Camp Check-Ins with Connie Fox

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Be Around the NFL podcast. Always heeds the call, unless
it's Mark calling for him to her real from the
Chris Westling Podcast studio. It's Around the NFL, Dan Hansas
twenty two and a half minute late start here, so
watch out from Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and Yes back

(00:25):
in studio for the first time in too long. The Woman,
the Myth, the Legend, Tiny Box. It's great to be back.
Nothing has changed. I'm not doing good today. I mean,
how is that different than most days? It does feel
a little different though, I physically feel like a train wreck,

(00:48):
and it's it's the thing is that I was feeling
about find about two hours ago, and it's just like
to steady to climb downhill again. We had discussed earlier
today that after today's taping we might do some clerical
work behind the scenes. We've got playing some shows out
do some other. I think we might get another cartoon
feet running out towards the parking lot in the car

(01:09):
appealing out scenario for our colleague Mark. Well for my
well being. Wow, welcome back to the show. You know
it's good to be home, home being the studio like
me in real life. The idea of a nice like relaxing.

(01:31):
Fun time is sitting on the couch, maybe a t
do's with my wife watching something on TV. Yeah, so
I feel about sometimes we go to rams Camp. Great
time at rams Camp, I thought. I like being home.
That's where I like hanging out. I like hanging out
with a couple of friends at home. That's my thing.
I haven't seen you guys at your house in a while.
It's been a minute. Like and when I say your house,

(01:52):
I mean the studio wrestling past. It's been too long.
You've been gallivanting all over training Camp America and you're
going to Minnesota tomorrow, so it's not over yet. How's
it been going, I've been, you've been. We're going to
talk about it in today's show. You've hit uh several
stops already, so we'll get some of your camp takeaways.
But how you doing this travel life? Yeah, it's good.

(02:12):
It's hot, real hot everywhere. A lot of bugs love sweating,
and so it's been super glamorous. I can tell you
that that's good. That's good. By the way, um Me
and Connie announcement. I have an announcement we haven't announced
as teased last week. Um Hard knocks is back this

(02:33):
week covering the Detroit Lines, and for the past ten
years on NFL dot Com, I have handled the weekly
recaps of Hard Knocks. I have passed the reins on
that particular project, but I am not out of the
Hard Knocks game because me and the Tiny Box Connie

(02:53):
Fox will be launching a Hard Knocks podcast. Oh yeah,
I love it. How you like that. It's been a
decade in the making. We have put so much planning
into this. We've really been talking about it for a
very long time. It's kind of true. Five years ago,
I think six years ago, we tried to get some
shadowy League figures to let us do the do it

(03:14):
and I don't know, maybe it was a cloud deficiency
at the time. This time we pitched it, people were
into it, and uh, you don't have to look hard
for it. Listeners if you're interested, because it's gonna drop
right into the A t N feed tomorrow night, every
Tuesday night, the Hard Knocks recap for the next five weeks.
I'm excited and now we can I can listen on

(03:36):
the way into work the next day and not even
watch Hard Knocks. No, of course I'm gonna watch har Knocks.
I love Hard Knocks, but if you don't have time
to watch the test, this year will be can they
keep the audience me uh through the final episode? Because
they do feel like the last couple of seasons my

(03:56):
interest started fading a little bit late in the season.
It's a challenge. Yeah, Dan Campbell, that's a personality enough
to keep a whole season going. That's the last episode
traditionally to me is the most compelling because it's with
the whether you know, speaking of Dan Campbell, this would
be kind of my overall thought heading into this season

(04:16):
or Hard Knocks, that you have to go back to
maybe Rex back in two thousand ten to see such
a clear obvious star of the show at head coach
um and kind of you sent this to me last night.
This is this is again Dan Campbell sounding like completely
like a professional wrestler addressing the crowd at Ford Field
during their scrimmage this week. And this is the guy

(04:38):
that has the chance to be an iconic Hard Knocks star.
Let's listening. I'll tell you what you would give your
code in winter? You would give your coach to somebody
in winter that needed it. Man, That's what this community
is about. However, however, however, nobody will take advantage of
our hospitality, my body. So that's who we're about. That's

(05:00):
what we're about. This team is working the rear off
to give you something to be proud of. All right.
They're grinding it out right now, and I know this.
We are freaking starving. We are starving. So the hyaenas
better get out of the way, all right, ma'am. I

(05:26):
find them very enjoyable. Someone get him a cliff bar
or something like that was still people. Yeah, So that
that shows that Dan Campbell is doing something right. I
don't think Matt Patricia was getting even the brakes and
his cadence. That is how the Rock would address an
audience from the Squared Circle in two thousand one. There's

(05:47):
definitely that vibe in that charisma with Campbell, like Rock
could deliver a speech that was probably half written for him.
Some of that delivery went on went a little south.
I do have a question, Connie, is a big your
big preparation person. You're gonna be doing this right as
the show raps, You're gonna jump on and do How
is the show structured? Is it just going to be

(06:08):
like a diving in here getting the weeds. I love it.
I love it. I don't know, um wondering have been
any discussion about structure. Yeah, you know we're going to
get a screener or working with the people that the
films teams in the film's team is producing obviously Hard Knocks,
and we've been communicating with them, so we'll have our
we'll be able to watch it before the episode airs,

(06:30):
record our podcast, schedule it so it comes out right
as Hard Knocks. He's I'm as excited for the Lions
as I have been for Hard Knocks in a while.
Although I think you ignored one coach who kind of
commanded the center I'm not gonna step on your jokes
screen here and really was the start, and that was
Joe Philbin. I was, though you're gonna say, Mike Smith,

(06:58):
I never know how to say it right. A lot
to get into Greggy has a banger? What is it?
Fifty two? What did you come down with fifty two?
Takeaways takeaways from I don't know, things we've learned this
past weekend. A lot of teams had their scrimmages at
the stadiums and all that stuff, so so takeaways there.

(07:20):
Connie also going to share her I'm gonna call it
camp check ins with within that Realm will also bring
back her old quotable segment with Grave Digger that at
the end. But before that, let's get caught up with
some news. Did you well, hopefully nobody cries around here
because of these sunglasses and you're the best. Thank you,
my friend. It was more of a visual thing I

(07:45):
think doesn't translate as well when it's just your sunglasses.
Had a macho man. He was trying to take a
shot at my sunglasses, which I love those sunglasses, so
I was happy that he was drawing attention to couldn't
I couldn't get enough of that, And thank you to Mark.
I don't know what was going on this weekend, but
so much, so many dispatches about NFL network from you,
whether it was on social media or private text. One

(08:08):
of those one of those weird weekends when Mark was like,
wagh in on our network and he's like, man, this
Sam Mills football, I have really jumping off. Well alright,
So I that's indicator that I did not do much
this weekend. I watched a lot of I sat, I
did what you did, sitting on the couch with your wife,
but with alone watching network television with your wife. That's

(08:31):
been used in the past. You know, that's one of
my favorite Do you have any critiques from what you
saw this past weekend. I don't have critiques. I thought,
like number one, like, I do think the training camp
coverage has gotten better than where we were four or
five years ago. Really, that's a great new I do
put it on a billboard. Watching an incredible amount of

(08:55):
NFL network this month. Um you Sometimes in the past
you've been critical of the I would say forced jocularity.
So maybe there's hasn't been as much as that. It's
been toned down, which I which I appreciate because if
it were at the previous level, I would turn the
television like if you've got Connie involved, like, it's gonna
be great. You can you can handle that. It's sometimes
people outside of their you know, wheelhouse being trying to

(09:19):
be funny. My kids know Connie. They're like, oh, that's
the lady with the dogs, So they know who you are.
I mean, they've seen you more more than a couple
of times. And seriously, Mark, stay away from my wife.
What I'm friends with your with your wife? How close
are you guys, we're friends. There's too many comments to

(09:40):
read into at this point. Graver is really you gotta
keep away from Yeah? Gravers like, hey, just a heads up, guys,
it's my girlfriend's birthday. I'm like really, And then oh yeah,
what's your name again? How did you say it? Justin
you're asking me to say it? Her name is Jessica

(10:00):
Hunt's not how you said it, though you said it
like this, Jessica, there was a real effect to it.
And you're and you're going on a trip with her.
I believe it's that correct. We are this upcoming weekend.
We're going on a little trip, mini vacation before the season.
Jessica slightly romantic. Let's get to the news. The Browns

