Week 1 Practice Notes + Joshua Palmer Conversation! | 'It's Always Gameday in Buffalo'

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1:02On Reddit, true crime doesn't come from journalists. It comes from the victims, the witnesses, and sometimes, the suspects themselves. Every Tuesday on Crimes of Reddit, we read these posts out loud. I'm Sabrina Deanna-Roga, and I'm Alexis Linkletter. One of us brings the story, the other goes in blind, reacting in real time, just like you. New episodes dropped every Tuesday. Listen to and follow Crimes of Reddit, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Bill Smoffyah, we know there's one thing on your mind every day. Your team, the Buffalo Bills. So Matt Bobe and Sal Capaccio are here to bring you the latest news, notes, and opinions straight from the source, right here, right now, because it's always. Game day in Buffalo. Not sure if you can hear it behind us, but it's crowd noise, basically.

2:03Going on a practice just ended, because while you've been used to Matt and I being in a hallway a lot of times over the last few years on a Wednesday, well, because of some changes going on in a new stadium and different places to do things, we're now inside the lobby of the Buffalo Bills Field House. Yes, we are here. Practice is happening right on the other side of that wall. You will not hear or see really anything that is going on. That is intentional. We're at the point in the offseason where we are even not allowed to see what's happening on the other side of that wall, but we can report to you what we did see in the portion of practice that was open. So it feels like that's probably the most notable place to start this Wednesday practice update for you guys. As you get ready for the matchup on Sunday, I think when I walk you did say it's funny. You did say offseason. It is the season now. Yeah, it is the regular season. You're right. Football will be played tonight on Wednesday, which is awesome. When you walked out, I bet there was one person who immediately looked for and I was the exact same way. Number 10, Khalil Shakir. Khalil Shakir, we can report to you was

3:04practicing on Wednesday. That is a very good sign. When we did the podcast with Mark van Damier earlier in the week, I went and looked at the box score. Khalil Shakir led the way for the bills in that game far and away. So it looks like this is a really good sign that they're going to have their number two receiver out there. So that is a really, really promising sign. He was in pads. It looked like he was taking part in the drills. We were allowed to watch. So I'm kind of at this point, even though we haven't seen the official injury update yet or the injury report yet, I'm anticipating he plays by the time everybody listens to this watches this. You might have the injury report, whether he's limited at practice or not, we'll find out when that gets unveiled. Wednesday afternoon. Khalil Shakir's position mate, Joshua Palmer is actually going to join us on this podcast. So we're going to talk a little bit about what we've seen at practice with Joe Brady had to say. And then we're going to present you an interview with Joshua Palmer of the Buffalo Bills, another player who I think this team is expecting some pretty big things from last year, especially considering how injured he was last year, unable to contribute as much as he wanted to.

4:04Yeah, you know, Josh Palmer played in this Texans game and there are going to be so many differences between the Bills and Texans rosters from when they played last year. The Bills offensively in that game, they had Josh Palmer, but he was not. I think he called him Joshua. Joshua, excuse me, they had Joshua Palmer. He was not even close to healthy in that game. They did not have in that game, Keon Coleman. They did not have Dalton, Kincaid. And of course, they did not have DJ Moore. Now it looks like all three of those guys in addition to Khalil Shakir and a healthy Joshua Palmer will be available. So that should give the Bills much more juice. The other thing though is the second most notable injury that I thought we were keeping our eye on on Wednesday was not out there. And that was running back Ty Johnson. We haven't seen him in a while. Right. And I'll tell you why I think that's really important for the roster construction for this week. But we want to thank everybody for watching us downloading, subscribing, thank you. It's always game day in Buffalo. South Capaccio, Matt Bobe, we haven't introduced ourselves to you. Maybe you're watching for the first time because it's football season. You're like, I want to keep up the date with the Buffalo Bills. You could do that on our XVs at salesports at Matt underscore

5:07bobe eight, of course, on YouTube at salesports. Okay. I think the Ty Johnson injury is a massive story for the Bills as far as their roster construction because the way that the Texans attack the Bills last year specifically even the year before giving Josh Allen some outlets like Khalil Shakir, which he's very important as an outlet off the line of scrimmage. Obviously a slot receiver. But man, having a guy like Ty Johnson to throw the ball to out of the backfield and as a third down back pass protector who they trust in a loud environment. If you don't have him, I think that's a that's a lot more tough sledding for the offense. Yeah. For sure. I think that we've spent a good chunk of this summer talking about how the running backs were going to be more involved in the passing game. And you could easily say, okay, that's more opportunities. Maybe more looks that James Cook is going to get more snaps for him to get. They don't trust him as a pass protector quite like they trust Ty Johnson at times. It's kind of burned them like I think back to the AFC championship in Kansas City when a lot of people were like, why was James Cook not on the field at the end of the

