04-09-25 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
If Broncos Country Tonight our tackle get me help, Let's
go on the official home of the Broncos.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Go all right, all night.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
KOA everybody welcome into it.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Broncos Country Tonight, Benjamin Albright here with you, post Rockies edition,
and another short show tonight. Uh Tomorrow, Uh, Nick Ferguson
and I will start a little bit early.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
On KI Sports.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
And then carry it through to Broncos Country tonight, and
then Friday it'll be the opposite way.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Where we'll do k A Sports.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'll have an hour of uh Broncos Country Tonight and
uh and that'll be it. David Royn will be off.
It'll be me and Nick uh and I'll give you
guys an opportunity to uh get just a little bit
earlier in the day, maybe not have to go completely
with the late shows like these, which uh you know,
I mean they're fun, but you know it could be

(01:06):
a bit frustrating too, as we want to get to
news of the day and you know, things like that.
Yesterday we talked a little bit about the Nugget situation.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
We'll get to a little bit of that.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Obviously, the Rockies lost last night seven to one to
the Brewers gets the Brewers again tonight. Rockies one win
on the season and that was the twelve to five
win on Sunday against the Athletics. You know, not exactly

(01:39):
h if you're the Rockies, I mean, it's it's not
been sorry, a second win of the season. They did
get that win against was it Tampa? Not exactly, but
a great start to the season. Rockies are twenty ninth
in Major League Baseball and runs twenty third, and ERA
twenty eighth and WHIP sixteenth and batting average. But it

(02:00):
has not exactly been a stellar start for the Colorado Rockies.
We'll be hoping that they get off the schneid here,
continue to uh uh and are able to wake the
bats up and get some scoring going. Brett Doyle to
home runs, Hunter Goodman two home runs that'll lead the
team only other homers or Ryan McMahon maniac has won
and Bouchard has won. Martini currently leads the team in

(02:26):
batting average, Kyle Farmers second. Both those guys have had
twenty plus at bats and are batting over three hundred,
the only two guys to Doyle's at two seventy three.
McMahon two seventy everybody in Tovar's two sixty two, everybody
else below two fifty. Zach ven Uh one for four
in his UH in his outing, did strike out once.

(02:47):
On the pitching side of things, UH we have since Attela,
burd and Halverson who have not allowed UH earned runs
yet since it Tell did allowed run but it was
not earned. You know, Marquez is UH has put out
to quality starts, but it's just not been. It's just

(03:13):
not been what they need. Dollander, who with much anticipated
rookie did did get the win UH in his start
on Sunday and allowed seven hits, four runs, four earned,
six strikeouts in five innings of work against the A's.
But the bullpen has really sort of been the problem
with the Broncos. Broncos, the Rockies have four pitchers that

(03:35):
are currently sitting over a ten e ra with Vodneck
at eight point three and then Peralta, Tavili, Alexander and
Kelly Ole.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Over ten.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Each of those guys have have pitched at least two
innings almost three two point two.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
I think for Pearlton.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Kenley, it's just it's it's been a struggle for the
Rockies to start this season, and it doesn't get any easy.
You get this stretch with with the and then you're
on the road at the Potteris and Dodgers, you come
home and you get watched it after that it's it's
just not you know, it's it's it's just not a

(04:10):
good start. And hopefully, uh, they are able to sort
of wake things up, continue building this thing up. But
starting to at eight in your first ten, I don't
think was what they had anticipated.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Now. We talked about anticipation when it came to the Nuggets.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Obviously, the Nugget situation we had quite a bit to
talk about yesterday as they fired Michael Bloan will not
be renewing the contract of Calvin Booth. There had been
multiple reports out there about different different coaches that they
would look at, including one about Dan Hurley, although I'm
not one hundred percent sure. You know, they they're kind
of painting that to be a leader in the clubhouse

