• last week
Sean McDermott, Joe Brady and Bobby Babich discuss Sunday's 37-20 win over the Miami Dolphins, as well as early preparations for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10. (Courtesy of the Buffalo Bills)
Transcript
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00:12:54hey coach how are you doing today good x how are you good want to go ahead and
00:12:58get started with questions out of Nebraska we'll have our first question
00:13:01sounds good
00:13:07yeah I didn't dress I didn't the answer is no Alex I didn't dress up like you
00:13:11for Halloween so I apologize man I was I was wondering about that and honestly
00:13:16quite disappointed but hey well we'll let it slide this year maybe next year
00:13:21maybe yeah but there was a report that Keon Coleman was undergoing additional
00:13:28testing on his injured arm can you provide an update on his status coming
00:13:33out of the game and whether or not he did undergo additional testing yeah that
00:13:39report is I would I didn't see the report but it's it's it's accurate in
00:13:43terms of it's an ongoing evaluation of his situation so I'll know more as we
00:13:49move through the week here how about the one smooth he left the game what's his
00:13:53status at this point yeah so he's gonna get surgery sometime this week and he'll
00:13:57be placed on IR and finally Amari Cooper and Christian Benford you
00:14:02mentioned they were 50-50 to play this past week do you have any additional
00:14:07context on their status for this upcoming week yeah we'll see red and I
00:14:11would put Reggie Gilliam in that same category Alex so day-to-day we'll see
00:14:17how they do this week and move forward from there and last question could you
00:14:21just give us one final reflection on the Tyler Bass kick any other moments
00:14:24conversations worth sharing that happened between the last time we spoke
00:14:29with you and right now no I got a I got a nice view of the end zone between the
00:14:35upright shot someone in the crowd must have well it seems like there was a lot
00:14:38of phones going on in the in the end zone shot there and so I'm sure it's all
00:14:42those things are getting passed along and forwarded and I had a good friend of
00:14:47mine sent it to me it was awesome right just gives you the chills watching that
00:14:50thing unfold and the excitement in the crowd and and then obviously the
00:14:54celebration afterwards was just awesome all right thanks for your time sure
00:15:04coach Pat Freeman from the Buffalo Criterion how are you today
00:15:08good Pat how are you now you know what I'm gonna ask you I asked you yesterday
00:15:12have you had time to sit down with your family and reflect 80 wins in seven and
00:15:19a half seasons as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills and this organization that
00:15:25you have put together is a tremendous accomplishment have you had time to sit
00:15:31down and reflect on that well you know what I really appreciate you bringing
00:15:36that up because I wasn't aware of that Pat I'm talking about in yesterday's
00:15:42meeting there the press conference I'm just extremely humble and grateful
00:15:47humbled and grateful and man you're just trying to get one when you become a head
00:15:51coach I remember that Jets game our first year in 2017 just praying that we
00:15:55could get that get that first win that first game and still have a picture of
00:16:00the of the celebration afterwards on the field there and I'll never forget it
00:16:07right and so everyone that has happened since that point in time just been
00:16:11extremely grateful for it and feel blessed and humbled by it Tyler Bass I've
00:16:18asked you several questions about his good and bad the struggles this year you
00:16:24emphasize getting him to go back to the basics and working with the special
00:16:28teams coach did you feel good about your decision yesterday for 61 yards in
00:16:36Highmark Stadium with the winds and everything on that end of the field is a
00:16:40strong decision what were your thoughts on that going into that kick well you
00:16:48know again just there's a couple of different options that are at our
00:16:52fingertips there right and one is throw a Hail Mary another is punt another is
00:17:00you know obviously take this or try and attempt the field goal there and so
00:17:05there's a lot of things going through our minds I give a lot of credit to our
00:17:09special teams coach Matt Smiley and T Bass there all the while we're on that
00:17:13drive they're talking in the background and making sure that they feel good
00:17:16about wherever we are on the field and the way we do it I'm sure everyone's a
00:17:22little bit different but the way we do it is we try and have a max line going
00:17:26into the drive and then maybe it moves a little bit and and so to be honest
00:17:32with you that was a little bit out just outside of our max line what we had
00:17:35talked about and you know T Bass and coach Smiley talked about it and said
00:17:40that they liked it and T Bass if you know T Bass isn't one to turn those
00:17:44down so at the end of the day certainly love the confidence and he did a heck of
00:17:51a job in executing. Well thank you coach and congratulations on 80 wins that's a
00:17:58tremendous accomplishment I've been out here 30 years there's only a few coaches
00:18:03that can say that in the history of the Buffalo Bills congratulations and thank
00:18:07you. Thanks for that Pat I appreciate it means a lot. Hey Sean I'm just wanted to
00:18:14follow up on Keon a little bit since it was the end of the game I don't think
00:18:18there was an officially injury report but we saw him holding his arm just what
00:18:21is getting tested? It's a good question I know it's a the wrist area wrist and
00:18:28hand area so I'm again I'm not exactly sure just because I'm waiting usually
00:18:33wait for Nate and the docs to give me exactly what's going on there. And then
00:18:38just wanted to ask about Keon in general we talked to Josh about this a little
00:18:42post game yesterday but you know he has the drop path that flips to an
00:18:45interception for the Dolphins but then Josh is comfortable going back to him
00:18:49later in the game just kind of how is Keon what are those conversations like
00:18:54with him in rebounding from those moments and how is he able to move on to
00:18:57keep making plays in a game? Yeah it's all part of development right all part
00:19:02of growth you learn through going from going through those experiences and game
00:19:06to game and then within a game you saw that with T-Bass yesterday and T-Bass is
00:19:13in whatever year four or five or whatever it is now and you know Keon's a
00:19:19young player and he's gonna continue to learn and grow from those experiences as
00:19:22well and if you're wired the right way that's that's you know you look at
00:19:26those as learning opportunities and they'll make you better move forward. We
00:19:29talked to you a little yesterday about just all the rookies playing when it is
00:19:33a rookie who has a tough moment like that in the game do you or other coaches
00:19:36have an added emphasis to talk to them about going through it or is it
00:19:42different from older players or is it kind of individual to individual? I know
00:19:47why you're asking that and I would say yeah I mean when they're when they're
00:19:50younger you want to make sure that you're following up with them when
00:19:56they're older no different but you know you would hope the older they've gotten
