Dan Beyer and Bucky Brooks on the Bears, Jaguars, Cowboys and More!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio preseason football rolling along,
and we have got football action for you for the
next three hours or so. We check in what's happening
in Green Bay at about twenty minutes. We'll also get
the temperature of the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers,

(00:21):
and our good buddy Adam Capitlan or Fox Sports Radio
NFL Insider will join us a bit later on in
the program, talking Cowboys, talking Broncos. We have three hours
again of NFL action. Bucky Brooks, how stoked are you
for today? Hey man, I'm always still going to get
Diamond d by. It's what we do. It's what we do,

(00:43):
doing it on a Sunday. Usually I'm sitting in on
a Saturday with you. But we can take over. It's
all a big part of it. We can take over day.
I have heard that the ratings they strategically were, like
you know what, sandwiched in between that Brown's Giants game
and the start of that Niners Chargers game. We need
buyer and Brooks. That's what That's what they said, and

(01:05):
that's what he's gonna get for Fox Sports Sunday. You
don't have any Jaguar responsibilities, right because they played tomorrow,
right tomorrow, so I'll do some pregame stuff for them.
But tomorrow they're taking on the New Orleans Saints. Yeah,
are you more Okay? So completely, and we're gonna get
into the Jaguars. But just because you brought it up,
are you more interested to watch the Jaguar quarterbacks or

(01:27):
the Saints quarterbacks tomorrow night? Both? I mean, obviously I
want to see, come on, I do. I want to
see I want to see what Trevor Lawrence does. But
then I want to see who is going to be
the quarterback? Is it Taysom Hill to Jameis Weston down
in New Orleans? I think a lot of people want
to see he's gonna be the quarterback in Chicago. And
that's where we start today because Andy Dalton is getting
booed when he in the preseason. This is this is

(01:50):
what it's come down to in Chicago, and after yesterday's
lost to the Buffalo Bills in the preseason, and I'm
not gonna talk about staffs. I'm gonna talk about final scores. Uh.
Andy Dalton through an interception where a wide receiver slipped
out a route wasn't his fault. But Andy Dalton was
getting food yesterday in a preseason game, only to have

(02:10):
Matt Nage afterwards say, quote of Dalton, we need to
see him in the regular season. Can you explain? Can
you explain this plan put forth by Mattnege in the
Chicago Bears. No, I can't understand. I can't understand the
plan unless he is simply trying to keep his word

(02:31):
and keep the promises that it made Andy Dalton when
they signed him, because remember when they signed him at
the time, they didn't have a young quarterback in place.
It was just Nick Foles that was in the fold,
and so it was easy to say, Andy Dalton, you
come here, you have a chance to be the starter.
You will be our starter. In a way we go
the draft comes around, things happened, they have an opportunity
to get Justin Fields, and so to keep their word,

(02:54):
what they're doing is they're going forward with Andy Dalton,
while everyone into Windy City is like, what are we doing.
Let's go ahead and put the young guy in because
the brief glimpses that the city has seen of Jamal
of Justin Fields has led him believed that he is
the future, he gives him a chance to have the
best quarterback that they've had in a long time. I mean,
I guess we'd go back to the punky QB Jim

(03:16):
McMahon maybe there. I think that you couldn't make an
argument that that team, Jim McMahon included, has the worst
quarterback history in the history of the NFL for the
last fifty years. Question, I think you can make that. Yeah.
I mean, like you can even go to you even

(03:36):
go to Jacksonville has been in the league that long.
You can you can go to the Texans and and
make cases that Deshaun Watson and Matt Schaub were better
than anything that the Bears have had in the last
you know, forty to fifty years. That's how bad it's
been in Chicago. Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's it's
been bad. It has been bad in Chicago because they
just haven't been able to find the guy and you

(03:58):
just don't understand why. And I do. I am a
firm believe it. There's some teams match the identity of
the city. And so for me, when I think about Chicago,
I don't think it should ever be about the offense.
When you think about the Bears, I think it's always
about the Mosses of the Midway, playing great defense, running
the football, playing a certain style. But it's WEIRDO, because

(04:18):
when I think about the Packers, I don't necessarily think
of that, because in the last twenty to thirty years
has been about throwing to football with two of the
greatest quarterbacks who ever played a game. I don't believe.
I can't believe that I said that the Texans that
Jaguars may have a better quarterback history. I mean, Mark Brunell,
you know, David Garrard. I mean, they're there are guys
that have been Yeah, at least you know that maybe

(04:43):
it's maybe it's a bit of a stretch. You had
Cutler in Chicago. The point being that we're even having
this argument. How's this all you need to know about
what is happening with the Chicago Bears. If you don't
believe me on what I said, Matt Aggie said that
we do have some audio, and I do want to
play it even though I kind of told you what
he said, just so you can kind of understand the
context and how actually it was delivered by the Bears

(05:05):
head coach. This was him about Andy Dalton yesterday. The
stock of of Andy for us is going to be
is seeing what he does during the season. You know
that That's how we got We gotta be able to
see what what can Andy do during the season with
this team and with with these guys. That has been
our plan this whole entire time. At the same point
in time, we also need to evaluate and see where
Justin's at and what he can do. And again, he's

(05:28):
doing everything that we're asking him to do. He's doing great.
So I think it's a good situation for us. And
I understand, I truly understand for people to want to
see more Justin and and all that. I get that, um,
but we also understand where we're at and how what
the true plan is and and all we can do
is ask Justin to keep playing, and he's doing it,
and Andy to keep playing, and Nick to keep playing.

(05:48):
I'm reading between the lines. This is what it sounds
like to me. Matt Naggie doesn't think that Justin Fields
is ready, but he doesn't want to say that because
he understands the the Ferther in Chicago uh for Justin Fields,
and he also doesn't want to not Justin Fields. So
he's saying, we need to see Andy Dalton. That's what
That's what I'm getting as I'm reading between the lines. Okay,

(06:09):
so you you're getting that, I'm getting something different. I'm
getting he wants to keep his promise and but but
here's what he runs the risk of. He runs the
risk of looking like an idiot to his team because
of the team sees Justin Fields and Andy Dualt every
day and they are able to make the distinction that
Justin Fields is more talented. Justin Fields maybe gives them

(06:31):
a better chance of winning. It is going to be
hard for him to continue to do this and lose
games if Andy Dalton is the quarterback, because the team
is going to look at him and say, what are
we doing? Why are we wasting our time doing this
when we know we have a young quarterback who not
only gives us hope, but maybe gives us the best
chance to win. I've I've thought about this with with

(06:54):
Naggie saying, I like, I don't know why you need
to keep the promise, Bucky, for the simple fact of
we all know that he's on thin ice anyway. Matt
Naggie is a head coach. And I know you and
I have had this conversation before, and I know I
bring up the same situation. But in looking around the

(07:15):
National Football League right now, there aren't like you go
to you go to the New York and Zack Wilson's
job with the Jets, he got to start yesterday. He's
going to be the guy. Different situation for what's going
on in Jacksonville right now with Trevor Lawrence and Gardner Minshew,
but we I expect Trevor Lawrence to be the starter,
will dive more into that. Maybe there's something similar to

(07:38):
what's going on in New England. But it just you know,
it goes back to me to the time of John
Harbaugh in Baltimore and the switch to Lamar Jackson, and
there there was a mixed the mixed bag on what
people even thought about Lamar Jackson as a starting quarterback
in the NFL at that time. And it saves John
Harbaugh's job. And I don't know why matten Ae he

(08:00):
would wait to that point because his job is on
the line here like the longer that you wait for it.
And Anthony Lynn maybe the other perfect example Bucky because
he only started Tyrod Taylor one game and then they
had to throw Herbert in because of the lung injection
that the doctor gave Tyrod Taylor, and all of a
sudden it wasn't It was never that Anthony Lynn got

(08:21):
credit for it. It was more of a of of
a of a check mark or or a minus on
Anthony Lynn's resume because he didn't see he didn't go
with Herbert early enough. And that's what I think we're
getting with Matt Naggy. I just aside from the promise,
I don't understand the the you know, the willingness to
to hold off and to keep Dalton in there. I thought,

(08:44):
I said, I still believe it. I don't. I don't
think they want fields against the Rams on Sunday Night football.
That's that's what I think it is. But I just
don't I don't buy into the we need to see
Andy Dalton in the regular season. We've seen him in
the regular season in the last eight years. We know
what Andy Dalton is. There's not going to be a changeover.
That's what I just can't get through, you know, just

(09:04):
really can't grasp is what's going to save Matteggie's job
is attaching his way into justin fields, not seeing what
Andy Dalton can do. Yeah, I mean, it's an odd situation.
It's odd that he's clinging so tightly to Andy Dalton.
But look, I can only imagine that he is trying
to make sure that he does right by Andy Dalton

(09:26):
because he knows if he loses his word, um and
then will impact him going forward with other free agents,
with other players in locker rooms and those things. So
I'm I'm assuming that is why, um, he's so I
mean adamant about staying with it this way. But it's
just different, it's a different deal. We need to have

(09:49):
a draft of Bears, Texans and Jaguars quarterbacks. That would
be that that that would be Who do you think
would go number one if we ended up? If we
if you who had to take only from guys? And
I'm not talking about so and so just you know,
I had a you know, a cup of coffee in
Chicago at the end of his career, but was a
you know, a Super Bowl winner prior. I'm not talking

(10:11):
about that. I'm talking about guys who are you know,
literal literally good quarterbacks, pieces of the franchise. Who do
you think would go one? Mm. You mean what with
teams are not looking at a Jaguars, Texans and Bears.
This is this is again, this is this is who
would go one? If you had to take over the

(10:33):
last let's just say fifty years of quarterbacks, you would
have Jay Cutler for the Bears. Then Jim McMahon would
be their top options. I mentioned the Texans that you'd have, Yeah, Watson, Yeah,
I would. Yeah, I think he'd have to be in
the conversation he had he had some good seasons. I
know it didn't end well, but there was a point

(10:54):
where where he was. And then Jacksonville you'd have Mark Brunell.
You know, I think Jacksonville would be last. Um, I
think first would happen. But if you could take any
of those guys, like, would Watson be the first guy?
I think Watson would have to be the first guy,
unless you could just go into Punky QB. Because the

(11:14):
Punky QB one to quarterback he won the Super Bowl. Yeah.
The only reason why I would go with Jim McMahon
because they went there. But then everyone they counter to
that will be yeah, but he had a bit defense
to ever play in history. Yeah, I know. Oh that's
how that's how bad it's been. And I do put
David Garrard in the in the conversation. You know, he
had a nice he had a nice he had a

(11:35):
nice run. Yeah it may he may not have been
a first option, but I do think he at least
belongs in the conversation to help make our point. You
take him over Mike tom Zack, right, yes, you would
take him over Rex Grossman, who led him to a
super Bowl. I would feel more comfortable with Gerrard than
I would with with Rex Grossman. M hmm, yeah, this

(11:59):
is the yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see, I can
understand it. Again, it's just to emphasize the point of
what the Bears are dealing with. And Wyatt, So, I mean,
Andy Dalton's getting booed in preseason games and he really
hasn't done anything wrong. It's that that's where we are,
and the Bears, by the way, have to catch up
to the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay Packers didn't have
Jordan's love yesterday in their game against the Jets because

(12:21):
if it's injury, and obviously Aaron Rodgers didn't play, but
what does the future hold with the Green Bay Packers.
He's Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
We talked Green and Gold next year on Fox Sports Radio,
Fox Sports Sunday. He's the NFL VET Bucky Brooks signed,
Dan Buyer. Glad to have you with us. Get Bucky
on Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You can find me at

(12:42):
Dan Buyer on Fox. You can also see Bucky everywhere
Fox Sports One. Read him on the NFL uh at
NFL dot com, see him on the NFL network, Jags pregame.
What am I missing? Bucky? Anything? Anything I left out?
I'm the sidelines for Granada Charter. I mean I think
covered alright, alright, that's uh. I thought that was a
long intro it is, But what about if you cover

(13:05):
the Packers for Espionation and The Packer Report. Also hosted
the Lockdown Packers podcast, also host of Lockdown Today. And
you're on Twitter at Peter Underskorbiakowski. Now that's in intro
and that's who joins us year on Fox Sports Sunday. Hey, Peter,
how are you? I think Bucky's was a little more impressive,
but I'll take it. Guys. Hey, that's all right. There

(13:26):
there was enough. There There was enough there was there
enough there from Kurt Benkert yesterday to uh, to start
the craziness of the Packer fans of saying, maybe this
guy should be the backup to Aaron Rodgers and not
Jordan's love. Oh well there when you when you ask
the question is there enough of anything to get make

(13:47):
fans go crazy? The answer is always yes, that's just
the nature of fans. Um. But look, uh, Kurt Benkert
from the moment he got to Green Bay um because
he had the long flowing lock and deared himself to
two Packer fans. Unfortunately, the broader audience didn't get to
see that on Saturday because he cut his hair for

(14:09):
training camp um, much to the the the chagrin of
of a particularly female Packer fans everywhere. But he did play,
maybe played really well, especially in the first half. You know,
I made the joke on Twitter that that the Packers
asked him to play poorly in the second half just
so that they could speak him onto the practice squad um.

