Comment by Josh after practice yesterday (9/1) about the playbook…

[eball]

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

[machine gun kelly]

14 minutes ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

It could be something interesting E-Man.  Good catch partner.  I didn’t hear the interview so will take your word for it.

[Alphadawg7]

I don't think it was the direct shot at McD some will make it out to be.  The reality is when you are an OC you are deploying your offense, but in conjunction with the overall vision of the team with the HC.  When you are the HC, you can tinker and adjust and do things however you want.  Then you have the added layer of personnel changes, continuity, etc.  

Brady is now the HC of an offense he was in control of for 2 1/2 years, and has a ton of continuity on it along with infusions of talent.  Every year the OC adjusts, changes, and adds new wrinkles into the offense based on many factors including personnel adjustments, time in the system, etc.  

So I do expect Brady to bring a new look and energy as HC to the offense especailly with the slate of weapons and talent around Josh right now.  I think its more about its entirely his vision now and the personnel upgrades than it was McD "holding" the offense back like people often try and make a case for.  I mean the Bills are the highest scoring offense in the NFL during the McD and Allen era since 2020, its not like we were conservative.  

I think the area of the team that McD held us back the most on was the soft playoff defense that was historically bad in our playoff exits.  

Edited September 2 by Alphadawg7

[Conlan58]

It could be something just as plain and simple as they only practiced mostly vanilla offenses as they prepared for the preseason games, and Josh is referring to getting into the regular season stuff being exciting. 

 

But if he is insinuating that Brady has been held in check by McDermott over the past few years... that is some exciting stuff and I can't wait to see how it plays out in real time.

[H2o]

3 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I don't think it was the direct shot at McD some will make it out to be.  The reality is when you are an OC you are deploying your offense, but in conjunction with the overall vision of the team with the HC.  When you are the HC, you can tinker and adjust and do things however you want.  Then you have the added layer of personnel changes, continuity, etc.  

I think this is the biggest part of what led to Josh's comments. Do I think things were limited by McDermott on offense? Yes, but I don't think it was the same type of friction that we saw between McDermott and Daboll.

[Gregg]

New OC Pete Carmichael is adding to this offense as well. Brady said he will call the plays, and I am sure the offense will run a lot of the same plays. They have been successful doing that and Allen likes the offense. But Carmichael is adding to it as well.

[eball]

18 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I don't think it was the direct shot at McD some will make it out to be.  The reality is when you are an OC you are deploying your offense, but in conjunction with the overall vision of the team with the HC.  When you are the HC, you can tinker and adjust and do things however you want.  Then you have the added layer of personnel changes, continuity, etc.  

Brady is now the HC of an offense he was in control of for 2 1/2 years, and has a ton of continuity on it along with infusions of talent.  Every year the OC adjusts, changes, and adds new wrinkles into the offense based on many factors including personnel adjustments, time in the system, etc.  

So I do expect Brady to bring a new look and energy as HC to the offense especailly with the slate of weapons and talent around Josh right now.  I think its more about its entirely his vision now and the personnel upgrades than it was McD "holding" the offense back like people often try and make a case for.  I mean the Bills are the highest scoring offense in the NFL during the McD and Allen era since 2020, its not like we were conservative.  

I think the area of the team that McD held us back the most on was the soft playoff defense that was historically bad in our playoff exits.  

 

There’s a school of thought — unverified, as far as I know — that McD wanted the offense to be “methodical” and use clock to slow down the game, limit possessions, and protect the defense. Many of us believe that the strategy that makes the most sense when you have Josh Allen at QB is to try and get him the ball as many times as possible.

 

Anyway, I absolutely do NOT believe Josh’s comment was any sort of “shot” at McD, but it did directly suggest that the “gloves are coming off” now.

 

[atlbillsfan1975]

No fullback can also be taken as a sign this offense is going to be different. It sounds like the entire vibe of the team is more loose and aggressive. 

[Captain_Quint]

[GaryPinC]

33 minutes ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

Thanks for mentioning it, small details can provide great insight.  I'm personally convinced McDermott mandated a certain amount/percent of runs per game but unsure that he really limited Brady's overall playbook.