(10:22):
and Kareem Hunt. Hey, listen, I guess it's progress. We're
not going to talk about the other guy with the Browns,
but still this isn't a great story. Um for the
Browns who have a running back and Cream Hunt, who's
behind Nick Chubb on the depth chart but obviously a
very important player. Um. He is looking for a trade,
he's looking to get out of town. He wants a

(10:42):
fresh start. According to reports, Brown's head coach Kevin Stefanski
um not happy about Hunt staging a hold in during
the first week of training camp. And uh, that's because Hunt,
I guess he is looking to move on Mark He's
got one more year on his deal. But it doesn't
seemed like the Browns have a lot of reason to
move them at this time. They're not trading him. I

(11:03):
mean they he's back at practice. They basically shut the
whole thing down and find him and he's working again.
And to me, it's absurd, like, first of all, how
much money are you supposed to dedicate to your running
back room. They they have a great backup in Deernest Johnson,
who who in two games last year showed up and
showed well, and they've given Nick Chobb a bunch of
money and so Kareem Hunt is out of luck on

(11:24):
this one. He also, you know, sorry, but he missed
nine games last year. He wasn't that productive for them,
and it's like he's not an indispensable player. They will
move on and find a younger running back if they
need to know. This was the most unsuccessful holding in
hold in history. He started it because it's really only
a couple of years old. The holding and Uh. He
started it on Friday. Uh. He was back to practice

(11:45):
on Monday because they immediately started finding him. They said,
we're not going to trade you, we're not going to
give you a raise either. He brought he went into
the g MS office. And after this, literally two days
after the Deshaun Watts and appeal uh was uh filed
by the league. It's like hello, like the Brown City,

(12:07):
just hey, we've got something that's like a little more important. Oh,
by the way, we're the ones that saved your career
when you missed eight games because of domestic violence because
you were on video kicking and pushing a woman. And
then on top of that, this is the thing where
it's where I think it got crazy. And someone was like,
just go back to work. He's eighth in running back

(12:30):
pay this year. He's a backup running back making six
point to five million dollars. If for some reason they
were upset and they said like we're just gonna cut you,
he would not make that money back. He's not getting
more money as a guy who had seventy carries last year,
coming off injuries and has a leak suspension, And like
I had some people say it's like, well, you got

(12:51):
you know, you gotta get over that. That's the old news. Like,
he's at a bigger risk because if he does anything
again of being suspended for the entire year, so of
course that effect it's like his future pay. And I
think the Browns probably told him all of this and
he quickly just went this holden crumbled so fast it
almost didn't even have enough time to develop into a

(13:11):
real story. I like it, though it's buttoned up now
by the time we even talked about it. That's true,
but like it's also one of the most running back
friendly offenses. When you consider the quarterback situation, they're going
to have to lean on the running game so much
so he's gonna have plenty of opportunities to prove himself
that he can get paid. So as long as he
doesn't get hurt, I mean for next year. As long

(13:32):
as he doesn't get hurt, then he's going to be
in good shape. He's been hurt a lot too. Well yeah,
all right, uh and other news rap sheet reported that
Baker Mayfield has the inside track to win the Panthers
starting quarterback job. That a report service out there that
the Panthers are maybe looking to move Sam Donald, the
incumbent in a deal. Whether or not that's legit, we

(13:55):
don't know. But it was a big enough story that
the quarterback and the head coach UH were asked about it.
Here's what Matt Rule said about the idea of potentially
shopping Sam Donald with Baker Mayfield in the house That
was obviously mentioned to me. I haven't had any those conversations. So,
you know, we're in the middle of a quarterback battle.
I assume along with quarterback battles, things like that are

(14:16):
going to be said. But there's nothing that Nothing that's
been said to me by Scott or anybody that we're
in that that's Scott as in Scott Fitter or the GM.
Donald acknowledged that he approached his GM and said, is
this legit? So is there smoke fire here? I don't know, Greg,
but Baker looks like he's in the driver's It's sort
of a fascinating window into like our media culture, though,

(14:37):
because it was from a radio reporter who does some
national stuff but in denver Um that's that's kind of
throws a lot of reports out there. But eventually it
got back to Sam Darnal. I hadn't even heard about
their It got to Sam Darna because someone was probably
blowing up his Twitter account or socials, and then he
ends up talking to the general manager and it becomes
more of a story. I think Sam Darna probably knows

(14:59):
where he is right now, and that's um being a
backup this year. Ian Rappaport said at Panther's camp, he
thinks it's it's Baker's job to lose because Baker's even
though they're splitting reps evenly, so far, Baker's shown more
high level plays. And and here's the way it was
explained to me, said Ian, is that Mayfield has more ability.

(15:20):
The wild plays, the splash plays have been more towards Mayfield,
So he's pulling away in this. And what are you
gonna get for Sam Donald in a trade if that
was even possibly uh nonfiction bag of spoons. I'm not
sure what you're gonna get for sandor who needs Maybe
maybe it is something where they if they can just
get rid of them for like a conditional seventh thing. Yes,
some of the salary you want. Who's going to buy

(15:42):
him though? At this point, because you also have Jimmy
g floating around out there, so you have him, and
then also Donald's gonna make eighteen point eight million the
season on the fifth year option that for some reason
they picked up, which was adiotic when it happened. So
I don't know what his marketing is. So what they
would do is sort of do the reverse Mayfield. They're

(16:03):
like paying Mayfield only five million, and they the Browns
are paying ten, and they would just say, look, we'll
pay fifteen of Donald's eighteen million. Just take them. Because
they do have a rookie quarterback. They're back Corald. They
do have p J. Walker, who is is probably as
valuable as Sam Donald for what it's worth is to

(16:23):
a no as as the Panther starters, and at least
could be a second or third guy. I wonder if
the forty Niners are going to have to end up
cutting Jimmy so then he's just going to be floating
around out there. They don't have any cap they're gonna
hold onto Jimmy g until after final cuts. I think
they're just hoping for the landscape to go dark somewhere
where they suddenly need a quarterback that's like a twenty

(16:44):
five and a half million dollar capit. I think there'll
be a similar thing as Donald where if they could
find a mid to late round pick they I think
the Hill he's more right, He's even more likely to
be cut though the Jimmy G thing, I believe. UH.
Landscape turning dark? How about this podcast because we're going
into the Bearcave wide receiver issues for the Bears. First

(17:13):
up Byron Pringle may Or may not be ready for
a week one he has a quad injury. There's no
timetable for a return. And then nikkil Harry, who is
acquired in a trade with the Patriots UH this weekend,
suffered a potentially serious an ankle injury. I think it's
been ruled a high ankle sprain. So you know that
is never good. So for a team that doesn't have

(17:35):
a ton of depth really anywhere um on offense, this
is not a good sign for Justin Fields in year two. No,
And I feel so bad for nikkil Harry, whatever you
think of him, It just it stinks for him because
he kept talking about how he was looking forward to
this being a fresh start and all of the good
vibes there and it was a really nice reset for him.

(17:56):
And this Bears wide receiver room just keeps taking it
after hit there down three of their top four wide
receivers their rookies day to day, but Byron Pringle, Um
Mattie Berflus, I learned his nickname is Fluce, so now
I just want to keep calling him Fluce. Fluce did
say he thought that he'd be able to recover in
time for that Week one game against San Francisco. UM,

(18:19):
but who knows what the quad injury UM. But it's
such a shame when you look at this young quarterback,
justin Fields, who's trying to this year take some type
of step because last year was a disaster with the
coaching staff and the scheme that I don't even think
was really built for him at all. And now he's
having all of his wide receivers go down. So you

(18:41):
have Darnell Mooney and then who right, And that was
the case even when they were healthy. I always this
was one of my fifty one. Uh well, you know
what I realized is one of them was how Jamis
Winston was healthy. So we gotta pull that. Pull that
out of there. You're not going to go with an
even fifty, right. I like the odd number. I like

(19:03):
the strange numbers. That just feels better. Like when I
set an alarm in the morning and it's always like six,
it just feels I can only do five or zero.
I swear I can't do it. So one of the
points was, you know, over the weekend, at one point,

(19:24):
Justin Fields is dropping back to past and so of
course it's the first team. He's taking all the first
team reps and his three receiver set was Chris Finky,
Nassimbie Webster, and Isaiah COULTI Okay, who are the real players?
Because and this is it's one of those points that
I don't expound on it beyond that, but you sort
of feel bad because these are young men who are professionals,

(19:46):
who've gotten to the highest level of the NFL. But essentially,
I'm just by listing their name, I'm kind of making
the point that this is a disaster. I feel to
feel guilt about it. Are you in bed when your
alarm goes off at six? Seven times? This mean my insight?
Does it hurt the humans involved? Cult? And Chris Fink?