6:10game? Because they kept the exact same rotation they always had, which was like James Cook first and second down, Ty Johnson on third down. I think you'd really like to have Ty Johnson available. What I think will happen. Now, once again, we're recording this on Wednesday. If Ty Johnson practices on Thursday, then there's still a course of a chance he could play. I would think that one of their practice squad elevations probably becomes Frank or junior. Agreed. But what is interesting is then the next name on the injury list is Jordan Hancock, who is not out there. Their primary backup nickel corner. And if he's unavailable, then that would make me think maybe it's a Corey Couch elevation happens. Agreed. But then who's returning puns? Because we thought that was going to be Greg Dorch. And then he can't get elevated if you elevate both Couch and Frank or in this situation. So what you might do is not elevate to Corey Couch and just say, let's not risk the Alfred. We can keep him as our nickel. But if something were to happen, maybe Jalen Kilgore gets a jersey. I know

7:12he's not a nickel, but he's a more of a box safety. So yes, I do think that the roster construction matters here because it all stems off Ty Johnson, which I grew with Matt. If Ty Johnson is unavailable, if you have to elevate Frank or that only that leaves you only two more elevations, now you could sign a guy to the 53 and release somebody. You could do that. That person has to pass your waivers, but with only two elevations limited, do you really want to risk D Alfred as a punt returner? Do you want to only have one nickel corner back available? Do you elevate to Corey Couch? This is a really interesting situation for the bills coming up this week. I mean, I've thought all along, Greg Dorch would be the punt returner on Sunday. But with these injuries, I'm not sure that's the case necessarily. The other part of all of this is, is there a world where they only have two running backs active in this game? And those would be James Cook and Ray Davis. The layer off of that is, okay, who returns kicks for the bills? I would imagine if it's Greg Dorch available, it's probably he and Ray Davis. And he would handle both the punt returns and the kick returns. But last year, if you remember, it was often Ray Davis and Ty Johnson.

8:18So I think we'll have more clarity on all of this Thursday that at least with the Sean McDermott teams kind of felt like the big day. If players were out there Thursday, it always felt like a good sign for their availability the following weekend. We're still early, but we also don't know how Joe Brady is going to handle all of this. Like, for example, we did a Joe Brady press conference on Wednesday afternoon. He did not tell us anything about the injuries. We're basing everything we're telling you right now off of what we just saw at practice, not an official injury report. That's not even going to come out until Monday early, excuse me, Wednesday, early evening. He's being very close to the vest with all of these injuries. Yeah. And he said during his pre-practice press conference with us, he said he's learned that teams around the league pay attention to those things to get some clues. I mean, you're going to get clues anyway when we come out to practice, we start telling everybody what's going on. But we will get an official injury report again. For all we know, folks, maybe there's some limited participation going on for some of the guys who are there. Again, we are recording this right now. It's a later practice later in the day because Joe Brady is doing

9:22things different than Sean McDermott. And then we're going to find out for sure when the injury report comes out a few other injuries guys who have been out, but we actually did see them out there today. Jeal and Kilgore mentioned, Javon Solomon and Jude Bowrie. Now, look, maybe neither of them get a jersey on game day, but at least now you're starting to get some guys back and you feel good about that. So the only two that I did not see were Ty Johnson and Jordan Hancock. Obviously, very notable and very important, but at least you're getting Shakir Kilgore Solomon and Bowrie back to start the week. Yeah. And once again, the most notable one was Khalil Shakir. That would have been the one that I think would have given me the most cause for concern if he was not practicing out there today. So for him to be practicing on Wednesday is a good sign. The Jordan Hancock Domino is interesting because we are talking about a depth player, but also a player I thought was going to get on the field often. So we will see how the rest of this week plays out and what the official injury report ultimately says. But last week was kind of like the return of all of the notable people with Keon Coleman, with Conor McGovern, with Tarral Bernard, Tarral Bernard,

