August 9, 2019 • 32 mins
This is The Best of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Jonas Knox and Aaron Torres are filling in and they’re dishing out hot takes left and right. Helmet trouble has WR Antonio Brown threatening to retire and the guys kick things off by discussing this latest Raiders drama. Giants QB Daniel Jones is turning heads during the NFL preseason and the guys get into whether the starting job in New York should belong to him or Eli Manning. Finally, former QB Bruce Gradkowski joins Jonas and Aaron to discuss the upcoming NFL season today on The Odd Couple!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of The Odd
Couple with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. How about the
fact that Antonio Brown tried to sneak an old helmet
into Raiders practice and spray painted it so he could
use his old helmet from the Steelers. I can say
that is brilliant. Do you think it was just a
Steeler's helmet, like a little a little red and blue
(00:44):
and there's like a little black and gold on top.
And yeah, did he go one coach? Did he forget
the decal? And that's how he got busted. For those
of you that are wondering, how the hell did Antonio
Brown do something like that, the story comes out earlier,
according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, who talked about how
Antonio Brown has filed a grievance with the NFL has
(01:07):
threatened to not play. He will retire if he doesn't
get to use his hold his old helmet that he's
been using his entire career. The Raiders have tried to
send him several helmets, different models for him to try.
He doesn't want any part of him, he said, as
it obstructs his vision the way these new helmets slide down.
So he is threatening no longer playing in the NFL
(01:28):
if he doesn't get his way. Mike Silver of the
NFL Network is also reporting that Antonio Brown tried to
sneak in by spray painting or painting up his old helmet.
He's done it a couple of times to where he's
tried to sneak it in. They've had to remove him
from practice at one point. So you add this onto
his melting feet and everything else going on in Napa
(01:50):
Valley and HBO's got themselves a hell of us an
episode two and Hard Knocks, and it's amazing because he
won't be there for anything because the other report today
is that no one can get a hold of him.
Apparently he can get ahold of the NFL. He just
has Roger Goodell online one but the other what was
it radio silent? No one has heard from him. Oh,
it's brilliant, It's absolutely brilliant. He's unbelievable. I will defend
(02:12):
him on this though. I get that we're all it's
twenty nineteen. We got to worry about safety and helmets
and concussion protocol. Can we just let the man wear
the helmet that he wants to wear, like it's not
a leathern helmet. He's not Jim Thorpe here like like,
I don't know. To me, it just feels like one
of those It's a very simple solution, NFL. Make him
(02:35):
sign some waiver that protects you legally. Let the man
wear one house, you know. That way he doesn't have
to get the spray paint and he doesn't have to,
you know, go behind the bleachers and do the spray
paint thing. I don't know. To me, it just feels
like a nonsense. Yeah. No, I actually agree with you
on this. I know. Robert garre Our, executive producer. He
loves when his hosts agree, So I plan on agreeing
with Aaron Tores as much as possible. Screw you too,
(02:55):
behind the glass, Robert garret Our, executive producer. No hot
takes here, buddy, But I will say this in all seriousness.
If his helmet isn't hurting somebody else to your point,
who cares. I mean, it's not like these stories you
hear from high school football, and you know this, playing
high school football, covering college football, you hear these horror
stories about guys, you know, carving their buckles into sharp
(03:17):
points so when somebody goes to tackle them, they cut
up their hands. Like they're like, there's stories like that
that have been out there. If Antonio Brown's not doing
that and he is willing to sign a waiver and
he wants to play with what is considered an outdated
helmet and he's okay with it, hey man, do what
you gotta do. It's your career. NFL players have said
for the longest time, we don't care so much about
the head stuff. We just don't want our knees taken out.
(03:39):
So if this is a situation where he's okay with
the ramifications of what may occur, not a fact or
a guarantee of what may occur, let him play with
whatever he wants to play and then we just see
how everything folds and unfolds during the regular season. Yeah,
And it was funny because when I saw this story,
what I thought, first of all, you know Antonio Brown
just you know, he is hard knocks in and of himself,
and came just need to be followed him. But also
(04:02):
this reminds me of this is a super obscure rule,
and I'm gonna talk a little hockey. I'm guessing maybe
the first time hockey's ever been discussed on me on
the oud couple. And then don't worry, we're not breaking
It'll make sense. Don't turn the chan We're not talking
like red Wings blue line here. But I know nothing
about hockey, but I do know this is that there
was a time when hockey players did not wear helmets
(04:22):
on the ice. Go, you know, go to YouTube Gordy
House play until he's fifty five and he's taking pucks
off the head and just doing Gordy how things right.
And then at some point somebody in the NHL office
was like, Yeah, this is not a great idea to
just have these guys skating around taking pucks off the face.
And so obviously now guys all wear helmets, they wear
the face shield, etc. But they grandfathered it in where
(04:45):
anybody that had been in the league that didn't want
to wear a helmet, didn't have to. Once the new
rules been were put into place, anybody that came into
the league at that point had to wear the new helmets.
I don't understand why this has to be a public
back and forth thing. And it sounds like if Antonio
Brown's filing grievances, it's gonna get uglier before it gets better.
Just say, like, dude, if you're an old school guy,
(05:06):
you want to wear your old school helmet. You've been
in the league for seven, eight, nine years, like Antonio
Brown has. That's fine. Everybody, you're a rookie, you're coming
in from now and you just got to wear what
we tell you, you know. And Craig McTavish, by the way,
Craig McTavish, you're gonna drop the name, but since you
know it, yeah, a little, a little Craig mctag nothing
like a little mid nineties hockey talk in the middle
of August Iron Torres. Yeah, who knew here whose best
(05:28):
years were in the seventies. But it's okay, Yeah, we're
really hitting the demographic hard right, And don't worry, we
are going to have an all Craig McTavish Hour here
on Fox Sports Radio. That's coming up on August the
thirty third. You can find that all Craig McTavish hour here.
Nothing but NHL coming up on August the thirty third.
But that being said, the reason, and you know the NFL,
(05:48):
this is what the NFL does with everything. They overreact
to pr and public backlash. It's what they do. They
did it with the anthem stuff, they did it with
the safety stuff, they did it with the domestic lens
issues that they've had in the league. The NFL overreacts
to things, and so because of that, the NFL overreacted
to this and instead of just saying, hey, if you're
(06:09):
okay with it, we're okay with it, they took such
a beating from all the guys having issues following their careers,
the guys dealing with head trauma following their careers, that
they're not letting anybody away with being able to sign
a waiver or anything like that. You've got to play
by our rules and that's just the way it's got
to be. I don't necessarily agree. I think players are
smart enough now to understand the risks. Right if you
(06:31):
complain nowadays, that you gained a little bit away because
you ate a bunch of fast food, then you're just
an idiot. It's something I can do for You're an idiot,
you're a moron. Stop complaining. You read what's on the
back of those boxes. You read, you know the calorie intake,
you know everything that's involved. If you haven't gotten the
clue yet that it's not good for you to eat
fast food eight days a week, then that's a u problem.
(06:52):
The NFL has overreacted to many things in the league,
and this feels like them really putting their foot down
because they don't want to have to deal with any
more of the guy dealt with long term issues after
playing so on and so forth. That's why the kickoff
is so weird. That's why they've made some of the
targeting rules the way that they are. It feels like
Antonio Brown's gonna have to just deal with the fact
(07:13):
that this is what the league is mandating and if
you want your thirty million guaranteed, deal with it and
go play football. Yeah. The analogy that our buddy Colin
Cowherd always uses is you start smoking cigarettes in twenty nineteen,
you have nobody to blame but yourself. And it's the
same with the NFL. I don't really So here's the thing, right,
Sometimes in sports there are stories where there are in theory,
(07:34):
two sides, but there's just no win for one side, right, So,
Like I'm like the story that came out the other
day Dabo Sweeney Kelly Bryant, I'm not giving him a
championship ring. There's really no public win for Dabo Sweeney
to just say he's not giving him a championship wearing.
