INDIANAPOLIS — It's Week 10 in the NFL. Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner is here with us for Inside the Huddle.
You guys get a chance to get back to even the season record this weekend. Buffalo is a tough opponent, but being able to play in front of the home crowd is huge.
"Yeah, most definitely," Buckner said. "Obviously we're working to get back to .500. It's a really good Bills team, and what better way to do it than this Sunday back on our home turf."
(Buffalo quarterback) Josh Allen is playing great football. Six different games this year, they've put up 30 or more points. How do you slow down Allen and that offense?
"Yeah, definitely, you know, obviously this year they've been really good, doing a good job in the run game and, you know, as a defense, obviously we struggled early in the year and everything, and we got to do a really good job of shutting down the run and then getting after Josh, keep trying to keep him in the pocket because he's a really good player with his legs, and he can extend plays, and that's where they get a lot of their explosives," Buckner said.
The Colts have been in so many close games this year. Minnesota, of course, the same situation. Can you feed off of that, the "you're almost there" mentality?
"Yeah, definitely," Buckner said. "I mean, you know, you got to learn from the bad, take the good, you know what I mean, from the previous game. We definitely made some strides, you know, defensively, especially earlier throughout the game. Obviously, we want to finish better, but the guys are doing some good things and taking the ball away."
The offense, of course, struggled last week, and Ryan Kelly is now officially out on injured reserve for probably four weeks. That's a big loss.
"Definitely a big loss. I'm just glad that we were able to get Tanor Bortolini some reps, obviously, he started a couple of games early on in the season, and he's done well. It's the next man up, you know what I mean, in this game. it's 100% that you have some injuries, and I mean, it was a big loss for us with having (Ryan) Kelly on IR but, you know, we just need Tanor to step up," Buckner said.
Riley Kid of the Week
We have a Riley Kid of the Week each week on Inside the Huddle.
"Riley Kid of the Week, we got Ja'Marrion Young from Fort Wayne. He loves basketball, race cars and playing with his dog," Buckner said.
Inside the Huddle is brought to you by Republic Airways. Each week, Republic makes a donation to Riley Hospital for Children in honor of Deforest Buckner.