10:27C. J. Gardner Johnson. They're all back out there again today, which is very notable. Yeah, you didn't want to see any step set backs or anything. So I think these next couple days it's all eyes on Ty Johnson and Jordan Hancock if we even see them at all. Okay. So let's talk about the first depth chart that was released a little bit earlier this week. D. Alford, the main punth return around the depth chart, but I asked Joe Brady, although it's just a piece of paper, what are you looking for this week? He said a lot of different guys. Several guys are going to be doing it in practice and then they'll go from there. He mentioned D. Alford. He mentioned Ray Davis. He mentioned Khalil Shakir. He mentioned Keon Coleman. The one guy he didn't mention was Greg Dorch. We know he's on the practice squad. And I think it's very, very possible. They have to know who's returning punts right now, right? They're not going to say anything. But I thought it was notable that he's throwing names out there and they don't they don't have somebody set that we know for sure who their punth returner is right now. I think it's Greg Dorch. I think that this is Gamesmanship. I think they are trying to be coy about this and oh, he's on the practice squad. This is a guy who's returned 99 punts in the NFL. D. Alford's return 20 on one year, by the way, 2023. I think D. Alford, if Jordan Hancock was

11:31available, might be a more viable option. But without Jordan Hancock practicing, I think it's insane to put him back there and then not have even like a true backup that could fill him in. I think it would be smarter to put Khalil back there than it even would to be D. Alford right now. So that's why I think D. Alford is like the first emergency brake glass if you need to. I think it would be Greg Dorch. And then after that, I think it might be Keon, honestly. That would be not a huge surprise to me. You know, what's interesting is Greg Dorch also matters for this reason, not just the punt return aspect and the elevation. We can talk about why that would be important and how they have to do this because Khalil is coming off the injury. It does give you a little flexibility of another guy who plays that specific position, the slot. If you elevate Greg Dorch for a term punts, at least maybe you don't have to put as much on Khalil if throughout the game, you say, Hey, let's back off him a little bit. Do you think if Greg Dorch is elevated Skyler Bell is inactive? Do you think there's a really good question? Because now all of a sudden, if you

12:32elevate Greg Dorch, that would be six receivers. You've got to find five guys to be inactive. I don't know how much of a role if any Skyler Bell would have, but I mean, once again, maybe they think way more, I don't even want to say we don't think I think it's pretty clear though. The depth chart comes out and sometimes you're grown because guys get a bump because they're veterans or they've been around longer. I think it's pretty clear here that it's going to be DJ Moore Khalil Shakir, Gap, Joshua Palmer and Keon Coleman and whatever combination it feels like is almost match-up specific Gap Skyler Bell. I think Bill's fans would love to see Skyler Bell play, but if we're talking about 10 snaps and not really special team snaps, right? He doesn't really play special teams. That's the rub here. This isn't, if it's Tyrell Shabers or Trent Sherfield on the 53, you make more of a case. Right, but that's not the case at Skyler Bell. We'll see about that. Did you make anything of Keon Coleman being listed ahead of Joshua Palmer on the depth chart?

13:33I didn't. I still think though, and we're going to talk to Joshua Palmer in a couple minutes here. I still think the team really has big expectations for Keon Coleman. I think that they are banking on another year of internal growth, another year of maturity, another year in the system, even less responsibility than he has previously had. There was a point last year going into the season where we thought Keon might be a 1A or 1B to Khalil Shakir. Now, like very clearly the third or fourth guy here. I didn't think it was shocking because I do think in a God of Heaven situation, it'll probably be DJ Mora Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman, if they're an 11 personnel. I don't think much of it either as far as how they listed it on a piece of paper. Keon Coleman did have the most snaps last year of wide receivers when he was healthy and available, and they had him on the field. He pretty much played more than anybody. I do think he'll be out there

14:34and he'll look, he likes his run blocking as well. Maybe that gives him a nod on the field. When it comes to targets, I couldn't tell you. Maybe Joshua Palmer leads him in targets, has more ball thrown his way. I'm not going to really think much about that. The one though I did think more of. Dorian Williams had a Caleb E. Lambs or in the Dept chart, and I do think that is how they line up. I think it will be Tarrou Bernard at the Mike and Dorian Williams at the will. I think so too, at least early on. I think that maybe eventually we see a change in Tarrou Bernard, even potentially moves over to Will and Caleb E. Lambs or steps into a more prominent role as the Mike. Right now, I think they're going with the more sure handed veteran pieces there because there are so many new pieces on that side of the ball. You know, like linebacker was a position that we spent a lot of time this summer talking about, but now think about too. We have questions about Max Hirston, CJ Gardner Johnson, I see CD. CJ Gardner Johnson and Cole Bishop have only had a handful of days on the field actually together. So Christian Benford's kind of the really only super steady,

