Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason Smith and Mike Harmon explain how the two best things about Shedeur Sanders were on display on his 2nd TD against the Panthers. Tom Brady takes a shot at Jets fans. Plus, the reason why you shouldn’t sleep on the New England Patriots this season!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Greetings, Welcome inside Happy Friday, the Jason Smith Show with
my base friend Mike Harmon. For over forty years, Tyrack's
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(00:23):
should be. It is already been some kind of Friday,
and we still have a lot left to go here.
In football, we'll get to Shador Sanders in a second.
But sometimes, you know, the scariest moments in sports bring
out the best in us. And that's clearly a case
that unfortunately we saw and then saw the reaction in

(00:45):
tonight's preseason game between the Lions and the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
This game was suspended and ended.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Early in the fourth quarter with the Lions winning seventeen
to ten. After Maurice Norris of the Lions is injured.
Looked very serious on a tackle he attempts to make.
Norris goes in to make the tackle. You see his
head kind of snap back. There's seizure activity in his legs,
and right away personnel came out. They took him away
in an ambulance, prayers up for him. Will have an

(01:13):
update on him as soon as we do in this game,
and it really was something I mean to see the
Lions and Falcons decide with each other. They held hands
around him as he was being tended to on the field,
and they decided, we're not gonna play. And the next
play happened and the ball was snapped and the clock ticked,
and I don't know if there were still some unsuredness

(01:34):
as to what was going on on the field, it
was gonna happen, but both teams decided amongst themselves that's it.
This game is over, and that was the That was
the final snap, and they suspended the game with about
fourteen minutes left to go, the Lions and Falcons again
deciding this right after they watched Norris get taken off
the field and again, we'll have an update for you
as soon as we do.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
He was taken to the hospital. But the two teams decided.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, this game is done, and out of respect for him,
that we very much a Tomorrow Hamlin esque situation where
we watched it and said, okay, what's gonna happen now?
Clearly fourteen minutes left in game one of the preseason,
there really is no need to finish the game, and
I am I am glad to see humanity and concern
for Norris kind of just take over. And that's what

(02:17):
we saw, and that's how the game ended. You see
the snap and players just kind of standing there, going,
we're not gonna play.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
So this is kind of the end.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Of the game, and the game ended a great moment
of humanity and together it's an NFL brotherhood between the
Lions and the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
I mean you talk about the fraternity, right, and all
the guys that we know and we've worked with through
the years, you watch games with them, and when there's
a moment of this nature, it still resonates on that
grand scale. And certainly you know with the type of
adrenaline and the way players have to be right in

(02:53):
terms of their readiness for that next play, and certainly
regular season, we know there'd be a suspension of play
and eventually they get back into it because of the
stakes in this particular case. Uh, you recognize what this
moment means.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
And against a preseason the fans understood it, right, A
lot of a lot of people emotional uh shown and
certainly outside the prayer circles and everything that flow through,
so all thoughts with with Norris, his family, his teammates
and everybody. But yeah, showing the humanity of this moment,

(03:30):
much bigger stakes, you know, in the injury as it occurred,
takes the the knee and to your point, Jason, uh,
the immediacy of trainers, uh, quick acting personnel and credit
to you know, how quickly everybody mobilized and recognized the
severity of the moment. And then look, the game doesn't

(03:54):
matter at that point, right, It's all about, you know,
putting all the effort towards Nora and his his health
and getting him the help he needs.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
And and still I mean you hear it in my
voice as as I'm saying it, because I watched the
replay a couple of times, probably one too many. Because
we recognize the fragility of things when we talk about
contact sports at every level and in the NFL, you know,
here it is spotlight that today we've got a lot
of positives to talk about and the love of football

(04:26):
being back, but also you know that grim reminder of
what can happen just so quickly and I'll play.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, I mean, it's something you'll see and and he
goes in for a tackle and it's a helmet to
the knee and you see his head kind of snap
back and and uh, you know, look, it's something. It's
it's part of the game, and it's an it's an
awful part of the game, and it's such an unfortunate
part of the game. And unfortunately we've seen it now
a couple of times over the course of the past
few years, and everybody's got their fingers crossed again. As

(04:55):
soon as we hear uh any moments on this, we
will we will let you know. But sometimes we respond
to our most difficult moments by displaying the best of us.
And that clearly was the Lions and the Falcons tonight again,
this game suspended with about fourteen minutes to go, seventeen
to ten game, and they're really it didn't seem to
me like there was any like there was any question
that that was they were going to do. Mike, like

(05:17):
I said, Okay, they're gonna do this, and just line
up and say we're doing this. Far they could have
easily said look, we're not doing it and made it
some kind of you know, we're walking off the field
and there's a lot of craziness and bizarreness and what's happening,
or the teams refusing to play, but by getting up
there and saying, okay, this play is gonna run the
last fourteen minutes. Okay, you know you're not gonna blow
the whistle, and this is this is how we're gonna

(05:38):
do it. And I thought stepping up and showing not
just deciding hey we're walking away, we're done, but to
stand up and say, hey, we're doing this moment for you.
This was kind of an extra way to do it
because they easily could have just said, hey, we're not
gonna play. Okay, that's fine, the coaches talk and where
and we're gonna you go to your sideline, You go
to your sideline, we'll do a quick congratulations and that's

(05:58):
how it's gonna end. But to say, hey, we're snapping
the football and not playing for you, it's there. It
was their way of doing even a bigger moment for
him on the field, which I thought was, I mean,
what what again? Sometimes these these moments bring out the
best and it's not clear was it was an incredible
decision uh from the from the Lions and Falcons.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
On this, I can't say enough about it. Yeah, the
recognition of what what's uh at play here? All right?

Speaker 3 (06:24):
The the game gets minimized and we we see this
uh far too often, uh happily not too too too much,
uh you know, in in the grand scale of how
many games are played. But it's you know, still the
severity of it, you know, wreck that recognition uh and
that moment and to your point, just going running out

(06:47):
the clock, all right, games gone to zeros. Let's go
uh and let's put our thoughts where they need to be.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Uh So again, we'll continue to update this story throughout
the night.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Again, best thoughts to Norris's family lines as well well.
But look, our business is sports, and we go to
the biggest story coming into tonight on the field. We
when we talk about a big level of interest. We
saw the debut of shador Sanders tonight for the Cleveland Browns,
and look, I'll be honest, the game had ended thirty

(07:18):
to ten.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
There's two things for this game, right right, There's two things.
There's there's the.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
First one is what we think about Shadora Sanders, and
then the second part is reality. And you know, I
kept thinking of this tonight. I knew, Okay, Sanders is
gonna come out and he's gonna and he's gonna play.
He's gonna go ball to the wall, right, like he
knows this is his chance to win the job. He
wants to show everybody I'm the guy that you thought
I was in college. I'm not a fifth round pick.