(04:45):
type stuff, and I am that's not what I had heard.
Doesn't mean it won't happen, but not exactly what.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
What I had heard. You know.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
It's, uh, it's it's tough, uh for the Nuggets right now.
I mean you you you you've been on a one
in five skid over the last couple of weeks. It's
he'd be one of four skid over the last couple
of weeks, and you've just not been able to get
it going. Since the All Star break, the feuding between

(05:16):
Malone and Calvin Booth had reached it had reached ahead.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Nikolea Jokic was tired of, you know, the drama, the
lack of attention to basketball, and that includes the inside
that locker room. I saw some reporting out there that
you know that he didn't have conversations about this, which
was garbage.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
He absolutely did, so.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
You know, it's interesting to me to see some of
the to see some of the reporting on a lot
of this stuff. The timing of it threw some people off.
I mean, if you listen to this show, you kind
of knew that that was coming. The three games left
in the regular season and you get you know, you're
gonna have playoffs. I'll give a time for David Adaman

(05:56):
to kind of show what he's got, you know it.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Everything really.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
Intensified between Malone and Booth when Booth started making suggestions
to Malone about which players should get more opportunities and
Michael Malone just not taking those suggestions kindly. I would
say that Jamal Murray probably represents the schism between the two.
Hadding played since March twenty six, got the hamstring injury.

(06:29):
Malone cast out of Murray's availability a.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Few days ago.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know, Murray's thirty six point three minutes per game,
or the most of his career. He's a few years
removed from an ACL injury that cost Denver two playoff
runs in twenty one and twenty two. Jokisch is getting
thirty six point seven minutes, most he's played in his career,
and his usage is at his second highest with only
twenty one twenty two season, which is the one Murray

(06:55):
missed all of topping it in the Fast the past
few weeks, the Nuggets have lost to the Lakers, They
lost to the Timberwolves, they lost to the Warriors, all
teams in the same neighborhood record wise as the Nuggets.
Denver currently sits fourth in the West at forty seven
and thirty two, and that would be tied in the

(07:16):
lost collar with the Clippers Warriors Tells Grizzlies but one
more win with tie breakers, the Nuggets would sit in
seventh in the play in if they all finished with
the same record, and so that slide added to already
thick tension between Calvin Booth and Michael Malone. Nuggets on

(07:38):
the verge of wasting a historic statistical year from Yokich,
who's averaging a thirty point triple double and perhaps the
greatest single season in league history. Disagreements between a front
office and a head coach, a general manager head coach
are not uncommon in professional sports, especially in I think

(08:02):
in the NBA, where there's sort of a natural tension
between front office and coaching staff. You know, one is
always prepping for the future, one is always preparing for now.
There were moments this season where things have been so
uneasy between the two that has filtered down to front

(08:24):
office members and coaching staff being hesitant to interact with
each other. Sources inside that building there have have told
me that, you know, after Drew Nicholas was fired earlier
in the season, uh, there was that there was there

(08:46):
were some points around that that it really started to
get off the rails. Throughout the season, Booth has has
been critical of Michael Malone's handling of the Nuggets headliners
and not asking more from players like Murray in terms
of how he coached him, especially his team defense has faltered.

(09:09):
You know, the Nuggets are like twenty second, and you
know in D rating since the All Star Break, they're
eleven and twelve. Defense dropped at twenty fourth, and honestly,
ownership saw the possibility of another Jokic prime season being wasted.
You know, last season the Nuggets were were eight on

(09:31):
defense as they went to the two seed in the West,
and the title season they were fifteenth. But they've had
a top five offense all three seasons. Iss Jokic just
played basically historic basketball on the offensive side. It's it

(09:52):
then speculated that Michael Malone might even move on from
the Nuggets after this season due to the deteriorating relationship
he had Calvin Booth. But you know, Booth couldn't get
a contract extension, and it's just, you know, kind of
made sense that this was going.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
To be a last run for both of them.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Being able to get to the back to the NBA
Finals is a difficult task. I mean, in any stretch,
it's made even more difficult by the atrophy of the roster.
You know, KCP was a starter, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green,
those have all been key defections for salary cap reasons