(14:31):
Because I do think that that's something that is a
real question for them. Can they can they keep him
on the roster, But but look, I don't think we
should be framing his success through the lens of of
Jordan's Love. Um, they're they're just uh, they're they're not
even comparable in terms of their spot on the roster
and and the team's commitment to them. Um, and the

(14:53):
situations are just are just totally different. Kurt Bankert actually
was in the NFL uh in a meaningful way, uh
last year practice squad guy. But but um, you know
he uh he had more opportunities who was a preseason player.
So um, you know this is this is Kirk Banker
trying to make a role for himself in the NFL,

(15:14):
and Jordan's Love is potentially uh trying try quarterback. Oh
I like that. I like when you say that franchise quarterback.
That means you haven't given up on Jordan Love developing.
What do we see from Jordan Love prior to the
injury that has kind of put him off for the
rest of the preseason. Um, you know Love is is
someone who they have been drilling the fundamentals with footwork

(15:36):
and he has echoed all of that um through the
coaches And I think, what what you want to see?
And Bucky you know you know this when when you're
a young player, Um, if you're a coach, you want
to see them take what they're being told and try
to implement it. You don't always expect it to be perfect,
but if we're teaching you a technique, I want to

(15:58):
see you try it. I want to see you in
lament what you're being told, even if you're not executing
every play. And so we saw that in the first
preseason game. Guys, he had um The Packers call it strike.
It's a little play action into an inbreaker, and he
threw it a couple of times. It is under center
play action and firing on an inbreaker. Throwing didn't play

(16:21):
under center. Uta state that is specific footwork that the
Packers want, very detailed and very precise, and so he
had to learn that he's having to play in a
way that is entirely new from from what he learned.
So what I think is really exciting about Jordan's love
is he seems to have taken that coaching and has

(16:41):
drilled it and and now we're seeing him play with
footwork that he just he had never had to do before.
He's doing it with a plumb. We also know, or
at least we saw it. U saw state that he
has this second reaction ability. He got this playmaker. I mean,
he was asked when he was drafted by the Packers
what kind of player the Packers are getting and he said,
I'm up playmaker. I just make plays and that is

(17:02):
I think that second reaction ability, the ability to make
throws off platform, um, to break the pocket and make
throws on the run. He has that. That throw down
the same against l s u Um. That is just
unbelievable in the game. That that I don't he didn't
play great overall, but he was totally outmapped from a
talent perspective. You taught date against lsu that stuff we

(17:23):
think can be there if he's given game opportunities, showing
some of this more disciplined footwork and getting to the
right guy on his reads. That those are the question
marks he needed to answer, and he's done that so far.
Peter Bikowski joining us here on Fox Sports Radio. He's
Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer talking Green Bay Packers. Of course,
he covers the Packers for eSPI Nation and the Packer Report.

(17:45):
When you enter training camp to where we are now,
did it play out like you thought? Because I think
a lot of people, including myself thought maybe there would
be some soap opera moments where there those moments and
and how did it play out? Over the last couple
of weeks. Once Aaron Rodgers had the press conference heard
around the world, it seemed like, Okay, now we don't

(18:08):
really need to talk about this anymore. Rogers has done,
I think, a good job of of being as transparent
as he could be. Spoke to the media um this week,
and continues to be um honest, you know, at least
to our understanding of what's going on. It seems like
he's being honest at least about the status, his status
with the team, and and focusing on this year and

(18:28):
all of those things. So it hasn't been a circus.
Once Rogers was in the building and we knew he
was committed to the team and was gonna, you know,
be the guy this year, Um, it's now all the
conversations are on, Hey, you know who looks really awesome?
Aaron Rodgers and he and Davante Adams. They didn't need
O T A s because they came in and they
just started lighting everybody up. UM. So I think this

(18:52):
offense has a chance to pick up right where left off.
Last year. Um, they add Randall Cobb. They Adam Maari
Rodgers in the draft, someone that that has actually been
mentored by Randall Cobb. They get your side the war
back from injury and and I mean, you know the
nation got to see on Saturday that was watching anyway
that you know, they added this this seventh round rookie,

(19:13):
Kylan Hill. Um, there were not two better players in
the draft and Kylan Hill. And and he's showing why.
He's got some dynamic ability with the ball in his hand.
And James Lofton, you know, the great Packers receiver. Um
set on the call. Uh, you know, don't worry about
being the third guy on the roster, worry about being
the guy with the ball and in your hands. And

(19:34):
he's done that. This is this is an offense that
has a chance to be even better. And that's a
pretty scary thing. You know. I love that comment on
Kylan Hill because he was underrated in the process for
whatever reason when he was at Miss c eb State.
He's an outstanding player. I want to go on the
other side of the ball because I think lost in
all of the Aaron Rodgers conversation has been the big
change that took place at the top of the defensive

(19:56):
coaching spot. Joe Barry takes over defense. Does it look
vad lead different than what Mike Petton was doing? How
what do you spec from the PACTOR's defense? You know
what's so funny, Bucky is is Matt lafleour kind of
downplay at the differences? Um, you know, Oh, it's it's,
you know, pretty similar to some of the stuff that
that we were doing under Mike Patton. And I guess
that's true insofar as you know they're outside linebackers are

(20:19):
gonna stand up. It's not a it's not a traditional
for free they're keeping that free four. But they're gonna
play so much more nickel. They're gonna play so much
more um with with tight fronts. They're gonna play so
much more with two linebackers on the field. I mean,
Mike Patton, no one played more dime defense than the
Packers over the last two years. With Mike Patton, he
liked to play incredibly small. Now the Rams and and

(20:40):
the Broncos they had they played more light boxes than
anyone else over the last two years, but they played
light in a different way. They played light with multiple
linebackers rather than than safeties, which is what Mike Patton did.
And they're gonna steal gaps inside, They're gonna cover those
b gaps so you can't run inside. The same way.
The Rams I leave played the most life boxes in

(21:01):
the league last year under Brandon's Dailey, and they still
had an elite run defense. Now, part of that is
Aaron Donald is a maniac, but part of that is
the way they play upfront, stealing gaps and running games
and and their linebackers and safeties fly downhill to be
able to to to stop the run there. Um, and
and they're still able to cover on the back end.
It's it's a lot of that, um, the match quarters concepts,

(21:24):
you know, some of the fun Nick Saban stuff and
and the stuff that vict Andre has been doing forever,
a lot more pre snap coverage disguise. I mean, we
heard this, um Dennis Kelly, who who came over from
the Titans. Um. He said against the Packers in a
game where the Titans got their butts handed to them
by the Packers, he said, we knew what they were
in every snap, every snap, we knew what they were

(21:45):
in defensively, and it didn't matter the Packers, you know,
they just executed better. UM. But that's not gonna be
the case this year. It's gonna be a lot more
pre snap diskies, a lot more when they spin those
safeties down it looks like too high and then all
of a sudden, it's not UM and they're pressure coming
from places that you didn't know, um, you know it
even could come. So I think I think there's a

(22:06):
lot of exciting changes. I think it's a style of
defense that is certainly going to become much like what
the the Seahawks Cover three scheme was UM, but but
in a way that is not as disadvantageous to teams.
I mean, you can't play just that, that vanilla cover
three if you don't have Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett,
kJ Wright, Bobby Wagner. I think you can play some

(22:28):
of these um you know, this, this zone, the mass
concepts if you have um lesser talent at some of
those other spots. I think it allows you to create opportunities.
I mean, Bucky, do you remember the cornerbacks on those
four Niner teams that were that were you know so great?
Was Zick Fangio. No, but you remember Alan Smith, and
you remember Justin Smith, and you remember Patrick Willis, and

(22:48):
they their front did their work. Um So, I think
there are ways to make it um so so that
you can you can make up for a little bit
of a lesser talent. But the good news for Green
Bays they have great talent on defense. That's why Mike
Pett is not there anymore, because they just hadn't gotten
enough from those guys. Finally, Peter, before we let you go,

(23:09):
do you know if A. J. Dillon has gotten to
go ahead to enter his quads into the tractor pull
at the Brown County Fair, No, I think he's already
been disqualified for an unfair advantage. Seriously, just going to go.
He's gonna be in monster truck rallies with those things.
Oh my goodness, just those pants. I know, like we

(23:30):
go crazy Barkley's legs and and I don't I've never
seen a side by side with Barkley and Dylan, but
I can't imagine what those those pants look like because
they had just had a different animal on. That guy
he added I think he said he added eight pounds
on and now he sat on his legs but you
know who knows where he really added it. But he

(23:50):
claims they're even bigger this year than they were last year.
And and watching tacklers just bounce off him against the Jets,
I wouldn't be and I was a lot of the
Jets number one guy. I mean PJ. Moseley was actually
out there. I mean there were real dudes out there
and and they couldn't bring him down. He they're they're
really excited about what they're gonna get from a. J.
Dillon this year, and they think he can be a
lot more of the passing game, um than what he

(24:11):
showed up Boston College as well. Get him on Twitter
at Peter underscore Bakowski again. Hear him on the Lockdown
Packers podcast Lockdown Today, also covering the pack for the
Pack of Report and sp Nation. Thanks Peter, We appreciate
the time. Had a lot of fun. Thank guys. He's
Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
It's decision time in Denver. Who did the Broncos go with?

(24:35):
Is the starting quarterback? We'll tell you after Ralph Irvin
gives us the latest of what's going on on this Sunday.
What's happening, Ralph, Well, we had a milestone today in
Major League Baseball. The one one rive all right center
deep got a chance in fide. Mickel Caprera has done it,

(24:56):
and this crowd in Toronto on their feet. Tigers Radio
Network with the call. Took a while before we can
share that with you because they played eleven innings today,
five three the final as Detroit wins with a little
bit of extra baseball. Right now, they're playing extra baseball
in Houston as the Mariners and Astros tied it two.
That's in the bottom of the tent. That said, the

(25:18):
Astros have the bases loaded, but there are just two out.
In that game. St. Louis a three nothing win over Pittsburgh.
Paul Goldschmid a home run in that contest. Milwaukee has
a seven one lead over Washington. There in the eighth,
Lorenzo Canes to run homer just extending that lead in
the Mats at three run first has them with a
three nothing lead over the Dodgers. That's in the fourth inning.

(25:41):
Earlier in the NFL, Cleveland a win over the New
York Giants and exhibition action Mike Rebel testing positive for
COVID nineteen. This after he was very interactive with Tampa
Bay where they had a joint practices all last week.
So we will see if there are other positive us
coming from either the Buccaneers or the Titans in the

(26:03):
coming days. And Jesse Palmer from NFL Network reporting that
Vic Fangio will not name a starter for the Broncos
at quarterback, at least not today, that he's very happy
with Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock so far. But now
we sent it back to Dan Buyer and Bucky Brooks,
two guys who will name a Denver Broncos starting quarterback

(26:23):
even though it may not be official. Thank you very much,
or Ralph So Bucky, Broncos get a big win in
the Seattle last night. I don't mean big for the
stature of it. They won thirty to three. Score realizes
what I'm talking about. But Teddy Bridgewater nine of eleven
and a touchdown, seemingly keeping pace with one Drew Lock,
who in relief when not to fourteen for eighty yards

(26:46):
for Denver last night. And as I look at this situation,
if it's even remotely close, I think Denver has to
go with Drew Lock it's even remotely close, which it
seems to be since Fangio hasn't made a decision yet
and the efforts of the quarterbacks in the first two

(27:06):
games have been enough to to keep both of the
players in the race. I think you have to go
with Drew Lock if you're Vic Fangio in Denver. He's
the young guy. Teddy Bridgewater has had experience of being
the reliever and coming in and if Drew Lock doesn't work,
you've squeezed that orange, You've got the juice out of it,
and you can go Teddy Bridgewater for the rest of

(27:27):
the season and then decide what you're gonna do afterwards.
But I think Drew Lock has got to be the
guy for Denver to start the year. Well, I mean,
I think it's a situation where if it's close, it
does go to Drew Lock. But I think a lot
of this comes down to trust. And so if vig Fanjio,
he has to figure out which quarterback does he trust
with the football, because coming from a defensive background, the

(27:48):
one thing that he values from the quarterback is a
guy that doesn't turn it over, don't put the defense
in harm's way, keep possession of the ball, and so
when it comes down to that, he's more likely to
lean towards Teddy bridge Water over Drew Lock. And so
to me, this has to be a situation where it
Drew Lock plays hid and showed as above Teddy Bridgewater

(28:08):
to get the gig, because when the bullets start flying,
as a deed, as a coach with a defensive background,
who's the guy that's not going to lose the game?
And I think Vic Fangio is going to say Teddy
Bridgewater may not put as many points up with these
hero throws, but he's probably not going to turn it
over as much as Drew Lock. And if it's close,
I'm gonna go with the veteran. I know it, I

(28:30):
know it's not fair, but don't you think gets easier
to make the transition from Lock the Bridgewater as opposed
to saying from Bridgewater to Lock. I mean, if you
feel like you're gonna make a transition and you probably
don't have the quarterbacks that you wanted to roster, if
you're already looking towards who am I really going to
eventually replace? Because I don't want to hurt his feelings.

(28:51):
If you feel like that, you probably started the other guy.
But the point this is for your point of what
you're saying, is that if Teddy's going to be the
guy to keep control of the football, and maybe Drew
Lock isn't. If Teddy got the starting gig and maybe
they weren't getting enough, then doesn't Drew Lock come in

(29:12):
and feel like he's got to make stuff happen and
do his thing and and and try to be Drew Lock.
He was opposed to what Teddy would would as the
veteran being in that position, having that experience with the
Saints when when Drew Brees went out, having that sort
of experience, and I think that makes it easier. You're

(29:32):
not wrong, You're not wrong in making that point. But
I just think if if it's even if you're gonna er,
you probably are on the side of let's give it
to Lock. Plus he's been in the you know, had
an extra year in the system, so you've got you've
got a little I guess familiar familiarity there, and you
really you've got more of a read on him. So

(29:52):
if you're going to discard him, you would have more
information and knowledge about him than you would Bridgewater. I mean,
hear you and dude, look you as you would say
to me, you're not wrong. However, do you want to
lose some games before were like, Okay, my guy can't
keep it, he can't keep it together. Um, I don't know.

(30:15):
I feel like if they had that much confidence in
Drew Lock, they never would have went fishing in the
veteran quarterback pond and they wouldn't have brought Titty Bridgewater.
So I think he has he has more to do
to convince him that he is the starter than Titty Bridge.
What has to do? I know you don't want to
read into preseason, you have to. And I know that
the Bronze what went undefeated the year that they didn't

(30:36):
win a game or whatever it was, the Broncos about
scored the first two opponents sixte to nine, and and
and I know it's it's not like Russell Wilson was
out there running around for Seattle yesterday. Wasn't Gino Smith
wasn't even out there running around for Seattle yesterday. But
two then, and what is the stacked a f C already?

