Von Miller and Matt Milano look to reclaim form on Bills defense in 2024 | Always Gameday in Buffalo

well here we are the final it's always game day in Buffalo of the off season I think we could call it that s capio Matt Mo my apologies right off the bat people who know me know and listen to me all the time on the radio no I often lose my voice when I've been coaching a lot with my son in baseball we had six travel baseball games Friday Saturday and Sunday three on Sunday came up one two- run short it was a North Buffalo against South Buffalo City two teams going at it in the Lockport tournament great job by all the kids tenu but it was a great weekend in the meantime you were traveling back Matt from Europe I hope you had a great time we're g to talk about your travel situation in a minute welcome back but I'll let you tell the great big news we have for all of our listeners before we even do all that yeah it's good to be talking to you again we have another live recording of It's Always game day in Buffalo happening for the second straight season at barbill the Rochester location that is coming up on Monday July 29th at 7 o'clock s and I will be out at barbill we'll get there before 7 o'clock we're going to be hanging out we're going to get everything set up we're going to do an episode of the podcast and then afterwards we're going to hang out with you guys chat about the bills talk about whatever else you guys want to talk about we had a really good turnout when we did this for the first time last year so we're super excited to be doing it again and it's also a great location for us we both love barbill wings I know a lot of the people listening to this are going to also love barbill wings so if you're in the Rochester area it's an easy commute if you're coming from Buffalo but you're going for the day for training camp come hang out stay the day hang out with us it was really fun and we're excited we get to do it again 11:29 Empire Boulevard in Rochester it's literally 10 minutes from St John fiser Monday July 29th the bills have practice on Monday and Tuesday you can stick around we're g to be out there at 7 pm we'll be there a little bit before that that's when the recording is basically going to start right around 700 p.m. that's our what we're aiming for then we're going to hang out with everybody afterwards so we hope to see you all at barbill East in Rochester 11:29 Empire Boulevard Monday July 29th at 7 pm. all right Matt we both have some travel stories to share but you've already gone through it I'm experiencing it right now what happened to you on the way back from Europe all right well let me ask are yours data outage connected is that what you're dealing with not I do not believe so okay I'm gonna try and sum this up as quick as I can I'm going to start by saying that everything that I'm about to say is legitimately true you can fact check this with my mother my sister and my wife those were the people who I was traveling with we took a cruise it was amazing we're just going to skip over the vacation loved it I think I'm a cruise guy now take a cruise we're supposed to get off the boat at 7:15 in the morning Saturday morning in Ravina Italy we could not get to the port because there was a hurricane close to the boat so we had to stay there for like an out it wasn't honestly that big of a deal you looked out the window it was thundering it was lightning it was really really coming down I just thought it was a bad storm Well turns out it was a hurricane so we could not get to Port by 7:15 we end up getting to Port by 8:15 so the morning just becomes a little bit more rushed because we lose that hour whatever no big deal finally get off the boat we checked our bags the night before so the cruise line takes the bags they put them on the port all you got to do is pick them up well we get down there my sister's bag is there my mom's bag is there my wife's bag is there my bag is not there we start looking around we start scrambling I'm like what what's the deal they have me fill out a lost and found form the only bag left was a silver suitcase and my bag was a silver suitcase so I found the information on the tag and I was like I wonder if this guy took my bag on accident boy I call him he did he was still there some gentleman from Alabama he runs his bag my bag back what what airport are you in we're not at the airport we're still on the cruise Portu theu still in the cruise port we haven't even left yet yet so luckily we catch each other before we have left for the airport we switch bags chis is averted but because of this we get pushed to a different bus to the airport because I was dealing with the Lost bag stuff we were supposed to leave on bus number eight we got pushed to bus number nine 15 minutes later we get on bus number nine it is a two and a half hour drive from Ravina Italy to Venice which is where we were flying out of I wait I first of all I'm just amazed like the person who had your luggage is an American from Alabama did you have this phone number to call because that's why I'm like wait a minute where are you because that could