And I feel like it's kind of the same way
with the NFL, Like, what is the win here? Wow,
Antonio Brown, we showed him he's wearing the helmet. He
(07:57):
can't see. He's not as exciting, he's not as good
an more, and he's complaining the whole time. He's sitting
out a training camp and he's filing grievs. Just let
the man wear the helmet. It doesn't seem that complicated
to me. Yeah, Now, a conspiracy theory that I threw out, Okay,
which look, I this probably isn't the greatest conspiracy theory,
but you know what, it's a Friday Sharon News dump Friday.
(08:18):
This is when you dump all your bad conspiracy theories.
A little a little radio tip for everybody listening here
on Fox Sports Radio. I think that HBO took such
a beating from the national media and so many people
all over the world over the final season of Game
of Thrones that I think HBO fixed up Antonio Brown's
feet and they have turned this helmet issue into a
(08:40):
bigger issue to get more people to watch the second
episode of Hard Knocks, That's what I think. And they
made sure he landed on the Raiders too. That's yet unbelievable.
HBO's behind all of it. So it's like Bigfoot gonna
walk through episode. You never know, crazy things gonna happen.
The Locknest monster could pop out of a wine vineyard,
like a lot of things could happen at Raiders training
(09:00):
camp in nap on Hard Knocks. I'm just saying, man,
it would be kind of amazing if because again, the
other story about Antonio Brown, and this just makes it
more fun because of the circus that is Antonio Brown,
no matter where he goes, whether it's Facebook Live and
all those things. That's throwing furniture off a balcony, Yeah,
like he's doing Antonio Brown things. It would be amazing
(09:22):
if the Raiders can't get ahold of this guy, which
has been the report, but the Hard Knocks cameras just
know exactly where he is at all times. Yeah. I
don't know if I'd be willing to go that far.
I just think this is kind of what I'm saying
is this is kind of the emo with Antonio Brown.
You get him, you get a lot of production on Sundays,
and you gotta get a lot of headaches Monday through Saturday.
(09:44):
And I think this is the latest one. Look, feet
of shark. Don't come crying to me if you have
half an arm afterwards, Like if you shark bite your
head off and you were swimming underwater with him. Yeah,
I don't know what to tell you. Sorry. Yeah, that's
just the way it goes sometimes. Be sure to catch
live edition of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four pm Pacific
(10:06):
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. So
NFL preseason a lot going on. We got the the
Bucks and the Steelers, unrelated to Strip Club's NFL preseason
so la. So we got Bucks and Steelers, right, now.
But the story last night a little bit of Kyler Murray,
but the real story was Daniel Jones. Yeah. So I'll
(10:30):
be honest. I was away from the TV at that
exact moment, and I go on Twitter and literally about
eight or nine straight tweets Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones, my
Saturday partner, Ernie Spanier, build him the Hall of Fame
bus right now, Arnie Spanner, I'm Arnie Spannier. So Daniel
Jones really phenomenal performance, six for six touchdown pass and
(10:53):
then he's pulled. Keep in mind, this is the same
guy who, of course was booed on Draft night, number
six overall pick lost to wake Forest, loss to pit.
You know, he didn't exactly move the needle at the
college level. Boot on Draft night comes out looks phenomenal.
(11:13):
And because of the limited success early in one preseason game,
we now have Twitter saying that there should be a
quarterback controversy slash quarterback battle in New York with the Giants.
Do you buy it? Are you ready to just send
Eli out to pasture after one drive from Daniel Joe. Well,
(11:33):
that being said, and I got a lot of heat
for this, but I defended Dave Gettlman when he chose
Daniel Jones, because clearly they saw something they liked. And
Dave Gettlman knows more about football than I do, and
so I take it as all right, that's what he thinks,
is his guy, Go ahead, make your pick, and we
see what happens. It's one game, all right. Everybody's got
a calm down, the quarterback controversies, all of that that
(11:56):
tie into it. Welcome to sports radio, sports talks media nowadays,
to where everything is an overreaction everything. I think it
was an overreaction, the criticism Dave Getleman god for taking
Daniel Jones with the number six overall pick in the draft,
and I think it was an overreaction for everybody all
of a sudden steer their car back the other way
in traffic and say, oh, well, my god, we've got
(12:17):
a quarterback controversy. One drive, we've seen six throws. Everybody,
just all right, take it easy, take it down a nuts,
let's see how it plays out. He's going to play
this season. He will be the starter this season. I
don't have any doubts in my mind, basically, and my
reasoning behind that is Pat Shermer needs to save his job,
(12:38):
all right. You can't have two bad years in a
New York market expect to stick around there because the
patients may not be there pat Shermer wants to save
his job if he feels like Eli Manning isn't going
to save his job. But the hope of Daniel Jones
and the promise of Daniel Jones is going to make
the organization want him to be the guy to work
with Daniel Jones moving forward. He's going to make the
(12:58):
switch to save his own gig and think Daniel Jones
would be the starter. Before we get to last night,
why were you so sold to not rush the process?
Why didn't you believe that we should be critical of
David Getleman when there was really no proof of anything
that we've seen. And by the way, there was rumors
that he would have fallen deep into the first round,
(13:18):
maybe into the second if the Giants hadn't taken him
at six, he certainly would have been available with that
second pick. Why did you believe that he shouldn't be
criticized for that. I don't buy any of the draft
rumors that go into it. I think that at a
lot of people are trying to steer people in different directions.
I think they use the media as ponds in their
mixed messaging game. And so when it comes to the draft,
(13:39):
I feel like, if you're an organization and you've got
conviction in a player and you would like that player
at that spot, you take a chance and you go
and you pick him. Don't wait around and hopes that
you're going to lose him. When the Bears traded up
to get Trubisky, I backed him on it. I said, look,
they didn't want to take a chance, even though nobody
believes that he would have fallen any further pass where
he fell. Don't take the chance you're gonna lose out
(14:02):
on him. Go ahead and make the move and take
your quarterback. I think that they liked what they saw.
There was a familiarity. Bucky Brooks talked about it with
David Cutcliff and that situation and the Mannings as well too,
and I think they felt like he was the best
fit for that system and that quarterback. I think Pat
Sherman knows what he's doing. I think Dave Getleman, despite
(14:22):
what people say, knows more than people let on to believe.
And I'm willing to trust those guys who have been
around the game longer than I have to make the
right decision. If he bombs, then he bombs, and everybody
else was right. I'm just I don't want to jump
on a guy until I actually see some proof that
he sucks. He, as my senator partner Ernie Spanier says,
I don't got five years to wait to see if
he's gonna make it work. Lie. Yeah, but I don't
(14:45):
necessarily disagree. I kind of disagree. But about back to
last night, because I did think it was interesting how
quick the quarterback controversy conversation came up right like it
was all like, like you said, Daniel Jones worst quarterback,
he lost a pit he lost to wake for us,
Now he's gonna come, and then he was phenomenal. Where
my Where? The thing that's really interesting to me about
(15:07):
what happened last night is this is that normally I'm
on team Jonas Knox in the sense that any overreaction
to NBA Summer League or or NFL preseason I don't buy.