15:36I mean, Cole Bishop is too, but I'm talking about as a tandem for him. There are questions really at every level of the defense right now. And that's why I think they go with maybe the guy who's a bit more sure handed, even if the ceiling is not quite as high. You're okay with CD, by the way. He goes by CD. So that's what I go by CD. So you can call me. I like you've heard both exactly. This is a revenge game for him. Yeah. Things didn't end very well last year in Houston with him and he'll be the first to tell you that he has spoken about it, but not as much recently. Also, new number one on the team, Max Hirston. He changes jersey number from 31 to one. We're going to get go ahead one other thing. Did you see on the NFL transaction wire, the bills worked out Cody Ford? I did. Here's what I think swing tackle. I think the bills are not completely sold on their swing tackle spot. But didn't we learn in Cody Ford's time here that he is not a tackle? Mostly a guard. Yeah, but still a guy that you probably at least can work out and having your back pocket for debt purposes as pop as possible. Yes, you're probably right about that. So maybe I'm reading

16:39too much into it, but they don't need any help on the interior really. They have guys. Unless they think he's an upgrade to somebody else, but what I think is just insane is that when I think of Cody Ford, I probably think of the Houston Texans playoff game and the penalty that pushed them probably it was probably already out of field position, but debt field goal position, but it was definitely out of field goal position. And it was kind of a nonsensical call if I remember correct. On the Josh run around. I was like a third and eight. And I think he scrambled and then that pushed them back even further. They punt the ball. And then the Texans go down the field and they win the game. Houston has been as bad of a besides Kansas City in the playoffs. It's been is is unfriendly award. Sure. It's best as as horrendous of a place as the bills have visited. It's going to be a fun game to start off. And as Mark Vandermeier said, rip the bandaid off week one between these two teams. All right, we got Josh Palmer coming away before that. Josh, I did it. See,

17:41I did it. I know. We say that folks because we learned throughout interview with him. Joshua. It is not Josh. He's like, I don't know where that came from. I know people who name Joshua, people call them Josh, not him. He's Joshua. So there we go. We we want to make sure we say it properly. Two things real quick before I let you go. Number one, how about Jessica Pagula? Semifinals of the US Open against Semmelanka coming up on Thursday. I mean, three straight years into the semifinals last year. She made the final. It's unbelievable. She is. I really love her to get just like the bills went into championship. I love her to win that grand slam. Yeah. So I watched the match on Tuesday night. It was a really impressive comeback after dropping the first set. What was your second thing? Because there's one thing that I want to say too. I never asked you on the last podcast. I had to get your thoughts. Did you watch Western Michigan Michigan and what were your thoughts on what happened? Nonsense, man. Nonsense. Yes, I watched it. And I have no real rooting interest other than I, well, I do. I want to see the underdog win and I want to see the Mac school win. And I just feel like we saw the clock. Yeah. Looking at the clock.

18:47And now the Mac is finally pushing back, which is great. So I hope that this creates chaos. And I just that was the other thing. I just wanted to know because I totally forgot to ask you the other day. The thing that I wanted to say is did you see the news that the team announced on Wednesday about the anthems? Oh, yes, yes, the Canadian Anthem. So we've hinted at that several times in the podcast. It's actually something Pete Gwelley brought up to us when we did our sit down with him back at training camp. It's the bear naked ladies. I mean, that's a very well-known Canadian performing group band. So I think that'll be really, really cool. And I also think it makes a ton of sense for them to do it. It's long overdue. I don't think it needs to be announced. The whole season or just this game announced for the first game. And I once again, you could see how it goes. You could see how it all plays out. But I think that's cool because I know how much of a following this team has from Southern Ontario and how many people travel because you could say the Sabers only do this at Keybank Center because there's all these Canadian players. That's