(07:43):
I need to seize this job. I'm getting a chance here.
And I kept thinking of that, that Herb Brooks moment
for Miracle when he starts his speech to the guys
and he says, and Kurt Ross I just hear it
in Kurt Russell's voice now when he says, great moments
are born from great opportunity, and that's you have here tonight, gentlemen,
that's what you've earned tonight, right, And I thought, and
I thought, that's exactly the deal for Shador Sanders. All

(08:05):
this craziness, all the Browns was setting him up to felt.
No Browns have put him out there to play like
there he's the only guy healthy enough to play.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
He's been there for a minute and a half. I mean,
what the hell that more analysis is there than that.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
He's one of your four guys, right, Okay, So this
is how it's gonna go. And he goes out, and
in the beginning he did some good things, and he
did some rookie things. Okay, you had a great scramble
for a first down, you know, a couple of bad decisions,
you know, trying to run around like he would have
done in college when clearly, okay, that doesn't happen in
the NFL.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Is that the right of passage?

Speaker 3 (08:37):
Do you have to check that one on your bingo card? Now,
if you're a quarterback with any ability to move laterally,
that you have to do that play like it's a
video game. So Chris Berman would be able to go
whoop whoop nine times before the play ends.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
He said, hey, Russell Wilson, watch this. I've seen you
do this for a long time.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
You're ready.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
So he did some things, He did some good things,
and he did some rookie things. And then the second
quarter he played extremely well. Right two touchdowns, including this one,
the very first touchdown of Shador.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Sanders NFL career. Take a listen.

Speaker 6 (09:12):
Seven year veteran Trayyon Williams in the backfield played bake
to him. Sanders looking throwing down d Dayden Davis, Shador Sanders,
Welcome to the NFL.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Brown's Rose Chris Rose on Brown's TV with the call. There, Yes,
that Chris Rose with the call the first of two
touchdowns by Shador Sanders for the night, fourteen out of
twenty three, one hundred and thirty eight yards and two touchdowns.
Right now, here's here's the thing, because that people got
I mean, there's nothing crazier than what people have said,

(09:49):
even after Shador Sanders when he handed the ball off
the first time. Oh, that was a great handoff by
schendor what a great handoff by Shador Standers.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
He absolutely played well enough to keep the gig.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
What do we say the other night? If he plays
well enough, let him run with it? Right, you don't
need to say he's the starter. And there's a again,
there's a bigger conversation. But for right now, the results
what we saw in this game, there is no reason
to say, hey, okay, Joe Flacco, you go back to
get all the reps. No, let Shador run with a
little bit. You know, I always say the same thing,
and you saw it. They said it on the broadcast

(10:21):
a lot to night. What do I say, I look
for a quarterbacks, the first and the most important thing
that the game is not too big for them, and
that it's not too much. It's not too okay. The
game is going really fast right now. The old Bill
Parcell's line, I want to see if rookie's eyes get
real milky in the lights and they it's it's.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
A twister andiem aniem and it wasn't. And he made
some big throws and he got more comfortable as the
game went on.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
There is no reason to not allow him to continue
to run with the ones and get the lion's share
of the reps and continue on here and act as
the de facto number one quarterback. Look, Joe Flacco's been
around a lot. They interviewed him during the game. He
talked about his comfort level with the offense and how
well Shadoor Sanders is playing.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
And that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
You don't need to see Joe Flacco, right you You
tell Joe Flacco. Look, Joe, here's a deal. You know
we have these rookie quarterbacks. Singer, you know where you're at,
and he understands we're gonna let Shador go here a
little bit and run with this job, and then we
see where we're at. We have we have a long preseason,
got another couple of weeks to go, We got a
month before the beginning of the season starts. We're gonna
give him a little bit more of an opportunity, and
Joe Flacco's got to understand that.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
And if he doesn't, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
I mean, you see, Shadoor Sanders absolutely was the guy
we thought he would be when we thought he was
the second overall picking the draft, going behind cam Ward.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
There is no reason to not say, shaudor you were great.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
You're gonna continue to run with the ones you are
now running as the number one quarterback with the Cleveland
Browns for this summer. And I don't I don't think
there's any way you can come out of this and
not do that for him.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
I don't see how you don't. Well, in the end,
the other guys are aren't healthy enough to run anyway,
So by default, I think he's gonna get some more
run here.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
Uh. You know, look, you play against who's on the
field with you, whether they're the ones for the Panthers
or twos or threes or whatever it is. Panthers aren't
great anyway, so grain of salt with some of I'm
not trying to pour water on the notion of what
he accomplished. Those throws were great. I want to give

(12:19):
a lot of nod on that first touchdown pass to
the concentration of the receiver as the ball whizz between
a couple of defenders to not have that either bounce
off his face mask or sail through his hands.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Good job by him.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
The second great throw that he made down the sideline
on the fingertips, Hey, you got to give a guy
a chance to make a play where the defenders aren't
and he did that. What it means long term, like
the hyperbole is going to be there, I'm certainly not
pouring a giant bucket of water on it. Because it's
a great first step. Right, you have the growth moments

(12:54):
of the the scramble plays and the chaos there, and
then you settle in and take advantage of what's afforded
to you by the defense. How that gets read by
the professionals in the room and when they go back
to evaluate it in the post, that's on them, you know.
For us being loud mouths on the radio, I'm like, hey,

(13:14):
I want to see more, all right, add more to it.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Right.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
It's like, you know, we discussed and had a little
disagreement with the Anthony Richardson stuff yesterday. In the end,
you gotta pile it on and see how much he
can take, you know, in terms of acumen and what
he still needs to learn and develop, and try to
put him in an opportunity to see that growth. And
for now, Joe Flacco, we know what he is. He's

(13:38):
gonna come in, he's gonna wing the ball around, and
there's gonna be some great moments. There's gonna be some
terrible moments. Oh wait, isn't that what you expect from
a rookie quarterback that you drafted in the fifth round?
In the end, your your your aspirations other than Miles
Garrett stowing the company line because he's you know, got
a massive ass check. Stick it out of his back pot. Yeah,

(14:00):
super Bowl baby, It's like everybody else recognize it.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
It's a train wreck.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
So if you can go and get him some meaningful
reps and get a true evaluation, I don't see why
you wouldn't. Once you get to the regular season, I
guess in September you still have to sell hope, which
is why you see Flacco or Pickett.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
At that point.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
But even still, we got a lot of football that
needs to be played here, Jason. I'm sure several teams
are gonna have a quarterback that comes.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Up a little.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Less than one hundred, So all of a sudden, one
of those guys could be a viable trade option.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Is it time for new job that? It's time for
Express employment professionals. Quit the endless online job search and lists.
The pros and Express never charge job seekers a fee.
Go to expresspros dot com. That's expresspros dot com. Well,
coming up next, we'll have an update on Norris coming
your way. Dan Campbell is talking at the podium right now,
and plus more on just what made Shadoor Sanders so

(14:59):
good tonight.

