NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista are joined by 4-time super bowl champion Rob Gronkowski and NFL Executive VP of Football Operations Troy Vincent. The Insiders also react to Philip Rivers’ comments after being introduced by the Colts.
Then Brian Baldinger breaks down the Micah Parsons effect on the Packers defense, before Marcas Grant reveals his Week 15 fantasy playoff sleepers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yo Soy Fiesta. Rob Gronkowski has taken the party to
his own college bowl game this Saturday, the first Gronk
stops by this show to talk about the soaring Patriots,
this season's top tight ends, and what it would cost
Robert Kraft get Gronking uniform for the playoffs. Seriously, Philip
Rivers is already back at the ripe old age of
(00:30):
forty four, and there appears to be a real chance
Rivers starts on Sunday. Here from Uncle Phil himself tonight
on why he's back and what kind of shape he's
in after nearly five full seasons away. The real question
is should you pick up Philip Rivers for your fantasy playoffs?
Josh Oliver might be a better bet, but Marcus.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Brat will be here tonight for this weekly Fantasy Sleepers,
which may or may not include a certain old quarterback
who could probably use an app welcome inside with the
inside He was presented by Progressive Insurance alongside Judy Batista.
I'm Tom Pelisaro. It is the eve of week fifteen
in the NFL. We got key injury updates on the
(01:10):
Bucks and Falcons coming up in just a little bit.
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football Operations,
will be here to talk about maybe some big changes
on the horizon in the officiating realm.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
But who are we kidding? We're starting out in Indianapolis again, where, yes,
Philip Rivers was back on the field in his old
number seventeen, which was of course freed up along with
the spot on the roster maybe the starting job when
Daniel Jones went down with a torn achilles On Sunday,
Rivers met with the media for the first time in
nearly five years as well, Why exactly, Phil are you
(01:45):
back now?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
As simple as as can be as a coach that
I love and an organization that I really enjoyed being with.
You know, mister ersay believing in me in that year
in twenty twenty when it didn't go good in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And shoot, the teammates that.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I was able to were able to play with, Shoot,
fourteen of them are still here. Training rooms the same
pr guys, are the same quipment, rooms the same.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And they wanted me, and you know, I try to
keep it as simple as that.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And you know, a game, a game I love to play,
A game that I thought it was was I was
done playing. Certainly, I wasn't really hanging on any hope
of playing again. I'd kind of i'd kind of thought
that ship had sailed, but something about it excited me.
And it's kind of one of those deals. The door
opens and you can either walk through it and find
out if you can do it, or or run from it.
(02:45):
And I know, I know that there's there's risk involved,
obviously of what may or may may not happen, but
the only way to find out is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Going for it.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And I just felt almost like it was a gift,
another opportunity to play and cut it loose. Either in
the game you love to play and the dream that
you got to live, you get you may get some
bonus time. So I really kept it as kept it
as simple as that in my mind. And uh and
here I stand.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Tough physically you're ready for gratefully.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, we will find out that too, you know, I
think so really, I mean, I know, uh, I again,
I know it's it is tough, and I know five years.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
A long time.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Believe me that that weighed on me a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Uh uh being so long.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Uh, But it also is a game I played a
long time and and and and stayed in, uh, stayed
in over the last five years. And I know the
high school ball is different, but staying involved in the game.
And and I watched you. I watched the Colts and
the Chargers every Sunday about every snap, and I watch
you out every game there is. And I know that's
not NFL preparing playing quarterback. I know that's a far
stretch from that. But it's not like I just kind
(03:47):
of shut it and shut football down and I'm you know,
trying to pick it back up. I've been I've been
pretty still been very into it, uh since I've been gone.
But yeah, no, it is a physical game and it's
fast and uh, dudes, you're big and fast just like
they were. And so I'm just you shoot, taking the
day at time, and I do feel good. There's something
about something about being back in this building that feels right.
(04:09):
And I'm just thankful and shoot, like I said, really
just taking it one meeting at a time, one lift
at a time, and really and embracing it. It's been
a whirlwind for forty eight hours, I'll say, but each
moment that goes by, I feel more and more confident.
I really do. I think for me, the decision wasn't easy,
(04:31):
and because of all the things that you all can imagine,
there's human nature to have a little doubt, you know,
And I think for me working through that was well,
that's normal, you know, that's normal to have a little doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Who wouldn't have doubt after five years?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
But where's that? Is that doubt real or not? It's like, well,
let's again, like I go back to our first answer.
The only way you can find out is to go.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And so.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I've been excited the guys I've talked to too, and
again we're taking this thing one day at a time.
But I'm just I'm not here to stick and save
the year or be a hero by any means. We
got to stick and run the crap by the football
and play defense and do all those things. So if
that comes to be and I'm the one that's out
there that's gonna I'm not here to try to save
(05:16):
the day. I'm going to know where I'm limited and
as we go it will get better if that's the
route they ended up going. But again, full confidence in
Shane and Chris and the organization in making those decisions.
As we move forward, each and every day.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Philip, just so you know you are here to save
the day. You are here to be the hero. I
understand duty the point that he's making, which is, we've
got a great roster. He played with Jonathan Taylor, he
played with Michael Pittman. He knows some of these guys,
he saw how they were playing. He say, he's been
watching every Colts game and knows what type of team
he's on. But if for Phil Burbs is out there
this week which certainly seems like a strong possibility, they're
(05:53):
going to need him to do something that virtually no
forty four year old in NFL history has ever done,
much less one who has not played even in practice
in five years prior to today.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Yeah, and let's be clear, Shane Stiken left the door
wide open for Philip Rivers to be the starter this weekend.
He was asked is that possible, and he said, well,
we're going to have to see how he feels. And
of course that is what all of this boils down to,
is how will Philip Rivers fields. Nobody doubts that he
can silk for the ball. He obviously is still very
mentally into the game. He knows the offense. The question
(06:27):
is can his body hold up, not just in a game,
can his body get through a week of practices. He
has not been in football shape in five years. Having
said that, he is there to save the day. This
is a team that was on the way, especially early
in the season to the playoffs, look dominant. Now they
have lost their starting quarterback. He is there to try
to hold it together. Let Jonathan Taylor run, let the
(06:49):
defense do its job, but Philip Rivers is going to
have to make some plays if the culture going to
salvage this season.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
We talked to Matt Ryan on this show last night.
He was talking about he went out and try to
throw with Matthew Stafford just this past summer and he's like, oh, yeah,
I was feeling good. You know, the arm was responding.
Had Stafford catching some balls for He said he woke
up the next morning it's like his arm was hanging off.
When you're not training to play football, even if you're
throwing it around with the high school kids like Philip
has been. He's got a full sized field in his
(07:17):
yard down there in Alabama, it's still a little bit different.
To say nothing of the way that the body is
going to react the first time potentially it gets hit.
I would tell you from the people I spoke to
who are at that workout on Monday night, they said,
Philip's arm still looks like it's always looked. It's everything
else that comes with actually going out there and doing
it as soon as this Sunday. Now Riley Leonard, who
(07:39):
would otherwise be in line to start if not for
the presidence of Philip Rivers full participatet in practice today,
despite that low grade PCL sprain that he's got. We'll
see what direction it goes. But Philip Rivers is not
here to be riding the bench. He is there to
try to help the Colts get into the playoffs. By
virtue of the recent slide. They would be on the
(07:59):
outside looking in at this point, but still four weeks
to go, and potentially if they can get at least
two of these games, they're going to give themselves a
shot because some of the other teams within the playoff
Chase Lamar, Jackson and the Ravens med a bumpy ride
coming off a loss to the Steelers. Lamar, as he
has in racent weeks, not practicing on Wednesday, but this
(08:20):
time listed as not injury related. That means I've lost
track the hamstring, the foot, the ankle, the knee, whatever
it was that was listed recently. Apparently that's all healed.
It's pretty rare for a quarterback just to not practice
on Wednesday because of rest, but Lamar in a little
bit different state. Something to keep an eye on through
the course of this week. As for the first game
of Week fifteen, Mike Evans is back. So is Jalen McMillan.
(08:45):
Evans suffered that injury against the Lines in his first
game back from a prior injury. Both guys officially on
the active roster. Judy looks like they'll be good to
go against the Falcons.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Not so much for Falcons receiver Drake London. He is
out for Thursday night football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He is still recovering from a keycl string he suffered
back in week eleven, So no Drake London for that
division game. While we're at it, let's take a look
at the NFC playoff picture, because the Bucks are certainly
(09:16):
in the mix. There you see them there, They would
be the four seed. Now they are still in the
lead in the NFC South but let's look at that.
It is the Rams that would have the number one
seed right now, and look at the Packers sitting there
nine three and one.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
They are the two seed.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
They of course are playing one of the big matchups
this week. It is another very very strong slate of games.
There is Jared Goff versus Matthew Stafford all the way
at the top, and you can see there Packers Broncos.
And you know what, let's talk more about Packers Broncos
because I bet that's going to be maybe a defensive game.
Our Brian Baldinger joins the show. Now, these are top
(09:54):
five defenses that are going to face each other, Packers Broncos. Baldy,
you have a breakdown of what we are seeing from
the Packers defense. What are you liking from them?
