August 6, 2024 • 28 mins
- The Lions and Giants got into several fights during joint practices, so what does that mean about how other teams view the Lions?
- Michigan Football is ranked preseason No. 8, is that a fair standing?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah. I mean, uh, I don't know the situation happens
like that. I stand up for he you guys, but
I thought it was a good competitive practice all day
to day and and uh, you know, we made some
plays and did some good things. There's some things we
need to shure up for sure, but it's good, you know,
good intensity and competitive sphere today.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
That's Giants quarterback Daniel Jones following practice yesterday in their
facility against the Lions. Second consecutive year that these two
teams have had joint practices and there were plenty of
fights that took place. The first fight started, It began
(00:50):
less than an hour into the practice. I'm on Aros.
Saint Brown caught a ball Drew Phillips, their rookie corner,
was in coverage. Dane Belton knocks the ball out of
Brown's hands. After the play was over and all hell
breaks loose. Belton said afterwards, I was trying to finish
(01:12):
a play and I feel like he wasn't down, so
I'm trying to get the ball out. Everyone talks about turnovers,
You've got to do things like that. I was just
trying to get the ball out. People who know me,
I'm not a big fighter after the play. I hate
getting penalties because that leads to losing and I love winning.
I'm not going to fight anybody, but when that play
(01:33):
is going, I'm going to get the ball. So what happens.
Jamison Williams sees what happens, and he shoves Phillips on
his way over to get to Belton. Phillips jabs back
at Williams and the Donnie Brook begins. It happens so
often that the Giants general manager Shane actually had to
(02:01):
come in and was part of trying to break it up.
He actually got into the fray to try and separate
men who were fighting. Now this is I think, you
know the boys are gonna be boys whatever. Okay, it
(02:21):
happens over and over and over again. Then obviously somebody
hasn't done their job at the beginning of the first
few fracases in an effort to try and quell the
temperature on the field. Later otherwise you don't have as
many skirmishes as you saw.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And I think the reason it got so out of hand,
if you want to even call it that was because
this isn't a game, right Like, there's no referees. Usually
the refs will set the tone in the first quarter
and hey, we're not doing that today. They'll throw a
flag on something at.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, but most of those practices do they do bring
in referees. Anytime when I was calling Lions for years,
went down to Indy, went down to Pittsburgh for joint practices,
they always had referees. I didn't know there wasn't any
referees yesterday. Is that factual or let me check on that.
(03:13):
I guess yeah. Usually there, Yeah, usually there are for
moments just like this, just in case. But I understand
why you're thinking that. And the reason you're thinking is
because when you look at the video, you don't see
anybody in there jumping in there to try and break
it up. It's just players policing players.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Now. One of my favorite moments, too, was when I
think it was the first fight that you just described,
and after about five or six seconds, Penne Sewel came
flying in and the whole pile moved about ten feet
to the left.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
You know what I thought was interesting is that if
you look at it from a New York perspective, they
were talking about how it's a bad look for the
Lions and somebody had commented on social media from a
New York persp active that there's jealousy for Aman Ross
Saint Brown's contract and that's a big reason why people
(04:09):
haven't come to support Brown. They haven't necessarily defended him.
And I'm thinking, wait a minute, what are you talking
about that That could not be further from the truth.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And people were zoned.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, people were in on it right away.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I am seeing referees yep.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
By the way, Yeah, okay, yeah, that's what I thought.
It doesn't It doesn't surprise me. You're supposed to have
referees at dual practices like that, not just because of this,
but because coaches want this to be as real when
you're scrimmaging, as real to a game as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah, game speed, getting ready. But to jump back on
your point from earlier that I think you were going
with this was the whole team was back and I'm
in Ross Saint Brown. I can't believe that they tried
to spin that yarn on the New York side.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah it was. And that's to me, that's someone feeling
like Arman Ross Saint Brown didn't deserve the contracts, so
this was their way of taking that proverbial jab. Now,
remember these two teams had something similar a year ago,
(05:19):
and many people's observations who were there felt like the
Giants were rather flat when it came to something like this,
that they didn't compete as hard as the New York
Giants are supposed to. One of the bigger I think
compliments you can get is when other receivers or other
(05:43):
cornerbacks or other linemen, other players recognize your effort. I
have talked on this show on more than one occasion
about the gas level. Got that from an interview with
a Red Wings coach years ago. The gas level, to
give a blank level, The Lions gas level since Dan
(06:07):
Campbell has taken over is extremely high. Isaiah Hodgens, Giants
wide receiver, recognized it. This is what he said. They
practice really hard. Dan Campbell has them boys going over there.
We know that we know that it's going to be
(06:27):
a physical practice. There's going to be a lot of
chirping and talking and everything. But it's a different team
this year. He's referring to his Giants team. I think
we're going to be ready for it. Brian Dabele has
put a really good emphasis on starting fast now that's
not meaning that you go and you start fights, but
(06:49):
it's meaning that they're not going to roll over either.