00:20:01the more they've been able to go through kind of the journey of some of the ups
00:20:04and downs that are so characteristic of this league week to week that said I
00:20:11think either way the follow-up is important and the the ability to reset
00:20:16on the players end. Thanks Sean. Hey Sean I apologize for asking another Keon
00:20:23question but with the early information do you have does it seem like it is
00:20:27something that is more of a short-term prognosis long-term I know you already
00:20:31shared Dwayne is going on IR is that a better sign for Keon or do you have none
00:20:37of that right now? Yeah I wish I could say I have none of that right now Matt
00:20:41again just holding out hope you know one way or the other but we'll see we'll see
00:20:46where it goes. Does any of the information that you have regarding any
00:20:50of the injuries that you guys are currently dealing with change your
00:20:53outlook as far as tomorrow is concerned? I know that's probably more of a Brandon
00:20:57question but what are the conversations like the next 24 hours between the two
00:21:01of you? Yeah I mean I you know I'm trying to focus on really honing in on
00:21:08what we need to work on from yesterday's game Brandon will usually loop me in if
00:21:13I need need to be you know looped in and if he has something going there so I
00:21:19usually just stay in my office and not bother him and and trust that if
00:21:24something comes up that he'll let me know. And last one for me Josh said
00:21:28yesterday the slow starts have kind of been the Achilles heel for your team but
00:21:31there is a nice sign of like hey you guys have been able to overcome the
00:21:35adversity how do you balance that how do you like the fact that your team has
00:21:38been able to erase these deficits but also know that that's probably something
00:21:41you don't want to continue? Yeah I mean there's always like I've said before
00:21:45there's always things to work on got a long list from this from yesterday's
00:21:50game you know I don't I mean certainly good to win and it's hard to win in this
00:21:55league and you know there's different ways to win and I think it's good when
00:21:58you can find different ways to win I think that's a healthy healthy trait so
00:22:03but that said we've got to continue to grow every week we're managing I
00:22:07think the players have done a phenomenal job the coaches managing through these
00:22:10injuries that we've had players have stepped in and stepped up and as you
00:22:15know we've got a couple more than this week coming off this week so it's just
00:22:19about trying to grow every week and you know put some wins together and we'll
00:22:23see where we're at at the end of the season here. Cool, thanks John.
00:22:31Coach, Mookie Harkins, World Bowl Sports 1080. Congrats on the 80. Thanks Mookie,
00:22:37appreciate it buddy. Yes sir and I know you go in you always the mantra is
00:22:42like finding a way to win and you preach that you believe in that and your team
00:22:47goes out there and they do it time and time out but what really goes into
00:22:52getting the job done when it really matters the most you would love to have
00:22:56the perfect game but when it really matters the most it seems like your team
00:22:59really like just lock in and just go out there and execute at a high level. Well
00:23:05I thought we did that in some you know certain specific areas yesterday Mookie
00:23:09to your point certainly in the kicking game you know the offense moved the ball
00:23:14enough to get us into range right there which I think was important I mean
00:23:17without that we don't we don't get a chance to even attempt the kick so I
00:23:23don't want to you know turn my back to that I thought that was important but
00:23:29there's there's just so much to work on for where we are where we are in this
00:23:32this point this season again managing through some of these injuries and who's
00:23:38gonna step in next who's gonna have to step up who goes into that those backup
00:23:42roles when that backup steps in and and then how the pieces affect special
00:23:47teams so it's a week-to-week situation and a week-to-week opportunity and
00:23:53challenge you know how it is. Absolutely you talk about guys stepping up and no
00:23:57Kaier's development and his growth mindset just care to talk about those
00:24:01two things when it comes to Kaier. Yeah I thought he I thought he did some good
00:24:05things yesterday you know he's I give him credit he's been working all the way
00:24:09through even when he's not been the starter and and he's done a nice job of
00:24:15staying locked in on on the task at hand and a challenge in front of him and
00:24:19then you know he gets an opportunity that came around somewhat late in the
00:24:23week there I would say and he wasn't phased by it and went out there and
00:24:27played hard. Always get ready so you have to you know stay ready so you don't have
00:24:30to get ready right coach? You said it. Sorry for the loudness man we're
00:24:34preparing for our semifinals against Lackawanna this week they undefeated so
00:24:38we got a tough task ahead of us so keep up the good work and see you this week.
00:24:42Alright buddy good luck. Congrats. Hey Sean on Dewan do you have any kind of
00:24:51timeline I know you said he's going on injured reserve but do you are you
00:24:54hopeful that he can return this season? I am and I say that don't don't quote me
00:24:59on that I am but you know sometimes with with IR and surgeries you're never sure
00:25:05until the doctors get in there and see what exactly the extent of the injury is
00:25:10or was so those are always the way it works with with us is you know Nate will
00:25:18give me the heads up after the surgery is completed and he'll say hey this is
00:25:22what the doctor found when they once they went in and then hey we're still on
00:25:26for whether it be you know four weeks or whatever the initial prognosis is at the
00:25:32end of the day here. Okay and then you know with with Dewan being out for a
00:25:36while down DeWayne it seemed like Ealy played really well yesterday I'd love
00:25:43your assessment on his play but also in a bigger picture on the defensive line
00:25:48do you are you concerned at all about not having those two guys in the depth
00:25:53there especially with the string of games that you have coming up here over
00:25:57the next month? Yeah I mean you know you can never replace those type of players
00:26:03and but again you just you move ahead week to week and try and find a way to
00:26:09win and trust the players that we have here to step step in and step up and you
00:26:16know that's what we've done to this point and I applaud the players for
00:26:18doing such a great job with that that mindset from the top of the roster to
00:26:23the bottom and I think that's important and you know we got to continue to do
00:26:28that and grow every week every week we got to get better and and hone in our
00:26:32on our fundamentals and that'll be a big point of emphasis this week. Has it
00:26:37felt like Eli or Ealy excuse me has kind of answered the bell and taken
00:26:43advantage of that opportunity over the last two weeks from what you've seen on
00:26:46film? I think he's done some good things I just think overall as a defense
00:26:50whether it's Ealy or really any position we've got to be more consistent across
00:26:57the board and I mean listen they ran the ball on us pretty you know pretty
00:27:02easy I thought yesterday too easily in fact and so we've got some work to do
00:27:06there. Thanks Sean.
