Todd Bowles & John Spytek Talk Week Four Win | Bucs Total Access

Reporter Casey Phillips sits down with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles & Assistant General Manager John Spytek after Week 4’s win against the Philadelphia Eagles. They discuss the team working well together to secure last week’s win, the offense’s well-rounded performance and what John is most proud of.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fuck not three?

Speaker 2 (00:01):
What's the three?

Speaker 3 (00:05):
Pace these Buccaneers Total Access with head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Now the hell of the job. Back here may Field shotgun?
Look looks right, I'm back to left. Those twarters left,
Codball Evans at the five?

Speaker 4 (00:20):
Another three?

Speaker 5 (00:21):
Two?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
What touchdowns haven't by?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
There?

Speaker 1 (00:23):
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Speaker 3 (00:41):
Fire the Cannons now your host, Bucks team reporter Casey
Phillips and head coach Todd Bowles.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Welcome into Buccaneers Total Access here with head coach Todd Bowles.
First of all, Coach, congratulations, what an incredible when I
have to imagine for you that that that felt like
everything you could have wanted in a game based off
what had gone wrong the week before to show that
you had to dressed with the team each of those
individual issues. Is that how it felt.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
It was great because we got off to a fast start.
You know, we haven't been getting off to a fast start,
whether the offense or defense came out on the field.
But the offense got out there first and they put
a drive together and got us ahead. Defense went three
and out, and that's kind of how you wanted to go.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Did you have a sense going into the game that
the mindset would be there, that this kind of turnaround
was possible based on what you'd seen throughout the week?

Speaker 4 (01:26):
They were focused all week and we played like we practiced.
We practiced good, Baker practiced great, everybody on defense practiced great,
and we.

Speaker 5 (01:32):
Played like that.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah, So let's talk about Baker thirty of forty seven
three and forty seven yards, two touchdowns. I think it's
the most pass attempts he's had since becoming a Buck.
So with that kind of a performance from him, what
stood out to you of what really let him kind
of propel this offense to that fast start in a
great game?

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Just the timing and getting ready of the ball and
getting his seat, his feet set, and you know, Mike
got Mike involved right away, and then we got everybody
else involved and he was locked in all day long.
The line gave him sometimes the throw, whether it was
short passes or down the field passes. He was locked in.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
All day, even though with the Broncos game obviously not
going how you guys would have wanted. Even that, through
four games, Baker is fourth and passing yards in the league,
fourth and passer rating second in touchdown passes. I mean,
playing at really elite level looking across the whole league.
What do you think has stood out team most about
the first four games total for him and what it
says about who he is as the quarterback for the

(02:24):
team at this point.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Just running the offense, Baker is doing whatever it takes
to win, and that's what we're trying to do. We're
trying to win. The stats come with it, and that's
great and everything, but he's doing everything he can for
us to win. Whether it's running, whether it's throwing short,
whether it's throwing long, whether it's handing it off. He's
locked in and everybody's dialed in right behind him.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
And I know he had taken some hits the last
couple of games, taken quite a few sacks. What did
you see from pass protection this week? In particular?

Speaker 4 (02:49):
I thought Liam did a good job scheming them up early.
We got some quick throws out and we got some
throws medium and then down the field, and we kept
mixing it up on them and we did a good
job protecting.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
How about the offensive line in the run game.

Speaker 4 (03:02):
They opened it up. You know, they got two horses
inside in Philly, and we opened it up a little
bit on the outside. Rashott has some tough runs, Bucky
has some very good run. I thought the line plays solid.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
And I know that you guys threw to Mike very
first play of the game that probably seemed rather intentional
after his lack of targets the week before, and he
ended up finishing with eight catches ninety four yards in
a touchdown. How intentional was that to get him going early?
And what do you see is that what that tends to.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Do for Mike, It's very intentional to get him involved early.
He opens up everything for everybody else. When he touches
the ball, he gets going, everybody else gets going, and
we run smoothly.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
And then I know that his touchdown also made him
the franchise all time leading scorer with five hundred and
ninety six points. Now joins Jerry Rice and EMMITTT. Smith
as the only three non kickers to lead their franchise
in scoring. What does that stat specifically say about Mike
and what he's been able to do.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
That's a leak company. That's just a testament to what
he does year in and year out, year and the
year out and goes under the radar, and no matter
if you double them, single them, triple them, He's going
to do the same things he does every game. He's
very consistent that he prepares for it. He's a competitor,
he's a workhorse. And that says it aloud about his
Hall of Fame numbers.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
And take us through that touchdown play.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
Oh, we had a bunch set right there. We caught
him in man covers and Mike ran the hell of
a route and bake it throw him in there.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
I know that that was our first opening drive touchdown
since the final game of the twenty twenty two season.
And what did that mean to the offense to be
able to get that and what specifically seemed different this
game for that opening drive start.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
It was great to get it going early. I mean,
we were determined to get off to a fast start.
The offensive line came out with the intent to be physical.
We came out as a team with the intent to
be physical and go down the field. And we were
crisp and we were sharp, and everything worked like we
planned it.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
And there's one thing to say, Okay, we're gonna be
intentional about getting Mic the ball and maybe try and
force it to him the first four or five passes
instead it's first drive, first five plays all went to
different players, ended up using, you know, three running backs
in the run game, eight different receivers made a catch.
How were you able to get so many different people involved?

Speaker 4 (05:10):
It's a testament to Baker. He's just taking what they
give him. If they try to take the left side away,
he throws to the right. If not the right, then
the middle and whoever's over there.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Gets the ball and Sterling Shepard, this is the guy
who man coming off the practice squad fifty one yards
including a thirty yarder. What kind of spark did you
see that he was able to add when I'm sure
earlier in the week there was not necessarily a thought
that he was going to have to even be put
in that position before Jalen McMillan went down.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
Certain is a good football player. He's a pro. He
practices like he's playing all the time, so when it's
time for him to play, he's ready to play. He's
a very good football player, very good receiver. When the
other two went down, we had all the confidence in
the world with him, and we didn't miss a beat.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
And take us through his thirty yard catching what he
did well in that play.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
He's a good route runner. He's a very good route runner.
He can get out of brakes and cuts very well.
He has very sure hands, and that's just.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
What he did.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Now, Bucky got his first career touchdown technically twice. Poor
guy had to do it twice to get his first
career one in there. Take us through that play that
got him that touchdown, and then just how big a
part he was of that whole drive.