Speaker 6 (10:05):
Well, I like the way the defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley
is using Michaeh Parsons. Remember he came very late to
the program, so they've gradually worked him in. You can
still see Micah in his normal positions, but they're moving
him around. They take advantage of his rare skills and
being able to chase. So they've just gone through the
division and beaten all the teams in their division.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
But you watch me here.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
You leave Michael Parsons one on one against anybody, Taylor Deck,
He's gonna win. He's gonna win a high percentage of
the time one on ones. He can play either side,
right side or left side. We see him in those positions. Here, Judy,
here he is against the Bears right and this is
his strength right here. Once the quarterback in this case,
Caleb Williams, he leaves the pocket. Nobody chased the quarterback
(10:47):
down like Michaeh Parsons. In fact, Caleb could turn a
corner on almost every pass rusher.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
In the league.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
But he knew that was Micah right there, and he
pulled up and he said, it's better just to throw
the ball away and live to another down. Now you
can slide your protection of Micah. You can take the
back DeAndre Swift and put him over there. You can
key on him all you want, chip him with cole comet, uh,
slide the line all the way to him. He's gonna
find a way. It's like grabbing jello, Judy, like he's
(11:13):
gonna come out of some place.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Now.
Speaker 6 (11:15):
This is what Hafley's doing, though, when you get the
third downs and sometimes other downs, like watch David Montgomery.
He's looking for Micah right here, so he's gonna go
over and chip them. But even with the chip he's
used to that, he still beats the guard and he
gets golf down to the ground. And here against Minnesota,
like he's got freedom that there's structure around Micah to
(11:35):
let him go free lands go let him go win
where he thinks he can win. In this case, he
runs the center over JJ McCarthy barely gets out of.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
The end zone. And then you see this a little bit.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
You'll use him as a decoy right here, Like right now,
Drew donmind's gonna slide the line to Micah Parsons. They're
all gonna slide his way, and as a decoy, he's
gonna drop into coverage.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And when he drops, they're.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
Gonna overload the other side, and so they're gonna get
the same effect that they wanted to move the quarterback
off the spot to get him running without him. But
because he's such a dynamic player at the line, you
have to account for him.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You can use him in.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
A decoy position like Chicago just did, like Green Bay
just did on that last one. So you've seeing him
in a variety of spots, taking advantage of his rare,
rare talents and probably playing as good a football he's
ever played up there in Green Bay on a really
really good team which should be a great game featuring
a lot of great pass rushers in Denver this weekend.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Time now to Marcus My words with Marcus Grant, our
fantasy expert who has got a big matchup this week
with Michael f. Florio. It is expert on expert action
in the quarter finals. Sipin' Charvionaye. That is a very
solid name. Marcus always brings the heat right here. All right,
fancy sleepers time, Like we knew everyone Wednesday, Marcus, give
(13:00):
me a quarterback this week.
Speaker 7 (13:02):
Well it's going to be a little bit out of
the box here. We're going with JJ McCarthy or nine
if you prefer. And I know it hasn't been great
this year, but our Plifloria actually has pointed out that
McCarthy's worst games have come against either some of the
top defenses in the league or defenses facing it for
a second time. The Cowboys are neither, and although they
are improved, still giving up a lot of yards in
the passing game. We saw McCarthy have the three touchdown
(13:24):
passes last week. This could be maybe a surprise. I'd say,
if you're starting him, I wouldn't watch it. It's not
going to be pretty to watch, but the numbers at
the end could be okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
For those of us who were grabbing Isaiah to check.
Go off the wire last week. Just to fill a
running back hole, give me a running back sleeper, Marcus.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
Let's go Chris Rodriguez in Washington, and it's kind of
become a mess in that backfield. Sort of a three
headed running back situation there, but Rodriguez definitely the number
one guy, leads the team in snaps and rushing attempts,
getting about fifty percent of the goal line rushing attempt
so those high leverage opportunities are going Rodriguez's way. The
matchup is very good though this week, taking on the
New York Football Giants thirty first range run defense, second
(14:03):
best matchup for running backs all year long, and Rodriguez
has played well when Marcus Mariota has been at quarterbacks.
So again, kind of a deep sleeper here, but an
opportunity in front of him.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
About a wide receiver sleeper Marcus.
Speaker 7 (14:16):
Jim Ray DK has been kind of a nice pickup,
especially for folks in deeper leagues, And it doesn't seem
like a lot because that Titans offense hasn't really done much.
But he's playing a lot out of the slot, and
he's going against the forty nine ers, who have been
the third best matchup for slot wide receivers this year.
DK has four weekly Top twenty four finishes. He's scored
more than sixteen Fantasy points in three of those games.
(14:37):
Plus the way the Titans games have gone, they tend
to be in a pass heavy game script in the
second half.
Speaker 8 (14:43):
I would imagine that's going to.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Be the case.
Speaker 7 (14:44):
You're gonna see a lot of cam wored dropbacks in
the third and fourth quarter as they're chasing that game.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Let's say, hypothetically, I've been riding Travis Kelcey all year
and starting to get a little bit nervous about what
I'm seeing. How about a sleeper tight end, Marcus.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Let's go Pat Fryarmouth in Pittsburgh and it's sort of
been a weird situation. They got the three tight ends
down there with Friarmuth and John Newsmith and Darnell Washington,
but Washington's in the concussion protocol may not play this week,
which is good news for friar Mouth because the two
of them have sort of been eating off each other's
plates this year. The Dolphins, they have been tough on
wide receivers, but they've been pretty generous to tight ends.
(15:19):
Third best matchup for the tight end position, and if
they lock down on DK Metcalf, friar Mouth could be
a nice outlet.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And one more a defense, Marcus a sleeper please.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
I always love to give you a sleeper defense. We're
gonna go with the forty nine ers, And yes, I
know I said chim Bray. DK could have a nice
game that does not preclude the forty nine ers from
having a good fantasy week in it. On defense as well,
Kim Ward tied for the NFL lead in most sacks taken.
The Niners have been very opportunistic recently, seven takeaways in
their last three games. That's good news against an offense
(15:51):
that's turning the ball over on an above league average rate.
So again I said, I think the Titans will be
chasing this game. That gives the forty nine ers Robert
Salin opportunity to attack in the second half, and I
think they can be a nice streaming defense.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Marcus, thank you. Good luck against Florio. Please work out
some type of side bit about who's wearing what depending
who loses that game when they come on this show
next week. A lot more to come tonight, including the
visit from maybe the greatest tight end of all time.
Rob Gronkowski will be here to talk about the ball
game he is hosting on Saturday. Yes you heard me correctly,
(16:26):
and a whole lot more. When Gronk considered going back
to the Patriots if they needed him for a playoff
run Philip Rivers style, we'll ask him next on The
Insiders presented by Progressive Insurance. Oh, superhuman. They can't defend him.
(16:52):
I'm sorry, he's covered. Even when he's covered, he's open.
Look at like that. Do stop him? Did not stop him?
(17:15):
Don't you know, Hard, I'm the greatest comeback in Super
Bowl history? Rokowski on the Europe You know you had
a heck of an NFL career when not only do
we have your highlight set to music, but you got
your own bowl game. It's the buck Up LA Bowl,
(17:38):
hosted by Gronk, Boise State versus Washington Saturday at SOFI Stadium,
and we are please be joined right now by Gronk himself,
Rob Gronkowski here on the Insiders with me, Tom Pilaicero
and Judy Batista, and Gronk tell me about I'm just
gonna call it straight up the Gronk Bowl. I know
it's got a longer name, but what's like being involved
in this game? What can fans expect Saturday? You know,
(18:01):
it's really special. It's my third year and this year
is to Bucked Up LA ballhosted by yours.
Speaker 9 (18:05):
Truly right here, Gronk, baby, and it's going to be
exciting this year.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
I mean the first year we have Boise State.
Speaker 9 (18:11):
They unfortunately lost to UCLA that game and Ashton Genty
was a part of a top five draft pick now
running back for the Las Vegas Raiders. But this year
it's going to be special. It's the only football game
going on.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
In the world.
Speaker 9 (18:25):
And directly after the Heisman Trophy presentation. It's Saturday night,
five pm Pacific time, that's eight.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Pm Eastern time.
Speaker 9 (18:33):
We got the Washington Huskies versus Boise State Broncos. Boise
State just won the conference championship for the Mountain West,
so they got an automatic bid to the bowl game.
We all invited to. The Washington Huskies a pretty solid year.
They lost to three top ten programs, Ohio State, Oregon,
and forgot the other team. Michigan was the other one
that they lost to, so their losses are legitimate losses
(18:55):
to top programs, So this is two solid teams. Jeed
Fish is the head coach of the Washingtons, and I'm
going to have a word with him because he was
the head coach for the University of Arizona Mylelunni, you know,
for the two years and turned for three years and
turned the program around, and then he took the job
over with the Washington Osky. So you know, I got
to have a word with him that he should have
(19:16):
stayed as the head.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Coach of the University of Arizona.
Speaker 9 (19:19):
But that's okay, because the University of Arizona nine to
three this year. I was hoping to get him for
this bowl game, you know, you know, as the last
year hosting it. But guess what, they got too good.
They outplayed themselves and went ninety three and accepted to
the bigger bull, the Holiday Bowl, which probably pays out
more so they accepted it.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I was hoping they would decline. But it's going to
be a.
Speaker 9 (19:40):
Big one in LA this Saturday at Sofa Stadium.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
There's no bawl bigger than the ground ball. Let's go
back to the teams briefly. Boise State and Washington give
us the scouting report. What kind of matchups are you
going to be watching from these teams.
Speaker 9 (19:56):
Well, if there's a ball that's bigger than the ground bull,
it's a Snoop Dogg ball. And it's not the football
game that's going on. Snoop Dogg's actual ball that he
has probably hitting to his face.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
That the bull's probably bigger than this bowl game right here.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
That's the only ball that will be bigger than this
bowl game coming up.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
But I don't know how I just.
Speaker 9 (20:14):
Thought about that, but I just did because I heard
about this new bowl game yesterday as well. But this game,
we got Boise State. They just won the Mountain West Conference.
