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August 16, 2021 • 46 mins

Colin reacts to the highly anticipated preseason rookie QB debuts, the biggest problems he saw, and breaks down the divide between how old school and new school coaches approach playing starters (1:00). Then, 5-time Pro Bowler - and host of Catchin' Fades - Aqib Talib joins Colin to discuss how his approach to the preseason evolved during his career (14:00), his reaction to Justin Fields' widely praised debut (20:00), when Aqib knew one young QB teammate wasn't going to work (22:00), what he expects from Matt Stafford and Sean McVay in their first season together (26:00), if Belichick will start Cam Newton or rookie Mac Jones in Week 1 (28:00), the player who could shock everyone and win Offensive Rookie of the Year (35:00), the memorable RB who became Aqib's first NFL tackle (37:00), and the guys' predictions for the AFC and NFC championship game matchups, including a surprise pick by Aqib (39:00)!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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(01:48):
to the Monday Morning Podcast. One of my faves to
keep to leave joined us in about seven eight minutes.
I've got a lot of thoughts over I watched every
single NFL preseason game, and let's just go into the quarterbacks,
because that's what most of us were drawn to the quarterbacks.
So for the sake of this rant, let's include Jordan's

(02:12):
love in the rookie quarterbacks, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, Trevor Lawrence,
Szack Wilson, Mac Jones, and Jordan loves Since he didn't
dress last year, I thought of those six, five had
moments of brilliance. And mac Jones maybe in the perfect situation.
I don't think he has a terribly highest ceiling, but

(02:32):
New England is not going to ask him to do
things that the Bears are going to ask Justin Fields
to do behind a fairly patchwork offensive line. They just
brought in Jason Peters, so let's let's start with Justin Fields.
UM six, three sizes, fine arms, excellent. I think what
you're gonna see without offensive line and really limited skill people.

(02:54):
After allan Robinson, you know, it's a bunch of emerging
young wide receiver talent. Cole Commits a very good young
tight end, but he's a young tight end. They have
one running back who got dinged up. They don't have
a ton of depth at the skilled positions, so they're
gonna lean on Justin Fields a lot. A source I
trust told me that he struggled this first couple of

(03:16):
weeks in camp, but over the last week it's really
come around. He's a kid that because he didn't have
a lot of weapons, not a lot of receivers can
get themselves open. He's gonna look down field and if
the first or second option isn't there, he's gonna flush
out to the right and run a lot. The good
news is he'll make a lot of plays, a lot
of plays. He looked a little nervous early, but he's

(03:39):
a huge talent, and I think he's going to start
Game one. Trey Lance. I thought he looked as good
as any of them, not a shock. He's got arguably
the best offensive coach and the best roster. Uh. That's
something we have to add context to this stuff. I mean,
I watched Jacksonville play Cleveland. Does Jacksonville have two starters
that would start for Cleveland? Does Jacksonville have five starters

(04:03):
on their second team that would start for Cleveland. I
mean that's just a total physical mismatch in some of
these games. So Tray Lance, the Niners have a super
Bowl roster and a super Bowl coach. I thought Trey
looked great. Um. I also think that offense is complex.
He'll continue to grow. I think Garoppolo starts the season.
He has a very lively arm, super athletic, great size.

(04:24):
I think, you know, he is the one quarterback that
I think has a chance to advance in his first
year in the playoffs. Trey Lance could be the starting
quarterback end of this year and win a playoff game
largely because of what's around him. Listen, Veteran quarterbacks need help.
Young quarterbacks need more help. But I think Trey Lance

(04:45):
is in a perfect situation. He's got playmakers all over
the place. Brandon I you kittle. Trevor Lawrence made two
great throws. Um, it's a bad team. It's a complete,
utter gut job. It is a remodel, it's a rehab.
He made two great throws against a far superior roster.
Cleveland's got a top three roster in the NFL. JAG's
gonna bottom two roster. I don't know what to take

(05:06):
of it. He looked comfortable. He made a great throw
up the sideline. There's not a lot I can say.
I think he's gonna win about six games. Urban Meyern
needs one more draft and one more free agency period
to really compete on an even playing field. Zack Wilson,
as we suspected, very lively arm and moves well. He

