Josh Grizzard Reflects on His First Game as Offensive Coordinator | Bucs Total Access

Team Reporter Casey Phillips sits down with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles and Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard following the Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. They review the team’s communication, the decision adjust to the offensive line and WR Mike Evans looking even better than he did last year.

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Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is Buccaneers Total Access with head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
That the hell of the job, going back, Go back.

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Go, Robbie, Big up those a sideline route. It is
Pod Paul, Pop Paul, My Cabots, Well the guy try
toll over it touch down, Tampa Bay Fire, the Cabets,
Get up Going.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Brought to you by Advent Health.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Whether you're in the stands, on the field, or celebrating
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Health Exclusive Hospital of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fire, the
Cannons Now your host, Bucks Team reporter Casey Phillips and
head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 5 (00:47):
Welcome into the Todd Bowles Show Casey filterre with head
coach Todd Bowles and man week one win that I
don't know what you took a few years off my
life watching at the end. There quite a way to
start things out. How does it feel for you guys
to get the division win on the road, just right
out of the gate.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
It's great to win the first one. You know, my
biggest fear is going into the season going on in
sixteen oh and seventeen. So to get the first one
out the way against a division opponent, same game we
had last year against them. It was full of excitement,
went down to the wires. This timement went our way.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
You are four and oh as Bucks head coach and
the season opener. What is it about week one that
you feel like you just get your team? I mean,
is it just preparation? Why do you think it is
the week one? You've had such success?

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, four and oh, we probably need to start the
playoffs week one.

Speaker 6 (01:36):
Just forget that regular season.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Get the regular season. No, it's preparation. The guys prepare well.
We try not to overthink it. We make sure they
are fundamentally and technically sound. Technique wise there sound, and
we go out and we play hard and that really
that's really a credit to them.

Speaker 5 (01:53):
And I know that any win is a good win.
But is there something kind of extra about knowing week one,
when you are still figuring things out to pull off
kind of a gritty win. Do you feel like that
tells you any more about the makeup of this team already?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
It's great to win on the road in the hostile
environment because that tells you that the team is together
at least, and they're going to go down fighting with
each other in hostile environments and they're not going to panic.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
So that that was huge for us.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
Now we do get to see the speech you've give
in the locker room after games, and you admitted in
the speech you don't normally give quite such an impassioned
response until maybe either later in the season or something specific,
but we got one of your trademark. Yes, tell me
why this game brought it out to me so early
in the season.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
It was an exciting game, and I felt like we
should have got some calls here or there that didn't
go our way, and it just felt like it was
us against the world right there, and for us to
win it at the end and then the mistic kick,
us to miss the extra point and them come back
and win the kick, it felt like it was just
adrenaline was rolling.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
So it kind of came out.

Speaker 6 (02:58):
I like it.

Speaker 5 (02:58):
What was going through your mind when they were about
to kick that field goal and then you see they
miss it? What is that like for you on the sideline?
What you're thinking about?

Speaker 3 (03:07):
It was more we won. It was like eureka. It
was not a hell yeah moment, but it was like,
thank goodness, thank goodness, we won. We played hard enough
to win and it showed.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
And we won.

Speaker 5 (03:23):
Now, I mean, Mecca, I just feel like everyone I
don't remember a rookie having this much hype in the
sense of just the way people talk about him, both
of his on field, off the field, whole picture, and
you kind of wonder, man, is he gonna be able
to live up to what people are saying about him?
I think two touchdowns in your opening game is definitely

(03:43):
a way to do that. Did you see, even as
much hype as he was, how highly you thought of him,
did you see him being able to start this fast?

Speaker 3 (03:52):
He plays just like he played in college, and he's
played against one hundred plus thousand at the Big House.

Speaker 6 (04:00):
And it's it's the same thing.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
His work ethic, his attitude, the way he prepares himself
coming in into shape, his knowledge of the game, and
you see it every day in practice. He doesn't change.
He strives for greatness every day and that that's just him.
So when he does it in the game, like we're
not surprised, it's like everybody else is surprised, but this guy,

(04:26):
he he's been the real deal since he's walked in
the door, and you know, we expect that type of performance. Room.

Speaker 5 (04:32):
Yeah, and take us through the two touchdown plays and
what he did well there and what the rest of
the offense did well to make those happen.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Well, he did great. The last one he caught for
the game winner. We ran two times before and he
was open, and him and Baker had this connection and
they talked about it on the sidelines, and you know,
they it was there. It was there two times, and
then the third time it was still there and it
was open, and Baker threw a dime and he put
it on a rope and mecha, he has great hands.

(04:59):
He can catch the ball.

Speaker 5 (05:00):
And of course coach Grizzard's first game is offensive coordinator,
and man, if you're gonna have a first one division
game on the road and then you got a two
minute drill you need to do and just thinking about
all the things that came into him needing to have
this game winner and also a few little wrinkles thrown
in from an offensive line standpoint, How did coach grizz
look in his debut and how he handled some of

(05:22):
the things that I'm sure aren't how you would have
drawn it up for him to get his first experiences.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
Well, I think when the game sped up in two minute,
I thought he was at his best. That's when he
was the commist because he didn't have to think, so
he was just calling the plays right off the top
of his head that he knew he wanted and knew
that they will work against them, and he called the
game great. I think we started out a little slow,
little butterflies there, but I think after the first quarter
he really picked it up, and I thought he called

(05:47):
a solid game.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
And what stood out about that two minute drill and
what the offense was able to do so well that.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Drive just not panic. They did not panic. They made
some Baker made some key throws, they made some key catches.
We knew what the clock was, they did not panic
at all. And once they got in the field goal range,
they wanted to go for the kill, and they went
for to kill, and we played to win.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
I know, Baker not necessarily the most illustrious performance stat
wise when you look at the line, and the offense
also just didn't have the ball a whole lot, but
seventeen to thirty two one hundred and sixty seven yards,
ended up with thirty nine rushing yards, but three touchdowns.
What did you see from Baker overall in this game
and some of the highs and.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
Lows for him, The biggest thing is he didn't turn
it over and he threw three touchdowns. It's not even
about yard and percentage. If you can throw three touchdowns
every game and not turn the ball over, you had
a heck of a game. You're a heck of a quarterback.

Speaker 6 (06:38):
I like that.

Speaker 5 (06:38):
So now let's talk a little bit about that offensive
line that I know you guys knew this was coming.
The rest of the world was finding out right before
the game. Little secrecy thrown in there. Take us through
a bit of this decision making, when and how it
got decided, and what were the things that made you
look at this group and say, hey, this looks like
the line we need to go with.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
I don't know if it was secrecy. We got halfway
through camp and I asked Carbs. I said, in case
of emergency and something happens to Charlie, he might want
to start giving Barton some reps out there. Let's just
see what he looks like. He hadn't played it in
a long time, but we'll see what he looks like
in case of emergency emergency. I don't want to have
the answers to the test on game day. I want

(07:18):
to know during the week. And we put him out
there and he didn't look bad. So we were putting
him out there every couple of days and putting Ben
at center, and they didn't look bad. And we started
running the ball bet and like, hey, this guy looks
pretty good out here, and taking nothing away from Charlie
because we think he's a good player. And Barton started
getting comfortable and we started bothering. But probably about two

(07:41):
weeks ago he said this is probably the lineup we
should use, and he practiced there every day up until.