I don't buy the guy that goes for thirty one
points in his summer league debutans I get work of
the year. I don't go that's the move though. Yeah,
(15:28):
it's a hot take society, come on, And so I
bring that up because I don't I wouldn't normally say like,
let's rush to judgment and let's oh, Daniel Jones, he's
the future. Throw, you know, bringing elive behind the shed
and hit him over the head with a shovel, like
you know, I wouldn't normally do that. But isn't some
(15:48):
of the quarterback controversy conversation that has started on Eli
Because normally, again, if it was just me watching a
guy in the preseason, a rookie goes six for six,
throw for a touchdown pass on his opening drive, I
would say, all right, slow your role. But I do
think part of this is an Eli. There is a
reason that the Giants were drafting six overall. There is
(16:09):
a reason, by the way, people forget this that Ben
McAdoo benched him two years ago, and so I think
part of the reason is because people were like, yeah,
Eli really hasn't been that good. This guy actually gives
us a little bit of hope. Normally I wouldn't be
so quick to jump on the Daniel Jones bandwagon, but
I feel like part of this is Eli's responsibility as well. Yeah,
and really it's just easy. Has Eli Manning, in your opinion,
(16:31):
peaked as a quarterback? I would say yes, yes, and
I don't think that's why you can even question that.
So if he's peaked as a quarterback and you know
what he is, and you know what he's going to be,
then guess what it's time at some point to pull
the trigger and make the move to Daniel Jones. And
I think that's going to happen sooner rather than later.
And the media that pushed back on Ben McAdoo for
(16:54):
wanting to bench, and that story gets a little twisted
because everyone says, oh my god, Ben McAdoo wanted to
bench Eli Manning. No, actually it's not out happened. What
happened was Ben McAdoo told Eli Manning, look, we want
to see a little bit of Geno Smith, so we're
going to give him the second half. But you know,
we know you got your consecutive start streak, so let's
go ahead and we'll start you. And Eli Manning just said, no,
(17:15):
if you're just gonna bench me in the second half,
just don't play me at all. Okay, So he did
and then a bunch of people got fired and everybody
ripped the giants and everybody came to the defense of
Eli Manning. And here we go again, similar to the
hot take and the overcorrection to what we had before.
Now everybody's jumping on with theo. Eli Manning's done and
(17:35):
he's finished. Well what I mean, Ben McAdoo tried to
tell you that two years ago, three years ago, and
nobody wanted to believe him. So Eli Manning and his
performance is, yes, absolutely the reason why there's an issue here.
And I also think Pat Shermer and also Dave gettlman
no that in that market, with that franchise, with some
(17:56):
of the scrutiny that comes along with it, if they
have another crummy season with not a lot of hope
on the you know for next year or the year afterwards,
that those guys are in trouble and are going to
lose their jobs. And at some point I think they're
gonna probably gonna hand the keys over to Daniel Jones
and that's going to be the start of a brand
new quarterback era in New York. Well, it's really interesting,
(18:17):
right because in theory, I feel like and we'll see right,
it's one game, it's six throws. It's obviously overreaction, but
I don't feel like this is Geno Smith two years ago.
I feel like, ironically, like many years ago when I
think it was Kurt Warner, maybe that was the Giants quarterback,
and then they once they went in on Eli years ago,
they had to stay there, And I feel like this
(18:40):
is now like once you go in on Daniel Jones,
I think the Giants have to stay there. So I'll
be curious how when that happens. I'll be curious, frankly,
if that happens, because you know, if Eli and they
have a manageable schedule start, they play at the Cowboys,
who knows if Zeke will be there, who knows who's
gonna be there with the Cowboys, and they play Bills
at Home, Bucks at Bucks on the Road, Redskins at Home.
(19:02):
I mean, that is a manageable three and one, two
and two types start. I just think it's gonna be
so fascinating to watch, assuming that Daniel Jones can keep
up some you know, iteration of what he did last night,
because I think that he is now the top ten Pickies.
The future of the franchise once you go to him
(19:22):
in the regular season, you can't go back. Yeah, And
Kurt Warner even talked about that when he was the
veteran quarterback backing up Eli Manning. They pulled Eli Manning
out of the game and put in Kurt Warner, and
Kurt Warner told them afterwards, don't ever do that again.
All right, don't ever do that to a young quarterback. Afterwards,
he said, leave him in there. It's his team. Now,
I'm calling my shot right now. Daniel Jones will be
(19:43):
the starting quarterback for the New York Giants Week seven
at home against the Arizona Cardinals. Here's why I say that.
The week before is a Thursday night game at New England.
They're gonna get pistol whipped in Foxborough by the New
England Patriots. Then gonna get not only a full week,
but an extra couple of days to get him prepared
(20:04):
for an Arizona team completely on the rebuild. And we're
gonna see Kyler Murray versus Daniel Jones face off Sunday,
October twentieth. That is a one Eastern time kickoff right
here on Fox Wow. See that? What a plug? How
about that? All I know that was excellent. I lost
you somewhere around pistol whipped, But I do think I
(20:27):
just think it's gonna be fascinating to watch. And you
talk about we spend so much time talking about Kyler
Murray throughout the offseason, Dwayne Haskins, who did not look
that good last night. I think we all kind of
just defaulted to like, yeah, we're probably not gonna see
Daniel Jones, and if we do, like it'll be late.
And I know Elie is not good, but whatever, I
think it's gonna be fascinating to watch this one unfold
(20:48):
as the season goes on. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob
Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four pm Pacific right now.
He is a former NFL quarterback. He covers the NFL
for Sirius XM NFL Radio and he also is a
pro football focused analyst. One of my favorite sites, and
(21:08):
it's Bruce Gradkowski joining us here on FSR. Bruce Jonas
knocks Aaron Torres, thanks so much for the time. Yeah, guys,
thanks for having me. All Right, So I gotta ask you.
You're a former teammate of Antonio Brown on a scale
of one to ten, how surprised are you at some
of the hijinks that have happened so far at Raiders camp.
(21:29):
You know, I'm a little surprised he's out of practice
because I know how much the guy loves football and
how hard he works. But it's just an unfortunate incident.
You know. I heard he did it in a cryo
machine when he was working out across seas and he
forgot to put slippers on. But you know, and that's sad. Look,
(21:51):
accidents happened, so you're gonna miss some practices. But the
whole helmet issue that just came about, you know, that's
surprising me even more because I don't think you know,
I played for John Gruden, so I could only imagine
Gruden behind scene right now, you know, and I hope
some of it's on hard knocks, but you know, Gruden's
(22:12):
going to cut that out, and you know, so I
could only imagine what's going on there. Because they're trying
to get prepared for the season. The last thing they
want is some more drama. And obviously, look, Antonio Brown,
there is something wrong. But as somebody who's been in
NFL locker rooms, college locker rooms for most of your life.
How distracting or is it distracting the idea that your
(22:34):
best player not only did not know when he's on
the field, but reports are a lot of people within
the organization don't even know where this guy is on
a day in, day out basis. Yeah, you know, that
gets frustrating. I mean, honestly, that's one thing I did.
I think Tomlin did a great job of I know,
you know, things hit the fan towards the end there,
but Comlin didn't let these little things get to them,
(22:56):
you know, until they boiled over it started, you know,
lingering on the football field. Tomlin knew how to put
up with them, you know, get him. The game day,
everyone was happy and we were winning. And I think
in Oakland they need to get back to winning. So
this drama stuff is even more relevant now because you know,
(23:18):
they have a lot of work to do to get
to where they want to go. And the last thing
they need is, you know, some things that are happening
off the field that you know, you don't need to
carry on the field. So hey, I'm hoping he gets
back soon because I want to see that relationship. I
want to see how that offense works. Would ab see
how Derek car and him, you know, can connect and
(23:39):
where it goes from there? Real quick, when you say that,
Mike Tomlin kind of knew how to handle stuff not
let it affect the whole team. How what what did
Mike Tomlin do? How did he approach those situations as
approached to some other coaches that you might have had
throughout your time in the NFL. Well, the thing I
respected about Tomlin is he approached every day the same way.