(20:08):
But yes, I'm not familiar with those guys who was
yelling new Simba Webster, Simber Webster, Chris Finkey and Isaiah Culty.
They definitely sound like names of Mark made out. They
also have Kevin Shaw, who made a couple really nice catch. Okay,
they got Darnell Mooney and they're probably was taking the
day off. Okay. Speaking of which injury round up, Yes,
Jamis Winston tweaked his foot. Adam Schefter later reported that

(20:30):
was a rolled ankle and practice keep an eye on that.
He's of course coming back from the a c L
tear um, but doesn't appear to be too serious. But again,
Winston such an important part of what the Saints. You're
trying to do? Uh, Speaking of important parts of what
teams are trying to do. McKay Beckton, the former first
round pick of the Jets, uh slated to be the
starting right tackle. He had some type of lower leg

(20:52):
injury in practice on Monday. He's headed for an MRI.
I Jets fans holding their breath on that one. The
guy doesn't seem to be able to stay healthy. And
Ravens first round pick center Tyler Linderbaum that dreaded Harlett.
That's scorpion woman Liz Frank on the scene. Hopefully not
one of the type of Liz Frank injuries that ruins

(21:13):
the season. But the Ravens once again coming off summer
in two thousand where injuries essentially blew up their season
for it started. In some ways, this would not be
something you want to have your first round pick out
of the picture when he needs valuable raps. So they
were counting on him as much as anyone is counting
on a rookie lineman around at this point. It's not

(21:33):
it's it's a sprain, not a rupture, according to Mike Garifolo,
which is good. This was the linder Bomb had a
liszt Frank injury in college too at Iowa, but he
also recovered from that to become the highest graded PFF
center in the history of PFF. So I think he's
like the perfect Raven if he's healthy. I mean, they
they had a great draft and he is exactly what

(21:54):
they need. Makes the perfect Raven. Because he's hurt, well,
that's that's a that's a newer trend. I see where
you're for the most part this um Greg's like, oh
he's a human No, no, no, no. When I've been
reading their reports and like, are the Ravens gonna like
be devastated this year? And for the most part they've
been mostly healthy. I think is Vince Biegel on their team.

(22:14):
I think he's out for the season, was going to
be like reserve linebacker. But for the most part, they've
been healthy. But you're right, linder Bomb. They were going
to change their offense for him because what he, you know,
kind of like Creed Humphrey change the Chiefs offense in
a way like linder Bomb is a zone blocking, get
him out in space, Jason Kelsey type of guy, and
that's very much not what the Ravens have done before.
And Greg Roman kind of talked about, look, we we

(22:36):
drafted him because we want to do what he does best,
and we're going to add to the mix, like become
a little different on in the running game just because
of linder Bombs would be a big loss. I hate
to hear the Liz Frank name. I don't like when
it comes up. It scares me. I know that I
shouldn't be scared of it, but it's just something that happens.
It's a real thing, you know, it's good. I finally

(22:58):
understand where the segment was going considering earlier in Can
I Apologize? I want to apologize to Colleen because because
in the initial rundown. I had accidentally put Texans first
round pick Liz Frank and literally it sent Colleen for
a spin emotionally and mentally that she didn't recover from

(23:20):
until like seconds before we started the show. Put it twice,
like how many Google searches do I have to do
here to figure out what the hell the story? And
because it was, this was why I was concerning. And
I know that we discussed this before the show, but
the Texans first round pick Derek did have a list franquarter,

(23:42):
so I was like looking for trench and updates and
there's nothing from like like two weeks, like they think
he'll be ready for week one. It's like, why are
we discussing this in news? I can't tell you how
much time I wasted trying to find the story that
was not a story today. Sorry, I threw a Molotov
cocktail into the pre show back on the ship to
be back and let's stick with the Ravens because this

(24:06):
is one bit of news that can't slip by us. Tucker.
It would be the longest in NFL history. If it's
good a sixty six yard try. Tucker's kick is on
the way. It is this Groff bar and in blubbles
through the time has expired. That was Sandy Tucker who
they field goal in NFL history. That Harry is in

(24:29):
a part and it's may have on the field. Bang
Ravens signed Justin Tucker to a four year, twenty four
million contract extension, seventeen and a half million guaranteed for
a kicker. Yeah, but this is not just any kicker.
This is Justin mother effing Tucker. Seven All pros and

(24:53):
ten seasons, including five times First team. That's more than
Morton Anderson Jon Stener Rude, who are both Hall of Famers.
He's in the Superstar Club for a reason, and now
he's paid better than any kicker ever, And that makes sense.
I think you're Superstar club inclusion might have um prompted

(25:15):
the business time I got him a couple of extra
zeros on the contract. Probably not, but if it did,
that would be a career highlight. I love Justin touch.
I'd sign him to a fifteen year contract. I just like,
let's see how old is Justin Tucker. He's probably about
thirty two. Now, I mean how many he's to me?
Hall of Famer? He's thirty two. He turns thirty three

(25:35):
in November. Unless you get things go off the rails
in a horrific way. I would like argue if he
continues this for a couple more years, Greg, I think
he's first ballot Hall of Fame and people need to
use him as the president. I think so. I mean,
he's a better I don't think there's much argument against
him as the best kicker in NFL history. Like if

(25:56):
he retired now, so, I think you're right, he'll be
in no a doubter. And that's why you know. I
saw this money, and you're really happy for Justin Tucker,
and it's like, oh, the Ravens are teams, special teams,
and like this is all great, the richest kicker ever.
But then you look at the contract and Justin Tucker
and his family will be taken care of for the
rest of their lives. I don't feel bad for them,
but I just started like thinking about other NFL players

(26:18):
and what they make, and I quickly just looked for
who's making six million dollars a year on a medium term,
long term deal, and I found three quick names. Recently,
um Mark Glowinski offensive guard I would say a mid
level guard. I believe with the chance now Ted Carriss

(26:39):
kind of a journeyman. Uh interior alignment with and and
a receiver I like a lot. So this is no shade.
But Braxton Barrios, who's a nice receivers, probably the fourth
receiver projects down six million a year. He's just saying it.
I mean, are they winning and losing games? Like? Justin
an incredible value? Who knows where the Ravens would be

(27:01):
in the last ten years without Justin Tucker, but I
will I'll say that. I wonder if he ever hit
the open market, if it would be a situation. I
wonder if he thought about that. I love it here,
my family set up here. The Ravens have always taken
care of me. But I wonder what kind of bidding
would go on Justin tell a lot of bidding. And
maybe it's not about the money for him. Where it

(27:25):
stuff They're like, well, kickers have never made this much, this,
that and the other. And it's like, well, it's a
the kind of thing where you um, his agent would
agitate many other agents if suddenly Justin Tucker's kicking salary
was three times more than any other kid. Think the
agents would love it. I think other teams would be like,
what are you doing in the market in the market place.

(27:46):
If he got a out of this world contract, he
is an outlier. I feel like that would be understood anyway.
Speaking of the Ravens, they have that our favorite streak
in the in the world uh professional football, twenty consecutive
preseason wins, which is totally bonkers and doesn't make any

(28:07):
sense even for a team that Oh, the Ravens try
to win. So many things have to fall into place
to win twenty consecutive preseason games. Guess who's up first
on Thursday when they continue hope to can extend that
all time preseason streak. You heard it, the Grave Diggers
team the Titans. I mean, I know, I know they're

(28:29):
not a division rival, but I know there's talking that
building with Mike Rabel. They would love to take down
what is like the the equivalent of football of Joe
DiMaggio's fifty six game hitting streak. Can it be done?
Can the Titans do it? If anyone can do it?
I feel like the Titans might be well positioned because
when all the third fourth stringers are on the field,

(28:51):
the Titans at least have Malik Willis probably closing the game.
And even if he can't do a whole lot, he's
gonna run around and be exciting. So the Titans and
the Ravens have a rivalry that goes back historically. Mike
Vrabel and John Harbaugh almost fought on a on like
the would he would love to take that history is rich.

