Best Of Query & Company - Friday 10/3/25

Today’s Best of Features:

(00:00-19:32) – Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White makes her final appearance of the season on Query & Company to recap an emotional season that ended earlier in this week. She also comments on where the league is at right now, accesses if the WNBA has the right leadership right now, and highlights what was different about this group compared to any other group of players that she has coached.

(19:32-36:38) – Matt Taylor, radio voice of the Colts, joins Query & Company to preview this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Matt and Jake start their conversation by discussing the latest injury updates for the Colts, the different ways Tyler Warren has been utilized, and explains the challenge that Ashton Jeanty presents.

(36:38-1:02:30) – The Fan’s Kevin Bowen makes his weekly appearance on the show to discuss the injury report for Sunday’s game between the Colts and Raiders with Jake Query. He weighs in on what the expectation was for Adonai Mitchell this week versus what it will be now without Alec Pierce. Kevin also comments on what type of game this is for the Colts and shares some areas of concern still for him through four weeks.

Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was super worried that when coach Stephanie White or
the Fever said she likes Adele and that that's what
she wanted as her intro music, that considering that their
year came to an end, I was worried that you
were going to get snarky with it and play the
we could have had it all and then it gets uncomfortable,
you know what I mean, because there are two ways
when a season ends, I think oftentimes and look for

(00:22):
any team, it goes without saying for any team when
a season ends, there is disappointment right in the moment,
but then you can kind of step back and get
a broader view of it. And I wanted to do
exactly that with the head coach of the Indiana Fever
who joins us on the program, Stephanie White, coach, how
are you?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm doing all right?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
How about you?

Speaker 1 (00:43):
No complaints? I wanted to I wanted to begin with this.
I wanted to read you this, and this is one
of many comments that I got when we talked about,
you know, that overtime performance with Las Vegas and everything
that went into that game and the resolve that your
team showed. I got the following from a guy who
is a high school basketball coach. He said last night,

(01:08):
it was so spot on when everything you talked about
and how it leads to being so proud of a
sports team. Win or lose is one thing, but sometimes
a team does everything that you would want in a team,
and it's something that is a fan it makes you
proud of the fact that they represent. Nice job to
the fever of representing Indiana basketball the right way, and

(01:29):
I totally agree with that. And I'm curious though, if
you know, from a professional standpoint, because you have a
job to do, coach, are you able to really step
back and say that was remarkable what we were able
to do.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
You know, I think maybe in a couple of weeks
I'll be able to do that. Really realistically, you look
at it and you think, yes, it's pretty remarkable. But
at the same time, that's what sport is all about.
Out I mean, we think about, you know, the history
of sport. It's it's oftentimes the most inspirational stories are

(02:08):
the are the you know, remarkable ones right against all odds, ones,
the ones that have you know, really good human beings
that that set an example for for life, not just
for sport, and you know that's what this group was,
you know. And and oftentimes when you when you may
not be as talented as your opponent, or when you
may not you know, have have all of the things

(02:30):
that that that that that other teams or other people do,
it takes the intangibles, uh, and it takes the connectedness,
and it takes uh something different inside of you. And
and I think that that's what this group.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Has had you. There was a clip that was shown
on television where they had you miked up and during
a time it was after Kelsey Mitchell had gone down.
And you know, we now know that that injury. And
I want to give full kudos and credit to the
medical staff that was there because we thought it was
just oh as a leg cramp, and we now know

(03:02):
that that's something that could have been more severe and
will be monitored moving forward. But thankfully they were just
so fast to act on that and and and that
deserves a tip of the cap. But you've got to
then kind of rally your team together and you're saying
to them, no one is more prepared for and I'm paraphrasing,
no one is better built to be able to respond

(03:22):
to this than we are. Nobody can handle this like
we can. When you were saying that, coach, could you
see in their eyes that they that they believed what
you were saying.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Uh, you know, I.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
Think I saw fear to start.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
And that's why I said it, because we had had
so many of those of those moments, and at the time,
we obviously didn't know what was going on with Kelsey. Uh.
We thought it was cramp cramping as well, and so
you know, the severity of of of what was happening
wasn't there. But in any time you see a teammate

(03:54):
go down, it's it's hard. And we've had all many
of those moments, unfortunately throughout the course of the year,
and we've had to rally around them and rally for them,
and and and rally one another, and so you know,
in that moment, it was just a sense that it
could have been been a breaking point for our team.

(04:17):
But reminding them what we've been through, reminding them that
that we could find another gear, find another level, that
we could find something inside of us that was playing
for something more than just to win a basketball game,
because we had done it multiple times, and quite frankly,
just reminding them who they are in that moment, and
and and whether it was going to go our way

(04:39):
or not, you know, we we still needed to find
something to play for.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
And by the way, that injury for those that are unfamiliar,
and it's a medical term that I'm not even going
to try to pronounce, but essentially what happened was she
had a muscled deficiency. Were her muscles for a five
to seven second period essentially paralyzed on her and she
could not move for muscles, and that is something that
will be monitored moving forward. We certainly hope the best
for Kelsey Mitchell in terms of the way that in

(05:09):
that game, I just thought it was a microcosm of
your season because every single time, and I'm not gonna
lie to you, Stephanie White, the Fever coaches, our guest
here with sport coach, and I think you know this.
You know sometimes when you are involved from a working
standpoint in a game, you see it differently. You know this.

(05:31):
I mean you've done radio and done television analysis of games.
You just kind of watch it differently, right, like the
fandom and you kind of goes away, right. It is
becomes rare with teams that all of a sudden, I
get fifteen year old me comes out again and I'm
pacing and whatever else. I actually did that in this
game because I wanted. It was such a great story

(05:51):
and I love the resolve of it. And every time
it got to like five points, I thought, oh gosh,
and then I'd turn around and I come back and boom,
it's tied again. It was a microcosm of exactly your year.
How was that? What is it about this group that
was different?

Speaker 2 (06:09):
Uh? You know, I think number one, I truly believe
in my heart that connected teams are winning teams, and
this is a group that was incredibly connected, and it's
it's not something that you can produce. It's something that
happens organically. And this group, no matter who came into

(06:34):
the locker room at what point in the season, they
came into the locker room that the people who had
been here navigated, embraced, empowered.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
And also showed them the way.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
You know, we had gosh, four or five five people
on our team that didn't start the year with us,
if I'm right about that. Man our mantra from the
very beginning of the year was we over me.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
You know, we started the.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Season understanding that we had a lot of talent in
the room, in the locker room. But also with with
a lot of talent comes challenges because not everybody's going
to get to play, even when they should deserve to play,
you know, not everything. And and and so we we
started the year talking about we over me and every
time a new player came in they hadn't been in

(07:18):
our locker room since April. But the players in our
locker room lived that, they showed them how to live,
that they they they they held them accountable to that,
and and that that connectedness, that sacrifice for one another,
the sacrifice.