So he wasn't an emotional roller coaster, so that that
(24:01):
rubs off on your team. You know, it's very steady there.
My first year there in twenty four team we started
out owing four and if I'm an other organizations, sometimes
you go into the into the facility week five and
everyone's tight. You know, coaches jobs are on the line,
everyone's nervous. You have to win, you have to find
a way. But not in Pittsburgh. You know, it was
(24:24):
day to day business. You got to keep keep working,
keep doing what we're doing, and you know, and so
it just felt the same every day. And I think
that's one thing Tomlin brings his consistency, and yes it's
not every coach is perfect, and you know, sometimes the
details may lack, but at the end of the day,
(24:44):
being a good coach is trying to get the best
out of your players, knowing how to get the best
out of your players, and winning on Sundays. You know,
if you're winning, a lot of things can get swept
under the rug. And that's what Oakland's looking to do.
That's what the Stewers have done, you know, in the past,
and the Steelers even have to get back to doing that.
(25:05):
So this is you know, it's very exciting that the
preseason has started in football is right around the course.
I spent all day watching all the games from yesterday
because I'm greating him for Pro Football Focus, so I'm
able to see every throw every week. So give me
a good look on some of these guys. All right, Well,
I'm glad you took us there. He is at Bruce Gradkowski,
former NFL quarterback, Sirius XM, NFL radio host. You can
(25:28):
hear his show every Thursday eleven to three pm Eastern
Time on Sirius XM NFL Radio and as you mentioned,
Pro Football Focus analyst and he's joining us here on
Fox Sports Radio, Bruce. That being said, who jumped out
to you last night at the quarterback position, preferably the
rookie quarterbacks that you look at and say, this guy's
got an opportunity. Yeah, I mean, you know a lot
(25:51):
of the guys. I try not to judge too heavily
right now, because look, the game's movement fast for him.
It's a new speed. You go from tas to mini
camp to training camp, and each step of the way
the game gets a little faster. Preseason games will feel fast,
and regular season is even another step up, and not
(26:12):
even talking about playoffs yet. So each level you go,
the game continues to speed up, and especially for these
young quarterbacks. And you know, when I watched these guys,
you know, I look at like a Daniel Jones. Of
course he goes right down the field and score, but
he looks comfortable out there, he looks poised, he's making
good decisions. It was only one drive, But what I
(26:33):
get from that is he's doing that on a day
to day basis and training camp. You just don't show
up to the field on game day and play tremendously
better than you've been practicing. So I did that from Jones.
I think Drew Locke, you know, he's fortunate because they
have five preseason games this year and he looked a
(26:53):
little shaking the Hall of Fame game this week, he
looked a lot more comfortable, but you could just tell
things look rushed. Everything looks fast. Even his good throws
look a little uncomfortable. And that just takes time. Because
Drew Locke out of college, I know, said his footwork
wasn't the greatest. So it's just going to take time
(27:15):
to work that. Understand the timing and rhythm of throws
and the routes and how to throw each throw. You know,
with Drew Locke, I noticed a lot of his eighteen
to twenty yard routes, the big end routes he's missing.
He's skipping it to guys because it's not because he
doesn't have the arm strength. But you learn how to
make those throws downfield. It's more of a touch, it's
(27:38):
more of a rhythm to it, throwing on the right footwork.
I think he's going to be very fortunate enough to
watch Joe Flacco do it this year and Locke will
continue to get better. He has the arm strength, but
look every level from high school to college the NFL.
It's not about the physical ability. It's more of a
mental side of things. How fast can you pick up
(28:00):
the offense, How do you understand the defenses? How can
you handle the ups and downs adversity? And that's what
it'll be interesting to see. I look at you know,
Kyler Murray, I mean and look, these guys didn't play much,
especially Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones. But Kyler Murray, Man,
it's just fun watching him play because the ball just
dips out of his hands. He's got more than enough
(28:21):
arm strength. And it's only going to get more and
more exciting watching him play, watching him make those elusive plays.
You know, Gardner Minshew, I watch him and sometimes these rookies,
even Josh Rosen for the Dolphins, they're trying to see
too much. And when you catch the ball in the shotgun,
(28:42):
you can't look left and look right and look left
again and throw. You know, it's like crossing the street.
You know, you can't look all both ways a hundred
times and then expect to make a good decision. A
lot of times, it's better to play. It's better to
play decisive them right and as a young guy. You
try overthinking things, you tried doing too much. And I
(29:03):
even saw that a little bit with Rosen Take what
the defense gives you a move on. So as I
watched these quarterbacks, you know, like I said, it's still early,
but this game's flying around for him and by the
last preseason game, they'll feel a lot more comfortable and
they'll continue to get better with the right coaching. So
it's just fun to watch their progress as well. So
(29:25):
real quick, Bruce on Kyler Murray, did you we noticed,
you know, he really kind of like you said, the
ball flew right out of his hand. Is that kind
of the way that Cliff Kingsbury wants him to play?
Or is that a byproduct of get rid of the ball.
We don't need you getting hit in the preseason somewhere
in between. What do you think about that? I think
it's a little bit of both. I definitely think Cliff
(29:47):
Kingsbury wanted to start Kyler Murray out fast, make him
feel good, get him some completions, short throws, screens, let
him move out of the pocket a little bit, his
running screen passed to Larry Fitzgerald on the left side.
You know, just different things but they're not going to
open up the whole offense. So a preseason is a
lot about getting guys started. I mean, look at Baker Mayfield, right,
(30:10):
he goes right down the field and score and scores.
But the best thing about Mayfield he took what the
defense gave him as that drive went on, check down,
check down, check down. Next thing, you know, single high safety,
He's got steam routes called looks off the safety, hitches up,
fires a missile, perfect ball placement over the safety safe
(30:33):
where his receiver could go up and catch it. Boom, touchdown.
The fans go nuts, and Mayfield's the hero like he
finished last season. So it's gonna be very exciting to
watch where that the Browns team goes, especially with Freddie Kitchens,
how he steers the ship if he can steer it
and handle the adversity throughout the season. But it's very
(30:53):
exciting watching those guys. And you know, I'll be looking
forward to watching the Steelers tonight and two other games.
So but it's course just you know, hey, Jonas, I'm
excited to watch football, and I'm gonna say that it's bad.
I can't tell you I was so tired of the NBA.
I gotta be honest with you. Enough enough with guys
like an Instagram post. I would listen to Bruce Gradkowski
breakdown the quarterback position all day for Pro Football Focus.
(31:16):
Bruce Gradkowski, quarterback Sirius XM, NFL radio host every Thursday
eleven to three pm Eastern Time. On Sirius XM Radio.
You can hear Bruce and also again Pro Football Focused
analyst Bruce. Thanks so much, man, We appreciate it. Yeah, Jonas, look,
I got scared. I popped up Google and I see
you in Brady Quinn looking like a step Brothers picture.
(31:37):
I kind of got nervous a little bit. It's all good. Listen.