(29:14):
It is just so I hope, I don't know. We'll see.
Hopefully Malik Willis can make some plays and make it
a game. It is bizarre. I mean, I've been going
through some old preseason box scores of of like when
this streak started, and at one point the Ravens are
winning games with fad Lewis, Josh Woodrum, and Ryan Mallett
as their quarterbacks. But they just find a way to
unbelievable and they broke the Vince Lombardi Packers record. And

(29:36):
you know Lombardi, he's an always playing bart star every snap.
You know, that was the whole different world like this.
This is so much stranger than whatever the Packers did
in the sixties and seventies or whatever. Does Jessica watch
a game like this with you when it has this
much meaning? She will actually probably watch with me On
Thursday Hey guys, one thing before we get the show going. Uh,

(29:58):
it's my girlfriend's birthday, Jessica. It is a gross exaggeration
of how that happened. We can only whisper her name. Now.
All right, we'll take a break and then we're gonna
do uh some check ins on Greg's fifty one takeaways
and Connie's Camp chickens up next. Don't look about Connie.

(30:24):
Where do we go? Like I think I wrote this
down Bucks, Rams, Broncos. You went to the Bengals, But
you also said that was so long ago you don't
remember it anymore. Is that correct? Pretty much? So we're
not going to hold you to that was the first
camp at this point, it's a little blurry like there
there was a lot of hotels, a lot of plane rides,
a lot of camps, a lot of stuff to remember,
so memory not your strength, No wonder why um what

(30:49):
about fans? A ton a ton of fans. I love
the listeners of the show. They're the best. They are
the nicest across the board, and that's always been the case.
But at all of the camps there have been a
t n listeners there. Even when I did something in
d C with Micole Hardman and players from Bayron Munich

(31:13):
the soccer team. And when I was there, one of
the guys that works at the stadium or does pr
for someone there, his name is Taylor, and he wanted
me to say hello. He's such a big fan. So yeah,
shout out to all of the A t N listeners.
Now are you getting recognized in airports NonStop? When you're
going getting a lot of CONTI foxes, which I love

(31:35):
any tiny boxes, tiny boxes, boxes, don't don't yell that
out that like that people yell that out from the
crowd just because I feel laugh though, police if you
if you talk to her private, I just feel like
that could confuse a lot of people and it makes
you uncomfortable, but not not apparently nothing. I went to

(31:58):
a concert and only what I'm Friday with my Bob.
We saw Sam Fender, who's like an up and coming
British rock guy, and we got there yeah, and I
was like, oh, man, you noticed in this venue that
at the fund of theater a lot of Brits are
there And I was like, okay, Like our throwback pot
has a lot of like overseas listeners. It's Sam Fender,
A lot of people came over to see him in

(32:19):
a small venue as opposed to watching him in the
seven throw Glastonbury. I'm setting the over under two and
a half for a t N listeners being here. Within
thirty seconds I turned around, there was a guy right
in front of me with his wife, very nice. Talk
to him intermittently throughout the evening the performance. Two more
people and the we hit the over, hit the over.

(32:40):
They're everywhere now. I like that. Cots knew you guys.
Did the large man like follow you around the venue? No? No,
it was just like a general admission scenario and we
had a good spot on the stage, like one more point.
Don that happens sometimes. The guy that was outside of

(33:02):
Elmo's at the Combine was my favorite, just completely took
his attention away from everything else. You have that effect
on people. County congratulation. Thank you, Thank you. All right,
let's get into it. Do you want to share it
before we get to Greg's top fifty one? Do you
want to share something from one of the camps, maybe

(33:23):
foots on the ground. I think your your notes are
going to be better. So the most recent place I
was I was at the RAMS on this past Saturday. Um,
and I know that you guys had Allen Robinson on
the pod. That was a great interview. I was cracking
up Mark when you asked him if him and Stafford
just like look at each other sometimes and are like
they we're way better off at this point. Yeah, it's

(33:44):
got to be real, Um. But he caught a beautiful
no look pass from Stafford on Saturday. It was right
behind us UM where we were doing the show. Cooper
Cup raved about him afterwards, so they obviously love him.
It's not hard to see how he's going to be
amazing in this all offense. But Leonard Floyd Um was
another guy that we talked to on defense who he's

(34:06):
going to have an interesting role in the past rush
considering von Miller isn't there anymore. And I feel like
his journey is one that people don't really talk about
a lot because he was cut by the Bears. He
signed a one year deal with the Rams. He delivered,
then he got a really nice pay day and won
the Super Bowl. So his last two seasons have been
the best of his career. He has twenty sacks and

(34:26):
the last two seasons combined, and he had offseason ankle
surgery this past year. It was something that had bothered
him all season. He had played through it, so now
he's healthy. I think he's going to play a big
role in that pass rush. But there was a hilarious
exchange when we were talking to him because m j
D was NonStop talking about his rams super Bowl ring

(34:49):
all day long. So I asked him how important m
j D was to their super Bowl run and Floyd's
response was that he didn't know m j D worked
for the team, and that really just made everything so
worth I took it down a peg, I assume, yeah,
but in terms of like that he's the best, He's

(35:12):
so much hard to where he could take that. Oh
he was. He was not happy about it. And then
and then Floyd was like, well, my ring is bigger
than yours. And Jenny was like, we got the same ring,
it's the same size. Is that true? Yeah, because we
had J B Long who was at the same ring.
J's partner on the radio. That's pretty cool that you
get the same ring. O. Yeah, they don't give you,

(35:33):
like would be that respect that would make sense, like
if you're you're on the coaching staff. Hell, even within
the team. I think Matthew Stafford's ring should be way
bigger than I don't know, like John Wolford The Bachelor,
like that would be Aaron Donald's rings should be you
could see it from space. I could see a lot

(35:54):
of hard feelings there, but not as big as you know.
It just keeps guys hungry. Sometimes you hear about, oh
this idea, Well, they want a title and they got
soft not if your ring sucks, nothing would push them
to do to achieve more. I worry about their pastors.
They're They're one of those teams that there's some good

(36:14):
teams where everything is like set, Like the Bengals have
no position battles for instance, going on. There's just a
few really boring camps because there's not much to be settled.
The Vikings, weirdly are one of them. The Rams have
open spots, is my point. Like Floyd has the one
and a total question mark of who's going to kind
of be their other addressers. All right, that's good, and
by the way, I I still think there's a little

(36:36):
more to the Stafford thing that everybody is trying to
chill everybody out. UM with the elbow situation. Um with
Stafford on Friday when we were there, talk to somebody
high up with the team off Mike and he kind
of laughed it off, is nothing. Then Sean McVeigh after
Stafford through in Saturday's practice said he will sleep better.
Why would you say you sleep better if it everyone says, oh,

(36:59):
this is no. They don't know. No one really knows,
You're right. I think it's a little bit more of
an issue than they want publicly people to let on,
and hopefully it doesn't. I thought, you know, saying that
he's never dealt with an injury like this, it's more
of a baseball thing, but that, like, I think it's
a wait and see the situation that could be more
concerning than six the ardor and that was I think
what McVeigh was specifically answering was like, Oh that was that.