19:50nonsense. They do it because the arena is a couple miles from Canada and so many thousands of people inside that building are from Canada. It's even more people are in that stadium every week. Now the percentage is lower for sure because there's so many more people who fit in high-marked stadium. But there are thousands of people who have seasoned technicians in Southern Ontario. So give them some love and give them a little bit of hospitality here. I was actually interviewed by the magazine The Atlantic this morning about the bills, the young lady doing the story. Her name is Caitlin. And she called me and she said, I'm doing a story on the bills of the 90s versus the bills today. The culture in Buffalo. Maybe the comparisons between the two errors. Anyway, she asked me this very question about the Canadian anthem and I explained to her they've been doing at Sabers Games since 1970 since the inception of the team and why it is. So maybe that'll come out in the article The Atlantic. In the meantime, we got Joshua Palmer. Canadian. What a good transition. Thank you. He's Matt Boevey. I'm Sal Kappachi. Enjoy Joshua Palmer. We'll talk to you next time. It's

20:53always game day in Buffalo. Drink up, baby. Fantasy football happy hour is here to get you wins and have some laughs. Matthew Berry here and my podcast, Fantasy Football Happy Hour, has the sleepers bust and start sit advice you need to win your league. We're diving into the tape, we're crunching the numbers to bring you sleepers bust weekly start sit advice, whether you're defending a title or desperately avoiding last place, I've got you covered every single weekday. The bar is open. It's fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Berry wherever you get your podcasts. Heading back to campus, time to upgrade your entire tech setup. Switch to Verizon, buy or bring a qualifying smartphone and get a smart watch and a tablet on us. That's all your essential gear for zero extra dollars. Ace your classes, track your fitness and stream your favorite shows. Visit Verizon.com or your local store today. Bring an eligible phone to purchase a new phone with device payment on post-paid service plan required up to $649.99 watch and tablet device payment purchase with new line on $20 per month tab of plan and $15 per month watch plan for 36 months required. Lest up the $650 promo credit applied over 36 months per device additional taxes fees

21:55in terms of apply. If you're the type of person who wants data, not assumptions. Pre-new Vogue's whole body scan gives you a deep understanding of your health. Screen for over 500 conditions including many cancers, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and more. Add blood panels to test over 80 biomarkers and you've got information about your body you may never have had before. Book your scan at pre-newvo.com. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O.com. Are you looking for a football podcast that doesn't put you to sleep with a fog of analytics or insult your fandom with phony hot takes? I'm Dan Hanses. And I'm Mark Cessler. And we're the host of Heed the Call. The NFL podcast you've been waiting for. Heed the call covers the entire NFL, not just the same five or six teams you're sick of, delivering news, weekly power rankings plus previews and recaps of every matchup. Yes, we cover your team and we do it with a touch of birth because football is fun. Why shouldn't your football podcast be the same? Follow and listen to Heed the Call NFL podcast wherever you get your podcasts. All right, greetings everyone.

23:00Joins now by Buffalo Bill's wide receiver Joshua Palmer who had to get up and walk away because he was getting swarmed by bees a second ago. So we want him to stay safe as possible, especially as he gets ready for the season. Joshua, we were talking quickly before this started and you were talking about how healthy you feel. I mean, can you walk us through what last season was like and how different it is right now for you? Yeah, it was it was hard. You know, you started out very strong with the Ravens game. I felt like I was right where I needed to be, you know, to be put in a position to be relied on so early as your like your first game with the new team and they're throwing you the ball to win the game and in the fourth quarter, you know, it's it was it was special. You know, and then I said, unfortunately, I got hurt against Atlanta with the hip drop tackle, which, you know, it was the hardest one of the probably the hardest injury I've ever had to deal with in my playing career. So just to now be able to run freely, you know, I just feel like a wild horse.

24:05Yeah, you I would say I've said this on the podcast with Matt. I think you had an excellent camp from my observation. I mean, you seem like you were coming in out of breaks really well, contested catches to go from where you were to now. What was that rehab like for you? What was the offseason like for you to get back to where you feel like you are healthy again? It was extensive. You know, I did a lot every day. You know, even even when I was traveling, I was rehabbing. You know, I was free rehabbing in different places. So there wasn't a day where I didn't think about we got to get this ankle right. We got to get this knee right. We got to get this hip right. You know, there wasn't a day where I didn't think about that. Even now, I still do a lot of stuff just to strengthen it. But yeah, I would say it was extensive. So for you, Joshua, this is actually something you had talked about. I think it was during either mandatory mini camp or it was in training camp. And you were talking about the struggle that you would face because you were injured and you were banged up, but you also still wanted to be available for your team because