Speaker 7 (15:00):
Come on, Jason, Nobody cares about that. People care about
Kershaw Scherzer.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, that is true. We'll get to that as well
again in the Yank.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
It's a big Friday night that's coming up next right here,
Jason and Mike, this is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 7 (15:16):
Yeah, you might want to call your dad Smith.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
He's on speed dial.

Speaker 5 (15:21):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 8 (15:33):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down
your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions
on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help
you win big at the sports book.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
And all the best guests.

Speaker 8 (15:53):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Fox Sports Radio, the Jason Smith Show with my base
friend Mike Harmon.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Your next success can begin sooner than you think.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
At University of Maryland Global Campus, Undergraduate and most graduate
classes start August thirteenth. Apply now and save with no
application fee. Learn more at UMGC dot edu. That's UMGC
dot edu. But we'll get back into the stellar debutre
of Shador Sanders coming up in a second. But we

(16:37):
have an update on Mo Norris, Lions dB, who was
injured early in the fourth quarter of the Lions game
against the Falcons tonight. It was a bad head injury.
You could see his next snap back, his head snap
back when he goes in for a tackle. There were
spasming in the legs. They took him off the field
in the ambulance in and a great moment of brotherhood

(16:59):
and solidarity and humanity where the team's decided we're not
going to play the rest of the game. We're gonna
snap the football once and that's it. And the game
was suspended and ended at seventeen ten with fourteen and
a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Now
we're gonna go to Dan Campbell right now. He just
met the media and he has an update and he
has good news about the status of monors.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Take a listen.

Speaker 4 (17:21):
So of this, you know, obviously talks some peris of
mow Norris. We got some positive information on him when
he's at the hospital. I'll have to just leave it
at that, but but obviously, you know, you know, something
that happens, it puts things into perspective. So we just

(17:43):
praying from all I asked about the protect praise for.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
Me, you know, questions you said positive.

Speaker 7 (17:50):
Can you share what the positive on.

Speaker 6 (17:52):
Is just breathing.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
You know, it's breathing, he's talking. That's good. He's got
some movement, so.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
Long war tests, So that that's great news right there,
as you heard Dan Campbell say, he's breathing, he's talking,
and there's some movement. You know, the fact that he
comes out here, Look, he's the first person that's going
to say something publicly and you know not to try
to read into but when he comes out and says
there's a positive update from the hospital, he's not gonna

(18:20):
come out and say we have a positive update. If
if things are you know, if things are touching, go obviously, Hey,
great thoughts and prayers to him. But the best news
and what everyone is crossing their fingers hoping to hear,
is that he's moving, he's awake, he's talking, and all
three of those things happens as you heard him say,
there's he's awake, he's talking, he's got some movement. So

(18:42):
a positive update on Mo Norris, which is which is
phenomenal news. And and you know, look, all the best
thoughts and prayers to him is as he continues this night,
as he you know, continues to recover from what happened
on the field.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
I watched the clip a couple of times, as you know,
I'm watching UH and watching the Yankees lose UH and
looking at Dan Campbell's countenance as he's out, very emotional,
obviously his guy, what he means in the locker room,
guys around the team multiple years and everything. And when

(19:14):
he gave the you know, there's positive news, it's it's
almost like the referring of like, you don't want to
put a bunch of stuff out there. So I was
a little surprised when the reporter asked for specificity that
he gave it so so willingly, But obviously it's something
that you know on your heart, and you know, you
want you want everybody to to at least see that

(19:35):
positivity right and give that, you know, feed hope as
you can.

Speaker 6 (19:41):
UH.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
So you could see that that he was a bit
conflicted even in his his countenance there how much he
was going to give. But then you know, the hey,
this this could be a good thing for everybody to
keep those you know, prayers and and all of that
energy h that was coming in on the field and
in the stands and around you know, football the foot
Bowl Universe positivity went on to a long explanation about

(20:05):
the brotherhood of football, you know, and and the silver
lining in it. Uh that you know, as we talked
about to open things here tonight, Jason, that that positivity
and and what these guys all mean to each other
in the larger scope.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
So again good news from Honoris.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Again, as you heard Dan Campbell say, there breathing talking,
there's some movement. As we learn more tonight, we will
continue to let you know. But again that's straight from
Dan Campbell.

Speaker 4 (20:30):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Just moments ago the Jason Smiths with Mike Carmon live
from the Fox Sports Radio studios, and look our businesses football,
our businesses sports, and and and look, the the Shadoor
Sanders story is just incredibly exciting to get to and
and and look it's we talked about it a few
minutes ago, right his debut tonight for the Browns, and

(20:51):
and how good he was right throwing two touchdowns, And
I said, there's no way you can't not let him
run with the ones.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Now. You don't have to give him a job, Brad
mun say, I'll give him a job. He's great, you
know what I have, Oh my goodness.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
But there's no reason that he shouldn't be in pole
position right now when you what you doing. You know,
I say it all the time, you don't know about
a quarterback until you see him with the lights on,
until you see when the footballs fly for real. That's
when you really that's when you learn about a quarterback.
And you could see your door standers and camp and
seven on sevens and all kinds of stuff. But you

(21:25):
never learn about a guy until you see him on
the field. And you knew he was gonna prepare and
play like he was preparing for a game at Colorado,
whether they're playing Nebraska or some or Oregon or somebody else.
It's a big deal. He's not a veteran preparing where Yeah,
I'm good. We're gonna go out, gonna play a couple
of series, gonna hand the ball off, make a couple
of throws. Everything's good, a fine can stretch the pads
out all No, you knew he was gonna prepare and

(21:47):
you can tell he was prepared for everything.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
And but before we get to the to the bigger
aspect of this is.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That, you know, the one play that really sold me
on him was his second touchdown pass of the game,
right the one just before halftime. Look, he made a
lot of big throws, right, he started out a little shaky.
He did some good things, did some bad things. But
he takes the Browns on a big drive near the
end of the first half and he throws a touchdown

(22:13):
pass and Caden Davis twelve yards over the middle. And
to see him have the presence of mind with the
rusher coming in, he just knows, I have to sidestep
a little bit more towards the center of the field
to allow the running back to be able to block
him where I'm gonna get an avenue to deliver the football.