00:27:10Hi Sean it's Jay with the Buffalo News there's a big improvement in the penalty
00:27:15numbers I think it was 4 for 40 yesterday what what do you think led to
00:27:19that improvement and you know what just what did you make of the I don't know if
00:27:23disciplines the right word but the just the improvement in that category? Yeah I
00:27:28mean you know it's we're trying to we're trying to improve and making sure we're
00:27:32not beating ourselves Jay and I saw I saw you know some improvement with that
00:27:37yesterday so it's a week it's a week to week thing we're you know we pride
00:27:41ourselves and playing clean football and certainly want to continue to work on
00:27:45that and grow in that area as well. So this is me speaking not not you and I'm
00:27:50not looking to get in trouble here but a couple of the flags looks maybe
00:27:54questionable my question is hypothetically speaking if you if you
00:27:58disagreed with any of the penalties are you able to have any feedback with the
00:28:04league and if you are what does that look like and you know what kind of
00:28:10feedback do you get if you send a play to the league and say I don't think this
00:28:13is a penalty they come back and tell you I agree I think people are just maybe a
00:28:18little bit wondering about what that process is like for a coach and a team
00:28:22after a game and again not referencing any specific play yeah no I get it and
00:28:27you know how the things how things work so I would just say the process that
00:28:32you're asking about the way that normally works is you know you get you
00:28:36get some time after a game to kind of cool off and for the emotion of the game
00:28:41that to wear off a little bit and then you get a chance to communicate with it
00:28:45with the league office if you so desire so I think there is good open lines of
00:28:51communication and it's all about you know us collectively and I can tell you
00:28:56this from the competition community collectively as a league trying to
00:28:59improve every area of the league so it's I do appreciate the fact that there's a
00:29:05there's a growth mindset at the league office and for us as well so I think
00:29:12when you've got two parties that are committed to grow that the product
00:29:16should continue to improve every year in theory so do you get a response from the
00:29:23league if you did send something to them yes yeah okay
00:29:27thank you thanks Sean sure hey Sean I'm not looking for a conspiracy theory or
00:29:35anything but four guys with wrist injuries all at the same time it is that
00:29:40just bad luck that guys from different positions seem to be racking up severe
00:29:45injuries with at the same I guess body part yeah I mean if you know sometimes
00:29:52you get one injury that just keeps popping up throughout the course of one
00:29:56year you know in this case it's this hand wrist injury that we have going on
00:30:00and you hate to see it you wish you could avoid it you know so we've been
00:30:07dealing with it you know we've been dealing with injuries really though
00:30:09through the course of the entire season and you know so this is this is no
00:30:14different we just got to keep pushing through and fighting away and again just
00:30:19you know who's the next player to step in and step up I think that's that's
00:30:23the important thing and then really our focus John is making sure that we're
00:30:27cleaning up the things we need we need to get cleaned up from last week here I
00:30:30know in the past when you've had injuries stacking up on each other
00:30:34you've had to alter maybe the way you practice during the week do anticipate
00:30:38any sort of alterations to the way you practice because of the things mounting
00:30:43injury wise you know we're currently talking about that I think we'll
00:30:50finalize that a little bit more tomorrow a.m. once we know a little bit more
00:30:55information about the medical report well thanks John sure so we have for you
00:31:02today coach all right thanks guys thanks
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00:37:45hey Joe you got me okay awesome I'm gonna go ahead and get started with
00:37:55questions Matt Perino will have our first question
00:37:59what's up Joe how are you how you doing pretty good um you know you you see the
00:38:08celebration yesterday after Quinton's touchdown you know talking about all the
00:38:11guys talking about everybody eats afterwards it feels like the only guy
00:38:15that really hasn't been able to eat yet this year touchdown wise at least is
00:38:18Curtis what's been the struggle for him to really kind of put his his impact or
00:38:24his imprint on this in this passing game yeah and I think it's it's a
00:38:28combination of things I think it's you know a lot of it is me naturally I told
00:38:33Curtis after the game like him just being out there yesterday like him him
00:38:38being out there in his presence and his speed I know he was obviously hurting
00:38:42and obviously pushing through a lot of things but for him to be out there just
00:38:46makes my life a lot easier because I got to respect that and so it was one of
00:38:51those things like knew I knew he'd be on a pitch count I knew it wasn't gonna be
00:38:54you know anything like wow look what Curtis is able to do today but just him
00:38:58being out there I think does you know there's a speed element there is a big
00:39:02playability that teams have to worry about especially with coop being down so
00:39:05I was proud of that yeah no I obviously you know it's can't get everybody
00:39:10touchdowns but love to be able to get him more involved in saying it got to
00:39:14continue to continue to do it and then with Quinton specifically you know we
00:39:19were walking up to him in the locker room after the game and he had this like
00:39:23grin on his face like a little boy like just so excited about like the one
00:39:28target he gets this season it goes for a touchdown he was talking about the
00:39:32celebration afterwards what's he what's a guy like him mean to your offense I
00:39:36mean Q you know it was a little joke after the game because you know it was
00:39:42all over about you know we decided to start a fan at all over social media
00:39:46with this whole video of Josh talking to like you and his mom and so it was
00:39:51heartwarming so we gave him a start and got him a touchdown but no Q Q's Q's the
00:39:56man does all the dirty work on special teams doesn't get a lot of opportunities
00:40:01with with Dalton and Dawson tight ends that we have but full trust you know
00:40:06when he is in there and if something God forbid were to happen to you those guys
00:40:10of him being up and being able to actually go out there and that's why
00:40:13he's on this football team and doesn't complain just comes to work does what he
00:40:17has to do and not necessarily opportunity that would have drawn up on
00:40:22paper but you know he's ready for it and that's what we have on this team I talk
00:40:26about the character all the time and I know you guys are probably tired of
00:40:29hearing it but that guys like you Morris is why we're able to have success
00:40:33regardless of if they're showing up in the stat book and I know that social
00:40:38media is probably more in my department but what video you're talking about I
00:40:41didn't see it I I wish I could tell exactly which one it was but it was it
00:40:45was passed along to me of some video of I don't know some some I wish I can
00:40:53describe it something where Josh is talking to about a fan a fan about