(05:26):
does look small. I think he has the fourth best
coach in his division. There have been some comparisons made
to Aaron Rodgers in the way the ball comes out
of his hand. It's very lively. Um, it looks beautiful.
As I've said, he's a little small for me. He's
got the worst roster, probably the fourth best coach in
a division you can just put down Owen four against

(05:48):
the Patriots, and the Bills just put Owen four to
probably Owen six. If you put in the Dolphins, he
is going to be fighting uphill. Of all the rookie quarterbacks,
I think he has the worst spot. I love Joe Douglas,
but listen, the kid made a couple of really quick,
clever throws. And I will say this, this team is

(06:10):
not bereft of talent the offensive line. They have a
very good left tackle, um Elijah Vera Tucker. I mean
they've got some talent here. I mean Donald was pressured
on forty two percent of the snaps last year. That
is just from a franchise standpoint embarrassing. So between Beckton
and Elijah Vera Tucker, the Jets are in far better

(06:33):
shape upfront. Mac Jones low ceiling, not a playmaker. He
is not the ideal quarterback for two NFL football. But
I said this on TV last week. The Patriots do
not have the kind of offensive talent that can overcome turnovers.
And I can very easily see that franchise and that

(06:53):
coaching staff talking themselves into Mac Jones and occasionally bringing
in packages for ham Newton near the goal line. Matt
Jones can get you out of trouble, the line of scrimmage,
can get you into the right formation. Uh. He's a
more accurate thrower, good feet, steady, you know, throws a
nice deep ball, doesn't have a huge arm. But again,

(07:15):
you know what New England's gonna look like this year.
They're gonna look like the Miami Dolphins last year. Now,
the Dolphins this year have added Jalen Waddle Will Fuller,
so they're gonna have a lot more speed and punch
on the perimeter. New England is gonna look a lot
like Miami last year with twa playing they went ten
and six. Two went six and three with with below

(07:37):
average quarterback play, but great coaching, great defense, good special teams,
the differences. New England has maybe the best screen game
in the NFL, next to San Francisco, and all sorts
of depth at running back. So you know the interesting
thing about this, if you told me at the end
of the year, Mac Jones and Trey Lance were the
winningest of these quarterbacks, that would make a lot of

(07:58):
sense to me, even though I think Mac Jones has
an incredibly low ceiling. And then Jordan's love he got
dinged up. I saw about five minutes of Jordan's love.
He is the quarterback I saw the least of. He
had a lively arm, he looked in control, he looked comfortable.
I thought he played well. You know, he's in the
most unique position of all these quarterbacks. The fans aren't

(08:20):
crying out for him. He's got a really good team.
There's no urgency on his improvement. That's a really comfortable
place to be. So I thought, all these guys look good.
Here's what didn't look good. It may have been the
worst weekend of offensive line play I've seen in my life.
So what is happening right now? There's a division. There's

(08:41):
the Belichick coaches and the Sean McVeigh coaches. If you
looked at the number of players starters that were held out,
the Rams with Sean McVeigh had thirty eight players held out.
Next was Matt Lafleur, his buddy. I think they had
like thirty thirty two players held out. Many of the
young coaches this is a cultural change. They're following the

(09:03):
lead of their pie piper, Sean McVeigh, the young guy
to get to a Super Bowl. They're not playing any
of their top players now who did play a lot
of starters. Belichick, Bruce Arians, Mike Tomlin, Andy read a
lot of the veteran coaches Generationally, we're gonna play our guys.
So I mean, Tampa clearly doesn't have to play their guys,

(09:24):
but Bruce Arians played them. But for a lot of
these teams, I mean, how many great offensive lines were
there in the NFL last year? Colts was really good,
Rams graded high. I thought it was a good offensive line.
I didn't think it was great. Um, Dallas, when healthy
is good, it's no longer great. I thought the Raiders
was underrated. Okay, those teams now are not playing starting

(09:46):
offensive lineman and the one unit in the NFL that
is worse than ten years ago, it feels like to
me his offensive line. I think there's more great edge rushers,
far more great wide receiver and tight end talents, more
good young quarterbacks. Uh, tons of dbs and safetyes. I
like linebackers, athletes everywhere. Offensive line play has regressed. Some

(10:08):
of it is college football now. All these teams run
the spread. You get very few Wisconsin Michigan offensive linemen
that come out of college ready to grade road. Uh,
these guys just they're not as physical as what college
football produced ten years ago, and there's less hitting at practice.
There's less practice. So the symmetry and the chemistry with