Speaker 4 (06:13):
Even that was big because he didn't get in on
third and one. They put him there half inch short
before the gold line. Then we throw him a toss
play and he was determined to get in and get
his touchdown, and then he got it.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
I like it. And what are the things that he
has brought so far this season? Just even the progression
you've seen from him and the ways that he's already
growing a month into the season.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
He's brought a different change of pace as a back.
He makes the first guy miss every time. He's a
very good one cut runner when you have one guy
sitting there, and almost all the time he makes the
first guy missed. And he's very tough to be that
small and stature, And him and Rashad make a good
one two punch and they offset each other very well.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
I'm talking to head coach Todd Bowles, and yeah, I
mean Rashad coming off in illness, still able to put
up a four point nine yard average, couple big receptions
of twenty two and thirteen yards. What did this game
look like for you guys in terms of the usage
of both were shot in buckying both of them ten
carries for four point nine yard averages. Is this kind
of the ideal way? The way each of them was used,

(07:11):
Like if you could put it on a pedestal saying
this is what we would want out of a one
two punch.

Speaker 4 (07:16):
I don't think it's the ideal. It's never going to
be ideal. It's always going to be sixty forty forty
sixty one way whoever gets going. But this game happened
to even out right there and both of them run well.
Both of them were running hard, and you know we
needed both of them.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
And Trey Palmer got involved early without Jayleen McMillan in
there as well before he also got injured. But take
us through his touchdown before he had to leave the game.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
Trey was playing very fast. He was playing very fast,
and when he ran that route, I know it was
intent for Mike. Mike was out of the ball game,
so Trey came in and he ran the heck of
a route on a great corner and get that ball
in there. With the way Baker did for him to
catch it with Sleigh all over them with it, that
was great.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, good Mike Evans impersonation.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
That was great.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Kate Atten six catches, including a sixteen yarder. I know
he had seven catches last week after not being as
involved earlier in the season. What has helped him become
more involved in the past game these last couple.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Of weeks, we're finding ways to get him open. You know,
Okay has very sure hands. He's gonna be where you
want him to be, and that they try to double
Mike and Chris Moore. You know, we got to get
Kate involved a lot more.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
I know last week. The longest completion was thirteen yards
ten minutes into this game. Already, you guys had six
for longer than that by five different people. What seemed
to go well on the chunk plays.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
We got everything going. I mean they got a tough front,
you know, Liam put together a heck of a game plan,
and those guys came out and executed to perfection.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
And Chris Godwin passed seven thousand receiving yards, joining Mike
Evans as the only players to do so in team history.
So far the season, he ranks third in the NFL
with twenty seven catches, sixth with three hundred and twenty
two receiving yards, and he's tied for third with three
touchdown catches. His consistency this season, I mean that feels
like already a thing that we always talk about with Chris, right,

(08:58):
but this season it feels like, no matter what else
is going on, whatever is happening in the game, he
has been such a consistent guy. What has enabled him
to be that this year in this offense.

Speaker 4 (09:07):
I think he's having fun. I think he really loves
the offense he's in. He has outstanding hands, and he's
a great competitor. But I think he's out there just
having a lot of fun right now.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
And the defense has held them to net zero yards
of offense in the first quarter, lowest by a Buck
opponent in the first quarter since two thousand and two,
which I think I remember them having a pretty decent
defense back in those days too. What did that stat
say to you about what you guys were able to do,
especially early?

Speaker 4 (09:33):
I didn't see the stat. I don't know if it
says anything. You got to hold it up for four quarters.
But we got off to a good start. That's all
I said. We got off to a good start.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Lavante passed fifteen hundred career tackles on the day, which
means he and Derek Brooks only two players in franchise
history to reach that milestone. What is the yet league
company to be in. What does that number tell you
about Lavonte?

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Is he tackled a lot of people. He's tackled a
lot of people, sure, probably anything short of Jim Brown
he's probably made the tackle on. And he's still playing
at a high level. He's still playing the same way,
and it's a credit to him taking care of himself
and his longevity speaks for himself.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Uh, He also got his fourth career two sack game.
What worked so well on him getting to the quarterback
this game.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
I think we started a couple of years ago. I know,
he wanted to just cover and he didn't want to blitz.
Now he wants the blitz all the time. So he's
a very good blitzer. He's probably one of our best blitzers.
And he can he can slither through or he can
run you over. And he's relentless when he comes and
some of it the covers was decent, but he had
a heck of a rush against sakuon one time and
he got through and came back for the ball and

(10:39):
got the stripsack on us. He's just a relentless player.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, I imagine that. One of the stats you loved
most about this game was getting the six sacks after
only having two in the first three games. He got
two from Levonte, one from Vita, Anthony Nelson ya Ya,
and Logan Hall. What suddenly sparked this surge of of
sacks after a few weeks.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Oh, my biggest status is winning, so that after that
comes everything else. I think we got some pressure up
the middle with Vita, you know, with Vita being healthy again.
We got some pressure up the middle and that allowed
the edge guys to close the pocket off, and we
still got some pressure in the middle that kept them
in the pocket, that allowed us to get those sacks.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
And I imagine that having Vita back is just music
to your ears. First half alone, he had a couple
tackles for lost sac quarterback hit. Tell me what he
means to this defense? Of how much was this evidence
of just how much of a difference one guy can
make in there?

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Oh, he's a huge one guy. You know, he makes
a heck of a difference for us. He helps the
backers play faster because he keeps the lineman off of them.
He opens up the outside backers because he keeps the
pressure on inside the pocket where they can go outside.
So he does a lot of things for a lot
of people.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
When you weren't sure throughout the week how his progression
was going to go, how did that change the way
you were game planning? What was that like To then
learn kind of late in the week that he would be.

Speaker 4 (11:55):
Able to go, It didn't change it as much. You know,
we had some things ready if he did go, and
if he did go, so it was just kind of
tweaking some things here or there, but for the most
party carried out the same game plan.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
And then how different was the prep for you with
the Eagles knowing similarly that you know they might be
without Advante Smith and aj Brown, Lane Johnson, a bunch
of really big pieces for their offense that I'm sure
in some ways it's nice that some of their stars
aren't going to go, but then there's a lot less
certainty maybe, and who's going to be replacing them.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
Well, you're trying not to worry about it because we're
dealing with our own version of injury, So you worry
about the scheme more than you do the person. Obviously,
they're great players and they're great receivers, but they had
a quarterback, they have the tight end they had to
running back, and they have a huge old line. We
had to worry about it as well.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
We're talking to head coach Todd Bowles. And then outside
of the fifty nine yard run, Saquon only had twenty
five yards rushing. So how did you feel overall about
the run defense?

Speaker 4 (12:46):
You take away that play? I thought they did a
very good job.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
So what went wrong on that fifty nine yard er?