00:40:58getting a dog and the fan happened to be Q Morris you know or someone thinking it
00:41:02was a fan I don't know anything about it but just proud to give a fan a
00:41:06touchdown and a start yesterday gotcha I'll search it out thank you it's all
00:41:13over my head yeah hi Joe you've had success using six
00:41:19offensive linemen this year whether it's with one tight end two tight ends or
00:41:25even yesterday three tight ends just what do you like about having the six
00:41:32offensive linemen on the field when you use it and what are some ways you think
00:41:36it helps you I gotta be careful about what I say with that right because it is
00:41:43a big part of what we do I'm fortunate for for Alec Anderson what he brings and
00:41:49you know each week it's something that we look at and have to just be mindful
00:41:55of hey where's the where's the benefit of it has it help us what kind of
00:41:58defenses might we see might we be seeing in all the personnel groupings if we go
00:42:0311 personnel with a big 12 personnel with a big so things that we look at all
00:42:06the time and we don't just do it just to do it we hope that we do it because it
00:42:09puts us in the potential of a look that we want or gives us an advantage and
00:42:14everything we're trying to do is we're trying to get you know advantageous
00:42:18looks versus the defense and fortunately we have a guy like Alec just like we had
00:42:22David last week that kind of gives us those opportunities well then just to
00:42:26follow up so regardless of the what the defense is doing just I would think that
00:42:33just from a physicality standpoint you it you know you want to be a physical
00:42:40offense so it helps in that regard right and then you know with Josh Allen a
00:42:45quarterback I would think again depending on the team in the situation
00:42:51they'd have to think long and hard about whether they want to come out of nickel
00:42:55to defend Josh Allen in certain situations what do you think about those
00:43:00two thoughts yeah I think you have to you have to make a decision of hey do
00:43:05they have a big on the field and we want to load the box do we want to you know
00:43:09play with a split safety shell do we wanna go small do we want to go big and
00:43:14you know we know when we have a guy like Josh Allen that rarely we're gonna get
00:43:20what we game plan for and so you kind of have an idea of you think what they've
00:43:24shown on tape but you know there's not a lot of quarterbacks like Josh and so you
00:43:29got to understand that when you're kind of getting out there and be able to make
00:43:31the adjustments and fortunately when you got a guy like Alec Anderson that can go
00:43:35in there and it might be a looks that hey you know we we thought we might be
00:43:39getting base defense this week but we get it first nickel and him being able
00:43:41to adjust to be able to work with it but you know it makes life a lot easier just
00:43:46having that extra and it's another another hit that can be taken off of
00:43:50Dalton Kincaid to Q Morris and Dawson Knox you know and so all things that
00:43:54kind of take into consideration great thank you
00:43:59hey Joe at the halfway point in the season how do you reflect on how you
00:44:03guys have been able to win in multiple ways on offense yeah um you know it's I
00:44:11always stress to the guys like it doesn't matter how we win we're just
00:44:15trying to find a way to get one more point and it's going to be different it
00:44:19can be different every game game the game whether we have to throw it whether
00:44:21we have to run it a lot whether you have to be a little more balanced
00:44:24whether it comes down to just winning third downs every game is going to be
00:44:28different and I think good teams find ways to win football games and you know
00:44:32games like yesterday's is just an example of that that it doesn't have to
00:44:36be pretty but good teams find ways to win that and I'm just proud of the way
00:44:39the guys did it and we have a lot of guys in the locker room that don't care
00:44:43about the end result don't care about you know the style points of it they
00:44:48just want to make sure that we're finding ways to get it get it done and
00:44:50makes it a lot of joy to coach and we got we got a long way to go we got to
00:44:54find ways to continue to progress and get better but I'm fortunate to be where
00:44:58we are right now in yesterday's game against the Dolphins they were making
00:45:02you guys kind of grind it out for every single inch with a lot of the underneath
00:45:06and short yardage type of plays that you were able to hit on what impressed you
00:45:11about Josh Allen's patience and the offense's patience just be able to stick
00:45:15with it and at the end of the day find yourselves getting another victory yeah
00:45:21it's just it's not I don't want to say just shows to his growth but just shows
00:45:25to his understanding of how you know you might go into a game plan and and say
00:45:29hey look this is how we think these guys are gonna defend us and you know then we
00:45:33get out there and you know you put together a drive and you're like okay
00:45:36this is how they're actually gonna defend us this is their style of play
00:45:39and being able to make the adjustments but seeing Josh not get greedy feel like
00:45:44hey if you guys want to play this like this is cool sounds good I'll throw a
00:45:46track down and get 12 yards you know hey good another outlet moving the ball and
00:45:50eventually you know teams are either gonna have to get out of that or they're
00:45:54gonna continue to do that and Josh will continue to take that and so I'm proud
00:45:57of how he stuck to be a patient with it and knowing that hey eventually you know
00:46:02I might have an opportunity to push the ball on film if not we're gonna continue
00:46:05moving the chains and like I said it doesn't have to be pretty we all want
00:46:08the explosives you know I want them as well but if they're gonna stay you know
00:46:12get as deep as they were getting yesterday and he finds ways to get the
00:46:14outlets I'm showing that we can be patient is part of what you're saying
00:46:17about finding ways to look different ways when football games and that was a
00:46:20big step
00:46:23hey Joe I know it's usually kind of early in the week at this point for
00:46:28opponent film but since the Colts were a Sunday night football last night I was
00:46:31curious if you had watched that live and just if you had any takeaways on them I
00:46:37was able to watch the beginning but you don't get a lot of sleep these days
00:46:42and I know I'll be watching a lot on tape I usually towards the end of the
00:46:44week we'll go back through and watch them you know some game feels and whatnot
00:46:48but now I'm I can if I can bake an extra hour I'll bank an extra hour and but
00:46:54yeah I get an opportunity to get on them you know I do know you wake up and you
00:46:57look at the stats and you see about them taking away the football and no liking
00:47:00is having to do a little bit of like what we talked about yesterday of having
00:47:03to find ways to move the ball down the field and protect the football it's you
00:47:07know it's it's gonna be a it's gonna be a huge test for us for sure thanks hey
00:47:14Joe this is kind of a basics question but I was curious when you're planning
00:47:18for a game like how much of the first plays do you like script out like how