(10:30):
offensive lines, to me, is eroded over the last half
decade or more so. I thought that was noticeable. The
Colts had arguably the best offensive line in the NFL
last year. Their offensive line against Carolina was pathetic, is
embarrassing at left tackled. They gotta get Eric fisherback really badly.
Here's something else that jumped out to me. We all

(10:51):
discussed the Brady Belichick split and how valuable Brady was
to Belichick, but we've really never discussed how valuable Drew
Breeze was for Sean Payton. If you watch that Saints game,
they had six turnovers. They don't know who the starting
quarterback is. Both quarterbacks are limited once turnover prone, and
one is just an average thrower. Michael Thomas Now and

(11:13):
Sean Payton are at odds um. To get under the cap,
they've had to get rid of multiple high end defensive players.
You know, Pete Carroll had a losing record in the
NFL pre Russell Wilson. Bill Belichick is now losing post
Tom Brady. I think we've just overlooked how crucial Breeze
was to New Orleans. And much like Brady, it's not

(11:36):
just his play. He was the soul of the franchise.
And how many guys have we seen offensive lineman cry
as they leave the Saints and retire or they're traded.
I mean, Gerald McCoy, who played against him in Tampa,
told me on the air one time he was the
most important person in the league for him as a
buccaneer early in his career, constantly calling him, checking on him,

(12:00):
making sure he was okay, giving him guidance. So we
can talk Brady and Belichick, but Breeze and Peyton. Somebody
I trust who bets a lot of money on football
said he thinks Vegas makes very few mistakes, but they
have whiffed on the Saints. He thinks it's a seven
win team, that's it. And listen, did you really think

(12:22):
New England would be the BB gun they were last year?
I mean, don't kid yourself. If Michael Thomas doesn't play,
this is New England's offense, That's what it is. It's
New England's offense last year. No cheap points. And if
you're gonna rely on Taysom Hill and Jamis Winston for
twelve play drives. Good luck, those are not twelve play

(12:44):
drive quarterbacks. Well, we talked about the cultural change in
the NFL. There's the Belichick coaches who play their starters
in the preseason, the Pied Piper McVeigh coaches who don't
play their starters. Here's a guy who played with both
a key to the five time pro bowler in the
Super Bowl Winner. All right, let's start with us to keep.
You just went on vacation. Where does the keep to

(13:07):
leave go on vacation? Oh? Man, this was before I
tell you where I went though, Colin, this was this
was probably my number one trip. Me and the wife
got away from the kids the SLS Bahama US. That's
a nice vibe there. It's a great vibe calling. I mean,

(13:28):
if you go, if you go with the wife, you're
gonna have a great time. If a single dude went along,
hed have a great time. If you go with the kids,
you have a great time. So it's it's checking all boxes. Man.
It's everything from beaches to the so many pools, water
park there, casino twenty four hours is it's a great time, man.

(13:51):
So you know we went out there for six days.
We had a great time. Who tipped you off to it? Uh?
You know the wife, she stays on the internet. Want
some stuff, man, So you know she's seen the songwhere
I don't even know she's seen the songwhere, you know,
send me some pictures and stuff like where is that?
She said? It was the STLs Bahamas great time. By

(14:13):
the way, it looks like you're in a new room.
Is this your house you're going on? I'm at home.
I'm at home today, man. I just came from calling
the game yesterday. Uh landed about two hours ago, so
I was too tired to move around. I'm take care
of me from home today. Which game? Which game did
you call? You're gonna call games for Fox? That uere?
Who'd you call? Well? I didn't do for Fox yesterday.

(14:33):
I did the Rams preseason game. I got the I
got the Rams preseason as well, so called that first
game Rams Chargers yesterday. Listen, those coaches we were just
talking about this, the young coaches. They don't want to
play any of their good players. You know who did play?
You know who did play to arians. They don't play

(14:56):
their dudes they want to see. Yeah, so let me
tell you which do you prefer. Do you prefer the
McVeigh guys and the young guys who aren't playing them,
the veteran coaches who want to play them? Like, did
you want to play preseason? Well, I ain't gonna lie, Colin.
When when I was young, I say up to about
like you're seven or your eight. I used to like