(22:34):
And he stands in and throws the football for a.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
Touchdown to Davis.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
And this is the best of Shador Sanders on display
on one play, because, as you've seen, his instincts at
quarterback are tremendous. He has incredible instincts at quarterback. You
saw it to Colorado. Whatever you want to say, because
there's other parts about him. I get like, there's some
stuff from tonight and we'll get to it. But the
instincts that he has are tremendous. And the other thing

(22:58):
about him, he is a tough kid. He is gonna
stand in there and deliver the football no matter what happens,
no matter what kind of hit he takes. We saw
that time and again. It I mean, you don't want
to take those hits. But the Colorado offensive line really
wasn't great, so I you know, sometimes you have no choice.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
But there's no scatter shot. There's no I'm running out
of trouble. I'm I'm tucking the ball under because my
first read isn't there. I'm panicking in the pocket. He
is that kid.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
He is gonna stand in there and he is gonna
deliver the football whether he gets drilled or not. And
that is that is something that is so valuable to
a young quarterback where you don't have to that accenuates
the learning curve so much when you don't have to
worry about a little happy feet in the pocket, or
here's somebody around you, and and and you can feel
the pressure behind you and you know, I'm just gonna

(23:47):
take off of the football. There's guys been in the
league five, seven, ten years that still take off with
the football a little earlier than they should.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Justin fields. There's still guys who do that.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Shadora Sanders is not that guy, right, little bit of
mobility showed you when he's gramble for that first down,
which is awesome, but he is gonna stay in there
and throw the football. And you saw he is fearless
in the pocket, and that is an incredible trait for
quarterback to have.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, there's that fine line between savvy and crazy, and
we'll have to figure out where that is a play
to play basis cause I mean, we go back to
the Colorado tape and it's like we talk about all often,
and maybe I hammered down on the guy a little
harder than others. With Caleb Williams a year ago, everybody
was quick to point out, ah, look at all the

(24:31):
sacks and offensive launch taball. No, they weren't good, and
clearly they addressed it in the offseason. But I think
if you did the giant pie chart, there were an
awful lot of those that half.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
The weight should have gone on old number eighteen's back.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
Same thing with shdhor Sanders, the number of times he
would stand in perhaps a beat longer than he needed to.
And you sometimes say, hey, you know what you live
to see another day. Right now, we're worrying about the
the back status of Matthew Stafford. Now he's got many
weary mile on his his body at this point. But
guess what that's been his calling card for his entire career. Boy,

(25:07):
he's one tough so ob. Yeah, every once in a
while you can get rid of the ball a step
earlier perhaps and live to see another down for Shaudor Sanders. Look,
I don't want to be the guy to to rein
on the parade here because it was obviously a great debut.
But you know they built the statue uh for seven

(25:28):
point three million dollars out there in New England and
in Boston. You know, well, I'm not I'm not so
quick to start my silly putty version for Shudor Sanders
after you know, a start against the Panthers. But I
come away encouraged that he's a guy that, like he's
been under the spotlight, that's surname, has done it.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
What happened those couple of years at Colorado. He's certainly
seen anything that can be written about a guy. He
didn't help himself in a couple of circumstances, for sure,
kind of egging it on, and you know, the bravado
at times can going after opponents on the field a
couple of speeding tickets, so he'll he'll play in the
fast lane, no question, and welcome a bit of that.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
So the next bad play, certainly the poison pens will
be out for But for one night, the Sickophants got
everything they wanted and then some and and they're lining
up across social media for it. But you know, we'll see,
you know, there there will be hard times. He's playing
for the Browns, So we take the positive today, take

(26:32):
the opponent. You can only beat and play who's on
the field. So for tonight we celebrate that. You can
take little bits of that film and see some good
traits that you can now work with if you're Stefanski
and that offensive staff.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
Yeah, I thought a lot too about the the Anthony
Richardson play that saw him get sacked right and saw
him get hurt. Where there was there's the belief that, oh,
Anthony richards should have seen the you know, David Ajabo
come in and sat and hitting him and should have move,
moved and delivered the football earlier. Then part of me
was the guy comes in absolutely unblocked and and there's

(27:05):
no I mean, come on, man, I mean, what do
you want him to do well.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
And it's also reading that right.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
Sure absolutely, by the way, Davis MBP right, make sure
he gets his flowers and all of this, because neither
of those are really easy catches either.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
But uh, but the fact that here with Sanders, who
could have easily gotten sacked, but new I need to
slide here back towards the middle of the field so
my running back has the lane to be able to
block the rusher and I can stand in and throw
the football. Like that's I mean, like those are instincts
that are just I don't know what to say that.
You know, that's a lot of football that Shador Sanders

(27:42):
has played. That's having a football acumen, and that's Anthony
Richardson not playing a lot of football and not being
able to be comfortable in those situations. So I mean
you can see that already that you know how Chador
Sanders stands out right like that's a that's an incredible,
you know, subtle thing to just say, I'm gonna avoid
the rush right here, step in and throw the football.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
The only thing is you just you just slammed, You
took the Anthony Richardson and said beat it, Like all right,
he's crossed that bart.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
The only thing I saw, honestly that I didn't that
that I didn't like was the couple of plays where
he decides to run and see what he can do,
and okay, and that's fine. That's nothing more than just well,
I have pretty good wheels. I can stay up. Oh
wait a minute, I can't. I mean I'm not I'm
not Michael Vick fast. I'm not Russell Wilson fast. I'm
not that fast where I can get around these these

(28:29):
defensive players. Because look, Panthers had a lot of their
ones out there tonight, right, I mean, this is there's
a lot against a lot of ones that Sanders was
doing this. So that was the thing where I was like, okay,
you know, I didn't need to sit, but that's fine.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
That's a rookie thing. When when he he ran off.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
The field after after the first time he got sacked
and it looked like he went up to his one
of his receivers and talked to him on the field
to like kind of yell at him. I was like, yeah, okay,
I don't know you need to do that. I mean,
whatever he didn't do, you can do it on the
you can do it on the sideline like that's a
little bit of the the cocky Shador Sanders stepping through
like going okay, I don't know you need to do
that right on the field, but okay. But all that

(29:03):
is so minor because what you saw tonight the good
so far outweighed the bad.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
With him, well, yeah, we take the victory on a
Friday night. Absolutely, Friday night wins baby. Let's go Exit
out about a Fresca exit swollen dome. The Jason Smith
Show with my best.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
Friend Mike Carmon Time out to find out what's trending
in the wide world of sports. My guy's been called
the Shador standards of Fox Sports Radio because regardless of
what's going on around him, he stands in and delivers
the update.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's Steve the Sega.