Speaker 4 (12:51):
We did not fit it correctly.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, it's a simple solution right there. Felt like every
time there started to be a momentum shift though, whether
it was that play or you know, some of these
other moments like the blocks extra point, it felt like
the team responded then whenever they brought it back to
within twenty four to fourteen, these moments that can be
important in a game. What have you seen is the
reason why, whether it's this game or the Lions game,

(13:13):
it feels like this team knows how to respond in
those moments.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
Just the leadership, the veteran leadership on the team, about
not looking up at the scoreboards, just playing for four
quarters and look up at the end and see what happens.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
What did you see from your corners in this game?

Speaker 4 (13:28):
I thought Zion and Dan played well. They got their
hands on a few balls right there. We didn't get
beat over the top, which was great. We gave the
one touchdown and the red zone down there when he
scrambled and got to play out of there. But they've
been playing well. The ball is not going down the field.
We just got to get our hands on some more balls.
But they played well.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
And how about your safeties is what we see continuing
Christianizy and stepping in for Antoine Winfield Junior. What have
you seen from him and Jordan back there?

Speaker 4 (13:52):
Well, Jordan's our run stop er. He does a lot
of things around the line of scrimmage. He's not communicated
back there is he fits right in. He fits in well,
and he communicates. He goes from A to B very fast,
and he makes plays for us.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
And then Trent and Gill coming in as your punter
with Jake inactive, tell us what went into that decision
and then what you saw from Trenton in the game.

Speaker 4 (14:12):
Well, Jake has been in kind of a slump a
little bit. We're trying to work with him to get
out of it. But Trenton put some hang time on
the ball. Although his punts weren't very long, they were
up there high enough so we can get some fair catches.
And those guys ran down the field and high enough
for us to get a fumble calls right there where
the guy got pushed Our gunner got pushed into the
returner and they fumbled the football, so we got a
return there. He should have made that tackle on the

(14:35):
block field goal to I agree with that. He was
right there, he's got to tackle. If he's going to punt,
he's got to tackle. So other than that, he did
a good job.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
Does it make it more challenging in a short week
to make some of those kind of decisions of what
you're gonna do with him and Jake to not have
more time to evaluate that.

Speaker 4 (14:51):
No, you kind of still evaluate as you go. You know,
when Jake works on some things, I think Jake will
be back stronger than ever. In the meantime, Trent's gonna
play a little bit.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
What happened on the block? Uh extra point?

Speaker 4 (15:02):
They came off the adds real fast. They sent a
lot of guys that our right wing, but they came
off the edge real fast, and the guy made a
great play.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Uh So for you guys with with preparation, I know,
NFL is always creatures have happened, right, Everybody kind of
has their routines the way they do things. With the
hurricane coming in last week, how proud are you of
the team that, even with a bunch of other factors
that changed things, that everyone was able to stay so focused.

Speaker 4 (15:25):
I mean that was big. That that was huge. You know,
it's a lot going around along around here. We're just
playing a game. It's it's not real life. Real life
is hurricanes and taking care of your family and everything else.
And everybody did a good job of getting through that
and trying to take care of everybody. And I hope
everybody in Tampa's fine. But they came out focused on
Sunday and they pl they played a game, but it
is a game, and with everything going around us on

(15:48):
on around us, I thought they did a good job.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
And I heard an incredible story on the broadcast about
Tom Moore walking to the facility in the hurricane. When
did you, uh? When did you find out about this?

Speaker 4 (15:59):
Uh? And I saw Noah and he brought the arc
and Tom wen't on it. I figured he was walking on.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
That's incredible. I just feel like this is the most
Florida man's story and I love it. He's truly embraced.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
In this one thing about Coach Moore. He's gonna get
to m work no matter what. He will always get
to work. And cause Lewis went to pick him up
and his water was about knee high and he he
made it in and he's fine. And that's just another
chapter in his book.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
I love it. What does he bring to the team.
I feel like it's it was a perfect time to
kind of bring up Tom Moore and what he what
he's brought to this team and maybe if you have
any some of your favorite uh Tom morrisms.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
He brings so much intelligence and humor as well too.
He's a very sharp football mind, one of the best
I've ever been around, and he is he's the oldest
on the on the staff, but he's the youngest mentally.
And every time, you know, whether you lose a game,
if you lose a bad game, Coach Moore is the

(16:58):
first to tell me to come to the office.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
What he said.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
He has one saying that he gets to me all
the time. Dust it off, clean the rifle and move on.
That's a shoot your bullets, clean your rifle, move on
to the next one. That's it, that's buried the dead,
Clean the rifle and move on. It's the old military slang.
And he says that all the time, and that kind
of gets me over the hump if we lose a

(17:24):
ball game and it keeps going from there.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
I like that. So, now moving on to this Falcons game,
do you feel like there's maybe a little edge to
the team knowing that so many people were so quick
to pick the Falcons to be the division leaders this year.
Is that something that you think adds a bit of
the chip on the shoulder to the guys in the
locker room.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
I don't think we worry about it anymore. I don't
think we worry about We worry about what we can control.
We can control what we do here. The schedule comes out,
we know we have to play everybody, and we deal
with them the week we have to plan. We got
to focus on us. If we can focus on us,
we'll be fine against everybody else.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
And then tell me what Raheem Morris tends to bring
to teams.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
He coaches a lot of toughness, a lot of discipline,
highly intelligent football coach. We know we're gonna get their
best and we got to be ready to play.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
And how about Kirk Cousins, How has that looked similar
or different to when you faced him on the Vikings.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
Different scheme, different team, you know, different scheme, different team.
He plays smart, he plays tough, he makes great throws.
They won some last minute games. He's gotten them down
the field on both of those times, and you know
they've come through and won. So Kurt's got a lot
of experience.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
And then how about their run game, the kind of
talk about that one two punch idea of Bijehon, Robinson
and Tyler Algier. What do you see from each of
those guys individually and then collectively, what that looks like.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
Is a run game one of the best one to
two punches in the league. Bijehon has great vision, he
can cut back. Tyler has great strength and power and
great balance. So no matter who's in there, they going
downhill and they can get some yards.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
And then how about the rest of their offensive weapons,
guys like Cole Pits, their wide receivers, who are some
of the ones that stand out to you looking at that.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
They got Pits, they got London, they got Mooney, and
they got McLeod. So they got a bunch of weapons
out there that can play. All of 'em can catch
the football. London's coming into his own pits has always
been the problem for us. And obviously when you bring
Mooney from Chicago, he's very quick, he's very fast, and
he's opening up some lanes for him.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
And how about their defensive.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
Front very active. Obviously, Grady's been there for a long time,
but they helped him out some. They got Judon, they
got Almagneta, and they have one more down there. What
was that the tackle? They have one more down there,
Almagnetta and I forgot no his name, but they got it.