(37:21):
I think it's more of just a pain tolerance thing
to not necessarily something that's going to affect how he throws,
just how he deals with the pain when he does throw.
This sounds to me like it's been a situation that
they've dealt with for a while, at least Stafford has
for a while. And I think the reason they knew
about it when they're hoping for relief with there, and

(37:45):
they didn't get it. We're not gonna We're not gonna
see Stafford obviously in the preseason. We're not going to
see according to the l A Times John Wolford either.
So this is just a little quiz your depth chart knowledge.
Who would be get in line to get snaps for
the Rams? No, looking at your laptop, Greg, I got it,
but I give it about Bryce Perkins. I was there
for the last year's preseason opener and Perkins played the

(38:08):
whole time basically, And how does your mind work? A
memory effected? Yeah, I mean it is, but it contains
got the rock. What do you give me a fifty one?
Give me one of the fifty one? What's your favorite one? Well,
not favorite, but I think the juiciest one we haven't
discussed on this show is the whole Patriots idea that

(38:32):
they're really going through with, like installing this zone blocking
scheme that after after twenty one years, Charlie Weiss arrives,
you could really go back to the mid eighties with
Ron Earhart and Bill Belichick will talk about it when
they installed this offense for Phil Simson and other players
on the Giants but with the Patriots, you can go

(38:52):
back twenty one years to the offense Charlie Weiss installed.
They've been running that offense since. In terms of the
running game, it's like like a power power running game, uh,
where you're taking up the blockers. Now they see what's
going on around the league. They lose Josh McDaniels, who's
a fantastic offensive coordinator, and there was like this kind

(39:14):
of whispers like, oh, we're gonna start installing this zone
blocking scheme in the off season, but people weren't really
sure if they meant it um and the Patriots weren't
talking about it because they don't talk about anything. Fast
forward to this training camp and anyone watching the Patriots
on a daily basis is saying they didn't just like
tweaked the old offense. They ripped it up. They started

(39:37):
from scratch, and it's going horribly that mac Jones looks
out of sync. He looks uncomfortable. The most um telling
quote Tom Current pointed out, and this is why Curran's
the best. That just sort of as an aside, Mac
Jones said at one point in his press conference that
he was getting his feet wet in the new offense,
and it's like, oh, wait, we didn't totally know you

(39:59):
had a new offense, and wait, why is Mac Jones
getting his feet wet? Also, they were a top ten
scoring team with a rookie quarterback and a pretty lackluster
group around him. They were a very effective offense last
year considering they had a rookie quarterback, primarily because of
their running game, and um, he ripped it all up.
And oh, by the way, it's gonna be Matt Patricia

(40:21):
and Joe freaking Judge. That's like, that's installing it and
I was trying to It's just it's what a rippled
trickle down effect from losing Josh McDaniels, because none of
this would be happening and you'd be, you know, enveloping
Matt Jones with a great offensive coordinator. And now instead
you have the hubris of the Patriots to think, we'll

(40:41):
just install Matt Patricia as an untitled play caller. That's
who's in, Like, how does he know how to install? Like, well,
why is it fine? Sean? No, I don't think it
is fine. I think, well, no, that's not fine either.
You're right, But if they were running the same offense,
I feel like maybe that can work. You have Belichick
running it, you have the institution, and maybe maybe it's

(41:04):
all work in the end. But it is a huge
departure from their gap heavy sort of power rushing attack
which was the core of their offense. And these are
the guys installing know exactly where this is going. It
might work out in the end, but managed to a
very important story. This is just another version of oh
my god, what are the Patriots doing? They have no
idea what they're doing. And I mean talk to me

(41:26):
in like November, because the Patriots always end up starting
a little slow anywhere angle. I think they are a
huge obviously, they represent a huge question mark in the
A f C entering the season, and it does seem
to point to if you're getting the Patriots on the schedule,
and this is kind of how it always has been,
like get him in September and into October because there
probably will be some bumps and bruises for this team

(41:49):
trying to figure things out right now. But again also
with Patricia, yeah it's the play caller, but things if
things are going poorly and the boss thinks it's Patricia
playing a role, well, Elichick is gonna call plays. He's
gonna take practices where he has right And I think
if this zone blocking scheme is going poorly, he might
just rip that up and give up. Why are they doing?

(42:10):
That's what I would think. But current Bill Belichick thinks
it's better for the Patriots. I think the personnel that's
the thing that's confusing. They have these big offensive lineman
that on paper fit the old scheme better. Oh when
you certainly Trent Brown to me that you know they

(42:31):
drafted Isaiah Win with this other scheme in mind, then
they draft call Strange and that was sort of like
a a tip off to where they were going. Who's
maybe gonna fit better in like a zone scheming. Current
thinks that belichicks into deep that that basically he thinks
this is gonna be better for the organization in the
really long run, and that if they have to stink,
even for a season or whatever, it's gonna be that

(42:53):
he felt like, basically they were running this old attack
and the league has changed, and this was the change
he wanted to see and that he's gonna stick with it.
But Greg Bdard, who has watched every Patriots practice forever,
was like this was the worst practices I have seen
in my life, with maybe the exception of the Cam
Cameron Dolphins, is that is it worth it to put

(43:14):
Mac Jones through that? Just in his second year in
the league, when he said, young, how many voices are
in his head right now? To calling plays when you're
used to just one Josh McDaniels and you guys have
a rhythm, and now all of a sudden, there's like
three different voices and three different personalities. It reminds me
of what bad teams do, where it's like you had
you had the best rookie quarterback a year ago, and

(43:37):
you've found a way to muddle it up and remove
all momentum. I think I'm the only one. Not really,
I'm not paying I'm not freaking out as much as
like I find it fascinating, because I do find the
excellent fascinating is one thing, But team is not disorganized.

(43:57):
It was a calculated move and they sort of used
the mc annuals departure for him to do something he
wanted and it I I don't question his bona fides,
but it's dramatic considering they've they've literally been running out
of that old playbook and some capacity for twenty one years.
I'm just saying it's one of the Belichick even with

(44:18):
Brady there, sometimes it took time for them to figure
things out. And maybe it's a little more rocky this year,
or maybe even a lot more rocky. But I think
come November, I think they're going to be in the
mix for the wild card. They could be in the
mix for the division. Um. I think there's a lot
of like idea that the Patriots are gonna be terrible
this year because some of these things going on. I

(44:38):
think there's a better chance that they figure it out.
By the time it counts, they'll probably win nine games
or ten games. I don't have an issue with that.
I just something about the whole Matt Patricia and come
back home things that they've dealt with. It is unusual
to me, all right, Connie, what else? Okay? So, also
two little random things on the ground with Tampa. So

(45:02):
I don't know if you guys saw this, but Mike
Evans before he um hurt himself, he is a huge
Harry Potter fan, so much so that he got a
Harry Potter tattoo, a pretty sizeable Harry Potter tattoo. On
his calf this off season, which I was with Steve
Smith Sr. In Tampa and we were asking him, like,

(45:25):
you know, Harry Potter hasn't really come out with anything
new in a while, So what prompted you this particular
off season to go with the tattoo? He loves Harry Potter.
He said, he watches it every day and that's how
he falls as That's how he falls asleep every night
putting on a little HP. That is the last thing

(45:46):
that I would want in my ear as I was
falling asleep. He said a little He said that that's
a direct quote little HP. He was so funny about it.
He was great. And then we also talked to Leonard
for Nett, who had a lot of fun about all
of the trash everyone was talking about him coming into
camp overweight. Um. He laughed a lot about it. But

(46:09):
he also, I don't know if you guys saw this,
there was a clip floating around on social of him
brushing his teeth on the sideline at practice, and so
we were asking him about that and he told us
that he has about right now Ballpark, about forty toothbrushes
in his locker. So I tried to get into the

(46:29):
weeds on that a little bit more to to find
out why. But I was getting wrapped, So there is
some intrigue there as to why he has My father
in law is a retired dentist. I'm gonna ask him
when is it too much in terms of brushing. I
would imagine you would run into potential enamel issues if
you're repeatedly scrubbing, you know. I think I would be

(46:52):
more concerned about gums, like gum recession, you know what.
So wait, the NFL network decided that wasn't not a
interesting enough We had been talking to him for a while.
This was at the end of the interview, um, and
so he was just going on and on about how
important mouth hygiene is. Um. He's like, by the way,
there was a break. Yeah. So those were two little

(47:16):
things from Bucks. I get I'm in the lead. I'm
in the weeds a little bit like things like Harry
Potter and Lord of the Rings. But I understand it's
it's incredibly meaningful of those franchises to people. I don't
know anything about Potter about a giant tattoo on the
calf for a thirty year old man. But at the
same time, I was seeing like, is there a point

(47:36):
he gets older, maybe he ends up having a family
where he feels differently about Harry Potter. But I think
the answer is probably no. If he's this in at
this point, he's got I don't know if he has children,
but I'm sure he's excited to introduce the Harry Potter franchise,
maybe the books. I mean, if it makes him, I'm
sure every day that he sees it, it makes him happy.
Who's to be graduated? Jason LTE's son, uh uh? The

(48:00):
Bucks GM His son was there waiting for an autograph
from Mike Evans and so we brought him over during
the interview, and Mike Evans and and us we were
asking him if he knows anything about Harry Potter. He's
a young kid, little kid. I had no idea of
what it was. Mark, do you want to throw out
a nug from Greg's right up there? You number nineteen?

