Speaker 1: Good morning, Good morning everybody. At its time, four Buccaneers
Speaker 1: Insideer Live presented by Miller like Casey Phillips here with
Speaker 1: Scott Smith and Man. This is kind of an unusual one.
Speaker 1: We get to talk just the day before a game.
Speaker 1: Normally there's a lot more that's gonna happen between now
Speaker 1: in the game. But I guess that kind of can
Speaker 1: mean that we know more than we normally do on
Speaker 1: a Wednesday leading up to the game. Uh So, we
Speaker 1: got a lot we're gonna talk about, and of course
Speaker 1: we always want to hear from you and what you
Speaker 1: want us to be talking about, So put your questions
Speaker 1: underneath the live video on Facebook for us to get
Speaker 1: a chance to answer those. I figured we'd start with
Speaker 1: the positive news. There was another award. We stacked up
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of defensive ones last week. This one
Speaker 1: is on the offensive side. Yeah, Tom Brady. Unsurprisingly, after
Speaker 1: throwing five touchdown passes and three six and nine yards
Speaker 1: and leading a seventeen point comeback and all that, he's
Speaker 1: the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. After we had
Speaker 1: all those defensive player awards last week. He has thirty
Speaker 1: of those. Now, okay, not NFC has one NFC one,
Speaker 1: but he has thirty one Offensive Player of the Week awards,
Speaker 1: which is incredible. It's the most by anybody. Again, not surprisingly,
Speaker 1: that's like one and a half a season. I mean,
Speaker 1: you get excited when you get one, and this guy
Speaker 1: has been stacking him them up multiple times per season
Speaker 1: in his career. That's Yeah, that's a pretty incredible award.
Speaker 1: Um And speaking of that, I know that he won
Speaker 1: that award missing some key people on Sunday, and uh,
Speaker 1: that has continued to be a storyline this week. I
Speaker 1: feel like earlier in the season, the injury bug had
Speaker 1: hit a bunch of teams that you know, when we
Speaker 1: played the Broncos, we talked about that they were down
Speaker 1: so many people, and the Bucks had really been able
Speaker 1: to avoid that at least in the first few weeks.
Speaker 1: And now it seems like kind of finally caught up
Speaker 1: with them in at a very inopportune time when it's
Speaker 1: a short week. Um, so, what what do we know
Speaker 1: at this point about some of the guys that are
Speaker 1: in are out and what this could mean, especially for
Speaker 1: this offense. Yeah, you know, you said, we're closer to
Speaker 1: the game, so we know more, and we do. We
Speaker 1: know that all the guys didn't practice the last two days.
Speaker 1: They were really walk throughs, but still they didn't walk through.
Speaker 1: So UM, that's certainly not very encouraging. Um, we won't
Speaker 1: know until later today exactly who is out, but it's
Speaker 1: it's a pretty scary picture. Uh. Your top four whiteouts
Speaker 1: all have not practiced. That's Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Um, Uh,
Speaker 1: Justin Watson and Scottie Miller. And at the moment, what
Speaker 1: you have on the roster is ready to go is
Speaker 1: Jaden mckins and Cyril Grayson who was just promoted. And
Speaker 1: that's it. There's two guys on the practice squad, Josh
Speaker 1: Pearson and uh a new one. His last name is Whitney.
Speaker 1: Um that I've been blanking on at the moment. But
Speaker 1: obviously those guys don't have any experience whatsoever. They could
Speaker 1: be active or elevated for the game. That's another thing
Speaker 1: we'll find out later today. Um. You know, here's the
Speaker 1: way I look at it. Uh. Three got three different people, Uh,
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians and Todd Bowls and then Lavante David all
Speaker 1: said one thing that was interesting this week after the comeback,
Speaker 1: when they all said they wouldn't have won that game
Speaker 1: last year, and Lavante said, the Bucks teams have pretty
Speaker 1: much his entire career, wouldn't have won that game. And
Speaker 1: they found a way to win that game, and they
Speaker 1: have confidence, and you know, they figured it out and
Speaker 1: they believed. I think they're gonna have to do the
Speaker 1: same thing this week if you want to get that
Speaker 1: win and get to four and one against the good
Speaker 1: Chicago team in Chicago. I still think there's a way
Speaker 1: they can find a way to win. Even if all
Speaker 1: those guys are out and Leonard four Nett and Lashawn
Speaker 1: McCoy are out. Uh, it's just gonna have to be
Speaker 1: power your way through this one and then you have
Speaker 1: a long break before the next game and hopefully you
Speaker 1: get a bunch of those guys back. So we'll see.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be easy. But like you said, we
Speaker 1: nobody was, you know, nobody was crying for us when
Speaker 1: we played Denver and they had a bunch of injuries,
Speaker 1: and we played the Chargers and they had a bunch
Speaker 1: of injuries. I think this season is going to be
Speaker 1: a war of attrition and it's just our turn to
Speaker 1: try to get through one. That's true, and um we
Speaker 1: had a few people asked a question along these lines,
Speaker 1: but Jamir had asked, um, should we look at free
Speaker 1: agents for another weapon with all of the injuries, and
Speaker 1: wanted to also hear your thoughts on how the new
Speaker 1: protocols and everything with COVID this year does affect that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. Yeah, we were talking about this after
Speaker 1: the game on Sunday, Um, when we started to see
Speaker 1: this injury picture unfold, and there really is no way
Speaker 1: because it's a Thursday game. There really was no option.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could sign somebody sure for future, for
Speaker 1: the future, but there was no way to get somebody
Speaker 1: ready in the building and ready by Thursday because it's
Speaker 1: like a seventy two hour period with the COVID testing protocol,
Speaker 1: so you had to start on Monday. I think maybe
Speaker 1: they could get him in the building by Wednesday, but
Speaker 1: by that point you're pretty much done with your preparations.
