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Buffalo Bills Pressers: Joe Brady & Jim Leonhard Address Defensive Struggles | The Morning Charge · The Morning Charge

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Mafia. It's Wednesday, October 14th. This is the
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  Speaker 1: Morning Charge, your daily 10-minute or less Buffalo Bills news hit.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Aaron Quinn, here with Colin Ritchie, bringing you everything
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  Speaker 1: you need to know before you start your day. Let's
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  Speaker 1: get right into it. Let's touch base on a quick
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  Speaker 1: Tuesday roster update coming out of One Bills Drive. Mike
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  Speaker 1: Dana's absence on the active roster did not last long.
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  Speaker 1: Buffalo officially signed the outside linebacker back to the 53-man roster,
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  Speaker 1: while releasing cornerback Anthony Kendall in the corresponding move. The
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  Speaker 1: Bills are anticipating getting Kendall back on the practice squad
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  Speaker 1: as they go into the Raiders week. Joe Brady met
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  Speaker 1: with the media Tuesday afternoon via Zoom, and here are
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  Speaker 1: some of the key takeaways and topics to come out
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  Speaker 1: of the press conference. On Dalton Kincaid's quiet stretch, Brady
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  Speaker 1: called it a combination of things. Some design elements and
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  Speaker 1: play calls just didn't get dialed up, and a few
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  Speaker 1: times Josh probably wishes that he went towards Kincaid in
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  Speaker 1: some of the reads and progressions. But Brady ultimately took
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  Speaker 1: the blame, saying flat out that Kincaid is too dynamic
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  Speaker 1: to not find ways to get him going earlier in games.
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  Speaker 1: On clock management and end-of-game decisions, Brady reiterated his post-game
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  Speaker 1: stance that prioritizing getting the touchdown and taking the lead
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  Speaker 1: always comes first, regardless of situational variables. But looking back
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  Speaker 1: at the overtime scenario before the game-winning kick, he admitted
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  Speaker 1: to having some what-ifs, specifically the different type of variables
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  Speaker 1: that would come into play as to whether or not
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  Speaker 1: to kneel down, run more clock, or just go with
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  Speaker 1: the game-winner, as they did. When asked about James Cook's
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  Speaker 1: ball security, Brady didn't mince words, noting that when you
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  Speaker 1: have the two best players turning the ball over, it's unacceptable.
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  Speaker 1: While he emphasized his full confidence in Cook, he'll keep
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  Speaker 1: feeding him.
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  Speaker 2: Making it clear that.
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  Speaker 1: Ball security has to improve or carries could start to
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  Speaker 1: go down. On defensive communication problems and Cole Bishop's ascension,
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  Speaker 1: when asked about the communication breakdowns on the back end,
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  Speaker 1: Brady put the accountability squarely on himself as the leader
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  Speaker 1: of the organization. Regarding Cole Bishop's development and whether or
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  Speaker 1: not he's ascending, Brady pointed back to mastering communication, learning
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  Speaker 1: the scheme, and finding his exact fit within this defense.
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  Speaker 1: Staying on the defense, he was asked about the frustration
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  Speaker 1: that fans have with the defense and how many points
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  Speaker 1: they're giving up. Addressing concerns over the points being allowed,
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  Speaker 1: Brady focused heavily on the positives he's seen on tape,
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  Speaker 1: stressing full trust in the coaching staff and scheme, and
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  Speaker 1: players to execute their assignments within it. Brady was later
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  Speaker 1: asked about Trace McSorley and his position on the coaching staff.
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  Speaker 1: Brady raved about him as a person and a coach,
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  Speaker 1: highlighting his unique opportunity to bring a former quarterback's perspective
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  Speaker 1: into the wide receiver room. On staying out west for
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  Speaker 1: the Raiders week, Brady explained that his decision to stay
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  Speaker 1: in California rather than flying back and forth on a
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  Speaker 1: short week came down entirely to player recovery and team bonding,
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  Speaker 1: minimizing brutal travel days between heading to Vegas to hit
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  Speaker 1: the bye week.
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  Speaker 2: Defensive coordinator Jim Leonard spoke to the media yesterday, and
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  Speaker 2: his first question asked was about the lack of success defensively.
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  Speaker 2: He started his answer by candidly stating, It's time to
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  Speaker 2: be good at something. That's our struggle. Right now, it's
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  Speaker 2: too inconsistent to pretend that we're building and working and
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  Speaker 2: making improvements. Everything's being evaluated right now, he said, starting
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  Speaker 2: with every decision I'm making. And we've got to put
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  Speaker 2: them in better positions to have success. Guys have to
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  Speaker 2: make plays when given opportunities. Right now, we're living in
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  Speaker 2: some bad company as far as the success of what
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  Speaker 2: we're doing. When asked about the decision to start Davis
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  Speaker 2: and Igbenoson over Maxwell Hairston, Leonard explained that they thought
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  Speaker 2: by the end of the week that IGB had done
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  Speaker 2: a great job in practice and that it wasn't necessarily
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  Speaker 2: the intent to limit Hairston's snaps as much as they did.