(19:36):
They got a very good front and they got a
very sharp secondary. They got a very sharp secondary.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, I know, Jesse Bates and Justin Simmons a couple
of the best. What it stands out to you about
those two guys ballhawks.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
You know, they've they've seen a lot of football. They
make a lot of plays and if you make one mistake,
they gonna make you pay.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
And now for this being a divisional opponent for the
first time this season, what are the biggest things that
you feel like, Is there an increased edge of it
being division opponent prime time? Does that feel like something
that gets the team extra fired up.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
We'll get fired up because we want to win. Obviously,
you want to win every division game because that helps
you win the division. So this is the first one
we've had in a while. But it's always a dog fight.
It's never about the records. And you know, everybody thinks
it's not a tough division, but between them, the Saints
and Carolina. We always played the other tough and whoever
makes the less mistakes will win the game.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Well, coach, thank you so much as always for the
time and again congratulations on that win.

Speaker 4 (20:26):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Coming up next on Buccaneers Total Access, we'll have Assistant
general manager John spy Tech. Brought to you by advent Health.
This is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
Buccaneers Total Access brought to you by advent Health.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
Shotgun look gared golf, Bill high Snapper.

Speaker 5 (20:40):
Here comes a pressure.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
Peace sacked to the back fielding the thirty one yard line.
Levonte David shoots like a watching and Gummy Bill hie
On dropping Now more with Bucks team reporter Casey Phillips.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access. First half of the
show we had head coach Todd Bowles. Now I am
so excited to be joined by Assistant general manager John
spy Tech. John, thanks for being with us to be here, Casey,
and I mean, you got a good week to do
it after that win, that was pretty incredible to talk about.
I just feel like, what did that game mean to
the whole organization and team after having a struggle against

(21:11):
the Broncos to show the ability to come back like that.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
Well, you know, coach Coach BA always talked about, you know,
the good teams don't lose two games in a row,
and you know, we aspire obviously to be a good team.
We think we've got a lot of pieces in place,
and early in the year, you don't want to see,
you know, one bad performance become two and then become
three and four, and you know you have a big
time opponent coming in like Philadelphia. We all know what
they've accomplished the last couple of years, got a great roster,

(21:36):
a lot of great players that we respect, and we
kind of attacked it all week like it's a great
limbus test for us. Let's be about the right things
and do the right things and put that performance behind
us and realize we're better. And I felt like we
showed that on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
It also felt like each area got addressed in some
ways that had been a struggle, and specifically, I know,
the sacks that had been a number that was not
as high as you guys would want. Six sacks in
this game after just two in the first three weeks.
What did you see working in this area so well
in this game that maybe hadn't before number one.

Speaker 5 (22:04):
We had a lead. You always, we score touchdowns and
you get up two scores. The opposite of Denver. You
don't have a lot of time to sack a quarterback
when they're leading and they're dictating the kind of their terms.
When you're up to scores late in the game, every
pass rusher wants to be in the game. But I
thought it was just you know, I thought as poorly
as we played across the board. In Denver, we played

(22:24):
great team ball against the Eagles, and you know, every
good rush it works well with the coverage and vice versa.
And you know, when the quarterback has a hard time
trying to figure out where to go with the ball
or throw it to a guy that's covered, they usually
hold it and then the guys get home. So you know,
we always we were confident upstairs that we had the
guys that do it, we had the scheme to do it.

(22:45):
Obviously that's been proven over time, but it was good
to see it come to fruition. You know, to see
Levante get two is of course, he is one of
the greatest of all time, and we're so fortunate to
be able to be a part of it. Witness it.
But to see Vida get back in the action and yeah, yeah,
Logan get one was cool, and then see and Nelly
finished it off was great.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about Levante. I
feel like he could deserve our entire show here. But
HiT's the fifteen hundred tackle mark. Just he and Derek
Brooks have done that in this franchise's history. Explain to us,
from even a scout's point of view of why this guy,
why has he been the one to have this kind
of a career and the level he's still playing it
now if you were to be scouting Levonte from the.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
Other side, he loves football. You know, I thought that
interview he did with Chris Thompson, he talked about, you know,
the passion's got to be up here, and we have
that as one of our traits of I'm that man,
and it might be really the foremost trait of what
we're talking about. And I can remember going to Nebraska,
you know, all those years ago and them talking about
this is the guy, this is the guy. He's only

(23:44):
been here a short time because he was a jac kid,
but the preparation, the desire to be great, the willingness
to do the things that it takes to be great
and not just say it is. He was about that
when he was young, and he continues to prove it
year after year after year here in Tampa. And you know,
as a guy that loves players and loves watching great players,
they always just feel fortunate to be around the great ones.

(24:06):
And I've been so fortunate to be around a lot
of great ones. And La Monte is you know, near,
if not at the top of that list.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
And I think Vita proved a little bit of his
worth as well in this game of to watch a
few without him, you know, and then to see the
impact that one guy, now granted one very big guy
can make on that defense. What was it like to
watch him come back and knowing right off this injury,
just the impact he was able to make in the
ways maybe we don't even realize how much he does
that normally.

Speaker 5 (24:32):
Yeah, I mean, I give great Vita a lot of credit.
I mean, he had had a real injury, that's tough,
and you know, he he obviously missed the one game,
but he was determined not to let it become two
games and wanted to be out there for everybody and
especially against the team that we knew it was going
to be a physical battle, especially when we're they're without
you know, two of their best really two of the
best receivers in the NFL. So for us, it was
critical and to see him dominate the way we know

(24:53):
he's capable of dominating. I think a lot of times
the dirty work that he does is taken for granted
because he's not on a fantasy roster and people don't
focus on that as much. But I promise you he
dictates so much of what happens B gap to B gap,
whether it's run or pass. And the offensive coordinators that
we've spoken with, you know, the interviewed the last several years.

(25:14):
You know, obviously we've had some turnover there. Most of
them come in and talk about Vita first. They are
very aware of him, and I'm sure when the Eagle
saw him trending towards playing that way, they weren't super excited.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
About h Yeah, that's very true. Let's look at the
offensive side of things. Mike breaks the scoring record for
the franchise, which I mean man only Jerry Rice, Emitt
Smith and him, they're the only non kickers to do that.
That's pretty incredible company to be in. Tell me what
that says about.

Speaker 5 (25:42):
A gayleic Mike consistency. I mean, you have to show
up every day, week year and produce. You know, this
is not a I went out one time and had
a three hundred yard receiving game right like you know,
it was like a lightning in a bottle. This is
a commitment to his craft, to the game, to the team,
to the organization, and to do that is just so impressive.