Speaker 5 (07:46):
How did you feel like it impacted the run game?
Looking at their pass pro and run protection and how
they were able to do on both sides of that.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
We didn't have a lot of success running the ball,
but we had some tough, grind out yards. I thought
Rashard did a good job getting downhill, Sean had two carries,
Bucky made some tough runs in there. Obviously the touchdown
pass helped us. I thought we battled. I thought they
did some personnel things to try to switch his trip
us up a little bit that way. But I thought
we battled up front with the position changes between Barton

(08:17):
and Ben and then Michael Jordan. I thought they did
a heck of a job. I thought Jordan did a
very good job in the past game.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
It's great and you know that you know you've got
a couple of wide receivers down, so Shep had to
come in and make some pretty big catches. He only
had three catches for thirty nine yards, but you know
some of them were definitely big time. Got our first
first down thanks to him, converted a third and nine
to keep the game when he drive alive, and then
he even kind of helped break up what maybe could
have been an interception out there as well, playing a

(08:43):
little defense on that one play.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
So what did Shep do that was so impressive and
just what it's like.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
To have him when you have some guys down to
have a vet like him to be able to step in.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
But he moved the chains for us, Like you said,
he moved the chains. Shep's the ultimate competitor. He came
back and shaped this year. He had a heck of
a training carried over to the season, understand what to do,
how to do it. It's been in big games making
big catches his whole life. He didn't do anything different,
didn't do anything different.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
And now on the defensive side of things, I mean, man,
eight defensive plays inside the four yard line, that's a
that's a tough go of it, no matter who you are.
So what did you think of just how the defense
handled that. I know they ultimately ended up scoring, but
good grief, that many plays that close in it's going
to be hard to stop them that many times.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
It felt like it was more than that, and it
felt like it was more than that. I thought they
I thought they held tough. I thought we did everything possible.
I thought we covered them good. They couldn't run it
in and they couldn't throw it in and the quarterback
broke free at the end, and even that was a
nail bier getting in right there. If we closed the
mid a little bit, we make that play. But I
think the guys fought hard. They have a very good

(09:48):
understanding of what we were trying to do, and they
played with a lot of pride.

Speaker 5 (09:51):
I know Jamelle ended up having to have a pass
breakup and a couple coverages in the end zone there.
What did you see from him on not only that
drive but his game over all?

Speaker 6 (10:00):
What stood out?

Speaker 3 (10:01):
I thought him as well as Zion in Parish when
we played man coverage and we played quite a bit,
they played very tight coverage. They played very tight coverage.
They were on their guys for the most part. The
ball didn't go over our heads, and they played extremely tough.
There are probably two plays he liked to have back.
He jammed too high and got the face mass penalty
there and got another holding penalty. But I thought he

(10:22):
played physical, probably his most physical man the man game
I've seen him play since he's.

Speaker 5 (10:27):
Been here, and then man Antoine loves to make him
a splashy play against the Falcons down around the end zone.
Tell me about that play and what stood out to you.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
That'som made a heck of a play. I mean, he
knocked the ball out and he's the physical guy. They
kind of stayed away from him all day wherever he was,
they kind of went the other way. But he's gonna
make a play and he's gonna make his presence felt
just having him out there controlling the secondary like that
was big for us.

Speaker 5 (10:53):
And take us through kind of some of the different
decisions you had to make and moving guys around.

Speaker 6 (10:57):
I mean, before the game, you.

Speaker 5 (10:58):
Know you're not gonna have Izzian, you know you're not
gonna have Morrison, and then when Zion went down, you
know you're having at a very crucial time, not just
again kind of a one for one. It was almost
that O line situation of Okay, instead, we're gonna move
this guy here and this guy here. What were some
of the big things that factored into those decisions, both
with the injuries prior to the game and then when
Zion went down briefly, Well.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
We kind of practiced those, but when he went down briefly,
we said, we're gonna put Parrish out at corner and
bring ty Key down to the nickel spot and put
Merriwether at safety because we played with that spot too.
Taykeye was the nickel last year. So the reason we
do these things in the spring and early training camp
so we can prepare for these type of situations. So
everybody understood it, and everybody knew what they had to do,

(11:39):
and we just kept going.

Speaker 5 (11:41):
And then having Morrison and Is out, what are the
hopes for when they might be able to be back,
and just how that would influence the way that you
would want to use a bunch of your dbs.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
I'm hoping Marson is back this week. If Marson is
back this week, that can help us out from a
corner standpoint, especially since Zion was a little nicked up.
So we're gon we we'll have the corner situation sizzled out,
the safety situation. Will just see when Azy comes back.

Speaker 5 (12:06):
And then I know Servasier is your starting guy this year.
Has dealt with some injuries missing time over the years,
but I know you've mentioned that you're putting a lot
on his plate this year. So first, what are some
of the things that you really are trusting Servasier with
and then how that factored into evaluating his game overall
on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
You trust him with the calls and with the communication,
getting everybody lined up the right way and making sure
where we're supposed to be. Love him coming downhill in
the run game. He's a very intelligent player, just got it.
He just hadn't played, and he hadn't played a lot
of snaps. So playing a full game for him the
first game and that type of atmosphere. He had a
few first time mistakes that probably won't happen again, but

(12:46):
at the same time, he made some big time plays.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
Casey Phelps here with head coach Todd Bowles first game
getting to see Hassan Reddick in a Bucks uniform, got
his first sack in one as well. Take us through
that sack and what he did well.

Speaker 6 (12:58):
On that play.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
He went inside, He made an inside movie. He went
through two guys. Actually it was all him. It was
all effort, and it was all trust by the other
guys to cover for him, and he made a heck
of a play. He was determined.

Speaker 5 (13:11):
And then I know sometimes those guys, it's hard outside
of a sack for everybody to evaluate what they're doing,
what they're supposed to be doing. So outside of that play,
what did you think of his performance? And then the
rest of the outside linebackers overall?

Speaker 3 (13:23):
I thought Hassan played well. I thought he played very well.
We kept him off the ball some. He played some
in the past game. He rushed the pass it well.
He played the run extremely well. Very happy about that
with him. Extremely I played a heck of a ball game.
He had some free runs where he came to the
quarterback and the ball got out just before he got there,
but he got a couple quarterback hits. He played the

(13:44):
run strong against Matthews, which was big for us, setting
the edge right there. I thought Nelly played well and
I thought Brads played well.