They went to the playoffs last year. Ashton Gents, you know,
was part of the team last year. This is a
legitimate pork program. This is a story program. They dominate
the Mountain West Conference. You know, over the last decade,
you know, they got a lot of chances to you know,
(20:36):
compete for national championships.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
So this is a great program.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
Very satisfied that we got the Boise State Broncos here.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
They had a great year as well.
Speaker 9 (20:45):
They weren't even expected to win the Mountain West Conference,
and then they came back and they did.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
They won it all once again.
Speaker 9 (20:51):
You can't expect anything less, you know, from them, because
it's Boise State. But then we got the Washington Huskies.
Like I talked about jud Fish, their head coach. You know,
he kind of just ditched us at the University of Arizona,
left blindly and took the job at Washington. But that's okay.
I was cool with him, and now he's in my
ball game, so I'll be cool with him again. And
(21:12):
the Washington Huskis had a pretty solid year. They got
a great running back who I'm pretty sure is up
you talked about as a Heisman finalist going into next
year as well. He talked about it for a little
bit because he was scoring touchdowns left and right at
the beginning of the year. But the Huskis are eight
and four. Three of their losses are the top legitimate
programs like I talked about Ohio State and Oregon was
(21:32):
two of them in Michigan as well, so they can compete.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
So it's going to be a great game, and the
Huskies are favored.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So let's talk about you here, Gronk. Last month you
go back, you signed the ceremonial one day contract retire
as a Patriot. Robert Kraft made a comment to you
while playing that night, and you said, hey, what's the
signing bonus right now that you see forty four year
old Philip Rivers coming back after five years away? If
Kraft calls it, you've got no excuse to Could you
come back and give him a there is a game,
(22:00):
a playoff run.
Speaker 9 (22:01):
If they need you in New England, you want to
know something I can give them looks on the practice squad.
Seeing Philip Rivers signed to the practice squad, which makes sense.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
You got to get them game ready and then you
can pull them up anytime.
Speaker 9 (22:12):
But I would maybe go back if a team was like, hey,
you know, can you give us some great looks on
the scout team and we're going to pay you a
legitimate bonus, like a million bucks or something bonus right
on the spot, and all you got to do is
practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on the practice squad and
show us some legitimate looks of the tight ends that
we're going against, and just go out there and practice
(22:34):
and have fun and get our guys better. That actually
might be a pretty cool case. You know, I might
have to think about that. The chance of that happening
are one percent, but I would have to just think
about it and lay my options on the table.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
I would not be surprised if head coaches around the
league are like, wait a minute, we should maybe consider that.
Tom mentioned you were in New England. You officially retired there,
You obviously still talk to plenty of people inside the building.
How do you explain their very rapid turnaround this year.
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Well, RKK is always trying to get the job done.
You know, whenever the programs in shambles, he's always trying
to do what's best for the program. There's no doubt
about that. He's one of the best owners of all time.
And it all starts at the top and that Kraft
family wants the best program, best organization possible every single
year to give the best product on the field for
New England fans. Out there in the New England region.
There's no doubt about that. And he did a great
(23:28):
job by going out and getting head coach Mike Brable.
He's proven, we all know he's a great head coach.
Just to have him available on the streets was out
on the streets like that. We just fell in the
hands of the New England Patriots, which was huge. And
then having him and then that was part of the turnaround.
You know, he went out there, he got great coordinators,
having Josh McDaniels has the offensive coordinator. They landed the
(23:50):
quarterback the year before the prior year with head coach
Jerroden Mayo, so that landed in his lap as well,
which was huge. So those three guys, you got rab Oh,
you got Josh mccaniels, you got a franchise quarterback now,
Drake may And then they went out and signed all
the guys in free agency.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 9 (24:07):
There's a lot of teams that signed a lot of
players in free agency and staff their team, but hey,
it's how can they play together? And with that coaching staff,
it's bringing them together to play together. And that's why
they're so significant this year, and that's why It's one
of the biggest turnarounds we've ever seen in the history
of the NFL, going from the worst team in the
NFL to the best team and the best record in
the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Huge game on Sunday, it's the Patriots against the Bills.
They can lock up the AFC East. They got a
chance to be the number one seed, which you know
a thing or two about having the number one seed,
getting that little bye week vacation in New England. I
know you follow the whole league working at fush. Who's
the biggest threat to the Patriots? If somebody AFC, NFC
is going to take them down, who is it?
Speaker 9 (24:49):
Oh man, Well, if it's the NFC, I'm going with
the Los Angeles Rams because I do think that they're
the best team in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
They're the best complete team and they're lost.
Speaker 9 (24:57):
Res the Carolina Panthers was kind of because they were
feeling themselves a little bit too much. I feel like,
you know, they their heads were too high there. They
were not as humble as they should be, and that's
what happens. You get a little smack when you're not
being humble. But it was a good thing because now
they got that out of the way, and they just
reampted it once again and they showed why they're the
best team in the NFL with they absolutely blew out
a team last week I forgot who, well, it was
(25:18):
the Arizona Cardinals, and they just showed and proved themselves
again last week why they're the best team in the
NFL in my eyes. And so that could be a team,
you know, in the Super Bowl that can knock got
the Patriots because that's the only way that they're going
to face each other. But on the AFC side, I
think it's up in the air. I think it's up
for grabs. I really think that home field advantage is
going to what play is what is going to be
(25:40):
what plays a significant role in the playoffs this year?
Who can get it? Can the Denver Broncos get the
number one seed or can the New England Patriots get
the number one seed? Who's going to lose a game
or two where you know it's handed to that other
team and whatever team that is I think is going
to make the significant run down down, you know, down
the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
You obviously know what a great quarterback looks like since
you played with one.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Your entire career.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
What do you like about Drake May, What convinces you
that he is up to the moment already.
Speaker 9 (26:12):
Well, he kind of does look similar a little bit
to Tom at the beginning of his year, with the
blobby cheeks, with the baby fat on the cheeks. You know,
that's what Tom looked like his first couple of years
in the NFL. And that's what Drake May. Tom cloned
his dog. And everyone's wondering out there if Drake May
is a clone of Tom, because they play very similar.
But I know he's not a clone because he's a
lot more athletic than Tom Brady, so he can't be
(26:36):
a clone for just that reason. But they're very similar
in the pocket, that's for sure. Drake May, Well, he's
doing a great job. You know, he's progressing every single week,
reading defenses, getting the ball to the guy that's open,
checking down when it's necessary, and making the tight throws
and making those tight throws look easy. And that's why,
(26:56):
and that's one of the main reasons why.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
These Patriots are so great this year.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
It's because of Drake May just taking his game to
a whole new level. And you got to credit Josh
McDaniels as well. He's been through it with Tom. You know,
he's made Tom. Not He's not say made Tom, but
he has helped Tom become, you know, the greatest of
all time throughout his career, and now he's doing it
with Drake may as well.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
You mentioned Tom cloning his dog, which is a very
strange storyline, but everyone always says this. There can never
be another Rob Gronkowski, most unique, complete tight end in
NFL history. What if there were another one? Would you
allow yourself Gronk to be cloned?
Speaker 7 (27:32):
Oh?
Speaker 9 (27:33):
Man, I don't know if I would allow it to
be cloned. I would want it to naturally just happen,
you know what I mean, like another Gronk out there
that just you know, maybe one of my brother's kids,
you know one my brother has like five kids, my
other has like four. Maybe one of them. I don't know,
that could possibly be. I just want it to happen naturally.
I wouldn't want it to happen because it was like
(27:53):
cloned in a lab or something. So and if it
does happen, man, I gotta I'll be a huge fan
because I love just seeing guys just go out there
and just bulldoze his way through the secondary and you
got to appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Well.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
I want to ask you, like, what tight ends do
you like now, because when you're watching the whole league,
you sometimes will hear a commentator say that's something Rob
Gronkowski used to do. So who does Rob Gronkowski like
to watch among the tight ends in the league right now?
Speaker 9 (28:23):
Yes, I love to watch the passion that Oh hold on,
I don't be declining that phone call that's coming through.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
That's very rare that they call me in the middle
of this.
Speaker 9 (28:33):
Yeah, I was my tax guy, and let me tell you,
I pay my taxes. So I don't know why he's
calling me, but maybe because I got to get tax
on my on my bowl game, the bucked up LA
Bowl game revenue that I'm making here. But I'll pay
my taxes, you know us, Okay? But who reminds me
of myself or who know? Who I really like in
(28:53):
the NFL. I do love the passion what I'm George
Kittle brings to the table and how he's a complete
tight end.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
And how he dominates in the run game.
Speaker 9 (29:01):
And then in the same conference as well, they're a
really really crappy team right now the Arizona Colonels. But
Trade McBride. He's a really good player. He's bringing the
heat this year once again. And when he gets the ball,
he makes the defenders you know, get punished. So really
like those two definitely, And as a rookie right now.
(29:21):
Tyler Warren was watching him at the beginning of the
year and just how athletic he is and what he's
bringing to the table, that versatility that he's bringing to
the table for the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately the quarterback situation
isn't great for him, but what he brings to the table,
and just as a rookie has been just pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Last thing for you, Gronk, before we let you go,
and I want to draw you down because you did
a good job kind of evading my question when I
ask you about coming back and playing. Let's say Robert
Craft comes to you. I'm going to make you the offer.
I'm Robert Kraft. It's a ten million dollars signing vontage.
You get the run rounds on the scout team for
the next four weeks. Come playoff time, Gronk, whether it's
one snap or fifty snaps, Gronk's playing for the Patriots.
(30:03):
Are you taking ten million dollars to come in just
to play in the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
And it could possibly be just one snap as well
in the playoff game. I mean, hey, man, but you're
in uniform.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Hey, I don't know, Man, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
I would have to.