(15:19):
to get my preseason games and man, let me let
me play one series the first game, let me play
three series the second game, and let us play a
quarter and a half that third game. So I just
used to it's a it's a certain balance that you
play with, right. I talked about this on the game yesterday.
It's a certain balance that you play with, and they

(15:40):
called it like getting your feet up under you right
where you're not tripping and falling. Even if you look
at football early in the season, there's a lot of
linemen on the ground and stuff just because people don't
get their feet up under them. You don't got that
many full speed reps yet. So I used to like
to get my little jitters out and you know, slow
down real quick and get my feet up under me.
You know what, I'm saying, so I am on a preseason,
but when as I got You're now you're team, I

(16:02):
could I can kind of get my feet up under
me in these first two games and saying I know
how to do that. Now I'm saying I know how.
I'm smart enough where I'm not gonna I'm not gonna
get beat because when I'm getting my feet up front
of me, I might not make as many players, but
we'll be rolling week three week folds. We've all had
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l I, n H. Now, the current trend in the
NFL is more inner squad scrimmages and like, like the

(21:09):
Panthers will go to Indie and practice against the Colts.
Did you ever get shipped at any of that stuff?
Is it intense enough to matter? Oh? Hell yeah, that's work.
It's it's a that's the highest practice tempo. That's the
closest thing you can get to the game. Because sometimes
in training camps even fans out there, so you have

(21:30):
another team. We went to Oakland, I went to a
bunch of teams, so you have fans out there, so
you know, you don't want to get beat in front
of fans, so that's gonna crank you up a little bit.
And then you plan against other guys, against another squad,
so it's not quite a game, but it's the closest
you're gonna get to the game. So that's that's great work.
And I think that's a big reason why Sean and

(21:50):
coach Statey and those guys don't play their guys because
they're like, this is that's all we need right there.
We're doing everything but take you to the ground and
in a sh inter squad scrimmages, so they you get
a lot out of it. You know. It was interesting. Um,
I was really excited to see Justin Fields. Um. First
of all, I know Trevor Lawrence is gonna be good,

(22:12):
but he's not gonna win a lot of games. Jordan
loves not gonna play. I kind of know what Mac
Jones does and doesn't do. Uh, Trey Lance is going
to a great coach and a great team. Probably won't start,
but he'll succeed. To me, Justin Fields is a guy
that it could go either way. Now I'm a huge
fan of his, but let's be honest, he may have
a different coach by year two. He'll have a different

(22:34):
coordinator by year two. I don't love their roster. They
have very few elite offensive players. Um, when you watched
when I watched him, I thought he was a little
nervous early. But I think sometimes a key people don't
add context. That's a bad oldline. I mean, it's patchwork.
They just signed Jason Peters, who I thought was like
gonna retire. What did you make of the Bears young

(22:55):
quarterback when you watched him? Well, I didn't watch the game,
and like I said, I was calling that game my
own game yesterday, but I did watch the highlights, you
know here to talk and stuff. And from what I've
seen on the highlights, man, and just what I've seen
in the past, it's there. It's a it's a certain
we call it. It's there. Just that confidence, that ability

(23:16):
to get in there and actually be the quarterback and
not share this thing to the pieces, right, So I
think it's there. So as long as he keeps playing
with that confidence, man, and he got the number one
receiver over there, I think he's gonna be all right. Man.
It's it's one guy, take you so far. If you
just know that you got a guy who can win

(23:36):
even when he ain't open, he can win over there.
So his number one receiver gonna help him out a lot.
And and that confidence gonna help him out a lot
man as long as he keep those two things, and
I think in good shape. Now, who is the youngest
quarterback you've ever played with? San, I say, Josh Freeman.
I mean he's rookie, came in at the rookie he played. Okay,

(23:56):
let's go back to it. Uh he had some moments,
Josh as she had talent um. When did you feel
like during the Josh Freeman moments it's not gonna work?
Was there a moment you thought, this just doesn't feel
quite as good as it needs to be, uh, well normal?
Like what I know now, I probably say, like when

(24:19):
he out with me right on the Thursday and we
vibe in it, probably are gonna work. He ain't puposed
to be here. He aint pused to be around that,
you know what I'm saying. But back then, you know,
I ain't know no better then I'm thinking, we this
this the NFL, right, that's I gotta do. But I say,
and just when the confidence started to leave? Man? When