(10:36):
over the last couple of years. Christian Brown has emerged
with more opportunity in his third year, replacing KCP, certainly
a candidate for most improved player, averaging what fifteen almost
fifteen and a half this year, but Aaron Gordon's only
played forty eight games because of injuries. Murray's status is
in question, and it just it hasn't been a full

(10:57):
strength season for a team that had is that was
paris perilously thin in terms of depth. Peyton Watson Julian Strawther,
both late round, late first round draft picks the Nuggets
have acquired the last couple of years have shown good
glimpses here and there, but they haven't gotten uh they've
sort of that full trust for Michael Malone yet, and

(11:20):
so there's there's a deepening dependency on overused veteran players
and Brown was the only one able to bring through.
Denver of course signed Russell Westbrook at a pretty low number,
but his late game play has been questionable lately. I
would say that he's been a net positive for the

(11:40):
franchise this season, but that late game play some head
scratching decisions lately has been sort of a problem.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
Especially clear.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Early this season, coming coming off last year's lost to
the te Wolves in the finals, that this franchise needed
a jolt. The starters looked like they were worn down
in Game seven last year, and the Nuggets tried to
be in play.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
They were.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
They looked at Zach Lavine when he was on the
trading block, uh and you know.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
A deal. They couldn't get deal done with the Bulls,
so he wound up going to Sacramento.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
So it sort of felt like at the time that
Booth was looking for a more aggressive player who wouldn't
seed so much to Jokic every night. But you have Jokic,
Murray and Porter of Max deal. So it limits Denver's
financial flexibility and the new economic reality of the NBA
where the second apron removing mechanisms are punitive for good

(12:44):
teams to supplement top talent.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
And porters.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
You know, to be fair to the Nuggets, which you know,
I've lam based in him for signing Porter of that deal,
but to be fair to them, the one thing I
will say that it's fair to them on this, even
though I still disagree with having me that decision. Porters
Max contract was agreed to, it to the old paradigm,
so he kicked in right as Denvers Championship season began.
And I don't know if they would have done that

(13:11):
exact deal knowing what was coming. And now he's got
two seasons coming up, thirty eight point three million and
forty point eight million in the next two seasons before
hitting free agency in the summer of twenty twenty six
twenty seven season.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Excuse me.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know, Yokich is thirty on a designated super max
and he'll be he'll be at fifty five million, fifty
nine million and a player option worth sixty three million
when he when he will be thirty three years old.
And you got to wonder where they go from here.
In every direction, both Malone and Booth will will be

(13:59):
looked at on the O but market by other teams.
But it's just interesting that they they could not figure
it out here in Denver. And I mean, I get it.
Some guys that god at their job and are difficult
to work with. You know, Michael Malone is one of

(14:19):
those guys. Sean Payton's one of those guys. But you
can find guys that can work with those guys. I
think George Peyton is probably the perfect compliment to Sean
Payton for the Denver Broncos in that regard. But Michael
Malone had won a championship while Calvin Booth was not

(14:40):
in a position, not in a position of power, and
I just don't think that's equal footing. I just don't
think at that point in time that if it's not
your guy that you picked out and he doesn't come
in with that sort of credibility, you know, I mean,
I don't know. It's just difficult because the tweaks that

(15:01):
Booth made may have put the nuggets over the top,
but the reality was the core of this roster was
in place, and I think most people credit Jokic and
Malone for winning that championship, and so that's that's sort
of the thing. I don't think that Booth did that
so much as Tim Connolly, who really laid the foundation

(15:24):
of this team before going elsewhere to Minnesota, really was
more of the architect, and so Booth doesn't really get
any credit for that. He doesn't have any cachet, he's
not Malone's guy. They don't get along, and it just
it created in the end something of a toxic environment.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
And then when Malone.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Who can be a fairly hard nosed coach, although I
you know his methodology, I think he's I think he's
honest to raw. You know, when that wears thin, And
in any sport, in any locker room, having a coach
that's that, you know, sort of hard edged will will
wear thin. You know, you get to a point where
guys tune it out. You know, you get to a

(16:05):
point where players tune it out for better or worse.
And that's sort of where we wound up with this
whole debacle. Do I think they should have let my
own coach out the string?