be anybody in the world yeah it could be anybody in the world but he was on the same cruise that I was on right so the bags we were go both going to the same airport he just took a silver bag that he thought was his luckily we got that sorted out so now it's like let's say 8:30 we're on this bus ride it's 2 and a half hours from Ravina Italy to Venice Italy which where we were flying we're not in a super rush so it's not that big of a deal we get on the this is the part it's like listener discretion is advised you don't know the story yet I don't we're driving it's like an hour and a half in and this woman behind I'm at the back of the bus and there's one Family behind us and this woman screams at the top of her lungs she's like I have to go to the bathroom you need to stop the bus well because we were pushed back from the hurricane the driver who doesn't speak English is an Italian guy is like I I can't like these people are going to miss their flights I I can't stop for the bathroom she's like if you do not stop for the bathroom I am going to go to the bathroom on this bus no way the bus does not have a bathroom I think he thinks that she's kidding she wasn't kidding so she comes to the back of the bus and goes to the bathroom on the floor all right so she goes to the bathroom on the floor in the remnants of her going into the bathroom wait wait wait are we talking one or two we're talking one we're talking one but that runs down the aisle of the bus and starts like people start noticing basically so now you have it's Madness people are screaming at her and she's losing her mind she's like let me mind my business don't look at me blah blah like she's screaming back I think there's about to be like fights there's people yelling in Italian there's people yelling in English I'm just looking at my wife and I'm like not the time to be confrontational sit there mind our business we are not dealing with another thing this morning so then the driver realizes what happened because he actually did stop without knowing that any of this stuff was happening so then she's like I don't have to go anymore and he comes back and he sees what happened and he starts laying into her I thought they were going to get in a fight so then the morning gets even more delayed because he stopped even though he said he wasn't going to stop and then we get to the airport get to we get to the Venice Airport and there's like an hour and 15 minute wait just to drop off your bags because of the data outage stuff so then we wait in line for an hour and 15 minutes we finally get through we go through security we're standing there waiting for our flight to board and all of a sudden the board changes canceled it went from about to board oh my God to canceled so everybody starts panicking then somebody comes over on the announcements and was like we had a glitch with our board the flight is not cancelled you are still leaving we're like okay thank goodness we get out to the plane it takes like an hour for the boarding process to happen then we sit on the plane for another hour before we can take off we take off it's a nine and a half hour flight we get to JFK once we get to JFK they don't have a gate they're like we don't have a gate for you so we just have to sit here until we have a gate that's another hour oh my God I finally get off the plane we wait in the Customs line for about an hour then you have to reach Che your bag so we go from Customs we get our bag you have to recheck your bag which then means you have to go in security again it was a 35 minute wait in security we were supposed to have four hours and 50 minutes to make our flight from Venice to J like from Venice to JFK then JFK to Buffalo by the time we got out of security our flight had three minutes left of boarding I sprinted across the airport my family stayed like they were still going through security I sprinted I got to the gate and I was like dude my family's five minutes behind can you please hold the gate and he was like three minutes he's like you got three minutes to get everybody here so then I call my wife and I'm like you guys need to run as fast as humanly possible oh my God luckily the guy was cool and he held it for two more minutes we run we get on the plane and then we finally come home 26 hours of travel from Ravina Italy where the hurricane happened to Buffalo New York 26 hours later it was the stupidest day of travel and like a nine and a half hour flight mixed into it just I don't even know where I am right now this is ridiculous that any of this happened wow the hurricane was the least crazy part of the day that's right I the bus story is an alltime unbelievable story Wild like it was and then I didn't add this part so the woman who did that once we stopped and the bus driver like laid into her she had already gone to the bathroom she went into the rest stop and bought ice cream and came out on I'm not kidding so like while everybody was waiting so like a couple people because he stopped got off to go to the bathroom she got off to buy ice cream and then brought it back on and I'm just like I can't believe