August 7, 2025 • 31 mins
Today’s Best of Features:
(00:00-19:50) – ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder joins the program to discuss the preseason opener tonight for the Indianapolis Colts against the Baltimore Ravens. Stephen discusses with Jake how many running backs they will keep on the roster, evaluates how DJ Giddens has performed in training camp, and weighs in on two debates that Jake and Eddie have had on the show.
(19:50-31:28) – Matt Taylor, the radio voice of the Indianapolis Colts, makes his weekly visit on the program to explain to Jake what a gameday looks like for players and team personnel. Matt also highlights a couple of players that have cool stories that will be playing in the game tonight for the Colts, and his preparation for the opponents during preseason play.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stephen Holder joins us now, and I'm sure thrilled to
be doing so as the Colts get set tonight to
take on the Baltimore Ravens preseason game number one.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Of course, you see Steven on ESPN. You can read
his work there as well.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Uh, Steven, I was just asking that question of so,
if the nickel is just the fifth corner, right, isn't
that what the nickel is?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I mean, essentially, yes, it's five. It means five defensive backs,
so you're the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yes, okay, So then a dime package is six defensive backs, right?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
That is correct?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So so, in other words, because you're adding two, right,
that's why it's called a dime right, because you're adding
two and five and five is ten?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Is that right? I don't want that to be right,
because that makes too much sense.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I've never thought about this. You'll be shocked to learn
that you are confronting me with something that I had
not thought about. But I'm now kind of curious. I'm
not gonna lie to you.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What the time, what percent of the time that you
and I talk, whether it be on the radio or
at a pacer game, do you say to yourself, you know,
that's actually he just mentioned something I've never thought about before.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
A high percentage.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Correct, it happens a time or two. Yeah, it definitely does.
It's not uncommon. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay. Also, I'll tell you what is uncommon.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yes, I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
It's that, or I just have like you know, massive
like some sort of add But I'll tell you what
is uncommon. What is uncommon is oftentimes for a team
in preseason game number one to show a lot and
give you indication as to what they may look like
schematically speaking in the regular season. Is that going to
be true to formed tonight? And if you look at
(01:42):
based on the practice itself, is one of the two
teams between the Colts or the Ravens more likely than
the other to maybe open the playbook up a little
bit more than.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The other one?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah? I think. I think if if there is one
team likely to do it, it's the Pulse because of
the situation they're in. They're trying to evaluate the quarterbacks.
You know, you got to give him something to work
with at the same time. Shane Stike, and if I
know him like I think I do, he is a
stickler for not showing a lot and wanting to surprise
(02:17):
his opponents. You see even how he handles, for example, injuries, right,
he is he is notoriously mysterious about that. He's very
honest about why he doesn't want his opponents to know anything.
So so I find it unlikely that that guy's going
to show a ton in this game. But we'll see
(02:37):
how it goes. And they won't play everybody on offense.
Even though Anthony Richardson's gonna play, Michael Pittman's not going
to play in this game.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You may have even.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Some offensive linemen. You know, I don't know that Quinton
Nelson's gonna play. For example, he may play a series,
but he might not be out there the whole time
with Anthony Richardson, just as an example.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Does Okay Steven, here's a question that I brought up earlier,
and it's one of those that I just kind of
spontaneously thought of, and then I thought, well, I'm probably
a moron for asking this, and then I thought, maybe
I'm not as big a moron as I think Okay does.
For example, the center position, I think for certain that's Bordelini,
(03:16):
but Pincher's gotten a little bit of rep there the
line seemingly is almost set for the most part for
the Colts, but does in particular the center position is
in any way, shape or form that situation.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Linked to the quarterback spot.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
In other words, if it's Anthony Richardson that you think
is going to be your starter, do you go with
a center that has a flexibility or a range of
motion or whatever it may be that is more based
on what Richardson can improvise versus another at that spot.
And then feel free to tell me if in fact
that's the dumbest thing you've ever heard.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Okay, well, no, that won't be the case. They won't
make any there won't be any considerations like that. And
at the end of the day, the continuity with the
five men on the offensive line that matters more than
any of that other stuff. Whether whether that's the case
or not, it's trumps all of that, right. You want
(04:16):
the continuity, particularly a position like center, because you know
he can get used to the quarterbacks, both quarterbacks, you
know their cadences, the way they operate, et cetera. You
want to have continuity at that position just about as
much as anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
So, no, no, there won't be any consideration.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Like that, is there a battle to look for tonight?
Or let me rephrase that, is there somebody tonight? Stephen Holder,
our guest ESPN dot com.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
We are at the.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Legends in Franklin for the Fan Invitational Golf outing. Stephen
as the Colts take to the field tonight against the
Ravens in preseason game number one. Give me a player
that this outing is big for them than you would
have guessed when everyone reported to camp.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
M Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Actually a guy that I've really taken a liking to
its Hunter Wohler, the seventh round picks from Wisconsin. You know, listen,
I've covered a lot of a lot of seventh round
picks in my time. I say they got about a
one and two chance of even making the roster. Okay,
this guy, though, every day he makes another play to
(05:29):
the point where the coaches are like, well, screw it,
maybe this guy should be on the field. So can
he take it from practice to the actual game. And
if you can do that, then then you're really cook
him with gas with that kid, and then you can
see how much more you can give him. Look, I
don't think he's gonna start or anything, but there's gonna
be a role for him potentially in this defense. You know,
(05:51):
we talked about the dime defense earlier in this interview,
and they will use some of that. They will use
different packages on defense. You know, well call him sub packages.
You have your base defense against your nickel defense and
all the other sub packages. He could be in one
of those where they just go heavy on the dbs.
And that's why this kind of deemphasized the linebackers. They've
(06:11):
also had him playing a little bit of a linebacker
role as well. So he's versatile, he's instinctive. He's a
football junkie. You know, he's your cliche guy, you know,
sort of a Wisconsin cliche guy. But that's listen, that's
what you want out of your late round picks.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Steven. How many running backs with the Colts carry So.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I think the maximums four is what I think, and
if it is, for that fourth guy needs to be
a real special team's standout. So we'll see how those
roles develop. But but I think I think forrest tops
you're really going to use three, I think at maximum.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And they've already had attrition in that position.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So if you looked at it, if they go with
who is what's the dividing line between three and four?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And how close is it?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, I mean I think right now, I feel like
one and two we kind of know. I mean, number
one you might have heard of Johnathan Taylor, and certainly
they've gotten a really good they've gotten a really good
running back. Sorry, yes, that's correct. Yes, and and that's
been a good one two punch. Number three, I guess
(07:25):
is a little more I mean a little more fluid.
But I think the dividing line is going to be,
you know, who is the guy who, if if he
has to, if he has to fill in, can perform
all the different roles. So you're probably looking more for
for versatility in terms of role for your number three guy.