Speaker 9 (30:23):
I mean, I would think about it, and I would
go outside and I'll go run routes for the next week,
and if I feel like I'm capable to do it,
because I won't want to go out there and just
absolutely be just botch myself. You know, I won't want
to do that. So I would first think about the offer.
I'd go outside. I would run routes for a week
straight and then go from there. And if I feel
like I could do it at least participate and at
(30:45):
least give them something just a little bit, then I
would take the offer.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Robert Kraft, if you're watching right now, that wasn't a
no from Gronk. Man. Hey, we appreciate you coming on, man,
have fun in the LA Bowl the Bucked Up LA
hosted by Gronktay, We'll be watching on Saturday. Appreciate you,
Thank you, guys. Big news out of the NFL's Virtual
(31:10):
December meeting. Today, the league announced and it will return
to Munich, Germany in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty
eight to play regular season games as part of a
multi year partnership. NFL previously announced the play regular season
games next year in Melbourne, Australia, REO and two in London.
More announcements still to come for more on that Virtual
(31:31):
December meeting. Let's welcome in Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive
vice president of Football Operations. Troy Normally, we're all sitting
there in Dallas right now. Everyone's waiting to get on
the the cars off to the airport. This is the
first virtual meeting. How to go? What were the headlines?
Speaker 10 (31:46):
It was outstanding and frankly personally, to get for the
membership to vote on giving the league off as the
authorization to move forward with identifying a partner for women's
and men's Pro Flag league was it was the highlight.
It was definitely the highlight of the day. I mean,
(32:09):
dreams are now. Women can dream just like young young
girls can dream, just like I did other student athletes.
This was it was just outstanding. So I'm just I'm
looking forward to the next phase of this. We covered
some Competition committee items, just where we were from a
competitive play after fourteen weeks, and some of the things
(32:33):
I just shared with the membership. You know, when you
just start talking about turnaround teams emerging. Seven of the
seven of the eight divisions have a team in first place.
These are in first place or tied for first place
that didn't win their division a season ago. I'm just
looking at some of my notes, close games, exciting, fifty
(32:53):
games decided by a game winning scoring, the final two
minutes of regulation or an overtime that's tied from in
NFL history. And then special teams, which just continues to
carry the season. You talk about most kickoff return yards
forty two thousand, five hundred and forty one and the
second highest kickoff return average at twenty five point nine,
(33:14):
you know, second most in NFL history. And then the
twenty three special team touchdowns that's extraordinary. That's on part
return obviously kickoff, kickoff return. And then you look at
you know, block field goals being returned for touchdowns. It
has been that dynamic kickoff has changed the way people
(33:34):
are strategizing at not only the beginning of the game,
but at the end of the game, then we just
updated the morning points of clarification, areas that we continue
to monitor weekend and week out, defensive pass and affairans, disqualification,
hip drop tackles, illegal contact, offensive passing, affairance roughing the passer,
and then they shared with the membership, both myself, Lopez
(33:58):
and Walk We talked about areas of our oportunity and officiating.
We always cover officiating in debt, areas of where we're
extremely accurate in foulstone and then recognition and after fourteen
weeks of play OPI and illegal formation in particularly around
the kickoff, we've just seen low accuracy and low recognition
(34:20):
in those particular areas. And then we updated the membership
on areas of opportunity. We talked about expanding replay and
replay assist. There are some areas that we're thinking about.
We haven't discussed this and fully with the competition committee
and we'll get feedback from the clubs, but areas of
potential expansion of replay exists assist crackback block, the low block,
(34:45):
blind side block, intentional grounding, and illegal formations in particular
around the kickoff. Those are areas that we believe we
would like to talk to the Competition Committee about and
for the membership to consider possibly expanding replay assists going
into twenty twenty six campaign.
Speaker 8 (35:03):
And then lastly gave.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
Them an update on where we are with talks with
the nfl RA, and I just laid out just very
six seven, very high level points. We're just looking for
access and flexibility. Obviously it didn't get into any economics
that will take care of it. So the probationary period,
the dead period, just rewarding for performance, postseason assignments, training
(35:28):
and development, further use of technology, and practice squad which
is one that they are familiar with.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
That term.
Speaker 8 (35:36):
How do we get a bench right now? There are seventeen.
Speaker 10 (35:39):
Crews, but just like the player and the player roster,
with attrition, with injuries, those that may not be performing
as well as you like to. We need to have
the flexibility of still developing, constantly developing the official while
if someone's not performing, having the ability to, as we
would say, continue to work with him or her until
(36:03):
they get things right and then move them back up.
Speaker 8 (36:07):
So I said that we'll dig in a little bit more.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
Let's dig in a little bit more on the negotiations
with the Referees Association because their CBA does expire at
the end of May twenty twenty six, so it's coming up. Certainly,
it seems like the league's focus is on trying to
improve officiating, trying to find ways to improve officiating. Why
do you think the things that you want that certainly
(36:34):
seem to center on greater access more training, Why do
you think those are the things too key on how
that will improve officiating? And also this always comes up,
Has there been any conversation about going to full time officials?
Speaker 10 (36:47):
Well, I'll start with the latter. It's not a day
that goes by that we don't talk about. How do
you get better? No differently than the club, how do
you how do you increase play? Do you get better
at the individual position? Collectively? You know, the goal coming
into the season and every year is how do you
find consistency from crew one to crew seventeen.
Speaker 8 (37:10):
Some will fall short is no differently in the player.
Speaker 10 (37:13):
A routine play in practice, sometimes not a routine play
during the game. There's a human element that comes in place.
We're looking for consistency from crew one to crew seventeen.
So the ability to have access is no differently than
the coach with the player.
Speaker 8 (37:29):
We need access and flexibility.
Speaker 10 (37:31):
One that just comes to mind I just think about
is postseason assignments. We should not penalize an individual because
he or she's in their first second year and they
may be a top performer at that particular position. We
want that ability to have that person should have the
ability to work postseason assignments. Right now, it's really you
(37:55):
got tier one, Tier two, and tier three, but a
lot of seniority is wrapped into some of the things
that we just again it's a different day.
Speaker 8 (38:04):
We're going to work with our partner. We want to.
Speaker 10 (38:07):
Improve officiating because the game. We have a responsibility to
the game. We should like we have the best coaches
in the world, best players in the world, and frankly,
their careers are on the line. Men are losing and
are losing jobs, both as players and as coaches.
Speaker 8 (38:26):
So the accountability has to be there and we'll work
through it.
Speaker 10 (38:29):
These are just the areas that hey, access and flexibility.
Speaker 8 (38:33):
We'll get to the economics.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
There have also been a couple of high level announcements
over the last week. You mentioned one of them already,
for which was the thirty two million dollar commitment to
found these pro flag football leagues for both men and women.
Another one that was several days ago now was the
partnership with the Big Twelve, which is kind of across
everything here. It does involve officiating and development and giving
(39:00):
them training tools, but it's also about emerging technology and analytics.
Both seem to have a common thread here, which is
trying to grow the game, protect the game for generations
to come. Just take me through if you could of
both those agreements and why they're so important.
Speaker 8 (39:16):
That's an excellent example, and that's founding on officiating.
Speaker 10 (39:20):
You got a global, a universal challenge with one officials
coming into the system. How do you develop You know,
our officials come from the collegiate level. You watch college football.
Depending on what side you're all on a call. Some
people like it, some people don't. But working together in
a collaborative manner, we believe with the Big Twelve, they're
(39:42):
playing games internationally. Guess what they're going to places that
we've gone. What can we learn the sharing of information
around data? How do we integrate technology is at the
Big Twelve Championship game, we could go down to at
and T stadium, that's the stadium of the Cowboys. What
can we learn here? What are information can we be sharing?
So we're excited about that partnership, not just to develop officials,
(40:07):
but what about the student athlete experience.
Speaker 8 (40:09):
You got the Big twelve showcase. What can we learn
from one another?
Speaker 10 (40:13):
But the partnership is centered around how do we get
better and officiating?
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Troy, thank you very much. Know it's been a long
day for you, a lot of zooms and you know
here's one more for you as well. We appreciate the
time as always, look forward to chat with you soon.
Speaker 8 (40:30):
Thank you, Judy, Thank you Tom.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sixty days to Super Bowl sixty and the Insiders, we'll
be with you for most of them. Catch us five
days a week on the podcast, on NFL Plus YouTube
and of course on NFL Network. More Insiders after this
(40:54):
done now for good coverage presented by Progressive Insurance. The
Rams defense has been rate at keeping teams out of
the end zone this season. They're allowing just a forty
two and a half opponent touchdown percentage in the red zone,
which is second in the NFL, and over all, the
Rams are third in points allowed at just seventeen point
five per game. Philip Rivers is back with the Colts.
(41:19):
Made his practice debut in his second go around in Indianapolis. Today,
there's just one big question left, what.
Speaker 4 (41:27):
Is your playing?
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Wait?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
What do you playing with? Right now?
Speaker 3 (41:30):
Right this second?
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I'm not sure?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Ray?
Speaker 1 (41:36):
How about that?
Speaker 3 (41:37):
That's an honest answer, and I will answer your question
a little better on the plane.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Wait, Greg, not what it was when I walked up
the film Buffalo?