00:47:23much do you know what you're gonna call in advance and how much does that kind
00:47:26of adjust whatever you're comfortable sharing like how does that adjust kind
00:47:30of as you see like what's in front of you if that makes yeah I'd make sure I
00:47:33script the ones that are gonna work and the ones that we just kind of kind of
00:47:37winged it I know we you know we go into we go into every game with with an idea
00:47:42you know the guys as well the guys right the guys meet on Fridays and and they
00:47:46they also shoot me a text on things that they want early and so that's why I'm
00:47:50never concerned with obviously I want us to start fast but I want the guys to
00:47:54know that I'm gonna trust them in place they they own and they want and it's
00:47:57plays that I believe in as well and so you know it's it's something that every
00:48:04week we talk about it we work on it and you know it's the biggest thing is us
00:48:09being able to either avoid the third downs or convert that first third down
00:48:12and once we're going we feel different but nothing that nothing doing anything
00:48:17doing nothing different than some of the games where we are scoring on the first
00:48:20drive so I don't want our guys thinking like hey we're I've said this before
00:48:24where it's it's oh two and we're at the plate and we got to feel like oh my god
00:48:27if we don't score on this first drive well what was me like we're gonna figure
00:48:30it out I would love for us you see the difference in the seat see our game just
00:48:34with the energy you see the difference in Miami and Jacksonville and Jets and
00:48:37you know we scored on you know almost half of our games on the first drive but
00:48:40you do feel a different energy and so I don't want our guys feeling like oh my
00:48:44gosh we have to but it is difference when we go down there and we have an
00:48:46opportunity to give the defense the ball and we have the lead for sure and then
00:48:51on a completely different note on Keon having that drop early and then you know
00:48:56going back to him later just from him obviously I know he's dealing with the
00:49:00injury as well but from him as a rookie like having those moments and then
00:49:04bouncing back from those like how have you kind of seen him deal with those
00:49:07like what do you take away as a coordinator when he has moments like that
00:49:10drop early on and then feeling comfortable with obviously Josh feeling
00:49:13comfortable going back to him like how do you view that yes I mean as soon as
00:49:17the drop went over he went on the sideline I told Adam to put him on the
00:49:20headset and I told him that like I'm good like I obviously I don't want it to
00:49:25happen but I can't affect the rest of the game like I'm gonna come back to you
00:49:28you're gonna have opportunities making sure that it doesn't change your style
00:49:31of play and like Keon's Keon's he might be young he might be rookie but you know
00:49:36he's he's mature and understands that like just you go back to the Seahawks
00:49:40game right he ran a fade route and didn't win on the first one and we come
00:49:43right back to him when he wins and so you know he has the maturity of
00:49:47understanding that hey I'm not gonna win every time but I got to be able to get
00:49:50on to the next play and so and we have all the faith in him to be able to go
00:49:54up and make those plays and you get an opportunity again I expect him to go
00:49:58make that. And then last one for me this is a few injuries now with the wide
00:50:04receivers obviously you said how Curtis was kind of dealing with that yesterday
00:50:07not having Amari how do you balance that like throughout the week like not
00:50:12knowing if you're gonna have some of these guys or knowing some of them like
00:50:15that's all it's a lot of different guys in that receiver room dealing with
00:50:18injuries how do you approach that throughout the week? Yeah we kind of go
00:50:22in and you tell everybody everyone's got to be ready right you can find out
00:50:25you're gonna be up on Friday you can find you're gonna be up on you know on
00:50:28Saturday and it's it's kind of the reality of it and it was part of when we
00:50:31installed the system that we didn't teach positions we taught concepts and
00:50:35it makes it makes it a little tough but at the end of the day we're gonna be
00:50:39able to get however many wideouts up on game day and expect them to have success
00:50:42and us as coaches it's our job to prepare everybody and then you know come
00:50:48Friday or Saturday we go back through and find out exactly who we have up and
00:50:50making sure that we have to move some guys around we move them around but it
00:50:55does make it a little tough but this is this is part of our profession and it's
00:50:59theirs as well to be able to be ready to go the guys that even if they're
00:51:02inactive or find out that they can't play that they're preparing as if you
00:51:06know they're gonna be ready to and so it's just part of all of us just and
00:51:09just doing our job. Thanks Joe. Hey Joe um I like the Elena's questions so I'm
00:51:16gonna follow up on them with Keon putting him on the headset how often do
00:51:20you do that with a guy during a game when you want to you know like talk
00:51:22directly to someone or give a little more feedback within the course of a
00:51:25game? I mean I wouldn't say often I mean sometimes it's you know I definitely try
00:51:31to get on with the QB sometimes and sometimes if I feel like a guy's you
00:51:35know he might have made a really good play and you know something that we
00:51:38might have been harping on and in practice and proud of how he kind of did
00:51:41it or our coaches do an incredible job down there that a lot of times just the
00:51:45communication where I can just talk it but I think it's important sometimes for
00:51:47guys to just hear my voice and let them know that you know I am a little crazy
00:51:51and I'm a little psycho on game day but I want them to know that you know
00:51:56there's gonna they're gonna make mistakes and it's not gonna change my
00:51:59confidence in them and I don't want it to change their confidence and sometimes
00:52:03it whether he needed to hear my voice or not I thought it was important for him
00:52:05to know you know because I know he's gonna be hard on himself he's got an
00:52:09opportunity to walk in on a touchdown and he didn't get it done and you know
00:52:13but you know there's a reason he's our he's our he's our go-to guy and in that
00:52:17situation again I want him to know I'm gonna come right back to him love that
00:52:20and then when it comes to getting guys input especially for like getting ready
00:52:24for at the beginnings of games if it's scripting plays how do you balance if
00:52:29you get like a ton of input and guys have slightly different things that they
00:52:33want or different plays that they like if you're just getting a whole lot of
00:52:36feedback for you compiling it all I mean it's great it's great you you want to
00:52:42you want you want the voice you want the communication that means that they're
00:52:45putting in the work they're putting the time it's important to them it's the
00:52:48ownership you know when guys are like hey I'm gonna make this play work I'm
00:52:52gonna run it and if it doesn't work I'm not I'm not sitting there saying hey
00:52:56guys you guys told me it was gonna work now we're all in this together there's
00:52:59reason that play was on the call sheet and but I want them to also know that I