(07:46):
Like I said, number four is probably more special teams.
Number three needs to be the guy who, if somebody
goes down, gets the hamstring, et cetera, you can come
in and you can perform any role you can play, first, second, third, down,
And so that has to play out a little more.
Think the the preseason will give us a good indication
of that.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
However, and Giddins is for those that have not seen him,
and I'm going a little bit Steven Steven Holder, our
guest with DJ Giddens. I'm going a little bit off
of the narrative about him coming out of college. But
you say one two combo with Jonathan Taylor. He seems
to me to be a guy that can bounce outside
(08:24):
and do Jonathan Taylor things. But is a more between
the tackles durability back? Is that a fair way of
assessing his skill set?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So I I do think I do think that's somewhat true.
But when you say between the tackles, the only the
only thing I would quibble with is that he's not
this sort of you know, uh, you know, big bruising,
physical runner. He's he's gonna be He's gonna make his
cut and go. He's got a really good ability to
change direction. He doesn't He's not gonna have the same
(08:58):
explosion as Jonathan Taylor. When Taylor puts his foot in
the ground, you know, to use a coach's you know cliche,
he explodes out of the touch. These Giddons didn't quite that.
But he does have explosiveness and and I think his
top end speed is really impressive. So the other thing
about him is I really think he has a great
(09:19):
opportunity to be a third down back. He's shown really
good hands in training camp, and I'll be honest, we
had this Jonathan Taylor's greatest weakness. He doesn't have reliable hands,
and as a pass protector, I can't I still can't
understand why Jonathan Taylor hasn't gotten better at that over
the years. He's too good of an athlete. But it's
(09:39):
the one point of frustration I would say about Jonathan
Taylor is like, Buddy, go block that landbacker.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Well, Steve, you know what's interesting?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And I realized for Jonathan Taylor, he's not overly concerned
with the history of the indian you know what. But
that said, Indianapolis is and I think this fan base
in this franchise has been spoiled by having traditionally very
good blocking backs. Right, some of the best backs that
have come through here, now I ain't you know, I'm
not talking to Eric Dickerson here, but from Albert Bentley
(10:08):
to it was the most underappreciated aspect of Vedrin James's game.
Joseph and I could do it as well, right, And
that is a critical point. It is such a benefit
when you get that.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, look you were not going to play with Peyton
Manning if you couldn't do that, Okay. He was counting
on everybody to execute, and if you didn't execute, you
were going to hear about it from from that Sunday
to the following Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So there just wasn't any tolerance for that in that
offense when when Peyton Manning is at the controls, and
I think that's fine. I'm fine with that. I think
that should be the expectations. You know, look that the
quarterback has to be able to operate, and look when
you when you can't, when you can't protect the quarterback
as a as a running back, you know, you put
(10:55):
him in jeopardy. You just really put him in jeopardy.
So anyway, I do think Jon Taylor tries, but he
just doesn't execute well in that area, and even people
close to him understand that. It's it's been an issue.
So it's why he hasn't taught more passes in his
career and it's why they haven't kept him on the
field as much on third down. I still think they
(11:16):
should give him chances in the passing game because when
he does catch the ball and you give him the
ball in the open field. It's still Jonathan Taylor in
the open field. So I think there's some calculated risks there,
but you'd like him to be more proficient in the
passing game in all.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Areas, Steve, and Steven Holder is our guest. When you
were in college at the University of Miami, you lived
in I assume at least your freshman year. Did you
live in the dorms for a year maybe two?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I did initially live in the dorm yes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Okay, when you lived in the dorms, did you In Indiana?
Uker was a huge card game. Everybody played Uker. I
think that's kind of a Midwestern who's your thing? Did
you ever get into playing cards, whether it be poker,
whether it be you know, rummy, whatever, your hearts, spades, whatever.
Did you ever play cards when you were in college?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Not a ton? So I guess I'm gonna mess up
whatever whatever storyline you're going for here. But but but
I mean, yeah, I've played cards in my life.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yes, okay, okay, So with that said, we we wagered
into or ventured into a discussion slash debate earlier, did
Eddie and myself and I want you Stephen Holder to
work as the judge and jury here. Okay, when I
asked you about card games and I said, you know,
what sort of card games do you play?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You care the ones that I just mentioned.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I'm not saying Eddie's even wrong in this, but I
think it's an interesting discussion. Do you consider Uno to
be a card game? Or is Uno a game that
happens to utilize cards?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I would say, not a card game.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I would say, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I think it's its own thing. It's its own separate thing. Yeah,
so I don't know on what side of that, but
hang on.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I'm texting Shannon right now to let her know you're
still in for the mix with Pacer tickets for next year.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Because you agree with me on this one. You are correct.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now the other one, which is an age old debate
that I've done on the show before, Steven, and then
we'll move along. I promise back to the Colts because
I have a Baltimore question for you. But that is
this is it, and I've done this one before, but
it came back up again because I was walking into
it and I saw the sign and then my brain
started working on it again.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Pet Smart, is.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
It a mart for pets or is it a you
have a smart pet based on pet smart?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Wow, another one that I have never thought about. That's
so we're not super too here. This is good. I
don't know. Let's see. I will tell you what my
brain has interpreted it as. Okay, that's the one who
shops there. I interpreted it as like pets and then
(14:02):
smart in this regard, like you're smart if you stop
here for your pet.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
That's just the way my understanding.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Hold on, but hold on, Steven, let me state my
case here. Okay, what about the fact that the bouncing
ball that is landing between the T and the S
is the appearance of an apostrophe. Thus that is thus
pets smart. And I'm with you to a great extent,
except for when you're walking in. If it is one
(14:33):
that happens to have a boarding division, it also says
out front pets Hotel p E T S h O
T E L. Thus, if it is pets hotel, meaning
a hotel for pets, then pet smart would mean a
mart for pets.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Now does that? Am I fair enough? Okay? Thank you?
So you're going on this one, no.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I will, I will admit I never considered.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It just never my mind never digested it that way.
Had I had I done that, I probably would have
considered all these great arguments you've just made that I'm
sure you've been thinking about for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I'm I'm texting Shannon again.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Disregard previous texts regarding tickets, Steven, what will we see
tonight if anything, or what you anticipate based on the
practice out of the Ravens and some of the challenges
or intrigue that could be presented for the Colts or
an area where it's going to be benefit to have
preseason game number one taking place against the Ravens because
(15:40):
it will test Indianapolis in this area.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
And their play their key guys. I don't believe mar
Jackson's gonna play. I think there are actually quite a
few Ravens seats tonight. They are a veteran team, they
know what they have. They're just trying to get to
week one. Let's be honest. They're talking about trying to,
you know, find their depths pieces and develop their young guys.
