Buying into the new passion.

Even though we are still in the midst of underwear football season, Joe thinks YaYa Diaby is the (very) early leader for quote of the year.

Joe loved when Diaby was asked last week about what free agents A’Shawn Robinson and “Nacho” Rakeem Nuñez-Roches bring to the roster.

“Juice and guts,” YaYa said.

What a quote! So last week YaYa was asked to elaborate on that. It seems Robinson brings the guts and Nacho brings the juice.

“I like them guys, man, they’re ready to run through a wall and I’m ready to run with them through that wall,” YaYa said. “So I love what A’Shawn brings. He’s like a veteran guy and he’s more of a [brute]. Like he gets after it.

“‘Nacho,’ he’s just loud. He’s got a lot of juice for how many years he’d been in league. So it’s fun having those guys.”

YaYa is a guy that often wears a smile on his face. And he was last week. But he confessed that the energy and the vibe that Robinson, Nacho and even Rueben Bain bring to the defensive front, it is spreading to the rest of the defense.

That’s one reason, Diaby said, why the defense is displaying so much energy and passion in underwear football this spring.

Look, Joe loves to hear this. But Joe really wants to see how juice in June brings victories in September.

It’s all fun in shorts and T-shirts in the days after Memorial Day Weekend. Will that same energy produce results after Labor Day Weekend?