(30:59):
And you put a Broncos team in there. If they
get that answer at the quarterback position, that would be
that would be something I would not want to see
if I was another contender in the a f C
West or in the a f C as a whole.
I thought Denver is gonna be good last year and
it didn't work out for him. I mean because it's

(31:20):
a quarterback, right sure, Sure, the quarterbacks that you want
to put in because he's young, we can grow with
the quarterback. He's growing fans, right sure, But you also
didn't have von Miller last year and you're still getting
pieces and Courtland Sutton went down with his injury. Not
a lot went right for Denver early on, and you
still have guys that you know, Jerry Judy and kJ

(31:42):
Hamler ended up making their mark, and now you've brought
in Javante Williams too, who knows, maybe someday, you know,
uh take the spot of Melvin Gordon and maybe sudotherm later.
Who knows how it works. But like Denver's, there are
pieces there. I think there were there are pieces there
last year to make them believe if Rulock could have
been uh that guy for them didn't end up working out.

(32:04):
But now when you're sitting there seeing the pieces that
they have, I think everybody would love a vic Fangio defense.
I think that there's something in in Denver as well.
So maybe yeah, just don't mess up the quarterback position.
But if you are going to make the decision, go
with Drew Lock. I think that's the way you gotta go.
Oh boy, there's there. It is. By the way, if

(32:24):
you're just joining us on the first time, Lucky Bucky,
Bucky will disagree with you and giving you the or
he repeats what I say. So that's what that's what
I know that that that that Bucky isn't necessarily agreeing.
Do you think they could make noise in the a
f C as long as the quarterback doesn't screw it up?

(32:45):
That that is the big mo. More more games are
lost than one. So the quarterback just needs to be
a caretaker, a manager. He doesn't have to be the playmaker.
He doesn't have to do everything. And of course he
doesn't have to be on Elway, you know. And of
course John Way from Cornado Hills Charter High School where
everybody knows you, wore number eleven when he was in

(33:06):
high school, then switched to seven in college. Everybody, everybody
knows that one. Everybody is actively retired numbers actively retired.
He's fucking Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
Uh that I I don't want to tell the story
every show, but I got him by the head. Go
to John Elway's high school alma mater, and he immediately

(33:27):
retired number seven the first day on the job, only
to find out that Elway ward number eleven in high school.
So now eleven is not worn. Oh, it's so great.
It's so great. Get Bucky on Twitter at Bucky Brooks.
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer. On Fox.
The Washington Football Team has narrowed the number of name
options for the future of their franchise down to three.

(33:51):
Bucky Brooks gets to start out which ones he likes
and which ones he's done with. That's next year on
Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports on Day. He's Bucky Brooks.
I'm Dan Buyer. Get Bucky on Twitter at Bucky Brooks.
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox.
Earlier this week, there was a report that came out

(34:14):
and it ended up being refuted by the president of
the Washington Football Team, Jason Wright, but said that the
that the eight possible nicknames for the Washington football team
have been determined. What we then found out was with
Wright saying no, these are not the finalist. We did
find out that there are down to three names, and

(34:35):
the Washington football team in a video that included head
coach Ron Rivera and getting his opinion on it. Uh,
they put out the three finalists that there were. However,
they were censored by beeps, including Rivera's answers on which
one he preferred, So, Bucky, since we are apparently getting
closer and closer to getting a new nickname for the

(34:57):
Washington football team, which we won't find out likely until
after one season, I wanted to get your thoughts on
what would be a good nickname for the Washington football team.
And you know, when you and I get together, you
know what that means. Game. It's time for strike up
the band Brooks and Dunn. All right, you can tell

(35:20):
us which which nickname you are done with that you
don't want to see Washington take over, or which one
you would uh, you know, give a you know, give
a little second thought to you maybe you'd like we've
got nine options here. We've got the eight that were
leaked that ended up being refuted, and then we added
another one. Are you ready to go? All right? What

(35:41):
about the Armada, the Washington Armata be down that I don't.
I don't think we like it because it doesn't have
an S on the end. It's too NBA ish, like
heat and thunder and magic. We don't It's not what
the NFL does. What about the Washington Presidents. I mean,

(36:04):
I understand that the connection to the nation's capital, I'm
not in love with it. Um, I'm gonna say done
because I can't imagine what the logo would look like.
I agree. I actually think it's it's even more generic
than the Houston Texans. I think the like the Texas.
What a stupid uh. They could have come up with
eighty better names. What about the Brigade again, kind of

(36:28):
like the Ramata, but the Washington Brigade. I don't like that.
I don't like I don't like that. I think they're
gonna like this next one, just to have a bit
of a feeling about it, because I know, I know
you love history and I know you love honoring teams past.
What about the Washington red Hogs. The red Hogs, yes,
like you know, the old hogs from back in the day.

(36:51):
Russ Grim, Joe Jacobe, He Saith was a stink for
a while. I understand connection. Uh No, I don't like
red Hawks. I can't even imagine what it looks like.
What is that? Porky pig and red? What is that? For? Four?
We are in Texans territory starting out over four. By
the way, Washington nicknames Brooks and Done here on Fox

(37:14):
Sports Sunday. What about the Washington Commanders? Okay, I have
to say yes to something, so I guess I would
go with commanders, but it's it's a very lukewarm Yes, yeah,
I think that could work. It's a little bit. To me,
it's better than what presidents would be. Commanders sounds a
little bit better. I know Fred Smooth, the former NFL

(37:35):
or has been. In fact, we've had them on the
show promoting this nickname. What about red Wolves? Yeah, I
mean I could do that. I could do red Wolves.
That's that's that's fine that I'm good with it. Okay,
red Wolves as it go? So far? Are you like
commanders and red Wolves? How about Defenders? The Washington Defenders.
Isn't that a paper or maybe it's a Chicago Defender.

(37:57):
I don't know. Um, let no, No, I don't like that.
I don't like defenders. Yeah, I also think it's one sided,
Like you gotta have sort of thing. What about red Tails?
So I like the red Tails because like there's a
historical perspective that you can tie to it. So I
think you have to put something red in the nickname
if you're going to use the nickname. So red Tails

(38:19):
and what was it red Wolves? Is that the other one?
I'm fine with both of those, all right. And finally,
do you like Washington Football team? Would you be happy
if they kept it? And in fact I wrote about
that when they came out with it, I would stick
with that. I think they should stick with the Washington
Football team because if you think about what goes on
in the Premier League and soccer in those things, I

(38:40):
think there's something very distinct about being the Washington football team.
It's different than anybody else in the National Football League.
You're able to use the colors everyone. Everyone also understands
the history that you previously had with the other nickname.
So rather than try and recreate it, I think you
find with it because if you're in Washington, you already
saw when they went from the bullet to whatever they

(39:00):
are now. The Wizards, Wizards silly, a bunch of silliness,
that's what it is. You think they should be the
Washington basketball team, I mean something, but the Wizards like
and then they completely revamped their colors when you look
like a Disney character. But the little they had Wizards
in the mystics like this, all of it, the like

(39:21):
the weird shade of blue with the golden brown. I
know it's a Micael Jordan or I cannot stand Washington
football team. I hope they would even I hope they
don't even consider it because it isn't the Premier League.
It's not a soccer team. It's NFL football team, like
we call the Giants to the New York Football Giants.

(39:42):
Mermon does like that's okay, so okay. So to my point,
what I would prefer when you were throwing out those names,
like the Presidents, I would like them to be the
football Capitals or the Capitals because to me, it reminds
me of when the Cardinals were the Cardinals in baseball.
And also and so I could do with that because
all the other stuff is gonna tried, even the Red Tills, yeah,

(40:06):
the Red Wolves. I just have to see the logo
and what they canna put on the helmet. Yeah, well
they've had that are that they could put on there
that you know that they used them the previous name,
which I actually think looks good. And they've actually have
an old with their gold helmet where they are as well,
you could you could use that on their their helmet.
I'm just afraid that Washington is going to have such

(40:27):
a good year that they're gonna say let's just stay
with the football team. Yeah, disappointed, No, thank you. He's
Bucking Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
Get Bucky on Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You can find
me at Dan Buyer on Fox Urban Meyer. What are
you waiting for that? Next? On Fox Sports Radio. Fox

(40:49):
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
s R to sen Live. Hey, what's up everybody? It's
me three time Pro Bowl La Warrington and I couldn't
be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up

(41:09):
on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along
with my fellow pro bowler T J. Hushman's OTTA and
Super Bowl Champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Birds. You can
only name a show with that type of talent on it.
Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real
life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on

(41:30):
Game with Me, LaVar Arrington, T J. Hudgman's OTTA and
Plexico Birds on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,
or wherever you get your podcast from. It seemed like
a no brainer in the spring. It hasn't been that
way in the summer. Welcome aboard at his Fox Sports

(41:52):
Sunday in twenty minutes or so, we're gonna check in
on the Super Bowl champions and how they may be
affected by the news in the NFL today that Mike Able,
the Titans head coach, tested positive for COVID. Titans and
Buccaneers had joint practices this past week, playing in a
preseason game over the weekend. We'll see if there are
any close contacts and how those domino effects and so

(42:14):
much more. As the Buccaneers try to repeat is Super
Bowl Champions, It is the NFL. It is what we
are talking about today. We will stay in the state
of Florida in a place that Bucky knows quite well.
He's been doing preseason work with the Jaguars and also
spent part of his playing career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

(42:34):
And that's where we begin, Bucky, because at the top
of the draft in April, the Jaguars selected Trevor Lawrence
the first overall pick. In fact, we kind of had
a sense when urban Meyer told Trevor Lawrence to get
at that shoulder worked on in early February or have
the have the operations sooner rather than later so he
could be ready for the offseason. Kind of knew that

(42:56):
Trevor Lawrence was gonna be the number one overall pick
of the draft, But is he going to be the
starter in Week one? Urban Meyer, I'm not sure even
knows the answer right now, and that makes it to me, Bucky,
are unique and somewhat odd situation as Trevor Lawrence wasn't
handed the job as he had Gardner Mitschew have been
splitting reps with the first team in practice. Yeah, it's

(43:17):
been unique. Uh, You've seen some teams handling differently with
the young quarterback. They just give them the keys to
the kingdom right away. But what Urban has done, um
and creating the culture in the locker room where everyone
is having to compete for everything, where they're distinct winners
and losers. He wants Trevor Lawrence to have to go
through the process of winning a quarterback job against Garnermentshew.

(43:38):
And so it's been a highly competitive situation where they've
given guys about equal reps and tried to let both
guys run. But the ones in twos um to give
garniments you every opportunity, maybe too sneak in the back door.
And now I will say this, if you go down
there and you watch practice, and you watched the two
and throw side by side, it's not even close. Um.

(43:59):
One is a guy that it was worthy of being
the number one overall pick. And you see that based
on his arm telling. You see that based on how
he operates inside and outside of the pocket. He is
an elite player and you can see where he would
get to the elite status pretty early in his career.
Garner Minshew is what I call he's a fan favorite. UM.
He's exciting, he's kind of brash from cocky. He does

(44:21):
things that certainly bring a lot of attention to himself.
And he embraces that part of it. As a player,
he has some talent. He has the ability to run
an offense and get down the field, but he's very
limited in terms of what he's able to do. If
you watch Jacksonville, when he's in more spread, empty formations
designed to get the ball out of his hands quickly, um,

(44:41):
and he's not going to hang in the pocket um.
When it collapses, he's going to look and flee, but
he's not athletic enough to escape, and so you see
it kind of a helter skelter chaotic game from Garner Manshew.
That's it. He's streaking and when he's hot, he can
win some games, but he hasn't won enough. Do you

(45:02):
really put him in the conversation with on the surface,
if you told me that urban Meyer is yet to
name a starting quarterback, even with the first overall pick
in the draft being Trevor Lawrence, I would say to myself, well,
this is this is Urban Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars

(45:22):
maybe trying to drum up some interest in Gardner Minshew.
Maybe he would be a guy that they would look
to trade. Maybe you could get some draft capital. Maybe
there's another team out there that that needs a quarterback
to start the season, that that would be an opportunity
where you could, uh, you could use that and and
maybe keep people guessing by saying, Listen, Gardner Minshew has

(45:43):
been a starter in the National Football League, he has
been a fan favorite, and guess what he's pushing our
number one guy that we don't know. But in the end,
you know, this could be the guy for you if
you pay, if you have the right press sect. I
would buy that and say, Okay, maybe that's maybe that's
smart of Jacksonville. Maybe you don't want to give Trevor
Lawrence everything. My problem with it becomes with the first

(46:05):
team reps. And I know that the the cat likely
would have been out of the bag if Trevor Lawrence
is getting the first team reps and Gardner Minshew's only
getting ten. And you're saying, hey, it's still an even competition,
but aren't those reps valuable like in training camp for
a rookie, for a guy who is just entering the league.

(46:25):
I would think that that would be something that you
would want to have Trevor Lawrence. Do not that the
New York Jets are doing it the right way. And
the Jaguars are doing it the wrong way. But I
would just think that every rep that Trevor Lawrence gets
is only a benefit, and everyone that Gardner Minshew gets
maybe holds back in the progress that Trevor Lawrence could
be making. I mean that you make. You make a
good point. Uh, there's something to the number reps that

(46:46):
you get and how you can improve quickly with more
repetitions allows you to master the skill. And so you've
had opportunities to give Trevor Lawrence even more reps to
accelerate the development and hasn't happened. And so there has
to be something where from top down everyone is on
the same page when it comes to developing the quarterback.

(47:07):
And if their team just committed to not playing a
quarterback and say he's absolutely already, then they were falling
along with it. Do you think they would trade him? Uh,
let's just say in division there. But the Colts look
like Carson who's gonna maybe do some work this week.
Don't know how deliberate the practice would be, but there
could be a team that would look for a quarterback.
I don't think that that would be an option that

(47:27):
they'd want to help out I don't think they'd want
to help the Houston Texans out there, But you know
what I mean. You know, so if you were looking
for a deal with Gardner Minshew, I don't think that
for the two teams that I think that you'd be
looking or that could be looking for a quarterback, I'm
not sure you'd want to deal them to those squads. No,
no, no no, you're not trying to have You're not trying
to have the enemy. They have to figure that out
on there. But uh, I understand like wanting to deal him.