Speaker 3 (41:45):
All right, I can tell you that, But then I'll
follow that up with I ain't never ran away from
anybody anyway, So I'm you know, people say, well, we're
know you're gonna be right there, and it's like, well
they do that for sixteen seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Boys for honesty there, Judy.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
I don't know what's going to happen on the field,
but the press conferences alone have made this signing just
a gift to all of us.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I'm so glad Philip Heerpose is back. Not since Brian
Fitzpatrick admitted that he was eating birthday cake all summer
is anyone's been quite that honest about maybe not weigh
in what they used to say
Yo Soy Fiesta. Rob Gronkowski has taken the party to
his own college bowl game this Saturday, the first Gronk
stops by this show to talk about the soaring Patriots,
this season's top tight ends, and what it would cost
Robert Kraft get Gronking uniform for the playoffs. Seriously, Philip
Rivers is already back at the ripe old age of
(00:30):
forty four, and there appears to be a real chance
Rivers starts on Sunday. Here from Uncle Phil himself tonight
on why he's back and what kind of shape he's
in after nearly five full seasons away. The real question
is should you pick up Philip Rivers for your fantasy playoffs?
Josh Oliver might be a better bet, but Marcus.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Brat will be here tonight for this weekly Fantasy Sleepers,
which may or may not include a certain old quarterback
who could probably use an app welcome inside with the
inside He was presented by Progressive Insurance alongside Judy Batista.
I'm Tom Pelisaro. It is the eve of week fifteen
in the NFL. We got key injury updates on the
(01:10):
Bucks and Falcons coming up in just a little bit.
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football Operations,
will be here to talk about maybe some big changes
on the horizon in the officiating realm.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
But who are we kidding? We're starting out in Indianapolis again, where, yes,
Philip Rivers was back on the field in his old
number seventeen, which was of course freed up along with
the spot on the roster maybe the starting job when
Daniel Jones went down with a torn achilles On Sunday,
Rivers met with the media for the first time in
nearly five years as well, Why exactly, Phil are you
(01:45):
back now?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
As simple as as can be as a coach that
I love and an organization that I really enjoyed being with.
You know, mister ersay believing in me in that year
in twenty twenty when it didn't go good in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And shoot, the teammates that.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I was able to were able to play with, Shoot,
fourteen of them are still here. Training rooms the same
pr guys, are the same quipment, rooms the same.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And they wanted me, and you know, I try to
keep it as simple as that.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And you know, a game, a game I love to play,
A game that I thought it was was I was
done playing. Certainly, I wasn't really hanging on any hope
of playing again. I'd kind of i'd kind of thought
that ship had sailed, but something about it excited me.
And it's kind of one of those deals. The door
opens and you can either walk through it and find
out if you can do it, or or run from it.
(02:45):
And I know, I know that there's there's risk involved,
obviously of what may or may may not happen, but
the only way to find out is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Going for it.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
And I just felt almost like it was a gift,
another opportunity to play and cut it loose. Either in
the game you love to play and the dream that
you got to live, you get you may get some
bonus time. So I really kept it as kept it
as simple as that in my mind. And uh and
here I stand.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Tough physically you're ready for gratefully.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, we will find out that too, you know, I
think so really, I mean, I know, uh, I again,
I know it's it is tough, and I know five years.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
A long time.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Believe me that that weighed on me a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Uh uh being so long.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Uh, But it also is a game I played a
long time and and and and stayed in, uh, stayed
in over the last five years. And I know the
high school ball is different, but staying involved in the game.
And and I watched you. I watched the Colts and
the Chargers every Sunday about every snap, and I watch
you out every game there is. And I know that's
not NFL preparing playing quarterback. I know that's a far
stretch from that. But it's not like I just kind
(03:47):
of shut it and shut football down and I'm you know,
trying to pick it back up. I've been I've been
pretty still been very into it, uh since I've been gone.
But yeah, no, it is a physical game and it's
fast and uh, dudes, you're big and fast just like
they were. And so I'm just you shoot, taking the
day at time, and I do feel good. There's something
about something about being back in this building that feels right.
(04:09):
And I'm just thankful and shoot, like I said, really
just taking it one meeting at a time, one lift
at a time, and really and embracing it. It's been
a whirlwind for forty eight hours, I'll say, but each
moment that goes by, I feel more and more confident.
I really do. I think for me, the decision wasn't easy,
(04:31):
and because of all the things that you all can imagine,
there's human nature to have a little doubt, you know,
And I think for me working through that was well,
that's normal, you know, that's normal to have a little doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Who wouldn't have doubt after five years?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
You know?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
But where's that? Is that doubt real or not? It's like, well,
let's again, like I go back to our first answer.
The only way you can find out is to go.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And so.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I've been excited the guys I've talked to too, and
again we're taking this thing one day at a time.
But I'm just I'm not here to stick and save
the year or be a hero by any means. We
got to stick and run the crap by the football
and play defense and do all those things. So if
that comes to be and I'm the one that's out
there that's gonna I'm not here to try to save
(05:16):
the day. I'm going to know where I'm limited and
as we go it will get better if that's the
route they ended up going. But again, full confidence in
Shane and Chris and the organization in making those decisions.
As we move forward, each and every day.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Philip, just so you know you are here to save
the day. You are here to be the hero. I
understand duty the point that he's making, which is, we've
got a great roster. He played with Jonathan Taylor, he
played with Michael Pittman. He knows some of these guys,
he saw how they were playing. He say, he's been
watching every Colts game and knows what type of team
he's on. But if for Phil Burbs is out there
this week which certainly seems like a strong possibility, they're
(05:53):
going to need him to do something that virtually no
forty four year old in NFL history has ever done,
much less one who has not played even in practice
in five years prior to today.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Yeah, and let's be clear, Shane Stiken left the door
wide open for Philip Rivers to be the starter this weekend.
He was asked is that possible, and he said, well,
we're going to have to see how he feels. And
of course that is what all of this boils down to,
is how will Philip Rivers fields. Nobody doubts that he
can silk for the ball. He obviously is still very
mentally into the game. He knows the offense. The question
(06:27):
is can his body hold up, not just in a game,
can his body get through a week of practices. He
has not been in football shape in five years. Having
said that, he is there to save the day. This
is a team that was on the way, especially early
in the season to the playoffs, look dominant. Now they
have lost their starting quarterback. He is there to try
to hold it together. Let Jonathan Taylor run, let the
(06:49):
defense do its job, but Philip Rivers is going to
have to make some plays if the culture going to
salvage this season.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
We talked to Matt Ryan on this show last night.
He was talking about he went out and try to
throw with Matthew Stafford just this past summer and he's like, oh, yeah,
I was feeling good. You know, the arm was responding.
Had Stafford catching some balls for He said he woke
up the next morning it's like his arm was hanging off.
When you're not training to play football, even if you're
throwing it around with the high school kids like Philip
has been. He's got a full sized field in his
(07:17):
yard down there in Alabama, it's still a little bit different.
To say nothing of the way that the body is
going to react the first time potentially it gets hit.
I would tell you from the people I spoke to
who are at that workout on Monday night, they said,
Philip's arm still looks like it's always looked. It's everything
else that comes with actually going out there and doing
it as soon as this Sunday. Now Riley Leonard, who
(07:39):
would otherwise be in line to start if not for
the presidence of Philip Rivers full participatet in practice today,
despite that low grade PCL sprain that he's got. We'll
see what direction it goes. But Philip Rivers is not
here to be riding the bench. He is there to
try to help the Colts get into the playoffs. By
virtue of the recent slide. They would be on the
(07:59):
outside looking in at this point, but still four weeks
to go, and potentially if they can get at least
two of these games, they're going to give themselves a
shot because some of the other teams within the playoff
Chase Lamar, Jackson and the Ravens med a bumpy ride
coming off a loss to the Steelers. Lamar, as he
has in racent weeks, not practicing on Wednesday, but this
(08:20):
time listed as not injury related. That means I've lost
track the hamstring, the foot, the ankle, the knee, whatever
it was that was listed recently. Apparently that's all healed.
It's pretty rare for a quarterback just to not practice
on Wednesday because of rest, but Lamar in a little
bit different state. Something to keep an eye on through
the course of this week. As for the first game
of Week fifteen, Mike Evans is back. So is Jalen McMillan.
(08:45):
Evans suffered that injury against the Lines in his first
game back from a prior injury. Both guys officially on
the active roster. Judy looks like they'll be good to
go against the Falcons.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Not so much for Falcons receiver Drake London. He is
out for Thursday night football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He is still recovering from a keycl string he suffered
back in week eleven, So no Drake London for that
division game. While we're at it, let's take a look
at the NFC playoff picture, because the Bucks are certainly
(09:16):
in the mix. There you see them there, They would
be the four seed. Now they are still in the
lead in the NFC South but let's look at that.
It is the Rams that would have the number one
seed right now, and look at the Packers sitting there
nine three and one.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
They are the two seed.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
They of course are playing one of the big matchups
this week. It is another very very strong slate of games.
There is Jared Goff versus Matthew Stafford all the way
at the top, and you can see there Packers Broncos.
And you know what, let's talk more about Packers Broncos
because I bet that's going to be maybe a defensive game.
Our Brian Baldinger joins the show. Now, these are top
(09:54):
five defenses that are going to face each other, Packers Broncos. Baldy,
you have a breakdown of what we are seeing from
the Packers defense. What are you liking from them?
Speaker 6 (10:05):
Well, I like the way the defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley
is using Michaeh Parsons. Remember he came very late to
the program, so they've gradually worked him in. You can
still see Micah in his normal positions, but they're moving
him around. They take advantage of his rare skills and
being able to chase. So they've just gone through the
division and beaten all the teams in their division.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
But you watch me here.