That's what it's about for the Ravens. I think that
(16:09):
that's why you do the joint practices is really for
your veterans, and you know, have them play in a
controlled environment and not have to subject them to the
tackling in the preseason, so you won't see Lamar. They
did see him in practice quite a bit. I thought
the Colts held their own. I was pretty impressed, in fact,
and I came away from that joint practice feeling like
(16:32):
this team. I feel better about the Colts after that
joint practice. I feel better about the quarterbacks, and I
feel better about the team just overall as well. So
I thought it was a very productive week and we'll
see if they can finish it off tonight.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Okay, lastly, Stephen, before we let you go, personal opinion. Okay,
Baltimore underrated as a city? What say you?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
So? I got to give Baltimore more of a chance.
I've been there for three days now and not really
done much of anything. In fact, this is kind of sad.
Yesterday I had a free afternoon and I used it
to drive down to DC. So that's that's now and now,
and now I'm actually driving out to have lunch with
(17:22):
my cousin who lives just across the border in Pennsylvania.
So yeah, we haven't I haven't made the most.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Of by the way, that border of which you speak
between Pennsylvania and Maryland is actually actually the Mason Dixon Line.
Contrary to many people believing it is a more southern line,
the Mason Dixon Line separates Pennsylvania from Maryland. Fun fact,
rookie mistake on your behalf of driving from Baltimore to
(17:50):
d C. Because you should have taken the train, because
that's the true East Coast experience. And lastly, what and
I'm kicking myself that I didn't I tell you of
this earlier, but I have mentioned this on the radio
many times because it absolutely mesmerizes me. And it shows
you what the Colts meant to the city of Baltimore
(18:12):
at its you know, in their prime. There is a
bar in the Fells Point area of Baltimore, which is
a cool area. It's kind of an older historical area.
And maybe I've told you this before. And on the
wall of the bar they have a glass topped coffin
that is painted as a mayflower truck. And inside the
(18:35):
coffin they have a wax body of bob Ersay with
a quote on it that says, ed Schaeffer is my
friend and we won't leave Baltimore. And then on the
other side it says he lied, so he died. And
on key moments in Raven's history, they take the bob
or say dummy down and people do body shots off
(18:56):
of it in the bar. I didn't believe it. I
went and saw it myself. All of that factual. And
that's your side experienced side trip to do when you
get back from your cousins.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
That is. That is one of the top ten most
amazing stories I think I've ever heard.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That is a true story. That is a true story. Incredible. Yeah, okay,
we got to end the interview.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
There. I got nothing.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I'm telling you. I'll send you the name of the
place you can go find. I didn't believe it either,
and I went in and I'm like, holy cow, there
it is, and I'm like, I got it. They assund
some journalism.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This requires some journals.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
They ain't messing around, man, I'm telling you right now.
All right, Steven holder the game tonight. The Colts and
the Raven Steven appreciate it as always. Man, travel safe. Okay,
all right, you got it. Thanks, all right. Steven went
one for two on the you know, and the PetSmart.
We're at the Legends down in Franklin. This is an
awesome golf course, awesome and it's a great event today,
(19:55):
all to benefit the Franciscan Health Foundation and their cancer
care program. You get me talking to lot about Franciscan
and their cardiovascular care, but also their compassion when it
comes to those who are entering that journey with cancer.
That's what Franciscan's foundation is for and we're raising money
for it today. Silent auction items are here. A lot
of golfers that went out shotguns start at ten thirty.
(20:17):
They're starting to kind of roll themselves in here, I
would imagine in the next hour or so, and right
in the transition when between myself and JMV is when
a lot of the golfers will be finished and we
will give out awards for that here at the Legends.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
But jamb will be on for three until four.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Then it is the Colts pregame huddle from four until
six because the Colts in action tonight taking on the.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Baltimore Ravens preseason game number one on the radio. Call
for it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
He is nice enough to give us a little time today,
Matt Taylor joining us on the program. Matt, I'm going
to begin with this because I think I certainly find
this interesting, and that is I am curious, and I
know that in the preseason it's probably different than the
regular season, But what is the actual schedule for an
NFL team on game day in terms of like the
(21:02):
time that they first start assembling to when they head
to the stadium, et cetera. Can you kind of walk
us through what a day looks like on a game day?
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Yeah, Well, when you play in primetime or in this
case seven o'clock, but evening night game, it's a whole
lot of sitting around and waiting. It feels like the
game doesn't start till eleven o'clock. So, long story short,
they have different waves of options for guys. So there's
a pregame meal that's probably going on right around now.
(21:32):
It's one point thirty right now. It probably goes until
about three o'clock. There is an equipment bus that goes
over early. That's when the equipment guys go over and
kind of put the final finishing touches on setting up
the locker room and getting the training tables all set
and things like that. You've got the medical guys going
(21:53):
over shortly thereafter, and then guys can kind of go
over in waves. They can kind of pick the different
times of of buses they go over, depending on who
you are and what your pregame routine is. If you're
kind of banged up, maybe you go early to get
treatment and some rehab and stuff like that. But you
know we're gonna get there about you know, three fifteen,
(22:14):
and me just speaking for me personally, get there and
kind of set up, and you said the pregame show
is going to start at four. Kind of be there
to help oversee that and set up my stuff and
kind of get situated. So you know, I like to
get there early just to kind of feel like, you know,
you're there and you're all set up, get your bearings,
go through notes, don't feel rushed and things like that. So,
(22:36):
you know, in a typical regular season one o'clock game,
let's say a home game, I'm usually at the stadium
by nine point thirty and just kind of like to,
you know, casually go through the notes one more time,
memorize the roster, and just feel like you're extra paired
for game day.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
When you are doing a game like tonight and I listen, Matt,
this is the real this is tonight tonight where you
earn your money. And I mean that in a good way,
because you know you've got to and it's a credit
to you.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You've got to.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Call some names and know some names on both sides
of the football. That it may be the only time
that you're seeing these guys play because they don't make
the roster. You know, that's probably more so I can
say game three, but nonetheless you are seeing players with
which you're relatively unfamiliar. What point in the game do
you feel like you've got an instinctive nature on the
(23:27):
rivals or the other team's roster or is it literally
a learning process for all four quarters.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
I mean it's the wild wild West now. As you know, Jake,
we used to have four preseason games and there used
to be like a little bit of a rhythm to it.
You know, we had the starters that play a quarter,
then they play a quarter and a half, and then
the third game they'd play a full half address rehearsal concept.
Then the fourth game nobody would play. It'd be the
back end of the roster.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Now what joint practice is and only having three preseason games.