(26:05):
And I think sometimes you can take that for granted
because he just sometimes makes it look so easy. And
as scouts, I think we marvel at the things that
these guys do that make they make it look easy,
and we know implicitly how hard it is and couldn't
happen to a better person, couldn't happen to a more
deserving person. And I hope he I hope he keeps

(26:26):
stacking on that record and putting it way out in
front of everybody else that is ever going to chase him.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
Here we're talking to assistant general manager John Spytech, and
I imagine for you, as you've talked about that, I
am that man idea and to have people like Mike
and Chris Godwin leading the wide receiver room in particular.
I feel like that's another thing that maybe we as
Bucks fans take for granted of having guys like that
in that position group for so long together here and

(26:51):
when you look at across the record books, everything is
Mike one, Chris two, mikee one, Chris two on every
single category possible. To have those two guys at the
same time, what does that do for this offense and
the locker room?

Speaker 5 (27:04):
Well, I think the way that they prepare and play
and the product that you see every week is a
great bar for people to understand what it takes. If
you're a young person and you're not looking at Chris
and Mike on offense and trying to emulate that, you're
probably doing it wrong for a quarterback. You know, both
Tom and Baker have talked about what an attractive place

(27:25):
Tampa was because you have those two people, not because
they're great players, but because they're great people too. And
the older I get and the more I'm in this profession,
you realize that very often those two things are you know,
they're equals. You can't really have one without the other
in terms of what you bring to an organization, the
consistency that it takes and your level to produce year

(27:46):
after year after year. I was actually teasing Jason a
week or two ago and asked them, what does it
feel like to have drafted the two greatest receivers in
the history of an organization?

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (27:56):
Pretty cool? Yeah, And it's not even up for debate,
I don't think. I mean, they certainly are, and the
numbers bear that out. And you know, again, just fortunate
to be around two great people that happened to also
be great football players.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
I can tell that you guys obviously have faith in
Baker as well, resigning him this offseason, through the first
four games, watching him deal with you know, the high
highs of Lions and Eagles games and then the lows
of the Broncos game. What have you seen from him
both in his on field production and then his leadership
through this first four weeks.

Speaker 5 (28:24):
I think he's really found himself here. He talked about
that in training camp. Just he's comfortable, he's confident. You know,
with Liam's offense, there's a lot more on his plate
this year. And I know people like to say that
they knew each other and they but they was brief.
You know, they had basically a cup of coffee in
terms of the NFL life. And you know, Liam has
challenged Baker to take the next step as a player

(28:46):
and as a leader, and not that anybody's surprised around here,
but Baker has risen to the challenge and is running
with it. And you can feel his energy and his
swagger that he always had and when he was playing
awesome football Oklahoma, like that's what it was about. When
he was playing really good football with the Browns, that's
what he was about. And you know, he was determined,
I think, maybe more than anybody, not to let that

(29:06):
Denver performance affect the egos performance, and that is what
we're looking for from a quarterback and from a leader.
And you know, we just continue to be excited to
have him. We're just grateful that he chose us and
it worked out.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
And I know we see kind of, like you mentioned,
the swagger and the leadership stuff of you see him
thrown his to farm occasionally and just the way he's
one of the guys and his on field production. But
I also think that maybe he doesn't get enough credit
for being the cerebral type of quarterback as well. What
have you guys seen from him in the behind the
scenes that we don't get to see in terms of
meeting rooms and talking about games that he brings to

(29:40):
it that is a little different than maybe the Baker
we see on Sunday.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
He is extremely intelligent. He is a football nerd. And
I say that, well, yeah, I'm absolutely that too, And
I mean that as an absolute compliment. You know, when
you tell him somebody's out of the game, right like
an Eagles player, He's, you know, in the tent he
might not go, and he knows instantly who's coming in,

(30:05):
and he knows the strengths and weaknesses of that player.
He understands football. He has the ability to process information
really really quickly, which to me is one of the foremost,
if not the foremost trade of playing quarterback. I mean,
if people could actually understand how much he has to
process from the time he gets in the huddle or
the time he's approaching the huddle and Liam's reading them

(30:26):
what feels to me like a novel sometimes to call
the plays. I mean, this isn't two word plays, these
are sentences. And I always tell Liam, like I could
never be a quarterback. I couldn't remember that to do
it seamlessly get to the line, change plays, change formations,
and then still know actually where to go with the
ball really quickly. Is it takes an elite thinker to

(30:46):
do that. And last week I thought was a great
example of it. I mean, he was on it from
the day, from the moment that that ball got snapped,
and he played leg it through the whole game.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
All Right, We're going to take a quick break here
on Buccaneers Total Access. We are talking to Assistant general
manager John spy brought to you by Advan Health. This
is Buccaneers Radio.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
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.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Welcome back in two Buccaneers Total Access when you lived
here with Assistant general manager John Spy Tech. So we
were talking offense, and I feel like we'd be or
missed and not mention Rashad and Bucky especially in this game. Man,
if you're talking about trying to have a one two punch,
to have two guys with exactly ten carries forty nine
yard same average and both of them getting involved in
the past game as well. We see Bucky at his
first career touchdown technically twice. So tell me what you

(31:34):
saw specifically from those two guys in this game and
what it could mean for what you are hoping to
get out of the two of them moving forward.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
Well, I mean, they're a great compliment to each other.
They do a lot of things similar, so when they're
in the game, either one of them, they can just
you know, trading equal parts, right, so we can just
kind of keep running it. But they also can be
in the game together and do just enough things different
where you know, when you see us getting that twenty
one pony would be the personal group call it. When
they're both out there together, you know, it's a challenge

(32:03):
for defenses because they both can run it, and they
both can play in space, and you know, with an
offense of coordinator that's looking for matchup advantages and try
to put the defense in stressful situations and play on
our terms. Those two guys as the interchangeable parts are
awesome and they've got a great relationship. You can see
him on the sideline rooting for each other, and that's
really what we're about here. I mean, it's about the

(32:25):
team and those two guys embody that and it was
cool to see him both play a big play, big
part in that game. You know, I give a lot
of respect to Rashad. He obviously didn't feel well last week.
He was on the injury report and that that kind
of game one hundred and five heat index or whatever
it was, coming off of an illness is not what
you're looking for when you're when you're coming back from
being sick. But he laid on the line and you know,

(32:45):
props to him for that.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
And the offensive line I know a couple of games
had been a little rough on their end, gave up
a lot more sacks than they had wanted to, and
then now this game felt like the protection and the
run game so much closer to what you guys are
hoping for, what they're shooting for. What did you see
as the adjustments that they made that Liam made some
things to help that line be a little bit more effective.