Speaker 5 (13:51):
And then how about your defensive line. What did we
see from Vita and Colijah and the rest.

Speaker 6 (13:56):
Of that group.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Vita was huge on the fourth and one stop. He
was real huge on the fourth and one stop. He
controlled all the cutback runs. Canty comes across the ball
all the time, commanding the double team right there. And
Logan was big for us in the run game because
we put him over the tight end whom they liked
to run behind, and you know his job was just
the handle of that tight end so they couldn't run
the ball.

Speaker 5 (14:16):
He did his job, I know, facing b John Robinson.
You know that first big play he had that accounted
for a huge part of his production overall for the day,
and you know only had twenty four yards rushing. It's
just the fourth time since he joined the Falcons that
they've been held to two and a half yards per
carry or fewer with him. So what were you most
proud of the way that you guys faced in the
run game specifically, and then him overall.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
The physicality they showed up front. We showed some physicality
up front that we can take care of the run game,
and we just had to tackle the pass game. Other
than the first time he got out, I think we
missed him one time, Boss missed him one time late
in the second half where he got the check down.
But other than that, they played him well.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
I know special teams had some highs and some lows,
I would say, is a f way to put it
for the game. So have you had a chance to
kind of talk to Chase McLaughlin or look at some
of those to see what led to very very uncharacteristic
misses for him.

Speaker 3 (15:09):
No, we haven't talked about it yet, but you know
we will.

Speaker 6 (15:13):
Sure that'll be fun.

Speaker 3 (15:14):
We will, And you know, he's usually pretty reliable, pretty accurate,
so we're gonna just chalk this up as a one
off right there. But he's been reliable for us for
a long time now, so we're just gonna trust it's.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
Not gonna happen again.

Speaker 5 (15:27):
And then Riley Dixon his first regular season game as
a Buck, he had a fifty one point three yar
at average on four punts with a long of sixty two.
But of course we're never really sure what all he's
been asked to do. So what did his performance look
like in terms of both doing what was asked and
then just obviously the strength of the leg is there.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
I thought Riley played well. He had great hang time,
He put the ball inside the ten for us, and
he got the guys a chance to go down and
cover kicks. He's getting the ball off very well for us.
I thought he kicked well.

Speaker 6 (15:55):
And in the return game.

Speaker 5 (15:56):
I know this is an area that you guys have
been working hard in recent years to try to get
a few more maybe electric plays out of, and I
think it's safe to say that we feel like this
year could be a year that we have a few
more of those. I mean, Cam Johnson, that was the
longest return we've had since twenty fifteen.

Speaker 6 (16:12):
In that area.

Speaker 5 (16:13):
So tell me what Cam in particular showed you and
just why, even as a guy that kind of an
underdog to make the team in the beginning and even
spent some time hurt, but clearly showed you enough to
have earned that job.

Speaker 6 (16:24):
And we see why.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Playing with a lot more confidence since he made the team,
he's playing with a lot more confidence. He came out
the last preseason game and kind of dropped a few,
but it was his first game back and he was nervous,
but he was very good. He was good enough to
make the team when we knew he was going to
be our returner. He played with a lot of confidence.
And those guys made some great blocks for him to
clear that return up. So he should take them out

(16:46):
the dinner as well. But he's a talented guy. He's
very athletic, and we look for those things for him
all year.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
This year, Yeah, and Sean Tucker said a thirty five
yard kick return as well. So what is he so
great at and not play in particular?

Speaker 6 (16:59):
What did you see the song?

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Is good at seeing the holes and he's good at
getting up the speed real fast. He has a great
lower body. He bounces awful people. He's very thick that way,
and once he gets rolling, he's hard.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
To bring down.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
We're gonna look ahead to this Monday night football game.
Tell me for you, guys, how you've learned to handle
the schedule adjustments for a Monday night football game and
some of the pros and cons of that.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
Well, the night practice we had in training camp and
going to Pittsburgh early, handling that whole week and then
playing at night, we had some experience with it, so
we know how to buide our time. It's never great
land around the hotel all day, but we make ourselves useful.
We understand how we play and what times we got
to play and how much rest we need, and we
get that accordingly, so were ready to go.

Speaker 5 (17:42):
So the Houston Texans tell me what stands out especially
about CJ. Stroud and the ways he's developed over the years.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Very quick release, very strong arm, very accurate, can run,
can see the blitz is coming, can recoverage us very well.
And you know he's very accurate. When he gets the
plant his feet and survey the field, he.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
Can kill you.

Speaker 5 (18:04):
And how about from a running perspective, what stands out
about the talent they have?

Speaker 6 (18:07):
There?

Speaker 3 (18:08):
No stars for Chelbs, obviously starts for Chelbs. They got
a big offensive line. They run between the tackles. They're
very bruising that way, and we got our work cutout
for us.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
And they've also got several different weapons of guys like
Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, Jane Higgins, And for wide receivers,
what stands out about those guys in the ways they
can hurt you.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
With Nicos size and speed. At size and speed, he's
very athletic that way. Kirk can get down the field.
And they drafted Higgins from Iowa State and they got
two from Iowa State. Actually that can play very well,
very good size receiver, very good hands, and they can
hurt you.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
And then how about looking at the other side of things,
what about their defensive front stands out.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Stars for their two edgy guys. They are two edgy guys,
come off the ball NonStop. They can get to the
quarterback and they can sack the quarterback. And they got
two corners that are ball hawk. So we gotta be
crisped with our routes and the balls gotta be on time.
It will take it away and make you pay.

Speaker 5 (19:02):
And now, as we talked about it being Grizz's first
game this last week, what were some of the biggest
things that you talked to him about leading into it,
and whether he decided to be booth versus Field and
just some of those other decisions and some of the
roles that you played in getting him prepared.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
Well, he feels more comfortable on the field, which is fine,
which is great. Just getting them prepared, tell him them
call it. If we're going to lose, let's ampty the clip.
Let's empty our gun unless shoot all our bullets. But
we don't want to be bashful. We don't want to
be shy about it. So let's make sure we call
it how.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
We want to call it.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
Well, Coach, thank you as always for your time and
again congratulations on an exciting Week one win.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
Thank you.

Speaker 5 (19:38):
Coming up next is offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard on Buccaneers
Total Access brought to you by advent Health. This is
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Speaker 2 (19:45):
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Speaker 1 (19:52):
Dropping back be throw. We threatened the blitzer coming after
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forty two yard line.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Feta Bea has his fourth sack the season. Now more
with Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips.

Speaker 5 (20:04):
Welcome back to Buccaneers Total Access, brought to you by
advent Health. We had head coach Todd Bowles for the
first half of our show. Now we have offensive coordinator
Josh Grizzard, aka the Man of the Hour. Coach, thanks
so much for joining us in congrats on that one.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Appreciate it. Looking forward to it's nice to start one
to oh.