(48:25):
Is this the old number nineteen? Or that's a good question.
Not since the Texans Tyler Linde mom drama has something
gotten so confusing Rocky Morning, Um, this is so predictable

(48:45):
to me. I can't believe that this is happening. We
already didn't know what was gonna happen. Carson Wentz is
struggle leading camp with its accuracy to the point where
Ron Rivera is having to openly discuss it and say
that they're not thrilled with how he's playing. I mean,
it's just like you went out and heat steeked this
quarterback when the market was still wide open to go
in a number of different directions. And Carson Wentz has

(49:07):
been a hot mess in multiple venues years in a row,
and now he's in Washington struggling, big surprise. And I
think it's notable because the other side is he's having
a great camp. He's really picking up. It's like he's
standing out to what what was the one of the
defensive players was chasing him out of bounds and yelling
at get rid of it, get rid of it, right
because he was like he was outside the pocket in

(49:28):
a normal play. Manta Sweat is chasing him. He's gonna
get the sack on the play, and it's saying get
rid of it, get rid of it, like don't go
out of bounds because you're gonna take a seven yard lost.
But Wentz did not get rid of it. It's just
I've seen this play so many times, so I know
how the movie ends. It's great. They've also been missing
three of their starting offensive lineman almost the whole time.
Curtis Samuel has been in and out. But it Wentz

(49:50):
doesn't necessarily pass that. I feel like they're the baseline
test of an NFL quarterback is like, when you're protected
in a game, can you deliver? Because almost all of
him camp, like Daniel Jones to me, for instance, passes that. Like,
if you're just protected, Baker certainly passed it. If you're protected,
can you just deliver? That's sort of the baseline. And
like Wentz is doing this against air, it's not against

(50:12):
the pass rush. It's not not even when when they
have well, at least he's a ferocious team leader. I mean,
it's just as poorly every single team. The reporters are like, well,
the defense is crushing the offense. So that is every camps,
every time, the defense is always ahead of the offense,
except for Jared goff Like they just like Jared goff is.

(50:35):
But with Wentz, it's like the main thing coming out
of camp is that he is consistently inconsistent, and that
has been his entire career. I mean up until that
seventeen year when he got hurt. He was really good.
Before that, you could see the flashes and they boom.
I can't believe we have to watch Jared Goff again
on a high profile NFL Films documentary series. That's part

(50:59):
of it is And I think you might have rams
all or Nothing, RAMS twenty all or nothing rams and
now are hard knocks Rams and now somehow impossibly almost
two thousand lines. It's not Goff's fault in a way,
It's just that there was so much. He's not the

(51:22):
most dynamic presence, but they have a lot of other
personality on him. Let's hope Williams has a huge personality.
I think he's going to be a star on the show.
Like at this point in the NFL Films crew, Like
there has to be multiple people in that crew that's
getting invited to Goff's wedding. They have to be close
at that. They have spent a lot of times, all right,

(51:42):
give us another Camp Chicken. So for the Colts, um,
I feel like I'm really high on the Colts And
I don't know if it's just because I ended up
like spending a little bit more time with them or not.
But Frank Reich, he is over the moon with um
Matt Mattie. I was going to call hi, Matt Ryan.

(52:03):
This is all connected directly to Carson Wentz by the
way too, because they didn't wait to get him out
of the building. So anybody that comes in they're gonna
be happy about. But then when it's a former m
v P and a potential Hall of Famer, it was
put it this way, not to talk of you. I'm
gonna throw it right back to this was a perfect
um storm for Matt Ryan lovin this summer. Oh you know,

(52:23):
no question about it. And all I've heard from the
team is just how intense Matt Ryan has been since
coming in, just taking taking over that like leadership role,
teaching everyone NonStop like everyone absolutely loves him. And also
the fact that Frank Reich finally got Reggie Wayne on
the staff. This was something that Frank Reich had been

(52:46):
trying for for years. He said that he probably called
Reggie like fifty times to come and be the wide
receivers coach. So now Reggie's there, and they really love
their rookie Alec Pierce out of Cincinnati. He's fast, he's
got good hands, he can catch those balls. And this
is an offense where Michael Pittman Jr. He really emerged

(53:07):
as the number one target last year. So now if
they can get something out of Alec Pierce, I think
that he could play a big role in this offense.
Paris Campbell, Well, it's like Paris Campbell season. Uh. You
hope that the injuries don't happen again. Maybe they don't
this year. But this is like when I think about
this offense with Matt Ryan, the fact that he's never

(53:28):
had a run game like this, this is one of
the best offensive lines he's probably had. Also, something that
I found out at camp it is not pronounced Bobby
o greeky. He is going with a more traditional Nigerian pronunciation,
so it's bobby Okayricka. That's news you can use exactly. Yeah,

(53:56):
Shack leonard Um. I asked the Forest Buckner like if
it was weird. Uh. He was like, no, We've all
been calling him shock and so it really wasn't like
that big of a deal for us. But he was
like the okayackay thing through me. He's like, because I
usually like greet him in the parking lot every day
and say, oh, go Ricky, and he's like, so, now

(54:16):
I can I gotta like change that up a little bit,
all those all those times, like a tear was going
down his cheeks. He decided this year. But um, I
did find it interesting that like their their schedule, they
haven't won a season opener since the Colts that always

(54:38):
start really slow and they play I think it's the
Texans and then the Jags on the road first this year,
so like getting a fast start, so they're not in
the situation that they were in last year where they
needed to win one of their you know, two last
games to actually make the playoffs. If they can get
a fast start, then that would be nice because then
their home openers against the Chiefs week three, they might

(55:00):
they might have Shaquille Leonard. That to me is more
concerning than the change. He's hurt. And I think you
mentioned Pierce as a starter. They're gonna have a couple
of rookie starters. Sounds like Nick Cross, like a third
round rookie safety has just been one of those guys
that they say like immediate day one starter, which you
do not necessarily expect that of a third round pick.
They had another third round pick who it was a

(55:20):
lot of people's top tight end in the entire draft,
gilannie Woods, who was apparently buried and like wouldn't probably
wouldn't make the team if not for being the third
round pick in his fourth or fifth on the depth chart.
But that's one of those guys. Like on draft A
fantasy heads are like, oh, gilannie Woods, that could be
someone we draft, and then you get to the camp
and and he's buried. All right, let's take a break

(55:41):
and then finish out our conversation. All right, welcome back.
Let's hit a couple more greg on your list. Uh,
you know what you point out on number thirteen or
is it number twelve? Under cause for concern? It's officially
time to worry about the Packer offensive line. They've been

(56:01):
struggling in camp. Uh, Elgin Jenkins headed for the publist
most likely to start the season. We all know what's
going on David back tr and what what what I
mean is nobody knows what's going on with David backr
other than he's missed basically all of last season and
there's no timetable for return now. And I think it
makes me think more bigger picture, and we just talked

(56:22):
about it with the Patriots earlier teams that watch out
maybe for slow starts. Not only is the line of
work in progress um in front of Aaron Rodgers, Obviously
chemistry is different with Davante Adams not there, and Rogers
has to learn how to you know, get a connection
with his new wide receivers. So you combined the loss

(56:43):
of the star wide receiver with offensive line and transition.
That has the recipe for some ten to twenty point weeks, right,
and you're at You're at Vikings week one, You're at
the Bucks week three, two tricky road games. They it's
just asking a lot of Rogers. Packers fans will point out, like, look,
Jenkins and Backdary were gone most of the y, which

(57:07):
it is a totally fair point than the gate scenes
in the end, but they also it's just like guys
you don't think about Lucas Patrick left for the Bears,
Billy Turner left for the Broncos. So those were guys
that were starting and playing for them too. So it's just, man,
it's asking. It's a Rogers kind of makes his offensive
lineman in some way, but that's asking a lot. It's
putting so much on Rogers this year. They really are

(57:29):
putting a lot unsure as you got another one, Mark,
I'm intrigued by the reports on Isaiah Pacheco in Kansas City,
seventh rounder in the running back race, and they you
just send Gregg Writes and his thing. He's making noise
in a wide open running back battle and he just
moves different. He's getting he's getting first team snaps with
Patrick Mahomes. So that's the kind of stuff I like