Speaker 6 (10:25):
You leave Michael Parsons one on one against anybody, Taylor Deck,
He's gonna win. He's gonna win a high percentage of
the time one on ones. He can play either side,
right side or left side. We see him in those positions. Here, Judy,
here he is against the Bears right and this is
his strength right here. Once the quarterback in this case,
Caleb Williams, he leaves the pocket. Nobody chased the quarterback
(10:47):
down like Michaeh Parsons. In fact, Caleb could turn a
corner on almost every pass rusher.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
In the league.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
But he knew that was Micah right there, and he
pulled up and he said, it's better just to throw
the ball away and live to another down. Now you
can slide your protection of Micah. You can take the
back DeAndre Swift and put him over there. You can
key on him all you want, chip him with cole comet, uh,
slide the line all the way to him. He's gonna
find a way. It's like grabbing jello, Judy, like he's
(11:13):
gonna come out of some place.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Now.
Speaker 6 (11:15):
This is what Hafley's doing, though, when you get the
third downs and sometimes other downs, like watch David Montgomery.
He's looking for Micah right here, so he's gonna go
over and chip them. But even with the chip he's
used to that, he still beats the guard and he
gets golf down to the ground. And here against Minnesota,
like he's got freedom that there's structure around Micah to
(11:35):
let him go free lands go let him go win
where he thinks he can win. In this case, he
runs the center over JJ McCarthy barely gets out of.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
The end zone. And then you see this a little bit.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
You'll use him as a decoy right here, Like right now,
Drew donmind's gonna slide the line to Micah Parsons. They're
all gonna slide his way, and as a decoy, he's
gonna drop into coverage.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And when he drops, they're.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
Gonna overload the other side, and so they're gonna get
the same effect that they wanted to move the quarterback
off the spot to get him running without him. But
because he's such a dynamic player at the line, you
have to account for him.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You can use him in.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
A decoy position like Chicago just did, like Green Bay
just did on that last one. So you've seeing him
in a variety of spots, taking advantage of his rare,
rare talents and probably playing as good a football he's
ever played up there in Green Bay on a really
really good team which should be a great game featuring
a lot of great pass rushers in Denver this weekend.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Time now to Marcus My words with Marcus Grant, our
fantasy expert who has got a big matchup this week
with Michael f. Florio. It is expert on expert action
in the quarter finals. Sipin' Charvionaye. That is a very
solid name. Marcus always brings the heat right here. All right,
fancy sleepers time, Like we knew everyone Wednesday, Marcus, give
(13:00):
me a quarterback this week.
Speaker 7 (13:02):
Well it's going to be a little bit out of
the box here. We're going with JJ McCarthy or nine
if you prefer. And I know it hasn't been great
this year, but our Plifloria actually has pointed out that
McCarthy's worst games have come against either some of the
top defenses in the league or defenses facing it for
a second time. The Cowboys are neither, and although they
are improved, still giving up a lot of yards in
the passing game. We saw McCarthy have the three touchdown
(13:24):
passes last week. This could be maybe a surprise. I'd say,
if you're starting him, I wouldn't watch it. It's not
going to be pretty to watch, but the numbers at
the end could be okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
For those of us who were grabbing Isaiah to check.
Go off the wire last week. Just to fill a
running back hole, give me a running back sleeper, Marcus.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
Let's go Chris Rodriguez in Washington, and it's kind of
become a mess in that backfield. Sort of a three
headed running back situation there, but Rodriguez definitely the number
one guy, leads the team in snaps and rushing attempts,
getting about fifty percent of the goal line rushing attempt
so those high leverage opportunities are going Rodriguez's way. The
matchup is very good though this week, taking on the
New York Football Giants thirty first range run defense, second
(14:03):
best matchup for running backs all year long, and Rodriguez
has played well when Marcus Mariota has been at quarterbacks.
So again, kind of a deep sleeper here, but an
opportunity in front of him.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
About a wide receiver sleeper Marcus.
Speaker 7 (14:16):
Jim Ray DK has been kind of a nice pickup,
especially for folks in deeper leagues, And it doesn't seem
like a lot because that Titans offense hasn't really done much.
But he's playing a lot out of the slot, and
he's going against the forty nine ers, who have been
the third best matchup for slot wide receivers this year.
DK has four weekly Top twenty four finishes. He's scored
more than sixteen Fantasy points in three of those games.
(14:37):
Plus the way the Titans games have gone, they tend
to be in a pass heavy game script in the
second half.
Speaker 8 (14:43):
I would imagine that's going to.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Be the case.
Speaker 7 (14:44):
You're gonna see a lot of cam wored dropbacks in
the third and fourth quarter as they're chasing that game.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Let's say, hypothetically, I've been riding Travis Kelcey all year
and starting to get a little bit nervous about what
I'm seeing. How about a sleeper tight end, Marcus.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Let's go Pat Fryarmouth in Pittsburgh and it's sort of
been a weird situation. They got the three tight ends
down there with Friarmuth and John Newsmith and Darnell Washington,
but Washington's in the concussion protocol may not play this week,
which is good news for friar Mouth because the two
of them have sort of been eating off each other's
plates this year. The Dolphins, they have been tough on
wide receivers, but they've been pretty generous to tight ends.
(15:19):
Third best matchup for the tight end position, and if
they lock down on DK Metcalf, friar Mouth could be
a nice outlet.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And one more a defense, Marcus a sleeper please.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
I always love to give you a sleeper defense. We're
gonna go with the forty nine ers, And yes, I
know I said chim Bray. DK could have a nice
game that does not preclude the forty nine ers from
having a good fantasy week in it. On defense as well,
Kim Ward tied for the NFL lead in most sacks taken.
The Niners have been very opportunistic recently, seven takeaways in
their last three games. That's good news against an offense
(15:51):
that's turning the ball over on an above league average rate.
So again I said, I think the Titans will be
chasing this game. That gives the forty nine ers Robert
Salin opportunity to attack in the second half, and I
think they can be a nice streaming defense.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Marcus, thank you. Good luck against Florio. Please work out
some type of side bit about who's wearing what depending
who loses that game when they come on this show
next week. A lot more to come tonight, including the
visit from maybe the greatest tight end of all time.
Rob Gronkowski will be here to talk about the ball
game he is hosting on Saturday. Yes you heard me correctly,
(16:26):
and a whole lot more. When Gronk considered going back
to the Patriots if they needed him for a playoff
run Philip Rivers style, we'll ask him next on The
Insiders presented by Progressive Insurance. Oh, superhuman. They can't defend him.
(16:52):
I'm sorry, he's covered. Even when he's covered, he's open.
Look at like that. Do stop him? Did not stop him?
(17:15):
Don't you know, Hard, I'm the greatest comeback in Super
Bowl history? Rokowski on the Europe You know you had
a heck of an NFL career when not only do
we have your highlight set to music, but you got
your own bowl game. It's the buck Up LA Bowl,
(17:38):
hosted by Gronk, Boise State versus Washington Saturday at SOFI Stadium,
and we are please be joined right now by Gronk himself,
Rob Gronkowski here on the Insiders with me, Tom Pilaicero
and Judy Batista, and Gronk tell me about I'm just
gonna call it straight up the Gronk Bowl. I know
it's got a longer name, but what's like being involved
in this game? What can fans expect Saturday? You know,
(18:01):
it's really special. It's my third year and this year
is to Bucked Up LA ballhosted by yours.
Speaker 9 (18:05):
Truly right here, Gronk, baby, and it's going to be
exciting this year.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
I mean the first year we have Boise State.
Speaker 9 (18:11):
They unfortunately lost to UCLA that game and Ashton Genty
was a part of a top five draft pick now
running back for the Las Vegas Raiders. But this year
it's going to be special. It's the only football game
going on.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
In the world.
Speaker 9 (18:25):
And directly after the Heisman Trophy presentation. It's Saturday night,
five pm Pacific time, that's eight.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Pm Eastern time.
Speaker 9 (18:33):
We got the Washington Huskies versus Boise State Broncos. Boise
State just won the conference championship for the Mountain West,
so they got an automatic bid to the bowl game.
We all invited to. The Washington Huskies a pretty solid year.
They lost to three top ten programs, Ohio State, Oregon,
and forgot the other team. Michigan was the other one
that they lost to, so their losses are legitimate losses
(18:55):
to top programs, So this is two solid teams. Jeed
Fish is the head coach of the Washingtons, and I'm
going to have a word with him because he was
the head coach for the University of Arizona Mylelunni, you know,
for the two years and turned for three years and
turned the program around, and then he took the job
over with the Washington Osky. So you know, I got
to have a word with him that he should have
(19:16):
stayed as the head.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Coach of the University of Arizona.
Speaker 9 (19:19):
But that's okay, because the University of Arizona nine to
three this year. I was hoping to get him for
this bowl game, you know, you know, as the last
year hosting it. But guess what, they got too good.
They outplayed themselves and went ninety three and accepted to
the bigger bull, the Holiday Bowl, which probably pays out
more so they accepted it.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
I was hoping they would decline. But it's going to
be a.
Speaker 9 (19:40):
Big one in LA this Saturday at Sofa Stadium.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
There's no bawl bigger than the ground ball. Let's go
back to the teams briefly. Boise State and Washington give
us the scouting report. What kind of matchups are you
going to be watching from these teams.
Speaker 9 (19:56):
Well, if there's a ball that's bigger than the ground bull,
it's a Snoop Dogg ball. And it's not the football
game that's going on. Snoop Dogg's actual ball that he
has probably hitting to his face.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
That the bull's probably bigger than this bowl game right here.
Speaker 9 (20:08):
That's the only ball that will be bigger than this
bowl game coming up.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
But I don't know how I just.
Speaker 9 (20:14):
Thought about that, but I just did because I heard
about this new bowl game yesterday as well. But this game,
we got Boise State. They just won the Mountain West Conference.
They went to the playoffs last year. Ashton Gents, you know,
was part of the team last year. This is a
legitimate pork program. This is a story program. They dominate
the Mountain West Conference. You know, over the last decade,
you know, they got a lot of chances to you know,
(20:36):
compete for national championships.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
So this is a great program.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
Very satisfied that we got the Boise State Broncos here.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
They had a great year as well.