Speaker 3 (16:19):
Maybe?

Speaker 2 (16:20):
But I think at the end of the day, they
felt like this is an opportunity to get a look
at David Adelman, who's one of the names on our
short list, And I feel like that they didn't feel
like that the work environment was tenable any longer. I

(16:40):
don't know if you guys have been in a situation
like that. I have that where there's just been work
environments that have just gotten so toxic it's just something's
got to break. So we'll see more on that. We
get to some Broncos stuff, some NFL Draft stuff'll have
to get to, plus Luca's bizarre rejection when we come
back on Broncos Country Night here on KAWE.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
This if Broncos Country tonight'stern our tackle, get help and
receive us, Let's go on the official home of the Broncos.
Go all right, All night ko.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
A, welcome back to it, Broncos Country Tonight.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Benjamin O'Brien here, will you five six six nine zero
was text line post Rockies edition Here Tomorrow we will
have I believe we have a full show tomorrow, we
at least have a partial show, I know that. And
then Friday, of course Nick and I'll be filling in

(17:49):
for David Ryan. I'll have an hour of Broncos Country Night.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
We'll do.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
We'll have live Rockies after that. So a lot going
on over the next couple of days and we'll see
how that goes. Prior to the break, I tease something
I want to talk about. I don't know if you
guys saw is Luka Doncic getting ejected from the game
last night.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
I don't know. I don't know how many.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
You guys saw this, but tight game between La and
Oka see and a quick whistle for what would be
Luca's second technical foul, but it was the result of
his comment to a fan, and the OKC stands that
referee jt Or thought was directed in himself. According to

(18:40):
Doncic and the fan at the center of the controversy,
the Lakers had a one of nine one AA lead
at the time of Dodge's ejection, and they proceeded to
melt down from there. The Thunder finished the game on
a twenty to eleven run one thirty six one twenty

(19:01):
victory and delivered a bit of a blow to the
Lakers in their fight for higher seating in a pretty
tightly packed Western Conference playoff race. Dodges scored a contested
layup in the fourth quarter. That's what gave him eight
one percent lead, and we ran back on defense. He
said something to a fan in a sideline seat, and

(19:23):
or who was standing nearby appeared at the time if
you look at this clip, to look like that he
thought that Dodget's words were directed to him. And you
know with that, donches Knight was was done or whistled
him for a technical foul. The technical was the second
of the game. He was ejected Sean Gilless. Alexander made

(19:45):
the tech free throw, tied it up one to eight,
hit another after Vanderbilt was whistled for a technical. Thirteen
seconds later, Austin read a para free throws to retake
the lead, but doax Caruso hit a three pointer and
it was all thunder from there. The fan, who is
a guy named Jeremy Price, told ESPN's Dave mcnhamhon that

(20:10):
he was engaged in a back and forth with Doncic
when Doncic delivered the explative to him. Price's response was quote,
during the game. Within the game, I mentioned that he
was short and he missed it, and he turned around.
He shot an expletive back and then jt Or happened
to see it at that point and tied him up.

(20:31):
Price didn't clarify exactly what choice word got Doncics tossed.
Price then told mcnhimon that Or possibly thought that comment
was aimed at Or, and he said, quote, that could
possibly be. That's probably why he picked up the technical,

(20:53):
To be honest. Jt Or did not speak with media
after the game. Crew chief Tony Brothers did and confirm
that Doncic was ejected for what was perceived to be
profanity directed at or. Brothers told the poll reporter that
Doncic drew his first techn to go for profanity directed
at a game official, and as for the second, he

