. You see
even more of that, and more people will get involved,
and I think Pain will get involved. When Cope gets
his chance, he'll get involved. So the offense is still growing.
I mean, they're scoring a lot of points, but it's
still growing and still in the beginning stages of it.
We have yet to release to get to the middle

(42:51):
or to the peak of that offense. But they're growing.

Speaker 3 (42:55):
And Sterling Shepard got that two point conversion. How big
of a role might he be asked to play now
moving forward?

Speaker 6 (43:01):
He's gonna have to play a bigger role him, Trey
Palmer Jaden McMillan all, I'm gonna have to play a
bigger role right now. And again, they're not gonna be
Mike and Chris. They just need to beat themselves and
they'll be fine.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
What did you see from the offensive line in terms
of the run game specifically, got.

Speaker 6 (43:14):
Some tough holes inside. Baltimore had two big guys inside
that were tough to move. We created some space in there,
we got we didn't get the big runs, but we
got the six seven yard runs that helped us out.

Speaker 5 (43:24):
And then how about in the passing game? How is
their protection? A baker but the.

Speaker 6 (43:27):
Most part pretty good, For the most part, pretty good.

Speaker 5 (43:30):
I know for you guys on the defense.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
Two sacks on Lamar in that first drive, on a
team that had only given up seven sacks all season
to this point. Take us through those two plays and
what you dialed up and then how the guys executed
It got.

Speaker 6 (43:44):
Off to a good start. Yeah, Yah, made a heck
of an up and undermove with a call and came
through the middle. Then Winfield, and obviously it doesn't does
what Winfield does on third down. Hey times them up perfectly.
He's very good in small areas squeezing through and he
made a sack.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Yeah an twe now how sixteen sacks since the start
of the twenty twenty season, which is the most among
all defensive backs in that span. What is he so
good at in terms of the pass rush ability and
then the ways that you try to set him up
for success in that.

Speaker 6 (44:12):
Scheme He disguised as well. He understands what the blocking
scheme is. He sets himself up and before he looks
like he's covering him, before you know it, he's coming through.
And he has a great pass rush move when he
gets in there. He can weave through small spaces and
he can run you over as well.

Speaker 3 (44:29):
I know before Derek Henry broke that eighty one yard
run towards the end of the third quarter, he had
just six carries for thirty four yards, but he ended
up finishing with one hundred and sixty nine. What did
you learn about facing someone like him? And then just
from the change of the start of the game towards
the end of what seemed to change in what he
was able to do against us.

Speaker 6 (44:48):
The only thing that changed we misfit both plays. Both
the big runs. We misfit. We were lined up wrong
from the start, so the run was there from the
very beginning. He's a great player, no doubt about it.
Hall of Famer, not taking the anything away from him.
But you can't misfit plays on a guy like that
because he will kill you.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
And he did what did and did not work in
terms of facing Lamar Jackson as you look at the
game plan overall on how guys approached a guy like him, who,
like Derrick Henry, has a very specific skill set in
what he can do.

Speaker 6 (45:16):
He got out of the pocket one time and we
busted two coverages and kind of let the ball go
down the field, which we never do. But he went
down the field and we busted two coverages. But everybody
has a problem with Lamar. We knew we'd be free.
It was just a matter of trying to tackle him,
and he got loose.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
A few times.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
I know that we are still sort of recent in
terms of having the full defensive line at your disposal,
of getting Collidjah back, having Veta in there with him.
What did you see from them as a whole knowing
that this was like we talked about a pretty tall
order going against someone like Derrick Henry in that whole offense.

Speaker 6 (45:45):
Those guys did their job. They did a good job
up front. You know, they were where they're supposed to be.
They pushed the pocket back. We got some pressures and
didn't get sacks. He got around the corner sometimes when
we couldn't catch him. But those guys did a good
job up front.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
And then how about your outside linebackers we talked about Yeah, yeah,
seemed like he had a pretty great game. And it's
a tough team to both try to be pressuring and
containing all at the same time.