Speaker 1: I couldn't really work them into the game plan at all.
Speaker 1: So that really wasn't an option for this week, which
Speaker 1: is what you said at the top. Because it's a
Speaker 1: short week, it was it was particularly difficult. So um,
Speaker 1: we just have to power through it. Now. If any
Speaker 1: of these injuries proved to be more long term than Yes,
Speaker 1: obviously you're gonna have to start looking outside the building. Okay,
Speaker 1: we had a few questions in a row about Tristan
Speaker 1: Worth's um. You know, east I had asked just how
Speaker 1: impressed we are with him. Richard had asked, what do
Speaker 1: you think it's gonna take to get him some offensive
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year consideration. That's tough for an offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're always gonna have quarterbacks out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: wouldn't you justin Herbert is going to get a lot
Speaker 1: more attention than an offensive tackle, particularly because you know,
Speaker 1: when an offensive tackle is doing great, you're just not
Speaker 1: saying his name very much. It's the opposite of a
Speaker 1: lot of these other positions. So, um, he could be
Speaker 1: the best rookie offensive rookie in the field this year.
Speaker 1: But I think it would be very difficult for him
Speaker 1: to win that award. You never know, I suppose, but
Speaker 1: he is playing really phenomenally well. He's playing like he's
Speaker 1: a veteran. He's handled some incredible pass rushers. He did
Speaker 1: really well against Joey Bosa this past week. Bosa even
Speaker 1: said that Bosa said after the game that this kid
Speaker 1: is gonna be really good. You start to see some
Speaker 1: of these um analytics sites, you know, your your Football
Speaker 1: Outsiders and and Pro Football Focus and things like that
Speaker 1: are starting to give him a lot of love. And
Speaker 1: not just in terms of rookies, but in terms of
Speaker 1: just all offensive lineman. He's playing very very well. And
Speaker 1: that's also the case for a couple of other guys
Speaker 1: like Alan mar Pett and Ryan Jenson. I mean, the
Speaker 1: offensive line had his best game last Sunday, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't look like it's a fluke. It looks like it's
Speaker 1: something that's sustainable. And we've been looking for this old
Speaker 1: line to really come together for a while, put a
Speaker 1: lot of resources in it. I mean, think about all
Speaker 1: the first round pick, two second round picks, a big
Speaker 1: free agency acquisition in the third round pick in the
Speaker 1: last four or five years to build this line, and
Speaker 1: now it's really starting to come together. Okay. And Jermaine
Speaker 1: had asked about our tight ends that he said, do
Speaker 1: you think if one of them emerges as a star,
Speaker 1: could you potentially see us getting rid of O J
Speaker 1: or cam one of who No. I think I think
Speaker 1: what he's saying is because we have had so many.
Speaker 1: You know, we we do have a lot of tight
Speaker 1: ends there. And then now with o J being out,
Speaker 1: if some of these other guys step up in a
Speaker 1: big way, do you think that that is a position
Speaker 1: where maybe you trade somebody. I know that was a
Speaker 1: talk before the season potentially, but now with o J
Speaker 1: being out, just how that affects the tight end group overall? Well,
Speaker 1: we don't have a lot of tight ends anymore. We
Speaker 1: have three of them. You have, I mean el Claire's
Speaker 1: on I R so I guess he could come back
Speaker 1: and then you have four. Uh uh. Oh. Claire is
Speaker 1: not really the same type of tight end as O J.
Speaker 1: Howard Tanner Hudson. I mean, okay, if Tanner Hudson emerges
Speaker 1: as a star, would we get rid of O J. Howard?
Speaker 1: I mean possibly, But that's really asking quite a bit. Um.
Speaker 1: Rob Gronkowski, we already know what he is. Really everybody
Speaker 1: was was pretty was raving about what o J had
Speaker 1: done and how much progress he had made, and it
Speaker 1: was really working out nicely. He was really more of
Speaker 1: the the receiving threat than Gronk was in the first
Speaker 1: four games, and Cam Braid, you know, we know what
Speaker 1: he is and we all love Cam and he's a
Speaker 1: great player, but as one of the coaches said yesterday,
Speaker 1: he's not the same tight end that O. G. Howard is.