Anybody next to Brady always looks a little bit, a
little bit off. You know, he's he's got a he
He's God's gift. Just ask him. That guy's a post
by the way, with that beautiful hair. I get jealous
of him all the time. I played with him in
Cleveland for a little bit. Of course, I shaved my head,
but you're right, he's a good look at dude. He's
(31:58):
a good guy. Thanks, Bruce. We appreciate it, man. All right, guys, thanks,
have a good one. All right. He is Bruce Gradkowskia,
Aaron Torres, Jonas nax In for the odd couple here
from the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching f
(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of The Odd
Couple with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. How about the
fact that Antonio Brown tried to sneak an old helmet
into Raiders practice and spray painted it so he could
use his old helmet from the Steelers. I can say
that is brilliant. Do you think it was just a
Steeler's helmet, like a little a little red and blue
(00:44):
and there's like a little black and gold on top.
And yeah, did he go one coach? Did he forget
the decal? And that's how he got busted. For those
of you that are wondering, how the hell did Antonio
Brown do something like that, the story comes out earlier,
according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, who talked about how
Antonio Brown has filed a grievance with the NFL has
(01:07):
threatened to not play. He will retire if he doesn't
get to use his hold his old helmet that he's
been using his entire career. The Raiders have tried to
send him several helmets, different models for him to try.
He doesn't want any part of him, he said, as
it obstructs his vision the way these new helmets slide down.
So he is threatening no longer playing in the NFL
(01:28):
if he doesn't get his way. Mike Silver of the
NFL Network is also reporting that Antonio Brown tried to
sneak in by spray painting or painting up his old helmet.
He's done it a couple of times to where he's
tried to sneak it in. They've had to remove him
from practice at one point. So you add this onto
his melting feet and everything else going on in Napa
(01:50):
Valley and HBO's got themselves a hell of us an
episode two and Hard Knocks, and it's amazing because he
won't be there for anything because the other report today
is that no one can get a hold of him.
Apparently he can get ahold of the NFL. He just
has Roger Goodell online one but the other what was
it radio silent? No one has heard from him. Oh,
it's brilliant, It's absolutely brilliant. He's unbelievable. I will defend
(02:12):
him on this though. I get that we're all it's
twenty nineteen. We got to worry about safety and helmets
and concussion protocol. Can we just let the man wear
the helmet that he wants to wear, like it's not
a leathern helmet. He's not Jim Thorpe here like like,
I don't know. To me, it just feels like one
of those It's a very simple solution, NFL. Make him
(02:35):
sign some waiver that protects you legally. Let the man
wear one house, you know. That way he doesn't have
to get the spray paint and he doesn't have to,
you know, go behind the bleachers and do the spray
paint thing. I don't know. To me, it just feels
like a nonsense. Yeah. No, I actually agree with you
on this. I know. Robert garre Our, executive producer. He
loves when his hosts agree, So I plan on agreeing
with Aaron Tores as much as possible. Screw you too,
(02:55):
behind the glass, Robert garret Our, executive producer. No hot
takes here, buddy, But I will say this in all seriousness.
If his helmet isn't hurting somebody else to your point,
who cares. I mean, it's not like these stories you
hear from high school football, and you know this, playing
high school football, covering college football, you hear these horror
stories about guys, you know, carving their buckles into sharp
(03:17):
points so when somebody goes to tackle them, they cut
up their hands. Like they're like, there's stories like that
that have been out there. If Antonio Brown's not doing
that and he is willing to sign a waiver and
he wants to play with what is considered an outdated
helmet and he's okay with it, hey man, do what
you gotta do. It's your career. NFL players have said
for the longest time, we don't care so much about
the head stuff. We just don't want our knees taken out.
(03:39):
So if this is a situation where he's okay with
the ramifications of what may occur, not a fact or
a guarantee of what may occur, let him play with
whatever he wants to play and then we just see
how everything folds and unfolds during the regular season. Yeah,
And it was funny because when I saw this story,
what I thought, first of all, you know Antonio Brown
just you know, he is hard knocks in and of himself,
and came just need to be followed him. But also
(04:02):
this reminds me of this is a super obscure rule,
and I'm gonna talk a little hockey. I'm guessing maybe
the first time hockey's ever been discussed on me on
the oud couple. And then don't worry, we're not breaking
It'll make sense. Don't turn the chan We're not talking
like red Wings blue line here. But I know nothing
about hockey, but I do know this is that there
was a time when hockey players did not wear helmets
(04:22):
on the ice. Go, you know, go to YouTube Gordy
House play until he's fifty five and he's taking pucks
off the head and just doing Gordy how things right.
And then at some point somebody in the NHL office
was like, Yeah, this is not a great idea to
just have these guys skating around taking pucks off the face.
And so obviously now guys all wear helmets, they wear
the face shield, etc. But they grandfathered it in where
(04:45):
anybody that had been in the league that didn't want
to wear a helmet, didn't have to. Once the new
rules been were put into place, anybody that came into
the league at that point had to wear the new helmets.
I don't understand why this has to be a public
back and forth thing. And it sounds like if Antonio
Brown's filing grievances, it's gonna get uglier before it gets better.
Just say, like, dude, if you're an old school guy,
(05:06):
you want to wear your old school helmet. You've been
in the league for seven, eight, nine years, like Antonio
Brown has. That's fine. Everybody, you're a rookie, you're coming
in from now and you just got to wear what
we tell you, you know. And Craig McTavish, by the way,
Craig McTavish, you're gonna drop the name, but since you
know it, yeah, a little, a little Craig mctag nothing
like a little mid nineties hockey talk in the middle
of August Iron Torres. Yeah, who knew here whose best
(05:28):
years were in the seventies. But it's okay, Yeah, we're
really hitting the demographic hard right, And don't worry, we
are going to have an all Craig McTavish Hour here
on Fox Sports Radio. That's coming up on August the
thirty third. You can find that all Craig McTavish hour here.
Nothing but NHL coming up on August the thirty third.
But that being said, the reason, and you know the NFL,
(05:48):
this is what the NFL does with everything. They overreact
to pr and public backlash. It's what they do. They
did it with the anthem stuff, they did it with
the safety stuff, they did it with the domestic lens
issues that they've had in the league. The NFL overreacts
to things, and so because of that, the NFL overreacted
to this and instead of just saying, hey, if you're
(06:09):
okay with it, we're okay with it, they took such
a beating from all the guys having issues following their careers,
the guys dealing with head trauma following their careers, that
they're not letting anybody away with being able to sign
a waiver or anything like that. You've got to play
by our rules and that's just the way it's got
to be. I don't necessarily agree. I think players are
smart enough now to understand the risks. Right if you
(06:31):
complain nowadays, that you gained a little bit away because
you ate a bunch of fast food, then you're just
an idiot. It's something I can do for You're an idiot,
you're a moron. Stop complaining. You read what's on the
back of those boxes. You read, you know the calorie intake,
you know everything that's involved. If you haven't gotten the
clue yet that it's not good for you to eat
fast food eight days a week, then that's a u problem.
(06:52):
The NFL has overreacted to many things in the league,
and this feels like them really putting their foot down
because they don't want to have to deal with any
more of the guy dealt with long term issues after
playing so on and so forth. That's why the kickoff
is so weird. That's why they've made some of the
targeting rules the way that they are. It feels like
Antonio Brown's gonna have to just deal with the fact
(07:13):
that this is what the league is mandating and if
you want your thirty million guaranteed, deal with it and
go play football. Yeah. The analogy that our buddy Colin
Cowherd always uses is you start smoking cigarettes in twenty nineteen,
you have nobody to blame but yourself. And it's the
same with the NFL. I don't really So here's the thing, right,
Sometimes in sports there are stories where there are in theory,
(07:34):
two sides, but there's just no win for one side, right, So,
Like I'm like the story that came out the other
day Dabo Sweeney Kelly Bryant, I'm not giving him a
championship ring. There's really no public win for Dabo Sweeney
to just say he's not giving him a championship wearing.