(24:41):
when when we start to make plays against you in
practice and just not the same guy? You know, you're
not the same guy in the building, not up tempos,
A whole lot of jokes in the building, when when
you have a bad day against us and it kind
of change you. Man, you know that bad then the
game it's probably gonna change. You can work, So I say,

(25:03):
I say, man, I don't know. I I played against
Johns two in college, so I don't. I believed in him,
but I don't know if I don't know if I
ever thought Josh gonna come in and like me, you know,
Troy Hakman and somebody like I'm saying, I ain't. I
don't know if I ever thought that. I thought I
thought he got a big arm. I don't really know

(25:23):
what they spec. Well, you played with the Goat, you
played with Josh that didn't work, and you played with
Golf that worked good enough to get to a super Bowl.
McVeigh lost confidence last year in golf. I think it
was the forty niner game. He had a couple of
bad turnovers. You know, when you were with Golf, did
you think it was gonna work long term or did

(25:45):
you think it was more McVeigh making it work or
Golf making it work well? When I was with When
I was with Golf, I felt like they was the
perfect team. Honestly, I felt like Sean is a big personality.
He wants stuff done like this. Jared's kind of laid back.
What I'm saying. You could tell him he cool, alright,
that callie guy. You know what I'm saying. He laid back.

(26:05):
Whom get the job done. I'm gonna execute what you're
trying to get done. He had a big arm. You
want guys to run big post corners, boom, being this
way and then being back this way. Whom. I gotta
let that thing go. Jered can make all those throws.
I can see him. I gotta roll this way, set
up over, ride over here. Jered can make all those throws.
So I thought that that Jared could get the job done,

(26:25):
and I thought that Sean did a good job relaying
his message and leading. So I didn't think it was
I didn't think it was one sided. I thought it
was both of those guys who really did their job.
Most people think Matt Stafford and Sean McVeigh will work,
Do you I think they will, just cause just cause

(26:46):
they both vett. They both they both got that common
goal man. They both like right at that point where
you know we gotta win. They both at that we
gotta wins part. So I think they both gonna kind
of put the ego to the side a little bit
so they can so they can get that done. Man,
and Matthew Stafford been through it all. He's talented and
you know, he played a lot of football. He'd be

(27:07):
like a coach on the field. That's what Sean, That's
what he explained to me. He said, you say coach
on the field, but this situation, you really really almost
got like a coach on the field. Man. That's that's
how well he knows schemes and he knows defenses. He
know pre snap stuff. So I think it will work. Man,
I think that'd be good. And then they got a
they got a badass defense to play with two man,

(27:27):
that always helps. Well, yeah, you're not in shootouts every week,
right like he was in Detroit. Now, you faced him?
How many times Matt Stafford in your career? Because you
did a lot of a f C stuff, so you
probably didn't face him a ton. I think I faced
him twice. I think I faced him, you know, I
think twice. I said twice, how'd you do? Oh solid?

(27:49):
I mean the first time, I think he threw a
bunch of deep ball to Calvin Man. I got a
lot of safety health. It was jump balls me and Calvin.
Calvin had two touchdowns that game. One was in two
man our safety leaning into the tight end, uh pedigrew
when we got Calvin Johnson over here. Don't lean in

(28:10):
the pedigrew when Calvin Johnson is over here with me, right,
and then it was a hitch and go too, So
you know, not all the way. My fault that was
like twenty yards and one was the hurry up, the
hurry up quick fade. That's on the highlight every time
you see highlights. I I'm on, I'm on his highlight.
Take on Calvin johnsonhiglight tare. But he only had sixty
six yards six or six yards two touchdown. The second
game he has zero touchdowns. He has seventy some yards.