that any of this has happen happening it was it was travel makes people nuts that was a it was an alimer while while you um had that happen to you I am currently as we are taping this episode dealing with a bit of a travel nightmare myself and if you allow me and Matt we hav't you know that was an incredible story we're just I'm just going to go over what's Happ this will take just a couple minutes and then we're I promise we'll get into the bills defensive preview we're going to do that for you today and it's always game day in Buffalo my wife and son are leaving an a crw out of Miami tomorrow they are still here in Buffalo right now uh oh okay they because of you know planning because of the baseball tournament and thinking we could be in the championship and all that and whatever my wife Jana booked the flight out of Buffalo at like two three what's I'm sorry four o'clock today knowing hey we may have to miss a game whatever that's going to happen well that flight got delayed which was great because we like oh Max can stay for we we to the final game he can stay well it's not great because because of that flight being delayed she was going to miss and they were going to miss their connecting flight from Atlanta to get this Tampa or Sarasota because they have to go to Sarasota First to get my mother-in-law and then they're gonna drive to Miami in the morning and get on the cruise okay so now she's scrambling saying how do I get to Sarasota tonight well there are no other flights going to Sarasota tonight okay how about Tampa I can deal with Tampa very tough to find that as well in the meantime she called Delta Airlines it was on hold for two and a half hours trying to get this arranged okay the bottom line is she had a choice I could take a late Delta I could take a Delta flight out of Buffalo today at 6:30 get into Atlanta for a 45 minute uh wait but there's no she has to get checked in it she couldn't get checked in now have to hope you get to another teral terminal in that 45 minutes and get checked in and then everything's fine with the Atlanta to Sarasota flight however everything's been being delayed and canceled anyway so how can you take that risk or the other option is take an Allegient flight out of Niagara Falls tonight at it was about to be about what F six something o'clock um but you know Allegient any any issue at all they're going to cancel the flight because there's one there's three flights a week that's it well guess what book that one luckily because everything in Delta got canceled since over the last hour would have been totally so now we are waiting with baited breath We are following the flight as I speak with you following the flight up to get to Niagara Falls it actually did take off so it's in routes if they land in Niagara Falls they'll get on an hour late and they will take off to Tampa and everything should be good for tomorrow to get to Miami unbeliev well I'm glad it worked out the stress of that so far knock on wood well yeah knock on wood right stress is amazing though but you know what really sucked is my my wife I felt so bad for her she she basically could not watch either of the games that that after the first game today the second round game the semi final or the championship because she was dealing with all of this stuff in the car yes somebody in the Venice Airport told me because of the data outage that right now if you try and get in contact with Delta because that's what we flew it's an 18 to 20 hour call back oh my that's how long it is if you elect to do the call back and not elect to just wait on the phone and hear from somebody so these last couple days I I found out about the data outage while we were one day away from flying in the middle of the ocean and I'm like it's a little scary that like all of the data issues that are happening I'm in the middle of the ocean about to go to an airport that doesn't sound great so hopefully hopefully Y and Max can just get on that Allegiant flight and then you know you can just breathe finally I I think that that's the pl let's hope so as we're recording I'm I'm monitoring a flight up to Niagara Falls and hoping that everything from nigar falls down to Tampa works out all right those are our travel stories we are traveling to Rochester and training camp if you like that segue coming up in the next couple of days Matt Bo Matt Bo and I will be there both for WKBW TV he will be for channel 7 I'll be for wgr sports radio 550 the bills open training camp we haven't previewed the defense yet let's do that all right Matt let's start with the defensive line because this could be all jumbled into one because of the way that the bills run their defensive line of course you have defensive ends and defensive tackles but let's be honest because of the rotation because of the fact that they like to move guys around we could see maybe Greg rouso playing inside sometimes we've seen that um we kind of talk about it you know as one piece but let's start with the defensive ends what do what are you confident in with the bills defensive ends okay well let's say what do we think the number is