00:53:02have the confidence in them that if they want something they're gonna make it
00:53:05work and you know there's time and time it shows up across the season you see
00:53:09there's times I'm talking to Josh on the headset you know talking about hey you
00:53:12know we think in this play or this play and you know if he wants that play I'm
00:53:16gonna call it because he's gonna find a way to get it done and so I want our
00:53:19guys to know that I trust them and so it's important when they get together on
00:53:22Fridays or you know when they do get together and obviously we're coaching it
00:53:26throughout the week you know we're our input is like hey we like how this play
00:53:29works I'd love to have you get this up early but I want the guys to know and
00:53:33you know if there's things that they want early and they want to be able to
00:53:35approach this block a certain way they'd like this touch like this pass early
00:53:39that I'm gonna call it and I don't care about the results but it's them knowing
00:53:43that I have the confidence in them and the trust in them with it thanks so we
00:53:49have for you today Joe
00:54:09you
00:54:39you
00:55:09you
00:55:39you
00:55:41you
00:56:03the Bobby Babbage welcome stop um first question today will be from sad
00:56:10Brian all right
00:56:26that we can't yeah you got me okay Bobby now I do yes yep by that my fault hey
00:56:30I'm good Greg Rousseau is a guy that seems consistently to get a little bit
00:56:34better every single year and I think he's doing a better job of using his
00:56:37strength and length this season where have you seen that development from last
00:56:41year to this year with Greg yeah I think you know I think as Greg's learned
00:56:45himself and you know even you know you know grown as a as a professional
00:56:51athlete you know finding what he does well you know and I think and I think
00:56:56he's finding the things that he does well and like I've said before he's
00:57:01finding what his fastball is and what his changeup is and not trying too many
00:57:04pitches you know and I think the more you can try to master a couple different
00:57:09things as opposed to a thousand different things you have a good shot of
00:57:14being pretty good at it and Greg's obviously really talented he's extremely
00:57:19long you know obviously we understand the height and the wingspan and all
00:57:25those things so he's finding some of those things that that he'd like to
00:57:30major in and I think that's just what you're saying is it you know you talk
00:57:35about he's finding those things as almost like it's easy to do and he's
00:57:39talked a lot about having that pass rush plan understanding what works how hard
00:57:42is it to get to that point where you understand what your fastball is and
00:57:46then when you get there how much of a difference does that make um you know I
00:57:51think I think as you develop as a professional and you adapt to the NFL
00:57:57game you know I think the more trial and error you have that in trying
00:58:05different things and in really figuring out who you are that's the most
00:58:09important thing yes have an awareness of the opponent but understand who you are
00:58:13and what your strengths are and those type of things so you know I think it's
00:58:16different for everybody I think it's different by position right you know
00:58:19every position you know entails a couple that you know different things and and
00:58:25you know I think once you find that you know once you find that and kind of you
00:58:31know find where your rhythm is it's it's absolutely crucial and you know hopefully
00:58:37you're seeing the best version of yourself thanks a lot Bobby appreciate
00:58:40you got hey Bobby first thing on Dwan smooth obviously gonna be out without
00:58:49him for a few weeks here what's what's he meant to your defense and I guess
00:58:55let's just start there what's he meant to your defense it's most been an
00:58:58awesome addition he he's a very good football player he's a little bit
00:59:02throwback in the way he plays and and you know he's extremely intense he's
00:59:07extremely physical he loves the physical side of the game and he brings a
00:59:12demeanor that you like on your defense kind of a tone setter if you will and
00:59:15and it's been it's been crucial and then you know his veteran presence has been
00:59:21really good in the defensive line room extremely intelligent player understands
00:59:27the scheme communicates well and and yeah that's that's really what he's
00:59:31meant to us without him now and how much he's meant and you know talking to Ed a
00:59:37few weeks ago about just him coming in and calling the defense on third down
00:59:41for you guys up front what who has to kind of step up and fill that void you
00:59:46know we're looking into that right now and there's a couple you know different
00:59:50options a different couple different ways we can go you know but that's
00:59:54definitely something that's got to be addressed at this point and you know
00:59:59just moving forward and we've already had this contingency before maybe that's
01:00:05the right contingency maybe it's not but you know fortunately we have a little
01:00:11bit of time here before we play on Sunday to kind of carve out what that
01:00:17might be and it could be week in and week out you know it could be a
01:00:20different plan each week on how we want to attack that we'll see how it goes
01:00:24thanks Bobby
01:00:29coach Babbage Mookie Arkins waffles first in 80 I said I got your name right
01:00:36today I see X got yeah yeah X now he's gonna take it to a whole nother level
01:00:42absolutely coach if care to talk about another level tires in those performance
01:00:48yesterday yeah it was good to see Kai you're out there you know it was good to
01:00:53see him back on the field did some things well some things like everybody
01:00:57that you know he's got to improve on and focus on and you know did a pretty pretty
01:01:03solid job yesterday and like I said before it was it was good to see him out
01:01:07there and he definitely was ready for the moment absolutely just that process
01:01:13because he had one hell of a training camp just going to talk about that
01:01:16process from career from training camp up until Sunday's Sunday's game yeah you
01:01:20know it's not easy right he had a good training camp and and you know the way
01:01:25we've gone is we've had two healthy guys that won the jobs and you know he's
01:01:31handled it in a professional manner it's come to work every day you know he's had
01:01:37a role on special teams and you know it's it's we had a old quarterback Jake
01:01:44Dallone they came and spoke to our team at one point I think it was three four
01:01:48years ago and you know his deal you know he had to wait until it was his turn and
01:01:54and you know his quote you know I always go back to this and use it for younger
01:02:01guys is work while you wait you got to put in the work while you wait because
01:02:04when your opportunity comes you just got to be ready you got to jump on it
01:02:08absolutely tire certainly done that he's putting the work in you know and we're
01:02:12still we're still gonna coach every player we're still gonna pinpoint the
01:02:16things where every player needs to improve and point out the things they're
01:02:19doing well absolutely what did your good friend Mike McDaniel say to you after
01:02:23the game I did not get a chance to talk to him I did not get a chance to talk to