(21:15):
looked directly at an official and used vulgar language, per
Brothers to the poll reporter. Dodgic, for his side of things,
offered his side of the story during a postgame news conference,
and it lined up with the fan Jeremy Price's saying
it had nothing to do with the refs. You can
see it happened. They never got a fan ejected. Never,

(21:37):
but if you've got to talk, I'm going to talk back.
Has nothing to do with the refs. Apparently Doncic and
this fan have talked smacked to each other before, kind
of similar to the way Reggie Miller and Spike Lee
used to do Pacers Knicks games. The game came with

(22:00):
some pretty high stakes for a Lakers team fighting the
secure top four seed. The loss dropped in the forty
eight and thirty one. They maintained their spot in third
in the West, but their lead is a single game
over the Nuggets and Grizzlies, who were in fourth and fifth.

Speaker 3 (22:13):
Place, respectively.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
The loss left them one point five games ahead of
seventh place in the West, which comes with a spot
in the play in instead of a guaranteed playoff berth Lakers,
of course, have three games remaining on their regular season schedule,
and the Thunder have already locked the number one seed
in the West up before Donchins's ejection, the game was

(22:38):
shaping up pretty tight. It was a pretty It was
a pretty good game, one of the most electric quarters
of the NBA season. In the first quarter, both teams
were on fire from three Okay, SE shot seven to eleven,
LA was nine to thirteen. They went in the second

(22:59):
quarter at forty three. The Thunder went on a bit
of a run. They were up eight at half time.
The Lakers come back with sixteen six runs start the
third quarter, took an eighty eight eighty six lead on
a deep pull up from you know three from Dodgic.
Lakers come back at ninety eight eighty seven. In the
fourth quarter, the Thunder jump up on top with a

(23:22):
three from Air Wiggins, and there were four lead changes
at a tie before the ejection with seven forty remaining,
and then the Thunder just took over dodgicch finished with
twenty three points, five assists, three boards. Lebron led the
Lakers twenty eight points, seven boards, three assists, Reeves twenty
four points, four to seven from three. Lakers shot eighteen

(23:42):
to forty from three. As a team, that's forty five percent.
But it didn't matter if so Oklahoma City was the
better shooting team for the night. Gildes Alexander forty two points,
six boards, six assists, shot fourteen to twenty six in
the field, five of nine from downtown, nine to eleven
at the free throw line.

Speaker 3 (24:00):
That was just.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
I mean, it was a game. And then that it
was bizarre how the referee really really thought that his
comment was about was was directed at him, even though
it was I mean, you look at that, it pretty
clearly looked like it was directed to the fan.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
So I don't know. Anyway. Other news, we got some.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
NFL news today. I just I wanted to get down
because that one looked bizarre to me. Quickly, here's Cenia
Bull attounced the hiring of former Cowboy scout Drew Fabianitch
as executive director. Fabianitic replaces Jim Naggy in that role.
Naggy left Ian February to become the University of Oklahoma's
general manager. Fabianics was recently at West Virginia School, serving

(24:49):
as that school's general manager and director of scouting, and
he had the same role at Auburn Back in twenty
twenty two, Senior Bowl had a release. Fabianic said, Senior
Bowl have been part of my life over eighteen year.
I'll embrace this game, City of Mobile. I'm eager to
bring my skills to job, et cetera. C fabian spent
most of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, who hired
him in two thousand and three, and was a scout

(25:10):
with the team for eighteen years. His last fourteen is
a national scout. During his tenure with the Cowboys, the
team drafted players who combined for sixty.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
Seven Pro Bowls.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Congratulations to him, and congratulations to Shrine Game director Eric Galco,
who got an extension for him as director of the
Shrine Game. The Senior Bullet approached him first to replace
Jim Naggie, and he delected to stay with the Shrine
Game and take a pay raise, So congratulations to both
of them. Tyreek Hill back in the news, police recalled

(25:46):
to a high rise condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida,
on Monday, after a domestic dispute between Tyreek Hill and
his wife. According to an incident report obtained by a
local ten news there, Leslie Vocarro, the mother of Tyreek

