Von Miller Says London's Turf Is The Worst Field He Has Played On, Knee Feels Great After ACL Tear

Joining us now is a man who has 123 and a half sacks in the NFL. First ballot hall of famer, multiple times Super Bowl champion, a leader on every team that he goes to, and back on a football field this past weekend in London for the Buffalo Beals. Ladies and gentlemen, Vaughn Miller. Vaughn, we missed you. Hey, I missed you guys too, man. It's happy to be back, man. I feel like I haven't seen y'all in years. Okay. So let's talk about this. It has been a long time. We've missed you, but we have monitored the entire situation. We assumed last week with how big that brace was and how everybody was talking, although you said that you wanted to get back on the field, that they would still make you wait another week or two until you're a little bit healthier because of the success that the Buffalo Beals D-line has had thus far. Why'd you go back out there? How do you feel right now? One game under your belt. Where are we, Vaughn? It was great to see you, the number 40, back out there. It felt good to be back. I felt like I could play. When I got to London and I felt the turf, I was like, man, I don't know if I should play on this turf, but I've never played in London, and I had so many, the adrenaline was flowing, and it just felt good to be back, man. I really enjoyed being back with my teammates, being back in gen pop because I was in solitary confinement for a long time, so it feels good to be back in gen pop with the guys, man. Just the base. I just can continue to grow and develop into the football player that I was and I know I can be. Good. A.J.? What does that feel like over there in London for people that have not played there? Oh, man. I really couldn't believe that we had high-class athletes playing on this stuff. Really? I had not heard this, Vaughn. What is it? What is it like? I really couldn't believe we had high-class athletes, $40 million athletes, playing on this stuff, man. It was insane. It just felt like it was hard and it was tight, and it just felt like, I don't know, it just felt stiff. It felt like it didn't have any padding underneath. I've been playing football in the league for 13 years, and that was some of the worst turf that I played on. Okay, so that's your first game back after tearing an ACL, so I assume that that weighed heavy on your mind before the game, but after the game, you've got to be pretty pumped that your knee held up, right? I mean, on terrible turf and everything like that, we're in a good spot. I feel good, man. I had some rushes in there, I had some run plays in there, and it just got to a point, especially later in the game, where I just wasn't even thinking about it, and I was just out there with the guys, and that's the type of state that I wanted to get to, and it felt good to get there in my first game back, and we've got a long season, and the playoffs after that to continue to develop into the player that I know I can be. As soon as we saw the brace, we automatically knew that every really good athlete hates that type of thing. You know what I mean? It's awkward, it's a little heavy, it's a little uncomfortable as you're frozen. Don't know if you heard what I said there, but with that brace, how limiting was it? Is this new for you? Are you going to be wearing the brace forever? What is the expectation for it? I think so around a year, I can take the brace off, so that'll be December 6th, so I still got a little bit of time, and I just felt comfortable in this brace to start it off. I felt comfortable playing in it, I didn't have any padded practices coming into this thing. I only had one padded practice going into that week, so I just felt comfortable wearing the brace, and as time develops, I get into a smaller brace, and hopefully around the end of the season, playoff time, I can take it off. Hell yeah. We hope to see you flying around again, just like you were. Hey, it was great to see you out there, let's not, beggars can't be choosers, it's just good to see Vaughn Miller on a football field again. Who's on the jugs machine? Who's getting after it here after practice? We got, I think that's Jamarcus Ingram, and we got Dorian over there, and Baylen Spector, got some young guys over there working, man. Hey, we like that! Yeah! We like that! Okay, so you talk about the young guys working over there, the culture of Buffalo in the Buffalo Bills has been one that we've heard about, and I think we all wish that we were maybe a part of. You talk about going into Gen Pop, as opposed to solitary confinement, what has it been like getting out of just rehab mode every single day, and back with the guys, back with the team? Because we know you're a very vocal person in the locker room, it's almost like that is your blood, like being a