01:02:28rightfully so I'm sure he was not very happy with the outcome but they did a
01:02:32great job you know they they came to play and you know he had the guys ready
01:02:37to go absolutely tough to visit the point you play them twice we know how
01:02:41tough that could be right coach that's right absolutely appreciate your time
01:02:45coach good luck this week you got it thanks movie hey Bobby you guys rank top
01:02:51five and takeaways so far this season why do you think the defense has been
01:02:55able to take the ball away at such a high rate I know every game is different
01:02:59but kind of looking at it from a big-picture approach yeah you know I
01:03:04think it's just about what you emphasize Maddie and we emphasize it all the time
01:03:09we talk about it we show it we celebrate it we show opportunities that a team
01:03:13might present to where we can take the ball away you know as far as it is you
01:03:19know going as far as each week showing the guys select force fumbles and
01:03:25interceptions throughout the NFL from the week before you know so there's a
01:03:30lot that goes into it but really you get what you emphasize for years here that's
01:03:34what we've emphasized and we've been able to take it away at a pretty good
01:03:37clip what's that difference between being like a boomer bus defense where
01:03:42you're trying to give it all on every single play and you're missing a lot
01:03:46versus being a defense that is structurally sound and and playing in
01:03:51the right way where hey we're gonna take advantage of those opportunities to take
01:03:55it away when we get it but not make that our entire identity yeah that's a
01:04:00great question so I think first you start with defensive structure and you
01:04:04talk about I've been in a lot of different schemes in this league and you
01:04:07know you talk about having answers structurally to put potentially what an
01:04:14opponent's doing or where you're getting hurt or if something happens and it's
01:04:19not a good play for us defensively having the answers of how we can fix it
01:04:23how we can adjust all those type of things and not just completely
01:04:27wholesaling to another defense if that makes sense so so first off having those
01:04:34answers and then having being simple enough but complex enough to where our
01:04:38guys can play fast really focus on the ball you know and it's if you got a lot
01:04:43of scheme it's hard to emphasize things that aren't related to the scheme you
01:04:51know so there's a happy medium like you're talking about Maddie to where you
01:04:55know you have a structure you can provide answers and then being able to
01:05:01emphasize the fundamentals definitely when it comes to preparing for this
01:05:06week's game against the Colts they've got a running back in Jonathan Taylor
01:05:10who I know is had an up-and-down season but can be a running back that can wreck
01:05:15a defense quickly if he gets hot how do you look back at this week's film and
01:05:20help use this past week's game as a way to teach for this upcoming opponent yeah
01:05:29that's a great question so you know when you look at it and talking about this
01:05:33game there were some things fundamentally I think we all know how we
01:05:37play Miami because there's such a threat on the outside and I think everybody
01:05:43realizes that and you know they do such a great job in the run game they have
01:05:47threats on the outside so you know you have to approach them in a certain way
01:05:53that you know maybe you are a little lighter whatever it is in the box
01:05:57whatever whatever that structure is that you want to go after them and really
01:06:02when it comes down to it you know for us fundamentally I feel like there's a lot
01:06:07of things even when you look at the first Miami game compared to this Miami
01:06:10game fundamentally in the run game where we can be a lot better and you know
01:06:18it's not good enough just being in first off you need to be in your gap it's not
01:06:23just good enough to be in your gap you've got to be able to you know shed a
01:06:27block you should block to strip block destruction techniques and those type of
01:06:31things so there's a lot of things we can emphasize which will be really good for
01:06:34us going into this week because Taylor is he's a great back he's still a great
01:06:38back and he's a problem thanks Bobby you got it
01:06:43hey Bobby how are you good how are you good good yesterday kind of came down to
01:06:54a couple plays all in all and I kind of look at the the stand you guys had in
01:07:02the third quarter we held them to a field goal you had back-to-back stops on
01:07:06screen plays mm-hmm how unusual is it to get back-to-back screen plays like that
01:07:11and you know how did you guys kind of were you sitting on those or was it more
01:07:16of a reading diagnosed kind of that's a that's a good question so the Dolphins
01:07:22are a back-to-back screen team they will screen you back-to-back they did it to
01:07:27us in the first game and you can't we have you know they're very good screen
01:07:32team because of their ability in space they they structure their screens really
01:07:37well the timing on their screens is really good and you know there's certain
01:07:44keys that you try to find each week whether it's down and distance you try
01:07:48to give them all these tips you know so the guys did a good job sniffing them
01:07:53out understanding certain things that we were looking for as far as what screen
01:07:59indicators could possibly be and and it was it to your point it was it was a big
01:08:03stop in the red zone and you know fortunately they only came away with
01:08:07three the occasional screen and you know dump-offs to the flats or bootlegs to
01:08:16the flats have kind of been problematic at times for you guys this year is that
01:08:21not seeing it is that alignment is that not reacting quick enough yeah there's a
01:08:27lot of different things to go into it we're a we're a penetrating defense so
01:08:32we're naturally gonna get screened we're gonna get booted we're an
01:08:34aggressive defense as far as attacking the line of scrimmage and and those are
01:08:39those are all things that people are attacking us with right now our guys
01:08:43have done a pretty good job up to yesterday you know not including the
01:08:50Miami game you know recognizing those and you know being aware of those and
01:08:55getting retraced from the d-line you know we put a lot of emphasis on that
01:08:59you know we've gotten a lot and we've shown a lot of improvement in that area
01:09:04and you know when you look at all those different kind of perimeter plays call
01:09:13it you know I'd like to say there was one area where you know we needed to
01:09:19improve but every place different so there might be a little something on
01:09:22this play there might be a little something on that play per player scheme
01:09:27whatever that may be to where you know to your point eyes are the number one
01:09:31thing in football and you got to have your eyes in the right spot and
01:09:34communication priest that and then um you know since Rasul has gotten here
01:09:40he's kind of developed a tight relationship with Christian and Kaier
01:09:43what kind of impact has he had on them since he's gotten here yeah I think it's
01:09:49it's been a you know a veteran that has two younger guys there that you know
01:09:55have a lot of respect for each other and you know I don't I think I believe
01:10:00Rasul wants nothing but you know success for those guys and you know so I think
