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00:00We'll have another week of it next week, the mandatory stuff.
00:03The real thing, Bulldog, you like to call it.
00:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:06So we don't want to forget about that.
00:09The preseason schedule is out.
00:11Sal, yesterday when you and I were speaking, you made a reference.
00:14I asked you maybe about the Bills having a joint practice,
00:17and you mentioned Cleveland.
00:18And then it was later yesterday where I saw the schedule.
00:22Had that been out before, the three games and start times and all that?
00:26I think it's been out for a while, yeah.
00:28Okay, we knew that, Sal?
00:30The Bills had.
00:31Not every team.
00:32That's why the NFL kind of released it all.
00:35But we knew the Bills, the day of the schedule release,
00:38they had their three preseason games set already.
00:41When is it not too early to talk Bulldog about whether Allen should play at all?
00:45When are we going to have that?
00:46Should we put that on the calendar at some point?
00:48Does he take a snap?
00:49It'll just happen.
00:50New stadium?
00:51It'll just happen.
00:52Oh, does he need to learn how the footing is?
00:55Does he have to take the first snap?
00:56It's grass.
00:57Sounds like you brought me on for this.
00:58Well, sorry, Sal.
01:01Yeah, I'm sorry, too.
01:03It is going to be a talking point, right?
01:05I mean, people will wonder.
01:06I mean, should he take snaps in the new stadium to get used to the new stadium?
01:10I mean, the surroundings, the environment.
01:12I don't know.
01:14Some people believe in that.
01:15Some people don't, right?
01:16But I think it's going to be a talking point on top of the fact that there's going to be
01:20people inside that stadium for a preseason game who probably won't be able to go to a regular season game.
01:26And those people get to see him.
01:27So, the things that matter or don't matter are different to people.
01:30How do you think you'll come down on that?
01:33I don't need him to play at all.
01:35I think football is football to me.
01:37I mean, is there a benefit of maybe getting a couple reps in the stadium?
01:43Sure.
01:43I think the benefits would be greatly outweighed by the risks.
01:48Have you ever heard of, you know, the batter's eye in baseball, right?
01:55I think about Marty Baran in Pittsburgh, like the Civic Arena.
01:59I think he has said many times he had just a terrible time in that arena, and his numbers, I
02:05think, kind of prove it.
02:07Is there anything like that for a quarterback in football, like the backdrop, anything at all that could be?
02:13I'm guessing probably no, right?
02:17I think they're different stadiums.
02:18I think Jerry Jones, Jerry World is a great example.
02:23You guys have seen the sun shots that come through there at certain times of the year.
02:26So, I think that can definitely matter.
02:28I don't know about, like, just in general, if a quarterback would tell you that.
02:32I think it's more on the wide receivers.
02:34I think the sun, things like that that come into play with different times of year.
02:38I don't think that would be the case with a quarterback in most stadiums other than, like I said, the
02:44sun probably matters.
02:45That's right.
02:45How it's designed.
02:46That's right.
02:46The quarterback isn't tracking the ball.
02:48The receiver is the one who's tracking the ball.
02:50Sal mentions Dallas.
02:51I just think of CeeDee Lamb, who makes no secret about throwing his arms up in the air when he
02:57can't see the ball.
02:58Like, thanks.
02:59Thanks, Dak.
03:00Really.
03:00Great plan.
03:02Great stadium.
03:03He just can look so miserable.
03:04Right.
03:05Yeah, we, you know, as a Syracuse basketball fan, it's always a talking point about teams that come into the
03:10dome.
03:10It's so cavernous compared to where they normally shoot in a regular gymnasium, so to speak, or arena.
03:16And sometimes that can really mess you up.
03:18But actually, like, sometimes they say it and then the guys shoot great.
03:22So maybe it doesn't matter, but I do think it's, it is different, right, for every person.
03:28So the practice schedule here, Sal, we've got today, and I'm guessing, like, there was no access today, and then
03:35next week.
03:35And then are we done for a while after next week?
03:38Yeah, done for quite a while, actually.
03:41You go from June 11th is the last mandatory minicamp date, so I believe they probably did stuff today, but
03:48there was nothing, you know, for the media.
03:50And then next week, it's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all with media.
03:53I'll be out there every day.
03:55Mandatory.
03:56Players must be there, or they'll be fined, or better have a really good reason and be excused.
