Joel Bitonio Says His Health Is Progressing Midweek
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00:00 Have you been able to practice without me?
00:04 I have not practiced this week yet.
00:08 So we're still working through that. I did just get done doing a little run out there.
00:12 And we're progressing really well, you know, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
00:16 But, you know, from where I was Sunday, Monday,
00:20 to where I am now, it's been positive. And we'll kind of
00:24 take it one day at a time. Joel, scale 1 to 10, compare it to how you're doing Sunday.
00:28 Tell us how you feel now.
00:32 Yeah, the scale things are hard for me.
00:36 But a lot better, you know. I always wonder when you go to the doctor, like, what level of pain
00:40 are you at? Is a 10 like getting cut in half? Or is a 10 how I feel right now?
00:44 But, no, I do feel a lot better. I mean, Monday morning
00:48 was very difficult for me to get out of bed and make it,
00:52 you know, just those backs you never know. But I'm feeling a lot
00:56 better now. And hopefully that continues to progress.
01:00 Have you seen any acupuncturists? I have not seen an acupuncturist.
01:04 There are some other things that we do, but I have not seen an acupuncturist.
01:08 Is that something you've been playing through? Or is it just something that popped up
01:12 like that? It popped up. It hasn't bothered me this year.
01:16 I have in the past had some, you play football for a decade, you have some back issues.
01:20 But not this year I haven't dealt with it. It kind of just popped up Sunday,
01:24 honestly. So that's one of those ones that, you know, you try
01:28 and play through an ankle or a shoulder or a knee. But when you can't really get into a stance,
01:32 it's hard to go out there and play.
01:36 [inaudible]
01:40 [inaudible]
01:44 Yeah, we won't get into a bit of the nitty gritty. But, yeah, we're
01:48 feeling a lot better. And to me, personally, you know,
01:52 I think it's more muscle spasm issues. And hopefully you can correct
01:56 those as the week goes on.
02:00 [inaudible]
02:04 [inaudible]
02:08 [inaudible]
02:12 [inaudible]
02:16 It is something you think about. But for us, every game is really
02:20 a playoff game for us. We're trying to win as many as we can. So for me, if I can
02:24 play, I'm going to be out there and try to help the team. But that's something that
02:28 the training staff and the coaching staff can think about. But for us, I think
02:32 if you're healthy and you can help the team, and you're not going to
02:36 truly, truly damage yourself, I think most guys want to be out there.
02:40 [inaudible]
02:44 [inaudible]
02:48 [inaudible]
02:52 I don't think so. I think what I was doing was,
02:56 at least for me when my back was on, lifting my legs and moving my legs
03:00 helps try and loosen it up. So I was trying to get some movement back in there.
03:04 I'm just trying to feel where I was at. So from that perspective,
03:08 there wasn't any correlation or anything.
03:12 [inaudible]
03:16 [inaudible]
03:20 [inaudible]
03:24 I haven't talked to him yet, but I do remember him talking about that early in the career.
03:28 He texted me the other day about my beard, that it was looking good. So maybe I can
03:32 correlate that into a question about his back. You know what I mean?
03:36 I do remember him talking about that. And like you said, Vex,
03:40 it's one of those ones that you never truly know how it's going to react.
03:44 I guess for you, it must take so much pride to be out there
03:48 at this point. At what point do you, like how hard is it for you
03:52 to actually take a knee there and get somebody to tie it up?
03:56 When I realized they called the play and I was like,
04:00 I'm going to have to pull on this play to the outside. And I was like, I don't think I can get
04:04 in my stance right now. And so at that point I was like,
04:08 I'm going to hurt the team by being out here. And I mean, I might not even be able to get out of my stance.
04:12 That was kind of the moment I was like, all right, I have a lot of faith in Dunn. He does a lot of work
04:16 for us and he's going to go out there and compete and be ready to go. We'll see what I can do
04:20 on the sideline if it's going to loosen up at all. But I knew Dunn, I had told Dunn,
04:24 you know, because it kind of happened in the pregame a little bit, I had
04:28 told Dunn to be ready and he was ready, like always, to come in and battle.
