WEBVTT - Injury Updates & Slowing Down the New Orleans Offense | Bucs Insider 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.840 Their Bucks fans. Has everybody doing on this Friday morning, 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.000 this football playoff game day Friday. This is what we 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:15.080 are so excited about. We have been doing this show 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:16.440 three days in a row to make sure we get 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:18.840 to all of your questions. So if you have some 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:21.440 of those questions, comments, topics you want us to talk about, 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:23.759 make sure you head over to the Facebook page if 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:25.880 you're not already watching on there and leave them in 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.760 the comments section. This is Buccaneers Insider Live, presented by 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.440 Miller Lite, Casey Phillips here senior writer and editor Scott Smith. 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:35.600 So as we give people a chance to start submitting 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.080 some of those questions, a couple of topics that we've 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.440 learned a little bit about since yesterday. Since again we've 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:42.519 been doing this a few days in a row, so 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.520 we're just trying to update you since yesterday, before the show, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.559 we had talked about Ronald Jones and whether or not 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:50.320 he was going to be returning to practice. To tell 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.680 us what we learned yesterday, Well, he did return to 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.440 practice in a limited fashion, which is what you would expect, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.240 and it was what Bruce arians was hoping for. So 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:00.640 I would consider that a good sign. The Bucks are 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.240 gonna practice here at about half an hour, so we'll 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:05.200 get a better feel for how good he's coming along 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.399 and if it's a steady progression and if they think 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.200 he's gonna play on Sunday. But at least it was 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.080 a step in the right direction. By the way the 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.240 practice today, they're going inside, and I gotta believe that's 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.480 just because they wanted to get a little bit of 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.880 work on artificial turf before playing in the Superdome on Sunday. 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.600 So there's a little bit of news for you. Yeah, 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.400 that's that's a great point. Um. We've had a couple 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.640 of questions about uh injury updates in general, and again 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:31.560 this is something that we've we've answered the last couple 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.039 of days, but we know not everyone gets to see 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.320 the show every day. So we had a few different 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.720 people ask about Vita Via and O. J. Howard and 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.760 the implications of playoffs for there, and then we also 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.320 had a question about Alex Kappa, So can you give 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.760 us the updates on those guys. Yeah, let's start at 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.680 the end there, because while the Bucks haven't officially anound 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:51.440 to yet, they are about to put out scap on 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:54.520 each reserve due to that ankle fracture. Um, that's the 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.280 starting right guard. He started every game leading up to this, 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.960 so that's an unfortunate loss. He was having a night 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.480 season and his second year as a starter. And because 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.880 you have to be on injury reserve for at least 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.760 three games before you could be eligible to return, that 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.840 means that's it for Kappa in So we'll be looking 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:15.000 forward to his good return in one and the Buccaneers 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:17.760 are gonna start Aaron Stinney in his place. He is 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.240 the it'll be his first start coming out in the 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:22.760 playoffs in the division round. It's hey for you, right 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.200 into the fire. But he's the Buck's best option there 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.800 right now, and the Bucks like his athleticism and his 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.720 physical style of play. And one of the people who 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:33.359 was asked about him yesterday, I can't remember, maybe Ryan 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.400 Jensen who to compare him to, and he said, well, 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.440 he's actually kind of a lot like Alex Kappa, So 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.799 if he can give you something like the same thing, 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:42.560 then that will be good. And the Buccaneers are also 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.960 going to um restore some of that depth on the 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.520 interior line by signing Earl Watford. Again that's not officially yet, 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:51.960 but it is going to happen probably before this practice, 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.360 so any minute now. And as we know, Earl Watford 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.600 was with the team all last year. UM started four games, 0:02:57.600 --> 0:02:59.760 actually three of them in place of Alex Kappa, right, 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:01.720 So he may take a little while to get his 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.519 legs underneath them because he hasn't played at all this year. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.720 But that's a nice signing because he knows the system. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:08.960 So I don't remember the first half of that question 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:10.840 now because I've been talking for a very long time. 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.000 You you you hit? Uh, Well, it was Vita and 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.720 o J. Yeah, they're not they're not coming back. Yeah, 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.240 like I said, not everybody's heard all these But as 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.919 we've said repeatedly, while we would love to have either 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.360 or Vita there or o J. Howard left, this this 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:27.840 extra month hopefully of playoffs is not enough to get 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.320 either of them back from their injuries. UM, and we 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:32.480 since we were just talking about Alex Cappa, Frank had asked, 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.359 how big of an impact do you think his loss 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.120 will have on on this team and what the offense 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.200 is able to do. Well, it's potentially a big impact, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.160 and we don't want it to be honest with you, 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.920 because um, if it has an impact, it probably won't 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.000 be in a good way. That the Buccaneers offensive line 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:49.720 really is peaking at the right time. They've been playing 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.480 well for the last month or so, I mean really well, 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.560 given given Tom Brady tons of time to throw and 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:58.080 most of his passes, which is why he's been able 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.320 to hit so many of those downfield twenty five thirty 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.160 yard plays to Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin and Mike 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.480 Evans and Scottie Miller and uh Cam Braid. I mean, 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.480 we've had something like eleven touchdowns of more than twenty 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.600 yards in the last five games, which is really a lot. 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.200 And obviously the overall numbers for Tom Brady have been 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:18.880 incredible over the last five or six weeks, and you 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.000 can't do that without good protection from the line. So 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:24.440 hopefully Aristony can help keep that going. So it will 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.760 be saying there wasn't a huge impact from him coming 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.520 into the game, right. And then we also had a 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.159 question from Alan do you expect Todd Bowls to blitz 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:38.120 more than usual this Sunday Hot Bowls. Already blitz is 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.520 more than almost every defensive coordinator in this league. I 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:45.200 think his blitz rate this year was about fort and 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.080 Just to be clear, a blitz is actually defined as 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.120 more than four defenders coming at the pass around pass rush. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.679 So sometimes things you see that look like a blitz 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.480 aren't necessarily a blitz. Like if a corner comes out 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.520 of the slot, but one of your outside linebackers drops 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.880 into coverage and you're still only bringing four that's not 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.800 a blitz. But just from a blitz standpoint, I think 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.039 Todd Bowls has been in the top three in terms 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.400 of aggressiveness in the league, including when he was a 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.320 head coach for the last five years. So he's he's 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.440 gonna blitz. Okay, it's gonna happen. Will you be more? 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.600 That will probably depend on how well it goes. You know, 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.679 if you if you blitz Drew Brees five straight times 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:25.159 and he gashes you and you don't get nearly near 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:26.920 close to him, then you might think maybe this isn't 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:28.920 the best strategy in the world. So we'll see how 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:30.799 it goes. A lot of times this year I've seen 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.279 that he has started out not blitzing as much and 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.320 then doubted up a little bit later, and that's been 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.840 an effective way to go Okay and east. I asked 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:40.960 how many turnovers do you think our defense needs to 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.599 force to win the game. Well, they don't need to 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.520 force any particularly if the Buccaneers defense offense is not 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.560 turning the ball over. UM one would be enough if 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:53.839 the Bucks can keep keep the ball secure on offense, 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.080 because the Buccaneers are nine and oh this season when 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.520 they have a positive turnover ratio. So it's more about 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.040 the net number of turnovers that the Buccaneers have and 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:06.040 if it's on the positive side, I'll feel pretty good 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.400 about it. So it could be too to nothing, they 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.280 could be forwarded to. Either way, it's it's probably a 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.960 good sign for the Bucks. Um And we also had 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.560 Vaughan asked, do you think Gronk needs to be more 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.480 involved in the passing part or is it okay for 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.840 him to stay more in the blocking role. Well, it's 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.240 just it's game. Plans change from game to game. I mean, 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.160 Gronk had some big games down