Speaker 9 (29:30):
Certainly had nothing to do with money. I knew that
as soon as the sentence started. We got three NFL
exhibitions tonight at New England. It's the Patriots forty eight
eighteen over Washington with two minutes to go, a couple
of touchdown runs from quarterbacks. In fact three now the
third stringer is in. It looks like forty eight fourteen.
My goodness, almost fifty points in a preseason game, but

(29:52):
it started this way. Rookie of the Patriots, Trevion Henderson
ran back the opening kickoff one hundred yards TD Detroit
a winner seventeen ten at Atlanta, Yes The game was
suspended early fourth quarter after an injury to Lions defensive
back Maurice Norris. He was taken to a local hospital
by ambulance. His coach says he was breathing, talking, had

(30:14):
some movement. Cleveland won thirty to ten at Carolina, Brown's
rookie quarterback Shaduor Sanders with two touchdown passes. Colts quarterback
Anthony Richardson could practice this weekend after Thursday night's dislocated finger.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will not play Sunday against Miami
for the Dolphins. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill did not practice
again today due to an oblique injury. The Chargers are

(30:36):
moving Joe Walt to left tackle after the knee injury
to Pro bowler Shaun Slater, who is out for the year.
Quarterback Taylor Heineke will start for the Chargers Sunday afternoon
against New Orleans and quarterback Spencer Rattler Dallas defensive end
Micah Parsons is day to day with a back injury.
Cowboys guard Rob Jones was placed on injured reserve. LSU
quarterback Garrett Nosemeyer is dealing with a teller tendonitis prop.

(31:00):
The team says he will not miss significant time. WNBA
wins for Minnesota and New York in Major League Baseball.
Kyle Schwarber with his forty first homer of the year.
The Phillies lead in the eighth inning for to one
at Texas. The Dodgers have just gotten out of a jam,
only down one nothing to Toronto, and Max Schur's are
in the bottom of the second inning, it's Diamondbacks over

(31:22):
the Rockies three to one, bottom of the fourth. Rockies
enter with a record of thirty and eighty four this year.
Red Sox lead the Padres two to nothing in San Diego,
top of the fourth, Cardinals shutting out the Cubs five
nothing in the eighth, and already Detroit came back to
beat the Angels six to five on a three run
homer in the eighth inning. Houston down the Yankees in

(31:43):
ten innings in New York five to three. The final
and it is now final at Milwaukee Brewers over the
Mets three to two.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Back to you, thank you, Steve O.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
Yeah, the Mets have sniffed first place for the last
time at break and now it's a big day today.
Mike Harmon, Friday, August eighth. I am now it's I
am now stopping scoreboard watching the Phillies and it's time
to scoreboard watch the Reds, the Giants and the Cardinals
in August.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
That's that's the day below you. Yep, that's three.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
Big stories in Chicago history. Seventy six, the White Sox
wear the shorts. Eighty eight first attempt at playing a
night game at Regally it was rained out. Today we
find out they're not gonna play Caleb Williams against a
bunch of third string guys because everybody's hurt in the
Miami Secondary. If you ever wanted to get some positive
moments and things on tape Caleb this weekend, that might have.

Speaker 2 (32:33):
Helped exit out about a Fresca exit swollen dome.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Jason Smith Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio studios.
As a time for a new job, that it's time
for express employment professionals quit the endless online job search
en list the pros and Express never charges job seekers
a fee. Go to expresspros dot com. We're talking well,
coming up next, we got the play of the day. Yeah,
you don't want to be Aaron Boone and a team

(32:59):
that got absolutely embarrassed tonight in the NFL. I still
don't have a lot of concern for that's next right here, Jason.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific's.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Smith's Show with my best friend Mike Harmon. Time now
for the Play of the day. Play today is brought
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Speaker 2 (33:35):
Tirerac dot com is the way tire buying should be. Well,
when you jump out to a seventeen to nothing.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Lead and then you go on to roll and score
forty eight points, Well, this from the Patriots game is
the play of the day.

Speaker 7 (33:53):
Jason, redo your toss? Come on?

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Well, well, okay, Okay, the play of the day is this.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Oh no, I know, and it's to be.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
I thought it was gonna be the kickoff return all
I just do it this, okay.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
Just do it.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
I thought it was gonna be the kicker. Okay, this
from the Patriots game tonight.

Speaker 10 (34:11):
But in the end, this statue isn't just for Pats fans.
It'll also give all the Jets fans something to throw
their beers at as they lead the stadium every year,
probably in the second quarter, probably for sure.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
The Brady statue dedication tonight before the Patriots win over
the Commanders and went at forty eight eighteen. You know,
why do I have to say good things about Tom?
I know he's our teammate here at Fox. Why do
we gotta say good things he wants to say? Take
a night where hey, they got a statue for you,
and instead the Jets, who for some reason continue to
live rent free in your head.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
I think Brady's record against the Jets was like seventy
six and two.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
But hey, guys, so take a shot at my tear.
It's a statue for you. But no, now I'm gonna
run out here. Four years old Jets fan.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
It's okay, fine, just Rady's one who's four years old.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
It's a statue of say.

Speaker 7 (35:04):
That comeback of yours was like you were in kindergarten.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Thanks, thanks for a lot, because you know, now what's
gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Jets fans are gonna take videos of themselves throwing their
beers and doing different things with the Tom Brady statue.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
You know that's gonna happen. It was inevitable anyway.

Speaker 3 (35:19):
Sometimes, Look, if you're a comedian and you know you
can get a laugh from a joke from twenty five
years ago, you don't trot that out, Oh man, you
don't get the room revved up a little bit. You
don't think that you know, good old ang Ball and
all those guys, and they had, you know, the blue
collar comedy tour that they had their one liners, like yeah,
I probably should have retired that twenty years ago. But

(35:40):
you know what, it gets folded excited. Here's your sign.
There you go, everybody cheer. Tom Brady did that by
just invoking the name Jets.

Speaker 7 (35:49):
No.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
And the thing is, and I wasn't gonna come out
here and say, look at that statue. That's gotta be
inflated all the way to its capacity.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Right. That's that's that's a fully inflated statue for Tom.
Like I wasn't gonna say that.

Speaker 3 (35:59):
I was hanging up had on the dumbest controversial Yeah nay,
professional sports. Hey, do you think you think Brady knew
the statue way ahead of time? You think they told
him what the statue was gonna look like ahead of time?
So we really knew way before everybody else. And he
wasn't really supposed to know, but he found a way
to know before. Like, I wasn't gonna say that, but
now I am, because you want to you want to

(36:19):
take it, okay that the battle has been joined, you
want to do that.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
That's absolutely fine. Who hurt there?