04:32 Did you like, were you frozen? Did you have to tell Jared to, hey,
04:36 let's not just fight? Well, Jared was kind of the one, he's like, Joel,
04:40 if you can't go, you know, take a knee. And so, and then I was like, all right,
04:44 I'm going to do that. But yeah, I mean, if you have back stuff, when it locks up, it locks up
04:48 pretty good. So is there hopefully a competitive advantage for Wyatt Dunn
04:52 whether it's the OV or the original starting offensive linebacker
04:56 that he's trying to get in? Yeah, it's something you don't want to
05:00 happen. But Wyatt's been strong for us this year.
05:04 You know, he's been the guy that's been out there for us and
05:08 we've had far too many injuries. You know, it's one of those
05:12 unlucky stats for us. But looking back at the game, when you have one starter left, it's usually
05:16 not good. But those guys fought, the guys that come in for us who have been starting,
05:20 James, Jaron, you know, Dunn, Nick Harris,
05:24 like those guys are ready to battle too. And they've done such a good
05:28 job. But Wyatt's really, you know, he was the last one out there, so he's kind of last man standing.
05:32 Joel, sorry, looking in context,
05:36 what's the most difficult challenge for you guys
05:40 to get into the game? Yeah, they're playing really well.
05:44 I think their front four is kind of the strength of their team. And they rotate.
05:48 It's kind of similar to us. They let the front four go. They're athletic. They're powerful
05:52 guys. They rush the passer well. And it kind of lets their back
05:56 end play a little bit more aggressively and stuff. But they do a good job.
06:00 It's kind of the same cut as the San Fran defense, you know, four down,
06:04 get up the field. But I think it starts, I think all four of their starting guys have at least five
06:08 sacks, a bunch of pressures. And they make things happen. And
06:12 they're all just passers because they've done a pretty good job against the run as well.
06:16 Just how much
06:20 do you attribute the struggles to more guys than ever played with?
06:24 It's part of it for sure. You know, you want
06:28 to have your five guys out there. You want to have Nick Chubb out there. But
06:32 it's the details. Like Coach has shown us the details this week.
06:36 And you watch the film and it's like one guy here, one guy there.
06:40 Where it's like, man, that could have been a big hit. That could have been a big hit. You know, we had just a little
06:44 miscommunication. And I think that does come with playing with each other and understanding the
06:48 communication. But we see the opportunities there. The opportunities are still there.
06:52 And if teams want to try and stop the run, then I think we have Joe Flacco
06:56 and those guys ready to pass them off when we need to.
07:00 [inaudible]
07:04 [inaudible]
07:08 [inaudible]
07:12 Yeah, it's kind of one of those, I mean, Thursday late in the season is tough
07:16 to turn around anyway. And then it's Christmas week.
07:20 So it's a little bit different. We're really focused on Houston right now. And then we know we've got to come in and work
07:24 Christmas in the next few days. But it's kind of like that
07:28 whenever this week started, that 10 day stretch and get through that and see where we're at
07:32 and kind of refocus from there.
07:36 [inaudible]
07:40 [inaudible]
07:44 It is more business trip. You know, we played at Green Bay on Christmas.
07:48 I think Christmas Eve this year, obviously.
07:52 The hardest part is the kids. Like my kids, you know, I want to be there with them on Christmas Eve.
07:56 Hopefully I get home and I can, you know, see them Christmas morning.
08:00 But I think the team will be focused on the game. And we understand it's our job
08:04 to play football. We're blessed to play football. So we're not complaining about it.
08:08 But there's gives and takes. You know, if you're home, you're kind of with your family a little more.
08:12 [inaudible]
08:16 Yeah, I think there's something to that. You know, guys are focused on the trip
08:20 and there's possibly less distractions when you travel.
08:24 You know, it's part of the game, though. But yeah, it's something.
08:28 Hopefully, you know, we can be a team that gets a win this week and head home, you know, on Christmas Eve.
08:32 Thanks, guys.