Speaker 5 (33:04):
I think, like offense is a everybody wants to throw
throw it deep and play with a lead, and you know,
we didn't do that against Denver. We didn't have a lead,
we weren't able to throw it deep. And I thought
last week was a good It was good complimentary football. Right.
We ran the ball, We spit the ball out to
the perimeter on the quick game pretty pretty pretty fast.
You know, the run game and the quick game are

(33:26):
the offensive lineman's best friends. It's really hard to stack
a quarterback when he throws the ball in two seconds.
It's really frustrating for a defense to chase a quarterback
and get off the ball and try to pursue a
quarterback and the ball's gone before they can even get there.
I think that was one of Tom's foremost traits, was
he would frustrate and wear defenses down because you feel
like you're about to get a good rush and the
ball's gone, and the ball's gone, and the ball's gone
over and over again. And you know, I think good

(33:48):
offenses they play on their terms, but they'll they'll spend
some time taking what the defense gave him. And I
think we started the game that way, and we weren't
afraid of the nine play eighty r touchdown drives. And
it was good to see everybody on the side of
the ball bumps back.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
So now, looking at this off season, I mean, man,
you guys had your had yourselves a year when it
comes to that, I mean, resigning everybody was just incredible.
What did it take? I feel like it's so easy
for fans to just be like, oh, sign this guy,
trade this guy that you know, for all of us
playing with monopoly money, it's an easy thing to think about,
what did it really truly take to bring you know,
Baker and Levante and Mike and Tristan and Antoine get

(34:24):
all of those guys signed in one off season.

Speaker 5 (34:27):
It took a big commitment from the Glazer family to
to you know, put the money up that was going
to be required. I mean, it was no secret to
any of us in this building that we were going
to try to play some of the best players at
their positions in the NFL, and some of the most
iconic Bucks as well, and guys that aren't just iconic
Bucks but still playing at extremely high level too, which
is which is important. I think one of the things

(34:50):
that we're most proud of here and certainly I am,
is we've created a culture and maybe a community that
people want to be a part of. They don't want
to leave it. They want to be here and they
want to stay here. And when you go into negotiations
with players that want to be here. It just makes
things a little bit easier. Sure, we still have to
find a deal and there can be tough conversations had

(35:13):
that makes sense for everybody. I don't think we operate
in a way that we want anybody to leave the
negotiations or sign a contract they're not happy with. We
want them to be happy with the deal that we got.
We want to be happy with the deal we got.
And when guys don't want to leave, and they all
stood up there and said it on the diets with
Jason when he did their press conferences, is it's imperative

(35:36):
to holding a good team together. Otherwise you develop all
these young players and they don't really love it here,
they don't love part of the organization, and they just
for you know, five hundred thousand more dollars, they might leave.
I don't think we have that here. I think we've
got the opposite. They'd leave a little bit of money
on the table to stay if if that's what it takes,
that's great. And Jason's made no secret like if you

(35:58):
play and perform and conduct yourself in a manner that
we love, He's got no issues in the Glazer family
does have any issues paying you get what you deserve,
and then to me, every player should want to be
a part of that.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah, And as you look at that group, I felt
like they all embodied what you talk about it, but
that I am that man, and so it does make
sense of like, yeah, we got to reward this. This
is what we say we want. These guys have been that,
so now we have to reward that. But I also
know a big part of it is again the dollars,
the cents, the contracts of all of it tell us
a little bit about Mike Greenberg, Jackie Davidson, the role
that they play that I feel like they're the sort

(36:31):
of unsung heroes a lot of times of where you know,
we get to hear from some of you guys in
the front office more often in the media, they're the
ones that we don't always get a chance to hear from.
Explain from your perspective, Jason's perspective, what they mean to
what you guys have been able to do in recent years.

Speaker 5 (36:45):
I'm not sure I'm smart enough. You might have to
have them down here next week to totally encapsulate everything
they do. I would probably describe it as a massive
jigsaw puzzle with all these pieces that you need to
have and you're just not sure if you can cram
them all into the finite amount of space that you have,
and you've got the amount of wiggle room you have
is so small that if you make a mistake one place,

(37:07):
it's going to be really hard to do, you know,
the next three pieces. So for them to be able
to figure all that out and have such good relationships
with the agents so that we can have the hard
conversations and figure it all out and not get anybody
get upset and be like, you know what, I'm just
time for me to go. You know, that's their masters
at their profession. They rely on us to kind of

(37:29):
give him a well, he's kind of like this comp
or this comp or this comp. And you know, sometimes
we're right and sometimes with the market, that's what the
market says, and sometimes we're not. And that doesn't mean
that Jason or the Glazer family doesn't want them any less,
and so they've got to figure it out. And the
amount of things that go into a contract negotiation, it's
so far beyond just the money. It's you know, I'm
not gonna say you're gon bore you all with that,

(37:49):
and nor am I smart enough to do it. But
there's probably times ten or eleven things that they're dealing
with with any of those big deals like that, and
they've got to get them all right to make it work.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
And so let's look through some of your rookies that
you guys brought in as well. Incredible how much they
have all been asked to contribute early on, which is
I feel like a great sign of what you guys
were able to do and the ready now mindset of
so many of these picks. Let's start with Graham Barton,
of course, and tell me what you've seen his growth
getting moved around to a position he's not as familiar with,

(38:21):
in addition to making the jump to the NFL, and
how he's handled all of that.

Speaker 5 (38:25):
None of us are surprised. He has all the physical
tools he would ever want for a great center, but
more importantly is the mental aspect of it. And you know,
he's a guy that doesn't get rattled. He's a guy
that just keeps getting better day after day after day.
You know, when in training camp there were some days
where he had some high snaps and I remember sitting

(38:45):
up there talking in my short press conference, being like, well,
one doesn't become two, it doesn't become four, has become eight.
You know, it's an isolated one here. And there's a
ton on his plate too mentally, And I think it's
really hard for offensive linemen to play because the physical
jump is massive, but the mental jump for a center
is wild too. And you've got a quarterback that's in

(39:05):
a new system with gham on top of it. So
his ability to kind of command that and make the
checks is none of us are surprised, but it is impressive, nonetheless.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
And then how about let's talk about Chris braswell a
little bit. I know he has not been a guy
who's been asked to do quite as much in the
starting roles so far, but definitely still getting reps and
in there. And we know outside linebacker not an easy
position to acclimate to Coach Bowle's scheme where you're asked
to do a whole lot. So tell me what you
guys expectations are of him in the time he's going
to be here.

Speaker 5 (39:36):
I thought he played his best game on Sunday against
the against the Eagles, and we had a couple quarterback hits.
He was back there with Lavonte on Levonte's first sack,
and you know, he's a guy that just he's just
getting better every day. And in this world we live
and we want these guys to be elite players right now.
I mean, I would actually like to conon rookies less
than where I've had to the last couple of years.
But the contracts that we've done, the way we built

(39:58):
this team, you know, when Tom was here and the
years necessitated that we rely on these guys a little
bit more. But he is getting better every day in practice.
You can see it. He's getting more confident. He's understanding
the defense better, which Yah Yah has talked about as
was a challenge for him last year and it's a
challenge for all of these guys, and he is just
about the right things, consistent, high effort, and you know,

(40:20):
the last week it was a good step for him
and I'm excited to see him play this weekend and
expect more of it from him.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
So take Smith, a guy who came in and from
day one, everyone's just been talking about how intelligent he
is from the football IQ standpoint, which is saying something
again from a guy like coach Bowles doing that praise.
So what have you guys seen from his development and
his ability to step into that Nickel position right away?