And I feel like it's kind of the same way
with the NFL, Like, what is the win here? Wow,
Antonio Brown, we showed him he's wearing the helmet. He
(07:57):
can't see. He's not as exciting, he's not as good
an more, and he's complaining the whole time. He's sitting
out a training camp and he's filing grievs. Just let
the man wear the helmet. It doesn't seem that complicated
to me. Yeah, Now, a conspiracy theory that I threw out, Okay,
which look, I this probably isn't the greatest conspiracy theory,
but you know what, it's a Friday Sharon News dump Friday.
(08:18):
This is when you dump all your bad conspiracy theories.
A little a little radio tip for everybody listening here
on Fox Sports Radio. I think that HBO took such
a beating from the national media and so many people
all over the world over the final season of Game
of Thrones that I think HBO fixed up Antonio Brown's
feet and they have turned this helmet issue into a
(08:40):
bigger issue to get more people to watch the second
episode of Hard Knocks, That's what I think. And they
made sure he landed on the Raiders too. That's yet unbelievable.
HBO's behind all of it. So it's like Bigfoot gonna
walk through episode. You never know, crazy things gonna happen.
The Locknest monster could pop out of a wine vineyard,
like a lot of things could happen at Raiders training
(09:00):
camp in nap on Hard Knocks. I'm just saying, man,
it would be kind of amazing if because again, the
other story about Antonio Brown, and this just makes it
more fun because of the circus that is Antonio Brown,
no matter where he goes, whether it's Facebook Live and
all those things. That's throwing furniture off a balcony, Yeah,
like he's doing Antonio Brown things. It would be amazing
(09:22):
if the Raiders can't get ahold of this guy, which
has been the report, but the Hard Knocks cameras just
know exactly where he is at all times. Yeah. I
don't know if I'd be willing to go that far.
I just think this is kind of what I'm saying
is this is kind of the emo with Antonio Brown.
You get him, you get a lot of production on Sundays,
and you gotta get a lot of headaches Monday through Saturday.
(09:44):
And I think this is the latest one. Look, feet
of shark. Don't come crying to me if you have
half an arm afterwards, Like if you shark bite your
head off and you were swimming underwater with him. Yeah,
I don't know what to tell you. Sorry. Yeah, that's
just the way it goes sometimes. Be sure to catch
live edition of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four pm Pacific
(10:06):
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. So
NFL preseason a lot going on. We got the the
Bucks and the Steelers, unrelated to Strip Club's NFL preseason
so la. So we got Bucks and Steelers, right, now.
But the story last night a little bit of Kyler Murray,
but the real story was Daniel Jones. Yeah. So I'll
(10:30):
be honest. I was away from the TV at that
exact moment, and I go on Twitter and literally about
eight or nine straight tweets Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones, my
Saturday partner, Ernie Spanier, build him the Hall of Fame
bus right now, Arnie Spanner, I'm Arnie Spannier. So Daniel
Jones really phenomenal performance, six for six touchdown pass and
(10:53):
then he's pulled. Keep in mind, this is the same
guy who, of course was booed on Draft night, number
six overall pick lost to wake Forest, loss to pit.
You know, he didn't exactly move the needle at the
college level. Boot on Draft night comes out looks phenomenal.
(11:13):
And because of the limited success early in one preseason game,
we now have Twitter saying that there should be a
quarterback controversy slash quarterback battle in New York with the Giants.
Do you buy it? Are you ready to just send
Eli out to pasture after one drive from Daniel Joe. Well,
(11:33):
that being said, and I got a lot of heat
for this, but I defended Dave Gettlman when he chose
Daniel Jones, because clearly they saw something they liked. And
Dave Gettlman knows more about football than I do, and
so I take it as all right, that's what he thinks,
is his guy, Go ahead, make your pick, and we
see what happens. It's one game, all right. Everybody's got
a calm down, the quarterback controversies, all of that that
(11:56):
tie into it. Welcome to sports radio, sports talks media nowadays,
to where everything is an overreaction everything. I think it
was an overreaction, the criticism Dave Getleman god for taking
Daniel Jones with the number six overall pick in the draft,
and I think it was an overreaction for everybody all
of a sudden steer their car back the other way
in traffic and say, oh, well, my god, we've got
(12:17):
a quarterback controversy. One drive, we've seen six throws. Everybody,
just all right, take it easy, take it down a nuts,
let's see how it plays out. He's going to play
this season. He will be the starter this season. I
don't have any doubts in my mind, basically, and my
reasoning behind that is Pat Shermer needs to save his job,
(12:38):
all right. You can't have two bad years in a
New York market expect to stick around there because the
patients may not be there pat Shermer wants to save
his job if he feels like Eli Manning isn't going
to save his job. But the hope of Daniel Jones
and the promise of Daniel Jones is going to make
the organization want him to be the guy to work
with Daniel Jones moving forward. He's going to make the
(12:58):
switch to save his own gig and think Daniel Jones
would be the starter. Before we get to last night,
why were you so sold to not rush the process?
Why didn't you believe that we should be critical of
David Getleman when there was really no proof of anything
that we've seen. And by the way, there was rumors
that he would have fallen deep into the first round,
(13:18):
maybe into the second if the Giants hadn't taken him
at six, he certainly would have been available with that
second pick. Why did you believe that he shouldn't be
criticized for that. I don't buy any of the draft
rumors that go into it. I think that at a
lot of people are trying to steer people in different directions.
I think they use the media as ponds in their
mixed messaging game. And so when it comes to the draft,
(13:39):
I feel like, if you're an organization and you've got
conviction in a player and you would like that player
at that spot, you take a chance and you go
and you pick him. Don't wait around and hopes that
you're going to lose him. When the Bears traded up
to get Trubisky, I backed him on it. I said, look,
they didn't want to take a chance, even though nobody
believes that he would have fallen any further pass where
he fell. Don't take the chance you're gonna lose out
(14:02):
on him. Go ahead and make the move and take
your quarterback. I think that they liked what they saw.
There was a familiarity. Bucky Brooks talked about it with
David Cutcliff and that situation and the Mannings as well too,
and I think they felt like he was the best
fit for that system and that quarterback. I think Pat
Sherman knows what he's doing. I think Dave Getleman, despite
(14:22):
what people say, knows more than people let on to believe.
And I'm willing to trust those guys who have been
around the game longer than I have to make the
right decision. If he bombs, then he bombs, and everybody
else was right. I'm just I don't want to jump
on a guy until I actually see some proof that
he sucks. He, as my senator partner Ernie Spanier says,
I don't got five years to wait to see if
he's gonna make it work. Lie. Yeah, but I don't
(14:45):
necessarily disagree. I kind of disagree. But about back to
last night, because I did think it was interesting how
quick the quarterback controversy conversation came up right like it
was all like, like you said, Daniel Jones worst quarterback,
he lost a pit he lost to wake for us,
Now he's gonna come, and then he was phenomenal. Where
my Where? The thing that's really interesting to me about
(15:07):
what happened last night is this is that normally I'm
on team Jonas Knox in the sense that any overreaction
to NBA Summer League or or NFL preseason I don't buy.