(57:50):
to watch in the preseason as someone who's bubbling up
in practice starting to penetrate the first team depth chart.
Enter Mark Sessler, Zack Center All this guy sounds a
little spicier than out center. Potago is one of those
guys that you saw like in the draft process, that man,
he just moves crazy. He's a little bit of an
upright runner. Uh But he's someone in the preseason that

(58:10):
can earn a role, like a big role. It sounds
like he's gonna be their kick returner, which means he's
gonna be on their game day roster. And it's Andy Reid.
That running back room seems like totally wide open for
him to just step in and be one of a
preseason rushing champion. Never forget you more than any other
person preseason rushing ship. I think that matters. I feel

(58:32):
like Damie also carved out not the worst little career
for himself. I mean he hung around. Texans fourth round
pick Damian Pierce feels like another fantasy like sleeper that
could emerge in the preseason, but that the rookie like
reports are important, probably more important than anything. Like there's
some guys like Romeo Dubbs in Green Bay. It's like,
now you'd be surprised if he wasn't starting or having

(58:53):
a big role in Week one and he was a
fourth round rookie that he's already passed Christian Watson, the
guy that they rated up all those picks four in
the second round, who hasn't been able to play at all.
But then there's also the flip side. And the one
point I did want to just get in here before
he moved off was the Bill's cornerback situation that Kayer Elam,
their first round pick, has really been struggling, that they've

(59:15):
picked on him, and they they're thinking, maybe it's because
you have to go against Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs
in this offense and practice every day, but that you know,
he's splitting reps with the sixth round pick Christian Benford,
who has maybe looked a little better, and then you
kind of look at the whole picture. Trade Avious White
is coming off of a torn a c L. He
hasn't been able to practice at all. They're a little

(59:35):
thin there to begin with. It's like Dane Jackson and
a couple of rookies that are struggling and potentially got
the Rams. Week one, the defending champs is two and
a half point underdogs at home. I'm not saying the
Rainmakers coming out on August eight, but traditionally that one caught.
That one caught my eye because you know it's the

(59:57):
home gate team in Week one. Generally I would give
them regardless and they could be matching up against some
pretty nice receivers there for the Rams. I am just
looking over your article, which everybody should check out. You
could find it on NFL dot com. Um. The weird
coach stuff section is something that I didn't notice when

(01:00:19):
I first pulled up this article. But I didn't realize
that Brian day Ball isn't letting the media or fans.
How do you how do you police fans post any
clips from practice after before? I think there are a
decent amount of teams that do this. So initially media
is putting up the videos and and that's happens all

(01:00:40):
over the place. You see it all over the place.
And then they have the pr staffers or whoever, like
the really lowly coaching assistants like tell the media you're
not allowed to do that. We're gonna change policy, changed
policy a couple of days into practice. You're very important
to make the wide receivers of the Bears. You humanize them.
But then the coaching staff is referred to as the

(01:01:00):
lowly members of the coaching staff. I get it. But
table is the one who's being a jerk to them
by like, okay, you gotta be the one to tell
the media they can't send out videos. But then even
lower than that is whoever stuck going into the crowd
and stopping the fan. But but you know what's interesting,

(01:01:22):
what was most interesting about it, and I think this
was Dan Dugan of the athletics. Way to fight back,
just a little bit was he said without mentioning. A
source said that Dable has staffers monitoring other teams videos
that have less stringent policy, So he actually believes there
is a competitive advantage. But I like that, Duke, and

(01:01:43):
put it out there that Dable's got people checking Twitter
to find uh maybe let's say some division rivals or
whatever that might be. Like they're doing like scouting reports
on Twitter and into seeing what they can get. Yeah, listen,
I'm not going to judge. Let's see how he does.
Do you have anything else from your takeaways? Connie? Before
we move? Those were the main ones. Those were the

(01:02:03):
good ones. All right, keep following, Connie. She's going to
Minnesota next where else You're going, Oh yeah, that's the
last stop. Yeah, I think we're going to talk to Justin.
You're gonna t g I Fridays in Minnesota, plush, Yes,
I'm gonna try to That same bartender still operates out
of the hotel. Do you do you remember that? That's
all I remember is that I walked out those doors

(01:02:23):
and it was a short, cold waf It's not inann
I believe, north of downtown and you were at the
Mall of America doing that thing. Yes, check out the
well known hotel chain that also has a t J Fridays.
That is a very famous stop on the A t
and History tour. Still to this day, the only guests

(01:02:46):
of uh, we're lucky enough to be able to bring
guests with the super Bowl, the only guests that we're
still awake at three am and getting loose. Um. When
we got back to the hotel after recording the super
Bowl wrap up podcast, my bro there Kevin danger Hands
and my brother in law Tanner Bates, U S Military
man Um still the only people that were ever still rocking,

(01:03:08):
good crew we got home. That was fun time with
the Fridays. I can't figure which hotel this is. It's
confusing because there's actually a Friday's in the mall of
that's how popular and that's how good this Friday is
is they have such great service that they've survived despite
there being another Friday. Literally half of my all day
the roller coaster and do all of the things that

(01:03:30):
we had done right. Of course, I forget what other
rides we wanted. That was long afternoon and there's probably
no digital foot footprint of all at all connected, completely
lost in the We do have the pictures though, of
us um I love the West in those pictures is
a standout. That's the first West had been like to me, Wow,

(01:03:52):
I didn't realize that you were so pigeon toed. And
I was like, thanks, West, thanks for noticing. Like when
I get tired, it becomes more announced. West weirdly was
super into people's gaits. He noticed everyone's different types of walks,
and he would categorize them, and he would speak and
analyze them. It's true. Often yeah, he was like, you know,

(01:04:13):
some of the best athletes in the world are pigeon too.
Pigeon he was part of the also have incredible calf muscles.
I mean, that's sorry. He loved he loved calves and others.
So maybe he was in my He loved he loved
what was inside of him. Don't we all, um, all right,

(01:04:34):
before we go, why don't we check in, uh quotables.
What are some quotes that justin graver uh, sometimes with
our assistants, sometimes on his own, came across in the
last week or so, and let's react to them. But
turn it over to you, Mr grave Digger. All right.
I wanted to Yes, I really wanted to like expand

(01:04:56):
and hear from some coaches or players that we hadn't
heard from in the last segment. Unfortunately, is just so
like he's perfect for this segment. Everyone was talking about
this whenever never apologize. Yeah, I just you know, we're
not a team that you know, We're not a team
that reaches the ball across the goal line, you know.
Uh um, you know. I told the guys, hey, after

(01:05:19):
you score touchdowns, celebrate, have fun today. This is a
this isn't a true game, but we're playing it like
a game. But in between the white lions. So this
was Baker Mayfield hit former Brown's teammate Chard higgins um
for a touchdown and higgins leaning did they lean the
ball over the thing? And rule kind of like shut
the whole thing down and said, we don't celebrate that way.

(01:05:39):
The Panthers don't operate that way. This is not how
we we do things. And it caught fire on Twitter.
You're saying, like in between the white lines, like celebrate
but not don't celebrate first downs. I mean, I think
it got missed considered a little bit because a lot
of teams, I think smartly have a don't uh you know,
put the ball over the goal line. The Patriot It's

(01:06:00):
like every anytime someone messes up doing that. They're like,
how come they don't just make them not do that? Yeah,
you know what. I it's fine to get on. Matt
rule has been incredibly unsuccessful so far, but I'm gonna
give him a pass on this one. I'm sure it
was used as a reason why he sucks again, but
I don't I don't know. I'm not buying this one.
Everyone made fun of the we're not a team that
reaches the ball across the goal line, like, oh, yeah,

(01:06:21):
we know, don't score? Got it? Got it? Got it?
He stepped right into that one. Whatever, what else? All right,
here's Mike McCarthy explaining why he chose the mojo after
a slow start here, what do why do you chose mojo?
And Daddy's talking mojo moments again? Alright, yeah, this, let's

(01:06:41):
hear it. You know, because when you get ready for
team meeting, obviously you look at in your office and uh,
sitting there watching my office, I just thought this thing
was the funniest thing ever, you know, and then you
play in the team meeting and that's not the response
you get. And I said, I said, well, I obviously
enjoyed us a lot more than they did, but they
it made the point it's always trying to do something.
Oh he's reflecting on last year on Hard It's back.