Speaker 1 (36:26):
Say that about the Jet Brady did in the Jack
the whole up time, my entire the last twenty five years,
well not the last couple of years because the page
has been terrible. And we retired Bill Belichick, which is
awesome but happy to listen. And we started that. The
Jets started the Brady era because of the hit Andrew
Bledsoe by.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
Mo lewis right, we would have him, and they also
started the Brady era not wanting to go coach. Where's
that napkin? At? How much would that be worth than
the memorabilia market?

Speaker 1 (36:55):
If I bet you, I bet you're rich. Samini has
that note I which he's got that somewhere? I bet
that means that's a boater rich sign. I bet, I bet,
I bet rich Simiti. You went up and grabbed it
with the napkins.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Hey? Can I get that napkin? Yeah? Sure, I don't
want it, Mike?

Speaker 7 (37:09):
Should we pull back the curtain?

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Here? Go ahead, Buddy.

Speaker 7 (37:12):
Jason actually wears Tom Brady's jockstrap signed at all times.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
It would make you mighty powerful. That is absolutely true.

Speaker 7 (37:21):
Game warn signed define all times. Oh you never take
it off? No, there's times some things showered.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, now you went too far, because now you washed
off the essence of Brady. Tub Hey, where's that lub? Hey?

Speaker 1 (37:39):
That loof is gonna move around the jockstrap, right, So
I okay, that's great, All right, purv that's bad?

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Okay, good?

Speaker 1 (37:44):
Now nice to clean that. Hey, everything smells great. I
feel awesome.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Seventeen foot high statue.

Speaker 7 (37:52):
Did you wear that when uh you were on fireman
Ed's shoulders?

Speaker 2 (37:56):
No? No, no, no, no, you can't do that, man.

Speaker 1 (37:59):
He he would know way that fireman that would go
Wait a minute, that's Tom Brady's jockstrap behind me.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
You got to take that off. Your smell okay, okay,
you because you know what? Yeah? Because it because for us,
it smells like defeat. That's what it smells.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
And I don't mean f E E T like Rex Ryan,
I mean like defeat d E f e A T.
It smells like defeat. Well you all know what the
other smells like thee in the aftermath.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
Yeah, defeat would be all right too.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
That's also a reminder the last time you were good,
guess what the feet master was after it? So, uh,
you know what, get him back and cooking and maybe
you have some success again.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
What tysher Where's where? Where's your blow? You have really
great feet? Where? Where does that usually have that? At
the drop of a hat?

Speaker 7 (38:40):
Are you trying to critique me right now.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
A little bit? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (38:43):
I'm figuring, okay, where where this is like a fastball
down the middle for you?

Speaker 2 (38:46):
And it's like, no, I'm not gonna do it like then, Jason.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Wow, Wow, look at Alex Tyshert. He talks way better
than you would you stop, would just stop?

Speaker 7 (38:59):
The floor was yours. That was your one chance to
attack Tom Brady and you literally did nothing.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
What do you mean? What do you mean?

Speaker 1 (39:07):
I said I had a couple of great one he
wanted to go back twenty five years.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
I went back like.

Speaker 7 (39:12):
Like not oneteen years.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Sorry, yeah, I'll.

Speaker 7 (39:17):
One thing about his family or kids.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah no, no, no, no, yeah no no.

Speaker 3 (39:20):
I I didn't say you had three hours of a
roast that you could have kicked any number.

Speaker 7 (39:24):
Of Yeah, you might as well have blessed him.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
I I this is blessed. Uh No.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
I mean, look, hey, if you want, if he wants
to spend time on his statue talking about the Jets, okay, right,
okay again, rent free in his head for some ridiculous reason.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
But that's all I mean.

Speaker 3 (39:45):
Look, we all have our conquests and triumphs in our lives,
whatever they may be. And when you own a team
like that, and again, you're you're playing to your fan base.
And who do they hate and love to mock more
than anybody else?

Speaker 1 (40:00):
The jest because they because they can't celebrate victories anymore
because the team stinks, so they can't celebrate Super Bowl.
So now it's like, oh, at least we're better than
you guys. We're we're just just another team, but we're
better than you guys. That's where the Patriots are at now. Man,
it's what they have. It's all a app. It's all
they have.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
Uh, we'll have more.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Of the statue and more in the biggest NFL story
that night. Coming up next right here, Jason and Mike
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio Happy Friday, Jason Smith's
show with my best friend Mike Harmon.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Don't forget. You can stream this show and.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
All of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four
to seven in the new iHeartRadio app. Just search Fox
Sports Radio in the app to stream us live. And
one of the newest features in the app, you can
select Fox Sports Radio is one of your presets, just
like the presets on a radio dial, So be sure
to preset Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app. It'll
always pop up at the top of your screen, so
lock it in and rip off the UB ripped it out.

(41:07):
So here we are Friday night. We had a you know,
we talked a lot about Jador Sanders so far, but
look three games tonight in the NFL and yes, we
had a good report from Mo Norris of the Lions.
He's got movement, he's talking, he's breathing. Dan Campbell with
a big update last hour on the show. When we
learn more, uh, we will bring it to you again.
That game cut short after the scary injury that Norris

(41:29):
had early in the fourth quarter, but good update from
the hospital for him. But uh, you know, a couple
other games tonight, and boy, the first thing I'm gonna
say is this, it's it's day one of the preseason,
and obviously you know you didn't play your starters, but
I still think it was a bit of a surprise
to see. Wow, they dedicated the statue for Tom Brady

(41:51):
and it was twenty seven to three at halftime.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
It looked like it looked like.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Patriots Commanders from like twenty ten, Like this is an
absolute blowup with guys like Josh Dobbson and Ben Woolridge
playing most of the game. Drake May had a little
bit of a cup of coffee and the Patriots put
forty eight on the board to blow out the Commanders
forty eight eighteen.

Speaker 7 (42:12):
It's exactly like when Brady played the Jets back in
the day.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Oh no, come on, man, come on, we're not scoring
eighteen that this game is fat.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
That's forty eight seven. Maybe that might be your average
point total per game this year.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
We've talked for the season, Mike, Yeah, that might be totally.
That could be forty eight three for you, say, I
think that. I think that's how that's how it would
go for eighteen, Like, wow, eighteen points, that's pretty good.
I mean, that's how went. I mean, this game started
with Travon Henderson returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown
and all of a sudden, I mean, hey, I know

(42:45):
a lot of attention has been spent so far on
the Jets and what their running back situation is gonna
be like with Breise Hall and and Brayln Allen and
and obviously you're gonna get a lot of running plays
with Justin Fields. But man, I'll tell you the Patriots
with Henderson and Stevenson.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
I mean, this is the They're gonna be carbon copies
of it.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
The Jets and the Patriots gonna be the exact same
teams this year, except Justin Fields will have more rushing
opportunities in rushing production than Drake maywill and Drake May
will throw for more yards than than Justin Fields will.
But these teams, they're gonna play great defense. They have
young studs on the on the defense. These two teams
are exactly the same. And man, I'll tell you, Traveon Henderson,