Speaker 5 (20:19):
Yeah, not too shabby, especially, I mean just getting your
first win as your first game as an offensive coordinator.
I have to imagine there's just a bit of a
weight off the shoulders, sigh of relief.

Speaker 6 (20:30):
It's just kind of a reassuring feeling, for sure.

Speaker 7 (20:33):
We put so much into it in the off season
and being able to start one to oh, and then
you hit it. It was the first game, so we always
want to win that game. With the fact that it
was versus division rival. To be able to set the
tone for that as well was huge. But however long
it took, and however we had to get it done.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
And it's just good to come out on the left
side of the column.

Speaker 5 (20:50):
I imagine as you were planning looking forward some day
dreaming of being an offensive coordinator, you were like, and
you know, would be really great if I had to
do a game winning two minute drive. But we've also
had to shuffle the higher offensive line and we're missing
a couple of wide receivers. I'm sure that's exactly how
you would have drawn it up as an OC.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
That's exactly how I saw it happened.

Speaker 7 (21:07):
Didn't know how it was gonna end, but it was
just good to be able to get that two minute
drive and we just have all confidence in the world
and those guys that are in there, and then especially
how well Bake plays in two minute situations and playing
on the ball. Once we got it, we were we
knew we needed a field goal, but everyone's mentality was.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
That we're gonna go to here and score a touchdown.
So whatever it took to get that done.

Speaker 6 (21:25):
I like it.

Speaker 5 (21:25):
And yeah, what stands out about that two minute drill
and what you guys did well.

Speaker 7 (21:29):
Just the ability for everybody to pick up the blitzes
that that they were showing us and being able to
have a good drive start and Bake it the ball out,
and then it was nice to have the penalty which
kept him moving down the field as well. And then
just the communication from the from the staff to the players,
especially Bake on some of the looks they were giving
us where we had an opportunity to complete a couple
of those passes and.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Move the ball on the field, but the one that
Mech ended up scoring on.

Speaker 7 (21:52):
Just guys seeing up in the booth communicated down to
the field and me able to get it to him.
There was a high alert that that thing was gonna
hit and.

Speaker 6 (21:58):
Then a Mecca.

Speaker 5 (21:59):
I mean, look, I know that you guys all probably
are like, yeah, we knew this was coming. I mean,
I feel like he was so hyped coming and we
heard you guys bragging about the way he plays, his mentality,
his attitude, all of that to the point where I'm like, man, like,
how's this guy going to live up to this offseason hype?
And then well two touchdowns in the opener that might
do it. Tell me why you guys were bragging on

(22:19):
him the way you were, and then why he was
able to come in and totally back that up.

Speaker 7 (22:24):
Yeah, he's been as expected since he got here and
everything we've seen from even rookie mini camp all the
way through training camp. He just makes so many plays
in practice that you.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Expected to be in the game.

Speaker 7 (22:34):
But to your point, he's still a rookie, is still
his first crack at it. In terms of playing under
the big lights. He's played some massive games at Ohio State.
I was talking to him pregame, and I believe that
his last game was there as well, so he had
some familiarity with the building. But at the end of
the day, you expect that, but premdk actually go out
there and have the big plays that he made and
then to be able to go ultimately win the game

(22:55):
for us as well. It just shows up from how
he conducts himself through the practice. He can listen to
Chris and Mike from the time he got here and
it was really cool to see it on game day
and having a chance to win the game for us.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
What about the actual exs and knows of him as
a wide receiver? What do you remember watching on his tape?
What the tangible things about the way he plays wide receiver?

Speaker 7 (23:13):
You can just tell that he was a really good
route runner. He had the speed, he had the strength,
i would say, his contact balance on running routes, and
when someone's trying to reroute you and you're still able
to fight through that, whether it's knocking their arm down
or shouldering through to get through contact, you can just
tell how strong he was. And then once we talked
about running through the catch so much, and that just
means that when the ball is thrown, he doesn't jump

(23:36):
for it. He just if the ball is right there
in front of him. He stays on the ground. So
when you catch it, and you stay on the ground,
you can get as much yack as possible, which is
yards after catch, which is something we harp on.

Speaker 1 (23:45):
So you could see that.

Speaker 7 (23:47):
And then by talking to him, his ability to play
different positions and move around in the offense is huge
because not everyone can do that. So the fact that
he can do that, and then he's really good in
the run game as well, so it just makes a
very well rounded receiver. He can play them in all
three spots. You know he's going to do the right
thing and he's gonna come up with a big play when.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
We need it.

Speaker 6 (24:06):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (24:06):
We're talking offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, how about Baker's game.
I know that he has a few plays he'd want back.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Absolutely, it's not the start that we want it as
a unit.

Speaker 7 (24:15):
I know it's not to start that he wanted it
as well, But once we got settled in there, he
made some big time throws, especially the one to mech
on that third and two, I think from the thirty
yard line was huge, and then once he settled in,
he was finding the guys and trying to get it
to Mike and get it to Mech And then even
no matter how the game had gone up until that point,
we had the opportunity with a two minute drive to
go down the field and win the game. And that's
when he's at his best, is when the pressure is

(24:37):
the highest, and it showed up again. It's something that
you again don't take for granted, but you know that
he's going to be in there when the moments the
biggest to be able to go out and.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
The guys just rally around him so much and there's.

Speaker 7 (24:47):
So much belief that we're going to do that that
you feel good as a play caller because you know
that we have a chance to go down here and
move the ball and score.

Speaker 5 (24:54):
What did you learn about what it takes as an
offensive coordinator when the rhythm isn't there early those adjustments,
Then what did you learn in that situation in the
game of what you attribute being able to get you
guys back on the right path.

Speaker 7 (25:07):
Just getting back to some of the core our core plays,
things that we know by heart, We know what should
be open, trying to get it to the playmakers, whether
it's throwing it to Mike or throwing it to Mech
or handing it to Buck or Rashad, and just getting
back to the things that we know that way we
can play fast, get us back on track, and then
being able to go from there once we get into
a little bit of rhythm and there's confidence and we're

(25:28):
pressing on the defense and hopefully they're getting worn out
to be able to now get back into some of
the things that are more game plan specific.

Speaker 5 (25:34):
We got to talk about this whole offensive line thing.
This is so interesting, of course, and you guys had
known for a while you were doing this, but because
of practice being kind of closed to the media for
a while, for the rest of the world, it got
to be this fun little game day surprise. So tell
me a little bit about just how this materialized between
you and Coach Carvery and coach Bowls and just what
led to this decision and all the factors that play

(25:55):
into shuffling that many guys around.