Speaker 4 (07:33):
For for the team.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Uh, it just it enabled us to find another level
and and another year. And you know, it's in sport,
it's about getting to it at the right time. And
and this group did did that. I think you know
when we did it was a result of that had
probably been the team that had been together the longest
throughout the course of the season. And and again, as

(07:55):
we know in sports, especially when you're watching it from
an analytical perspective and not a fan perspective, it does
take time to build that chemistry and connectedness and connectivity
on the floor. And that group had the time to
do it. I'm not sure at any other point in
the season we had a consistent enough you know, eight nine,
ten players that were playing that we were able to

(08:16):
do that.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
When you look at Stephanie White, the head coach of
the Fever, is our guest coach over the course of
the year, you know, especially with when you have a
player like Caitlin Clark who is such a transcendent star. Right,
so you're going to have people following what your team
is doing that maybe didn't even follow the WNBA three
years ago. You're going to have people that don't follow
the WNBA but follow Katelyn Clark, et cetera. From a

(08:38):
coaching standpoint at times, that can create no win situations
because you're going to be scrutinized in whichever way you
play it in any aspect when it comes to a
player like that. There was critique of Stephanie White at
the beginning of the year before really Caitlin Clark went
down with injury, just over the play and then the
way things came together and the fact that at the

(09:00):
end of the year everyone's saying this is coach at
the year level stuff. Did you feel vindicated.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, I mean, I you know, obviously we don't really
do it to for other people's opinions. You know, it's
it's I had a coach when I very first started coaching.
Tell me, if I started listening to the people that
were that were in the stands, then then I wouldn't
be coaching very long and I'd be.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
Sitting with them before too long.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
So, you know, we we don't do it for that.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
We don't do it for them.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
You know.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
We do it for our players and our team, and
we do it because we love the game, and we
do it because we love the sport. You know, I
love this franchise, and nobody is ever going to be happy.
You know. I appreciate uh fever basketball fans in particular,
and basketball fans from the state of Indiana, because they
know the game, they understand the nuance of the game,

(09:51):
and and so for me, uh, it wasn't really about vindication.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
It was about just putting.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
The best team and that we could forward. I understand
that it doesn't happen, you know, automatically. I also understand
that that it that it's it's one of those things
that you have to get lucky, like you don't just
go win championships like it is hard to get to
the finals. It is hard to win championships. I know

(10:17):
that there are teams who make it look easy and
sometimes there are dynasties that make it look easy. But
because of my experience in this sport and twenty six
years in this league, you know, I understand the difference.
And I've been a part of some really great teams
and have also been a part of the franchise obviously
when it first started. So so I don't know vindicated

(10:37):
is the right word, as much as I just feel
incredibly proud of the foundation that we laid in terms
of our culture. I feel really proud of the group.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
That came together to find a way.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
No matter what, I feel really proud of my staff
because I do feel like we have the best staff
you know, in the league, and we're created and we
try to think outside the box and we try to
put people in positions to be successful, and so I
think more than anything, I just the word that comes
to mind at the end of the year is just pride.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
When you look at the league itself from the time
that you played to now. Stephanie White, in the growth
of the league and the growth of the growth of
the interest of the league. One of the byproducts of
that is that means that the business aspect of it
is going to be scrutinized and people are going to
pay a lot more attention to it. That's become obviously,
and we're heading into an offseason that's going to be
fascinating with the collective bargaining. And then you have the commissioner,

(11:35):
Kathy Engelbert. I know you're aware of the comments that
THEFISTA call you're made, and then Kitlyn Clark kind of
getting brought into that. Caitlyn Clark responding to it. What
has been your overall assessment of that dialogue and as
it relates to your star player.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, I mean I hate I hate it all for Caitlin.
You know, I feel like, you know, she's a twenty
three year old kid who loves to play this game.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Game, who is a pawn in a lot of other.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
People's games and a lot of other people's narratives, and
I hate that for her.

Speaker 5 (12:07):
You know.

Speaker 4 (12:07):
It's it's we're.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Coming into a time in the w n B A
where we're where we're kind of part of the growing
pains of of of becoming quote unquote mainstreams professional sport
is some of this stuff, you know, I do think
that we are at a pivotal moment in terms of
the league's history. And look, I was a part of

(12:30):
the very first collective bargaining agreement of the w n
b A where we wanted insurance.

Speaker 4 (12:33):
All year long.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
So now where it is growing and players do deserve more,
and leadership needs to reflect, uh, where we are as
a league and and and and also understand where we
are as a league and where players perspectives are coming from.
And you know, we have coaches on the sidelines and
and Becky Hammond and myself and of course now epun

(12:55):
who was in Seattle, who played.

Speaker 4 (12:58):
In this league, who like this league is is is.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
Part of our of our of our lifeblood. Like we
we have grown up in this league, and we take
pride in this league and the success of this league.
And we also take pride in understanding what needs to
be done and in leadership. And part of leadership is
taking accountability. Part of leadership is is owning.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
How we move the needle.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Part of leadership is not just recognizing, uh, the people
who who who are part of this this league, but
empowering and embracing and understanding what they bring. And you know,
your employees are your number one asset, and and so
I I do feel like we're we're at a pivotal moment.
I do feel like we're at a time where where

(13:41):
all things have to be considered and where multiple truths
are do exist, certainly, and I think that sometimes right
now in our in our country and in our world,
we we forget that multiple truths can exist. But you know,
I think we are at that at that point to
begin to have these very hard conversations about what it
looks like moving forward.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Do you believe the WNBA has the leadership right now
that it needs?

Speaker 2 (14:08):
You know, it's I think it's a tough question because
I do believe that that where we are and where
we have been, especially from a business standpoint, you know,
it's it's it's it's what we've needed. I do think
that there's another layer and level to having someone who
who understands the basketball side of the league, and whether

(14:28):
that's direct leadership or whether that's you know, building out
our basketball operations, our department, you know, within the league.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
I do think that that the more that we can
get former players involved, the.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
More that we can get people who have grown up
in this league who don't see this league as it
was ten years ago, as it was fifteen years ago.
You know, you've got to see the league for what
it is now and where it's going. Much in the
same way that college sports is not what it was
ten years ago, not what it was.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Five years ago. The WNBA is not.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
What it was ten years ago. And I do think
that there are some folks in leadership position who still
think of it that way. So I think we do
need some addition to our basketball operations part of the league,
and I think we do need some forward thinking in
that as well. But more than anything, accountability can go
a long way, and we just want some accountability for

(15:24):
some of the concerns that have been consistent concerns for
multiple years.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Do you with Caitlyn Clark in this as we move
forward coach like navigating through just being that that pawn
as you said, does she have kind of her own
team that that guides are through that or does she
lean on you a lot in that regard as well?

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Looks she is so mature for her age.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I mean, Jay, thinking back to when we were twenty
three years old. Holy cow, I know it.

Speaker 4 (15:54):
Was a long time ago, five years ago, right.

Speaker 2 (15:58):
But he's so mature. She she she has people, you know,
in her corner and and people that can that can
help her.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
She gets it.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
She understands the big picture. You know, we'll have conversations.
You know, I've I've been in a very small way
in some of the some of the situations that she's
been in, you know, certainly not with with social media
and all of that stuff. But you know, we've got
players or in staff that that have played in this league,

(16:28):
but but no one outside of Tiger Woods, right A,
Serena Williams. H you can probably name just maybe a
handful more of of athletes who have been the game
changers and who have experienced what Caitlin Clark is experiencing,
so that no one can can really relate to what
she's going through. I think the biggest thing is we
can be there for her. You know, we can. We

(16:51):
can offer perspective and and and do what we can
to help, you know, deflect and navigate. And but at
the same time, you know, it's a life that she
has to lead, and you know, I think she does
it admirably. I'm not sure that myself at twenty three
years old, er myself at forty eight years old, could

(17:12):
do it in the same way that she does with
so much grace and humility.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Lastly, Coach, I wanted to share this and it sounds personal,
but it's public, and I'll tell you why. And I
know that I pointed this out to you. I've mentioned
this on the radio before as well. But over the
course of this season, my dad has gone through a
challenging medical period and while he is hopefully and thankfully

(17:37):
looks like he's going to be okay, it's not to
say that it has not been a long road with
a lot of challenges. And the one thing, literally the
one thing on the daily basis that was like my assignment,
was to make sure on his board where he is
getting his treatments, that he knows when the next Fever
game's on, he has his fever hat that he would
put on for every game. He's been a lifelong sports fan.