There's a part of me that really respects where the
Giants came from in this regard. They have a long memory.
They remember a year ago that the Lions dominated them
in this joint practice, and that the Lions I kind
(07:11):
of hate this phrase because it's too oftentimes used by
the media, but I'll say it anyway, imposed their will
during that practice session. The Giants went into this, they've
had it. I don't know that circled down their calendar,
but they knew what to expect because the Lions bring it.
This is the ultimate compliment you can get when another
(07:35):
team recognizes how much it matters to you, when another
team acknowledges how your team is prepared and gets after
it and does the little things and cares and practices
(07:55):
like it plays. Colton Pouncey tweeted this out. This is
the most physical practice I've ever seen. Now that's a
guy who's seen a lot of practices. I remember specifically
going to Pittsburgh in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, spending a week there
(08:18):
as the Lions and Steelers held their joint practice before
their preseason opener, a preseason opener that was delayed by
like thunder and lightning from like two hours at some
point during the game. But I digress. I remember watching
Pittsburgh dominate that week, how they went about their business.
(08:46):
They did things the right way, right, it was the
Pittsburgh way. They called it the Pittsburgh Way. Don't you
get the sense that there is a lion and that
they do things the right way? Now that other teams
are recognizing what it takes to be great. I saw
(09:11):
this this morning when there's a lot of discussion what's
going wrong with the San Francisco forty nine ers. The
forty nine ers right now have Trent Williams and Brandon
Ayuk with sit ins. They are not practicing because they
want new deals. Trent Williams wants to become once was
(09:32):
the highest paid tackle no longer the case any longer,
wants that mantle back. If you will at age thirty six.
I mean, if you can get it, I say, you know,
go ahead, but you're under contract. So to me as
a fan, it would be a little disturbing. Brandon Ayuk
wants a piece of that wide receiver Pie two. He's
got a fifth year option. He's going to make roughly
(09:55):
eighteen million dollars, but he wants a long term contract.
The Niners and he, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN,
are not close and the possibility of him being traded
is well, I mean it's it's becoming more likely every
single day. But during this conversation, right afterwards, you see
(10:20):
a graphic super Bowl expectations or the odds or the percentage.
San Francisco at twenty five percent, Kansas City at twenty
four percent. Guess who's third, The Lions. I think it
was at nineteen percent. Now, I'm not saying that's an
(10:42):
automatic and I'm not suggesting that's overwhelming numbers in favor
of the Lions. But here's what I am saying. People
around the league, the National Football League, betters, whatever you want,
I don't care if it's fantasy football. Here's the one
thing they've recognized. The Lions do things right. Before you believe,
(11:06):
I think, or maybe it's as you believe in a team,
whether it be the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, I
don't care. One of the first things in order for
you to believe is that you have to acknowledge that
they have changed their ways from the ways that made
them unsuccessful. The second thing is, while as part of that,
(11:34):
it is not just a feeling, because we all have
feelings about the teams that are our favorite teams and
the teams we grew up rooting for, it's recognizing that
they do things the right way, a certain way, dare
I say, a winning way. And you can gain that
(11:59):
type of perspective not just by watching them, because oftentimes
we're not watching what we're supposed to be watching. You
gain that perspective by what other teams are recognizing about
your team.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, they say it's a copycat league. I think that
phrase gets over used a little bit at times, but
the Lions are now one of the leaders of the
pack that teams are going to start copycating.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Teams want to and it's yeah, copycat, but it's how
you build a team, how they practice their attitude, the
players they've acquired. You don't need superstars everywhere you go.
You need good team players. You need some players that
(12:45):
just fit what you're trying to build. And that's what
they've done. They've built their team on character as well
as talent.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
And you know why, that's especially refreshing. Is less than
a decade ago, we saw them tried to do this
whole identity thing by copying the Patriots, and they brought
in those types of coaches and those types of players
and tried to run their operation that way. It didn't
work at all. It didn't resonate with anybody, didn't resonate
with the fans, the players, and you know, soon enough
(13:17):
before we knew what the culture was. Belly up.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
And it was quick too, by the way, Oh yeah
it was. It was. I covered that team. It was
really quick.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
And Matt Patricia's best season was his first when he
had the least amount of his guys. Lions was six
and ten.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, I've never been I get why certain coaches want
certain guys I do. I mean, Bill Parcells, one of
the best coaches of all time, had that. He made
sure that he brought Jumbo Elliott, He made sure he
had Pepper Johnson. He as he used to famously say,
I need my rats because I need those guys to
take my message into the locker room. Rats, not in
(13:56):
the sense of telling on people, but just making sure
that his message, the way he does things is carried
over into the locker room by veterans, and eventually, I'm
sure the Lions may have something similar to that. But
I think what's the beauty of what Detroit has built
(14:18):
under Dan Campbell and under all his coaches is that
everybody gets it. You don't need one or two guys
to spread the message. Everybody spreads the message. When a
young player comes into this organization, when a free agent
(14:40):
comes into this organization, they recognize it from the top down.