(43:24):
you don't jump into the NFL better way than that
with a one hundred yard kickoff return the first time
you touched the football.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
Guy, I've talked about a little bit in the fantasy land.
The good folks in fantasy pros have been leaning on
me a little to give some hey guys off the radar.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Look.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
Romandre Stevenson had he got his deal last year, but
he also had trouble holding onto the football. I don't
think that's gonna work in a Mike Varabel led era.
So Henderson is a guy that you know from the
handcuff purposes, and the opportunity a little later in the
draft should probably get some run. They are currently the
second favorite in the AFCs, Bills obviously the prohibited favorite

(44:05):
Patriots at plus five fifty, Dolphins and whatever they become
at plus nine hundred, and then your Jets all the
way down at plus nineteen hundred.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Now, everybody's just mad at the Jets, that's all. They're
mad at the Jets for the last two years for
them sucking when we thought they were gonna be great.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
So they're mad. So they're they're penalizing us by thinking
we're a bad team.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
I mean well, I mean, look, I wasn't one of
those people that jumped on the the Aaron Rodgers is
leading us to the Promised Land.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Pan. I get it.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
They're penalizing us. That's what That's what it is, that
they're penalizing us. It's okay, no, no, no, you're continuing
to suck. Nothing's really changed except the names on top
of the marquee.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
It's first of all, says the Bears fan.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Secondly, it sounds it sounds better if I say they're
penalizing the Jets.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
It sounds like, oh, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
Have I not been trying to be the voice of
reason with the Bears when everybody's deified Ben Johnson, Caleb
Williams and everybody else, I've been a lone voice standing
out in the wilderness myself there but but, but the
pictures could be entertaining, and they've got a guy that's
willing to dive in and fight in the coach.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
Literally, yeah, and look and you it's one thing to say, hey,
last year was Stevenson gonna lose some carries to Antonio
Gibson versus Okay, yeah, Gibson's a serviceable running back, and
you know, he had a couple of nice years, but
he's not someone that's come in and gonna take anybody's job.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
Trevon Henderson's coming in and take the job. Right.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
He had one carry tonight for eighteen yards right in
the opening, So it's gonna be one of those where, okay,
Ramandre will open and I see this kind of like
the Stevenson Henderson backfield. I kind of see like the
very beginning of the Lions backfield with Montgomery and Jamiir Gibbs,
where in the beginning it was, okay, we want Jamir

(45:47):
Gibbs to be fresh down the stretch. So for the
first eight nine weeks, despite the fact that you know, look,
David Montgomery is fine, right, but he's much more of
a plotter. Okay, Jamiir Gibbs is so electric, he's so good,
he's so fast, give him a football more. Hey, Dan
Campbell had a great plan. No, we want this guy
running the football great at the end of the season.
We don't want to burn him out as a rookie.
And what you saw as the season went on, Hey,

(46:10):
the load got a little bit more equal once you
got to week nine, week ten, week eleven, and clearly
now Gibbs is one of the top three running backs
in all of football. I kind of see the same
way with Stevenson and Henderson, where Stevenson's still young enough
and you know, as long as he holds onto the football,
that will be the division of labor. But as the
season goes on, they'll lean on Henderson more and I

(46:31):
wouldn't be surprised if he's their lead running back by
the middle of the You get to like week nine,
week ten with Henderson and he's the guy.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
No, and that's it.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
And but even last year, I mean, we take it
with a grain of salt because you know, Montgomery was
banged up and missed the final weeks of the seasons.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
So you know, some of the fantasy bounty.

Speaker 3 (46:51):
That you got from Gibbs, well, it helps when the
other guy's not there to ten touches. But the point
is is well taken though, is that you know you'll
you'll see a more equitable split, and again the tolerance.
Look the it's razor thin, right. This is a team
that could win win a few games, the Patriots, They're

(47:13):
on the short list of all right, teams that could
could come up a bit from the the lows of
the last couple of years. But you know the margin
of victory. It's not like they're gonna go run away
and hide on anybody. So every turnover, every negative play
is gonna be magnified. So any of what Stevenson did
a year ago gets him deposed pretty fast.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
Now the other side of it, yes, the commanders got
killed and they were down early, and the Terry McLaurin
situation is just just hanging over the team. I know
they lost tonight. I know it seems like it's a
big deal. I'm still not worried. I'm not worry If
they play without Terry McLaurin, they will be absolutely fine.
I'm not worried about them. They have the numbers to

(47:56):
figure it out without him. Whether it's Debo getting getting
a little bit more attention, whether it is Luke McCaffrey
maybe busting through in year two. I know people thought
Luke McCaffrey was gonna be the same player as Lad
mcconkee and okay, not really, but maybe year two. Is
it only because they can fight the names? And yeah,
you know, yeah McKay yeah, And I'm sure people thought,

(48:17):
oh and Phil McConkie.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
No, no, no, no, no, none, not there, but there are numbers.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
I'll look and Noah Brown is out now too, and
you know, and he's he's he's very serviceable. But look,
Jayden Daniels is a top five quarterback in the NFL
for reason, I mean top five because he makes everybody
around him better. He's one of the he's one of
the top five guys in the NFL that does that.
Not many people do, right, Mahomes does it, Josh Allen

(48:43):
does it, Burrow does it, he does it, Lamar Jackson
does it. There's not many guys like that, and he's
in the top five. So yeah, are you gonna miss McLaurin.
I'll miss his touchdowns? I mean because really that's what
it is. Because for his whole career, mclaurin's been good
but not great. And and he he wants thirty million
dollars a year like he's hey, I'm Garrett Wilson. After

(49:03):
my first couple of years of catching one hundred passes
from guys that absolutely suck.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
I want that kind of money.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
Well, hang on a second, you're gonna be thirty and
you still have never had a truly great You had
a great touchdown year, And I'm not saying that's not valuable,
because it is, but that's not thirty plus million dollars
a year valuable. The commanders will find out with the
numbers they have they will get along just fine without him,
because Daniels is that rare guy, as good as he
was last year as a rookie, now coming into year

(49:29):
two where even he said earlier in camp, hey, I
feel so much better. It's night and day for me
from last year to this year, which you get guys say,
I'm waiting for one guy to say, oh no, just
as tough this year as last year.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
It's not night and day.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
But still coming into your second year being that good. Yeah,
I'm not worried about the commanders. They'll figure things out.
They'll get healthy and if mclaurin's there, great, and if not,
it's not gonna be suddenly where boy, the commanders can't
score and suddenly Jayden Daniels is terrible. He makes everybody better.
They will find a way. It'll be just fin even
if he sits out or if they have to trade him. Yeah,