(18:00):
I don't know that I've seen him magnetized towards a
group and towards a team in giving him on a
day to day basis a purpose like what you guys did.
And I say that not for the you know, awkward
nature of a personal story on the radio, but because
I think it's a public one, because I think so

(18:21):
many people in this town found that and saw that.
And I hope, while I know it's been a disappointment
in the way the year ended for you guys, and
you have a lot going on, that at some point
you're able to sit back and accept the gratitude of
a city and of a state for representing it the
right way and giving a lot of people a purpose.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Well, I appreciate that, Jake, thank you so much. And
you know this, like I said, this, this group is
you mentioned it doing it the right way, you know,
leading by example, and we often talk about, you know,
sport is the greatest, is the greatest indicator of life
and of life lessons.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
And I think that this.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Group has has shown, community, has shown, you know, the
league has shown the nation you know a lot of
really good life lessons and been leaders in a lot
of different ways, and so I'm really proud of them.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Well, coach enjoyed the offseason. I know there's still a
lot of work to do. You will welcome back anytime.
But I am most most most most grateful for your
time over the course of the season.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
I appreciate Jake, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Stephanie White, the head coach of the Indiana Fever. That
show I mentioned Chad Powers, it's I mean, it's a
fun show. It's not a serious a show to be
taken seriously at all, and it's got obviously it's you know,
I mean, you got to suspend some reality when you're
watching it. But essentially what happens is this guy who's

(19:50):
this quarterback in a big game. His team lost, primarily
simply because he was completely clueless as to how to act,
especially once they lost the game.

Speaker 6 (19:57):
Right, speaking of lost and clueless, we bring on Kyle
Needdenrip from the end.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
That's exactly right because it's Friday night under the lights tonight,
big games, including one that he is going to be
seeing a player that I did not realize right here
in Indiana we have one of the top recruits in the
country as an underclassman. I think that's one of them
that Kyle Needdenripp will see tonight. But we'll get to that. Kyle,
how are you hey doing well?

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Have you watched that show yet?

Speaker 5 (20:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (20:21):
That's pretty good, so have you watched it.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
I only know of it.

Speaker 6 (20:26):
I have not watched an episode yet.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
There are two episodes. Here's what I like about it, okay,
And for those that are unfamiliar, this is the show
that was largely put together by Omahall Productions, which is
Payton and Eli Manning. It is taking off of the
skit that many people probably saw where Eli Manning went
into sguise and showed up and I can't remember what
school it was and acted like he was walking on
And it's the same premise. A guy you know is

(20:50):
trying to resurrect his football career, so he goes in
you know, missus doubt Fire basically. So yeah, I mean
it's hokey and cheesy, but it is fun and each
episode's like thirty five minutes, right, So yeah, I liked
it to be honest, It's only two episodes in, but
I liked it nice.

Speaker 6 (21:05):
It feels like we miss comedies now, so I was
going to check it out.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Have you seen did you the only others that I've
seen of late? And I know that this is really,
you know, cliche here, but did you watch Ted Lasso?

Speaker 6 (21:18):
I don't whatever app that whatever that's on? And we
don't have it, So I've only seen a friend's house
or watched a couple episodes, but have not watched the
whole thing.

Speaker 1 (21:25):
I mean, it's it's awesome. Now another one, but if
you didn't watch Ted, I think the same because I'm
with you, Kyle, like I never know what study you know,
I'm always like, no, which one's that on? Because there's
like twenty eight different apps? Right Land Man, have you
seen that with Billy Bob Thornton. It's not a comedy,
but it has a lot of funny parts in it.
Have you seen that?

Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (21:43):
I did start on that because that was I watched
nineteen twenty three? Was that and enjoyed that. I think
that's on the same streaming platform, right.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That's right. I think that those might be paramount.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
And then the other one is Stick, which is kind
of like Ted Lasso but not near as good. But
it has Owen Wilson and it's about golf and it
takes place in Indiana. It's pretty good.

Speaker 6 (22:05):
Okay, I heard about that one too.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
It's good, all right. So let's get to the games
that you'll be streaming if you will not really, I'll
be watching them in person. Tonight you are going to
be at Warren Central and Lawrence North. Correct.

Speaker 6 (22:18):
Yeah, you mentioned Monchune Sales, the five star receiver that
Lawrence North has, and pretty cool honor for him. I
don't remember how many.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
You know, five stars we've had that.

Speaker 6 (22:29):
I mean, there haven't been a ton, I would say
to reach that stature. You know, that's basically talking about
top twenty five in his class in the country, and
he's actually twenty four to seven Sports, which does a
good job covering, you know, recruiting and you know, in
my opinion, doing rankings and things like that, they have
him number six this week that came out, so you know,

(22:51):
that's a that's a pretty cool honor for him.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
I mean, he is what year, He's only a junior.

Speaker 6 (22:56):
So this is the twenty twenty seven class.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
So he's not Kyle. What's interesting to me about this is,
and you tell me, I mean, you cover high school sports.
You know, typically if a player is a top ten
national level player in basketball, we know of them as
a household name by the time they're like a sophomore.
But yet it seems like we see more of from

(23:20):
the football standpoint, players not getting on that radar. Until
the latter part of their high school career. Am I
off base in saying that, No.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
That's totally correct.

Speaker 6 (23:31):
I would say, And even sales last year was really good,
you know, Lawrence North was, you know, and if they
would have made it the state, I think he would
probably be a name that's even more out there. But they,
you know, Brownsburg flipped him by one point in the regional,
so they he didn't quite get on that stage.

Speaker 3 (23:45):
But he had a great year last year.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
But even to your point, as a freshman, you know,
he was not even on varsity, so you know, and
when you're talking about basketball, normally those top players are
already you know, they come into freshman year and they're
you know, even if they're not a star player, they're
already like, oh, that kid's gonna be a star, you know.
Whereas football, you know, you oftentimes don't put a fourteen

(24:07):
fifteen year old kid out there against eighteen year olds
just because they're not you know, your body's just not
ready for that yet. So it's pretty rare. Even for
him like last year. You know, he's so much better
this year than last year, I would say, you know,
and just I'm looking forward to seeing him play tonight.
But he you know, you could see it last year,
like he was the you know, he he's a very physical,

(24:28):
uh specimen, you know, six foot four or five, you know,
and and you know, so he looks the part walking
in and then you watch him play and it's like, okay,
but he wasn't you know, Davion Chandler was their top
receiver last year and he went to AU uh so
even last year he wasn't their top you know, top
at that position. Even so, you know, to your point,
that's I think that's absolutely correct. There are there are
kids who come in and you know, play more as

(24:51):
a freshman, but I would say more of the time
that's at the probably at the smaller class levels or
you know, depending on positions. Sometimes sometimes you see a
Ruhman quarterback come in. But you know, some of the
more physical positions. It takes, you know, it takes a
couple of years for most most kids.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
Man.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
I mean I'm looking at it right here, Okay, six
five five, So obviously there's a little bit of bulk
that needs to go on there, right but you know,
and already I mean, just the list of schools, I mean,
it's basically everyone. Clearly he's going to have his choice
of where he wants to go. But to go back
further on this, are we talking about and it's pronounced
is it Monschune? Is that how you say his first name?