It's just like everybody's got a different objective and what
they're trying to get out of the preseason in terms
of playing time and how much we're going to see
starters and stuff like that. So that's a long winded
way of saying you've got to be ready for anything
and everything, and so there's really no rhythm to it.
I suspect with the Ravens tonight, they're not going to
(24:16):
play any of their starters, and I don't even know
if they're going to play some of the rotational guys
in the in their two deep, you know, second string guys.
So I think I'm going to see a lot of
their threes and fours really throughout the course of the night.
And so yeah, to your point, you've got to be
prepared for all of that. You got to know all
the cults roster. I mean, it's one hundred and eighty guys.
(24:37):
It's a lot of work. You do have to sort
of earn your money. This time of year, the month
of August. I always say it's its own season because
you've got training camp and it's different times in different days,
and you're playing on different days. You got one hundred
and eighty guys, ninety man rosters. It's just completely different
from a routine standpoint, because there is no routine in
(25:02):
the regular season. The regular season is all about the
stars and the front end roster guys and the you know,
think that the starters obviously play the entire game. There's
a rhythm to the week. You know, Monday's Monday, Tuesday, Tuesday.
So August is just sort of like controlled chaos. Right,
We've been in Baltimore for four days a joint practice.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
But it's fun.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
I mean, this is this is literally you know a
lot of these guys super Bowls, trying to make the roster,
trying to stick in the NFL, and so you owe
it to them to tell their story, you know, get
things right and hype them up as much as you can,
knowing this is a huge opportunity for a drafted free agents,
for guys that are just trying to continue to get
a paycheck playing professional football.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Matt Taylor's our voice is our guest. I should say
the voice. Hees our voice too. When it comes to
the Colts, the voice are the Colts. Matt, give me
the name of a guy that you realized very early
in camp you better get used to because you're going
to be saying it a lot, and you did not
think three weeks ago perhaps that would be the case.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Yeah, I love that question. I think on on offense,
you know, I'm gonna be saying, uh, Tyler Commons name
a lot. I think he's gonna play a lot tonight,
especially in the second half, you know, after the Daniel
Jones run is over. Uh. He's a Division two guy
for the Colts from Emporia State and Uh he was
a finalist boar what basically the equivalent of the Division
(26:28):
two Heisman Trophy. He set all kinds of conference records
and Pooria State is a Division two school from Kansas,
and he set the program record for catches and yards
and receiving touchdowns. Could have transferred up, but knew that
he had a chance to really shine and fall out
there and get a ton of playing time and make
a name for himself at that level and then get
(26:50):
a shot as an undrafted guy in the NFL with
the Colts. Coleman Owen is a name that I think
you're gonna see a lot tonight as well. He's a
slot receiver, kind of a Josh Downs type of player,
and he is really impactful. He's catching a lot of
balls in training camp. Undrafted guy at of Ohio dominated
(27:10):
the mac and then on defense because of the the
war of attrition at that spot at cornerback. Jonathan Edwards,
he is a undrafted rookie free agent transferred from Indiana State.
He played three years for the Sycamore so he's got
a little bit of a hoosier tied to him down
at Tara Hate but transferred to Tulane As last year.
(27:31):
But he's playing a lot because Jalen Jones is banged up.
Juju Brentz is still dealing with the hamstring. I don't
think we're gonna see Charvarius war tonight for obvious reasons.
And then Justin Wally got banged up in practice on Tuesday,
and I'm not sure if he's gonna play tonight either.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Boy. He's a good camp Justin Wally, right.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Yeah, And it's unfortunate, Jake, because you wanted to see
him out there on a game field. You just you
were so impressed with everything that he was doing in
training camp, running with the first team defense. You know,
just I know it's a preseason game field, but you
just wanted to see him go up against different guys
in a different uniform in a different setting. So I
don't know if you're going to see that tonight, but
(28:11):
Jonathan Edwards is going to get some more playing time.
Alex Johnson's gonna get some more playing time. Chris Lamon's
you know some of the Trey Herndon, Duke Shelley, these
are guys they signed just for depth purposes because of
the injuries in camp. But I think, you know, Rick
Venturia always likes to say like, I'm going to know
your number and not your name until I need to
(28:31):
know your name, and I think number thirty five for
the Colts, Jonathan Edwards is on a first name basis
now because he is making place, getting a lot of
run with the second team defense, and I think you're
going to see him a lot tonight because of the
guys banged up on the depth.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Chart ahead of him.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Matt, you're probably I don't know if you would remember
this because it was my childhood and that was probably
gone by by your childhood. But before there were in cars,
before you had the automatic like standard cup holder that
was made with in a car. There was a trend
in the late seventies into the early eighties where you
could buy these little plastic things that hung on the
(29:06):
window sill of your car and you could put your
can in them, your your can of coke or whatever.
Do you know in all what I'm talking about, does
that sound in any way vaguely familiar at all?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Percent? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (29:16):
And they were oftentimes like swags, you know, like people
would put logos on them and get them away correct
something correct.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
So the one time in my life that I've been
to Emporia, Kansas, my buddy Sean Hoog from the University
of Kansas, I went back to his hometown for a
weekend to hang out. And we're driving past in the
middle of Emporia, Kansas, just on the outskirts of Emporia State,
and there's this massive rolling of state, I mean, a
huge house, and holy cow, who in the world lives there?
And the guy goes, you know, those little plastic things
(29:45):
and he describes what we just talked about.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Goyah.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
He goes, that guy that lives in that house invented him,
some farmer like invented them. Wanted one for his John
Deere made like fifteen million in nineteen seventy eight and
called it today. Now, probably what he's doing is writing
nil checks for the Heisman Trophy finalists of the Division
two football recks, right.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
And everything comes back. I mean this nostalgia and ad
vintage there right now. I mean people were throwing those
throwing those away because they didn't need them anymore, and
now it's cool to have that kind of stuff. That's right,
kind of digging for those things at goodwill to kind of.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Bring him back in vogue. Well, that's old as new, buddy.
What's old is new? Right, That's exactly right, same thing
with fact.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Okay, well yeah, listen, I've got my entire closet of stuff.
I'm waiting for the for the rebound, right, I mean,
let's let's be real, okay, Matt, So again, about three
fifteen is when you will head over tonight and then
things will get underway. You will be on the pregame
overseeing that are helping out with that at four o'clock
right here on this radio station. And then of course
the game tonight between the Colts and the Ravens. I
(30:44):
always appreciate the time. I know it's a busy day
so certainly enjoy the kind of calm before the storm,
all right, and have a good call tonight.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I appreciate you guys. By the way, Jake, I did
take a wreck golf class at Franklin College that involved
us doing a golf chapter and we would just go
whack balls for about forty five minutes at the Legends
at Franklin, So I know that course.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I forgot you're at Grizzly. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
So yeah, a lot of pride for where you're at
right now.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
You're in godth I appreciate it. It is God's country.