part of a team. How has it been like getting back into Gen Pop, and what was it like whenever you were isolated? How'd you battle through it? You know, like I told the media last week, I would say it's impossible for me to be down and depressed, you know, given my circumstances, 13 years in the league, I got two beautiful baby boys, I'm playing on a great franchise, we got Josh Allen playing quarterback, I would say it would be impossible for me to walk around depressed and sad that I couldn't play. Even though I wanted to play, I wanted to be out there, life happens, ---- happens, so I just had to keep it moving, I won't say that I didn't have those days where I was sad and down, but man, life is good for me, and I wouldn't say that's the same circumstances for everybody else, but for me, life is good, man, I just choose to focus on the positive things that I have going, and like I said, we got Josh Allen's defense is on fire, we lead the league in sacks, what do I look like being depressed, man, I'm just happy to be back, I'm happy to be back in the mix, and now it's just another challenge to continue to grow into the play that I know I can do. Vaughn, we are so happy you're back on our show, by the way, you are the best, dude. Tone has a question for you about that defense. Yeah, Vaughn, you just mentioned that you lead the league in sacks, is there any more added pressure to get to the quarterback with the unfortunate injuries to Milano and Trey White, like does that speed your guys' clock up anymore, or is it just same old, same old? Man, listen, man, there's no way that you can replace Matt Milano, Daquan Jones, Tredavious White, it's impossible to replace those guys, I just said it right now, it's impossible to play those guys, but we just can't stop playing football, we gotta keep going, and I feel like the guys that we have on this team, the type of depth that we have, we have a competitive product, and we can go out there and compete versus anybody still, so everybody has to pick up a little bit here and a little bit there, but I still feel like we have a competitive team, and we can still achieve all our dreams that we had before the season. Especially with you coming back, boss, remember, this dude was on pace to be Defensive Player of the Year! Oh yeah. Of the whole year, not week, not month, not a couple months, the whole year! Sack record. Let's go! Can't wait for it. Coach Pagano has a question for you, Vaughn. Hey Vaughn, it was great to see you back out on the field, my man. Talking about London, I've had a couple really bad experiences going over to London with two different teams, the Colts and the Bears. We went over on a Thursday, got there on a Friday, talk to me a little bit, talk to us a little bit about your thoughts on that trip, the time that you, when you got over there on Friday, it just looked like you guys weren't yourself, it looked like you kind of slept walk through that first three quarters, and by the time you woke up, it was just a little bit too far in between. Talk to us a little bit about London and if you had to do it again, would you want to leave earlier? You know, I mean, I feel like me personally, I feel like I can go to Madagascar on five hours of sleep and I can play football, that's just me. I'm not speaking for everybody else on my team, but I love this, so I can wake up and fall out of bed with 30 minutes of sleep and play football, that's just how I feel. Maybe my teammates, some of my teammates might feel a little bit different. Would you have liked to have gotten there a couple of days earlier and had time to acclimate to the time? Yeah, maybe sure. But I feel like going on Thursday, we still could have went out there and competed. It just wasn't our day and it's behind us and I always say loss is a good medicine, especially for good teams. Now, I've been on some bad teams, if you're losing, it just feels like you're falling downhill, but if you have a good team like we have and you have a loss like that, which we felt like we were in the game the whole entire time and just got away from us at the end of the game, you just treat it as good medicine and you reload and we got the New York Giants, they've been trying to get a win and they've been fighting to correct their franchise as well, so it's going to be a tough game on Sunday here at our place. We've got plenty of time, we've been able to get plenty of rest this week, we'll be ready to go this week. You just got to keep moving. Could you imagine having a football game in Madagascar? Geez. It'd be nuts. That'd be so far. They would love the sports office, especially if you're over there doing it. Go ahead, AJ. Vaughn, how did, I know you've dealt with an ACL in the past and it's a big deal to get out there and finally cut on it and like you said, wearing full pads and