in total that they'll keep 11 defensive linemen 10 defensive linemen probably one of those two right yeah usually actually usually nine or 10 nine or 10 depending on if you have a couple guys that can you know go and do two different things so let's say the locks at defensive end are Greg rouso AJ Essa Von Miller those are the locks and then I would like to think like Javon Solomon is a lock right so then that's four people then that brings us to the Casey two Hill that brings us to Kingsley jonath Jonathan that brings us to Smoot like you know I would think that they would lean towards more proven so maybe Smoot would have the inside track there but I I think that those first four guys are I'm pretty confident are going to make the team at least as far as Edge rushers are concerned yeah I think what we're really talking about here is maybe one spot for two Hill Jonathan Cameron Klein who they like uh Dwayne Smoot if they even do that if they keep five that's what we're looking at because the top four I think you're right I don't see any way that Javon solom is not in this team right they used a mid- round Draft pick on him I just don't think that they're gonna release him subject to waivers I think that that's a guy that they're probably gonna want to have on the roster yeah I think so too I think they love the upside yeah the transition he's about to make going from you know the level he played at to the NFL I don't think that this is going to be a guy who makes an immediate impact but I also don't think that they are somebody who they are going to risk letting try and get to the practice squad like I think he's a probably a guy who's even inactive right at the start of the season but I don't think it's a guy that you even want to toy around with you know not just having on your 53 man roster which is why I tend to think even though I know they like Cameron Klein and they like Kingsley Jonathan doesn't it maybe make more sense to have a twohill or a smoot guys who you know who can play if needed as your fourth guy who might be active on game days if you're not gonna have Solomon play yeah I I agree with that but I I think the only thing I might disagree with is I think Kingsley Jonathan has proven himself a little bit here he's a guy that they've kept around they they brought him back he's played he's been active um I think Kingsley Jonathan is a real shot to be that guy instead of a ky2 hill maybe I think to me that might be where you have the line but I think it comes down to do you want to keep a Kingsley Jonathan or a Casey T hell or maybe and we also know sometimes injuries happen somebody gets banged up they do have two spots they can use now this is a new rule they have two spots they can use that cutdown date to put a guy in ir and still come at still um you know four weeks later be reactivated so I think it's that could be something you can monitor with a position like this the other the other question about DN is of course Von Miller would it be fair to say Matt that Von Miller might be the biggest X Factor for the Buffalo Bills this year yeah for sure he's one of the biggest X factors really in entire league just because you I have no idea what Von this is the one thing I've said this on the podcast before we both can guarantee that he will be better than he was last year because he did not do anything last year he did start to look a little bit a little bit I'm saying a little bit more like Von Miller as they got later into the season but I mean I I think you split the difference is he going to be a 10 sack guy no I don't think so I don't think he's going to be a zero sack guy either I think he's going to be like like a five six seven sack type of player and if that's what he is for what you're paying him it's a disaster but given the circumstance I think they would welcome that after what he did last year I think you were just trying to bridge the gap between when you can move on from him next year and anything that he does will kind of just be an added bonus the same discussion we just had about defensive end I think applies the defensive tackle and if you have the discussion about Javon Solomon it's the same thing with Dwayne Carter but I think way cutter is even more of a lock than Javon Solomon to be quite honest with you the question might come down for me it's obviously Oliver Ed Oliver it's obviously dayquon Jones I think Austin Johnson's on this team Deshawn will yeah DeShawn Williams is most likely but maybe there's a spot there if Dwayne Carter can beat him out I think they probably keep five either defensive ends or defensive tackles and this might be if you go five great then it's Oliver Jones Johnson Williams and Carter but at the same time if you only go four you might have one spot there for a guy like DeShawn Williams or Austin Johnson maybe DeShawn Williams will be the odd man out in that situation yeah I would think so Austin Johnson's making the team I think that that's somebody who's got a little bit of pos position flexibility it's somebody that they had to you know use dequon Jones to recruit to get to Buffalo you're usually