It's nice down here.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
It is nice, and like I mentioned, we're doing it
all to help people out with Franciscan health Care Foundation. Matt,
appreciate it all right, Jake, be well
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Right, Matt Taylor joining us on the program.
Stephen Holder joins us now, and I'm sure thrilled to
be doing so as the Colts get set tonight to
take on the Baltimore Ravens preseason game number one.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Of course, you see Steven on ESPN. You can read
his work there as well.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Uh, Steven, I was just asking that question of so,
if the nickel is just the fifth corner, right, isn't
that what the nickel is?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I mean, essentially, yes, it's five. It means five defensive backs,
so you're the fifth.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yes, okay, So then a dime package is six defensive backs, right?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
That is correct?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So so, in other words, because you're adding two, right,
that's why it's called a dime right, because you're adding
two and five and five is ten?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Is that right? I don't want that to be right,
because that makes too much sense.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I've never thought about this. You'll be shocked to learn
that you are confronting me with something that I had
not thought about. But I'm now kind of curious. I'm
not gonna lie to you.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What the time, what percent of the time that you
and I talk, whether it be on the radio or
at a pacer game, do you say to yourself, you know,
that's actually he just mentioned something I've never thought about before.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
A high percentage.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Correct, it happens a time or two. Yeah, it definitely does.
It's not uncommon. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay. Also, I'll tell you what is uncommon.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yes, I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
It's that, or I just have like you know, massive
like some sort of add But I'll tell you what
is uncommon. What is uncommon is oftentimes for a team
in preseason game number one to show a lot and
give you indication as to what they may look like
schematically speaking in the regular season. Is that going to
be true to formed tonight? And if you look at
(01:42):
based on the practice itself, is one of the two
teams between the Colts or the Ravens more likely than
the other to maybe open the playbook up a little
bit more than.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The other one?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah? I think. I think if if there is one
team likely to do it, it's the Pulse because of
the situation they're in. They're trying to evaluate the quarterbacks.
You know, you got to give him something to work
with at the same time. Shane Stike, and if I
know him like I think I do, he is a
stickler for not showing a lot and wanting to surprise
(02:17):
his opponents. You see even how he handles, for example, injuries, right,
he is he is notoriously mysterious about that. He's very
honest about why he doesn't want his opponents to know anything.
So so I find it unlikely that that guy's going
to show a ton in this game. But we'll see
(02:37):
how it goes. And they won't play everybody on offense.
Even though Anthony Richardson's gonna play, Michael Pittman's not going
to play in this game.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You may have even.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Some offensive linemen. You know, I don't know that Quinton
Nelson's gonna play. For example, he may play a series,
but he might not be out there the whole time
with Anthony Richardson, just as an example.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Does Okay Steven, here's a question that I brought up earlier,
and it's one of those that I just kind of
spontaneously thought of, and then I thought, well, I'm probably
a moron for asking this, and then I thought, maybe
I'm not as big a moron as I think Okay does.
For example, the center position, I think for certain that's Bordelini,
(03:16):
but Pincher's gotten a little bit of rep there the
line seemingly is almost set for the most part for
the Colts, but does in particular the center position is
in any way, shape or form that situation.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Linked to the quarterback spot.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
In other words, if it's Anthony Richardson that you think
is going to be your starter, do you go with
a center that has a flexibility or a range of
motion or whatever it may be that is more based
on what Richardson can improvise versus another at that spot.
And then feel free to tell me if in fact
that's the dumbest thing you've ever heard.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Okay, well, no, that won't be the case. They won't
make any there won't be any considerations like that. And
at the end of the day, the continuity with the
five men on the offensive line that matters more than
any of that other stuff. Whether whether that's the case
or not, it's trumps all of that, right. You want
(04:16):
the continuity, particularly a position like center, because you know
he can get used to the quarterbacks, both quarterbacks, you
know their cadences, the way they operate, et cetera. You
want to have continuity at that position just about as
much as anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I think.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
So, no, no, there won't be any consideration.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Like that, is there a battle to look for tonight?
Or let me rephrase that, is there somebody tonight? Stephen Holder,
our guest ESPN dot com.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
We are at the.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Legends in Franklin for the Fan Invitational Golf outing. Stephen
as the Colts take to the field tonight against the
Ravens in preseason game number one. Give me a player
that this outing is big for them than you would
have guessed when everyone reported to camp.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
M Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Actually a guy that I've really taken a liking to
its Hunter Wohler, the seventh round picks from Wisconsin. You know, listen,
I've covered a lot of a lot of seventh round
picks in my time. I say they got about a
one and two chance of even making the roster. Okay,
this guy, though, every day he makes another play to
(05:29):
the point where the coaches are like, well, screw it,
maybe this guy should be on the field. So can
he take it from practice to the actual game. And
if you can do that, then then you're really cook
him with gas with that kid, and then you can
see how much more you can give him. Look, I
don't think he's gonna start or anything, but there's gonna
be a role for him potentially in this defense. You know,
(05:51):
we talked about the dime defense earlier in this interview,
and they will use some of that. They will use
different packages on defense. You know, well call him sub packages.
You have your base defense against your nickel defense and
all the other sub packages. He could be in one
of those where they just go heavy on the dbs.
And that's why this kind of deemphasized the linebackers. They've
(06:11):
also had him playing a little bit of a linebacker
role as well. So he's versatile, he's instinctive. He's a
football junkie. You know, he's your cliche guy, you know,
sort of a Wisconsin cliche guy. But that's listen, that's
what you want out of your late round picks.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Steven. How many running backs with the Colts carry So.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I think the maximums four is what I think, and
if it is, for that fourth guy needs to be
a real special team's standout. So we'll see how those
roles develop. But but I think I think forrest tops
you're really going to use three, I think at maximum.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And they've already had attrition in that position.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So if you looked at it, if they go with
who is what's the dividing line between three and four?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
And how close is it?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Well, I mean I think right now, I feel like
one and two we kind of know. I mean, number
one you might have heard of Johnathan Taylor, and certainly
they've gotten a really good they've gotten a really good
running back. Sorry, yes, that's correct. Yes, and and that's
been a good one two punch. Number three, I guess
(07:25):
is a little more I mean a little more fluid.
But I think the dividing line is going to be,
you know, who is the guy who, if if he
has to, if he has to fill in, can perform
all the different roles. So you're probably looking more for
for versatility in terms of role for your number three guy.
(07:46):
Like I said, number four is probably more special teams.
Number three needs to be the guy who, if somebody
goes down, gets the hamstring, et cetera, you can come
in and you can perform any role you can play, first, second, third, down,
And so that has to play out a little more.