They recognize it from Brad Holmes to Dan Campbell, to
his assistant coaches, to young pros and veterans alike. It's
pretty obvious when Kevin Zeitler first came to Detroit, don't
(15:02):
kid yourself, he noticed it right away. When young Terry
On Arnold and Andys Rakestraw and the whole draft class
comes in, they recognized it right away. So when they
get that, when a team gets there, when they've reached
that point, then I think they have truly turned the corner.
(15:24):
They have truly changed their culture and their identity. And
now you carry that over into a joint session. Before
the joint session practice with the Giants even began, the
Giants recognized it. Don't kid yourself. They were talking to
one another in their locker rooms before the first practice.
(15:45):
When the Lions are touching down from Detroit to New Jersey,
those Giants players are saying, you know what, guys, this
is going to get real. It's going to get real
quickly too, because that team over there, when they show
up on Monday, they're coming here with a purpose. They
do things a certain way. We need to match that.
(16:08):
And I'm not saying it's going to translate to a
division championship for the Giants or even the Lions this year,
even though I think at will for Detroit. I'm telling
you that makes a difference for the Giants as they
move forward. What did you read and what did you
hear from Giants players after the practice? They all said,
(16:29):
we do things differently now. This is a different team.
They get after it. Daniel Jones got in the melee
yesterday for crying out loud. Now there's a part of
me that thinks, because he was injured so much last
year and because his team contemplated on taking a quarterback
in the first round, that perhaps he's trying to win
(16:49):
some guys over. But I'm not going to go that
far because I think he's already part of what he
hopes will be a different culture for the Giants, or
at least turned to two years ago for their culture.
My point is they're trying to match the intensity, the
(17:10):
physicality and the mindset of what they consider to be
one of the best teams in football. And who would
have thought that five years ago that the Lions are
that team for other teams to follow.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
And they're that team that's the rock for Detroit right now.
Look at the other three.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Thank god, how many.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Time, how many shows that we started by talking about
the Tigers and how disappointing, a numb to that lack
of success.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
We are right, it's gonna get even worse because they're
in Seattle and it's a late, late night game and
people are just saying, you know what, Nope, it ain't
happening tonight. In the past, I might stay up and
watch a few games tonight that's not happening, and they're
sure not. They're not getting a no hitter from Kaider
Montero tonight. Maybe they stay up tomorrow to watch Trek
(18:08):
scooble against George Kirby, which would be a good one.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Well, nonetheless, Chef the Lions are exactly what the doctor ordered,
exactly people.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
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What do you think of the preseason coaches Poll? Not
that these are gospel, Okay, these are going to change
quite a bit. There are plenty of teams that are
going to move up. There are plenty of teams that
(18:58):
are going to move down. What do you think of
where Michigan is preseason ranked at number eight In case
people were wondering, I mean, and they've got a hell
of a schedule right at Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and
Ohio State opens at number two. Oregon, I believe, is
at number three, Texas is at number four. What are
(19:22):
your thoughts on Michigan being a number eight? Are you
one of those people Georgia, by the way, opens number one?
Are you one of those people who feel like they're
the defending champ they deserve to be ranked number one
going in? Now, before you answer, understand this, I believe
(19:46):
that I've never believed in preseason rankings. I think they're
a joke. And the reason I think they're a joke
is because we don't know what that team looks like.
We don't know how good that team is going to
be until probably the third or fourth week. I think
you get a better pulse of one a team is
(20:10):
his finding itself and understands who it is and fully
is prepared playing with one another until that timeframe. I
don't believe that preseason rankings are worth anything other than
the paper they're written on or the computer screen you're
looking at. With that said, I also don't believe just
(20:33):
because you wanted a year ago, you are automatically number one.
It's different in the pros, like if you told me
you put out your power rankings for the NFL and
you didn't have the Kansas City Chiefs, who still have
their head coach intact, most of their coaching staff still
have the best player in the league, and Patrick Mahomes
(20:55):
the best tight end, and so many other difference makers
on that teams Jones and so on and so forth.
Then I would say that's disrespectful until somebody knocks them off.
They should be going into a season the favorite. Where
it lies from there, I think is into the eyes
(21:16):
of the beholder. But college football things change so drastically.