Speaker 5 (40:40):
It demands a lot. You know, he's a part of
the run support, he's a part of the blitz package,
and he's certainly a part of the coverage and you
know Nickel a lot of times I think people that's
where you put a guy that can't play on the outside.
I would say it's where you put the guy that
has got a really great mind and is really tough
and techy has certainly both those things. He's just fitting
their seamlessly. He gets better every day. He doesn't make

(41:03):
the same mistakes twice. He's tough, you can see that.
And run support, you know, the third play of the
game he hits Jalen hurts the other day to kind
of set the tone for the game, and he's off
to a great start. Just look forward to watch him
compete more and more and.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
Then Jayalen McMillan, We know he missed this last game,
but what have you seen so far from him to
start in where he's gotten a lot of confidence and
you know, has seems like he's earned a lot of
confidence from guys like Baker thrown to him, you know,
early and often, especially preseason and then into Week one.

Speaker 5 (41:29):
Yeah, I think he's he's trying to learn as much
as he can from those two guys in front of him,
which again to the best role models I could think
of to become a high end receiver in our league,
and he just continues to show us what a natural
he is at the position, just a very you know,
Baker told me one time, I can't figure out if
he's running fast or he's just that or he's running slower.

(41:50):
He's just that smooth. And Baker was like, I think
he's just that smooth. I was like, he is just
that smooth. He's just you know, the natural ability to
turn your legs over and make the hard things look
fairly easy, you know. I mean he's off to a
great start, obviously with a touchdown Week one. He's made
some big plays for us, and you know, just keep
me learing those two guys in front of him and
he'll be on his way.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
I know we talked a little bit earlier about Bucky
and Rashad together in their game, but let's let's talk
a little bit more about Bucky as a rookie and
what are the unique things that made you guys look
at his film in college and be like, yeah, this
is a guy that could make a difference.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Yeah. I go back to my start in Philadelphia when
coach Reid was there, and you know, his number one
of his number one things was always feet. Look at
the feet, whether we're talking about alignment or a running back.
And Bucky has a great feet and you can't teach
great feet. And oftentimes when you have great feed and
great vision, those two things give you a chance. And

(42:42):
he happens to be a really smart, instinctive football player.
He's really tough. You know, he's obviously not the biggest
guy in the world. But when I love when back's
finish inbounds. You know, he's had a couple opportunities with
runs up the sidelines and instead of stepping out of bounce,
he will lower his shoulder and make the dB tackle him.
I've seen plenty of times in this league where you
do that and the DB's not ready or he doesn't

(43:03):
want to tackle you, and the next thing you know,
there's fifteen more yards, maybe a touchdown, you know, and
there's there's an energy when Bucky runs the ball that
you really enjoy and I think you know, you can
feel that in the stadium at home when they start
chanting his name. It's exciting when he gets the ball.
And he was like that in college. He's got some
leadership traits that I don't think people totally understand. And
he is a loved guy about football, and you know,

(43:24):
he's he's been a great addition so far.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
All right, we're gonna take one more break here on
Buccaneers Total Access and we are talking to assistant general
manager John spy Tech. Will be right back. Brought to
you by Advent Health.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
This is Buccaneers Radio Buccaneers Total Access with head coach
Todd Bowles.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Now continues brought to you by ad Van Health.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Welcome back into Buccaneers Total Access. We're talking to Assistant
general manager John Spytech. Tell me a little bit about
We hear about the scouting department a lot in the
off season, and then it's like everyone thinks you'll go
into hibernation. I feel like during the season we don't
get to hear as much about what goes on now,
So tell me during the season what it looks like
for the department and the different sides of college and
pro and what it looks like from just even a

(44:03):
week to week basis of how you guys are setting
the team up for success.

Speaker 5 (44:06):
Well, do we have an hour, because it can take
an hour, but not you know, to two different departments
running simultaneously. You know, I'll start with the college department.
They're they're already on to the twenty twenty five draft.
They're making college, they're making visits, they're going to games.
They are starting to get the board in place, and
you know, basically set it in a way where this
is the group of players here. This is the group
of players here, so we can kind of you know, Jason, myself, Mike, Bill,

(44:28):
Ral McCartney, you can start to work through it. When
we're not doing pro work. We like to play the
long game there. We don't need to have answers right now,
but we need to be on well on our way
to get answers. And this this time of year for them,
the background information, the stuff that we rely on to
pick the right kind of person into this organization is
critical because you're getting FaceTime with coaches and you know,
staff in these different buildings. The pro sidees very different

(44:52):
this time of year. We are all about the upcoming opponent,
preparing for them, the advances present, presenting to the coaches,
talking with the different players, you know, different players that
are interested in hearing about the players that they're going
to face that week. Trends throughout the league, game management things.
I mean, we've got our hands in a lot of it.
But there's an urgency right now to the pro side

(45:16):
because it's week after week after week that there isn't
in the college side. And so one of the reasons
I love my job is I get to kind of
bounce back and forth between the two of them. You know,
if I need to just take a breather, you just
go watching college tape because those guys don't matter for
another six months here, and you dive back into the
pro stuff and it's like, well, here they come. They're
coming this week, so we better be ready.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
And then with it being a short week, how does
that affect what you guys have to do and need
to do on the pro side?

Speaker 5 (45:39):
You know, I think it's much harder for the coaches.
You know, you come off of a big win Sunday
and you've got to get right back into Atlanta. We
always work a week or two ahead, and so the
three four day difference than when we play the game
doesn't matter as much to us. You know. Our goal
is to support the coaches and the players as much
as we can this time of year, so we get
them the infrom whenever they need it, however they need it,

(46:03):
you know, And so it's just a little bit different
rhythm and cadence to this week than typical, But our
goal is always to give them the stuff they need
to line up a great game plan and call a
great game.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
Tell me, if you were to be looking at one
college player from start to finish, how many times are
you talking to him? How many eyeballs are on him?
Of what is that process of first discovery? And maybe
it's not a guy that's like as well known where
it's like everyone knows this. It's going to be a
first round pick, one of your lesser known guys. What
happens from start of you first learning about him to

(46:36):
maybe drafting him. What does that process look like?