Think the the preseason will give us a good indication
of that.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
However, and Giddins is for those that have not seen him,
and I'm going a little bit Steven Steven Holder, our
guest with DJ Giddens. I'm going a little bit off
of the narrative about him coming out of college. But
you say one two combo with Jonathan Taylor. He seems
to me to be a guy that can bounce outside
(08:24):
and do Jonathan Taylor things. But is a more between
the tackles durability back? Is that a fair way of
assessing his skill set?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So I I do think I do think that's somewhat true.
But when you say between the tackles, the only the
only thing I would quibble with is that he's not
this sort of you know, uh, you know, big bruising,
physical runner. He's he's gonna be He's gonna make his
cut and go. He's got a really good ability to
change direction. He doesn't He's not gonna have the same
(08:58):
explosion as Jonathan Taylor. When Taylor puts his foot in
the ground, you know, to use a coach's you know cliche,
he explodes out of the touch. These Giddons didn't quite that.
But he does have explosiveness and and I think his
top end speed is really impressive. So the other thing
about him is I really think he has a great
(09:19):
opportunity to be a third down back. He's shown really
good hands in training camp, and I'll be honest, we
had this Jonathan Taylor's greatest weakness. He doesn't have reliable hands,
and as a pass protector, I can't I still can't
understand why Jonathan Taylor hasn't gotten better at that over
the years. He's too good of an athlete. But it's
(09:39):
the one point of frustration I would say about Jonathan
Taylor is like, Buddy, go block that landbacker.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Well, Steve, you know what's interesting?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And I realized for Jonathan Taylor, he's not overly concerned
with the history of the indian you know what. But
that said, Indianapolis is and I think this fan base
in this franchise has been spoiled by having traditionally very
good blocking backs. Right, some of the best backs that
have come through here, now I ain't you know, I'm
not talking to Eric Dickerson here, but from Albert Bentley
(10:08):
to it was the most underappreciated aspect of Vedrin James's game.
Joseph and I could do it as well, right, And
that is a critical point. It is such a benefit
when you get that.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, look you were not going to play with Peyton
Manning if you couldn't do that, Okay. He was counting
on everybody to execute, and if you didn't execute, you
were going to hear about it from from that Sunday
to the following Sunday.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So there just wasn't any tolerance for that in that
offense when when Peyton Manning is at the controls, and
I think that's fine. I'm fine with that. I think
that should be the expectations. You know, look that the
quarterback has to be able to operate, and look when
you when you can't, when you can't protect the quarterback
as a as a running back, you know, you put
(10:55):
him in jeopardy. You just really put him in jeopardy.
So anyway, I do think Jon Taylor tries, but he
just doesn't execute well in that area, and even people
close to him understand that. It's it's been an issue.
So it's why he hasn't taught more passes in his
career and it's why they haven't kept him on the
field as much on third down. I still think they
(11:16):
should give him chances in the passing game because when
he does catch the ball and you give him the
ball in the open field. It's still Jonathan Taylor in
the open field. So I think there's some calculated risks there,
but you'd like him to be more proficient in the
passing game in all.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Areas, Steve, and Steven Holder is our guest. When you
were in college at the University of Miami, you lived
in I assume at least your freshman year. Did you
live in the dorms for a year maybe two?
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I did initially live in the dorm yes.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Okay, when you lived in the dorms, did you In Indiana?
Uker was a huge card game. Everybody played Uker. I
think that's kind of a Midwestern who's your thing? Did
you ever get into playing cards, whether it be poker,
whether it be you know, rummy, whatever, your hearts, spades, whatever.
Did you ever play cards when you were in college?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Not a ton? So I guess I'm gonna mess up
whatever whatever storyline you're going for here. But but but
I mean, yeah, I've played cards in my life.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yes, okay, okay, So with that said, we we wagered
into or ventured into a discussion slash debate earlier, did
Eddie and myself and I want you Stephen Holder to
work as the judge and jury here. Okay, when I
asked you about card games and I said, you know,
what sort of card games do you play?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
You care the ones that I just mentioned.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I'm not saying Eddie's even wrong in this, but I
think it's an interesting discussion. Do you consider Uno to
be a card game? Or is Uno a game that
happens to utilize cards?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I would say, not a card game.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I would say, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
I think it's its own thing. It's its own separate thing. Yeah,
so I don't know on what side of that, but
hang on.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I'm texting Shannon right now to let her know you're
still in for the mix with Pacer tickets for next year.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Because you agree with me on this one. You are correct.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now the other one, which is an age old debate
that I've done on the show before, Steven, and then
we'll move along. I promise back to the Colts because
I have a Baltimore question for you. But that is
this is it, and I've done this one before, but
it came back up again because I was walking into
it and I saw the sign and then my brain
started working on it again.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Pet Smart, is.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
It a mart for pets or is it a you
have a smart pet based on pet smart?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Wow, another one that I have never thought about. That's
so we're not super too here. This is good. I
don't know. Let's see. I will tell you what my
brain has interpreted it as. Okay, that's the one who
shops there. I interpreted it as like pets and then
(14:02):
smart in this regard, like you're smart if you stop
here for your pet.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
That's just the way my understanding.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Hold on, but hold on, Steven, let me state my
case here. Okay, what about the fact that the bouncing
ball that is landing between the T and the S
is the appearance of an apostrophe. Thus that is thus
pets smart. And I'm with you to a great extent,
except for when you're walking in. If it is one
(14:33):
that happens to have a boarding division, it also says
out front pets Hotel p E T S h O
T E L. Thus, if it is pets hotel, meaning
a hotel for pets, then pet smart would mean a
mart for pets.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Now does that? Am I fair enough? Okay? Thank you?
So you're going on this one, no.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I will, I will admit I never considered.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It just never my mind never digested it that way.
Had I had I done that, I probably would have
considered all these great arguments you've just made that I'm
sure you've been thinking about for a very long time.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I'm I'm texting Shannon again.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Disregard previous texts regarding tickets, Steven, what will we see
tonight if anything, or what you anticipate based on the
practice out of the Ravens and some of the challenges
or intrigue that could be presented for the Colts or
an area where it's going to be benefit to have
preseason game number one taking place against the Ravens because
(15:40):
it will test Indianapolis in this area.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
And their play their key guys. I don't believe mar
Jackson's gonna play. I think there are actually quite a
few Ravens seats tonight. They are a veteran team, they
know what they have. They're just trying to get to
week one. Let's be honest. They're talking about trying to,
you know, find their depths pieces and develop their young guys.