Speaker 7 (25:58):
Yeah, it was not a decision and we took lightly
and it was something that we worked during training camp.
It might not be offensive line, but it can also
be receivers or running backs and be able to move
them around too different positions. And it was something that
we played with in case of an emergency where if
Graham needed to go out there and Breads needed to
go to center, and from what we saw in practice,

(26:18):
we really liked the way it looked, and so from
that it created the thought process that this might be
something we can use moving forward with Tristan being out
and then those guys just owning it. It is a
big deal to move from center to move to left tackle,
but with Graham's history of doing that and playing in
at duke, and then Bread's history of being able to
do that in his past, and to your point, with

(26:39):
those guys being team first and selfless, that they can
now get on the same page to be able to
have the calls right, especially in an environment week one
where we need to be able to use silent cadence
and it's not the traditional at home cadence and having
all that being on the same page and it's a
testament to all five of them, and then Mike being
able to step in there as well, and then really

(27:01):
what Cody was able to do, especially in our tempo
packages and hour on the ball plays where he's the
one really giving the signals back to Bake as the
right guard. So its hats off to them for being
able to get that done. It's not easy of something
we felt was in the best interest of the team,
especially week one, and they owned it and went out
there and played pretty well for the most part.

Speaker 5 (27:22):
How challenging was that for you to have what I'm
sure was your mindset with a full set of personnel,
what your offense would look like, and then how much
did you feel like you had to potentially sacrifice to
try to make this work, just even when you found
out Tristan alone was heard before you knew what this
solution would be.

Speaker 7 (27:38):
Yeah, it was never a good feeling once we found
out about Tristan because we know we're not going to
be able to replace him, but just having the thought
process that there was the depth at that position to
be able to potentially move things around after what we
saw in practice a little bit like we dealt with
last year with the receiver position or could have been
a tight end position when Caid was out. Is just
trying to put those guys in as good a place
as possible to make plays and use their talents versus

(28:00):
what Chris might bring to the table or Jmack might
bring to the table, and not asking guys to do
things that might not be their strong suit. It's not
unfortunate because everybody deals with the NFL in terms of
the injuries and having to adjust the game playing week
to week.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
But we did have a little bit of reps at
it last year.

Speaker 5 (28:15):
What are your expectations and hopes for Graham this year,
especially when he's able to get back at center and
the ways that you've already seen him grow and mature
and learn since last year, even with it being such
a fresh new thing.

Speaker 7 (28:28):
Its hats off to him for being able to come
in thinking, Okay, now this is my second year, I'm
at playing center, and I can have all the great
communication with Bake and having it with Breads and Cody
and then having to move out to tackle. So it's
just a testament of what he does, putting in the
work to be able to get it done. And then
he's just taking strides on his command of the huddle
and the communication at the line, and he just knows

(28:49):
the scheme and everything so much better, even though he
had owned it last year.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
Just having the second year in it. Now he can fix.

Speaker 7 (28:56):
Things before Bake needs to even do it, So Bay
can have his mind really on the outside and how
we need to adjust routes. Potentially he can see the
blitzes and be able to be on the same page
with how we pick those up as well.

Speaker 5 (29:07):
And then Luke Man, I mean, re signing him to
a deal had to be exciting for you to know
you got him interest in both on you on your
book ends locked up for a while now and tell
me what it is about Luke that made you guys
say yeah, like we really want to make sure we
get him back here, and just what really excites you
about knowing his potential moving forward?

Speaker 1 (29:26):
He just embodies everything that we're about.

Speaker 7 (29:28):
We're talking about player acquisition with the Bucks and guys
that are team first but are very tough.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
And he's really good in the run game. He's really
good in the dropback pass games.

Speaker 7 (29:36):
So his versatility be able to do that, be able
to get him on the perimeter at times, pulling in
the screen game. He's such a good schematic fit for
what we're trying to do. And then by his work
that he's done over the last couple of years, being
able to pay off and be able to get him
paid and just know that good on the left side,
you're good on the right side. They both deserve it
and they're going to be around here for a while.
Is definitely something that myself was in the staff we

(29:58):
look at as a brings a smile to our face.

Speaker 5 (30:01):
Yeah. I feel like Luke and Tristan, you know, get
a lot of the attention maybe for the alignment, just
being the tackles out there, and you know, Graham being
the high draft pick last year. I feel like it
leaves Brettison and Cody kind of like as the more
unsung heroes of the offensive line. Tell me what makes
them so talented, and even just Ben's ability to play center,

(30:22):
you know, with only a couple of weeks notice and
just what the two of them bring to that interior
side very selfless.

Speaker 7 (30:28):
And then it starts with those guys we talked about
winning the game in the trenches. It can be in
the run game or in their pass protection. But then
his ability to just go do something he's done years ago,
but then pick it up and be able to execute
it in a game. And we harp on playing longer
and harder than the opponent, and those guys embody that.
They're two of the first guys that are at the
pile picking up the running back after a run. They're

(30:48):
the ones cleaning up the pile on the protection to
keep Bake safe.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
And then they set the tempo.

Speaker 7 (30:53):
If somebody's doing something on defense taking a cheap shot,
they're going to go handle that themselves. And it's not
just something as coach, but they really believe it. They
harp on it in the room. So you know that
Bake's interest there are He has their best interest at
heart in terms of preparing him on the blitz protection
meeting and being able to pick up the blitzer and
keep him safe. So those guys love it and they

(31:14):
have a great relationship with him, which is really cool
to see on riend.

Speaker 5 (31:16):
We're gonna have more coming up on Buccaneers Total Access
with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, brought to you by Advan Health.
This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
You were listening to Buccaneers Total Access with head coach
Todd Bowles and Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips, brought to
you by ad Van Health, Exclusive Hospital of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers.

Speaker 5 (31:36):
We are here with offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Right before
the break, we were talking about the relationship, you know,
between Baker and his offensive line, which we know is
tighter than anyone else in the league. I have to imagine,
And I also think that Baker, like, we love the
fact that he's the guy that will lower the shoulder and.

Speaker 6 (31:53):
He's just a guy being a dude.

Speaker 5 (31:55):
But I know you've talked about the fact that he's
also I think way more cerebral of a quarterback than
people will maybe either give him credit for or expect
him to be. Tell me what it's like for you too,
and just kind of nerding out about football in the
ways that he approaches it from such a cerebral standpoint.

Speaker 7 (32:11):
Yeah, you can just tell on the conversations we have
how much time he puts in, whether it's with the
old line watching the protections, as well as on his own,
because then we're having conversations about what we've seen on tape, say,
for instance, even playing Houston this week, that he's already watched,
and we're watching the Rams game from last night and
he's already remembering things that.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Happened in it.

Speaker 7 (32:30):
And then his recall from what actually just happened before
on the previous play. When he comes off, even if
it didn't go well, he'll say, hey, I know I
need to do this or do that, or I need
to hang on this route long, or I need to
get the protection right here. So a lot of the
stuff correcting with him, he already knows it.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
And then we both of course love.