Speaker 5 (46:06):
What did you see from their play?

Speaker 6 (46:07):
They got pressure, you know, it was just a matter
of trying to catch that guy. They got pressure. We
don't have a four to three outside backer. We just
got to bottle him up in the pocket a little better.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
So I know Mark Andrews is a guy who's shown
he can perform at high level for a long time
in this league.

Speaker 5 (46:20):
What makes him challenging to cover.

Speaker 6 (46:23):
He can run like a wide receiver. He has a
very good release off the line of scrim it's outstanding hands,
and he.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
Has good size.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
We knew going into the game obviously there'd be no
Jamel Dean having been put on IR and this time
we knew Tyrek Funderberg was going to be coming in
to start the game. What did you see from him
and how he stepped in for Jamel in a pretty
big primetime matchup for an undrafted rookie who's getting his
first snaps.

Speaker 6 (46:43):
For the most part, he actually had a solid game. I mean,
he messed up one time at the end on one
of those run plays, but other than that.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
He played solid.

Speaker 6 (46:50):
He played good football. He actually made the first tackle
on Henry and he did a good job. I have
no complaints about it. He did a very good job.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
It's great and what about him made you guys trust
him in moments like this to step in where again,
I mean, even in the preseason he was hurt a lot,
so here's a guy that goes undrafted and then doesn't
even get to participate as much in that timeframe for
you guys to still end up saying, this guy has
earned a roster spot and now is in a position
I trust him.

Speaker 6 (47:14):
He showed maturity when he first got here. He showed
athleticism beyond belief. He showed maturity beyond his years in
the league. He understood the game, he wanted to learn everything.
He never made them the same mistake twice. And you know,
he was just a solid football player. He had great feet,
he was a good man, a man guy. He had instinct.
He could read routes, he could mirror routes, he could

(47:38):
under breakdown run pass games. And he's a good football player.
And you gotta play guys like that.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
Now, how about Zion tell us about his game in
coverage and how he looked.

Speaker 6 (47:47):
For the most part, he was fine. I think he
would tell you himself that he blew the last coverage
on Bateman and gave up the touchdown on the second
and twenty instead of playing the down in the distance.
He probably played too aggressive and tried to make a
play and got caught. And he'll learn from that. Being
a young player. But those things can't happen as part
of the situational football that we got to be better
at now.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
I know it didn't end up counting, but his fumble
recovery and then just dragging them into the end zone
a did he make a case for some running back snaps?
Be tell me just for you what what stood out
about a play like that and what did it say
to you about his physical abilities?

Speaker 5 (48:21):
I mean, his mindset everything in that moment.

Speaker 6 (48:24):
It was a great play, but he was dragging Lamar
and Jackson. He wasn't dragging anybody else, and they had
three defensive guys pushing them, so I don't know if
he was dragging them what they were dragging him. But
he tries to make plays all the time. He understands
how good he can be, and he won't stop working
at it until he gets there. And I'm just excited
to see him play more.

Speaker 3 (48:44):
I know, take Smith went down with an injury. What
do we know about the severity of that? And then
if he's unable to go, would that end up looking
like rotation wise?

Speaker 6 (48:53):
Right now, he's in concussion protocol on a short week,
it might be tough, but we'll see if not easy
of going the play and Tavi or back them up.

Speaker 3 (49:02):
And then how had he been looking before his injury
in this game? I know that the week before was
obviously kind of one of his bigger performances of splash
plays and big momentum swingers, And so what did you
see in this game before he went down?

Speaker 6 (49:13):
Tyke, He's been outstanding for us. He's been outstanding for us.

Speaker 5 (49:16):
He's one of our best players over there, and our
on sidekick.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
We recovered that was the first in more than a
decade for this franchise, and it's even harder now that
you have to announce it. So how impressive was that
for you to watch on the side and just see
what they were able to do in that moment.