(28:32):
I followed him, I followed him left to write both games.
So I fair pretty well. And then the first game
when he had two touchdowns sixty six yards, I had
an interception for a touchdown, so I matched one of
the touchdowns with you. Now, Stanford, Stanford, unlike golf, he'll
let it loose, He'll take some chances. You sense that,
Oh definitely, Oh definitely. I played against him twice and

(28:53):
both times a few times I had some great coverage
and I ain't no slouts on the deep balls. People
don't just throw me deep balls, right, Cott And I
never really just got boss just thrown up to me,
right Matt Stafford did. He did when I was in Tampa.
He did when I was when I was in Denver.
You know what what I'm saying. I think that was the
everyone in the the Super Bowl too. So this was this

(29:14):
was lead lead I'm saying it. He threw balls that way, man,
So he's gonna let it go, tight windows and everything,
he's gonna let it go. So it's hard to say
who's good who's not. Um, you know, my My takeaway is,
let's talk Mac Jones on Thursday night. So if you
were Belichick and you know him, you were there for years, right,

(29:36):
they can make two arguments. They can make the argument
that we don't have a ton of playmakers. We need
a playmaker at quarterback. Cam will give us something Mac won't.
Or they can make this argument as a staff a key, Okay,
we're not talented enough offensively to turn the ball over, right, Okay,
Mac Jones more accurate, Um gets the ball out quickly,

(30:00):
not gonna run around. You know, Cam last year had picks,
he has fumbles. They can make two compelling arguments. We
need Camps playmaking or you know what, we want a
guy that just delivers the ball, distributes, get us in
and out of trouble, and then let's our defense win.
Your gut feeling on which way Belichick, you're around him,
which way he'd go? I definitely think he'd go Cam,

(30:23):
just because I think Bill is big on leadership, right,
and you know, man, who's gonna who's gonna be the
best leader in that huddle? And that's about far Cam.
So I think Bill think even though mac Jonk might
be more accurate, he might be you know, slower to
throw something in the traffic, and he'd throw the check

(30:43):
down quicker than Camp. You might try not, I ain't
gonna miss this thing up. I might not make no place.
I might not. Ain't gonna miss his name up though
you know he's gonna get that. But who's gonna be
the best leader in his huddle? You know what I'm saying?
When things get tough, whore gonna keep the guys together?
Who's gonna, you know, right the troops? When when fourth quarter?
When they need to be rallied, and you gotta say
that as Cam. Are you surprised Cam struggled most of

(31:07):
last year though, But are you surprised that the patriot
culture and Cam have worked? Because by and large he
compliments it, Belichick compliments him. There's been no rough spots.
I mean last year he got COVID in the middle
of the year, so I kind of get my pass.
At the end of the year, I thought he played
pretty well. Are you kind of surprised at well? I am.
I'm surprised it works, um Me being there, I'm not

(31:29):
surprised it worked because Cam is a leader. Like I said,
he a great leader, and you're not gonna out work
you one of them guys like I might be Hollywood,
I might dressed like this, but he worked hella hard
like Odell. He one of those kind of guys. May
you not gonna match? Stay work and ship like that?
That Bill respect. You're a leader and you work like that.

(31:50):
You're competitive like that. You you bow down to nobody.
I compete against anybody, any whatever, no matter whom I
received it. Let's go Bill respect that man, so and
Cam different man. I'm telling you that leadership he got is. Yes,
you got leaders. Then you've got guys like Camp, so
the top nots and leader. Man, he's gonna bring guys
all the way together. So bill Field had in the building.

(32:13):
As I watched all this stuff, Um this weekend, I thought,
Minnesota is going to be a team that's going to
really bounced back. I think Zimmer is a pretty good coach.
They had a ton of injuries. Then I watched him
against Denver and god, they were atrocious and everything was bad.
Punting was bad. Um, do you take if I'm listening

(32:35):
to this podcast, do you take anything from the preseason
to go back to your career? Was there ever something
a key that you saw in your preseason and you're
like it stayed with you all season? You just never
got better at it? Na No, definitely, I don't think so. Man. Uh,
preseason almost like a practice. You're tackling guys, but it's

(32:56):
not pullis it's not pullspeed. It might be pullspeed putting
young guys when the starters and stuff in there, Man,
you still can't go full speed if it ain't for
all the marbles, which is a win or a loss,
You're just not gonna go your full speed. So I
don't take too much from it. Man, God's donna go
play hard. But you know, if they go play the

(33:19):
same game next week, they may do that to Denver,
you know what I'm saying. So it's more like a practice.
To me, it's more like a full speed, turned up practice.
So I don't know. Denver looked good, though, man. I
I didn't want to take nothing away from Denver. Don't don't.
That's what I don't want to do on here. I
don't want to take it away from Denver. Drew Lock
looked great to play, cars looked great. The old line
looked great, man. So I don't want to take nothing