With Michigan, for example, losing so much offensive line, JJ McCarthy,
their best running back, so many different players that you
already know, I don't think they deserve necessarily to be
number one right away. Georgia, highly ranked a year ago,
(21:39):
number one, seems to be right, great coaching staff that
is intact. Michigan's is different, quarterback comes back, strong, candidate
for Heisman Trophy, so many different things. Ohio State is
at number two, then, as I mentioned, Oregon, Texas, Alabama
at number five, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Florida
(22:01):
State round out your top ten. Are you a believer
that if a team wins a championship, and I mean
a national championship, that they should automatically be the preseason
number one the following season.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I don't think so. But I also think it should
come into account a little bit, right, because what was
Michigan's identity last season was running the football in defense. Well,
that defense is still gonna be pretty good and they're
still gonna be able to run the football. So I understand.
They lost McCarthy, they lost Corum, they lost a ton.
I mean, we don't even have enough time. But it's Michigan.
They're bringing in a new class, right. They did get
(22:39):
one first place vote for the record. Georgia got most
of them with forty six, Ohio State got seven, but
Michigan did get one first place vote. So ship there
is someone out there in this voting panel who believes
that because they're the defending champs, they should be number one.
But I'm with you that I don't really like preseason
rankings in general. I almost think they should wait until
Week two to release anything because it kind of sets
(23:00):
the framework.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Right.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Georgia was number one all season last year. They lose
the last game of the season, they dropped the six.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
That's interesting that's a good perspective. I like that. You
know when you said Michigan the identity was running the
football and defense. Immediately I look at that and I think,
is that true? It absolutely is true. I think there's
a lot of times where the media tells us what
(23:30):
they are instead of us just recognizing for ourselves what
they think, what we think they are, and looking at
statistics to bear it out. But your statistics, or if
you looked at Michigan statistics a year ago and you
put it to what Trent just said, it's one hundred
(23:51):
percent true. When you hold teams to ten and a
half points per game, then that means your defense is
pretty flip good. When you rush for one hundred and
seventy yards per game in forty touchdowns, that means your
running game is really damn good. And the reason I
immediately think about it is because JJ McCarthy was a
(24:14):
first round pick. He was a hell of a quarterback,
Lake korm was a hell of a running back, and
their offensive line was rock solid. You need a really
good offensive line not just to run the football but
to throw it too, and McCarthy was very good. How
are you going to replace that? But think about this.
I mean every single quarter Michigan. You only get the
(24:37):
first quarter Michigan out scored their opponent's one hundred and
thirty seven to thirty six. You got the second quarter
they outscored one hundred and forty seven to forty nine,
one forty six to twenty four, one oh one to
forty seven. Even when they're kicking a team's ass and
putting in some of their secondary guys, they're still kicking
the crap out of that team. That's how good they
were a year ago. Now, immediately, here's what many of
(25:01):
those who believe they cheated or saying, well, yeah, that's
because they knew what the other team was doing. That's
why it's very difficult for me anyway to sit there
and say I am convinced one way or the other
at you know what Connor Stallions was doing and so
on and so forth, and whether it was all his
(25:23):
idea or Harbaugh didn't know. I preface it all by saying,
I find it very hard to believe. That's all because
I think coaches are so entrenched and maniacal about what
they do on a regular basis. That's for a reason
a lot of people feel like they'd be great CEOs
(25:46):
is because of how they handle people and how they
are so organized. Rarely do you find a coach's office
when you go in there and you've got papers all
over the place. Okay, it's not an episode of the office.
Those guys are are well organized. They have things. When
(26:06):
you look at the laminated pieces of paper that they're
holding on the sidelines, we see it. They have those.
Oftentimes during practice too. They decide on what they're going
to do and when they're going to do it. It's
printed out by their administrative assistant and they go to
(26:29):
work from that. Sometimes it's a different look. You know,
it doesn't always have to be laminated because they want
to be able to write on it. But you understand
where I'm coming from. It is a broken down, as
in a good way, broken down by time, all right.
Go to a practice once in a while, go to
Alliance practice, and you'll see a clock at the end
(26:53):
of an end zone and it's counting down. There are
certain segments that you're going through, and when you go
through those segments, you have a specific amount of time.
It is like clockwork. The best teams get it done. Now,
there are exceptions to the rule. I remember talking to
Jim Caldwell one time and we were talking about his
(27:15):
time in Indianapolis and Peyton Manning, and he would say, no, no,
we would try to move on from a drill and
Manning would have to get it right. He wasn't going
to stop until they got it right. He was a perfectionist.
So maybe, just maybe, there are some exceptions to the rule,
but overall they have an idea. These guys are really quality.
(27:39):
This is high quality stuff at their craft. You've seen. Look,
you and I play golf, right, you and I don't
have a map of the green, a map of the hole.
We're looking at our scorecard, or we're looking at each
hole on how it plays out, and the different places
you can go to be safe and the different places
you go to get in trouble right in your back pocket.
(28:03):
We are not necessarily carrying a leather bound description of
the whole by whole course. That is very similar to
what head coaches do. They have a blow by blow,
a breakdown of period by period of practice. It is detailed,
(28:24):
is what I'm telling you, minute details. That's who they are,
that is their mindset, and that is their personality.
