“Workouts Have Been Harder”
June 9th, 2026
What’s happening behind the curtain at One Buc Palace?
Well, new defensive coaches have made their presence felt. Antoine Winfield strongly hinted at that during a chat with Ira Kaufman. And Joe has heard elsewhere that the new coaching blood has brought more juice.
Per Graham Barton on the Pewter Report podcast, new head strength coach Chad Wade is being felt around the building. Its a toughening up, Barton said, that’s come from Todd Bowles and is heading all the way down the food chain. He added that it feels like the roster is being “calloused” for a rough training camp.
“Workouts have been harder, but I think it comes as a result of making sure we’re ready to go,” Barton said. “I think it’s great. I think we’ve gotten a lot better as a team.”
Joe likes the sound of all that, but Bowles’ teams have started 2-0 for four consecutive seasons. Being ready for opening day and Week 2 has never been an issue.
Still, the annual midseason swoon could have been tied to overally physical softness. Joe is all in favor of trying to find a fix through strength.