Speaker 7 (32:48):
Watching tape and being able to try to exploit weaknesses
in the defense and who we want to attack. It's
one of those things where you would assume guys like
to watch a lot of tape, but it's just not
the case across the league. So the fact that he
loves watching tape and preparing and not only preparing for
what he's expecting to see, but hey, what if they
do this, what are we going to get to It's
just not guaranteed, but it's something that he hangs his

(33:10):
hat on.

Speaker 5 (33:10):
It is really cool to see Mike, you know, got
every year just seems like Mike Evans gets better, which
is wild to think about. Did it feel to you
like you watched him come into training camp and just like, oh, yeah,
this is this is prime for Mike Evans.

Speaker 7 (33:23):
Yeah, I thought from the time that he got to
camp that he looked somehow better than he did last year,
and then he had such a good camp and he's
moving so well that I'd say, comparing it to a
year ago today, he's even in a better spot, which
is a testament to what he did in the off
season and taking care of his body and training being
able to go put another great year on tape and

(33:45):
the fact that he can look better than he did
the last year is just amazing.

Speaker 5 (33:49):
You know, we've been celebrating kind of the fiftieth year
and there have been some events lately where we've talked
about milestone events and a lot of people have brought
up him getting the thousand yards last year, and Baker
talked about the pressure to get it and you know,
bulls making the decision to do it. And I know
you were part of the team then, but you were
not the decision maker then is do you feel this

(34:10):
pressure of like.

Speaker 6 (34:11):
Mike has to get a thousand yards?

Speaker 5 (34:13):
That's how Baker put He's like, I can't be the
guy that doesn't get in the yards.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Thousand yards. Yeah, we want him to get it.

Speaker 7 (34:20):
And I think the point that we made last year,
even though he missed those games and he was able
to catch up on the yardage to be able to
put himself in a position versus New Orleans to get
it was that, for one, we were trying to go
to the playoffs, and I know Mike cares about that
even more than the stats. But we also knew that
for us to get to the playoffs, Mike needs the ball.
He needs it often, and he needs it he needs

(34:42):
it early, he needs it late. So the way we
look at it is those things go hand in hand.
Mike gets his touches and yards and helps us score
points and win the game, and it also builds towards
another thousand yard season.

Speaker 5 (34:52):
You had particularly talked about in some press conferences your
excitement for Jalen McMillan this year, and I know that
was devastating to to see him go down and you know,
really hoping he has a speedy recovery back. But what
was it like for you and how it affected what
you wanted that wide receiver room to look like on
game day, and then also just dealing with, you know,
losing him from a personal standpoint and just kind of

(35:15):
the way you're trying to cope with that from the
on the field and the off the field standpoint.

Speaker 7 (35:20):
Yeah, we just hated it for him because he was
in such a good place. He ended the season so
strong last year, and then he came back into the
off season program even in better shape.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
You could tell he put on a little bit of weight.
He looked stronger.

Speaker 7 (35:33):
He of course had a better grasp of the offense
because a lot of the stuff was similar to last year,
so he now had that recall where he could play
even faster, he could help out some of the younger
guys that had joined the team. So it was very
unfortunate for him because we're not gonna be able to
replace him. Of course, just hated just because of such
the spot that he was in and how well he
was doing, especially in the joint practices for him.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
For him to go down, we just hate it for him.

Speaker 7 (35:56):
But then from there it's about a lot of those
guys that are playing in those spots now. I mean
mech is now playing a slightly different position than he
did before j Mack got hurt, So its hats off
to him for being able to do that as well,
and then for those other guys that are able to
fill in as well and try to get them the
ball and fill that role. If doesn't need to be
a blocking guy, ors need to be a guy that's

(36:17):
handling the dirty work, whether it's I say blocking is
it on the blocking a d ND, or is it
blocking a dB and being able to handle that role
and then those guys being able to play multiple positions.
That's what that receiver needs to do. That we'll call
it the fourth fifth receiver. You need to be able
to play the X, the x Z, and the F
and help TMAC on special teams. So those guys are
really a jack of all trades.

Speaker 5 (36:37):
One of the people that had to step up in
that room in this last game was Sterling Shepherd and
only had three catches, but he made the most of
them of getting our first first down, getting us something
that continues the game winning drive, and even maybe helped
with the potential almost interception play a little defense on
that one.

Speaker 6 (36:53):
So talk about just what.

Speaker 5 (36:55):
It's like to have a guy like that as you're like,
you mentioned a fourth or fifth guy that as the
kind of experience he does, it is huge.

Speaker 7 (37:03):
We just love Chef's mentality and he is you guys
are saying, he's the same person in the meeting room,
that he is on the practice field, that he is
in the locker room before the game, that he is
during the game, and as much football as he's played,
and being the really number one receiver where all the
balls and all the targets are going to him, to
now the role where he is where Okay, he might
not get the lion's share like Mike and Mech will get,

(37:25):
but he doesn't complain about it. Massive plays he had yesterday,
you hit on it, the first third down conversion, being
able to have that on the scramble drill, the one
in the two minute really kept the drive alive, which
was massive in his play strength and how hard he
plays to be able to fight through the linebacker to get
it to get the yards necessary, knocking down the pass
that could have been potentially intercepted. And then he takes

(37:45):
his role as a blocker very seriously as well. He's
trying to get a hat on a hat, and just
the energy that he brings by making a play, it
just juices up everyone else because he's so animated into
celebrations that they love to see him get the ball
and do something been good with it, and then it
really energizes the whole unit.

Speaker 5 (38:02):
After that, we're talking offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard Tess Johnson.
I feel like, really cool potential, you know, guy to contribute.
Of course, you know special teams as a wide receiver,
as a late round pick like him. What are the
things that excite y'all that you know really got him
that roster spot and where you could see him not
only this season, but maybe moving forward.

Speaker 7 (38:20):
A lot of the stuff that he was doing at
Oregon you could see where they're running similar concepts that
we run here, and so the fact that he was
able to utilize those there we call him choice routes,
option routes where it looks like on most of his
college tape he was making the right decisions on that
and he was so explosive after the catch in terms
of his run after catch yackability, like we've talked about,
We felt like it was gonna be a good fit

(38:42):
for the scheme, and then you saw that in training camp,
in the practice, even in the joint practices, and then
what he was able to do in the Buffalo game
by now really being the premier receiver and trying to
get him the ball and the plays that he made
either down down the field or just on some of
the shorter routes where he's able to have a good
run after catch.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
We think he's in a really good spot.

Speaker 7 (39:00):
And especially as we get to build into the season,
hoping to increase.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
His role and get him the ball.

Speaker 7 (39:06):
But he's done a nice job, especially having more reps
after j Mack went down.

Speaker 5 (39:10):
And so now, what are your hopes for when Chris
Godwin's able to come back of how you want to
approach it as an offensive coordinator knowing here's one of
your star guys, but maybe you don't want to do
too much too fast, and just what that could look
like for your offense and the way you want to
bring him back.