(33:40):
away from those guys. Those guys came out and did
what they posted to y'all think with the underdogs were playing,
they came out and punched them boys in their face. So,
but that's that's kind of how practice is. Like if
you when you had those joint practices, usually this is
how they go. So whoever like that, you know, the
alpha team, they usually come out and beat the ship
out other team apart, and the next day they kind

(34:02):
of get off the gas and that other team, underdog
team and com beat the ass. The next day then
the Alpha team and kind of beat the ass and
then go back and get on the bus like, yeah,
we beat all as glass, I'm saying. Then usually playing
in the game and you usually the Appha Tinue used
to beat the ass in that game, so it just
kind of went the opposite this time. They kind of
went back and forth and practice and then when they
shot up to the game, the underdog team came out

(34:23):
with all the energy and rundom boys off the field.
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And we're live here outside the Perez family home, just
waiting for the And there they go, almost on time.
This morning. Mom is coming out the front door, strong
with a double armed kid carry. Looks like dad has
the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh but
the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere.

(35:48):
Oh but mom has just nailed the perfect car seat
buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who
looks to be about nine or ten, has secured herself
and the booster seat. Dad SIPs the bad clothes was
and they're off. But looks like Mom doesn't realize your
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AD Council. So you're gonna do work with Gus Johnson

(36:31):
this year for Fox and you sound so One of
the reasons we hired you at the volume because I said,
nobody sounds like a keyp on the air. He's very
raw and authentic, and all these analysts, a lot of
them just sound alike. They're safe, they're predictable. So when
you did a game last year, I remember you had
this suit on. People were talking about your suit. They

(36:52):
were talking about your style. Do you like doing games?
If so, why I do like doing games, And I
like doing them because I think it's the closest that
you get to playing without without playing. I mean maybe coaching, right,
because I coached my little my son team they eight
years old. But like when the game in there, it's

(37:13):
like I want to go play, but I can't play.
So you gotta you're like in the game, right, So
I say you're playing, you in the game. Coaching. That's
the closest you're gonna get to the playing in the game.
And then when you're in that box, I feel like
that's the next that's the that's the third step. That's
the closest you're gonna get. If you ain't playing their coaching,
that's the closest you can get to the game. Because
you're like the voice of the game man. So you

(37:34):
you full speed, you in it. You're in it with
the players, and you know, we gotta, we gotta, we
love that. We addicted to that. So I still get
that fixed. Does the game move faster or slower to
you when you broadcast it? Oh, it moves faster. Right now,
I'm a rookie. I'm a young guy, so I don't
I guess in the league they say you're still a
rookie till you play like four games or something, right,

(37:55):
So I ain't called four games, so I'm still a rookie,
you know what I'm saying. So it goes so fast
in that booth. Football used to go slow to me,
especially year five, year six, it was slow. You did
the Chargers Rams give me one or two moments or
one or two players. You took from that game that
you liked that you're worried about. Is there anything that

(38:15):
one or two things in that game either side that
jumped out to you. Well, Josh Palmer from the Chargers,
he came out and was huge, just his his physique.
I just looked at him like, damn, he got the
single digit on and you know, I don't know the
single digit is making guys look look huge right now.
So he had the five on and I just imagine

(38:35):
Mike Williams, him and Keenan that's a that's a bad
receiving corps right there. Man with the were the old
line man. And on the other side of Jacob Harris
the tight end. I've just seen his movement live. That
was my first time seeing him in person, seeing his movement,
saying his size, they make it seem like he said,
you know, six make it seems like you're real like receiver,

(38:58):
skinny kind of guy. But he actually got some size.
He he has tight end. What I'm saying, you could
next year you would be ten pounds heavier. You are
real tight end. So and he got work. He really
got some routes in the red zone. He really couldn't
Phil a Boyd that the Rams really don't have right now,
like you know, a jump ball targeting the red zone.
Just I like, I liked those two thinks leaving that game.

(39:18):
By the way, you have a great eye for talent.
So Tom Talsco is a friend of mine, the Charger GM,
and when they drafted Palmer, he said, you know, Tennessee
didn't have a very robust offense, and you know, Calvin
Johnson played with a quarterback in college that didn't throw
the ball terribly well. But we all knew Calvin was great.