(47:51):
The problem is like everyone's kind of excited about the
young quarterbacks and who has good backup situations. I don't know,
it's still TVD because you haven't seen, you haven't seen
enough to make hard decision on what you want long
term at that second spot. I don't know, maybe just

(48:11):
some training value out there for him. But man, it's
it's I just I and I look at Minshew has
a guy, and listen, nick Foles ends up being Nick Foles.
Nick Foles is now the number three guy in Chicago.
But I think there was even a point that if
you really look back at what Nick Foles did in
Jacksonville and again I understand it's a different, different regime,

(48:35):
but the opportunity that Nick Foles got to succeed in
Jacksonville was really wasn't there because the first game he played,
he ends up breaking his collar bone in a game
against the Chief, so he misses half of that. Minshew
comes in, ends up taking over, and it's minsheu Mania.
Then Foles comes back healthy, gets maybe a I think

(48:58):
it was a start, or maybe a start and a half,
and then it wasn't up to par so Minshew's back in,
and then the Nick Foles era is over with if
Gardner Minshew comes in and wins a few games, and
and maybe because of the of what you have invested
in Trevor Lawrence, that even Minshumania would be dwarfed by
what Trevor Lawrence is. But I just don't. I just

(49:20):
don't know, like the benefit of of a revival of Minshumania,
I don't know how the Jaguars would benefit from that.
They wouldn't because Trevor Lawrence is the guy. So within
the next week until you gotta figure out what what
you have um And here's the other thing that it
wasn't talked about. C J. BETHA wasn't having a great
camp until we saw the first preseason game, like frid

(49:41):
to that he had been strugging him in all over
the place, being picked off a couple of times, balls high,
and then he balls out against Cleveland, going to Minshew
play against the same defensive play as well. So now
the conversation is shifted, you know. And so it's still going.
And but it's going in sure, you know, like he's

(50:02):
battling for the two. We're going into C. J. Beethard
rather than Garner versus. Yeah, yeah, and and and I'm
a guy, honestly, Bucky that I just I don't value
the backup quarterback position in the NFL, because I know
Nick Foles led Philadelphia to a super Bowl, and I
know that Jeff hoss Stetler did with the Giants thirty

(50:23):
plus years ago. But I just think, realistically, when you
look at the teams, when you look at when you
look at the top teams in the NFL, when you
look at Kansas City, when you look at Green Bay,
when you look at Seattle, when you look at Tampa Bay,
if if a quarterback goes down, if their quarterback goes down,

(50:43):
they're done. They're like But but but but is that
how you want to live though? Look all your hopes
and prayers they're tied to the one quarterback and the
quarterback limpse off to you. Oh well, all right, we're
to here. No, but there was a time where the
Colts could have traded Jacobe Brissette for a I mean

(51:05):
Chris Ballace, Like, we wouldn't even trade them for a
first round pick or a second round pick. And it's
really like, like you you wouldn't trade them. Remember when
Nick Mullins came in and was was the guy for
San Francisco and you're like, man, this is what we've
got here, Like, you wouldn't have traded Nick Mullins for
a second round pick, you know, like, like, man, have

(51:26):
you seen Nick Mullins play for the EU play for
the Eagles the other night doing the Patriots game? You
see that, You see that Nick Mullins, that's what you gave.
That's what you would have given up a second round
pick for. But think about but at the time when
he had filled in for an injured Jimmy g Yeah,
like don't don't you don't eat the cheese. Too many
people eating the cheese that day. The cheese is all
laid up in the red trap, and it was like, oh,

(51:47):
you know, he's such a good player, and look those
those guys in the back playing games. But there there
would be teams that would be interested in guys like
that in backup quarterbacks. And that's in there are certain
teams who are saying, I don't want to give you know,
like we you know we backup quarterback is valuable. No,
it's not like if your quarterback goes down. Chances if
you're winning a super Bowl and now Slimton one, maybe

(52:09):
you'll go on a run. Maybe there'll be a Nick
Foles sort of you know sort of deal, but those
are those are few and far between. If Russell Wilson
goes down in Seattle, Geno Smith is not gonna game
manage that team and carry and have the defense carry it.
If the defense is good enough, you can't dan it
can be negative. Like you there's there's always a path

(52:30):
to winning a game. You just have to be willing
to walk along that path. And a lot of guys
are not willing to walk along that path because they
don't invest in the backup quarterback. Um, they do believe
it's about the big wide place sheet and not hey,
let's get the ball to my players in their favorite plays.
And so I believe there's a faction of people that
make it far more complex than it needs to be.

(52:51):
Like I, I think that you're better off just finding
a quarterback that is somewhat similar to your starters so
you can run some of the same stuff. And that's
why that's why the Eagles thick the Joe Flacco and
Jalen Hurts thing. You know, I I don't. I don't understand.
I I mean like I don't. I don't either. But
like sometimes a new year, new coach, you're trying to
establish everything in you in the team meeting room, talking

(53:12):
about earn everything, coach over teammate, all this other stuff
your hard working team audit. So I'm sorry I should
have I should have included Nick Mullins in that conversation
as well, talking about the Eagles backup quarterback, but I
did not. That's just the point of of realistically for
for teams. And listen, Jacksonville, Jacksonville, if Trevor Lawrence is

(53:33):
the starter, like there's there's no point in having gardnerments,
especially to your point of C. J. Bethard, is you
know that. That's why I thought, like the conversation, the
conversation about not naming Starter, I can understand and maybe
don't want to give Trevor Lawrence everything he wants, but
in reality, when he's taking reps away in practice, that's
the issue. Urban did say he has a timetable in
his head. Do you know what that timetable is? And
to do that work with the Jaguars or can't you?

(53:56):
I think the tun to be whenever he has to.
All right, he and uh he and uh Daryl Bevil
and Brian Schottenheimer, uh and Urban Meyer will all make
that decision at some point on who to turn the
keys over to. And I would hope that sooner or later,
sooner rather than later, it would be Trevor Lawrence. He
is Bucky Brooks. Get him on Twitter at Bucky Brooks.

(54:17):
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox.
Any luck in finding me that Jaguars polo that I'd
asked for the last time he came on, Oh all right,
hate I look I look like the real deal and
teal just to let you know it's it's maybe maybe not.
Get Bucky. Get on Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You can

(54:39):
find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox coming
up next to the Super Bowl champs. But are they
having to deal with more than expectations. We'll talk about
it next year on Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Sunday.
I'm Dan Buyer. He's Bucky Brooks of NFL fame, both
as a player but also analysts for or NFL Network

(55:02):
and NFL dot Com and you can also see him
on Fox Sports one as well. We were just talking
about the Jaguars. Bucks has been doing some preseason media
work with Jacksonville, doing preseason games and uh pre and
postgame shows and whatnot. We go from Jacksonville to the
other side of the state of Florida. But the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers are now maybe in the headlines for reasons

(55:24):
of no fault of their own after a week long
practice and game with the Tennessee Titans. Now Titans said
coach Mike Varrabel has tested positive for COVID nineteen and
you wonder if it has affected the Buccaneers at all.
Maybe for that answer, I know it's a breaking story.
Luke Easterling, who covers the Bucks on Bucks Wire for
USA Today. It also Draft Wire for USA Today, joins
us as well, Look, what what is the sense with

(55:46):
this news that just came down this afternoon about Mike
var Abel testing positive? Is their concern that you've heard
from any of the Buccaneers sources about how they may
be affected by it. Yeah, I think a lot of
us kind of in a wait and see mode ourselves,
because you know, we're kind of just trying to piece
together what we know of the protocols, and you know,

(56:07):
we we watched all week, as you know, they weren't
just over the preseason game. They were there all week
for joint practices, and you know, you've got video and
photos of of Mike Vrabel and Tom Brady, you know,
face to face having conversations and him hanging out on
the the golf cart with Bruce Arians during the week.
So I think we're all on maybe not pins and needles,
but it's definitely gonna be interesting to see how it

(56:27):
affects the team's availability. Bruce Arians already said, you know,
after having most of the starters, if not all of
them out for this last preseason game, he wants them
to play quite a bit against Houston this week to
get ready for the regular season. So it's it's gonna
be interesting to see how this works out with the protocols,
who's vaccinated, who's not, how that impacts things. We're all
just kind of waiting to see what happens, you know,

(56:47):
thinking about watching what happened over the course of the
week when they were going together. What was the joint
practice interactions like between the teams, Because obviously everyone is
pointing to the Tampa Buccaneers as being if favorite, but
the Titans provide quite a stern tests in turns into
physical and toughness. What did those practices look like. They
definitely did, and particularly on on Tuesday for the first practice,

(57:11):
I mean they took that practice the Titans did. If
you look at any of the pressers afterwards, Bruce arians
was not thrilled with the way they played both offense
and defense. You know, usually, if your offense has a
bad day, you can say, well, at least my defense
had a good day. But you know, joint practices, when
your offense and defense looks bad, that's not good because
you've got a real, live opponent across across the line
of scrimmage. So the Bucks bounced back on Wednesday, had

(57:33):
a much better day. Obviously, the big headlines all week
where the fights that broke out, and I think both
head coaches, you know, kind of took that in stride
and we're like, you know, hey, we we kind of
like the intensity. We like to see our guys ramping
things up, and and that's a big reason why for
the Bucks. You know, the starters didn't play in the
game last night because they got a lot of great
live situational work done during the week against a real

(57:56):
opponent and didn't feel the need to play them in
that game. They did want to see some of those
younger guys uh in a game situation. But you know,
the joint practices, Bruce arians praised them leading into the
week for how valuable they can be for being able
to simulate those situations that you can't necessarily guarantee will
happen in the game, and I think both teams really
came away with what they were hoping to get out

(58:18):
of those practices. Luke Easterling a Buck Swire joining us
here on Fox Sports Sunday. He's Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer.
Get Luke on Twitter at Luke Easterling. What's expected of
Antonio Brown this year. I mean, now you have a
training camp with them. Um. I know he got into
a little scuffle during the week with the Tennessee Titans,
But what are his expectations now that he's there full

(58:41):
time for this year for Tampa Well, I think anything
regarding Antonio Brown, the first expectation is obviously that you
just hope that he continues to avoid anything off the field, right.
You know, once he got into Tampa Bay, you know,
he did everything the right way. The team continued to
sing his praises about the way he handled himself as
a teammate and as a person to the field. That's
what they're expecting again this year. Um. As far as

(59:04):
on the field, you know, he he had a knee
surgery in the off season that Bruce arians has said
he probably needed to have for a while. Uh, and
everything is pointing towards him being in you know, the
best shape that we've seen him in recent years, um,
which is you know, a scary proposition when you're talking
about an offense that has obviously Tom Brady, but then
you've got Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, You've got Rob Gronkowski,

(59:25):
O J. Howard, Cameron, Brad you've got so many weapons,
when when Antonio Brown is just another one of those
guys and he's the third or fourth guy you have
to worry about. I mean, that's not fun for a
defensive coordinator. So I think his expectations in terms of
you know, production or fantasy value or something might not
be great. But in terms of the way he's going
to impact opposing defensive coordinators and the way they're gonna

(59:45):
have to defend this offense, I just don't know how
you cover everybody. You've got legitimately three number one caliber
wide receivers to deal with, even without the tight ends
and the best quarterback of all time throwing at him.
You know, let's up to the other side of the ball.
The d Fens Toy Bowls did a great job of
getting the defense playing at his best down the stretch.
There's a lot of pressure packages, a lot of blitzing.

(01:00:06):
What do you expect from the defense this year, now
that they've jilled and come together, Yeah, I think. You know,
leading into last season, I was very adamant about the
fact that, you know, all the hype was on Tom
Brady and the Bucks are gonna go to the Super Bowl.
Now they have Tom Brady, and you know, the Bucks
don't go to the Super Bowl or win the Super
Bowl without the way that defense played, particularly down the
stretch the last half of the season. They got a

(01:00:29):
very young secondary going into that season. I think their
top six defensive backs were all twenty four years old
or younger um. But the benefit to that is that
all those guys have played together now for a little while.
They're all back. That entire coaching staff is back. I
think they lost one assistant from the entire coaching staff
on both sides of the ball. So you have a

(01:00:49):
young secondary that's coming into its own. It has a
full off season, another year in his scheme, and and
they're going to be more confident. You know, you're thinking less,
play more with instinct, and that's just gonna make this
defense that much better. There's so many reasons why the
Bucks on paper should be even better than the team
that won the Super Bowl, and that's obviously another scary

(01:01:09):
proposition for opposing teams. But a lot of it have
to do with the fact that, obviously, you know, they
have a great defensive front. The two linebackers are probably
the best linebacker tandem in the league. But It's really
about that growth in the secondary. All those young guys,
Carlton Davis, Jamal Dean, Sean Murphy bunting the top three
corners in those safeties. Antoine Winfield Jr. Is Going into
his second year after a great rookie season, and then

(01:01:31):
you got Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards as well. So
many young talented playmakers in that secondary that should be
even better with another year in this system. Luke Easterling
joining us here on Fox Sports Radio talking about the
Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Louke covers them for
USA Today, also working with the Draft Wire for USA
Today on how last season went to kind of kind

(01:01:53):
of along the lines as you're talking about the secondary
is getting better, you're jelling. Last year there was a
lot of newness, including at the quarterback position with Tom
Brady and and we saw him on Week one losing
New Orleans. We saw him get embarrassed by New Orleans
and on Sunday Night football in Tampa. There were some
ups and downs in the first half of the season,
but we then know what happened after their bye week

(01:02:15):
and and it ends up with the Buccaneers lifting the
Lombardi Trophy. My question to you, Luke is with those
kind of um, you know, unfamiliar situations gone because they
are together, how does this team navigate this season? I mean,
is that a concern for Bruce arians and and now
you've got an extra game to deal with? Are those
any concerns that that he's expressed or the team is

(01:02:38):
expressed to keep this team locked in over such a
long year where last year there was a lot of
you know, trying to get familiar with stuff. Now if
you bring everybody back, maybe you don't have those roller coasters.
How do they handle this sort of year? Yeah, I
think it's gonna be the opposite, right, I think you
don't have as much you know, getting to know you adversity.
But the adversity is going to be the other side

(01:02:59):
of the coin, which is how do we deal with
being the target every week? How do we deal with
being the defending chance? We didn't even win our division
last year and now we're coming into this season as
defending champions and we're gonna be expected to win fifteen fourteen,
you know, thirteen games, as opposed to getting in as
a wild card and then just playing really well there
in the playoffs, stretched you know that that is gonna

(01:03:20):
be a new challenge for them. But I think the
mantra that we've heard from Bruce arians he's had a
colorful version of it that I won't repeat, But you know,
Tom Brady's mantra this whole time has been the fact
that in order to repeat the Super Bowl champions and
again he's the only guy in the room who knows
how to do it, you have to get past the
idea that just because something worked last year and got

(01:03:42):
you where you wanted to go, doesn't mean that's gonna
work this year. You know, every there's so many different variables,
and obviously the continuity they do have is going to
have a good impact on that in their ability to
to navigate those new challenges. But they have to have
the mindset that just because something worked last year doesn't
mean it's gonna work this year. If they're going to
make it back to the super Bowl and win it

(01:04:02):
again this year, it can't look exactly like it did
last year. It's not going to and they're gonna have
to adapt for that on the fly. And it's just
like anything you know, Bucky, you know it as well
as anybody. It just comes down to execution. You're gonna
have to get the job done on Sundays when it
doesn't matter that you brought everybody back, It doesn't matter
that you have all these reasons why you should be better.
If you don't come to play and get the job done.