Speaker 9 (20:45):
They weren't even expected to win the Mountain West Conference,
and then they came back and they did.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
They won it all once again.
Speaker 9 (20:51):
You can't expect anything less, you know, from them, because
it's Boise State. But then we got the Washington Huskies.
Like I talked about jud Fish, their head coach. You know,
he kind of just ditched us at the University of Arizona,
left blindly and took the job at Washington. But that's okay.
I was cool with him, and now he's in my
ball game, so I'll be cool with him again. And
(21:12):
the Washington Huskis had a pretty solid year. They got
a great running back who I'm pretty sure is up
you talked about as a Heisman finalist going into next
year as well. He talked about it for a little
bit because he was scoring touchdowns left and right at
the beginning of the year. But the Huskis are eight
and four. Three of their losses are the top legitimate
programs like I talked about Ohio State and Oregon was
(21:32):
two of them in Michigan as well, so they can compete.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
So it's going to be a great game, and the
Huskies are favored.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So let's talk about you here, Gronk. Last month you
go back, you signed the ceremonial one day contract retire
as a Patriot. Robert Kraft made a comment to you
while playing that night, and you said, hey, what's the
signing bonus right now that you see forty four year
old Philip Rivers coming back after five years away? If
Kraft calls it, you've got no excuse to Could you
come back and give him a there is a game,
(22:00):
a playoff run.
Speaker 9 (22:01):
If they need you in New England, you want to
know something I can give them looks on the practice squad.
Seeing Philip Rivers signed to the practice squad, which makes sense.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
You got to get them game ready and then you
can pull them up anytime.
Speaker 9 (22:12):
But I would maybe go back if a team was like, hey,
you know, can you give us some great looks on
the scout team and we're going to pay you a
legitimate bonus, like a million bucks or something bonus right
on the spot, and all you got to do is
practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on the practice squad and
show us some legitimate looks of the tight ends that
we're going against, and just go out there and practice
(22:34):
and have fun and get our guys better. That actually
might be a pretty cool case. You know, I might
have to think about that. The chance of that happening
are one percent, but I would have to just think
about it and lay my options on the table.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
I would not be surprised if head coaches around the
league are like, wait a minute, we should maybe consider that.
Tom mentioned you were in New England. You officially retired there,
You obviously still talk to plenty of people inside the building.
How do you explain their very rapid turnaround this year.
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Well, RKK is always trying to get the job done.
You know, whenever the programs in shambles, he's always trying
to do what's best for the program. There's no doubt
about that. He's one of the best owners of all time.
And it all starts at the top and that Kraft
family wants the best program, best organization possible every single
year to give the best product on the field for
New England fans. Out there in the New England region.
There's no doubt about that. And he did a great
(23:28):
job by going out and getting head coach Mike Brable.
He's proven, we all know he's a great head coach.
Just to have him available on the streets was out
on the streets like that. We just fell in the
hands of the New England Patriots, which was huge. And
then having him and then that was part of the turnaround.
You know, he went out there, he got great coordinators,
having Josh McDaniels has the offensive coordinator. They landed the
(23:50):
quarterback the year before the prior year with head coach
Jerroden Mayo, so that landed in his lap as well,
which was huge. So those three guys, you got rab Oh,
you got Josh mccaniels, you got a franchise quarterback now,
Drake may And then they went out and signed all
the guys in free agency.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 9 (24:07):
There's a lot of teams that signed a lot of
players in free agency and staff their team, but hey,
it's how can they play together? And with that coaching staff,
it's bringing them together to play together. And that's why
they're so significant this year, and that's why It's one
of the biggest turnarounds we've ever seen in the history
of the NFL, going from the worst team in the
NFL to the best team and the best record in
the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Huge game on Sunday, it's the Patriots against the Bills.
They can lock up the AFC East. They got a
chance to be the number one seed, which you know
a thing or two about having the number one seed,
getting that little bye week vacation in New England. I
know you follow the whole league working at fush. Who's
the biggest threat to the Patriots? If somebody AFC, NFC
is going to take them down, who is it?
Speaker 9 (24:49):
Oh man, Well, if it's the NFC, I'm going with
the Los Angeles Rams because I do think that they're
the best team in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
They're the best complete team and they're lost.
Speaker 9 (24:57):
Res the Carolina Panthers was kind of because they were
feeling themselves a little bit too much. I feel like,
you know, they their heads were too high there. They
were not as humble as they should be, and that's
what happens. You get a little smack when you're not
being humble. But it was a good thing because now
they got that out of the way, and they just
reampted it once again and they showed why they're the
best team in the NFL with they absolutely blew out
a team last week I forgot who, well, it was
(25:18):
the Arizona Cardinals, and they just showed and proved themselves
again last week why they're the best team in the
NFL in my eyes. And so that could be a team,
you know, in the Super Bowl that can knock got
the Patriots because that's the only way that they're going
to face each other. But on the AFC side, I
think it's up in the air. I think it's up
for grabs. I really think that home field advantage is
going to what play is what is going to be
(25:40):
what plays a significant role in the playoffs this year?
Who can get it? Can the Denver Broncos get the
number one seed or can the New England Patriots get
the number one seed? Who's going to lose a game
or two where you know it's handed to that other
team and whatever team that is I think is going
to make the significant run down down, you know, down
the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
You obviously know what a great quarterback looks like since
you played with one.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Your entire career.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
What do you like about Drake May, What convinces you
that he is up to the moment already.
Speaker 9 (26:12):
Well, he kind of does look similar a little bit
to Tom at the beginning of his year, with the
blobby cheeks, with the baby fat on the cheeks. You know,
that's what Tom looked like his first couple of years
in the NFL. And that's what Drake May. Tom cloned
his dog. And everyone's wondering out there if Drake May
is a clone of Tom, because they play very similar.
But I know he's not a clone because he's a
lot more athletic than Tom Brady, so he can't be
(26:36):
a clone for just that reason. But they're very similar
in the pocket, that's for sure. Drake May, Well, he's
doing a great job. You know, he's progressing every single week,
reading defenses, getting the ball to the guy that's open,
checking down when it's necessary, and making the tight throws
and making those tight throws look easy. And that's why,
(26:56):
and that's one of the main reasons why.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
These Patriots are so great this year.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
It's because of Drake May just taking his game to
a whole new level. And you got to credit Josh
McDaniels as well. He's been through it with Tom. You know,
he's made Tom. Not He's not say made Tom, but
he has helped Tom become, you know, the greatest of
all time throughout his career, and now he's doing it
with Drake may as well.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
You mentioned Tom cloning his dog, which is a very
strange storyline, but everyone always says this. There can never
be another Rob Gronkowski, most unique, complete tight end in
NFL history. What if there were another one? Would you
allow yourself Gronk to be cloned?
Speaker 7 (27:32):
Oh?
Speaker 9 (27:33):
Man, I don't know if I would allow it to
be cloned. I would want it to naturally just happen,
you know what I mean, like another Gronk out there
that just you know, maybe one of my brother's kids,
you know one my brother has like five kids, my
other has like four. Maybe one of them. I don't know,
that could possibly be. I just want it to happen naturally.
I wouldn't want it to happen because it was like
(27:53):
cloned in a lab or something. So and if it
does happen, man, I gotta I'll be a huge fan
because I love just seeing guys just go out there
and just bulldoze his way through the secondary and you
got to appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Well.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
I want to ask you, like, what tight ends do
you like now, because when you're watching the whole league,
you sometimes will hear a commentator say that's something Rob
Gronkowski used to do. So who does Rob Gronkowski like
to watch among the tight ends in the league right now?
Speaker 9 (28:23):
Yes, I love to watch the passion that Oh hold on,
I don't be declining that phone call that's coming through.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
That's very rare that they call me in the middle
of this.
Speaker 9 (28:33):
Yeah, I was my tax guy, and let me tell you,
I pay my taxes. So I don't know why he's
calling me, but maybe because I got to get tax
on my on my bowl game, the bucked up LA
Bowl game revenue that I'm making here. But I'll pay
my taxes, you know us, Okay? But who reminds me
of myself or who know? Who I really like in
(28:53):
the NFL. I do love the passion what I'm George
Kittle brings to the table and how he's a complete
tight end.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
And how he dominates in the run game.
Speaker 9 (29:01):
And then in the same conference as well, they're a
really really crappy team right now the Arizona Colonels. But
Trade McBride. He's a really good player. He's bringing the
heat this year once again. And when he gets the ball,
he makes the defenders you know, get punished. So really
like those two definitely, And as a rookie right now.
(29:21):
Tyler Warren was watching him at the beginning of the
year and just how athletic he is and what he's
bringing to the table, that versatility that he's bringing to
the table for the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately the quarterback situation
isn't great for him, but what he brings to the table,
and just as a rookie has been just pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Last thing for you, Gronk, before we let you go,
and I want to draw you down because you did
a good job kind of evading my question when I
ask you about coming back and playing. Let's say Robert
Craft comes to you. I'm going to make you the offer.
I'm Robert Kraft. It's a ten million dollars signing vontage.
You get the run rounds on the scout team for
the next four weeks. Come playoff time, Gronk, whether it's
one snap or fifty snaps, Gronk's playing for the Patriots.
(30:03):
Are you taking ten million dollars to come in just
to play in the playoffs.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
And it could possibly be just one snap as well
in the playoff game. I mean, hey, man, but you're
in uniform.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Hey, I don't know, Man, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (30:21):
I would have to.
Speaker 9 (30:23):
I mean, I would think about it, and I would
go outside and I'll go run routes for the next week,
and if I feel like I'm capable to do it,
because I won't want to go out there and just
absolutely be just botch myself. You know, I won't want
to do that. So I would first think about the offer.