Speaker 3 (25:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Monjune sales at Lawrence North? Are we are we talking
about somebody that is now on the radar because of
just the intangibles quote unquote or is their body of
work on the field where you go? Yeah, I mean
this guy's been a different level already or is it
more so what it looks like he's going to grow into.

Speaker 6 (25:49):
I think it's a combination. I mean, he is producing,
you know, and he did like I said last year,
he had like probably six hundred yards close to that receiving.
And also what I think helps him Jake too, is
he ran track this past spring and his numbers are
really good. You know, I don't have him out the
top of my head, but he he performed really well
in track, so you could kind of see the track
speed translate to football. And when you're doing that at

(26:11):
the height he's at, I mean, that's that's he's not
It's not like he's a five to ten you know,
speed burner he's a six four speed burner six five speed,
so so that I think also is a good thing
for him. And Pat Mallory, the coach at l N,
you know, he he coaches tracks, so he gets a
lot of his football guys to do track. And what
a great you know the thing that is because you

(26:33):
know those track you know, track numbers translate, you know,
and then those track workouts translate. So I think that
helped him too. And he just looks like a you know,
I haven't This will be the first time tonight I've
seen him in person this year other than practices, but uh,
you know everything, you know, he's just more physical, more
just I wouldn't even say more physical, just more built,

(26:54):
you know, more just comfortable, I think with with who
he is and as a player, that's you know, very
much obvious. And they have a new quarterback this year too,
so that's another transition that they have quarterback last year
graduated and they have a really good one this year,
Darien Prather.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
But but yeah, I mean he he you.

Speaker 6 (27:11):
Know, And I always kind of you always kind of
worry about kids getting ranked too highly because then it's
almost like where do you have to go from there?
You know, it kind of becomes a thing where it's like,
you know, he didn't rank himself. There other kids I've covered, like,
you know, they didn't ask to be ranked that highly.
So you know, but then the criticism comes to when
you don't put up two hundred yards a game or
score thirty points a game. You know, in gosh, I

(27:34):
heard so many adults ragging on high school kids for
for that sort of thing. I can't even count how
many times. But but yeah, I mean, I I definitely
think he's gonna be able to choose wherever he wants
to go, and it's gonna be you know, it's gonna
be a blue blood school or whatever you want to
categorize that as. I mean, he's gonna have his choice
of whatever he wants to go to Kyle.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
When you look at this week in Kyle and then
Indianapolis Star High School Football Rider is our guest this
weekend Lucas Oil Stadium, it's the Colts and the Raiders.
Raiders are a team that you know, there was some
question about him coming into the year, but we talked
to JT. The Brick yesterday who does Raiders radio, and
he was saying he's like, look, the time is now.
If they don't get a win now, then it's it

(28:16):
is a boulder in the stream game. Perhaps for Las Vegas.
I know we're a little later in the high school slate,
but is there a team that you look at and
you say, expected a little bit more and this is
the weekend where it's got to get going in the
right direction for them.

Speaker 6 (28:32):
Yeah, I mean I would say JT the Brick too.
What man, I remember listening to him back in the day.
I didn't know he was doing Raiders. He probably has
done that for a long time.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah, he's out. He's been in Vegas, he said for
twenty four years or something like that.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
Yeah, okay, I remember listening to him on the I
think he's doing overnights. Maybe when I was delivering Domino's
pizzas back in the day.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
But regardless, I would have yeah, me deliver a lot
of Dominoes in the late night. Yes, what was your
what was your shift? Let's hold the phone here on
the on the football question. What was your shift while
you were delivering Domino's pizza?

Speaker 3 (29:03):
Count?

Speaker 2 (29:04):
Then?

Speaker 6 (29:04):
Oh, what did I walk into here?

Speaker 3 (29:06):
I'm like the trap.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
I think we closed on weeknights we were at two
a m. So I worked a lot of the back
in the day. They would give you a pager though
if they let you off that you were like a.

Speaker 1 (29:19):
Run around.

Speaker 6 (29:20):
Yeah, okay, right, they would give you, give you a
pager and.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
The doctors right.

Speaker 6 (29:25):
For for a rush, they would bring you back in.
Uh but yeah, I think it was two o'clock or
so you ever pick.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Up any chicks that thought you were a surgeon because
you'll run around with your beeper.

Speaker 6 (29:35):
I don't think so. No, I don't remember that happening.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
What in what community were you delivering Domino's pizzas at
two in the morning.

Speaker 6 (29:41):
This was in uh, Lincoln, Nebraska when I was in well,
I guess it was college. And then I come home
in high school and then I come home for college
and I do that too.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
What was the biggest tip you ever got or the
craziest situation you ever drove yourself into.

Speaker 6 (29:55):
Oh boy, there's a lot. There's things I can't say
over the radio that were kind of strange.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
But I did.

Speaker 6 (30:02):
I was offered drugs one time, very late at night.
I'll say that, what'd you say?

Speaker 1 (30:09):
Did you say yes or no? I'm just kidding. No,
have you ever hear any you ever hear any soft music?
And then Nina Hartley suddenly showed.

Speaker 6 (30:15):
Up, No, no, no stories to that effect. But yeah,
there's there's it's uh, you know, it was an interesting job.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
I mean, I would imagine the fair share of Jeff
Spacoli's order in pizza for you, right, just you know,
eating learning about Cuba and eating some food.

Speaker 3 (30:30):
Right.

Speaker 6 (30:31):
Well, a lot of those late calls, you would go
to the house. Then this is before even map quest
or Internet. But you go to the house and they
would be passed out, you know, they wouldn't even so
then you then you'd get a Then you'd bring home
the pizza and our manager and say I had just
take it, take it home.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
You know.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
Ari Liondyke won the nineteen ninety eight and car number
thirty sponsored by Domino's Pizzas. Back then their ad campaign
was thirty minutes or less where it's free. Yeah, yep,
so and then they actually had some legal things with
that and so there for but listen, nothne wrong with that.
But now, of course it would be Chicago's Pizza would
be the preference. But okay, so give me the team
or the school that just needs to get things turned around.

Speaker 6 (31:11):
Well, the game I was thinking of and it's not
necessarily get turned around. But I would say the game
that probably falls into that category would be Avon and
Westfield because you know, Avon is now you know, they've
lost three out of four. I think they're I think
they're a really good team. Westfield is a team that
obviously they've been really good for years, uh these past

(31:31):
few years, Avon hasn't been able to, uh to knock
them off here recently. But I think this is going
to be a great matchup and you don't want to
go into you know, the end of the season here
losing too many, you know, in a row or a
chunk of games. So that's I think a game to
watch that you know, see if Avon can beat Westfield
at home tonight. Westfield played really well last week against Brownsburg,

(31:54):
so you know, I'd say that that game probably falls
into that category.

Speaker 3 (31:58):
You know.