Speaker 6 (49:31):
I was a heck of a kick to get it
to bounce low and then bounce up and over the
front line that way. It doesn't happen like that off
and Tavier made a heck of a play.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
I know that Gil had been elevated for the third
time for this game. Tell us about the decisions at
that position and moving forward with this, the decision of
why a guy like Gil looks like he's going to
be your choice because he.

Speaker 6 (49:51):
Has a great hang time. He has great hang time.
He's not as far as Jake most of the time,
but he puts it up high. He gives them a
lot of them down to go downfield and calls a
fair catch. He puts it inside the twenty yard line consistently,
and he's a very good kickoff guy.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
How about the penalties in the game, how did you
feel about that? And where you guys are at at
this point in the season of playing clean.

Speaker 6 (50:12):
It was better than the last week, but it needs
to be cleaner. It needs to be cleaner. The false
starts we got to get We gotta clean that up.
We gotta clean that.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Part of it.

Speaker 3 (50:20):
Though. Let's look ahead to this Falcons game. What are
the emotions you want them to feel going into this
of there's a lot that just happened, but then there's
the rematch idea and the division game and the importance
of that mentally, emotionally, what do you want your team
to be at going into this one?

Speaker 6 (50:35):
Hold on, I'm gonna be on the high. We're playing
for first place. I mean, you gotta start stacking wins.
At this point in the season. All the games are
gonna be big and the more you win, the bigger
the games get. We understand that. With most of the
guys being younger right now, they have to understand that.
And part of the grind is getting up for a
game every week. Then whether it's high of letting down
or low of letting down, you gotta let it go

(50:57):
the next day and you gotta get ready for the
next week and you got be.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Ready to play.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
And it is a little bit of a short week.
How much does the one day less normally affect you
guys as coaches and in your game planning and then
looking at it as a week where there are some
decently big changes, especially on the offensive side, you might
have to make.

Speaker 5 (51:12):
So how much does that end up impacting it.

Speaker 6 (51:14):
It impacts the coaches a little bit from a game
plan standpoint, but we played a Thursday game, so it's
not as much as that.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
So it's okay, Uh, take us through what you've now
looked at with facing Kirk Cousins since the last game
and the things that you'll be focusing on with him again.

Speaker 6 (51:29):
He has a lot of weapons. He has a lot
of weapons that is disposal. He's gonna get rigid Wald quick.
We got to understand that going in. We got to
try to make him go through his second and third
read so we can get to the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
And yeah, tell me about Drake London and especially his game,
but him and Darnell Mooney and the things that you
learned that guys like Zion, guys like Tyryek are gonna
have to focus on.

Speaker 6 (51:48):
He's Magan having a heck of a season. Heck of
a season. They're moving him around.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
He's a great.

Speaker 6 (51:52):
Blocker, he's very good in the slot, he's very good outside,
outstanding catch radius and outstanding hands. We're gonna have to
deal with him. He heard us pretty good this time.
Mor need to become a heck of a deep threat.
Form they got a lot of weapons, like I said,
along with Bijeon and along with Pitts, they got a
formidable team. Formidable team.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
Yeah, I'm looking at the run game with Bijon with
Tyler Algiero, and they're definitely one of the better one
two punches. What's stood out about how you guys faced
them the first time.

Speaker 6 (52:18):
Wh let go some passes, some flare passes, but for
the most part we contained the run game. They broke
some tackles, but not as many as they usually break
when we do watch them one tape, So we got
to make sure we gang tackle.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
If you were to say a key to this game,
if the Bucks want to come away with a win,
what would you say.

Speaker 6 (52:34):
It's going to be yards after catch.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
We got to limit the yards after catch, all right, Well, coach,
thank you so much, as always for the time. We
really appreciate it. Again, on a short week, we know
it's pretty crazy, so thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (52:43):
We appreciate it. You got