the stretch and then 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.280 in the last game he was mostly blocking, although they 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.359 did have one play dialed up frohim and the end 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:33.320 zone that they really thought was gonna work and just miss. So, uh, 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.280 if they if if Bruce arians and Byron left, which 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.400 have a plan this week, to unleash Gronk and have 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.760 him out there. They wouldn't tell us, So do we 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.960 need to do that? No? I mean there's so many 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.840 weapons on this offense that if you decide again to 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:49.920 you know, to make him more of a blocker and 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.200 help you in that way and let Cam break room 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.080 around a little bit more, it would probably work. But 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.320 playoff Rob Gronkowski in his career has been pretty pretty phenomenal, 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.560 so I wouldn't mind seeing him unlashed. Yes, Curtis asked 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:07.279 who's more dangerous to our defense, Breeze or Taysom Hill. Well, 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:12.360 Breeze because he's gonna play, um you know percent of 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.120 the snaps. Taysom Hill could hurt you with some gadgetry stuff, 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.280 and you know he might have one or two big 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:20.920 plays that that hurt. But overall, Drew Brees is the 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:25.080 bigger issue. Yeah. Obviously. We also had a question who's 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.480 the backup for Devon and Lavante this game if Mentor 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:30.600 is on the COVID list, Yeah, it would be Jack 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:35.240 Cichy and um, I guess you could elevate um Daon 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:37.680 Buchanan from the practice from the practice squad again, so 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.040 I'd probably be those two, which you know, I'm I'm 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:43.640 not saying that's a great feeling because that's not a 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:45.760 lot of depth considering Jack Cichy only came back a 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.400 couple of weeks ago and Daon Buchanan just came back 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:50.560 last week. So I'm not trying to tell you that's 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.280 a perfect situation. But sometimes due to injuries or illness 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.120 or whatever, you end up a little thin in one 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.840 position or another. And definitely we are right now there. 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.240 And uh, we also had Dustin asked is case I'm 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.600 still hurt? So I know that he was out of 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.360 practice for the Saints. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's Saints 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:10.440 last practice report UM had him as out still that 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.200 he missed the last two games. UM, so we'll see 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.840 today we'll be much more telling. One thing I want 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.640 to point out if you happen to go to the 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.480 injury report on buccaneers dot com to see the Bucks, 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.440 you might see some strange things from the Saints injury report. 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.520 Something's messed up with their injury report on their website, 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:28.800 and it's showing guys like Michael Thomas and Mark and 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.880 Depp Mark Stavenport is out and that gets automatically pulled 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.319 onto our injury report on our website, So we're not 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.200 trying to say Michael Thomas is out. There's just some 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.120 glitch in the system, so don't read anything into that. 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:41.760 And we also had a question of asking you to 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:46.040 predict the score. UM, I know you do, so how 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.319 about instead of making you give a specific score? Um, 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.120 do you think this is how high scoring or not? 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.040 Do you see the game being It feels like a 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:57.439 high scoring game to me, something like that, not nothing 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:01.360 out of control like forty. But I don't think we're 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.280 going to see a fourteen to ten game here. The 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.880 Bucks offenses just clicking on all cylinders right now. And 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:07.800 as I've said the last couple of days, just as 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.240 long as they can give Tom Brady a good amount 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:11.880 of time to pass, I think we will move the 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.679 ball and score. And it's pretty hard to stop now 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.640 that Drew Brees has Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara back 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.720 um and Deonta Harris, that really fast small receiver who's 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.880 a great kickoff returners starting to get more involved. Um, 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:26.959 They've got a lot of weapons as well. So it's 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.080 a tall task to ask either of these defenses to 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.600 keep the other team under twenty points, so to me, 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.199 it sounds feels more like a kind of game. All right, Well, 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:36.440 that is going to do it for us on this 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.520 edition of Buccaneers Insider Live presented by Miller Lyte. Thanks 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.319 for all of those amazing questions, Thanks for being with 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.520 us throughout this week, and enjoy that game on Sunday night.