Speaker 6 (31:58):
Also of interest, I think too is just the Center
Grove Cathedral game. You know, Center Grove is a six
to oh team, but you know, haven't played maybe you
know they've played some teams that are not having great seasons,
I would say, and then you know, they played out
of state team, so we haven't really got a gauge
on that. That's kind of a gauge game, I would say,
because the next two weeks they played Cathedral and Lawrence

(32:19):
North back to back weeks, and you know, it seems
like this time of yearly Center Grove is playing its
best football going into the tournament. And you know, I
think that's really one of note to uh that'll give
us maybe a good representation on where Center Grove's at
right now as a program.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yeah, he can coach man. I mean, that's just that's
one of those programs that you if they're not strong
by the end of the year. You know, some coaches, Kyle,
would you agree, just have this ability that their team
cathedrals in this category as well, because you look at
their schedule a lot of times and you feel like
they're having a down year and then you realize they're
just loading it up where they get incrementally better each

(32:57):
and every week, and by the end of the year
then it all comes together for them.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (33:01):
I mean, I think the good coaches or you know,
the great coaches, you know, by the end of the season,
they're kind of molded into the style that you know,
you expect out of those programs, and you know it's
it's based on personnel and adjusting to what you have
as a team. But I always, you know, I always
sense that with Center Grove as they and cathed early
you mentioned them too, but you know they kind of

(33:22):
play to their to the way that the you know,
the coaches like to play, and I think, you know,
Center Grove has changed with that, so I'm over the years,
but they think good coaches like Eric Moore do is
you know, they're more of a passing team than they
used to be. But you know, if they're best teams,
they always they're always able to run the ball. They
always have, you know, really good defenses, and you know,
I think we'll find out these next couple of weeks

(33:44):
just maybe where they are exactly. But you know, they're
always like when I see them early in the year,
I always kind of think, well, that's probably part of
the team we're going to see later. But but they're
going to be dramatically better, and injuries will play. You know,
they've they've had a couple tough injuries too, so that
always plays a factor. But but yeah, they're they're I
always think when they're in October November, they're they're a

(34:04):
different team than they were in August.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
By the way, Tenley and Crystal House that matchup tonight,
because we always try to focus on what the kids
are doing at some of the schools that you don't
hear as much about. Best to look to both those
schools as well, Addicts and short Ridge tonight, to schools
that attics short Ridge. I mean, that's I guess you
would say, obviously from a traditional standpoint, Kyle, we're talking
an old school rivalry game there, right.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (34:29):
Man, you think about the basketball games, you know, go
back in the history of the I love you know,
I've talked to some of those players from the era
of the fifties and the sixties. Also football were rivals,
but you know, man, there weren't any bigger games. You know,
it's fun to go back on the in the archives
sometimes and like you know, Addicts and short Ridge, we're
playing these games in front of you know, fourteen thousand

(34:50):
people at the hinkle Fieldhouse back in the day, So
you know, how cool to relive some of that stuff
and talk to some of those players over the years.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
But by the way, lastly, so if you'd show up
with the pizza and and the guy had passed out.
Did you I mean, did you try to wake them up?
Did you just you rang the doorbell three times and
then weren't there and you just made your own conclusion?
Did they maybe leave? I mean, did did you administer CPR?
I mean, how did this work?

Speaker 6 (35:16):
You would call They used to have a number, you know,
they put the home phone number on the on the
side of the box or whatever. Or you'd get in
and so you'd have to call. Uh, you'd have the
the uh. Uh you go back to the store, you know,
do you take it back and call him? Because back
then we didn't have cell phones, so uh, but you'd
go back to the store and call them back. And

(35:36):
if they didn't answer, but yeah, just ring the doorbell,
you know, several times.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
And did you ever get this?

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Because I'm not saying that I ever did this, but
my understanding as kids used to did did you ever
get it? Where clearly what it was was it was
like a prank of somebody sending a pizza to someone's
house that that didn't actually order it.

Speaker 6 (35:53):
I had that a couple of times, yeah, you know,
and then yeah, that was that was something that happened occasionally.

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 6 (36:01):
Once you got past midnight, there was about anything could happen.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
You never knew what was about to happen.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, it's like Uncle Jake's taxi Eddie that I run
on New Year's Eve. Right, no puking in the jeep. Right,
although the jeep puked on itself and they're putting a
new engine in it, and I got another week before
I get it back. That's a whole different talk show, Kyle.
All right, we didn't know that we were going to
go down all of those different segues. But I appreciate
you going along for the vagabond journey.

Speaker 6 (36:22):
Nonetheless, Absolutely I enjoyed it.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Kyle Nederrip joining us Indie Star. Appreciate it. Kyle, will
look forward to the story on again Warren and Lawrence
North and featuring a junior that is a top ten
player now in the country. Two o'clock on a Friday
in Indianapolis, for that matter, it's two o'clock on a
Friday everywhere in the Eastern time zone. My name is
Jake Quarry. Eddie Garrison, the other voice you hear on

(36:47):
this program today. The name of the show is Quarry
and Company, of course, and last night Eddie, I don't
know if we have somebody in the IT field, but
I made a hire last night. It member of the company. Oh,
Eddie is the president into the company. I forget what
my exact title is on the chairman of the board.
And that board does include Kevin Bowen, who is a

(37:07):
board member and a recurring guest on the program. Joins
us now he brings the professionalism to the company. Kevin,
you here in the morning with James Boyd and jeff
Rickord and the Fan Morning Show, and he is essentially
the primary colts beat writer for the station. All of
his work you can see at one oh seven five
the fan dot com. Kevin, Let's begin with this, and

(37:28):
that is we found out just about a little over
an hour ago some of those that are out for
this game against the Raiders and nothing, I guess overly shocking,
but at the same time going to be a challenge.
Let us know who is not going to be suiting
up for Indianapolis.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
Yeah, I would say the one shocking night on Miss
Alex Peerce, you know as we sat here, Yeah, I
guess that was even this morning. You know, Pierce had
two full days of work. So anytime you're in concussions protocol,
you have two full days of work, that's usually pretty
good for you. I wasn't feeling good this morning, though,
and so he is out set back in the concussion

(38:06):
protocol did not pass. So that's not good obviously for Sunday.
It's also not good for you know, Pierce s pribably
stated in the obvious that you know, we're talking about
a guy that unfortunately has had I think it's now
three concussions.

Speaker 3 (38:18):
Is the first one reason this multiple weeks. So he
is out.

Speaker 5 (38:23):
No kennymore No Tyler Goodson, no Daniel Scott.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Those are the four so.

Speaker 5 (38:29):
Backup running back, backup safety and then again Pierson Moore
both out for a second straight week.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
The the more situation, I mean, obviously we knew going
in Kevin that was going to be unlikely, you know,
Kenny Moore would play. But when you look at you know,
xavieron Howard and that situation and what happens with them
at defensive backfield. Let's begin there, because we talked about
it in the middle of the week that you were
maybe going to have some moving around or just have

(38:58):
to go into your depth in terms of what you
were going to do. What is the lineup going to
look like for the Colts in terms of their defensive
backfield against Geno Smith, who has thrown you know, I
think six interceptions already this year, but against that Raiders offense.