Speaker 7 (39:24):
Yeah, we want to just see where Chris is at
and not, to your point, overload him, because he's one
of those people where he's just once he's there, he's
gonna do everything, and we know he's just going to
grind it out and we're gonna have to save Chris
from Chris because of how hard he works and how
much he wants to help the team. He already knows
the scheme, he knows how to run the routes, he
knows how to run all play all three positions, and
so for him just to catch up schematically with what

(39:45):
we're doing for him should be really easy. It's just
going to be a matter of how much he can
take early on on how many plays per game or
how many plays in a row, and then we'll just
go from there as he builds up that play strength
and his playstamina.

Speaker 5 (39:57):
And then looking at the run game, that was obviously
one of the things that was most exciting last year
was just the growth in that area and just putting
up really great numbers, the emergence of Bucky. I know
that the NFL is not a league where you get
to just do the same thing year to year, and
it worked just as well that everybody's making adjustments and
now everybody knows to.

Speaker 6 (40:14):
Expect a good Bucks run game.

Speaker 5 (40:16):
So what was that like for you to try to
figure out a way to keep that success going, you know,
not make massive changes, but find a way to keep
it new and fresh and still playing at that level.

Speaker 7 (40:27):
Yeah, it's all about those things that we know that
we were good at last year, which should fit what
Bucky does well, what Shad does well, what Tuck does well,
as well as the combinations on the blocks that the
old line does a good job of, So how can
we take some of those and keep it the same,
dress it up a little different ways formationally so the
defense doesn't necessarily know what we're running, and then be
able to add in a couple of new wrinkles that

(40:48):
we might have seen from around the NFL or college football,
to try to add things that the defense might not
have seen, like say yesterday on a couple of the
plays where they could have been new plays from this year,
we didn't necessarily run it last year.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
That way, they don't have an idea each time on
if you're in.

Speaker 7 (41:02):
Twelve personnel, you're running this, if you're an eleven personnel,
you're running that, Just to try to stay ahead, and.

Speaker 5 (41:07):
Then what are the hopes for Bucky you're one to
year two? I mean, I know typically a lot of
what people talk about is, you know, running back to
make the biggest jump in past protection after having a
year under their belt for whether it be that, whether
it be him actually being a receiving threat the way
he runs, what were the things that you were hopeful
he could make some strides on from last year to
this year after having such an incredible breakout season.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Yeah, you hit on it.

Speaker 7 (41:28):
You could tell that he put the work in in
the spring to be a better pass protector, not only
on the physical side of it, not that he would
ever turn down, but in his technique in blocking as
well as his ability to know, we have the protection here,
we need to change it to that side. Was the
communication with Bake with the old line, so that he's
going to the right guy and he's putting a ton
of work in on that side of it.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
He can always be.

Speaker 7 (41:50):
Better as a runner, even though he had a great
season last year, but then as well as finding ways
to get him the ball in the pass game that
might not necessarily just be checked down routeside of the bield.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Some of the things you.

Speaker 7 (42:01):
Saw in the Pittsburgh game with the Teddy throwing the
ball on the fade route, but having him as a
route runner as well, and it's not just something out
of the backfield where we're trying to check it down
to him.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
He could be more of the intended receiver.

Speaker 5 (42:13):
We have one more segment coming up here on Buccaneers
Total Access brought to you by Advent Health, with offensive
coordinator Josh Grizzard This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Buccaneers Total Access with head coach Todd Bowles now continues
brought to you by Advan Health, Exclusive Hospital of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Speaker 5 (42:30):
Final segment here on Buccaneers Total Access with offensive coordinator
Josh Grizzard. We talked a little bit about Bucky and
his growth, what about Rashad and Sean Tucker and just
the way that I mean, guy, you have such great
options in that running back room. To have three guys
with such unique skill sets that all really can bring
something cool to the table.

Speaker 7 (42:47):
Yeah, they're versatility and being able to use each of
their skill sets in different ways. It is good because
you can hand it to Buck or you can also
throw it to him, like we've talked about, whether it's
in an empty formation and he's split out like a
receiver from the backfield. And then Rashad brings that same
mentality as well where you can't hand it to him.
He's really good in the screen game as well as

(43:07):
being a good route runner. And then what you've seen
from Tuck really back to last season as well as
in camp is he has that extra gear as well
where the play might not be blocked up perfectly, but
if he gets the thing around the edge, it can
turn into an explosive play because he has the juice
to really bend the corner and create explosives in the
run game.

Speaker 6 (43:24):
Tell me about your tight end room.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
I mean we basically hit copy paste from last year,
no changes or notes on the personnel side. Why y'all
felt that way of you were like, all right, we're
good in this room, no changes needed.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
And what you're hopeful for out of the room as
a whole.

Speaker 7 (43:37):
Yeah, it starts with Kid in his versatility, good in
the run game as well as good in the past game.
It's very hard to find tight ends in the NFL
that you really feel good about those guys in both
that they can hold up in protection but you can
also throw them the ball and their physical in the
run game. So he's able to do that, which is
a testament to him. And then once you get into
to Pain and Co and those guys being the tone
setters and really the meatheads of being able to play

(44:00):
smash mouth football at times and then being able to
block ends or wrap for backers, and they really embrace
that role. And then as well as what Dev's able
to do in the past game and being able to
get him going on. I know he wasn't active this
past week, but had some good moments in camp on
some explosive playability when he's matched up on a backer
or on a safety because he is so much faster.

Speaker 5 (44:19):
And do you see their role having to change at
all with Tristan's injury? Was that one of the ways
that you were kind of working to think, Oh, man,
how do I try to make up for Tristan? When
you said you can't replace him? Did you feel like suddenly, man,
it's very important that these guys are willing to maybe
do a little bit more blocking.

Speaker 7 (44:34):
For sure, it's a very week to week thing based
on who we're playing that week, on how much help
or not help that we're going to have to give
the offensive line, But those guys have embraced that if
it is a role where they need to go help
Chip the d n because he's a premier player. That way,
it's a slightly longer rush for him to try to
get to the quarterback, and they just embrace that. Essentially,
everybody we have on the offense is selfless and they
just want to do what it takes to win and

(44:55):
those guys really embody that.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
So now we're going into Monday night football, first prime
time time game as an oc here, tell me what
it's done for you schedule wise of how you want
to embrace it. How does that affect the game planning
and the schedule on this end, and then how are
you trying to prepare for that unfortunate short week on
the other side of it.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yeah, it's twofold.

Speaker 7 (45:13):
You do get that extra time to be able to
prepare and put the best playing together possible, to put
our guys in a position to go out and make
plays and score points because especially coming off that physical game.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
Being on the road in Atlanta, being able.

Speaker 7 (45:25):
To have a chance to put these guys to rest
a little bit more before we play Monday.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
But then we never want to overlook that opponent.