04:01And then if they do go all three days, which, as you guys know, in the past, it's happened where
04:07a team does really, you know, they work hard for two days, and the coach goes on getting you guys,
04:11you know, the last day off.
04:12Who knows if that'll happen this year?
04:13I don't know.
04:14I'm planning on being there for three days.
04:16From June 11th, then they'll break.
04:19And they do not return until they report to training camp on July 28th.
04:25That is quite a while, actually.
04:27Right.
04:27The calendar is just late this year, right?
04:29Everything's late.
04:30It's the latest Labor Day you can have, so therefore it's the latest start of the regular season, so therefore
04:35it's the latest start of training camp.
04:37Latest Memorial Day, latest Labor Day.
04:40I wonder if that correlates.
04:41So you've got these three more, you know, practices, all of which you're saying you'll be able to see,
04:47and I assume talk to people involved afterward, as opposed to just the once a week.
04:52But what would you say so far?
04:54I don't know.
04:55What have you learned?
04:57I know when we first started, you pointed out how the podium was different.
05:02There's a lectern now and not a table.
05:05I don't know.
05:06Like, what else have you observed in a macro sense here, or micro if you want?
05:11Like, just how things are different now that it's Joe Brady at the helm and Jim Leonard on defense.
05:17I don't know.
05:18What have you learned through these weeks of OTAs?
05:22And when I say this, I don't want it to sound like there's not, there wasn't, like, energy or competition
05:26in previous regimes, Sean McDermott or whoever.
05:29But I do think there's a noticeable energy, and I do think there's a noticeable competitiveness that's going on right
05:35now at OTAs.
05:37And that means from 11 on 11 to 7 on 7 to even, like, having relay races, right?
05:42Like, they're competing.
05:43They want competitors.
05:45They want to compete, and they want to build that culture very early of competing, and they're not afraid to
05:50shy away from guys, as we know, that might have a little edge to them to help with that competitive
05:55juice.
05:56And that's a C.J. Gardner-Johnson that's drafting an IGB.
05:58It's the first thing that Jim Leonard said about him.
06:01What are your impressions?
06:02Competitiveness.
06:02He's a competitor.
06:03He just wants to play and be out there.
06:04And, you know, I think that's something that you just take away from when you go out to practice, you
06:10see that happening.
06:11And I think that's very intentional.
06:13They want to make sure that everybody – we're going out here to compete, and we're trying to, you know,
06:18put our best foot forward right away.
06:20And, yes, there are jobs out here, but, you know, this isn't going to be, hey, Joe Brady's taking over,
06:24and he's rah-rah, and, you know, we're just going to have relationships.
06:27That's – you're trying to play football to the highest level and compete while you're at it, and we want
06:32dogs out here.
06:32And they call it Bill's Red now.
06:33Like, that's the thing.
06:34There used to be a – not that it's gone away, but Bill's Blue is like the Bill's DNA, they
06:40call it, right, which is your character.
06:42And that's, I'm sure, still there.
06:44But now they have something called Bill's Red, and that is literally, like, the type of mentality and dog that
06:50they want in guys, and that's the edge of competitiveness.
06:53Is this all to imply that there was a little bit too little dog in the Bills when they were
06:58only blue?
06:59Do you think maybe Brady is trying to get that point across?
07:02Not trying to start anything.
07:03Hey, Mike, I struggle with this because I don't think – I think there's been a little too much about,
07:07like, oh, Sean McDermott wouldn't have these guys in.
07:09Sean McDermott, I mean, you know, Stefan Diggs was a guy that he had to handle a little bit, right?
07:13But who else?
07:14I mean, he had Michael Hoyt on the team.
07:16Michael Hoyt's a little bit like that.
07:18Remember the wrestler that came in, right?
07:20Steve Sin.
07:20He had a couple issues in his background, right?
07:22Like, I don't think Sean McDermott just did not have guys that didn't have any of that in them at
07:28all.
07:29I think that we've made too much about that.
07:31But I do think that under Joe Brady and now in Brandon Bean – remember, there's a new structure now
07:38too, right?
07:39It's Joe Brady reports to Brandon Bean.
07:41Brandon Bean is the guy basically picking the players.
07:43I'm sure Joe Brady has an input, but it is not a – it is now more of a, I
07:48guess you'd say –
07:49Traditional structure.