Speaker 5 (39:13):
Yeah, so I'd assume they'll call Mike Hilton up from
the practice cloud for second straight week, so he'll be
in the Kenny Moore role. The question will be than
what do they do opposite Mooney Ward. I would assume
that it's Makai Blackman, who was the one that did
fall down on the Tu Tuo at Well interception. They
could go with Johnson Edwards undrafted free agent, so you know,

(39:34):
that's a little bit of a decision that they're going
to have to make. But obviously you know Xavi and Howard.
I think his role would have been scaled back anyways
had he not retired midweek. But now with that, I'd
assume black Men and then you know, kind of wait
and see. I think Jalen Jones is the best option

(39:55):
on the roster, but he unfortunately has dealt with the
hamstring issue now a couple of different times year, and
he's probably not going to be back. He's stilling into
your reserve. He can't play this week, I don't know
the year, probably can out of a couple weeks before
his return. So yeah, my best guess at Sunday would
be kind of the three man corner group Mooney Ward,

(40:15):
Mike Kilden for sure, and then a little bit of
the debate there and what you do the third corner.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
But I'd say the Kayle Blackman.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
You know, I thought, and you correct me if you are,
you know, tell me if you disagree. I thought Hilton
for a guy that was a late edition and you know,
obviously as somebody that knows lou Anarumo and that defense
coming from Cincinnati, But you know, did he jump off
the page at meet? No, But considering what was asked
in Los Angeles, I thought he was sufficient. I thought

(40:44):
he was fine, to be honest with you. Now, does
that mean he can do an elevated role or more reps?
I don't know. But overall, how would you analyze what
we've seen so far?

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Yeah, that's probably a good way to describe it.

Speaker 5 (40:56):
I mean, obviously had the huge play on the blitz
the fourth fumble there.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
I know, I kind of thought Kevin. I'll be honest,
and I know that he got in there, and but
it almost looked to me like the and yes, Hilton
had to be there for this to happen, But as
I watched it a second time, I thought, did he
actually make contact or was the back spinning and it
was the inertia of his spin that caused him to
lose the ball. Either way, though, Yeah, he was there, right,

(41:21):
I mean, he was.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
There right right.

Speaker 5 (41:23):
Uh you know, you know, as far as him in coverage,
I don't think we saw it like a ton of reps.
So you know, a little bit wait and see. Now
it's different with him and Xavier Howard. He actually played
football last year, so you know, maybe I don't have
as much of a wait, like.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
What's what's in the tank for this dude?

Speaker 5 (41:35):
And you know, for me, the biggest issue with Howard
wasn't that you gave him the tryst that the many
he walked in the door, he handed him the keys
to the starting lineup.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
It's like, don't you want to see where this dude at?

Speaker 5 (41:45):
I mean, he didn't play football last year, So yeah,
I again, I think Hilton was fine. But you know,
Kenny Moore, the second, and not that you're saying this, Jake,
but I just think people underappreciate him still. And you know,
I think I told you guys last week entering last
week's game. In the games at Kenny's missed in the
last few years, Colts have been given up thirty three

(42:06):
points per game with him out of the line.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
I've bean not lasting goes twenty seven.

Speaker 5 (42:10):
But I just think even when he's not making plays
like picking off cam Ward and taking them back for
a touchdown, I think there's so many plays where he's
just in the right spot and you just kind of
take that for granted over the course of sixty minutes.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
You know, Kevin Bowen is our guest, Kevin the defensively
speaking against the Raiders, one of the things that is
obviously going to be and I think there's a blueprint here.
Brock Bauers is an important and the Raiders are starting
to run the football more. I mean, Genti's you know,
they're starting to find ways to kind of get him going.

(42:42):
But so much of the Raiders offense I think is
centered around brock Bauers, even if they're not getting him
the ball, rather just using him as a decoy. Is
is good enough in terms of what he can bring
to the table, but he also is dinged up right.
How much does that change do you think what Anna
Remo tries to schematically come up with for the Raiders.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
Yeah, I think it's a good point, And honestly, I
don't know if it'll happen during your show, but certainly
during John's show, he might.

Speaker 5 (43:11):
Have some news on the Raiders injury report. So Bowers,
like you said, has deal with the knee injury really
all year long. He was limited Wednesday, didn't practice yesterday,
so you know, is that midweek maintenance for a guy
that's clearly dealing with something?

Speaker 3 (43:26):
Is it more than that that.

Speaker 5 (43:27):
Would be something to keep an EyeT and Ma's crosby
their stud defensive end.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
It didn't practice either, and.

Speaker 5 (43:34):
You know he's probably owned the right to have his
veteran rest day, but that's not something he does.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
It's the first time he's actually an age report all year.
So you know, we'd.

Speaker 5 (43:42):
Obviously have some news items here from a you know,
injury standpoint on a Friday, but you know they definitely
have a couple out there. So yeah, I mean Bowers
is huge, especially with you know, Geno Smith needs to
get going, and you would think, you know, some simple
throws to an elite tight end would help you kind
of get back into that rhythm there.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
So that's a huge storyline here. As we said here
on this Friday.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
You know, Geno Smith is and I like Geno Smith,
and he's had moments where you know, he has certainly
been to use the Mike Hilton word that I used,
a sufficient quarterback. I don't know that Geno Smith anybody
looks at him and goes, this guy is, you know,
but he's been a good player, and now that he
is with the Raiders, there was part of me, Kevin

(44:24):
that thought to myself, well, you know, you're kind of
starting from scratch there, and then I'll be honest with you,
you forget it was Pete Carroll that was the one
that kind of reawakened him anyway to begin with. Right,
So one would assume that the pieces are in place
there for this to kind of get going, and maybe
they simply need the running game to get that going
for him. I know that we're not weekly covering the Raiders,

(44:46):
but for this week it is of note. But Genty
is a guy that in the beginning of the year,
we didn't see a lot from and now all of
a sudden it's kind of uncorked. How big a balancing
challenge do you think it's going to be for the
Colts defense?

Speaker 5 (45:00):
Yeah, I think it's a good point. And I'd kind
of forgotten this, Jake, I didn't really Shane Stiken actually
had a year with Geno Smith, you know, the old
NFL cycle. I guess everybody's with everybody at some point.
But Shane spoke super highly of him earlier this week,
so you know, as far as the Raiders are concerned, Yeah,
Gens finally got going last week. I think they've kind

(45:21):
of been waiting for him to, you know, really really
get going. Ripped off a big one, and you know,
if you look at this game on Sunday, for me,
so much of it is about getting the lead early,
which I know is captain obvious, but.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
Think about their personnel.

Speaker 5 (45:36):
You know, when you think about gen t it's he's
done a great jalbum, breaking taps so far in his
NFL career, and they're they are without their best offensive lineman,
Colton Miller at left tackle. So if you can get
a lead early, that limits how much tackling you got
to do on gens in the third and fourth quarter
where we've obviously seen right here Jonathan Taylor rip off

(45:57):
huge runs and then of course if you're more obvious
passing situations, that's a backup left tackle having to hold up.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
And last he lost.

Speaker 5 (46:04):
It was really good last week, So you know, for me,
you know, this is the Gus Bradley era. I think
would be a little nervous. So boy, is you know,
going to get into a rhythm here with some simple
completions early in games and then are they going to
kind of stay in it on the scoreboard. But if
you can jump on them early, then I think you
start to question that Gino's lack of confidence all of that,
because Pete Carroll's already fielding in questions about, hey, are

(46:26):
you looking at Kenny Pickett, which you know might sound
crazy to some people, but that's how much Gino has
struggled this season.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Eddie, you know what we say about Kenny Pickett right wind,
he's got his little hands out there. Yes, that's Kenny Pigott.
Vin I think I was doing the morning show with
you when he was going through the draft cycle, and
I don't know why it is. Maybe it's just some
weird seventh grade guy mentality of mine, but I would
not want the entire world to know that I have
tiny hands.

Speaker 5 (46:52):
Yeah, I'm shocked to fifty three year old is still
using that bit.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
What it was? I mean it was it was fifty
year old you were dealing with. I mean, did you
really think things were going to change in three years?