I don't buy the guy that goes for thirty one
points in his summer league debutans I get work of
the year. I don't go that's the move though. Yeah,
(15:28):
it's a hot take society, come on, And so I
bring that up because I don't I wouldn't normally say like,
let's rush to judgment and let's oh, Daniel Jones, he's
the future. Throw, you know, bringing elive behind the shed
and hit him over the head with a shovel, like
you know, I wouldn't normally do that. But isn't some
(15:48):
of the quarterback controversy conversation that has started on Eli
Because normally, again, if it was just me watching a
guy in the preseason, a rookie goes six for six,
throw for a touchdown pass on his opening drive, I
would say, all right, slow your role. But I do
think part of this is an Eli. There is a
reason that the Giants were drafting six overall. There is
(16:09):
a reason, by the way, people forget this that Ben
McAdoo benched him two years ago, and so I think
part of the reason is because people were like, yeah,
Eli really hasn't been that good. This guy actually gives
us a little bit of hope. Normally I wouldn't be
so quick to jump on the Daniel Jones bandwagon, but
I feel like part of this is Eli's responsibility as well. Yeah,
and really it's just easy. Has Eli Manning, in your opinion,
(16:31):
peaked as a quarterback? I would say yes, yes, and
I don't think that's why you can even question that.
So if he's peaked as a quarterback and you know
what he is, and you know what he's going to be,
then guess what it's time at some point to pull
the trigger and make the move to Daniel Jones. And
I think that's going to happen sooner rather than later.
And the media that pushed back on Ben McAdoo for
(16:54):
wanting to bench, and that story gets a little twisted
because everyone says, oh my god, Ben McAdoo wanted to
bench Eli Manning. No, actually it's not out happened. What
happened was Ben McAdoo told Eli Manning, look, we want
to see a little bit of Geno Smith, so we're
going to give him the second half. But you know,
we know you got your consecutive start streak, so let's
go ahead and we'll start you. And Eli Manning just said, no,
(17:15):
if you're just gonna bench me in the second half,
just don't play me at all. Okay, So he did
and then a bunch of people got fired and everybody
ripped the giants and everybody came to the defense of
Eli Manning. And here we go again, similar to the
hot take and the overcorrection to what we had before.
Now everybody's jumping on with theo. Eli Manning's done and
(17:35):
he's finished. Well what I mean, Ben McAdoo tried to
tell you that two years ago, three years ago, and
nobody wanted to believe him. So Eli Manning and his
performance is, yes, absolutely the reason why there's an issue here.
And I also think Pat Shermer and also Dave gettlman
no that in that market, with that franchise, with some
(17:56):
of the scrutiny that comes along with it, if they
have another crummy season with not a lot of hope
on the you know for next year or the year afterwards,
that those guys are in trouble and are going to
lose their jobs. And at some point I think they're
gonna probably gonna hand the keys over to Daniel Jones
and that's going to be the start of a brand
new quarterback era in New York. Well, it's really interesting,
(18:17):
right because in theory, I feel like and we'll see right,
it's one game, it's six throws. It's obviously overreaction, but
I don't feel like this is Geno Smith two years ago.
I feel like, ironically, like many years ago when I
think it was Kurt Warner, maybe that was the Giants quarterback,
and then they once they went in on Eli years ago,
they had to stay there, And I feel like this
(18:40):
is now like once you go in on Daniel Jones,
I think the Giants have to stay there. So I'll
be curious how when that happens. I'll be curious, frankly,
if that happens, because you know, if Eli and they
have a manageable schedule start, they play at the Cowboys,
who knows if Zeke will be there, who knows who's
gonna be there with the Cowboys, and they play Bills
at Home, Bucks at Bucks on the Road, Redskins at Home.
(19:02):
I mean, that is a manageable three and one, two
and two types start. I just think it's gonna be
so fascinating to watch, assuming that Daniel Jones can keep
up some you know, iteration of what he did last night,
because I think that he is now the top ten Pickies.
The future of the franchise once you go to him
(19:22):
in the regular season, you can't go back. Yeah, And
Kurt Warner even talked about that when he was the
veteran quarterback backing up Eli Manning. They pulled Eli Manning
out of the game and put in Kurt Warner, and
Kurt Warner told them afterwards, don't ever do that again.
All right, don't ever do that to a young quarterback. Afterwards,
he said, leave him in there. It's his team. Now,
I'm calling my shot right now. Daniel Jones will be
(19:43):
the starting quarterback for the New York Giants Week seven
at home against the Arizona Cardinals. Here's why I say that.
The week before is a Thursday night game at New England.
They're gonna get pistol whipped in Foxborough by the New
England Patriots. Then gonna get not only a full week,
but an extra couple of days to get him prepared
(20:04):
for an Arizona team completely on the rebuild. And we're
gonna see Kyler Murray versus Daniel Jones face off Sunday,
October twentieth. That is a one Eastern time kickoff right
here on Fox Wow. See that? What a plug? How
about that? All I know that was excellent. I lost
you somewhere around pistol whipped, But I do think I
(20:27):
just think it's gonna be fascinating to watch. And you
talk about we spend so much time talking about Kyler
Murray throughout the offseason, Dwayne Haskins, who did not look
that good last night. I think we all kind of
just defaulted to like, yeah, we're probably not gonna see
Daniel Jones, and if we do, like it'll be late.
And I know Elie is not good, but whatever, I
think it's gonna be fascinating to watch this one unfold
(20:48):
as the season goes on. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob
Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four pm Pacific right now.
He is a former NFL quarterback. He covers the NFL
for Sirius XM NFL Radio and he also is a
pro football focused analyst. One of my favorite sites, and
(21:08):
it's Bruce Gradkowski joining us here on FSR. Bruce Jonas
knocks Aaron Torres, thanks so much for the time. Yeah, guys,
thanks for having me. All Right, So I gotta ask you.
You're a former teammate of Antonio Brown on a scale
of one to ten, how surprised are you at some
of the hijinks that have happened so far at Raiders camp.
(21:29):
You know, I'm a little surprised he's out of practice
because I know how much the guy loves football and
how hard he works. But it's just an unfortunate incident.
You know. I heard he did it in a cryo
machine when he was working out across seas and he
forgot to put slippers on. But you know, and that's sad. Look,
(21:51):
accidents happened, so you're gonna miss some practices. But the
whole helmet issue that just came about, you know, that's
surprising me even more because I don't think you know,
I played for John Gruden, so I could only imagine
Gruden behind scene right now, you know, and I hope
some of it's on hard knocks, but you know, Gruden's
(22:12):
going to cut that out, and you know, so I
could only imagine what's going on there. Because they're trying
to get prepared for the season. The last thing they
want is some more drama. And obviously, look, Antonio Brown,
there is something wrong. But as somebody who's been in
NFL locker rooms, college locker rooms for most of your life.
How distracting or is it distracting the idea that your
(22:34):
best player not only did not know when he's on
the field, but reports are a lot of people within
the organization don't even know where this guy is on
a day in, day out basis. Yeah, you know, that
gets frustrating. I mean, honestly, that's one thing I did.
I think Tomlin did a great job of I know,
you know, things hit the fan towards the end there,
but Comlin didn't let these little things get to them,
(22:56):
you know, until they boiled over it started, you know,
lingering on the football field. Tomlin knew how to put
up with them, you know, get him. The game day,
everyone was happy and we were winning. And I think
in Oakland they need to get back to winning. So
this drama stuff is even more relevant now because you know,
(23:18):
they have a lot of work to do to get
to where they want to go. And the last thing
they need is, you know, some things that are happening
off the field that you know, you don't need to
carry on the field. So hey, I'm hoping he gets
back soon because I want to see that relationship. I
want to see how that offense works. Would ab see
how Derek car and him, you know, can connect and
(23:39):
where it goes from there? Real quick, when you say that,
Mike Tomlin kind of knew how to handle stuff not
let it affect the whole team. How what what did
Mike Tomlin do? How did he approach those situations as
approached to some other coaches that you might have had
throughout your time in the NFL. Well, the thing I
respected about Tomlin is he approached every day the same way.