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  Speaker 2: Leonard emphasized the philosophy of keeping everything in front of
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  Speaker 2: the defense and limiting big plays, which he mentioned when
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  Speaker 2: explaining why the defense seemed to be in so much
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  Speaker 2: off coverage, especially early in the game. The defensive coordinator
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  Speaker 2: is confident that the team can get back on track.
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  Speaker 2: I always believe that sometimes guys press when things aren't
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  Speaker 2: going well. I have that tendency. You want to do more.
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  Speaker 2: You want to do extra. Sometimes it's just relax. It's
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  Speaker 2: you have to take a step back and simplify. Slow
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  Speaker 2: it down. Looking ahead to next week's matchup, Leonard has
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  Speaker 2: familiarity with game planning against the Raiders thanks to his
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  Speaker 2: time in Denver. He mentioned tight end Brock Bowers saying
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  Speaker 2: he's one of the premier players in the NFL. and
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  Speaker 2: it'll be a challenge for the defense on Sunday. He said,
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  Speaker 2: it all has to start through him as far as
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  Speaker 2: how we try to stop this offense. It's going to
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  Speaker 2: be a big test. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael also spoke
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  Speaker 2: to the media yesterday and was asked about backup tackle
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  Speaker 2: Tylan Grable stepping up when Spencer Brown was injured. He
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  Speaker 2: said there was no hesitation to send him onto the
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  Speaker 2: field and that he stepped up and played really well.
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  Speaker 2: He mentioned that when you don't really notice guys up front,
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  Speaker 2: that's typically a good thing, and that was the case
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  Speaker 2: for Grable last night. Stats of the day. According to
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  Speaker 2: Shiel Kapadia, the Bills have the best offense in terms
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  Speaker 2: of EPA per drive. They also create explosive plays at
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  Speaker 2: the highest rate in the NFL. The difference between them
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  Speaker 2: and the number two team, which is Baltimore, is the
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  Speaker 2: same as the difference between the Ravens and the number
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  Speaker 2: 13 team, which is the Seahawks. According to Adam Pencil,
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  Speaker 2: the Bills now have the third worst defense in the league,
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  Speaker 2: giving up. 141 EPA per play above league average, which
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  Speaker 2: is an additional 8.46 expected points over 60 plays. Since 1999,
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  Speaker 2: not a single team with a defense with numbers that
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  Speaker 2: bad went 4-1 in their first five games. Now the
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  Speaker 2: Bills have in 2026. Buffalo currently ranks 6th in special
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  Speaker 2: teams total EPA at plus 19.2. The Rams are currently
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  Speaker 2: dead last at minus 28. Around the NFL. I mentioned
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  Speaker 2: it in yesterday's episode, and it came true. Rams left
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  Speaker 2: tackle Alaric Jackson has officially been suspended two games for
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  Speaker 2: punching Bradley Chubb in the face during postgame handshakes on
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  Speaker 2: the field at SoFi Stadium. Jackson can appeal the suspension.
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  Speaker 2: More news from the Rams as Ian Rappaport reported LA
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  Speaker 2: is releasing kicker Harrison Mevis after he missed a 50-yard
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  Speaker 2: field goal and had what would have been the OT
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  Speaker 2: winner blocked against the Bills. Let's take a look at
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  Speaker 2: the AFC standings now after five weeks. The Chiefs remain
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  Speaker 2: the only undefeated team in the conference, but had an
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  Speaker 2: early week five by, so they currently sit at just 4-0.
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  Speaker 2: The Bills are one of three teams sitting at 4-1.
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  Speaker 2: One of those one-loss teams is the Ravens, coming off
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  Speaker 2: a 30-23 win over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football,
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  Speaker 2: and that was without Lamar Jackson. Tyler Huntley was starting
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  Speaker 2: that game. The Jaguars picked up their fourth win of
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  Speaker 2: the season in London on a walk-off 57-yard field goal
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  Speaker 2: to defeat the Eagles 19-17. A traffic jam of teams
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  Speaker 2: sits in the middle of the standings at 3-2. including
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  Speaker 2: the Patriots, Broncos, Raiders, Browns, Steelers, and Bengals. The Houston
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  Speaker 2: Texans also picked up their first win of the year
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  Speaker 2: by defeating the still-winless Titans 26-3. Looking at the rest
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  Speaker 2: of the AFC East teams, the Jets picked up their
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  Speaker 2: second win of the season by defeating the Browns in
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  Speaker 2: an ugly 17-12 win, while the Dolphins fell to 0-5
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  Speaker 2: with their 31-24 loss to the Bengals.
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  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us today on The
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  Speaker 1: Morning Charge. Do us a quick favor, hit that subscribe button,
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  Speaker 1: I'm Aaron Quinn. Go Bills!