(01:04:23):
Whoever your opponent is, you're gonna get smacked in the
mouth and they're going to have to prove it on
Sundays every week. And it's such a fascinating journey. I
got to ask you this last thing. Did a lot
of conversation about cow Tress and whether he's good enough
for how he's looked, what has been what does he
look like, How has he progressed over the course of
training camp. Yeah, I think if you look at the

(01:04:43):
box score, it hasn't looked great, right, you know, he's
I think he went four for fifteen in the first game. Um,
you know, I had a couple of picks this this
last game against Tennessee, but they were down really really big,
really bad. Bruce arians said that he he wanted to
throw the ball a lot anyway because he wanted to
challenge those quarterbacks to evaluate them. But obviously the score
kind of dictate that as well, because they were they

(01:05:04):
were down pretty big there early in the third quarter. Um.
But you know, if you just look at the traits
that Kyle, that Kyle Traps brings to the table, and
and what he is done in the pocket, how he's
reacted to certain defenses, I like what I've seen. And
I'm a guy who you know, I had Kyle Trask
in the third fourth round range, so I thought it
was a little earlier for him to go there, even

(01:05:24):
for the Bucks, who could take a luxury pick of
sorts there at the end of the second. But I
like what I've seen from him so far. He he
looks comfortable in the pocket. He's not panicking. He's challenging himself.
He's he's testing, can I get this throw in this window?
Can I make this throw outside the numbers? That's what
you're supposed to do in the preseason. And think about it,
He's not even gonna be the backup this year. He's
not gonna He's gonna hold a clipboard all season long

(01:05:46):
if everything goes well. So this is the time for
him to challenge himself against the posing defenses, see what
he can get away with. And so far. I like
what I've seen, even if the numbers don't reflect that.
He's Luke Easterling. That's where you can find him on
Twitter at Luke Easterling cover the Bucketeers for USA Today
for bucks Wire, also covering the NFL Draft for Draft
Wire for USA Today as well. Luke, we appreciate the

(01:06:06):
time and joy the rest of the preseason. We'll do
it against you man. Thanks, Hey, my pleasure. Guys. You know,
I think it's so Bucky is comment about Antonio Brown
when he had had tempered expectations on the field, but
the way he started it out is exactly what it was.
Antonio Brown, don't mess this up. Stay out of Charlie, truly,
Like when you talk about the expectations like offensively, it's
not even He's right, it's not about fantasy numbers, it's

(01:06:28):
not about this. It's just that that's gonna be the
you know, his main objective on the team is to
not mess it up, and I think that says a
lot about his role on the team and says a
lot about the Bucketeers as well. You know, I think
so that that's the big thing I expect. Don't have
a big year. I think people have forgotten how good
Antonio Brown is. They have an advantage when they line

(01:06:49):
up in three wire receivers and as Evans got one
and Antonio Brown, Antonio Brown can crush most twos and
threes anywhere. He still has the ability to really get
after number one. But I think it's about the creativity
in terms of play calling and play design to really
max out how you can man take this offense to

(01:07:10):
another level. I worry a little bit about their running game.
I know that there's some new blood in Tampa, but
you still have Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette wasn't necessarily
sold on that. If they can get production from other places,
I think that that would be uh, that would behoove
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their efforts to repeat. Just
to put it nicely, he's Bucky Brooks. Get him on

(01:07:31):
Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You can find me on Twitter.
Dan Buyer at Dan Buyer on Fox. Coming up next,
Bucky is in the hot seat and you could compete
against him and easiest one, two, three, four. That's after
Ralph Irvin gives us the latest of what's going on today,
what's happening to Ralph, Well, you guys had briefly mentioned it.
I'll say it again. Mike Rabel announcing that he's chest
and positive for COVID nineteen. This coming after spending the

(01:07:52):
week spending the week in dual practices with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, so we'll see exactly what comes of that. Meanwhile,
Charles Robinson reporting that the Penny Crivalents criminal investigation of
Deshaun Watson may prevent him from being placed on the
Commissioner's Exempt List. The reasoning by the c B A

(01:08:12):
he can't be put on the Commissioner's Example List without
being interviewed by the NFL, and the NFL can't interview
him while he's under criminal investigation, So there could be
a loophole there that would make him available this coming season.
We'll see exactly whether or not that plays out. Now.
On the preseason scoreboard, Cleveland went over the New York

(01:08:34):
Giants coming up about an hour from now, the other
game that will conclude the week of preseason action, as
the forty Niners are in l A to take on
the Chargers. Right now on the Diamonds there are four games.
Philadelphia has just added a JT. Real Muto to run homer.
They have a seven one lead over San Diego. That's
in the ninth inning. Arizona leads at Colorado seven three.

(01:08:55):
They're in the ninth, headed to the ninth. Right now,
San Francisco has just taken two one lead over Oakland.
That's in the eighth thing in the Mets extend their
lead over the Dodgers. It's five to New York in
the seventh inning. And earlier today Miguel Cabrera five career
home run Detroit, a five three winner at Toronto in

(01:09:17):
eleven innings. Now we sent it back. It is Fox
Sports Sunday, Dan Buyer, Bucky Brooks gentleman, thank you very much, Ralph.
Rolph's not gonna go far because he's a lifeline for
Bucky Brooks. As is Iowa Sam, our technical producer and
our executive producer lead the lap as we once again
will play the game that is sweeping the nation easy

(01:09:39):
as one to three, four. Bucky, you are going to
be in the hot seat and you've got the three
guys to help you out with any of the questions
I give you. Have we played this with you before?
Have you been in on a Sunday where we've done this.
I have not played this before with you this might
have played it, but I, okay, this is game and

(01:10:00):
only my game. So if other people are trying to
imitate it, uh, they got a problem. No, I think
they may have played You may have played it a
couple of weeks ago. But the the the points of
the matter is this the folks that may not know
how it goes easy. I give a topic to Bucky.
He doesn't have to give me all of the correct answers,
just has to give me some of them. The goal
is to get a perfect score of ten. You can
keep score at home for yourself as well. He has

(01:10:23):
lifelines to use. In Ralph, with Sam and with Lee.
We started off Bucky, question number one, name one of
two schools that joined the Pack eight making it the
Pack twelve. We know what happened when the Pack ten
went to twelve thanks to the additions of Utah and Colorado.
But what two schools were added to the Pack eight

(01:10:45):
to make it the Pac ten. I just need one
of them. Oh, and you've got lifelines. You know you've
got your Ralph's U c. L A guy who schools.
They went from ten to twelve that went from eight
to ten. So it was the pack eight and then
the ladies. Yea, you gave me, you gave me a
clue because you say in Colorado and Utah. Yeah, well
they okay, I'm just I'm just trying. Actually that was

(01:11:10):
inadverted on my part. I didn't you know, I didn't
mean to give me that. You didn't mean to give
me that. They made the pack pack. Since since I'm not,
I got with. So I got here, I got Stanford
at USC at U c l A, and I just
one of these um and you have a lifeline state

(01:11:31):
trying to figure out who's Washington State? Washington alright? Just
one to three or four or fast six, seven eight,
just one of the two schools that let's say, uh,
can we say Washington State? Is that going to be
your final answer? You've got lifelines if you want, all right,

(01:11:53):
is it Washington State? No, like screaming? Is is he screaming? Yeah?
Oregon State? Damn it? All right, Ralph, give him give
him the two answers that would have been acceptable. Go
east easts. Who looking at Arizona and Arizona State they

(01:12:15):
were late eggs, Yes they were. Yeah, Arizona Arizona what
conference were in originally? Whack? Oh my goodness, yeah something
because the reason the reason I didn't I put those
down because I'm like desert swarm. I'm thinking about Frank Cush.
I'm like they had to be there, Dick Tomy, No

(01:12:35):
that they had to be one of the When was
the expansion dan from? Because I did. Okay, so it's
been a Arizona State has been there. It's all right, Bucky,
there's there's there's time, there's there's room to make up.
And I think that I think he'll be able to do. So.
Named two of three schools that are currently in the

(01:12:56):
a c C that have him never made the a
C C Championship game. In football, there are two school
three schools that have never played in the a c
C Championship Game. I need two of them. Um, one
of them I think I hate, which is NC State.
I don't think they've been in there. Um Duke is gone,

(01:13:21):
Wake Forest, Wake Forest gone. Oh gosh. This is why
you have lifelines. You can use them. You know you
have you have Sam, you have Ralph, you have a Lee. Okay,
here we go. So they use a lifeline. Do I
have I have to pick the lifeline or is it Yeah, yeah,
you can pick Ralph's Sam or Lee. Well, Ralf is

(01:13:42):
on the Ralph is the peck ten every dently twelve Guru,
So let's go, I would say, I'm just I'm gonna
lean on you. Iowa, Okay, So I know Wake Forest.
Has they with Jim Grobe and Riley Skinner? Do they
want it? I think back in two thousand and six, Um,
they won the conference out of blue. It was amazing. Um,
I mean, I like your n C eight pick there,
and then I'm trying to think, um, this is the

(01:14:04):
new a c C with all these other teams that
don't Yes, the current Syracuse is not gone. Syracuse and
NC State I think are great answers. I forgot about
Syracuse Syracuse Like did they put the new one in
um oh and um Boston College or did they go

(01:14:25):
with Matt Ryan one year? I think they went. I
think the one year I think they did. How many
schools do we have to get to two out of
the three? Um, Jeff Jaggazynski, Oh, let's see who else is?
You want to make a final answer? You just want
to I'm doing I'm doing with Syracuse, NC State. I
know I know that. Alright, alright, show me NC State boom, Yeah, correct,

(01:14:48):
we'll pack. You've never been there. Show me Syracuse, Yes,
they have never been there either school. The latest edition
Louisville had impact. You mentioned Forest. I attended the Louisville
Wake Forest Orange Bowl that occurred in the two thousand
and six season, only only Bucky to be topped by

(01:15:10):
that epic showdown between Kansas and Virginia Tech the next year. Look,
that was good. That was a key to leaving crew.
That's Kansas football was actually good for one year. Carry
Meyer was he was a part of that Jayhawks team. Alright,
Bucky's on the board with two points. Let's actually yeah,
let's describe this one named three or four Bucky longest

(01:15:33):
tenured coaches in the NFL. So they're the four coaches
who are the longest tenured with their current teams. I
need to know three of them. Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton.
The final answer it was pretty quick. Yeah, I'm good
with all right. Show me Bill Belichick there, he has

(01:15:55):
been there since two thousands. Show me Sean Payton, it's
been there since oh six. And show me Mike Tomlin there.
He has been there since, so seven me money, no
extra points for this. But do you know who the
other coach of the four would have been? Uh? No,

(01:16:16):
I can't think about a Pete Carroll. No, Bill, it's
my show. Get out of here. John Harden, Okay, good,
I'll add it. Then it's John Harball. Oh wow, John.
John Harbor has been in Yeah. Yeah. Bucky Brooks is
five of six so far and easy is one to
three four. He has an opportunity to hit the over.
The over under was eight and a half at the

(01:16:37):
start of it. Get Bucky on Twitter at Buckey Brooks
and he has a couple of lifelines left. We wrap
it up, kin, Bucky reached the pinnacle of nine. Here
on Fox Sports Sunday. That's next year on Fox Sports Radio,
Fox Sports Sunday. I'm Dan Buyer. He's the NFL VET
Bucky Brooks. You can see him on Fox Sports One
NFL Network. Also read him on NFL dot com. Find

(01:16:57):
him on Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You can find me
on Twitter at Dan Buyer. On Fox. In about forty
minutes or so, we check in with Adam Caplan our
Fox Sports Radio NFL in Center getting all the latest.
In the top of the hour, we dive into the
Dallas Cowboys uh Insider on Insider crime when it came
to dek Prescott's shoulder. But I think there are other
issues within the Cowboys that Bucky and I will have

(01:17:18):
to discuss. But in the meantime, Bucky, you got five
out of six so far and easy as one to
three four. You have an opportunity to finish nine out
of ten or with a score of nine out of
ten if you can nail this final question. Now you
still have Ralph, Irvan and lead to Lap as your lifelines.
Let's strike up the band and play our final question

(01:17:39):
of easy as one, two, three four, where Bucky, you
need to name four of five NFL teams that have
appeared the most often in the NFL's kickoff Game to
start the regular season. Not to give yet, just a
little bit of background that could help you a workshop
maybe with some of the guys. The NFL's kickoff game