I tend to think it's more due to the personnel on hand this year. 

[Kirby Jackson]

31 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I don't think it was the direct shot at McD some will make it out to be.  The reality is when you are an OC you are deploying your offense, but in conjunction with the overall vision of the team with the HC.  When you are the HC, you can tinker and adjust and do things however you want.  Then you have the added layer of personnel changes, continuity, etc.  

Brady is now the HC of an offense he was in control of for 2 1/2 years, and has a ton of continuity on it along with infusions of talent.  Every year the OC adjusts, changes, and adds new wrinkles into the offense based on many factors including personnel adjustments, time in the system, etc.  

So I do expect Brady to bring a new look and energy as HC to the offense especailly with the slate of weapons and talent around Josh right now.  I think its more about its entirely his vision now and the personnel upgrades than it was McD "holding" the offense back like people often try and make a case for.  I mean the Bills are the highest scoring offense in the NFL during the McD and Allen era since 2020, its not like we were conservative.  

I think the area of the team that McD held us back the most on was the soft playoff defense that was historically bad in our playoff exits.  

I think you nailed it. The answer is a little bit of “all of it” but the playbook opening is more about the talent. I do believe that Brady and McDermott have a different philosophy but the Bills weren’t avoiding certain throws because of philosophy. They were avoiding them because they didn’t have the talent to get open in those areas. With a healthy Palmer, adding Skyler Bell, and most importantly, adding DJ Moore, those plays are now available to them.

[juno999]

25 minutes ago, Conlan58 said:

It could be something just as plain and simple as they only practiced mostly vanilla offenses as they prepared for the preseason games, and Josh is referring to getting into the regular season stuff being exciting. 

 

But if he is insinuating that Brady has been held in check by McDermott over the past few years... that is some exciting stuff and I can't wait to see how it plays out in real time.

Brady and McD have coached different sides of the ball. I believe Brady will release the hounds but in a smart way. He has a mature QB and they have added Moore and Bell to the mix. 
 

I believe they’re going to try to score early and often. Then have a young, aggressive defense put all kinds of pressure on the opposing QB. I believe Kyle Allen is going to play a fair amount in the 4th quarter with Josh Allen wearing a ball cap. 

[Drew21PA]

I think we all suspected that it was becuase what happened in 2021 with Brian daboll voicing his displeasure with McDermott and ultimately leaving - yes he got a head coach gig but there were signs 

 

I think crucial situations McDermott would chime in and say “no do x play or this is what I want!”

 

Houston game last year makes me feel that 4th and 1 where Josh came off the field saying “what are we doing?!?!?” That it was McDermott over ruling and making a head scratching decision 

 

I can at least hope those decisions - plus 3 straight pass plays which lead to a punt and no time drained - in that same game deep in our territory 

 

BUT I am hopeful again it was McDermott and not actually Brady that made those stupid decisions 

 

I’m seriously feeling Brady makes better in game decisions than McDermott and they will be better than last year - just a handful to a dozen throughout the season 

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

 

Are you sure that was a comment based on that and not simply a statement of adding more plays and having Moore integrated into that more as the preseason has gone on?

[eball]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

 

Are you sure that was a comment based on that and not simply a statement of adding more plays and having Moore integrated into that more as the preseason has gone on?

Im not sure how many ways “open the playbook up” can be interpreted other than to say it’s more than what was used previously. 
 

[Puckman5]

He's now able to utilize the other 90% of his playbook not categorized as "complimentary football".  

[Chicharito]

There were some games last year where we ran the same play over and over. Yes we were very limited in play calling.

[Spiderweb]

1 hour ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

McD was the HC... He clearly had the control. There wasn't any doubt. 

[Wizard]

As long as there are less predictable 3-5 yard behind the Line-of-Scrimmage passes to our wide receivers, this is a good opportunity.

[thenorthremembers]

The playbook is a living thing.  Id hope it has more wrinkles and plays than it did last year.   It doesnt have to mean that McDermott limited them last year.  It may just mean there is more to learn because more was added.