not recruiting guys who are going to be on your bubble the one thing that you've said like Dwayne Carter is making the team I am not a defensive line expert and it's just practices but Dwayne Carter felt like a guy who the coach Coes were really really riding during these Su you know during the Spring portion of practices of like hey we need to see and that's just from watching practice who knows what it's going to be like a training camp but I'm just saying maybe we need to collectively temper the expectations on Dwayne Carter a little bit because the night that they drafted him I was like okay like here's your rotational defensive tackle who is gonna probably play a lot let's see a training camp first let's see some actual like live reps before maybe we all just assume that he's immediately their third defensive tackle basically before we get to the secondary we'll talk about corners and safety we should touch on linebacker but let's be honest Matt there's not much to really talk about with linebacker because this comes down to is Matt Milano healthy otherwise it's Terrell Bernard and Matt Milano and it's Dorian Williams and Bale Spectre backing him up with a whole bunch of guys fighting for a rotational and special teams role yeah I think so too I mean it's definitely obviously Milano and Terrell Bernard and the next man up is definitely Dorian Williams I think they are higher on balen Spectre than probably most of the fan bases and I think that we kind of saw that with the injuries that happened late last year how they were using balen Spectre until he himself ultimately got injured so I do think that balen Spectre is probably going to be somebody who I do think is on the team after that your guess is as good as mine it's interesting though because they don't have the okay we need to keep this player because of special teams at linebacker like they have had in years past with like a Tyler mic cavage it's like okay you know this guy's going to make the team because of special teams they don't have that now so I would imagine you know Dorian Williams and Balon Spectre are big-time special teams contributors but I don't think there's somebody who has to make the team just because of their role on special teams I agree with you about Spectre I mean they showed their hand about how much they believed in him last year when he started against the Steelers in the playoff game and then he got hurt that was over Dorian Williams so I agree with there the only one I would think about here now Nicholas Morrow was most likely be a special teams guy but he had 100 Tech a couple years ago he can fill in in a pinch maybe not a guy you care about though if you really you can probably get him on the practice squad I do wonder about Eddie Osio though because he's a fifth round pick in the same way we talk about Carter or Solomon he'd be in that vein but there's just not might not be a spot for him so I think that's going to be an interesting one for them to wash out at the end yeah that's one of those ones where like you would think a fifth round pick is going to make the team but given the position I don't know I can you get him to your practice squad the answer is probably I guess the other question is how much do you like balen Spectre do you say if if they're close you obviously you take the younger guy with the higher upside and if in this case it's Olaf fasio which I still have to like think about before I say I'm like Osio Osio if it's Eddie let's just call him Eddie then you can make move on from balein Spectre Morrow is another guy like there's a ton of productivity there I don't think that this is going to be somebody like when the Bill signed him all of the Eagles fans were like good luck and it's like well dude he's not going to be somebody who they really need unless he's like the fourth man on the totem pole he had to play in Philadelphia yeah and can I remind you that in the divisional round of the playoffs last year I watched AJ Klein with like half of a hip run down the field and try and cover Travis Kelce so I don't know if I'm really that concerned if Nicholas Morrow isn't a great starter it's just can he be an okay back up which is what they need him to be and um just to finish up on linebacker I will say the guy that impressed me a bit in training camp was in me Camp was Dion Jones I thought Deon Jones showed some juice and he had he was around the ball quite a bit he's a veteran we'll see if they find a spot for him in some way there's always those last few spots somewhere around the roster yeah I don't know I think Deon Jones have a pro bowl I'm not saying that that has anything to do with this I'm just saying doesn't Dion Jones like didn't he make a pro bowl somewhere was it in Atlanta or Carolina maybe uh one time Pro Bowl there you go yep Deon Jones according to his reference page he was a pro bowler in 2017 which was a while ago right but uhuh yeah I think he was really good okay so he was in Carolina last year he had a couple years where he was really good in Atlanta got 13 career interceptions as a linebacker that is pretty C I mean he's got