(39:40):
But Palmer I said this when they got drafted. I said,
don't be shocked if he's he's a Rookie of the
Year candidate. So he popped out to you first game
you saw him, first game, I see him. They targeted
him like five or six times early, and he just
he just looked, I'm ahead of I'm ahead of the
guys who in the game right now. I'm just a
little bit ahead of y'all. You know, just look comfortable.

(40:02):
His moves, catch the ball, get up field. He ain't
really catching them down field, but he was just in that.
He was active, he was working, and that's I already
seen him already seen what you do on balls in college,
so I know he could do that, and just it's
confidencing how he moved in his size. That's what jumped
out to me. Do you remember your first preseason game?

(40:22):
Hell yeah against the Dolphins. You know I made my
first tacker. Uh it was on Ricky Williams attack of
Ricky Win. My first person at tackled the NFL was
Ricky Williams. Shot his legs out. They had to you know,
cracker place. The receiver want to go crack, So I
had to come off Cracker place. We went bound to

(40:42):
the outside, hit them legs, took them legs out. Nice
little attacker to like ship My NFL films got it.
I think I was miked up with something. That's funny
that you remember that. Oh, I remember it like it
was yesterday. So here we go into another season. Give

(41:03):
me your a f C NFC championship. Let's put it
on tape. I'm gonna go I like Um, I like
Buffalo a lot. I'm gonna It's not that I don't
like Kansas City. There everybody's favorite. I think Buffalo. I
think Baltimore is gonna be a handful. I think Cleveland's
gonna be a handful. I think the Chargers are gonna

(41:26):
surprise people. You know it's not gonna be Buffalo Kansas
City because it's never the teams we think, right, So
you're gonna go outside the bus. I'm gonna go crazy
here Chargers Bills A throw me out? What do you got?
Oh Monday, I'm Stock was following. I I'm thinking about

(41:47):
the preseason game. Stocks followed down and see College Christians
was on my broe. Let me get that preseason game. Look, uh, Chip,
I'm gonna go Chiefs Brown's I got no problem with it.
Chiefs Brown's Odell Beckham comes back, great offensive line, Baker,

(42:13):
he finally has a legitimate head coach. K NFC. They
got the pieces to play Joe Wood's defense. Joe Wood's
super super super similar to Wave Phillips. You see, he
went and got He went and got Comary John Johnson, Camarre, Troy.
He just got some bodies in his secondary and got
some more cover guys camarre lewsom here man guy Camarre.

(42:33):
He got guys who really hit the description of that
Joe Wood defense. I think that defense gonna be totally
different this year. Let's go to the NFC. UM, you
have to take Tampa simply because they have the best roster.
Seattle is not a complete team. I my my gut

(42:54):
feeling is when cam Akers got hurt, the Rams are
missing a leg on the bar stool. They just don't
have a running game. I'll probably go Seattle Tampa, is
my guest. I don't think Seattle is a complete team.
I still have questions on the interior of the offensive line,
but I do think, you know, I do think Russell

(43:14):
Wilson just wins so many close games. I'd go Seattle Tampa.
What would be your call, Seattle Tampa. HM, get outside
the box a little bit, man, I'm gonna go. I
like that with I think somebody definitely got to represent
in the West. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Tampa, Arizona.

(43:36):
I like Arizona to catch fire man. And you know,
you know it's funny. Last two years, as they were
in a rebuild, Arizona is given the Seahawks, the Rams
and the Niners fits in a total rebuild. They know
how to play them guys, and so so as Okay,
as coach has been over there, right, he went he's

(43:58):
doing good in the division, so you know how to
play his division. And that's that's the most important thing. Man.
Everything come around one year, you would catch fire. As
long as you know how to win in your division,
you're you're in good shape and that's what you're doing. Yeah.
I also think that division could largely be dictated by
who's healthiest. But the healthy team may just win. I

(44:19):
mean it's it's you know, if if Garoppolo goes down
early and Trade has got to play, that's not ideal. Right.
If Dwayne Brown got hurt left tackle for Seattle, that's
a battle line overnight, exactly alright, to keep as as always.
Great stuff, man, God, I appreciate it, all right, buddy,

(44:43):
take care. We have a major announcement Tuesday, very exciting.
I've been looking for somebody for eight nine months. We
found that person. Follow us at the Volume Sports, YouTube,
Twitter and Instagram, rate review and subscribe talk soon the Volume.

(45:43):
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