(01:18:02):
started in two thousand two, so it started in two
thousand two, So I need to know four of the
five teams that have appeared the most times in the
NFL kickoff Game. Mm hmm, Okay, most times. All right, yeah, yes,
two thousand two was the original year. Yep, that was

(01:18:23):
the first year of the kickoff game. How many teams? Again?
Four out of five? Now not and not every team
has appeared in a in a kickoff game, but they're
twenty two or twenty three teams have appeared. But I
just need to know four out of the five teams. Okay,
I'm most lem use the lifeline and I'm gonna bringing
Lee on this one. Alright, Lee will help him. Workshop

(01:18:47):
think about it now if I'm if I'm thinking correctly,
A lot of the times it is past Super Bowl
winners or super teams super Bowl, it's a Super Bowl
winner is typically there. It's always kickoff typically takes place
at that venue, the home team. So I would immediately
think Patriots, Oh yeah, that they're definitely dare Packers is

(01:19:08):
definitely one of one. Yeah, I definitely have the Packers.
Look at the humble break like, Hey, I was at
a game against the Bears, so maybe the Bears are
in there, but I doubt um for some reason, I'm
thinking the Saints. I don't know about that. Um, I'm
i'm I'm I'm lukewarm on the Saints. I think NFC

(01:19:29):
East teams are are always in there. That's why I'm
thinking maybe the Cowboys just as a as a favorite there.
What about the Chiefs? I was thinking Chiefs? I was
thinking Chiefs. Okay, if the Super Bowl is a pre
breakfast that we've seen two Ravens teams, because the Ravens

(01:19:50):
have won the Super Bowl twice since so twelve since. Yeah,
well they want that one in two thousand one, so
that would put them in Raine to do kickoff in
two thousand two, right, and then another one? All right?
So that give me another team, Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers could
be it. Okay, So all right, how many we need

(01:20:12):
out of the five? Anybody else we're missing? Broncos Giants? Uh, Giants?
Well it would be two and right in there, right, Broncos.
They did wins two Super Bowls? Right? Does it seems
like there's an excitement about the Giants for that? Maybe
this seems like there's about the Jazz alright, So Lee,
here's here's what I got no pressure on. You have Patriots, Packers, Chiefs, Steelers, Giants.

(01:20:38):
Who do you want to eliminate? How they grow? Could
you throw in Ravens Giants are Ravens. So who would
I eliminate? I like the Packers, I like the Patriots,
I like the Chiefs, Steelers. I'm a little if you on,
but yeah, okay, Steelers works, Steelers. You want to Ravens. Okay?
Is that your final answer? Patriots, Packers, Steelers, Chiefs. Yeah,
that's where we go. We'll go to Steelers. Okay, all right.

(01:21:00):
Show me the New England Patriots. Yeah, four times, the
most of any team, three and one in those games.
Show me the Green Bay Packers three times, going two
and one in their kickoff game appearances. Show me the
Pittsburgh Steelers, also a two and one record, appearing at

(01:21:20):
three times to finish with nine points and sweeping. This
category is that the Kansas City Chiefs. No, I get
ready to kick yourself, because the Giants and the Saints
both appeared three times, going one and two. The Chiefs

(01:21:45):
have been at it twice too, and all remember they
won it in New England and then they won last
year against the Houston Texans. But the tricky thing was
the Super Bowl champions didn't start until two thousand four,
so the Giants and Niners actually played in the first
one in two thousand two, and then it was Washington
and the Jets in two thousand three. Then you have
the Super Bowl Champs eight. Is nothing to be down about.

(01:22:07):
Bucky Brooks out of ten, Yeah, very very good. He's
Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
What's the real expectations for the Dallas Cowboys. We'll tell
you what they should be next. Welcome aboard, we continue
our NFL conversation. Man, it's seriously like there's no golf

(01:22:28):
today because of the hurricanes, so they're gonna try to
finish it tomorrow. Baseball is going on right now. We're
a week away. Let's not a week away from college
football kicking off, but our mind is on the National
Football League. As I look up at the screen, Chargers
and Niners about to play that Sofi Stadium in Las Vegas.
Of course tomorrow night, Jaguars and Saints. Bucky doing his
preseason worked with the Jaguars, will be doing some pregame

(01:22:50):
stuff and then you are you on the call for
the final preseason game because tomorrow is what an ESPN
Monday Night game or UM nationally televised games, so you
may not have it that I'll work with the Jaguars. Yeah,
so I won't get a chance to do the game
tomorrow night, but next Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, I'll
be in a call for that one, alright, perfect, that's
how things roll. And again, only three preseason games this

(01:23:12):
week or this season, so there's a bit of a
gap between the end of the preseason and the start
of the regular season. So it's something a little bit
different than what has gone in years past. But I
think teams are will like that break, at least for
most of the teams that will get two weeks in
between the end of the regulars or end of the
preseason and the start of the regular season. The Dallas

(01:23:32):
Cowboys you mentioned are in the news for a variety
of reasons. They are the star of hard knocks, but
it's also Dak Prescott and is throwing shoulder. That's one
of the issues when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys.
Dan Quinn didn't coach last night against the Texans because
of COVID protocols. So no matter what happens, the Cowboys

(01:23:53):
always find themselves in the news. Bucky Brooks and when
you talk Cowboys, there's a lot to talk about out
and I just I find it interesting with Dallas because
we had Luke Easterling on to talk about the Buccaneers.
We know what the Bucketeers expectations are. We in another
Super Bowl go back to back. We spoke with Peter

(01:24:14):
Brokowski about the Green Bay Packers in the first hour
of the show. We know what green Bays expectations are,
go to the Super Bowl, win a super Bowl, Aaron
Rodgers maybe gets to right off into the sunset, maybe
to a new team in two holding them Pardy. We
know what their expectations are. But we talk so much
about the Dallas Cowboys, and we know how much Jerry

(01:24:35):
Jones wants to win a Super Bowl, But realistically, what
are the expectations for the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones wants
that Super Bowl, and he wants that Super Bowl bad,
but realistically, Bucky when you look at Dallas and when
you look at how they're built, and when you talk
about Dak Prescott shoulder and the issues that he's having

(01:24:57):
to deal with, when you talk about the defense under
now Dan Quinn's leadership, what are the realistic expectations for
the Dallas Cowboys entering season. I think Dallas Cowboys can
make a d playoff run if they do it right.
I think they're the best team in the division because
with the Washington football team, they have a great defense.

(01:25:18):
But the X factor is Ryan Fitzpatrick. He's a double
agent at the quarterback position, meaning he's gonna play for
both teams. He's gonna give you something, he's gonna take
some away. Um Dak Prescott his best quarterback in the division. Offensively,
the Cowboys should have the best offense, and then it's
about their defense. Just playing at the middle of the
pack level they do that, they put them at about
ten or eleven games, and then it's about matchups in

(01:25:39):
the postseason. Um, depending on who they match up with
in the postseason. I think that would give them a
chance to win the first playoff game and then after
that all best a off. Then it's about the hottest quarterback,
the team that just kind of has um the things
rolling as they get into the tournament. But I do
expect the Cowboys to be a viable contender in the NFC.

(01:26:00):
I think that they are a viable contender in the
NFC East. That that that's that's where yeah, that's where
I go. And the reason I say that I like Dallas,
I don't love Dallas and the And this is the
reason why, because I was trying to get a grasp
and I look at the NFC, and I honestly I
think I think they're like five good teams, and I

(01:26:24):
think that Washington can be that sixth team. And I know,
seven make the playoffs. And then when you're trying to
figure out who the seventh is, there's a there's a
there's a lot there. We don't know how good New
Orleans is. I didn't put New Orleans in in my
top five. Don't know about Minnesota. Uh, you know, we've
talked about the Bears earlier. Who knows about the Bears.
Who knows what Arizona is gonna be. I'm not a

(01:26:44):
big believer in the Cardinals. But I think it's Tampa,
and I think it's Green Bay, and then I think
it's the Niners, Rams, and Seahawks. When you're talking about
good teams in the NFC, I think Washington has fewer
questions than Dallas does. So when I look at Dallas,
these are all the things that Dallas needs, I think
to be a very good team and the contend in
the NFC. They need Dad to be healthy, which last

(01:27:09):
year he wasn't. Now in the preseason he's not. They
need their offensive line to be healthy, which in the
past couple of years has been an issue. They need
Ezekiel Elliott to rebound into some form. I'm not even
sure you know I do the Fantasy Football podcast with
Mike Carmen, who uh does he and Jason Smith host
weeknights here? You know he's he was saying Zeke's not

(01:27:29):
even the best running back on the team last year.
Nandesk Now, I'm gonna say this, I've heard that take
about Tony Pother being better than Zeke is not actual
and factual. Zeke is a much better running babe than
Tony poll. Okay, but last year's he didn't have the
greatest He was chebby, he was chubby, he was out
of shape, he wasn't ready. He's fitting trim. He's down

(01:27:49):
to his college weight now. So you need that to happen, right, Hey,
you need the defense to get better. You also need
the defense to be healthy. You have DeMarcus Lawrence who's
on the pup list following back surgery. Uh, you know,
he's still rounding into form you need. Micah Parson's the
first round picked a fit in. These are the Seedee Lamb,
Ceedee Lambing in in speaking of fantasy football, is the

(01:28:11):
hot name when it comes to wide receivers. You expect
Seedee Lamb to take that that next step and be
that guy. He's been the highlight reel of you know
from Oxnard. Yeah, from everything that we've seen, it's highlight
catches from Ceedee Lamb. Can he take that and translated
into games? All of those things have to go right
for Dallas to be a contender. And that's why when

(01:28:32):
I think I look at them for realistic expectations, I'm
not even looking at the conference. I'm saying, can you
compete with Washington? Do you have fewer questions than Washington
does right now? And I don't think that they do.
I think Washington is more answers on who they are
and what they are than Dallas does. So I can't
even put Dallas in that conversation of winning the NFC

(01:28:53):
if I can't even see them winning the NFC East
right now. Okay, So this means if you're saying Washington,
this means that you're believer in Fitzpatrick is that what
we're saying. I I believe it, but no, this is

(01:29:13):
this is what I like about Washington. I like them
obviously the defensive front, and Chase Young is many many
all pros. Uh, Antonio Gibson should be even more acclimated
to the running back position. You add Fitzpatrick and there
are weapons and Logan Thomas at tight end. They locked
him up for a few more years. Terry McLaurin, like,

(01:29:34):
there are pieces there with Washington that I think are
more sound than what Dallas has with question marks, Like
all of these things that I mentioned have to go
right for Dallas, and all of those things that I
mentioned haven't gone right in the last year or two.
So you're banking on all those things to go right.
Where I think Washington is just looking at it and saying,

(01:29:55):
if Ryan Fitzpatrick could be better than Alex Smith and
Dwayne Askins and and Taylor Heineke from a year ago,
then we should be all right. And that to me
is what makes me feel a lot better about Washington.
I felt I feel like we need to bet like
hot dogs and burgers or something on this, like just
the Washington Dallas thing, because when I think about Washington.
There to two things that made me pause. One when

(01:30:17):
I think about the Washington offense, the offense like rank
in the bottom third um total offense. In those things,
they have receiver in Terry mc lauren, which I think
he's terrific, scary, Terries Legit. They bring over Curtis Samuel,
which I like Logan times you talked about was a
nice piece, but he only aver is nine yards per catch,
you know, And I think on an offense that didn't
really have much outside of Terry mclauren, we give Logan

(01:30:40):
Thomas maybe even more credit because he was the second
option Anthon new Gibson flash. But really, when you look
at it, the best games that he had were against
the Dallas Cowboys, like they play seventeen games. He's going
to have to be able to be more productive in
those things. So it comes down to which quarterback in
play caller do you trust the most, And for me,
I don't trust fits Patrick and Scott Turner more than

(01:31:01):
I would trust the Kellen Moore and Mike McCarthy deck
Prescott deal going forward, because when Dak Prescott was healthy
and this offense was going, he was averaging over four
passing yards per game. They were averaging over thirty two
points the game. That's a lot of points. You get
thirty points in the National Football think you should be
able to win a ton of games. I am counting
on Ceedee Lamb and Marie Cooper and Michael Gallup and

(01:31:23):
Execie Elliott to be able to put pressure on defense
is just with their talent alone. Dallas though, the reason
they were scoring those points is because their defense couldn't
stop anybody. Man. I mean, it is what it is
like the points, the points there, but the deepens should
be better. It was up tempo. It was like it
was like fast big basketball. Because you score, I score,

(01:31:45):
you score, I score. It should be better, dan Quinn.
They should be at least at least in the middle
of the pack. And I understood Washington's gone over some
changes as well on their offensive line, but you know
Brandon Shurf's back that didn't invest uh in the draft
that the offensive line. I just to me, I know,
Fitzpatrick is a big question mark and legitimately so there's

(01:32:08):
there are some that will drink the fitz magic kool
aid and others that remember what you know, the two
sides of the coin But the last that we knew
of Ryan Fitzpatrick was him leading a Dolphins team, which
I don't know how dissimilar they are to what Washington is,
and then coming in in relief in the Raiders game

(01:32:29):
and throwing a you know, a forty yard pass, I
mean lucky pass. Yes, the magic comes with it. And
if you know what this is, this is what I wish.
Have you done your fantasy draft yet, I've I've done
one of them yet. I certainly hope that you're making
every effort to put him on your team. And I

(01:32:50):
want you to put him on one of your teams,
and I want you to start him the entire year.
And then I want you to do is just chronicle
your Sunday experiences were Patrick as your QB one and
your fantasy team. If I'm gonna have to join an
extra league just to play Fitzpatrick the entire season, that
may happen. Oh man, hey, I'll tell you what. There'll

(01:33:14):
be some weeks with a guy i'd be playing is
saying I want to put against Fitzpatrick this week. You know,
then the people at work and be like, oh my gosh,
I'm so sorry. That is going to happen, especially with
Riverboat Rod there you know they're gonna Uh. I like Washing.
I actually like Washington a lot this year. I I
really do. And then you like, you like the Brigade

(01:33:35):
or the whatever whatever names, just as long as it's
not the w f T. As long as it's not
the football team. I just I think Dallas. When we
talk about Dallas and what's happening with Doc and we're
watching a Hard Knocks that is very uninteresting. You're not

(01:33:55):
You're not You're not okay? Can I admit that I've
only was like half of one, Like I watched half
of one and then I was like, okay, whatever, I've
wasted two hours and I have a newborn, Like, think
about how bad that is A trying to America's team follower. No,
My point is is I took time out to not
take care of my kid to watch Hard Knocks and

(01:34:15):
it has not been that intriguing at all. That's it
needs to They need to to spice enough. Every year
we say this, and then when it comes to the
first episode, we're all breaking down the episode the next day.
But we're out the two episodes in and I think
people are already hunting. Dallas needs a lot to go right.
They do to put them in the ANC conversations. A

(01:34:37):
lot needs to go right. And the biggest question market
has little to do with the players in between the lines,
has everything to do with Mike McCarthy. Right now, there
is more questions, questions, and concerns about him and how
good he is as a coach. Now then I've ever
heard about a guy who has won a Super Bowl. Um,
they have just not been on the details in these

(01:35:00):
season games and certain parts of last season they were.
They were questions about whether they could get it together.
Sometimes they didn't play hard. So he is on the
hot seat. He is certainly feeling the pressure of having
to prove the people that he can be because remember
he was hailed as an upper echelon and elite coach
at one point. He has to get that back on
track for us to put him into the conversation all

(01:35:22):
over again. He's Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is
Fox Sports Sunday. Get Bucky on Twitter at Bucky Brooks.
You can find me at Dan Buyer on Fox. I've
got family in town, Bucky. When my mom says, oh,
I really like Bucky Brooks's voice. Yeah, so when she
found out you were doing the show today. So my
mom a fan of your voice. Bucky Brooks says, Hi, Mom,

(01:35:43):
and she's right. Good thing. I'm drink. That's true, That's
very true. You gotta get on Twitter at Bucky Brooks.
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer. On
Fox coming up next, one of the greatest of all
time has had enough. We think we'll tell you about
it next year. On Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Sunday.