Speaker 5 (47:04):
I don't know. I thought after that big birthday party,
you know, somehow, some way he was showing out some maturity.

Speaker 3 (47:10):
But good to see you, heavan, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
By the way, Chargers is where Shane stiken had Gino
Smith right when he was his second stint with the Chargers.
Shane Stikeen was a quarterbacks coach when Gino Smith was
there for a cup of coffee. In case anybody was
curious on that, Kevin bow and our guest, Kevin curious
of this from your standpoint, give me the area of
the Colts so far that you still aren't sold, either

(47:36):
in a good or bad way. In other words, maybe
an area where they've struggled, where you're saying, yeah, but
that's kind of concern to me that that simply was
matchup stuff, or an area where they've looked really good,
where you're still not fully ready to make the down payment.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
You know, the pass rush last week I thought was
really good.

Speaker 3 (47:56):
And that's against the guy that gets it a lot quick.

Speaker 5 (47:58):
I know Stafford doesn't move a whole lot, but uh,
you know, is that sustainable?

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Again?

Speaker 5 (48:03):
Last tu was really good last week? You know, is
that going to be the case continually moving forward? I
think I'd probably go there. You know, Daniel Jones has
been outstanding. I mean, hell, you know, if you could
imagine the first four weeks of the season looking like
this and told me that in August, I always said,
no chance. You know, as more film I guess is

(48:23):
on Daniel Jones in a Colts uniform.

Speaker 3 (48:26):
Is that still the case? You know?

Speaker 5 (48:29):
And just in general, I think, and I'd say this
for any NFL year. You know, it's just like, all right,
there's the same team.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
Is the same team there. When Halloween rulls around, it's
the same team there.

Speaker 5 (48:40):
And Thanksgiving rules around, It's the same team there at
the new year, you know, I.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Mean, NFL seasons are long.

Speaker 5 (48:44):
Well, I mean, you know, if you would have said, hey,
the Colts are going to win the Super Bowl in
two thousand and six, the Monday after the Jacksonville game.
You know, people would have called you an idiot based
off where that run defense was. And then all of
a sudden, Rob Morris this and you know, Bob Sanders that,
and they're shutting down Larry Johnson and the rest is
history on that playoff run. So I just think the
grind of the season, you know, things kind of naturally arise,

(49:07):
and but yeah, those would be a couple of items.
And then you know, maybe corner depths. You know, again,
just because Xamy Howard's gone doesn't mean that I cures all.
It just means you're trying different people in that spot there.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
So that would be another, you know, one of the things, Kevin,
let me bring something up that I found interesting. I
think it was earlier this week. Maybe it was last year,
but I think it was earlier this week. I know
it was a week go today. Sorry, I had on
Jeff George. And the reason I did is because Jeff
George is a guy that, you know, never really got
his footing in stop number one. It was here for

(49:40):
the Colts, and then when he went to Atlanta, you know,
instantly seemingly, you know, He's strown for four thousand yards
and everything just kind of came together. So I wanted
to know what the difference was from stop one to
stop two. And one of the things that he pointed
out was, look, it was really hard as a young
quarterback to go into a situ suation on a veteran

(50:01):
team knowing that guys are looking at me and I'm
supposed to be a leader. But yet, how am I
supposed to tell a thirty one year old guy as
a twenty one year old kid that this is what
I want him to do and this is how I'm
going to lead that guy. And it seems to me
like Daniel Jones is one coming here that just the

(50:21):
experience and what he went through in New York. He
doesn't strike me as an overly vociferous guy to his teammates,
but just by the example of coming in and having
to earn it that over the course of time that
has developed a trust amongst his teammates and now there
is a respect there that allows him to naturally be
a leader. You're closer inside the locker room than I.

(50:42):
Is that a fair observation?

Speaker 5 (50:45):
Yeah, yes, I think you're onto something, and I think
there's a level of respect and just watching how he
works from guys within the locker room. And then I know,
if you guys played the clip we played on our
show might be called the Saquon Barkley audio a couple
of weeks back, just like how happy he's been watching
Daniel Jones. I mean, imagine that, like you don't know
Daniel Jones at all, and all of a sudden you

(51:07):
see Saquon Barkley, one of the best players in the NFL,
start gushing about him, Like to me, that would be
like damn. I mean, things went really bad in New
York and this guy, I mean he's like he's talking
about him like he's a son. So you know, I
think you don't hear you know New York, he wasn't
the problem, I guess is the easiest way to be Well.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
We're starting to find that out more right, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
Sure with the Giants, but like again, hearing those comments
is not just you know, kind of throw away line.
Take one bark and he's like, no, let me go
out of my way and gush about this dude for
whatever two minutes. So I think all of that probably
is at play here.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
Too, and then along those lines, Eddie and I were
talking about this earlier, and that's the story and the
kind of the saga of Ady Mitchell and I've gone
back and forth on this. Kevin Eddie asked me this question,
if you were Shane Steikin or you were Chris Ballard,
how do you handle the ad Mitchell situation? So with

(52:07):
that question, I'll put that to you, how would you
handle it if you're Shane Steikin.

Speaker 5 (52:13):
Well, I think the Alex Pearson injury changed everything. You know,
I'm under the impression that it was heading towards an
active week for him and then all of a sudden
with Pierce, you can't really do that just given the
availability of your white out. So I expect Mitchell to

(52:34):
dress now. I'm not sitting here acting like he's going
to play a lot, you know. I think the old
T word who do you trust? And I think for
a week there's gonna be a little bit of a
punishment for that. Again, maybe not to the extreme that
they could have given Pierce the situation, but I would
think Ashton Dolan will honestly take on more of that

(52:56):
role than than Mitchell. So that's how you know, when
you here Shane Stiken talk about Aid Mitchell this week,
even today in the press conference, you'll ask them, given
the Pierce situation, like we'ry out with Adi Mitchell, we're
working through that still, I mean and again, and Shane
Syke and Lingo. That I think is, you know, pretty

(53:18):
evident that he clearly is super displeased with what happened
on Sunday and felt like some accountability needed to be there.
So again, I think the plan has probably changed a
little bit just given Pierce, the situation and the other injuries.
I should add they're not in a spot right now.
You know, they ruled out four guys today. That's easily

(53:39):
the biggest number they've ruled out all season long. They
need Mike Hilton to be called up from the practice
squad to replace Kenny Moore, and then with no Tyler Goodson,
they need to add another running back. I would assume
that's a Mere Abdullah, the former. I think he's a
second round pick back in the day. So right there,
those are your two practice squad call ups for this week.

(54:00):
So you can't really unless I'm missing something, they can
make a office spot, but I don't see them adding
a white out, I guess is what I'm getting at here.
So again I think plans have changed for how they
wanted to maybe punish ad Mitchell by the way, and
I could be wrong here, but on the when you're oh,
you know what, maybe I completely missed this.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Is he on the active or did I missed the
the transaction of it because I think he played earlier
this year. If I'm not mistaken, your liss is Bentley
the fourth he is? Is he no longer on the
practice squad?

Speaker 3 (54:34):
He is?

Speaker 2 (54:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (54:34):
I mean they could go there, and yeah, you're correct,
he did play week one of it right when Goodson
was originally out, So yes, they could go with Bentley,
they could go with Abdullah, but I think they're going
with a Doulah, probably because they heard your impression too
much and they.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
Didn't hear it again.