25:07your team need you. But then at the same time, not being able to perform to the level that you know you're capable of performing, should you have played football last year, like looking back on it, do you think it did more harm than good and like how mentally challenging was all of that? I definitely don't think it helped. I don't think it helped. I know the injuries that I sustained continuing to play football didn't help it at all if anything I just got worse. But as a competitor, I guess I was raised how I played growing up with a lot of my friends that are now playing professionally. If we could go, we went. And sometimes your body may not be able to perform like your mind might be able to. And unless you can't walk, you were going to go out there

26:14and you were going to play and you were going to perform because it made you tougher, you know, it made you stronger mentally knowing that I can, like the confidence it gives you when you're still able to get open or when you're still able to run fast and you're on one leg, you know, it gives you a different amount of confidence because you think, then if I could do this on one leg, just wait till I have two, you know. That's what that does. But I think playing last year, during those injuries, I think it definitely did more harm, but did it make me stronger mentally? I think so. And now obviously you are healthy and you're ready to start another season. The bills take on the Houston Texans week one. You have a couple additions to the wide receiver room, DJ Moore and Skyler Bell. From your perspective as a teammate, you get a veteran and DJ Moore that comes in, you get a rookie and Skyler Bell. What have you seen from your two new teammates this offseason, this camp of preseason? They're doing very well. You know, DJ started off very strong,

27:15making a lot of plays in camp, which I'm pretty sure everyone saw. Skyler was hurt for a portion of the camp, and was sideline to him, but you know, he did well in the game. The preseason game replayed the entire thing. So I think he's growing, he's learning. You know, he watches, he applies. DJ is just that vet in the room that, you know, keeps everybody, keeps everybody on the toes, because you know, Vets, Vets are not scared to say anything, you know. So, but we have a good relationship DJ and Skyler is learning to come along. What does DJ do for you? Right? Like, I understand what DJ does for the offense, but what does his addition do for you and for the other wide receivers? I've talked to Khalil about this a little bit, and you know, he's had some really interesting insight of like how it could potentially open things up or how it could give you guys more favorable matchups. You know, it does feel like it really benefits everybody, but what does it do for you specifically? You know, I think Khalil's right, and what he's

28:19saying, I think from, I think it, it, I think it will breed a competitive spirit in the room. You know, I feel like, you know, when you, like I was talking to somebody today, you know, I went to St. Thomas Aquinas high school, and when you're there with the guys that can play, it forces you to be like, okay, I need to be on my game, you know, because I don't want to stand out for the wrong reasons. So you, you start to, you start to have a healthy relationship with competing against your teammates, and it brings the best out of you. I think from a mental, from a mental standpoint, you know, having him in the room definitely elevates a lot of guys games. You know, it's been elevating my game. You know, you, you learn a lot, you see what they're good at. You're like, okay, maybe I should, uh, maybe I should try that move or apply that, um, but it's, it's good to be able to, to compete with. And you know, at times,

29:23it's like almost against, you know, but it's not, it's not against as, oh, I got to do better than him for this reason. It's not, it's not that. It's like, uh, he's, he's forcing me to be better, you know, when I was playing with Keenan and Mike, you know, Keenan would tell me like, Keenan would, would tell me that I pushed him to, to be, to be on his game every day, you know, even with Mike Williams and all these guys. So I think just having, having really, really talented guys in the room just elevates your game. Speaking of my language, by the way, I know all about St. Thomas Aquinas and living in Florida myself for 16 years. Holy cow, Matt, I mean, this is a high school that produced, has produced many, many great NFL players, Michael Irvin, Joey Boça, Nick Boça, Gino Atkins, crazy. I mean, you're right. Sante Samuel, Nick, Nick Benito, Nick Benito. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. At one high school. I mean, what, what, when you were growing up and you were going in playing football at a high school like that, what was it like every day kind of going out there and competing with these guys and against these guys and going through a season like that?

30:26It was hard. It wasn't easy. There wasn't, there wasn't like, there wasn't one rep we could just relax. Yeah. And you know, I put my heart into what I do. I put my heart into my routes. I put my heart into the game. If I could run, I'm a run, I'm a run hard. So when you're at St. Thomas Aquinas and you're going with those guys, you see the struggles that they experience off the field. You see why they're doing what they do. So it's a different kind of hunger that you have to, that you have to compete with and you're down there. You have to dig deep within yourself and ask yourself why you're doing this. What do you want it? What are you doing this for? What's motivating you every day because everybody else has their own motivations. But yeah, it's like when you, I think it helped a lot, especially when going to college, get into the league. You know, it's, you're used to having to compete. And that's, that's just what I, what I'm used to and, you know, I'm a goal. If I'm a goal, I'm going to go hard every single time.