playing a game. Is that a big step mentally for you knowing that, hey, I got in this game and towards the end of it, I wasn't even thinking about my knee? 100%. You cannot replicate game reps. Like I said before, I only had one padded practice. I didn't have any training camp, I didn't have any OTAs, I didn't have anything. I had one padded practice and I had to fly to London and go play. No question, it was a mental block and to be able to get past that, it was great, man. I just want to build on my performance, I want to build on the foundation that I set in London and just keep grinding. It's a long season and I want to be here for when they really need me in the playoff. Don't know if an alarm went off, but I appreciate you not even blinking. That's the type of guys you want on your team. An alarm goes off, we got to still talk about this long season we got left. We appreciate you. Vaughn, Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Vaughn, fantastic composure there. Josh Allen had to talk about this yesterday and I was wondering your thoughts on it. Obviously, things get emotional, especially when things aren't going well during a game and Stephan Diggs, he broke a Microsoft Surface and everyone immediately jumped to Stephan Diggs hates the Bills, he's unhappy and all this stuff. Then Josh came out and talked about how he had a wrong release on a certain route. Why do you think that happens to Stephan Diggs? Have you been around situations like that in the past where there's one guy who's a great dude, he comes on here and he's the man, but for some reason, publicly to a lot of people, he gets a bad rap? How does that happen, do you think, and why do you think that's happening to Stephan Diggs right now? I really don't know. All I can tell you is that he comes out here, he busts his ass out here, he's a great teammate, he has the same intention and the same purpose that we all have. We want to go out there and play well, we want to go out there and win games. The public, they're not in the locker room with us. They don't know the type of guy he is, I don't think it's something that he wants to try to correct either. I don't think he really cares about it. I think it's all about winning and having big time performances for him. Some things you focus on and some things you don't even have to address them, it just is what it is. You can't try to be perfect and try to make everybody happy, but what I will say, he has the same purpose and the same intention that we all have. We want to come out here and play great football and make a Super Bowl run and win games. He has that same purpose and intention for sure. Do you have the same fashion sense as Stephon Diggs or no? No, man. You're at a whole other level, man. Fashion, you know, going to Milan and New York and all this stuff. I've been on my Western stuff, man. Cowboy hats and cowboy boots. Hell yeah. I just wanted to get back to my roots, man. Hey, if I was a country f**k, listen, if I was a country f**k, I started wearing these cowboy boots, buddy, every day. They're like, you're three inches taller, first of all. You look so cool with them on, and then it's immediate, what type of animal is that down there? Oh, it's a caiman croc. Oh, I got a little snake here. You country f**k got it figured out. Those cowboy boots are the greatest. The greatest thing. Yeah, they are, man. You got so many great brands. I think it's Kansas City Outposts, Western Outposts, Tacovas. I just wanted to get back to my roots, man, and the red shoes that I've been wearing. Luke Casey, the red shoes that I've been wearing my whole life. How's the farm? How's the chickens? How we doing? Chickens are doing great, man. I saw my guy wearing the hat earlier, man. Chickens are doing great, man. Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees, they invested in Greenup Pastures. It went from being Greenup Pastures, the happy birds, now it's Greenup Pastures, the chicken of champions. We all have a Super Bowl MVP. Hey, whenever you guys are looking for a round of investors that don't have a Super Bowl ring, we'd love to get in on your birds, pal. Would love to get in on the Greener Pasture chicken. I'd take you up on that, man. All right, sick. Diversifying the portfolio. I'm in the Yardbird game. That's great news. I'm very pumped about that. We appreciate you, Vaughn, for joining us, and we're excited to see you back on the field, brother. Hey, I appreciate you guys having me, man. It's all love, man. You know, I enjoy being on the show, man. I would love for it to be like it is last year, man. I would still be on here a handful of times this year, man, and it's all love and respect from my end, and if you guys ever need me, man, you know I got you. We love you. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, Vaughn Miller. Yeah, boy!