he's played in 109 games that's a that's a really impressive NFL career and then the other piece here is and I don't think he's going to make the bills but man what a great story Jo and re Lo local product Lancaster High School University of Buffalo it'd be great to see him on the practice squad we'll see you know what ultimately happens with him but he'll be in the mix obviously and battling for a spot you never want to Discount anyone all right let's get to the secondary as we head towards training camp here for the Buffalo Bills Matt what's the what's the biggest confidence you have in the secondary and what's the biggest question you have about the bill secondary I'm confident in the corners I'm confident in Russell Douglas I'm confident in Christian Benford more so than I think a lot of national people are just because I think Christian Benford has slept on way too much I think that you know I was listening even to a fantasy football podcast on my flight and they were talking about and it was an AFC East preview and even though it was a fantasy football podcast they were also talking about just like the teams in general and they were talking about all of the significant losses the bills have had on the defensive side of the ball I mean obviously offense too but they're like no Jordan puyer no Micah Hyde no travius white and when you than know travius white it's like well they've basically been without travius white for the last two and a half Seasons so I understand that Trey white was an exceptional player before he had these injury problems but it's not like they had Trey white for most of last season they had him for three and a half games before he got injured so I like Christian Benford a lot I think he's a very slept down player I'm really interested in the safeties because right now I think you are more confident in kind of how it pieces together than I am I I really don't know what's going to happen there to me it's probably the most besides wide receiver the most interesting position battle heading into training camp so I'm most confident really in the coaching of the side of the ball the secondary that's what the bills have done under sha mcdermit whether it's um you know obviously Leslie Fraser defensive coordinator that'll be Bobby babit but whether it's Bobby babit as a secondaries coach or John Butler as a secondary coach they've always just had a good secondary they've had great scheme they've kept everything in front of them they go don't get beat over the top and I think that's going to be the case I think this team is planning on Taylor R and Mike Edwards being their starting safeties but you have Cole Bishop who will have an opportunity and I think there's a role for him he will play early on I don't think he starts right away but maybe it happens at some point during the season my biggest concern is the depth for this overall unit because I agree with you Rosel Douglas makes plays right that's what he does Christian Benford very underrated they have one of the top guys at his position in the league in Taran Johnson but this comes down you want to talk about X factors can KY actually make a step in play because if he can oh my gosh how important and incredible that would be for this defense for their depth M but if not what do they really have at the depth of the corner position especially on the outside I don't think they have much which is what I still am anticipating that maybe they use some of the money that they have on just because they've done it in the past do they take a flyer on a depth cornerback who's a veteran who is still out there or are they convinced that kyum can be that guy I think that's what they need to see a training camp because kyum had a strong spring he was a player that was around the ball and was making plays but can he do it consistently and can he be trusted I don't know the answer to that yet I would say after the last couple months I like his trajectory this is one of those ones where you just have to take the cost of the player completely out it he has not lived up to expectations as a first round pick but if he can be you're totally fine and capable third Corner then I think in a vacuum you would be at least okay with this season it was a bad pick right at least up to this point I don't see any scenario where he LeapFrogs one of the two guys in front of him my thing is can you at least prove that you can be the third guy and play in a pinch and fill in for those guys whenever somebody gets banged up and if you can't then they're probably going to use a couple million dollars to go sign some veteran coroner who is still out there because there always seems to be veteran Corners who are still out there and this team has done a fairly good job at finding these guys over the last couple years well we've talked two or three minutes about the corners and I have not mentioned Jamarcus Ingram you know how much I love Jamarcus Ingram I will tell you no but seriously I think that is a guy that I would like to see even more of a development from because I do think he has uh tools and traits that can translate and