31:28What was your and understanding there were so many different hurdles that came up along the way? What was your first season with Josh Allen? Like, and what does he do that maybe people don't appreciate enough? Like, I understand this is the number two player on the NFL Top 100. This is a guy who is one in MVP. I think everybody understands how good Josh Allen is. But is there anything that people don't understand that makes him that good? New shoes, new clothes, brand new grade, switched a Verizon to make sure their tech keeps up. This back to school season buy or bring any Android phone and get a Samsung Galaxy tablet on us. Get your kids ready for the school year without breaking the bank. Visit Verizon.com or your local store today. Bring an Android phone or purchase a new phone with device payment on post-paid service plan required. 329.99 tablet device payment purchase with new mine on $20 per month tablet plan for 36 months required. Less $330 tablet promo credit applied over 36 months additional taxes fees in terms of apply. If you're the type of person who wants data, not assumptions. Pre-newvo's whole body scan gives you a deep understanding of

32:30your health. Screen for over 500 conditions including many cancers, autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and more. Add blood panels to test over 80 biomarkers. And you've got information about your body you may never have had before. Book your scan at pre-newvo.com. Life can feel overwhelming but you don't have to go through it alone. On my podcast, From the Heart with Rachel Brayton, I share openly and vonderably about everything life brings us and what we can learn by living with our hearts a little bit more open. Every Friday a new episode brings you a new story with topics on self-care, motherhood, healing and more. You are enough just the way you are. This podcast is a reminder of that. Follow him and listen to From the Heart with Rachel Brayton wherever you get your podcasts. He plays the game like it's high school football, like it's literally yeah he's professional quarterback and NFL the best in the game.

33:35But he plays it like he's just out with his boys having fun. You know, and I think it takes a lot of stress off of guys. You know, when they see the the guy who is still typically supposed to be the one that stuck up and all in a ball and has to get everybody on track and you do that, you do that, you do this as you know, as a quarterback. He's not. He plays very free. He laughs. He jokes quite the opposite of me. Quite the opposite. I'm more quiet. I'm more reserved. I'm more just just analyzing. You know, some people might mistake it as me either being distant or not having fun or not enjoying the moment. But you know, it's not it's none of those things. I just I feel like when I'm when I'm doing something that I'm very, very passionate about, I give it all of my attention and I get quiet to give it the respect that it deserves. And that's just how that's just what I do. So the

34:41moment I walk into work, I'm usually just quiet. Just trying to get right, you know, and be ready to put everything into it. Everyone has their own things. But for Josh, that's I think that's what helps him and also helps his team. Yeah, it takes all all different kinds of personalities in the locker, especially football locker room with, you know, 53 70 people, whatever it is. What about your head coach now who was the offensive coordinator? Joe Brady, what about the transition and the change for him? Anything that's different about him, how he goes about his business every day with you guys and his transition from offensive court to head coach, what have you seen? He needs to learn how to coach defense. I think I think that's I think that's the only I think that's the only thing that I've seen different, you know, I think his approach to the to to to work is the same. His approach to the offense is the same. His approach to his players is the same. It's just not he needs to learn defensive calls. Joshua, this is the last question for me. It's a question that I've asked a lot of your peers. It's a question I've asked a lot of your teammates. So it's not like super unique and you've

35:45probably been asked it in passing in some capacity. But who is a player that isn't talked about enough that you think could take a big step this upcoming season? And that can be any side of the ball. I don't care if it's offense defense. Who is somebody that like the world doesn't know how good they are yet? That's a load of question. I mean, a lot of guys will give you an answer to someone said, Shaq Thompson said Jackson Haas. Yeah. And that was a bit surprising because admittedly, I kind of thought he would stick with somebody on defense. But I also remember, you know, I asked that question to David Edwards and to Conor McGovern last year. And they like immediately got to Deon Walker. They were like, I don't know, this is the fourth round of pick. This guy is really, really good. In over the years, it's been, you know, a lot of different answers and a lot of it. But sometimes it surprises me. Like when Shaq Thompson said Jackson Haas, I was like, wow, that's like the little random. So that's why I like to ask it to people. You know, the person that comes to my mind right now