Yeah. I mean, uh, I don't know the situation happens
like that. I stand up for he you guys, but
I thought it was a good competitive practice all day
to day and and uh, you know, we made some
plays and did some good things. There's some things we
need to shure up for sure, but it's good, you know,
good intensity and competitive sphere today.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
That's Giants quarterback Daniel Jones following practice yesterday in their
facility against the Lions. Second consecutive year that these two
teams have had joint practices and there were plenty of
fights that took place. The first fight started, It began
(00:50):
less than an hour into the practice. I'm on Aros.
Saint Brown caught a ball Drew Phillips, their rookie corner,
was in coverage. Dane Belton knocks the ball out of
Brown's hands. After the play was over and all hell
breaks loose. Belton said afterwards, I was trying to finish
(01:12):
a play and I feel like he wasn't down, so
I'm trying to get the ball out. Everyone talks about turnovers,
You've got to do things like that. I was just
trying to get the ball out. People who know me,
I'm not a big fighter after the play. I hate
getting penalties because that leads to losing and I love winning.
I'm not going to fight anybody, but when that play
(01:33):
is going, I'm going to get the ball. So what happens.
Jamison Williams sees what happens, and he shoves Phillips on
his way over to get to Belton. Phillips jabs back
at Williams and the Donnie Brook begins. It happens so
often that the Giants general manager Shane actually had to
(02:01):
come in and was part of trying to break it up.
He actually got into the fray to try and separate
men who were fighting. Now this is I think, you
know the boys are gonna be boys whatever. Okay, it
(02:21):
happens over and over and over again. Then obviously somebody
hasn't done their job at the beginning of the first
few fracases in an effort to try and quell the
temperature on the field. Later otherwise you don't have as
many skirmishes as you saw.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And I think the reason it got so out of hand,
if you want to even call it that was because
this isn't a game, right Like, there's no referees. Usually
the refs will set the tone in the first quarter
and hey, we're not doing that today. They'll throw a
flag on something at.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, but most of those practices do they do bring
in referees. Anytime when I was calling Lions for years,
went down to Indy, went down to Pittsburgh for joint practices,
they always had referees. I didn't know there wasn't any
referees yesterday. Is that factual or let me check on that.
(03:13):
I guess yeah. Usually there, Yeah, usually there are for
moments just like this, just in case. But I understand
why you're thinking that. And the reason you're thinking is
because when you look at the video, you don't see
anybody in there jumping in there to try and break
it up. It's just players policing players.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Now. One of my favorite moments, too, was when I
think it was the first fight that you just described,
and after about five or six seconds, Penne Sewel came
flying in and the whole pile moved about ten feet
to the left.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
You know what I thought was interesting is that if
you look at it from a New York perspective, they
were talking about how it's a bad look for the
Lions and somebody had commented on social media from a
New York persp active that there's jealousy for Aman Ross
Saint Brown's contract and that's a big reason why people
(04:09):
haven't come to support Brown. They haven't necessarily defended him.
And I'm thinking, wait a minute, what are you talking
about that That could not be further from the truth.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And people were zoned.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, people were in on it right away.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I am seeing referees yep.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
By the way, Yeah, okay, yeah, that's what I thought.
It doesn't It doesn't surprise me. You're supposed to have
referees at dual practices like that, not just because of this,
but because coaches want this to be as real when
you're scrimmaging, as real to a game as possible.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah, game speed, getting ready. But to jump back on
your point from earlier that I think you were going
with this was the whole team was back and I'm
in Ross Saint Brown. I can't believe that they tried
to spin that yarn on the New York side.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah it was. And that's to me, that's someone feeling
like Arman Ross Saint Brown didn't deserve the contracts, so
this was their way of taking that proverbial jab. Now,
remember these two teams had something similar a year ago,
(05:19):
and many people's observations who were there felt like the
Giants were rather flat when it came to something like this,
that they didn't compete as hard as the New York
Giants are supposed to. One of the bigger I think
compliments you can get is when other receivers or other
(05:43):
cornerbacks or other linemen, other players recognize your effort. I
have talked on this show on more than one occasion
about the gas level. Got that from an interview with
a Red Wings coach years ago. The gas level, to
give a blank level, The Lions gas level since Dan
(06:07):
Campbell has taken over is extremely high. Isaiah Hodgens, Giants
wide receiver, recognized it. This is what he said. They
practice really hard. Dan Campbell has them boys going over there.
We know that we know that it's going to be
(06:27):
a physical practice. There's going to be a lot of
chirping and talking and everything. But it's a different team
this year. He's referring to his Giants team. I think
we're going to be ready for it. Brian Dabele has
put a really good emphasis on starting fast now that's
not meaning that you go and you start fights, but
(06:49):
it's meaning that they're not going to roll over either.