(50:02):
I mean you get into the question of health for
some of the principles, right, zach Ertz as long in
the tooth as he is. I mean, we've had retirement
questions of the past. You look at Deebo Samuel and
being able, how are you deploying him when he's peaked?
Debo It's not Hey, he's just a wide receiver, right,
It's about carries and trying to be judicious and smart

(50:26):
about that. And you've got a couple of running backs
that you like a bunch and for the rest of
the receiving cords, they're guys. Can they be elevated to
a level of greatness that remains to be seen? So
I'm not the biggest Terry McLaurin guy.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
As you know, this guy should be paid as a
top five I don't know that he's that guy.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Right.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
His touchdown total last year was by far the highest
that we've seen. It's nearly double his career best, which
happened as a rookie. In twenty nineteen. Otherwise, the rest
of the numbers were just in line with everything else
he's done, so they were better in the red zone. Okay,
that probably gets deployed to other guys too, because McLaurin

(51:05):
probably faces more coverage and Daniels will check down into
another option, would be my guest. So that touchdown thirteen
total of a year ago. That's an outlier by far.
So now it's a question of you know, what does
he mean between the twenties and keeping the line moving?
Can you replace that and Daniels in year two?

Speaker 2 (51:27):
How much does he do that?

Speaker 3 (51:28):
Because if you're looking to pay top of market, which
is what McLaurin wants, I think it hamstrings everything else
you're trying to do. And then trying to think that
debo is gonna be retro debo three years ago is
also a tall order. But here you go, Cliff Kingsbury,
you got through a second half of the season for
the first time in your coaching life where it didn't

(51:50):
blow up on you.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
What do you do for an Encore exit?

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Out about a Fresco exit Swallen Dome, Jason Smith, Mike Harmon.
Now the other story from to and who I am
in on and I'm buying on for this year. I
am in on Bryce Young. I am buying on him,
and I'm buying on Tedoro McMillan being the next great
superstar wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
In the NFL.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
Like watching this kid in Arizona the last few years.
I mean, not a lot of people got to see
him because obviously it's Arizona football.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
It's on late at night.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Mike and I always say, we watched the Pac twelve
or what passed for the PAC twelve.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
So you don't have to.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Yeah, you saw tonight he had He had the one
big catch down the sideline. H Bryce Young threw a
touchdown in very an abbreviated play tonight in the game.
The Panthers lost to the Browns. But Dave Kanalis kind
of has a pretty decent beginning going there, right from
last year what he built up. And Bryce Young was

(52:48):
tremendously better a year ago than he was as a
rookie when it looked like he was lost. And maybe
he's gonna be someone that like Josh Rosen, that starts
one year and then that's it.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
I can see.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Bryce Young and and look, Xavier Leget gets thrown out
of the game tonight, the guy that took in the
first round last year, who had a lot of drops
last year, and they felt so bad about him they
had to take McMillan in the first round. But Bryce
Young seems like he has found in everything I have
read about and followed in Panthers camp is that they
already have the chemistry. And you know how talented McMillan is.

(53:21):
I can see Bryce Young like this year, taking that
taking that leap to becoming and I'll go back to
our old friend Brady Papinga to becoming a serviceable, functional
middle of the pack NFL quarterback. Like I can see
Bryce Young the ascension for him to get from his
rookie year he was eleven touchdowns and ten picks. He

(53:41):
looked terrible. Quarterback rating was seventy three. Last year was
a little bit better and less games. He threw four
more touchdowns, one less pick. Is his rating was higher.
I can see year two now in this offense with
a better number one wide receiver in McMillan. I can
see a twenty touchdown, six or seven interception season. Quarterback

(54:03):
raiding in the nineties to the point where almost like
he would be like a Geno Smith where you know,
I can see you can pay him for a while
and have Bryce Young be your starter because he'll be
a middle of the pack quarterback.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
Now.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
Obviously, if he was gonna be great, it would have
happened already. He was drafted number one overall, and clearly
there's some stuff that didn't take advantage with him. I
think you gotta get him outside the pocket more, let
him throw on the run more. That's what the Bears
he to do with Caleb Williams a little bit. But
I can see him and I'm buying in on him
taking that leap this year. He's never gonna be a
guy that wins a passing title throws for four thousand yards.

(54:38):
Not quite who he is, but that kind of player where, yeah,
he'll have a big game now and again, he's not
gonna turn the football over a ton. He will get
you up and down the field into the end zone.
And if you're the Panthers, I think you'll take that. Okay,
if we have a quarterback, if we have Bryce Young
and he's a league average type quot all right, it's
not a position we have to absolutely go in Solvary
year because you know, when you don't have a quarterback,

(55:00):
life is miserable. Those teams in the back half of
the NFL that don't have the quarterbacks, life is miserable.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
But I'm buying Bryce.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Young thanks to McMillan, thanks to year two, thanks to
what seems to be a big quarterback friendly system in Carolina.
I'm buying on him having a good year this year.

Speaker 3 (55:15):
So they brought Dave can Allison after what he was
able to do with Baker Mayfield, and you saw better.
Now he needs to improve that field goal or I
should say the completion percentage. I want to make him
a shooter. Completion percentage is still at sixty's. That's not
gonna get it done. But it was a cleaner game.
You got a good running back in Chewba Hubbard, so

(55:37):
you get some balance there. Remember we were curious what
would happen with Josh Rosen in year two in Arizona, right,
But here comes Cliff Kingsbury and he brings in Kyler
Murray and well that was the end.

Speaker 2 (55:47):
Of Josh Roseen. We never got to find out.

Speaker 3 (55:50):
And then he bounced around and really never never flashed
to the point where he got a legitimate run at
quarterbacking again. But for Bryce, Yeah, you've got a couple
of veterans. Hunter Renfro comes back. We know that he's
a pretty good sit down receiver of healthy and on
his game, as is Adam Feeling Older can't break away

(56:10):
the same way. But that's why you bring in McMillan
to take it over the top. And with year two
in Canalis, Yeah, you've got a guy that should be
able to push you forward. He's part of that reclamation project.
Look at what Baker Mayfield just signed for. Do you
think he sent some chocolates or flowers to what Canalis
did for him while he was in Tampa. If he didn't,
he should have.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
Exit out bout a Fresco exit.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
Swallen doll By buying on Bright now, don't buy him
on fantasy because you don't want somebody with twenty touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
Don't buy.

Speaker 1 (56:38):
But I'm buying him on the field in the Panthers,
building on that success they had towards the end of
last year.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
Buying on Bryce Young, who knew