I think Jamarcus Ingram can be a player can play on this team I think he has a shot to make the 53 man roster but you might have to find your Return Man from this group if dayquan Hardy is the guy that they you know identify Matt as their punt returner then that's an extra guy you keep from this group but that would be the reason you make the team but that may be what they have to do here yeah but at the same time it's just so risky because I don't right now he would be your conceivably right your backup nickel because that is his position but I think that's Cam Lewis I don't think that would be so and cam Lewis is making this team so for me it's like is the value that like I don't think you're playing a a player that size on the boundary at corner you're just not doing it so to be your third string nickel cornerback and your primary punt or kick returner you better be a damn good Punt and kick returner because if you're not my question is why maybe this is the KJ hamler conversation or maybe this is the Tai Johnson like there's other guys who can probably do it and if the difference is marginal I just don't think it makes sense to keep three nickel Corners unless you're getting an absolutely electric returner and you're 100% right cam Los is making this team is a very big part of this team he's been around this system he knows it Cole Bishop's at safety and maybe Cole Bishop winds up starting like I said I wouldn't discount it we'll see but Taylor rat Mike Edwards Cole Bishop cam Lewis the one guy dear that really is might be fighting for a spot but Matt he had a really really good spring yeah as far as secondary players are concerned it was KY and Demar Hamlin those were the two guys that just kept on making plays I just had this conversation on vacation because you know when you tell somebody you're from Buffalo immediately the first question is like oh Bills fan oh no cover the team blah blah blah and then they start to asking these questions and like Demar Hamlin got brought up and they're like is DeMar Hamlin good and I'm like well he got asked to do a lot when Micah and Jordan were injured and then obviously last year given the circumstance like he was on the team now I don't think three months ago I would have said Demar Hamlin makes the team but now I'm kind of leaning towards he does and that's before they've even played a snap of training camp football but his his spring was even better than kyir so at a play at a position where there's been a lot of turnover I think they might like the idea of having somebody who is been around who knows the system who knows the scheme and they also know what he can do if they need him to play because he had to play a lot as a rookie yeah and looky I mean there's been a lot of discourse about him from fans because you know we know of what happened in the story but fans thinking he's not good enough to make the team anyway well that's he'll be a borderline guy but I would tell you he's also still in a rookie contract you know they need cheaper players to play they can't pay that's why they we saw The Purge of players he's still on a rookie deal yeah it's the fourth year of a rookie deal so it's a little bit more but he's not making an exorbitant amount of money so you know that plays into his favor in a situation like this before before we let everyone go here and we go let's just quickly touch on the Special Teams because there is a battle for the punter spot that is right now Sam Martin and Jack Browning not Jake Browning not the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals I'm gonna get it wrong so many times Jack Browning and honestly Matt I think Jack Browning has a legitimate shot to be this team's punter I think he does too I think he does too and I think they believe that he can also help them if something happens to bass or potentially as like a directional kickoff guy which is an entirely different conversation because if Tyler bass can't do that and you're paying Tyler bass a lot of money then the question is is that a bad contract this is a big year for Tyler bass but I think that that I do think that there is something there I think that Browning has a better chance than I think I even realized probably up until a couple months ago do do you think there's any chance he has of beating out Tyler bass for the kicker spot no no I don't think so either he's done both he did both in college um he punter and kicker but to me right they paid Tyler bass he's not going anywhere you're going to live with Tyler bass for any good or bad and I do think he can have a bounce back here I still think he's a good kicker he's missed some big kicks we know that and he's he was not that consistent last year but I think he he is still a good kicker and needs to rebound this year I think the spot is very open at punter the other thing he's have to do is you have to show you can hold right I mean obviously we know that that's important they did have Matt hawk in a little while for a little while he's moved on they still have old steady Reed Ferguson at Long Snapper of course and you know um that's good to see as well