(01:36:05):
I'm Dan Buyer. He's Bucky Brooks getting a set for
the upcoming NFL season. Lots and lots of football talk today,
and it continues with a guy who's not playing football
right now, Bucky Larry Fitzgerald telling Jim Gray on Syria
Sex M. Yeah that you know what, I don't know,
the urge to play football right now, not in training

(01:36:26):
camp with the Arizona Cardinals. So Larry Fitzgerald's career right now,
which started in two thousand and four, is spanned two
hundred and sixty three games maybe at its end. And
there are weapons in Arizona that are new to town.
A J. Green is there. They drafted Rondale morout of Purdue.
Obviously there's DeAndre Hopkins, but Larry Fitzgerald saying that he

(01:36:50):
doesn't have the urge to play football right now. Do
you think that we have seen the end of Larry
Fitzgerald playing in the National Football League? Yeah, I think
I think he's done. I think he's done, and the
mean preface that I think he's done unless the Cardinals
are good. If the Cardinals are good midway through and
they get an injury, I think you'll come back for that.

(01:37:11):
But I think football is hard, man, it's hard. He's
been doing it for a long time. I think he
doesn't want to endure the grind um. So yeah, I
think we may have seen the last with Larry Fitzgerald.
I I think so as well. And I don't think
that the Cardinals are going to be good, or at
least good enough to bring Larry Fitzgerald back. And I

(01:37:32):
just this is thinking back to when Brett Farve would
always have to go through this retirement. I'm not trying
to compare Larry Fitzgerald to Brett Farve because this is
an annual thing, like it's the fourth annual Brett Farve
wishy washy on retirement extravaganza. That's what it ended up
being every year in Green Bay. But what happens like

(01:37:54):
so many players and you maybe know this, You know,
I hackened a lot more than I would end the
February or end January. You know what, I don't think
I can do this again. That was a grind. And
then you know, May, June, especially July comes around and
you start to get that itch, and maybe you trick
yourself into thinking that you want to play because you're

(01:38:14):
so used to doing that. That's part of your you know,
your routine as an athlete, as a football players to
get ready in July. And to think that Larry Fitzgerald
doesn't have the urge to do so at the point
where so many other players always seem to have that
urge and maybe trick themselves into playing. That tells me
that I don't think we're gonna see Larry Fitzgerald again. Yeah,

(01:38:36):
I think I think he's done. I think this has
been a long run too. And then to think about
I gotta get up, I gotta work out now, I'm
gonna get hit. It's a lot. And so I think
as you get older, man, it's it's just more so
trying to get yourself pumped up to do the things
that you need to do to be a successful player.
Sometimes you just get tired of doing that part just

(01:38:57):
a routine. The funny thing is, it's a couple of
weeks ago, you and I we're talking about it. It
was it was Hall of Fame weekend, and we're talking
about guys and who's gonna go in and who's who's
not going to go in. Larry Fitzgerald is no doubt
a first ballot Hall of Famer, but you knew that

(01:39:20):
was coming. But what I was surprised about, Bucky was
when I went a little bit deeper into what Larry
Fitzgerald's career consisted of and who he was. And you
talk about receptions, you talk about yards, He's top two,
there's there's Jerry Rice is only above him. Those are

(01:39:43):
the things that stand out and say, oh, obviously, yeah,
Larry Fitzgerald is is, you know, Hall of Famer for sure.
But I'm wondering, does he get put into the conversation
of top three wide receiver all time? Does he put
in the in the conversation of top five wide receiver
all time? I think he's gonna be a top ten

(01:40:04):
wide receiver all time, but I was ready to put
him top five automatically, and I kind of had to say,
hold on just a second. And and just for the
thing that I that I remember most about Larry Fitzgerald
and his career Super Bowl forty three, his touchdown we
thought was gonna put the Arizona Cardinals in the lead

(01:40:26):
for good and beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, only to have
Ben Roethlisberger come back, and uh, I mean town, that
would have been an epic moment. I mean that is
that is like one of those that's a gold jacket moment. Yes,
I agree, and and and that's and when we talk
about wide receivers now and their importance and winning football games,

(01:40:48):
like there was the perfect example, and there was the
rare example of where a wide receiver was a reason
why the team was in the Super Bowl or about
to win the Super Bowl in that case, and with
fifty eight minutes expired, like there was, there was a reason,
and it was because of Larry Fitzgerald. That's how I
always viewed him, Like even with even with you know,

(01:41:11):
Randy Moss and the eighteen and no, and I'm not
getting it done, there was still there was still a
bit of I don't know, lightning in a bottle or
there's just this this offense is completely unstoppable aspect of it,
where Randy Moss was a part of that machine, where
Larry Fitzgerald was that machine. He and Kurt Warner were

(01:41:31):
that machine with Arizona. So I was always I was
always signing with Larry Fitzgerald as hey, you can make
an argument for top three with this guy if you,
if you really wanted to. His his stats match up
to it. But then I took a step back and
I looked, and it's a great career. I just don't
know if it's enough to top obviously Jerry Rice, No,
but the top Moss at the top t O in

(01:41:54):
that sort of aspect. I don't know. He's got the
he's got the Super Bowl possibility of making his team
a winner. But I just don't know when you look
back at it. Not that it's compiling, that's not what
I'm gonna say, but it just wasn't as dominating of
a career on paper as I as I thought when
I when I when I did some research, Yeah, that

(01:42:16):
um because he had a couple of seasons where he
was right at the top in terms of all those
receptions and things like that. But I think what you're
talking about are the highlight worthy moments where you just
kind of remember his dominance. I think he's just an
understated consistency about what he did at a high level
for a long time, but maybe just not the splash

(01:42:37):
or flash plays that you that you you used to
when it comes to a gold Jackie guy. And there's
there's there's the argument of okay, maybe the quarterbacks that
they had in Arizona at times weren't enough to make him,
you know that that guy. But there's the flip side
of that. Then you have to say, well, not a
lot of guys got to play in an offense with
Kurt Warner, and not a lot of guys got the

(01:43:00):
you know, playing the offense with Carson Palmer and throwing
the ball around like they did later in his career
like those There's two sides to those stories. I think
that if you're gonna criticize it for one thing, then
you can't just, you know, ignore the other fact that
he was in an offense that was that was past
happy and then a quarterback that liked to sling it.
They all go hand in hand. I mean, they're they're
very good. Very few receivers who are great that had

(01:43:23):
bad quarterbacks their entire career, So I understand that. But
when you when you look at his career, there was
the great stretch early on his career, and then there
was the dip, and then there was the resurgent and
about the mid around that time, and then now it's
kind of ritting off into the sunset. But when you
look at the overall numbers, lots of compiling because of

(01:43:43):
what you said, there was a long year and I
don't want to make him a compiler, but I just
think that when you're looking at wide receivers, I don't
know if you can knock Moss and Teo from their
spots of two and three wherever you had them. If
you're talking about greatest receivers all time, I at one
point had Larry Fitzgerald in that point. And now I'm
almost backing myself off of that ledge. Look at you, yeah,

(01:44:05):
backing yourself off the ledge. Well, Well, the wide receivers
have been such a hot button point when it comes
to the Hall of Fame, and then we end up
looking at it more and more, and you end up
looking at what is dominance what isn't? Uh? You know who,
who's whose career would you rather have? Calvin Johnson's or
Larry FitzGeralds. I think Larry Fitzgerald's in a in a heartbeat,
you'd rather take that. There's there's no doubt about it.

(01:44:28):
Who had the more freakish athletic ability for Calvin Johnson
was who was the first ballot Hall of Famer Calvin
Johnson was. Lara Fitzgerald's gonna be that first ballot guy.
There's no doubt he's going in five years from now
if he decides to not play another game again. But now,
when we're talking about those upper echelon guys and the
highest of echelon's, I just, yeah, it's it's it's tough

(01:44:48):
for me now to put him ahead of Moss and
Owens when I take a step back and take a
take a real look at the entire career. Yeah, I agree,
I agree, that would be hard, that would be already
to say that he ranks over those guys. But he
certainly is in the conversation as one of the greatest
to ever do it. He's certainly go jacket worried, and

(01:45:08):
I would anticipate him being a first battlet guy because
he did all the right things on and off the field. Yeah. Absolutely,
he's Bucky Brooks. I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports
Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. We'll get Adam Kaplan's thoughts
about Larry Fitzgerald, also his thoughts on who the heck
is going to be the quarterback of the New England
Patriots that next year. But first, Ralph Fervan's here to
give us the latest. Well, thank you very much, and

(01:45:30):
we have just one game going on right now in
Major League Baseball. It's in Williams Sport, Pennsylvania. Eric Cleveland
has already taken a to nothing lead over the Angels
and they're still batting in the bottom of the first
ending finals in everywhere else across the country. The match
finished off the Dodgers seven to the final score J D.
Davis the home run drove in four on the day.

(01:45:52):
San Francisco Donovan Solano's two run homer in the eighth
lifted the Giants to a to one win over Oakland,
so they're lead over the Dodgers back to two and
a half games in the National League West Reese Hoskins
two home runs Philadelphia a seven four win over San Diego.
NFL preseason action. Earlier today, Cleveland took out the Giant
seventeen thirteen. About to get started in southern California, the

(01:46:16):
Chargers hosting the San Francisco forty Niners. Titans coach Mike
Rabel has announced that he tested positive for COVID at nineteen.
That's coming after joint practices with the Buccaneers last week.
We'll see if he close contact with Tom Brady or
Bruce Arians Uh, we'll have any effect. We'll find that
out in the coming days. And Jesse Palmer saying that

(01:46:38):
Teddy Bridgewater drew lock. No decision yet in Denver from
head coach of Vic Fangio. As we sent it back,
it is Fox Sports Sunday. It's Dan Buyer and Bucky Brooks.
Thank you very much, Ralph, Adam cap but our Fox
Sports Radio NFL insider joins us of course on the
Inside the Birds podcast and Sirius x M NFL Radio.
Just to put a bow on the conversation that Bucky

(01:46:59):
and I were having. Adam, we're talking about Larry Fitzgerald
and it doesn't sound like he says he doesn't have
the urge to play right now, and so maybe we've
seen the last of him. Where do you put Larry
Fitzgerald overall? When you talk about the history of wide
receivers in the NFL Top ten, you know, I've covered
his whole career. I remember meeting him, Jesus, it's two

(01:47:20):
thousand and five. I don't have it. I don't. I
can't remember what his first year was before it was
his first year, yeah, and it was. He was actually uh,
he was actually at the Super Bowl ironically in Houston, UM,
and he was just meeting people and so it was
just so personable, and it was I met his dad,
Larry Senior a couple of times as spits writer, and

(01:47:41):
I knew we went to Value fortun military academies near
where I grew up in Philly, So I know about him,
but I didn't I didn't know how great of a
player he was. I had no idea. Uh, you don't
really know sometimes until you get to see these guys
up close. And they worked their craft. And the thing
that I loved about him is he wasn't a guy
who was going to run the four fours. He had
great size, but it was the ability that he had

(01:48:01):
we forget because he's hung on a little bit longer
than we expected. How great he was um spectacular catches
and it's one of the rare times I heard you
guys in the previous segment, it's one of the rare
times that he actually can make a team significantly better
because everybody knew where the ball was gone, he still
got it. And the the past target numbers and the
catches and just the great play in the high character

(01:48:24):
that he has. He just he's one of the best players,
and not only team history. As you said, Danny's an
absolute sure Harld Hall of Fame. There's no debate. It's
just to me, he really should retire because he doesn't
have much left. But here's how he could help because
right now that the Cardinals are loaded at receiver, they
don't need another slot receiver, which which he is now.
But who knows if he wants to win a Super Bowl?