(26:10):
Hill's wife, who is Keta Hill, called police shortly after
two pm to report an assault in progress. Vacaro told
police that Hill was very aggressive and impulsive, and she
feared for her daughter's safety. Macaro told officers that she
has lived with a couple since November after the birth
of her granddaughter. Vacaro accused Hill of throwing a laptop

(26:34):
on the floor after an argument with his wife, before
grabbing his daughter and walking toward the balcony of the residence.
Keta Hill told police a couple been arguing more frequently,
with Hill getting angry and throwing things whenever she gives
her opinion on anything. According to the incident report obtained
by local ten news, Katy Hill says couple's therapy has

(26:55):
not been working out and that she is in the
process of filing for divorce. Hill told officers the couple
was discussing therapy when the argument escalated. He admitted to
grabbing the baby, but saying I have the same rights
as a father as her as a mother, and I
can take my baby wherever I want. Hill and his

(27:15):
wife told the police their argument never became physical, but
officers noted a bruise on Keyta Hill's upper chest, and
she said it may have happened unintentionally when Hill took
the baby from her. No rest were made at the time,
per local ten news, and the police have since confirmed that.

(27:38):
You know, it's been interesting is Hill has hinted on
social media that he might be out in Miami. One
of the more interesting things I think if you're a
betting person and the odds on Miami, taking a wide
receiver the first to like plus two thousand right now,
and Matt Golden, you know, you take Matt Golden and
pair him up there and trade Tyreek Hill, and you
pair Golden with Jaylen Waddle. You know, I don't know,

(28:01):
I might put a little flyer. I might sprinkle a
little bit on that, just to just to kind of
have that at plus two thousand.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
It feels like it's worth a bit of a sprinkle there.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Pat McAfee came out and said that Rogers is not
on the docket for festivities on his show, Rogers, the
fregient quarterback, continues to be link with the Steelers on
Wednesday Night McAfee. Tonight, McFee has an event in Pittsburgh,

(28:38):
and given that McAfee that Rogers appears on McFee show
every Tuesday, speculation mounted that Rogers would show up and
announce his intention to side with the Steelers. If that
happens at any point, that would be news.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
To Pat McAfee.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Appearing on Ben Roethlisberger's podcast, McFee sent ter Rogers is
not on the docket. Of course, if Rogers shows up,
he probably won't be turned away, but if he doesn't show,
it doesn't mean he won't be signing with the Steelers.
Mike Tomlins said there's no immediate deadline for decision, with
training camp being a line of demarcation. Rogers lingering silence
regarding his plans. Some believe he's waiting to see if
the Vikings will decide to revisit their position on riding

(29:15):
with JJ McCarthy and delaying the decision also allows it
to miss the off season program. Steelers, for their part,
are now going to visit with shid Or Sanders coming
up for the NFL Draft. The Steelers have the pick
twenty one, directly after the Denver Broncos in the draft.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
A couple other news and notes.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Defensive end DeMarcus Walker, former Bronco take a visit with
the Giants on Wednesday, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. He
visited with the Lions last week. Walker, who is thirty,
was released by the Bears in February after spending the
last two seasons in Chicago. Recorded three and a half

(30:03):
sacks in both twenty three and twenty four.

Speaker 3 (30:06):
Obviously, I think.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Most people remember who was a Broncos second rounder back
in twenty seventeen. He's twenty six and a half sacks
for his career, forty tackles for loss, seventy one quarterback hits,
and out of career games. After he completed his rookie
contract with the Denver Broncos, he spent the twenty twenty
one season with Houston, twenty twenty two with Tennessee, and then,
of course, the last two seasons with the Bears. Justin Fields,

(30:28):
who signed a two year contract with the Jets as
a free agent last month, and he's guaranteed thirty million
under the terms of that deal. But Field's history as
a starter with the Bears and the Steelers certainly hasn't
been successful enough for many to be sold he's any
kind of long term solution at the position. Uncertainty as
to why there's still been plenty of speculation, but the
Jets taking a quarterback at some point in the draft

(30:48):
later this month. That prospect came up at during Field's
press conference at the Jets facility earlier today, Field said
he's not interested in answering questions about what might happen.
I don't really like to answer rhetorical questions, Field said.
I'm willing to teach, but I'm not really interested in
rhetorical questions. Hypothetical would be more of the precise word
for the kind of questions for the Fields would prefer ovoid.