Speaker 1: So O. J. Howard is your best bet to really
Speaker 1: get those downfield plays work. The seems beat people because
Speaker 1: he's more athletic. He's he's really athletic for the size
Speaker 1: that he is and fast, and you don't get a
Speaker 1: lot of guys That's why he's a first round pick.
Speaker 1: You don't find a lot of guys like that. So,
Speaker 1: considering how well it was working out, I would think
Speaker 1: that would be motivated to keep O. J. Howard around,
Speaker 1: uh moving forward. And we don't know how long Rob
Speaker 1: Gronkowski wants to play yet either, So I don't you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like the tight end depth isn't really quite
Speaker 1: as incredible as that question seems. Deposit Okay Daniel had asked,
Speaker 1: do you think this is going to be primarily a
Speaker 1: defensive game on Thursday? Absolutely, That's the way I've been
Speaker 1: writing about it all week. The Bears have a very
Speaker 1: good defense, really good pass rushers, and the Cheam Hicks
Speaker 1: and Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn, their inside linebackers Roquan
Speaker 1: Smith and Danny Travithon are really good. It's it's a
Speaker 1: tough front seven. They've played very well defensively. The Buccaneers
Speaker 1: have also played very well defensively. You know, I think
Speaker 1: both teams are in the top ten, but by some
Speaker 1: other metrics. Uh, some other metrics consider the Buccaneer's defense
Speaker 1: one of the top one or two in the league.
Speaker 1: Um so yeah, considering how we are so banged up
Speaker 1: on offense and have to probably Jerry Rigg a game
Speaker 1: plan and the Bears have had their change at quarterback
Speaker 1: and are still trying to really get their offense in
Speaker 1: a groove, whichever defense makes the bigger plays is probably
Speaker 1: gonna win this game. And yeah, Shannisia asked, were you
Speaker 1: surprised that Vaughan's number got called in the situation it
Speaker 1: did for his touchdown in that game? Um? Not, not
Speaker 1: as surprised as I would normally be, given that we
Speaker 1: were down to two running backs at the time, so
Speaker 1: it was either Ronald Jones or him, and um, I
Speaker 1: think we were. We were clearly in a I think
Speaker 1: that came out of a shotgun. I think we were
Speaker 1: clearly in a passing situation. It wasn't third down, it
Speaker 1: was second down, but it was second and goal from
Speaker 1: the nine, I think, and I feel like we were
Speaker 1: definitely gonna throw and Keyshon had already shown that he
Speaker 1: could that he could you know, serve as like a
Speaker 1: third down type back. And you saw how well he
Speaker 1: made that catch. I mean, that was not an easy catch.
Speaker 1: And Rojo in that game had had a couple of
Speaker 1: balls he couldn't hang on too. So it's not it
Speaker 1: wasn't terribly surprising in the moment that he was in
Speaker 1: there on it for that type of situation. Now, if
Speaker 1: you asked me that at the start of the game,
Speaker 1: I would definitely said yes. And we had a lot
Speaker 1: of people asking about Tyler Johnson, what we've seen from him,
Speaker 1: how big roll he's prepared to play. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we've seen him at least get in for a couple
Speaker 1: of games now, but hasn't had his number called too much.
Speaker 1: So do you feel like this could be the game
Speaker 1: that he really, you know, kind of shows improves you
Speaker 1: know why they drafted him, Well, hopefully it will be
Speaker 1: because that we may not have another option. Um, he
Speaker 1: may be your number one guy going into that game.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean the Bucks felt like they got
Speaker 1: to steal when they got him in the fifth round,
Speaker 1: and there was just so much wide receiver depth in
Speaker 1: this draft that allowed that to happen. I think he
Speaker 1: would have gone higher in some other drafts. Uh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he's a talented guy and he you know, he
Speaker 1: was just really really set back by his injury and
Speaker 1: training camp and there was no no role for him
Speaker 1: in the offense when the season started. So and then
Speaker 1: once you get started with the season, your primary concern
Speaker 1: is getting ready for the next game, not you know,
Speaker 1: is getting this rookie ready who's not part of the
Speaker 1: game plan. So it was probably hard for him to advance,
Speaker 1: but coach Arian says he has advanced and he's ready
Speaker 1: for it. It's not too big for him now. So, uh,
Speaker 1: he's a talented guy and hopefully, uh this is you know,
Speaker 1: he'll make the most of a shot here, just like
Speaker 1: Keishan did in the last game. Okay, well that's gonna
Speaker 1: do it for us. On this edition of Buccaneers Insider
Speaker 1: Live presented by Miller Lte. Thanks to all of you
Speaker 1: guys for tuning in, Thanks for those amazing questions, and
Speaker 1: we'll be back here next Wednesday, hopefully talking about a
Speaker 1: great game that we got to see in Chicago. So
Speaker 1: we'll see you then