So he wasn't an emotional roller coaster, so that that
(24:01):
rubs off on your team. You know, it's very steady there.
My first year there in twenty four team we started
out owing four and if I'm an other organizations, sometimes
you go into the into the facility week five and
everyone's tight. You know, coaches jobs are on the line,
everyone's nervous. You have to win, you have to find
a way. But not in Pittsburgh. You know, it was
(24:24):
day to day business. You got to keep keep working,
keep doing what we're doing, and you know, and so
it just felt the same every day. And I think
that's one thing Tomlin brings his consistency, and yes it's
not every coach is perfect, and you know, sometimes the
details may lack, but at the end of the day,
(24:44):
being a good coach is trying to get the best
out of your players, knowing how to get the best
out of your players, and winning on Sundays. You know,
if you're winning, a lot of things can get swept
under the rug. And that's what Oakland's looking to do.
That's what the Stewers have done, you know, in the past,
and the Steelers even have to get back to doing that.
(25:05):
So this is you know, it's very exciting that the
preseason has started in football is right around the course.
I spent all day watching all the games from yesterday
because I'm greating him for Pro Football Focus, so I'm
able to see every throw every week. So give me
a good look on some of these guys. All right, Well,
I'm glad you took us there. He is at Bruce Gradkowski,
former NFL quarterback, Sirius XM, NFL radio host. You can
(25:28):
hear his show every Thursday eleven to three pm Eastern
Time on Sirius XM NFL Radio and as you mentioned,
Pro Football Focus analyst and he's joining us here on
Fox Sports Radio, Bruce. That being said, who jumped out
to you last night at the quarterback position, preferably the
rookie quarterbacks that you look at and say, this guy's
got an opportunity. Yeah, I mean, you know a lot
(25:51):
of the guys. I try not to judge too heavily
right now, because look, the game's movement fast for him.
It's a new speed. You go from tas to mini
camp to training camp, and each step of the way
the game gets a little faster. Preseason games will feel fast,
and regular season is even another step up, and not
(26:12):
even talking about playoffs yet. So each level you go,
the game continues to speed up, and especially for these
young quarterbacks. And you know, when I watched these guys,
you know, I look at like a Daniel Jones. Of
course he goes right down the field and score, but
he looks comfortable out there, he looks poised, he's making
good decisions. It was only one drive, But what I
(26:33):
get from that is he's doing that on a day
to day basis and training camp. You just don't show
up to the field on game day and play tremendously
better than you've been practicing. So I did that from Jones.
I think Drew Locke, you know, he's fortunate because they
have five preseason games this year and he looked a
(26:53):
little shaking the Hall of Fame game this week, he
looked a lot more comfortable, but you could just tell
things look rushed. Everything looks fast. Even his good throws
look a little uncomfortable. And that just takes time. Because
Drew Locke out of college, I know, said his footwork
wasn't the greatest. So it's just going to take time
(27:15):
to work that. Understand the timing and rhythm of throws
and the routes and how to throw each throw. You know,
with Drew Locke, I noticed a lot of his eighteen
to twenty yard routes, the big end routes he's missing.
He's skipping it to guys because it's not because he
doesn't have the arm strength. But you learn how to
make those throws downfield. It's more of a touch, it's
(27:38):
more of a rhythm to it, throwing on the right footwork.
I think he's going to be very fortunate enough to
watch Joe Flacco do it this year and Locke will
continue to get better. He has the arm strength, but
look every level from high school to college the NFL.
It's not about the physical ability. It's more of a
mental side of things. How fast can you pick up
(28:00):
the offense, How do you understand the defenses? How can
you handle the ups and downs adversity? And that's what
it'll be interesting to see. I look at you know,
Kyler Murray, I mean and look, these guys didn't play much,
especially Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones. But Kyler Murray, Man,
it's just fun watching him play because the ball just
dips out of his hands. He's got more than enough
(28:21):
arm strength. And it's only going to get more and
more exciting watching him play, watching him make those elusive plays.
You know, Gardner Minshew, I watch him and sometimes these rookies,
even Josh Rosen for the Dolphins, they're trying to see
too much. And when you catch the ball in the shotgun,
(28:42):
you can't look left and look right and look left
again and throw. You know, it's like crossing the street.
You know, you can't look all both ways a hundred
times and then expect to make a good decision. A
lot of times, it's better to play. It's better to
play decisive them right and as a young guy. You
try overthinking things, you tried doing too much. And I
(29:03):
even saw that a little bit with Rosen Take what
the defense gives you a move on. So as I
watched these quarterbacks, you know, like I said, it's still early,
but this game's flying around for him and by the
last preseason game, they'll feel a lot more comfortable and
they'll continue to get better with the right coaching. So
it's just fun to watch their progress as well. So
(29:25):
real quick, Bruce on Kyler Murray, did you we noticed,
you know, he really kind of like you said, the
ball flew right out of his hand. Is that kind
of the way that Cliff Kingsbury wants him to play?
Or is that a byproduct of get rid of the ball.
We don't need you getting hit in the preseason somewhere
in between. What do you think about that? I think
it's a little bit of both. I definitely think Cliff
(29:47):
Kingsbury wanted to start Kyler Murray out fast, make him
feel good, get him some completions, short throws, screens, let
him move out of the pocket a little bit, his
running screen passed to Larry Fitzgerald on the left side.
You know, just different things but they're not going to
open up the whole offense. So a preseason is a
lot about getting guys started. I mean, look at Baker Mayfield, right,
(30:10):
he goes right down the field and score and scores.
But the best thing about Mayfield he took what the
defense gave him as that drive went on, check down,
check down, check down. Next thing, you know, single high safety,
He's got steam routes called looks off the safety, hitches up,
fires a missile, perfect ball placement over the safety safe
(30:33):
where his receiver could go up and catch it. Boom, touchdown.
The fans go nuts, and Mayfield's the hero like he
finished last season. So it's gonna be very exciting to
watch where that the Browns team goes, especially with Freddie Kitchens,
how he steers the ship if he can steer it
and handle the adversity throughout the season. But it's very
(30:53):
exciting watching those guys. And you know, I'll be looking
forward to watching the Steelers tonight and two other games.
So but it's course just you know, hey, Jonas, I'm
excited to watch football, and I'm gonna say that it's bad.
I can't tell you I was so tired of the NBA.
I gotta be honest with you. Enough enough with guys
like an Instagram post. I would listen to Bruce Gradkowski
breakdown the quarterback position all day for Pro Football Focus.
(31:16):
Bruce Gradkowski, quarterback Sirius XM, NFL radio host every Thursday
eleven to three pm Eastern Time. On Sirius XM Radio.
You can hear Bruce and also again Pro Football Focused
analyst Bruce. Thanks so much, man, We appreciate it. Yeah, Jonas, look,
I got scared. I popped up Google and I see
you in Brady Quinn looking like a step Brothers picture.
(31:37):
I kind of got nervous a little bit. It's all good. Listen.
Anybody next to Brady always looks a little bit, a
little bit off. You know, he's he's got a he
He's God's gift. Just ask him. That guy's a post
by the way, with that beautiful hair. I get jealous
of him all the time. I played with him in
Cleveland for a little bit. Of course, I shaved my head,
but you're right, he's a good look at dude. He's
(31:58):
a good guy. Thanks, Bruce. We appreciate it, man. All right, guys, thanks,
have a good one. All right. He is Bruce Gradkowskia,
Aaron Torres, Jonas nax In for the odd couple here
from the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios
Hosts And Creators
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