Speaker 7 (54:50):
Par for the course with me, Kevin, why do you
feel like a punishment is necessarily for Ady Mitchell? Because
I said, as I said here, I think about it.
I was like, look, he's already owned up to it,
he's apologized in front of the team. I understand there
has to be some level of accountability, but at the
same time, you want to see Harry response, because this
is easily the most adversity he's faced as a pro.
I'm in the camp of I want to see him
still out there in the same really was last week,

(55:11):
to see if he can respond and if not in
the early goings, then you make that move to bencham
and then you go to.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Ashton doing Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
I just don't think he's earned that.

Speaker 5 (55:20):
Frankly, I think Jonathan Taylor and ad Mitchell are two
very different examples. And I can't stress enough that I
think Shane Steiken emphasize this to the nth degree. And
when you have a guy make that mistake almost immediately
after you've emphasized that as a coaching staff, then you

(55:41):
got to do something I think a little bit further
than what you were doing. So again I checked him
to dress. But I think the Alex Peir situation has
just changed it. And even last week in the game,
you know he makes that play and whatever that was
early third quarter, the next time he shows up in
the box scores the holding penalty, not like he showed
up and made a play on the next series, or

(56:03):
like the next time he made an impact on the game.
He made an awful impact on the game, and I
think that really really bothered the coaching staff as well.
So again, I think the plan was for probably in
a one week situation, but you know, Pierce having this
setback this morning has probably all changed it from hey,

(56:25):
maybe we could have them then active to all right,
now we need to dress them. But still I think
it's going to be a little bit more ash and
doing in that role.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
You know, I said this earlier, Kevin, give me your
thoughts on this. If I'm Shane Steike and my answer
on it is this, and you critique this or tell
me just your feel on it. With the Ady Mitchell situation,
if I'm Shane Steike and I look at it and
I go, look, this guy had red flags coming out.
We knew that we've been waiting for him to get going.

(56:56):
He made He did make a great play, even though
I think even he was on that ball was in
his arms. But he made two mistakes, very very costly mistakes.
And if I'm a coach, it would peeve me. But
if I'm a coach, this is also a test of
what I've been preaching, and that is that we create culture.

(57:16):
Every franchise says this, Every team says this, we create
a culture here, we have good guys in that locker room,
we have leaders. At some point, you've got to test
your leaders and you've got to say, I'm gonna let
the den, I'm gonna let the pack here take care
of the errant kitten. I'm gonna let them do it.
And that's as a as a coach, I have to

(57:37):
trust that I've created the right atmosphere where these things
can internally take care of themselves on my off base
there And do they have that yet?

Speaker 5 (57:50):
Yeah, it's a good point.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
I guess.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
I don't know to the last part.

Speaker 5 (57:55):
You know, I'm always torn on like, Okay, you know, culture, leadership, accountability,
all these buzzwords we hear, and then like how do
you define that? You know, this out has made a
huge emphasis of you know, I want a lot of
individually like high character guys. I think for the most part, however,
you define character, whether it's work asthic, whether it's you know,

(58:16):
good in the community, Like yeah, I think the Colts
probably have a lot of that. But it's like, okay,
then you know, if they have all these guys that
are self motivated, and then you know why late in
the season when these bigger games arise in the schedule,
do they not deliver to that to that degree? You know,
when you think about the word accountability, something I asked
Shane on Wednesday was just this, Okay, when does accountability

(58:38):
stop at words and when do you feel the need
for it to go to action.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
The words would be Ady.

Speaker 5 (58:44):
Mitchell talking in front of the team on Monday. The
action would be Anthony Richardson getting benched. And I think
that's difficult. Like to Eddie's point, I get that, Like
you know, as a coach, do you send a message
and say, hey, we're coming right back to you, like
you know last time the Rams they went right back
to Kien Williams after the fumble.

Speaker 3 (59:02):
But again, Karen Williams.

Speaker 5 (59:04):
Has probably earned the right for that. Jonathan Taylor has
earned the right. Like to me, it's not apples to
apples Ady Mitchell. What has he done in the NFL
for him to all of a sudden go right back
out there last year? He wasn't trustworthy either in college
to a point, Jake, he had some great highs and
then a lot of inconsistency. So I think defining accountability

(59:26):
and how far you take it as a coach would
be a really difficult thing, and this week, could say
even more difficult because all of a sudden, you popped
up on the final practice day of the week and
a receiver you thought was gonna play in the game
is no longer playing in that game and Alex Pearce.
So yeah, I don't think there was an easy answer.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
When does Max Bowen make his pick? Usually he has
done that by the time you come on with us,
I know.

Speaker 5 (59:50):
And this week I've been uh yeah, I mean, I
guess I've been lazy.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
I don't know why.

Speaker 5 (59:55):
All of a sudden, I just got I just looked
at my Raiders helmet and thought.

Speaker 3 (59:58):
Oh my, we still need to do a pick. Beautiful
looking helmet.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
I was gonna say, you can't blame him if he
goes with the Raiders helmet, can you No?

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
And I was surprised he went Rams last week. He's
won three in a row, so he's hot, and uh,
we'll see if he can stretch the five here. But
that rate, you know, the silver and the black and
and the look of it. I don't know if that's intimidating.
I don't know if he's gonna think it's a little
HALLOWEENI and maybe that would you know, stray him? So
the cole Tummet's all, I'll be very curious to see
what he does here.

Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
If you had to pick a color design, like if
you were the owner of an expansion franchise, I've asked
this question to people a lot, But what would your
color scheme be?

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Kevin?

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:00:36):
Boy?

Speaker 5 (01:00:36):
Am I an NFL team?

Speaker 3 (01:00:39):
Boy?

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
That's a good question. Yeah, we'll go NFL. And you're
allowed three, you know, obviously to three colors, like one
accentuating color and then two primary colors.

Speaker 5 (01:00:49):
Well, my my color palette is. I mean, you know,
if you ask me, hey, what makes orange? What made
you know?

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
You know what's primary?

Speaker 5 (01:00:55):
I mean I got a better chance of knowing Mandarin.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
Well, no, no, I'm saying. I'm saying I don't mean primary
meaning like you know Royd Bibbs. I mean like you
have to have two main colors of Team Bowen, and
then you're allowed to have a third one that just,
you know, like just the complimentary color.

Speaker 5 (01:01:09):
Okay, I love, I'm gonna give you. I want the
Chargers powder blue. I'm gonna steal from other people. I
want the Chargers powder blue. I want Tampa Bay's cream
sickle and I want whatever the old Jets green used
to be. Well three colors that I'm gonna pick.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
That you your team will actually look like someone puked
on them. But that's cool though, you know what I mean?

Speaker 5 (01:01:38):
Yeah, yeah, you never know we're gonna be Oregon from
ten years ago. You never know what we're gonna wear.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
That's right, fair enough.

Speaker 5 (01:01:43):
I believe this week I think Seahawks Bucks is like
one of the best games of the week.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
I think they're both going through.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
That is I'm telling you right now. I don't even
know if I can say this on the air, but
like that, to me, if the Seahawks are going with
their late seventies early eighties uniforms with the silver helmets,
and the Bucks are going with the cream sickles, that
is to me visual football orgy. That's what that is,
your sports arassal. Yes, yes, I'm glad.

Speaker 5 (01:02:14):
I'm glad John's at Binkley's today because that seat is
not one I want to sit in for a few hours.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
That's right, all right, Kevin, enjoy the weekend, and we'll
be listening at seven o'clock on Monday for a recap
of it all Hi Boys see right. Kevin Bowen joining
us on the program,