(01:07:04):
I saw this actually doing to go well last summer.
I did. I was doing my column and I saw
last Monday he was talking about how he had brought
mojo moments back last year because they were on Hard
Knocks last year, of course, and um in his Mojo
moments set up, he had a clip from Austin Powers

(01:07:24):
to the Spy Shay and ninety percent of the roster
wasn't even born when it came out. So maybe one
thing he updated was some of his pop culture references
within mojo moments. But I don't know right, And but
he they're having a Kicker competition there. They both had
Mojo moment opportunities. It was the first one of camp.
Both kickers missed that was that was a bad side.

(01:07:45):
But I just a mojo moment was it's a rare
run where I think it actually somehow was even funnier
in print. But this was part of the quote was
he says, it's a clip all they'll never forget because
it's just a little different. It's obnoxious talking about all right,
one go this segment is nose diving? All right, what
else we got that? Smith? This one's fun, right, and

(01:08:09):
stop being critical of the quotable segment. You know it's
just not to breathe a little bit. We don't need
to post mortem every clip. I'm atting sort of a
game show element where each one gets a score. I
often support failing segments verbally, you believe the segment is
failing something. I think it's fair to say that the
last time we did it it was a rollicking event,

(01:08:31):
and it's gotten off to a slow start. There's still
time to recover. I would counter that. A reason why
maybe it's not off to ah as fast at start
is you guys won't shut up about saying what's working
and what's not working. Why don't we just let it roll? Well,
you're also critiquing our critique. So all right, you said
Gino Smith. No, I know Geno Smith is going to
bring the goods. Let's see what he's got to say.

(01:08:53):
I will go on record to say I have his back,
no matter what. I have Drew locks back. You know,
I want that to be known. And we're team mates,
we're competing, uh, you know, we're in the same offense.
And we're in the same room and we're gonna make
each other better. Unbelievable. Okay, this is great. I mean
that's that's a teammate. When it's a teammate, I think
Gino Smith and I absolutely Greg believe every time Jew

(01:09:16):
Locke takes a snap, Gino Smith is the guy rooting
for him the hardest on that side. He was then
loving there scrimmage on Friday, Drew Lock started ten for
ten for ten for one and two touchdowns to start
off against the Seahawks first team offense. Still not getting

(01:09:38):
first team reps, but Drew Lock won that round. Was
that hard for you to see early? It's early, but
I think it opens the door. Gino didn't do that
bad either. He scored, you know his he ran the
offense and the numbers were fine, and he scored a
couple of times. But Lock, I've got a nice day.
All right. Let's let's break down that one. How was that? Mark?
I thought that one that that had better production elements

(01:10:01):
to it. Um, it had more going on for it
in general in terms of its spirit. Good. Okay, that's good.
If it's a fast paced segment. Absolutely what else we got?
All Right? Let's go to Dan's jets, all right and
discussing the first round pick. Sauce Gardner. That's a great
talented you know, obviously long lean athlete. You can see him,

(01:10:21):
um so, but he's he's a mod right now until
he until he gets to the field. He's not sauce
yet until until he plays and he balls out, then
we'll call him sauce. But he's a model right now.
Little that's carl Lawson, by the way that Okay, I
go to earn the sauce grave digger just to make
the segments say, yeah, I really give a little more
started playing it and he's not. Sorry, Carlson. We're getting
we're getting better another definitely another season. We're working through stuff.

(01:10:47):
That's good. That's good though, Lawson. Lawson's back and looking
good too, so that's good. He's taken sort of the leadership.
And also infamously, when we had Cavon Thibodeaux on the show,
um last month, that's the right word for it, he said,
I don't want anything to do you. Essentially, I don't
want anything to do with any rookie hazing. Nobody can
stick me with a bill, Nobody could do anything to me,
I like this more old school mentality where it's like,

(01:11:10):
I know you're Sauce Gardener in your mind and that's
what your chain says, but you're a mod until your
sauce on the fell field. I'm with it. You can't
just like walk in here with that nickname and not
earn it. Like that's. By the way, our friend Cavan
is um having a very nice training camp according to
multiple reports. I don't want anyone to misconstrue um our

(01:11:30):
infamous interview interview. Yeah, for the first the first time
when when Gregg moved to l A and we had
we had started our version of our podcast, The Debate Club.
Greg's only piece of advice was, if you're gonna do it,
why not do this professionally? Why not have it be
actually like a podcast that sounds professional. Right, sounds like

(01:11:53):
an obnoxious comment from a guy. So I don't feed
Greg to listen to the Cavan interview necessarily. Oh really don't.
Now you're beating yourself up too much. Well, no, I'm
saying it was not. It's not sounded professional. I think
back in the day it was it was more of
a sound quality thing, right, I think I missed this interview,
but anyway, my point being, uh that you know, it's

(01:12:15):
okay for a rookie to have to earn it in
our league. That doesn't mean you have to tape him
to the goal post. What else we got, Let's check
in with Russell Wilson on how hard he's gonna work
in Denver. Oh boy, here we go. Well, I think,
first of all, I think that, uh, you know, for me,
I've always been about, you know, the extra work. You know,

(01:12:37):
if somebody says you gotta do x x amount, not
triple it everything, just triple it. You can understand why
he's a guy that's a source of eye rolls within
his own locker room at times. I talked to him
at training camp when I was in Denver, and you know,
I tried to get him to answer something about see Attle.

(01:13:00):
Tried to like walk m into something UM and asked
him like about the importance of a first start considering
their first game is against Seattle. UM. But what he
ended he didn't go for any of it at all.
But then he ended up talking and saying that you
have to play without emotion, which I was like, wait,

(01:13:20):
but isn't everything isn't competing like emotional, and he was like,
you can play without emotion. You can be passionate, but
not emotional, And so that was his whole thing about
Seattle was not playing with any emotion. Interesting. Our friend
Henry Hutson, it's you know, spent a lot of time
with him over the years, once in Brazil and then

(01:13:42):
recently in the UK when Dangerous was over there promoting
something or other. Just like very tight. Yeah, it's there
are stories, not all of them we could share on
the show. Anything else, Grape Digger. I have two more.
One is Ron Rivera speaking on Carson Wentz accuracy issues,
which we and already touched on. What else you got?
I have Dan campbell Um comparing wide receiver Josh Reynolds

(01:14:06):
to an insect. You know, this is a good way
to close with hard knocks on the way, all right.
He's a different athlete. He's there's a slipper, he's slippery man.
He's uh, he's come the praying mantis. Um. He's a
spider of death. He's just there's suthing about him, you know,
so freaking serpent him. I love him, Yes, Dan Camantis,

(01:14:33):
spider of Death. And then he goes all the way
to like a biblical level serpent bent. We'll be on
Hard Knocks, I would imagine, I hope. So, I mean, yeah,
that's like not what a Praying Mantis is like, right, Um,
he's not the first thing speaking of you know, we
spoke about the movie No Praying Mantis with a crucial roule.

(01:14:53):
This is not giving anything away, but a crucial role
in the movie. No speaking big summer for Praying Mantis.
It is. It popped a big Manti season. Um, Colleen
and I Hard Knocks podcast rolls out tomorrow night, so
look for that in the feed. Also, this particular program,
the Around the NFL podcast is now in addition to

(01:15:16):
being on YouTube, which I think people knew but it is,
we're also now on the NFL app. The NFL channel was,
which is a new thing that's whatever wherever on your device,
I guess, type in NFL channel and you can come
up maybe a flashier name for that. Well, there's NFL
Network and NFL Channel and some people probably call NFL

(01:15:37):
Networks on your TV at home the little NFL app
it's right there. Yeah, And if you have the NFL
app on your phone, you just go to the top
right menu, and then it can pull up like there's
NFL Network, and then under that there's NFL channel right YouTube.
I mean, famously, there's like a thirty seconds of the
video rolling after we finished that people find see the

(01:16:00):
real check Mark throwing off his head set and running out.
Now that I think about it, me critiquing the name
of the channel probably not going over very well with
executives inside the building. Maybell Curtail that commented, of course,
we're also now on NFL Plus, which is the new
UM streaming service rolled out by NFL and UM that's

(01:16:23):
also where you can get game passed. I thought it's
a sensational product. Yeah, you go, subscription start at a month.
Go to plus dot dot com. Now, all right, Connie,
you've said it all. I will see you tomorrow. Thank you,
Hard Knocks Podcast rolling out. Thank you to everybody for listening.

(01:16:45):
We'll be back on Wednesday with another show. Until then,
he the call s

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