is there on this team okay Josh Allen is the biggest lock and there's a lot of like just stone-clad locks has Reed Ferguson ever had a like position competition I I know there have been other long Snappers here not really but right like that guy good for him he's built a really nice career off of just you know and I know you you obviously know re and you've done a lot of stuff with him in the long samping but like he's about as high on the list of locks as you can get it's amazing it really is amazing by the way congratulations to his brother Blake who recently got married uh congratulations also to Dawson Knox who got married a couple weeks ago uh in Nashville so now Now's the Time right to get married before they report back for training camp um Blake obviously is a Long Snapper for the Dolphins they're at camp and the bills they start camp on Wednesday when you going up I'm gonna go up Wednesday morning I'm gonna go up really I'm going to probably do what I'm trying to do is I'm try you know I work at a TV station so like visually you want to see somebody on television it's a visual medium more than it is you know an audio medium I'm trying to say hey let's have a bunch of video up and just call me and I'll just come on the morning show at six o'clock in the morning and I'll just do it from my car and just talk and you could just have file video up they might say like no you need to get there earlier which if that's the case then I probably have to leave my house at 4:00 a.m. if not then I can leave probably at like six I could talk to them on the phone while I'm driving and then I can get there at 8 o'clock so I'm leaving sometime between 4 in 6: am on Wednesday are you going up the day before I I I may go up the day before yeah I'm still debating that um I'd rather do that because the morning show they'd like to have me on and I'd like to be on location and get ready and have everything all set and then we move into our dorms after that so um you know either way we're going to be out there for until August 8th back and forth a little bit but that's when training camp ends and then the bills have a preseason game on August 10th at home against the Chicago Bears all right Matt I'm so happy that you got back safe and sound despite the travel nightmare look it as we sit here right now I'm just going to tell you in real time we're tracking this flight coming up from St Pete to nigar Falls it's supposed to land in one hour and 32 minutes and then let's hope the flight from Niger Falls going back is good and my wife and son are on it because that means they're on their Cruise tomorrow in Miami so let's hope that's the case fingers crossed I'm going to give you the opportunity for an elevator pitch to me about why I should choose Syracuse as my team for the college football 25 video game so I just asked on Twitter or excuse me I'm not a Hu we've talked about this I'm not a huge college football person I I follow the draft because it's our job but I don't watch a lot of it in real time I casually will watch games here and there if I'm at a hotel on a Saturday before Bills game or if I'm on my couch or something but I never seek it so I said I bought the video game because I know people are really into it I said my only rules are I need a cool conference and I need cool jerseys well Syracuse checks both of those boxes our friend Carl Jones from wib he played at Syracuse he's like hey play with Syracuse several other people are like hey you should pick Syracuse it checks all your boxes as as a Syracuse guy why should I pick Syracuse because you can run the freeze option with Donovan McNab throwing it to kadre ishmail and uh Marvin Harrison and some great players uh of years past they've had a great tradition but also because here's the biggest reason for me I think this year Syracuse is going to be fun to pay attention to with Fran Brown who's done an amazing job recruiting and they're going to take a nice jump this year and I think it would very much coincide with their Ascension on the field in 2025 so you actually play the game now in Madden 25 all right well or Madge football 25 I'll consider it I'm I'm I'm between like 24 by the way is what I meant to say but yes yeah I'm like between Syracuse is in the conversation a completely random Mac team is in the com I don't want to use UB just because I feel like that's a little weird for me to use UB um so a completely random Mac team and then I'm also very much considering Kansas I just feel like Kansas fun conference like the jerseys same thing trajectory last year looks like they've got some Talent from the out from somebody who knows nothing I'm like oh Kansas might be the team I pick so those are some of the teams I'm cons I feel like I really wish I had like the hats and I can do like a Signing Day pick of which team I'm going to play the video game with and I could just put on a you know like a Syracuse hat or something for Matt I'm s let's have a good time in Camp everybody come see us barill East Rochester Monday July 29th 7 p.m. we're going to be there 11 29 Empire Boulevard here we go training camp is here