I'd go outside. I would run routes for a week
straight and then go from there. And if I feel
like I could do it at least participate and at
(30:45):
least give them something just a little bit, then I
would take the offer.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Robert Kraft, if you're watching right now, that wasn't a
no from Gronk. Man. Hey, we appreciate you coming on, man,
have fun in the LA Bowl the Bucked Up LA
hosted by Gronktay, We'll be watching on Saturday. Appreciate you,
Thank you, guys. Big news out of the NFL's Virtual
(31:10):
December meeting. Today, the league announced and it will return
to Munich, Germany in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty
eight to play regular season games as part of a
multi year partnership. NFL previously announced the play regular season
games next year in Melbourne, Australia, REO and two in London.
More announcements still to come for more on that Virtual
(31:31):
December meeting. Let's welcome in Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive
vice president of Football Operations. Troy Normally, we're all sitting
there in Dallas right now. Everyone's waiting to get on
the the cars off to the airport. This is the
first virtual meeting. How to go? What were the headlines?
Speaker 10 (31:46):
It was outstanding and frankly personally, to get for the
membership to vote on giving the league off as the
authorization to move forward with identifying a partner for women's
and men's Pro Flag league was it was the highlight.
It was definitely the highlight of the day. I mean,
(32:09):
dreams are now. Women can dream just like young young
girls can dream, just like I did other student athletes.
This was it was just outstanding. So I'm just I'm
looking forward to the next phase of this. We covered
some Competition committee items, just where we were from a
competitive play after fourteen weeks, and some of the things
(32:33):
I just shared with the membership. You know, when you
just start talking about turnaround teams emerging. Seven of the
seven of the eight divisions have a team in first place.
These are in first place or tied for first place
that didn't win their division a season ago. I'm just
looking at some of my notes, close games, exciting, fifty
(32:53):
games decided by a game winning scoring, the final two
minutes of regulation or an overtime that's tied from in
NFL history. And then special teams, which just continues to
carry the season. You talk about most kickoff return yards
forty two thousand, five hundred and forty one and the
second highest kickoff return average at twenty five point nine,
(33:14):
you know, second most in NFL history. And then the
twenty three special team touchdowns that's extraordinary. That's on part
return obviously kickoff, kickoff return. And then you look at
you know, block field goals being returned for touchdowns. It
has been that dynamic kickoff has changed the way people
(33:34):
are strategizing at not only the beginning of the game,
but at the end of the game, then we just
updated the morning points of clarification, areas that we continue
to monitor weekend and week out, defensive pass and affairans, disqualification,
hip drop tackles, illegal contact, offensive passing, affairance roughing the passer,
and then they shared with the membership, both myself, Lopez
(33:58):
and Walk We talked about areas of our oportunity and officiating.
We always cover officiating in debt, areas of where we're
extremely accurate in foulstone and then recognition and after fourteen
weeks of play OPI and illegal formation in particularly around
the kickoff, we've just seen low accuracy and low recognition
(34:20):
in those particular areas. And then we updated the membership
on areas of opportunity. We talked about expanding replay and
replay assist. There are some areas that we're thinking about.
We haven't discussed this and fully with the competition committee
and we'll get feedback from the clubs, but areas of
potential expansion of replay exists assist crackback block, the low block,
(34:45):
blind side block, intentional grounding, and illegal formations in particular
around the kickoff. Those are areas that we believe we
would like to talk to the Competition Committee about and
for the membership to consider possibly expanding replay assists going
into twenty twenty six campaign.
Speaker 8 (35:03):
And then lastly gave.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
Them an update on where we are with talks with
the nfl RA, and I just laid out just very
six seven, very high level points. We're just looking for
access and flexibility. Obviously it didn't get into any economics
that will take care of it. So the probationary period,
the dead period, just rewarding for performance, postseason assignments, training
(35:28):
and development, further use of technology, and practice squad which
is one that they are familiar with.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
That term.
Speaker 8 (35:36):
How do we get a bench right now? There are seventeen.
Speaker 10 (35:39):
Crews, but just like the player and the player roster,
with attrition, with injuries, those that may not be performing
as well as you like to. We need to have
the flexibility of still developing, constantly developing the official while
if someone's not performing, having the ability to, as we
would say, continue to work with him or her until
(36:03):
they get things right and then move them back up.
Speaker 8 (36:07):
So I said that we'll dig in a little bit more.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
Let's dig in a little bit more on the negotiations
with the Referees Association because their CBA does expire at
the end of May twenty twenty six, so it's coming up. Certainly,
it seems like the league's focus is on trying to
improve officiating, trying to find ways to improve officiating. Why
do you think the things that you want that certainly
(36:34):
seem to center on greater access more training, Why do
you think those are the things too key on how
that will improve officiating? And also this always comes up,
Has there been any conversation about going to full time officials?
Speaker 10 (36:47):
Well, I'll start with the latter. It's not a day
that goes by that we don't talk about. How do
you get better? No differently than the club, how do
you how do you increase play? Do you get better
at the individual position? Collectively? You know, the goal coming
into the season and every year is how do you
find consistency from crew one to crew seventeen.
Speaker 8 (37:10):
Some will fall short is no differently in the player.
Speaker 10 (37:13):
A routine play in practice, sometimes not a routine play
during the game. There's a human element that comes in place.
We're looking for consistency from crew one to crew seventeen.
So the ability to have access is no differently than
the coach with the player.
Speaker 8 (37:29):
We need access and flexibility.
Speaker 10 (37:31):
One that just comes to mind I just think about
is postseason assignments. We should not penalize an individual because
he or she's in their first second year and they
may be a top performer at that particular position. We
want that ability to have that person should have the
ability to work postseason assignments. Right now, it's really you
(37:55):
got tier one, Tier two, and tier three, but a
lot of seniority is wrapped into some of the things
that we just again it's a different day.
Speaker 8 (38:04):
We're going to work with our partner. We want to.
Speaker 10 (38:07):
Improve officiating because the game. We have a responsibility to
the game. We should like we have the best coaches
in the world, best players in the world, and frankly,
their careers are on the line. Men are losing and
are losing jobs, both as players and as coaches.
Speaker 8 (38:26):
So the accountability has to be there and we'll work
through it.
Speaker 10 (38:29):
These are just the areas that hey, access and flexibility.
Speaker 8 (38:33):
We'll get to the economics.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
There have also been a couple of high level announcements
over the last week. You mentioned one of them already,
for which was the thirty two million dollar commitment to
found these pro flag football leagues for both men and women.
Another one that was several days ago now was the
partnership with the Big Twelve, which is kind of across
everything here. It does involve officiating and development and giving
(39:00):
them training tools, but it's also about emerging technology and analytics.
Both seem to have a common thread here, which is
trying to grow the game, protect the game for generations
to come. Just take me through if you could of
both those agreements and why they're so important.
Speaker 8 (39:16):
That's an excellent example, and that's founding on officiating.
Speaker 10 (39:20):
You got a global, a universal challenge with one officials
coming into the system. How do you develop You know,
our officials come from the collegiate level. You watch college football.
Depending on what side you're all on a call. Some
people like it, some people don't. But working together in
a collaborative manner, we believe with the Big Twelve, they're
(39:42):
playing games internationally. Guess what they're going to places that
we've gone. What can we learn the sharing of information
around data? How do we integrate technology is at the
Big Twelve Championship game, we could go down to at
and T stadium, that's the stadium of the Cowboys. What
can we learn here? What are information can we be sharing?
So we're excited about that partnership, not just to develop officials,
(40:07):
but what about the student athlete experience.
Speaker 8 (40:09):
You got the Big twelve showcase. What can we learn
from one another?
Speaker 10 (40:13):
But the partnership is centered around how do we get
better and officiating?
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Troy, thank you very much. Know it's been a long
day for you, a lot of zooms and you know
here's one more for you as well. We appreciate the
time as always, look forward to chat with you soon.
Speaker 8 (40:30):
Thank you, Judy, Thank you Tom.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Sixty days to Super Bowl sixty and the Insiders, we'll
be with you for most of them. Catch us five
days a week on the podcast, on NFL Plus YouTube
and of course on NFL Network. More Insiders after this
(40:54):
done now for good coverage presented by Progressive Insurance. The
Rams defense has been rate at keeping teams out of
the end zone this season. They're allowing just a forty
two and a half opponent touchdown percentage in the red zone,
which is second in the NFL, and over all, the
Rams are third in points allowed at just seventeen point
five per game. Philip Rivers is back with the Colts.
(41:19):
Made his practice debut in his second go around in Indianapolis. Today,
there's just one big question left, what.
Speaker 4 (41:27):
Is your playing?
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Wait?
Speaker 4 (41:28):
What do you playing with? Right now?
Speaker 3 (41:30):
Right this second?
Speaker 1 (41:32):
I'm not sure?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Ray?
Speaker 1 (41:36):
How about that?
Speaker 3 (41:37):
That's an honest answer, and I will answer your question
a little better on the plane.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Wait, Greg, not what it was when I walked up
the film Buffalo?
Speaker 3 (41:45):
All right, I can tell you that, But then I'll
follow that up with I ain't never ran away from
anybody anyway, So I'm you know, people say, well, we're
know you're gonna be right there, and it's like, well
they do that for sixteen seventeen years.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Boys for honesty there, Judy.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
I don't know what's going to happen on the field,
but the press conferences alone have made this signing just
a gift to all of us.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I'm so glad Philip Heerpose is back. Not since Brian
Fitzpatrick admitted that he was eating birthday cake all summer
is anyone's been quite that honest about maybe not weigh
in what they used to say
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Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
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Mike Garafolo
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