There's a part of me that really respects where the
Giants came from in this regard. They have a long memory.
They remember a year ago that the Lions dominated them
in this joint practice, and that the Lions I kind
(07:11):
of hate this phrase because it's too oftentimes used by
the media, but I'll say it anyway, imposed their will
during that practice session. The Giants went into this, they've
had it. I don't know that circled down their calendar,
but they knew what to expect because the Lions bring it.
This is the ultimate compliment you can get when another
(07:35):
team recognizes how much it matters to you, when another
team acknowledges how your team is prepared and gets after
it and does the little things and cares and practices
(07:55):
like it plays. Colton Pouncey tweeted this out. This is
the most physical practice I've ever seen. Now that's a
guy who's seen a lot of practices. I remember specifically
going to Pittsburgh in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, spending a week there
(08:18):
as the Lions and Steelers held their joint practice before
their preseason opener, a preseason opener that was delayed by
like thunder and lightning from like two hours at some
point during the game. But I digress. I remember watching
Pittsburgh dominate that week, how they went about their business.
(08:46):
They did things the right way, right, it was the
Pittsburgh way. They called it the Pittsburgh Way. Don't you
get the sense that there is a lion and that
they do things the right way? Now that other teams
are recognizing what it takes to be great. I saw
(09:11):
this this morning when there's a lot of discussion what's
going wrong with the San Francisco forty nine ers. The
forty nine ers right now have Trent Williams and Brandon
Ayuk with sit ins. They are not practicing because they
want new deals. Trent Williams wants to become once was
(09:32):
the highest paid tackle no longer the case any longer,
wants that mantle back. If you will at age thirty six.
I mean, if you can get it, I say, you know,
go ahead, but you're under contract. So to me as
a fan, it would be a little disturbing. Brandon Ayuk
wants a piece of that wide receiver Pie two. He's
got a fifth year option. He's going to make roughly
(09:55):
eighteen million dollars, but he wants a long term contract.
The Niners and he, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN,
are not close and the possibility of him being traded
is well, I mean it's it's becoming more likely every
single day. But during this conversation, right afterwards, you see
(10:20):
a graphic super Bowl expectations or the odds or the percentage.
San Francisco at twenty five percent, Kansas City at twenty
four percent. Guess who's third, The Lions. I think it
was at nineteen percent. Now, I'm not saying that's an
(10:42):
automatic and I'm not suggesting that's overwhelming numbers in favor
of the Lions. But here's what I am saying. People
around the league, the National Football League, betters, whatever you want,
I don't care if it's fantasy football. Here's the one
thing they've recognized. The Lions do things right. Before you believe,
(11:06):
I think, or maybe it's as you believe in a team,
whether it be the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, I
don't care. One of the first things in order for
you to believe is that you have to acknowledge that
they have changed their ways from the ways that made
them unsuccessful. The second thing is, while as part of that,
(11:34):
it is not just a feeling, because we all have
feelings about the teams that are our favorite teams and
the teams we grew up rooting for, it's recognizing that
they do things the right way, a certain way, dare
I say, a winning way. And you can gain that
(11:59):
type of perspective not just by watching them, because oftentimes
we're not watching what we're supposed to be watching. You
gain that perspective by what other teams are recognizing about
your team.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, they say it's a copycat league. I think that
phrase gets over used a little bit at times, but
the Lions are now one of the leaders of the
pack that teams are going to start copycating.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Teams want to and it's yeah, copycat, but it's how
you build a team, how they practice their attitude, the
players they've acquired. You don't need superstars everywhere you go.
You need good team players. You need some players that
(12:45):
just fit what you're trying to build. And that's what
they've done. They've built their team on character as well
as talent.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
And you know why, that's especially refreshing. Is less than
a decade ago, we saw them tried to do this
whole identity thing by copying the Patriots, and they brought
in those types of coaches and those types of players
and tried to run their operation that way. It didn't
work at all. It didn't resonate with anybody, didn't resonate
with the fans, the players, and you know, soon enough
(13:17):
before we knew what the culture was. Belly up.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
And it was quick too, by the way, Oh yeah
it was. It was. I covered that team. It was
really quick.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
And Matt Patricia's best season was his first when he
had the least amount of his guys. Lions was six
and ten.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, I've never been I get why certain coaches want
certain guys I do. I mean, Bill Parcells, one of
the best coaches of all time, had that. He made
sure that he brought Jumbo Elliott, He made sure he
had Pepper Johnson. He as he used to famously say,
I need my rats because I need those guys to
take my message into the locker room. Rats, not in
(13:56):
the sense of telling on people, but just making sure
that his message, the way he does things is carried
over into the locker room by veterans, and eventually, I'm
sure the Lions may have something similar to that. But
I think what's the beauty of what Detroit has built
(14:18):
under Dan Campbell and under all his coaches is that
everybody gets it. You don't need one or two guys
to spread the message. Everybody spreads the message. When a
young player comes into this organization, when a free agent
(14:40):
comes into this organization, they recognize it from the top down.