(01:48:45):
Who knows if because he's a free agent, what if
some team calls him around the around the trade deadline.
They can't get there, They can't get anyone, but they
like they don't want to pay much he gives Larry
a chance to win a super Bowl. That that's one
thing that you know, people can't discount at this point,
you know, think about then thinking about the team that
he left. How much pressure is on Cliff Kingsbury to
give this team? I mean, I guess into the postseason

(01:49:06):
because this year three, we should expect more from the
Cardinals this year, right you should? I mean this should
because they're so loaded an offense. He's got the quarterback
he wanted to Kyler Murray. That's why they traded Josh Rosen. Defensively,
they're gonna be good right now. They're challenge drones on
the roster. I don't know why they would be sit
of trading him my understanding, what's a new deal, But

(01:49:27):
they'd be way worse if they trade him. So that
look that I know, they're in the toughest division the
National Football Like, you can make a legit case at
all four teams the NFC West could make the playoffs.
So they're they're the toughest division of the eight. But
they should be right on the precipice of the playoffs.
They should and with his with his offense, they should.
They should be a ten win team. I mean, I
know we're playing seventy games now, but there's no reason

(01:49:49):
why they can't win tame games. So yeah, I think so.
I would think the pressure would be on him for
them to improve now. Obviously, if they don't make the playoffs,
he'll be on the hot he for a year four,
there's no question about it. Adam Kaplan or Fox Sports Radio,
NFL intentor joining us here on Fox Sports Sunday. Alright,
your training camp tour was continuing. You checked out some
Patriots and Eagles. What's it gonna come down to when

(01:50:12):
it comes to naming a starting quarterback in New England
between Cam Newton and Mac Jones. Yeah, and and Dan.
From my understanding is Cam Newton has done nothing to
lose the job and Mac Jones has been fined by
rookie standards. He's I'm told that he had enough. His
his understanding of Josh mc daniel's complex offense was pretty
good by rookie standards in the ott A program, and

(01:50:32):
he's done a good job in training camp. But it
always comes down to, okay, if you're really going to start,
the rookie as the veteran not deserved to start because
talking to the Bears. I mean, I'm telling you Justin
Fields has done well, but an adults had a very
good training camp. There's really the fans on Justin Fields
because he's he was the first round pick. The media
wants to start of the pot a little bit, so
they're there, they're they're some of the commists are calling

(01:50:54):
for Justin Fields to start. But if you talk to
these teams privately, they'll tell you we we mentioned to veterans,
Camp's done nothing to lose it. His his right shoulder
is healthy, by the way. I saw that up close
during those joint practices on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
So look, I I'd be I don't want to say shocked,
but I would be surprised if camp's not starting week one.
I know what's going on Chicago. And once again Matt

(01:51:16):
Maggie made it clear that Andy Dalton starting week one
at the RAMS. But with all these situations, for these
guys to keep their jobs of veterans, hey, they gotta
play well, and b they gotta win because you're giving
the team excuse to pull you if you don't win,
you know, and and and thinking about like the winning
and team that needs to win. What do you make
of everything that is going on in Dallas? They haven't

(01:51:38):
looked great in the preseason. There's a lot of I
mean questions about Mike McCarthy and how good of a
coach he is, how much prescire is he under hitting
into this season. Well, it's funny whenever you're coaching for
Jerry Jones, your you're gonna get criticized. You're I mean,
Jerry Jones is the owner and general manager, so he
feels that he needs to He has his own radio show.
By the way, he feels like he if you don't

(01:52:00):
want to hold anything back, criticizes coaches. That's just the
way that he runs his business. Um. But but look,
Jason Garrett had nine lives. I mean, he kept backing
him in despite all the criticism he gave. Garrett his
coaches he would he didn't fire until the bitter end.
He waited a little bit too long, quite frankly. But
Jerry is For all the things that people say about
Jerry not being patient, he's actually been very patient over

(01:52:22):
the years with particularly Jason Garrett. I don't see anything.
I don't care what happens last year, Dac breaks his
breaks his ankle and dislocates it. Obviously, you your she'sus done.
You're not gonna he was, he was putting up historic numbers.
Now he's got the shoulder strain um kind of an
odd injury. They don't they've already said he's starting week one,

(01:52:42):
but it's not good. I think that plays in note Bucky.
When I was with them two weeks ago, Dan and
I were on in that Saturday day. I remember talking
from Oxnard and they feel really good about their roster. Now,
defensively is the problem. Offensively, it's not. As long as
DA's playing, They're gonna be great. Defensively. The talent levels better,
particularly secondary. I do not like the front four. I
don't think it's I think it's very average. Other than

(01:53:03):
Tech Lawrence de Marcus Lawrence, I struggle with that defensive line. Linebackers.
They're they're pretty good. Secretary, they've revamped it. Safety is
a problem corner, They're deeper, they're they're young. They like
their secondary a lot, but I do have an issue
with their defensive line. Bucky and I have a a
food bet. I don't know, maybe it'll be end up
being wings or or burger bet or something on the

(01:53:24):
NFC East. I like Washing the least. Yeah, the NFC.
I called it the NFC deceased last year because it
was so bad. Uh. Yeah, he likes the Cowboys. I
liked Washington a little bit, like the Giants. Yeah. Like
there there it is. It's a a mixed bag here
on Fox Sports Sunday, Adam Kaplan joining us. He's Bucky Brooks,
I'm Dan Buyer. What about Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

(01:53:47):
I know you saw them in Carolina this week? Is
is is it next step conversation with Lamar Jackson? Is
it Lamar Jackson being who he is? But what's the
conversation about Lamar outside of the COVID situation? But on
the field stuff. But see then that plays into it
because he missed significant time. See here's the issue with Lamar.
This is what I was told privately, and I could

(01:54:07):
talk about this. Not a big deal. They really wanted
to take a big step with him in terms of
expanding the playbook with him because they felt his He's
such a hard worker and they believe so much in him,
and obviously they're trying to get an extension done with him.
They just believe that he's ready to take the next
step in his career and give him more volume of
the playbook. But when you missed so much time, you

(01:54:29):
know you missed. He missed a lot of training camp.
That's a problem now. By the way, he's got a
lot of his receivers hurt. What I was there, they
had some so few of their key receivers were practicing. Um.
I don't know how much Greg Rowan will give more
than he did last year, but I know their plan
was to give him more this year. We'll see how
much more he gets. But they want him to take
the answer your question. They want him to do more

(01:54:50):
and take more of the playbook in terms of passing,
and that that really was their goalie entire offseason because
last year there was no off season, there was no preseason,
and he had a Brevid training camp, so they just
couldn't do much with him. So I would expect to
get more volume. They've done a great job of addressing
the receiver position, the ted end position with Josh Oliver
at a Big Game List Night formula. Jacksonville is a

(01:55:11):
great athlete for the tight end position. They've got the
talent around him. It's just they got to give him
more and these guys got to stay on the field. Yeah,
that you know what, Lamar Jackson, I'll worry about that extension.
Let's talk about the extension a little more because it's
unconventional because he doesn't really have an agent. I guess
his mom or people around are doing it. Do you

(01:55:32):
expect the deal to get done before the season or
do you think this is going to be one that
that goes after the season where he has an opportunity
to get This is what I know. They really want
to get a deal done with him. They they've felt
that way. They want to They they love him, He's
their guy. This is assy Knewsom's the Foremard General Matter's
last big move, and Arctocasta that the new GM was
was certainly on board with it. They want to get

(01:55:53):
I could just tell you answer your question. They want
to get this deal done before the start of the season. Now.
I know some teams that will not negotiate in season,
most will not, So if if it's if it's not
done by week one, I fully expect him to play
on in the final year. Uh. And then just you know,
obviously you've got tags and so forth, it's not a
big deal if they don't get a deal done. But

(01:56:14):
the question will be if if they if they get
very close, what does this deal look like? Because the
argument against doing a deal is they don't throw the
ball that much. Uh, they just don't. This is this
has been their belief. I mean you go back to
Trent deal for when they want the super Bowl. This
is their belief is the run game of the defense.
They don't ask the quarterback to do a whole lot.
So it's how do you justify giving him a forty

(01:56:35):
plus million dollar deal when you're not asking him to
do all that much? And then it goes to dance question,
if you're going to open it up more, maybe justify
it more. And I know talking to them, they definitely
want to open it up more. But how much more?
That's the question. Final question for Adam Kaplan our Fox
Sports Radio NFL in Center And it's the team that
the Ravens practiced with all week and that's Carolina. What's

(01:56:56):
the word on Sam Donald? Is Christian McCaffrey fully healthy?
What do we think about the Panthers during Let's start
with McCaffrey's fine. I mean, they're not going to risk
anything with Donald. Here's the book on Donald. So his
O T A. S and May and June were not
great specifically because he was trying to learn this new offense.
He had a kind of d program Adam Gaze's offense

(01:57:17):
and and come up with I. He had to learn
this Joe Brady offense, which is his version of Sean
Payton's offense of with the Saints. And Joe Brady's a
pretty sharp guy. So what I'm told is in training
camp he's got gradually been better than last two weeks.
He's been terrific and you could see it in practice
this week. The thing with him is processing. He had
a hard time with Gaze's offense. He held onto the

(01:57:38):
ball too long, very indecisive, and that's where these issues
with processing here. He's got a really good grasp of
the offense. He's getting rid of it very very quickly.
I did notice that in practice, and that's exactly what
they want him to do and what they expected to
do going forward. Adam Capitlan find him on Twitter at
Capitlan NFL. Here him on Sirius x M NFL Radio
and also on the Inside the Birds podcast and Right

(01:58:00):
year has our Fox Sports Radio NFLNS that appreciate it. Adam,
thanks so much. Sounds good guys. Thanks. He's Bucky Brooks.
I'm Dan Buyer. This is Fox Sports Sunday. What NFL
team has the worst tradition of quarterbacks in the NFL?
That answer may surprise that We'll talk about it next
year on Fox Fox Sports Sunday. He's Bucky Brooks. I'm

(01:58:21):
Dan Buyer. Get Bucky on Twitter at Bucky Brooks. You
can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer. On Fox.
Last time that I checked, the Niners are gonna be
rotating quarterbacks Bucky Brooks in this game. John Lynch is
saying the Foday Nighters GM that Jimmy Garoppolo is going
to get the first reps against the Chargers. Those reps
going on right now, then Trey Lance gets a couple

(01:58:43):
and then Garoppolo will come back in. How about that
musical chairs of dealing with your quarterbacks. I mean, you're
just trying to get some where. You want to see
Trey Lance going against the best competition that he can
go against, and you also want to protect him with
the best offensive lines. Did it makes sense for the
reasons that I don't think that just In Fields would
start Week one for the Bears because of their opponent,

(01:59:04):
the Rams. I think that's the recent why I've said
Trey Lance should start week one for the forty niners.
You get to open up at Detroit, and and and
and even the schedule after that is very manageable when
it comes to opposing defenses. If you're the forty nine ers,
why not you start the Tray Lance experience right now?
Gets there just dismissing Detroit like that just D Campbell's

(01:59:30):
I know that they won't not in week one. I
don't think it's gonna happen in week one. I don't know.
Maybe they'll pull the Jaguars and go one in fifteen
with their I don't want any Panthers. The Panthers do
that like Steve Smith, like his rookie season, ran back
at kick. I think they won the first one and
lost all the rest. But I don't know if that's
gonna happen with the Lions. But no, I think I
wouldn't want Justin Fields on the field a Sunday night football.

(01:59:52):
Is a rookie to go up against Aaron Donald, no,
thank you. But if you have an opportunity to put
Trey Lance in and if it's even close with Jimmy Garoppolo,
I had to do it against the Lions. Yeah, absolutely
start that off and do that. But I think it's
where they want to eventually get to. Kyle Shanahan wants
to play the new Shiny Toy because the New Shiny

(02:00:12):
Toy allows him to stretch out his playbook. He can
do some different things. He can dust off those old
pages that were dedicated to r G three and use
them with Tray Lance while still keeping the current playbook going.
But I think there's not a rush because you have
to remember. And here's so interesting about the conversation with
Mac Jones and Trey Lance Um. They both entered the

(02:00:34):
league with the same number of collegiate starts seventeen, And
so for both guys, and for tray Lancer particularly, it's
going to take some time to get up to speed
with the pro game and the complexities of the pro
game and all of that. So unless you have to,
don't take your time. You got time. The Bears have
taken forty years and they still haven't figured out who

(02:00:56):
their franchise quarterback is going to be. We started the
show talking about the Dalton Field scenario, and then it
kind of morphed into a conversation. Listen, a lot of
people are hip to the fact that the Bears have
not had a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback in you know,
over forty fifty years. Yeah, Jim McMahon won a Super
Bowl for him, Jake Cutler was there. But I mean

(02:01:17):
it is it is dire. And when you compare it
to some of the other teams that I threw out
earlier in the show, Texans and Jaguars were the two
just because they were newer teams that maybe wouldn't have
had that legacy. And as as I asked you, I
posed the question if you could take a quarterback who
started from each of those teams and have a draft,
like who would be your first pick? You could only
draft from Bear starters, Texans starters, and Jaguar starters. We

(02:01:40):
got a lot of responses. Jim McManners probably the most popular,
but I I would put Deshaun Watson number one and
I'd put Mark Burton on number two. I would rather
have those guys than any of the guys that the
Bears has had as their starting quarterback. That's how bad.
Their quarterback position has been in love love for j
He was third, he was third on my list, I
put I put him. He got the Bronx. Rix Grossman

(02:02:02):
doesn't get it counted it. Rion No, No, Mike tom
Zack either, that didn't get a nod. No, No Blake
Bortles either for Jacksonville, None of those, None of those guys. No,
it just tells you, tells you how bad that city
is clamoring for a quarterback. They know all about it,
they've known about it for forty years. Just now the

(02:02:22):
rest of the football community is becoming hip to it. Yeah,
I mean, that's that's tough because and what you're seeing
is it's hard to win at a high level when
you don't get that position right. And so that's why
everyone has Dan trigue On drafted about which quarterbacks are
gonna come off the board, because you know your title
hopes are tied to the quarterback position. We've seen it
time and time again. All Right, it's gonna be wings

(02:02:43):
or burgers or what is it for our Washington Dallas.
Bet make it light on yourself since I'm gonna win.
I mean, whatever wings it is, we'll talk to you
next week,

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