07:50Yes, exactly.
07:53And I do think it's intentional to make sure they know, hey, we're not shy about getting guys like this.
07:59Like, we don't want to hear about, well, you only want these type of players.
08:01We want guys who – yeah, you want to be good in the community, and you want to be guys
08:05that we can count on character-wise,
08:06but you got a little edge to you.
08:08That's okay, and we're willing to take that now.
08:10By the way, earlier I misspoke.
08:12Earliest possible Memorial Day than latest possible Labor Day.
08:17Quickly, a couple more things.
08:18Igbenosa in the corner, you mentioned him already.
08:21We just talked to Aaron Schatz, and one paragraph in a long article all encompassing about the league and the
08:27upcoming season mentions Igbenosa and IGB and Hairston.
08:33And what kind of – what level of competition do you think there is here?
08:38Second-round pick.
08:40Like, I think there's competition, but would we see the actual, like – would we see that play out on
08:49the field in some way, like snap counts?
08:52I wouldn't be stunned if by, like, middle of the season something like that happens, but I like what I've
08:57seen from Max Hairston and OTAs, first of all, and I think the team likes him.
09:01I don't think it would be because Max Hairston isn't doing the job.
09:03I think it might just be because – if that happens, like, if that happens to me, it's because IGB's
09:07forcing it to happen, not because Max Hairston had some sort of downfall.
09:11I mean, I believe – I believe Jim Leonard, when he said to us last week, like, he liked Max
09:19Hairston coming out.
09:19It's not an indictment on him.
09:20They drafted IGB, but they needed more there.
09:23They've had injuries there, and he brings something a little different to that room.
09:26Okay, well, let's add that up now.
09:28Does that mean maybe as the season goes on and they start to see different personnel packages and things they
09:33want to go against that maybe there's some sort of matchup they like?
09:35Or this kid just makes a couple plays when he's on the field, and you say you've got to get
09:39him out there somehow.
09:40So we've seen this team through a different head coach, I understand, you know, rotate outside corners.
09:47I think it could happen at some point.
09:48Sure.
09:49Wasn't that the case with Benford and Elam, their rookie year?
09:54Yeah.
09:54It was kind of a timeshare over there.
09:57I mean, even as Hairston's rookie year was, largely because of injury, it's not like he's got a massive head
10:04start on IG.
10:05Maybe, either.
10:06So I wouldn't be surprised to see that maybe even be a timeshare even sooner than you're suggesting.
10:13Yeah, and it all might come down to making Max Hairston stays on the field, too, because he did have
10:18injuries last year, not just the knee injury to start the year.
10:21But then later, I believe there might have been a concussion in there, and then there was the ankle at
10:25the end of the year.
10:26Remember in the Jets game when he was out in the field late and he rolled the ankle and he
10:29didn't play in the playoffs?
10:30Like, there were some injuries that added up.
10:32But before you go, you did some research on quarterbacks and Hall of Fame candidacy from a tweet of yours
10:39today.
10:40I was surprised Allen was as low as he was on that list.
10:44It's interesting that Jim Kelly, who is in the Hall of Fame, was at the bottom behind quarterbacks, including Kemp
10:51and LaMonica, by the way.
10:53I mean, it's just one particular statistical analysis.
10:57What did you take from it?
11:00It's pro football reference, and they do the Hall of Fame monitor.
11:04I think because of these same points that you've said, they weigh a little more heavily maybe than others would
11:11Super Bowls and All-Pros.
11:12Because, like, Lamar Jackson is a good, what, seven, eight spots ahead of Josh Allen, I think, something like that,
11:18maybe ten spots, actually.
11:19Ten spots ahead of Josh Allen, and he's got the extra, you know, the MVP and the All-Pro honor
11:24or whatever.
11:25You know, I think it's the MVP.
11:27But those kinds of things have mattered, and that's why Jim Kelly actually, I think Jim Kelly has the lowest
11:32number of all of the numbers on the monitor of anybody actually in the Hall of Fame at the position.
11:39Jackson has three first-team All-Pro honors, and Allen doesn't have any, but won the MVP in his year
11:46anyway.
11:47Very good.
11:48Thanks for your time, Sal, as always.
11:49You got it, guys.
11:50That's our Sal Capaccio on the Western Hotline.
11:52His appearances are brought to you.
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