01:10:04he I think he provides them a little bit of a sounding board on things they might
01:10:09see and he can confirm or say hey maybe you look at this a little bit
01:10:12differently but it's been really cool to see thanks you got it
01:10:19hey Bobby it's Jay with the Buffalo News Maddie how you doing
01:10:23Maddie asked you a little bit earlier about you know slowing Taylor down my
01:10:28question was a little bit similar on the run defense you know two weeks ago in
01:10:31Seattle you basically shut the running game out entirely against the Seahawks
01:10:35and then yesterday you know Sean said earlier on his call that it was frankly
01:10:40too easy for Miami to to run the ball I guess what what changed to lead to you
01:10:48know to that being the case you're saying change from Seattle yeah I mean
01:10:53yeah I mean why why did it go from being so good against the Seahawks yeah to
01:10:57having the struggles that you did yesterday yeah you know you got an
01:11:00account not with every NFL team you got account for a lot of things but you know
01:11:04the the threat of the speed on the outside with Miami creates a conflict
01:11:14for you you know because if if you want to go to single high defense you certainly
01:11:20can and there's times that you can that you know you you call certain defenses
01:11:26or whatever those defenses are those heavier box defenses you know and then
01:11:30you got a handle on the outsides you got to handle the guys on the outsides and
01:11:34you know it's a little bit of pick your poison now going to the to the run game
01:11:40you know when Sean's talking about you know how I think you said the quote was
01:11:45easy yeah is that correct yeah I talked about it earlier to where fundamentally
01:11:51to me making sure on certain motions and they certainly do a great job with all
01:11:56their motions to where you've got to create new edges or things like that
01:11:59we've got to make sure we just do a better job fundamentally what's that
01:12:03start with that starts with our eyes and then what does my key tell me to do and
01:12:06then getting my hands in a proper position making sure I'm in my gap once I am in a
01:12:13block destruction mode being able to what we call gap and a half and fall off if I have to
01:12:17fall back off inside and you know I think for me when I look at it that even if you go back to the
01:12:24first Miami game the biggest difference between the two were was our ability in the block
01:12:30destruction phase of things you know what I'm saying so you know it's it's a little bit starts
01:12:34with a pick your poison and then it turns into us making sure that we do a good job
01:12:40handling our fundamentals and what we're doing our guys understand the plan and
01:12:44how we play those guys if that makes sense to you and so yeah I mean fundamentally
01:12:51there's a little bit of a gap there when you going back to even when Leslie was
01:12:56here and Sean you guys would a lot of times you would hear making teams one
01:13:00and you know yesterday I think you probably didn't do that to the to the you know the
01:13:08level that you need to that's right wait you know it was yesterday a really good example of when
01:13:15you're struggling to stop the run what it can do for an opposing offense in terms of having success
01:13:20because they had more success than really an offense this has been Baltimore probably yeah
01:13:25and then you know that's a great question because it is I mean if you can make it up if you can
01:13:32make an offense one-dimensional you know that really allows you to play a little bit freer
01:13:38when you have the ability on any given play to be able to run it or pass it now it really comes
01:13:44down to okay what personnel grouping what's this call tell me to do what's this let's say okay
01:13:49what's my keys run past keys play action versus drop back versus boot versus but if you could get
01:13:55a team one-dimensional you know there's a little bit less of that because I know what's coming in
01:14:02a sense if that not necessarily the play but the style of play and absolutely it's a hundred percent
01:14:10what you're talking about if if they can run the ball and it goes even deeper than that if you if
01:14:16we get a stop on first and 10 and that we don't win second down it doesn't matter we now we're
01:14:22into third and short you know and as much as NFL teams in general are going for it on fourth down
01:14:27now you get the third short is it is it run as a pass are they treating this like four down how are
01:14:32they treating this so you know there's a lot that goes into it but if any offense can stay two
01:14:37dimensional it's hard on a defense and it's a defense's job to make them one dimension yeah
01:14:42thanks buddy absolutely
01:14:48good afternoon coach Babbage George read me challenging community news how you doing this
01:14:52step hey George how are you pretty good first question is on these risk injuries I noticed
01:14:58DC Dwayne Carter as well as the way smooth with risk normally you guys have broken fingers or
01:15:04dislocated fingers you know from hitting but how are these risk injuries occurring is it on tackles
01:15:09or is it on blocking or techniques I was just coming about George I wish I knew I wish I knew
01:15:16because if I could help prevent him I would yeah it's mostly usually the fingers and things of that
01:15:23nature but risk it that's a view ah and now you have two people with the same what sounds like a
01:15:28similar type by injury at the present time but uh next question for you John Kingsley Jonathan
01:15:35how's he been doing on the I know he's on the practice squad he had some playing time last year
01:15:40how's he how's he been coming along this season he's doing a great job working his butt off every
01:15:46day comes to work with smile on his face and works his butt off and Kingsley's a very important
01:15:53member of our team yeah and also what you're scheming on the on the defensive side it seemed
01:15:59like was it the misdirection of what tour was doing with the ball that was seem to cause the
01:16:05defense a little confusion and allowing their running game to go because of the misdirection
01:16:09that they were running um there's a lot that goes into a Georgia Miami there's a lot of motion
01:16:14there's a lot of different ball handling that they use there's a lot of different things but in the
01:16:18end you know we played them plenty of times we know the style of play we know and we can be
01:16:25better on our end on a lot of different things and now when you when you get a next week you go
01:16:30to Indianapolis and you face this time a quarterback that's more of a in the pocket
01:16:35statue what we used to call a statue type quarterback does that also help your defense
01:16:40and in gearing up and coming up with a game plan how to contain a quarterback like a joe
01:16:45a veteran quarterback like a joe falco yeah i mean every quarterback presents their own challenges
01:16:51right and um you know we have to handle our business george we have to play our brand of
01:16:57football we have to have an awareness of our opponent and we got to come up with a good plan
01:17:01for our players we got to get them playing fast and you know executing and um if we can do that
01:17:07you know usually we're in pretty good shape all right thank you very much for your time
01:17:11good luck in indianapolis you got it thanks george that's all we have for you today bobby
01:17:15thank you for your time thank you