That's what it's about for the Ravens. I think that
(16:09):
that's why you do the joint practices is really for
your veterans, and you know, have them play in a
controlled environment and not have to subject them to the
tackling in the preseason, so you won't see Lamar. They
did see him in practice quite a bit. I thought
the Colts held their own. I was pretty impressed, in fact,
and I came away from that joint practice feeling like
(16:32):
this team. I feel better about the Colts after that
joint practice. I feel better about the quarterbacks, and I
feel better about the team just overall as well. So
I thought it was a very productive week and we'll
see if they can finish it off tonight.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Okay, lastly, Stephen, before we let you go, personal opinion. Okay,
Baltimore underrated as a city? What say you?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
So? I got to give Baltimore more of a chance.
I've been there for three days now and not really
done much of anything. In fact, this is kind of sad.
Yesterday I had a free afternoon and I used it
to drive down to DC. So that's that's now and now,
and now I'm actually driving out to have lunch with
(17:22):
my cousin who lives just across the border in Pennsylvania.
So yeah, we haven't I haven't made the most.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Of by the way, that border of which you speak
between Pennsylvania and Maryland is actually actually the Mason Dixon Line.
Contrary to many people believing it is a more southern line,
the Mason Dixon Line separates Pennsylvania from Maryland. Fun fact,
rookie mistake on your behalf of driving from Baltimore to
(17:50):
d C. Because you should have taken the train, because
that's the true East Coast experience. And lastly, what and
I'm kicking myself that I didn't I tell you of
this earlier, but I have mentioned this on the radio
many times because it absolutely mesmerizes me. And it shows
you what the Colts meant to the city of Baltimore
(18:12):
at its you know, in their prime. There is a
bar in the Fells Point area of Baltimore, which is
a cool area. It's kind of an older historical area.
And maybe I've told you this before. And on the
wall of the bar they have a glass topped coffin
that is painted as a mayflower truck. And inside the
(18:35):
coffin they have a wax body of bob Ersay with
a quote on it that says, ed Schaeffer is my
friend and we won't leave Baltimore. And then on the
other side it says he lied, so he died. And
on key moments in Raven's history, they take the bob
or say dummy down and people do body shots off
(18:56):
of it in the bar. I didn't believe it. I
went and saw it myself. All of that factual. And
that's your side experienced side trip to do when you
get back from your cousins.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
That is. That is one of the top ten most
amazing stories I think I've ever heard.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That is a true story. That is a true story. Incredible. Yeah, okay,
we got to end the interview.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
There. I got nothing.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I'm telling you. I'll send you the name of the
place you can go find. I didn't believe it either,
and I went in and I'm like, holy cow, there
it is, and I'm like, I got it. They assund
some journalism.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
This requires some journals.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
They ain't messing around, man, I'm telling you right now.
All right, Steven holder the game tonight. The Colts and
the Raven Steven appreciate it as always. Man, travel safe. Okay,
all right, you got it. Thanks, all right. Steven went
one for two on the you know, and the PetSmart.
We're at the Legends down in Franklin. This is an
awesome golf course, awesome and it's a great event today,
(19:55):
all to benefit the Franciscan Health Foundation and their cancer
care program. You get me talking to lot about Franciscan
and their cardiovascular care, but also their compassion when it
comes to those who are entering that journey with cancer.
That's what Franciscan's foundation is for and we're raising money
for it today. Silent auction items are here. A lot
of golfers that went out shotguns start at ten thirty.
(20:17):
They're starting to kind of roll themselves in here, I
would imagine in the next hour or so, and right
in the transition when between myself and JMV is when
a lot of the golfers will be finished and we
will give out awards for that here at the Legends.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
But jamb will be on for three until four.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Then it is the Colts pregame huddle from four until
six because the Colts in action tonight taking on the.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Baltimore Ravens preseason game number one on the radio. Call
for it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
He is nice enough to give us a little time today,
Matt Taylor joining us on the program. Matt, I'm going
to begin with this because I think I certainly find
this interesting, and that is I am curious, and I
know that in the preseason it's probably different than the
regular season, But what is the actual schedule for an
NFL team on game day in terms of like the
(21:02):
time that they first start assembling to when they head
to the stadium, et cetera. Can you kind of walk
us through what a day looks like on a game day?
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Yeah, Well, when you play in primetime or in this
case seven o'clock, but evening night game, it's a whole
lot of sitting around and waiting. It feels like the
game doesn't start till eleven o'clock. So, long story short,
they have different waves of options for guys. So there's
a pregame meal that's probably going on right around now.
(21:32):
It's one point thirty right now. It probably goes until
about three o'clock. There is an equipment bus that goes
over early. That's when the equipment guys go over and
kind of put the final finishing touches on setting up
the locker room and getting the training tables all set
and things like that. You've got the medical guys going
(21:53):
over shortly thereafter, and then guys can kind of go
over in waves. They can kind of pick the different
times of of buses they go over, depending on who
you are and what your pregame routine is. If you're
kind of banged up, maybe you go early to get
treatment and some rehab and stuff like that. But you
know we're gonna get there about you know, three fifteen,
(22:14):
and me just speaking for me personally, get there and
kind of set up, and you said the pregame show
is going to start at four. Kind of be there
to help oversee that and set up my stuff and
kind of get situated. So you know, I like to
get there early just to kind of feel like, you know,
you're there and you're all set up, get your bearings,
go through notes, don't feel rushed and things like that. So,
(22:36):
you know, in a typical regular season one o'clock game,
let's say a home game, I'm usually at the stadium
by nine point thirty and just kind of like to,
you know, casually go through the notes one more time,
memorize the roster, and just feel like you're extra paired
for game day.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
When you are doing a game like tonight and I listen, Matt,
this is the real this is tonight tonight where you
earn your money. And I mean that in a good way,
because you know you've got to and it's a credit
to you.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You've got to.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Call some names and know some names on both sides
of the football. That it may be the only time
that you're seeing these guys play because they don't make
the roster. You know, that's probably more so I can
say game three, but nonetheless you are seeing players with
which you're relatively unfamiliar. What point in the game do
you feel like you've got an instinctive nature on the
(23:27):
rivals or the other team's roster or is it literally
a learning process for all four quarters.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
I mean it's the wild wild West now. As you know, Jake,
we used to have four preseason games and there used
to be like a little bit of a rhythm to it.
You know, we had the starters that play a quarter,
then they play a quarter and a half, and then
the third game they'd play a full half address rehearsal concept.
Then the fourth game nobody would play. It'd be the
back end of the roster.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Now what joint practice is and only having three preseason games.
It's just like everybody's got a different objective and what
they're trying to get out of the preseason in terms
of playing time and how much we're going to see
starters and stuff like that. So that's a long winded
way of saying you've got to be ready for anything
and everything, and so there's really no rhythm to it.
I suspect with the Ravens tonight, they're not going to
(24:16):
play any of their starters, and I don't even know
if they're going to play some of the rotational guys
in the in their two deep, you know, second string guys.