(31:11):
But the point of his answer is pretty clear, and
the Jets approach of the draft will give us some
answer about how they feel about him. The Jaguars have
said they're putting Trevor Lawrence on a pitch count. Lawrence
under wit surgery on his left a C joint back
in December on the road to recovery, but new head
coach Liam Cohen noted that he'll be of limited reps

(31:33):
in the spring. He said, everything's looking forward, feels good
right now. Excited about that, but they want to put
him on a pitch count just to make sure. Cardinals
quarterback Kyler Murray said he feels sufficiently recover from his
twenty twenty two torn acl to do whatever I want
to do. Told phn X sports sister site for DNVR

(31:54):
that he felt like he was still feeling something in
his knee early last season, was at as mobile as
he liked to be, wound up running seventy eight times
five hundred and seventy two yards overall, said he thinks
there's room to do more with his legs in order
to make the offense more effective. So I don't want
to get to scheme based, but I do feel like
I have to run more next year, So open to
running more. Like when I hand the ball off to

(32:16):
James Connor Trey Benson, we're a good rushing team. But
when Lamar has the ball off, I was like, ah,
like you can relax. Josh Allen hands the ball off,
You know what I mean? I think for us part
of the emphasis conceptually, I feel like I'm one of
the best in the league. He's made when they're scrambled throughout.
Arizona showed improvement last year. Two and five finished to
the season kept him out of the playoffs, but Murray

(32:37):
improving could be could be big for them. The NFL
announced that eighteen game could be on the docket. I
think everybody believes that an eighteen game season is inevitable,
but former NFL Players Association executive George Atala believes inevitablely soon.

(33:04):
He spent fifteen years in the inner Circle. Is the
nflpa's chief of external Affairs. He was asked on Tuesday
when he thinks that will happen, and he said, my
gut tells me before twenty twenty nine. And when asked
why before, he thinks that there will be a massive
push by owners to get to a place where they
can time it with the last of the expiration of

(33:27):
the TV deals upcoming broadcast deals. Atala said, these eighteen
games thing look a little bit of history.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
The NFL wanted No. Nine.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
They directly stated they wanted to luck players out in
twenty eleven.

Speaker 3 (33:38):
One of the goals was to get to eighteen games.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Twenty eleven deal prevented them from doing that twenty twenty
deal prevented them from going to eighteen without collective bargaining
and new CBA. So the current goal will be to
get to eighteen games for the TV and streaming deals
that will replace the current contracts that which the NFL
can opt out of in twenty twenty nine. So they
want to have this set up so they can charge
more on new contracts following the twenty twenty nine season,

(34:04):
which I mean makes sense. The NFL's in the business
of making money. They want to make more money. It
has been an absolute cash cow. The broadcast rights with
the league makes money. It's not with the concessions or
ticket prices or any of that stuff. So it makes
sense that the powers that be would want to get

(34:24):
that eighteenth game in so they can charge broadcast people
for an eighteen game schedule. You know, that seems fairly
obvious to me. Anyway, Broncos gonna have Quinn Show Judkins
in for a visit. Running back from Ohio State. Probably
not the most Ohio State running back associated name, as
Trevion Henderson has gotten a lot of run, but Judkins

(34:45):
will certainly be That could be something where the Broncos
are merely picking the brain of a player who played
for Arrivals Offensive coordator Chip Kelly, of course, was the
oc ot Ohio state. Now with the Raiders, could be
looking into the prospect. We'll see how that goes. Broncos
Country tonight. We'll be back after this