They recognize it from Brad Holmes to Dan Campbell, to
his assistant coaches, to young pros and veterans alike. It's
pretty obvious when Kevin Zeitler first came to Detroit, don't
(15:02):
kid yourself, he noticed it right away. When young Terry
On Arnold and Andys Rakestraw and the whole draft class
comes in, they recognized it right away. So when they
get that, when a team gets there, when they've reached
that point, then I think they have truly turned the corner.
(15:24):
They have truly changed their culture and their identity. And
now you carry that over into a joint session. Before
the joint session practice with the Giants even began, the
Giants recognized it. Don't kid yourself. They were talking to
one another in their locker rooms before the first practice.
(15:45):
When the Lions are touching down from Detroit to New Jersey,
those Giants players are saying, you know what, guys, this
is going to get real. It's going to get real
quickly too, because that team over there, when they show
up on Monday, they're coming here with a purpose. They
do things a certain way. We need to match that.
(16:08):
And I'm not saying it's going to translate to a
division championship for the Giants or even the Lions this year,
even though I think at will for Detroit. I'm telling
you that makes a difference for the Giants as they
move forward. What did you read and what did you
hear from Giants players after the practice? They all said,
(16:29):
we do things differently now. This is a different team.
They get after it. Daniel Jones got in the melee
yesterday for crying out loud. Now there's a part of
me that thinks, because he was injured so much last
year and because his team contemplated on taking a quarterback
in the first round, that perhaps he's trying to win
(16:49):
some guys over. But I'm not going to go that
far because I think he's already part of what he
hopes will be a different culture for the Giants, or
at least turned to two years ago for their culture.
My point is they're trying to match the intensity, the
(17:10):
physicality and the mindset of what they consider to be
one of the best teams in football. And who would
have thought that five years ago that the Lions are
that team for other teams to follow.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
And they're that team that's the rock for Detroit right now.
Look at the other three.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Thank god, how many.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Time, how many shows that we started by talking about
the Tigers and how disappointing, a numb to that lack
of success.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
We are right, it's gonna get even worse because they're
in Seattle and it's a late, late night game and
people are just saying, you know what, Nope, it ain't
happening tonight. In the past, I might stay up and
watch a few games tonight that's not happening, and they're
sure not. They're not getting a no hitter from Kaider
Montero tonight. Maybe they stay up tomorrow to watch Trek
(18:08):
scooble against George Kirby, which would be a good one.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Well, nonetheless, Chef the Lions are exactly what the doctor ordered,
exactly people.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
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What do you think of the preseason coaches Poll? Not
that these are gospel, Okay, these are going to change
quite a bit. There are plenty of teams that are
going to move up. There are plenty of teams that
(18:58):
are going to move down. What do you think of
where Michigan is preseason ranked at number eight In case
people were wondering, I mean, and they've got a hell
of a schedule right at Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and
Ohio State opens at number two. Oregon, I believe, is
at number three, Texas is at number four. What are
(19:22):
your thoughts on Michigan being a number eight? Are you
one of those people Georgia, by the way, opens number one?
Are you one of those people who feel like they're
the defending champ they deserve to be ranked number one
going in? Now, before you answer, understand this, I believe
(19:46):
that I've never believed in preseason rankings. I think they're
a joke. And the reason I think they're a joke
is because we don't know what that team looks like.
We don't know how good that team is going to
be until probably the third or fourth week. I think
you get a better pulse of one a team is
(20:10):
his finding itself and understands who it is and fully
is prepared playing with one another until that timeframe. I
don't believe that preseason rankings are worth anything other than
the paper they're written on or the computer screen you're
looking at. With that said, I also don't believe just
(20:33):
because you wanted a year ago, you are automatically number one.
It's different in the pros, like if you told me
you put out your power rankings for the NFL and
you didn't have the Kansas City Chiefs, who still have
their head coach intact, most of their coaching staff still
have the best player in the league, and Patrick Mahomes
(20:55):
the best tight end, and so many other difference makers
on that teams Jones and so on and so forth.
Then I would say that's disrespectful until somebody knocks them off.
They should be going into a season the favorite. Where
it lies from there, I think is into the eyes
(21:16):
of the beholder. But college football things change so drastically.
With Michigan, for example, losing so much offensive line, JJ McCarthy,
their best running back, so many different players that you
already know, I don't think they deserve necessarily to be
number one right away. Georgia, highly ranked a year ago,
(21:39):
number one, seems to be right, great coaching staff that
is intact. Michigan's is different, quarterback comes back, strong, candidate
for Heisman Trophy, so many different things. Ohio State is
at number two, then, as I mentioned, Oregon, Texas, Alabama
at number five, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Florida
(22:01):
State round out your top ten. Are you a believer
that if a team wins a championship, and I mean
a national championship, that they should automatically be the preseason
number one the following season.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I don't think so. But I also think it should
come into account a little bit, right, because what was
Michigan's identity last season was running the football in defense. Well,
that defense is still gonna be pretty good and they're
still gonna be able to run the football. So I understand.