Speaker 7 (45:31):
But they also have to have that mentality of what
can I do to help my body and preparation this
week because it is going to be a short week.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Anytime you have a chance.

Speaker 7 (45:39):
To play on Monday night, especially now it's on the road,
we know it's a hostile environment, very loud environment, and
one of the better defenses in the NFL, So it'd
be a great challenge, and I know they're ready for it,
and we've already started the prep work.

Speaker 5 (45:50):
That's great, And yeah, I wanted to hear a little
bit about their defense of let's start with maybe their
defensive front.

Speaker 6 (45:55):
What stood out to you so far on tape just.

Speaker 7 (45:57):
How physical they are and how they come off the ball,
so we refer to as a jet technique where they're
jetting up the field and their ability with those guys,
whether it's Anderson coming off the edge or daneil Hunter,
they really set the tone of the defense. But you
can tell from that position all the way through the
stack linebackers and Disease and then Petree playing the nickel.

Speaker 1 (46:16):
They run to the football.

Speaker 7 (46:17):
It's a lot of the things that we harp on
as an offense, with our guys running to the ball
and helping each other up and playing harder than the
other team. They embody that as well. They're very well coached.
It's a very good scheme. They've been running the scheme
for a long time. They know exactly where they want
to be and they're going to have a population to
the football to try to get us on the ground
and then come back play after play.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
We'd like to believe we do the same thing their secondary.

Speaker 6 (46:38):
What stands out there.

Speaker 7 (46:39):
It starts with Stingley, one of the better cover corners
in the NFL, really a ballhawk, a lot of interceptions
last year lasted are on the other side being a
really good player. And then especially on the safeties as well,
we have a little bit of the history there with
Chauncey playing him last year. Acquired him via the trade.
But it's a great unit from even on the interior
d line through the stack linebackers as well as the safeties.

(47:01):
They know exactly where everybody's supposed to be, and again
they play very hard.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
It's a very well knit unit.

Speaker 5 (47:06):
Looking at your first year's office of the coordinator, we
always like to get to know some of the new
coaches have been on the show as well.

Speaker 6 (47:11):
But what is it about this role in this job
that you love?

Speaker 1 (47:14):
I really enjoy every element to it.

Speaker 7 (47:16):
It starts with the camaraderie with the staff because we're
with those guys even more than the players, even more
than our family. So being able to spend time with
them and always making it fun and watching tape with them.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
I really enjoy watching tape.

Speaker 7 (47:27):
I look at it as a hobby, so it's never
a part of work, so being able to do that
as a job is fantastic. And then the camaraderie with
the players and getting the scheme together and trying to
be on the same page to go out there and
score points and the time we spend with them is
really cool. I didn't know what to expect going into
it on how much fun it would be, but it
is a ton of fun. It's almost like you're playing

(47:47):
the game again because as an assistant coach or assistant
position coach or quality control you're involved in the game
and you're dealing with substitutions and the adjustments, but actually
being able to call the plays. It feels like you're
even more part of it game, which I haven't felt
since I was a player.

Speaker 5 (48:02):
Has there been anything about the job that has surprised
you or some of the bigger challenges with it, maybe
compared to what you thought coming in.

Speaker 7 (48:09):
I expected it coming in, but it is something you learn.
I'm still learning on a day to day basis on
the communication with not only the players but the staff
and making sure they're aligned and being very clear in
my communication to them on what it is expected what's
our schedule as the staff, what's the schedule as the players,
How we need to conduct practice, how disciplined we need
to be, and then the amount of questions that come

(48:30):
from not only a staff with the players and having
an answer for them and know why we're doing things,
and just knowing that if they're coming to me with
a question or an idea, that it is something that
they don't take lightly because they feel like it's going
to help us, and I need to listen to that
and be able to determine if what their vision aligns
with the entire staffs and the players to be able
to go out there and put a good product on

(48:51):
the field.

Speaker 6 (48:51):
And what would you.

Speaker 5 (48:52):
Say you want your identity to be as an offensive coordinator,
both in terms of what a Josh Grizzard offense looks like,
and then also maybe what players and coaches would say
about you and your approach to it off the field,
and when.

Speaker 7 (49:04):
The opponent turns on the film, we want it to
be that they appreciate how physical and how hard we
play and how much stress we put on them by
being able to utilize different personnel groupings and making things
look the same in the run game and the past game,
and then from what they should expect from me, in
which I'd like to hang my hat on is the
consistency of whether we have a good practice or a

(49:25):
great drive, or a bad drive or a bad practice,
that I'm going to be pretty much even keeled and
then get after them when we need to to be
able to make sure that everyone is aligned, but not
someone that's going to be so up and down where
they don't know exactly what to expect from me from
a day to day basis.

Speaker 5 (49:39):
And how did you make the decision of on field
versus in the booth.

Speaker 7 (49:42):
I really enjoyed being on the field and the communication
how quick it was with the staff and the players
on what would just happen on that play, who's going
into the game on the next play. I think that
that instant feedback makes it just a hair quicker than
being in the booth, even though you can see it
slightly better from the booth. I have all the confidence
in the world and those guys upstairs on relay the
right information. So by having that confidence that they're taking

(50:03):
care of what's going on up top, I can be
the voice on the field to communicate to Bake and
the rest of the offense what's happening, and then just
being able to talk to Bake as we come off
the series and exactly what he saw and there's not
him putting on a headset and now coming off to
the side and we have to.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
Talk about it.

Speaker 7 (50:17):
It's he comes down, he sits on the bench. We
got the iPad, we're sitting there with that.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
We go through it. This was good, this was bad.
Let's move on.

Speaker 5 (50:23):
Finally, how much do you feel like being a psychologist
is part of the job if you are going to
be down there and talking to Bake?

Speaker 7 (50:29):
Yeah, because you have to look at it twofold on
my thought process on what the plays that I'm going
to call and getting us in the best position to
make plays, but also looking at it from there and
as well on if it's not going well, what can
we do to put him in a position and now.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
Play play well?

Speaker 7 (50:43):
Or if this guy's got not getting the ball and
he needs the ball, or that guy's not getting the ball,
or whatever it might be with the offensive line. To
be able to look at not only a scheme, but
from it as a personal level as well.

Speaker 6 (50:53):
Well.

Speaker 5 (50:53):
Coach, Thank you so much. For taking the time to
talk with us. We really appreciate it and I really
enjoyed watching your debut. Man, you brought an exciting one
for Bucks fans in week one, so congratulations.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
It's fun.

Speaker 7 (51:04):
We hope to make them proud, hope to get better
each and every week as a unit and go out
score points and hopefully get that done again this week.

Speaker 6 (51:09):
Worth Houston, I love it all right. That's going to
do it for us.

Speaker 5 (51:11):
On this edition of Buccaneers Total Access, brought to you
by Advent Health, this has been offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard
and head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 6 (51:19):
This is Buccaneers Radio