So I think I'm going to see a lot of
their threes and fours really throughout the course of the night.
And so yeah, to your point, you've got to be
prepared for all of that. You got to know all
the cults roster. I mean, it's one hundred and eighty guys.
(24:37):
It's a lot of work. You do have to sort
of earn your money. This time of year, the month
of August. I always say it's its own season because
you've got training camp and it's different times in different days,
and you're playing on different days. You got one hundred
and eighty guys, ninety man rosters. It's just completely different
from a routine standpoint, because there is no routine in
(25:02):
the regular season. The regular season is all about the
stars and the front end roster guys and the you know,
think that the starters obviously play the entire game. There's
a rhythm to the week. You know, Monday's Monday, Tuesday, Tuesday.
So August is just sort of like controlled chaos. Right,
We've been in Baltimore for four days a joint practice.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
But it's fun.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
I mean, this is this is literally you know a
lot of these guys super Bowls, trying to make the roster,
trying to stick in the NFL, and so you owe
it to them to tell their story, you know, get
things right and hype them up as much as you can,
knowing this is a huge opportunity for a drafted free agents,
for guys that are just trying to continue to get
a paycheck playing professional football.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Matt Taylor's our voice is our guest. I should say
the voice. Hees our voice too. When it comes to
the Colts, the voice are the Colts. Matt, give me
the name of a guy that you realized very early
in camp you better get used to because you're going
to be saying it a lot, and you did not
think three weeks ago perhaps that would be the case.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Yeah, I love that question. I think on on offense,
you know, I'm gonna be saying, uh, Tyler Commons name
a lot. I think he's gonna play a lot tonight,
especially in the second half, you know, after the Daniel
Jones run is over. Uh. He's a Division two guy
for the Colts from Emporia State and Uh he was
a finalist boar what basically the equivalent of the Division
(26:28):
two Heisman Trophy. He set all kinds of conference records
and Pooria State is a Division two school from Kansas,
and he set the program record for catches and yards
and receiving touchdowns. Could have transferred up, but knew that
he had a chance to really shine and fall out
there and get a ton of playing time and make
a name for himself at that level and then get
(26:50):
a shot as an undrafted guy in the NFL with
the Colts. Coleman Owen is a name that I think
you're gonna see a lot tonight as well. He's a
slot receiver, kind of a Josh Downs type of player,
and he is really impactful. He's catching a lot of
balls in training camp. Undrafted guy at of Ohio dominated
(27:10):
the mac and then on defense because of the the
war of attrition at that spot at cornerback. Jonathan Edwards,
he is a undrafted rookie free agent transferred from Indiana State.
He played three years for the Sycamore so he's got
a little bit of a hoosier tied to him down
at Tara Hate but transferred to Tulane As last year.
(27:31):
But he's playing a lot because Jalen Jones is banged up.
Juju Brentz is still dealing with the hamstring. I don't
think we're gonna see Charvarius war tonight for obvious reasons.
And then Justin Wally got banged up in practice on Tuesday,
and I'm not sure if he's gonna play tonight either.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Boy. He's a good camp Justin Wally, right.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Yeah, And it's unfortunate, Jake, because you wanted to see
him out there on a game field. You just you
were so impressed with everything that he was doing in
training camp, running with the first team defense. You know,
just I know it's a preseason game field, but you
just wanted to see him go up against different guys
in a different uniform in a different setting. So I
don't know if you're going to see that tonight, but
(28:11):
Jonathan Edwards is going to get some more playing time.
Alex Johnson's gonna get some more playing time. Chris Lamon's
you know some of the Trey Herndon, Duke Shelley, these
are guys they signed just for depth purposes because of
the injuries in camp. But I think, you know, Rick
Venturia always likes to say like, I'm going to know
your number and not your name until I need to
(28:31):
know your name, and I think number thirty five for
the Colts, Jonathan Edwards is on a first name basis
now because he is making place, getting a lot of
run with the second team defense, and I think you're
going to see him a lot tonight because of the
guys banged up on the depth.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Chart ahead of him.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Matt, you're probably I don't know if you would remember
this because it was my childhood and that was probably
gone by by your childhood. But before there were in cars,
before you had the automatic like standard cup holder that
was made with in a car. There was a trend
in the late seventies into the early eighties where you
could buy these little plastic things that hung on the
(29:06):
window sill of your car and you could put your
can in them, your your can of coke or whatever.
Do you know in all what I'm talking about, does
that sound in any way vaguely familiar at all?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Percent? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (29:16):
And they were oftentimes like swags, you know, like people
would put logos on them and get them away correct
something correct.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
So the one time in my life that I've been
to Emporia, Kansas, my buddy Sean Hoog from the University
of Kansas, I went back to his hometown for a
weekend to hang out. And we're driving past in the
middle of Emporia, Kansas, just on the outskirts of Emporia State,
and there's this massive rolling of state, I mean, a
huge house, and holy cow, who in the world lives there?
And the guy goes, you know, those little plastic things
(29:45):
and he describes what we just talked about.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Goyah.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
He goes, that guy that lives in that house invented him,
some farmer like invented them. Wanted one for his John
Deere made like fifteen million in nineteen seventy eight and
called it today. Now, probably what he's doing is writing
nil checks for the Heisman Trophy finalists of the Division
two football recks, right.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
And everything comes back. I mean this nostalgia and ad
vintage there right now. I mean people were throwing those
throwing those away because they didn't need them anymore, and
now it's cool to have that kind of stuff. That's right,
kind of digging for those things at goodwill to kind of.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Bring him back in vogue. Well, that's old as new, buddy.
What's old is new? Right, That's exactly right, same thing
with fact.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Okay, well yeah, listen, I've got my entire closet of stuff.
I'm waiting for the for the rebound, right, I mean,
let's let's be real, okay, Matt, So again, about three
fifteen is when you will head over tonight and then
things will get underway. You will be on the pregame
overseeing that are helping out with that at four o'clock
right here on this radio station. And then of course
the game tonight between the Colts and the Ravens. I
(30:44):
always appreciate the time. I know it's a busy day
so certainly enjoy the kind of calm before the storm,
all right, and have a good call tonight.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
I appreciate you guys. By the way, Jake, I did
take a wreck golf class at Franklin College that involved
us doing a golf chapter and we would just go
whack balls for about forty five minutes at the Legends
at Franklin, So I know that course.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I forgot you're at Grizzly. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
So yeah, a lot of pride for where you're at
right now.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
You're in godth I appreciate it. It is God's country.
It's nice down here.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
It is nice, and like I mentioned, we're doing it
all to help people out with Franciscan health Care Foundation. Matt,
appreciate it all right, Jake, be well
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Right, Matt Taylor joining us on the program.
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