Branden Albert says that it will be weird facing his former teammates

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Branden Albert played with the Kansas City Chiefs dating back to 2008 when he was selected in the first round. It’s the only team he’s ever played for until this past March when he signed a free agent contract with the Miami Dolphins. Now, he’ll be lining up on the other side of some his closest friends and admits that it’s going to be a little strange.

“Every time it pops up when I’m watching film, I’m like ‘Man.’ You know, I’m thinking I’m about to watch myself but I’m watching the defense and stuff and watching guys I’ve practiced with. Guys I went to war with. And now I’m playing against these guys. It’s kind of weird. I’m not going to lie to you, seeing Tamba (Hali) and Justin (Houston) and all of them boys, Allen Bailey, Eric Berry and all these guys I was in the locker room with. We shared frustrations. I heard Derrick (Johnson) and (Mike) DeVito went down with injuries, I felt bad. Because these guys, I went to war with these guys. They’re good people to me, guys I was in the trenches with. But now I’m watching these guys, I’ve got to go to war against these guys. It is hard, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

One matchup that is going to be tough on Sunday is when Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali rushes the quarterback. To get to Ryan Tannehill though, Hali will need to get through Albert and he’s not about to let that happen.

“Oh man, you know me and Tamba had some classic battles in practice. Now this one counts. So it’s going to be an interesting battle. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s something I look forward to because we all know Tamba is a hell of a player. I’ve got a lot of respect for Tamba. I’ve seen his work ethic through the years. Ever since I was a rookie to see what type of player he has progressed, and vice versa. He’s helped me be the player I am now, going against him in practice. So now it’s live action. This one counts. It’s going to be a good battle.”

Albert will have his hands full on Sunday but there’s no doubt he’s ready to put aside the personal relationships and the emotional feelings. He’s here to win regardless of who it’s against and he will look to continue his dominance on Sunday against his former team.

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