36:49is probably Cole. Yeah. Yeah. Cole Bishop. Yeah. You know, he's one of those guys were here. So I think about it. What Deon is definitely like that is probably that's they're not wrong for Deon. You know, but you know, Cole's one of those guys were when you're lined up and you got a block duo and you see him, you're like, oh snap. You know, he's one of those guys who's going to, he's going to hit you. He's been to let you know that he's that he's there with his physicality. He's fast. He's he's quick. He's smart. He can play it a ball in the air. So I think Cole Bishop is is a sleeper. We can't let you go without asking about this weekend's game. The Houston Texans, obviously, it's been a struggle for the bills the last couple of years down there. I know you weren't on the team a couple of years ago, but last year, you know, obviously Josh got sacked several times. It came down to the very end. You guys weren't on the result that you wanted to at the end of the game. What makes their defense so special and just talk about maybe the challenge ahead on Sunday

37:51against this Texans team? They're the very fast. They play fast. You know, they send everybody. They send everybody a lot all the time. They have a time to group inside and out. But you know, honestly, I'm not even thinking about the Texans to be honest. I think I think as a competitor, you, yeah, you study your opponent, but I think sometimes people can get too caught up in their opponent and they lose themselves in the process. I'm more focused on what I need to do. How I need to go out there and do what I know how to do, what I need to do to help my team, what this offense needs to do to win the game, to make it easier on the defense. I think it's all about all about the bills, you know, yeah, you of course, you respect your your, your opponents and your competitors, but I think I like to put more focus on what I have to do.

38:53I think I think as a team, we put more focus on what we have to do and let them stop us, you know, let them stop our best. How do you get ready? What's on the playlist? How do you get ready? How do you get in that mindset? What's on the pre-game playlist for Joshua Palmer? pre-game playlist, honestly, a lot of Michael Jackson. Oh, yeah. I love that. I have a walkman that I got during training camp. It's been my best friend. I bring it almost everywhere. You know, it gets you away from your phone, able to enjoy the music, teaches you patience, you can't just skip, skip, skip, search for what you want. You used to gotta listen to what you had and work with it. So I've just been buying a lot of Michael Jackson CDs. The current one that's in there right now is bad. I was just gonna ask you like off the wall, bad. I mean, listen, I am mad now. We went this long without knowing this because I'm a big Michael Jackson fan. I know Matt likes Michael Jackson. I went to see MJ the musical last year in Manhattan. Joshua was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Hey, one other thing for me, Joshua, I've seen you been posting about

39:56Dreamtapes. What is Dreamtapes? Oh, yeah. Dreamtapes. So Dreamtapes is how do I explain this simple terms? We make music. You know, it's my boy and I. We partnered up. He's a very, very talented producer, DJ. He can do it all. And me being a fan and a lover of music and the creation of it, you know, I think I have a good ear. And we're gonna find out if I have one or not, but we partnered together and we want to make music. We want to play and perform around the world. You know, what we want to really do is we want to introduce people to each other through music. If that makes sense, where we're playing music from different, we're intertwining music from different cultures. So people become more familiar with other people around the world. So maybe when someone sees somebody else from a different culture, they've been hearing what they sound like for such a long time through music that, you know, it makes it, it's a lot easier of

40:57a introduction. Just to, you know, keep people's minds open, broaden people's minds and repalates. So that's just like our little project right now. All right. So Joshua Palmer joined us. We talked about Dreamtap. We talked to he's a musician. He's a football player and he also has a walkman, which is definitely the most interesting part of the entire day. Joshua, thank you so much for doing this today. We really appreciate it. I thank you so much guys. All right. That's Joshua Palmer. You can see him on the field Sunday against the Houston Texans. Thanks, Joshua. Thank you. Heading back to campus, timed web grades your entire text setup. Switch to Verizon, buy or bring a qualifying smartphone and get a smartwatch and a tablet on us. That's all your essential gear for zero extra dollars. Ace your classes, track your fitness and stream your favorite shows. Visit Verizon.com or your local store today. Bring an eligible phone or purchase a new phone with device payment on post-paid service plan required up to $649.99 watch and tablet device payment purchase with new line on $20 per month tablet plan and $50 per month watch plan for 36 months required. Less up to

41:57$650 per month credit applied over 36 months per device additional taxes fees in terms of apply. What you're listening to presumably doesn't suck. So neither should your sound system. Sonos lets you listen seamlessly from room to room. Same great sound, expertly tuned, astonishingly clear. It's not magic, but it's not not magic.