They lost McCarthy, they lost Corum, they lost a ton.
I mean, we don't even have enough time. But it's Michigan.
They're bringing in a new class, right. They did get
(22:39):
one first place vote for the record. Georgia got most
of them with forty six, Ohio State got seven, but
Michigan did get one first place vote. So ship there
is someone out there in this voting panel who believes
that because they're the defending champs, they should be number one.
But I'm with you that I don't really like preseason
rankings in general. I almost think they should wait until
Week two to release anything because it kind of sets
(23:00):
the framework.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Right.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Georgia was number one all season last year. They lose
the last game of the season, they dropped the six.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
That's interesting that's a good perspective. I like that. You
know when you said Michigan the identity was running the
football and defense. Immediately I look at that and I think,
is that true? It absolutely is true. I think there's
a lot of times where the media tells us what
(23:30):
they are instead of us just recognizing for ourselves what
they think, what we think they are, and looking at
statistics to bear it out. But your statistics, or if
you looked at Michigan statistics a year ago and you
put it to what Trent just said, it's one hundred
(23:51):
percent true. When you hold teams to ten and a
half points per game, then that means your defense is
pretty flip good. When you rush for one hundred and
seventy yards per game in forty touchdowns, that means your
running game is really damn good. And the reason I
immediately think about it is because JJ McCarthy was a
(24:14):
first round pick. He was a hell of a quarterback,
Lake korm was a hell of a running back, and
their offensive line was rock solid. You need a really
good offensive line not just to run the football but
to throw it too, and McCarthy was very good. How
are you going to replace that? But think about this.
I mean every single quarter Michigan. You only get the
(24:37):
first quarter Michigan out scored their opponent's one hundred and
thirty seven to thirty six. You got the second quarter
they outscored one hundred and forty seven to forty nine,
one forty six to twenty four, one oh one to
forty seven. Even when they're kicking a team's ass and
putting in some of their secondary guys, they're still kicking
the crap out of that team. That's how good they
were a year ago. Now, immediately, here's what many of
(25:01):
those who believe they cheated or saying, well, yeah, that's
because they knew what the other team was doing. That's
why it's very difficult for me anyway to sit there
and say I am convinced one way or the other
at you know what Connor Stallions was doing and so
on and so forth, and whether it was all his
(25:23):
idea or Harbaugh didn't know. I preface it all by saying,
I find it very hard to believe. That's all because
I think coaches are so entrenched and maniacal about what
they do on a regular basis. That's for a reason
a lot of people feel like they'd be great CEOs
(25:46):
is because of how they handle people and how they
are so organized. Rarely do you find a coach's office
when you go in there and you've got papers all
over the place. Okay, it's not an episode of the office.
Those guys are are well organized. They have things. When
(26:06):
you look at the laminated pieces of paper that they're
holding on the sidelines, we see it. They have those.
Oftentimes during practice too. They decide on what they're going
to do and when they're going to do it. It's
printed out by their administrative assistant and they go to
(26:29):
work from that. Sometimes it's a different look. You know,
it doesn't always have to be laminated because they want
to be able to write on it. But you understand
where I'm coming from. It is a broken down, as
in a good way, broken down by time, all right.
Go to a practice once in a while, go to
Alliance practice, and you'll see a clock at the end
(26:53):
of an end zone and it's counting down. There are
certain segments that you're going through, and when you go
through those segments, you have a specific amount of time.
It is like clockwork. The best teams get it done. Now,
there are exceptions to the rule. I remember talking to
Jim Caldwell one time and we were talking about his
(27:15):
time in Indianapolis and Peyton Manning, and he would say, no, no,
we would try to move on from a drill and
Manning would have to get it right. He wasn't going
to stop until they got it right. He was a perfectionist.
So maybe, just maybe, there are some exceptions to the rule,
but overall they have an idea. These guys are really quality.
(27:39):
This is high quality stuff at their craft. You've seen. Look,
you and I play golf, right, you and I don't
have a map of the green, a map of the hole.
We're looking at our scorecard, or we're looking at each
hole on how it plays out, and the different places
you can go to be safe and the different places
you go to get in trouble right in your back pocket.
(28:03):
We are not necessarily carrying a leather bound description of
the whole by whole course. That is very similar to
what head coaches do. They have a blow by blow,
a breakdown of period by period of practice. It is detailed,
(28:24):
is what I'm telling you, minute details. That's who they are,
that is their mindset, and that is their personality.
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