Speaker 5 (46:39):
It's you know, there's certainly the people that you become
aware of when they're freshmen because they're that good and
you just got to kind of put them on the
back burner for two years because they can't come to
the NFL for them, but you spend some time gathering
information on them, knowing you're going to need it eventually
and they're probably going to be a topic. One of
the things I always loved is when you're the first
set of eyes on a player that maybe is being

(47:00):
talked about very much, and you kind of go like,
I think I think I might have something here, Like
no one's talking about this guy, none of my friends
in my area are talking about him. He's not any
of the lists that we get. And then you start
to kind of covertly go through it and get the
information you need. And a lot of times you're in
a room with six other scouts from other teams and
you don't want to like start pointing the laser at

(47:22):
this one guy and say like, this is the guy now.
Typically now they end up getting found out, and but
it's it's a fun like almost like adrenaline rush to
be the first one in your organization to do it,
because that always I feel like that matters upstairs. There's
a competition that way to be like, hey, this this year,
this guy came out and I was the first one
to put the big grade on him. And then when

(47:42):
you put the big grade on him and then the
bosses see it. As a young scout, you're like, oh boy,
they like him. And I remember, I remember that feeling
when I was young. And then, you know, one of
one of our bosses, maybe was Jason when I was
with the Eagles, come down and be like, you know,
I like that guy that you put the big grade on.
You're like, all right, maybe I'm not bad at this
that It's a very fun it's a very fun feeling

(48:03):
to be the first one. It's hard to do because
there's so much information on all these kids now for
years and years and years, and they're talking about them
on ESPN and all that stuff. But you know, if
you're looking at the right things, you can still find them.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
I'm talking to assistant general manager John Spytech. Let's talk
a little bit about this Falcons game coming up. They're
a team that they their scouting department was busy this
offseason as well. They made some changes, brought some new
people in Kirk Cousins joining the Falcons. In your mind,
what was that when you first heard about that and
what you've seen so far of how that's changed the
dynamic of this team that we're going to be facing.

Speaker 5 (48:33):
Very accomplished quarterback, played a lot of good football for
a long time, very productive, you know, doesn't turn it
over a lot. You know, was I happy that the
Falcons signed them? No, I mean, like we'd rather play against,
you know, three quarterbacks in our division that we don't
think can play. But that's also not the reality of
the NFL. And yeah, you're going to play against good players.
And so I think anytime a team has a solid, starting,

(48:56):
too good quarterback, they're going to be relevant because that
guy's going to go away to make them relevant. And
then when you have pieces around him, they become a
little bit more scary. And so, you know, we don't
like to see other teams in our division making good decisions,
you know, and kind of but you know, also the
reality is they're going to yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
They also have some of those pieces you talked about
around him. So let's talk first of all, the run
game between b Jeon Robinson and Tyler Algier. Maybe the
best one to punch outside of course we're partial to
Arborshot and Bucket, but outside of our guys, maybe the
best one to punch you guys will face in that area.

Speaker 5 (49:31):
The Troit was pretty good too, yep, but these guys
are also very good. Bijon, obviously a top ten pick
for running backs, says a lot. He is a dynamic
player that you know, you get that feeling when he
gets the ball. This is how we always felt about
Alvin Kamara, have always felt about Alvin kamaras when he
gets the ball, just get him on the ground, Get
him on the ground. Get them on the ground, you know,
and you know, you know they're going to make big plays.

(49:52):
They're just too good, not too but you can't let
the ten yard run become fifty. You gotta find ways
to get him on the ground. He's a nice compliment
to Algier because Algier is more of the bruiser physical
and so they're kind of a change of pace type things.
But they both can do the same runs, which can
be tricky to so a lot of respect for both
those guys. We're gonna have to play well up front

(50:13):
and bottle those guys up.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
And tell me about Raheem Morris stepping into this role.
What was your reaction when you heard he was going
to be taking over and what do we know about
what he brings to his teams.

Speaker 5 (50:21):
Brings a lot of juice. You know, there's a lot
of people around here that know him well. I've obviously
gotten to know him a little bit through some of
the guys upstairs that know him well. Great energy, guys,
are going to play hard, great defensive coach, and really like,
you know, his global understanding. Given all the different positions
he's coached and positions he's had, he really understands the
totality of a football team. You know, a lot of

(50:41):
times coaches, I think at offense or defense, just like
scouts can become college or pro. He's lived a different
journey with that, and so you know, I think the
thing that you can really feel this year is the
energy they play with and it certainly comes from him.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
And how about their defense? What stands out to you
about them? Knowing they've got some talented guys at every level.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
Jarrett number one, He's been a great player for a
long time in this league that we have the utmost
respect for. He is a game wrecker that if you
don't get blocked, he's going to be a problem. And
he's hard to get blocked because he's a good player.
And that's what good players do. And then I think
you go back a couple of letters behind him, Jesse
Bates is a guy and Justin Simmons there now, too,
are two safeties that are very smart. They're going to

(51:22):
keep the ball in front of them, and they're going
to take advantage of bad plays on you. And usually
if you throw in their area and it's not accurate
or it's not on time, it becomes a turnover. And
that's that's what can beat you in this league. And
they've both already proven that this year, and you know,
we got to know where they are and we got
to we got to keep the ball away from.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
Looking at this roster you guys have built for this season,
what are the things that you guys as a department
are maybe most proud of about the group you put together.

Speaker 5 (51:47):
That's a great question. You know, I'm proud of the
last two draft classes. You know, we've talked about the
fact that they've all made the roster, but they've deserved
to make the roster, and they've contributed in their own way,
and they're good teammates and you know, we've had to

(52:09):
rely on them to keep this thing moving the way
we wanted to do. And you know, as a scouting staff,
I think we we're proud of that because finding players
that are young but ready to play and produce this
league at a level that's required to win is hard.
And yes, it takes physical talent, but it takes a
lot of mental fortitude and talent as well. And that's

(52:32):
where really I give our scouts a ton of credit.
They spend this time of year finding the right information
so we go to pick them in April, or really
when we start stacking the draft board in February and
pick them in April, we know that we have the
right person to help us, you know, whether they're forced
to start right away like Graham or Tyke, or whether
they can play a role or spell somebody like Chris
and Bucky and Jalen right now. We have a lot

(52:54):
of confidence in that, and you know, I'm proud of
our guys and girls in the Sky department for that,
and I'm proud of the players too for making us
look smart.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Well, John, thank you so much for taking the time
to talk to us. I know it's a crazy week
coming off the hurricane and going into a short week,
so we really do appreciate it and congrats on that
big win this week.

Speaker 5 (53:14):
I appreciate. It's always fun to beat the Eagles.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Thank you over and over. Let's keep doing it.

Speaker 5 (53:18):
Respect to Philly, though, that's true.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
We love them and we also love beating them. All right,
Thank you guys for joining us here on Buccaneers Total Access.
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