First Things First - Tyrann Mathieu & Sherrone Moore join show, Jalen Hurts defends play style, Do Bengals have a solution to slow starts?

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

Watch clips on YouTube! Subscribe to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FIRST THINGS FIRST YOUTUBE CHANNEL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (00:00) Jalen Hurts defends his play style (24:20) BUD List (39:38) Bo Nix ranked #64 in NFL Top 100 list (45:07) Does Zac Taylor have a solution to the Bengals slow start problem? (51:29) Tyrann Mathieu joins show (1:04:19) Sherrone Moore joins show (1:15:02) Who will be the next QB on the NFL Top 100 list? (1:18:09) Final thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's a show that had their makeup session interrupted by someone breaking in while I was just trying to get, you know, beautiful. Said, oh, wow, there's breaking news from camp. Now, when Ben Johnson shuts down practice, it's a non-story. Why are you like this? I gave this to you because I thought you would want it. I could have just hit it from you. I brought this to you because I thought you would like it. You then are like, oh, that is interesting.

It is. And now you're turning it into anti-Kaleb propaganda. It's a Ben Johnson thing. Okay. Aaron Rogers threw an interception. First play of practice. Something or nothing, bro. To Patrick Queen.

Well, I'm going to say nothing because I said it was nothing when Brock Perkins from intercept was last year. Turned out to be a little something. Yeah, thank you. Exactly. First hour of first things first. Maybe that's how we start the show. Uh, probably.

not? Well, you got to break a few eggs. Today, changes in Cincinnati. Did Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor just solved their slow starts? Who would have thunked, Bru, practicing more? Turns out you don't have pretty good. Yeah, practice week one. Meanwhile, Michigan coach Jerome Moore joins the show to talk about the Wolverine's upcoming season. And Bruebill mentioned several times that he spent a lot of money in Michigan. A ton of money. Gosh. And And finally, a visit from the Honey Badger at 4, which means we're getting a special early edition of the Bud List in about 27 minutes. Wow. 27 minutes is.

It also means, oddly, during the Honey Badger segment, I have to do the sports media on Budsman. Oh, yeah, poor fall on a Thursdays when I have it or not. Exactly. That is a great example of whether you like it or not. Honey Badger, I understand. Sorry. He's got to talk about a tweet in one. That's exactly it.

Hey, this one really grinds my ear. That is what it is. Did you see this local reporter somewhere said something bad about LeBron? How dare you, sir? I've never done that. When you look back in the last 50 years, put up the full screen.

Okay, let's just start. We're starting with the super... No bubble of the butlers? He's just going to say, I don't know. It's all quarterbacks and all motivation. Maybe Ben John. All positive today. Oh, good.

We're starting with the Super Bowl MVP, who is so locked in on this upcoming season, he hasn't even put his Super Bowl ring on. I know reports on whether he's pressed the little button and have the wings come out. Criticism is out there, debatable, that perhaps even though he ended the season covered in green confetti, maybe he's not doing enough. Well, here's his response. I've been a very long time being told that I got to do it a certain type of way. That didn't get me the win when I did it the way that everybody wanted me to do it. When you put so much energy towards the product and performance, you kind of lose sight of what the main thing is in winning.

And so I think having that loss has done nothing but motivate me from that point on in 2022 now to just find ways to win regardless of how it looks. Okay. Through your reaction. You can't help but love this. Okay. You can't help but love this.

Look, this is a guy that's been to two Super Bowls, one one in his four years as a starter. He could easily have come out and just said, you know, look, I would like to see, you know, in light of all the criticism or doubt about him, look, I've shown, you know, in the Super Bowl and in other games that I can throw it, you know. And I have individual goals too. So I would like to get out there and throw it a little bit more.

I'll talk to Nick about, you know, we'll work some of that. He could have easily said that and been justified to do it. But he said, I am about winning. And I'm glad he threw it out early. Like, I know he was asked the question, but I'm glad he got it out there now because now this sends a message. know he and A.J. Brown are friends. Oh, that's just smart. But it kind of sends a match. Like, look, we're not changing anything.

We're going to win. If it means throwing it 31, 32 times here and there, then I'll do it. If it means throwing it 20, like I did, I think when they beat the Rams, then we'll do that in the playoffs. So he's just about winning. And look, I've said this before, and I'm going to put it out. I'm going to keep putting it out there until it really gets out in the media landscape. Oh, okay.

Good. Like a lot of my revelations have. Jordan ass. Brock Purdy as Drew Breeze. Yep. Mahomes is Jordan. You're still on the Brock Purdy as Drew Breeze? Oh, yeah, yeah.

We can't. Sequin is going to have a Christian McCaffrey type. Like all that. People grab hole of that months after I said it. Maybe a little longer. Yeah. But this, his legacy is going to be about winning. He is going to be like the Terry Bradshaw of this generation.

Oh, I thought you're going to try Russell Wilson. Well, I've said he's like Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw. No, I think he'll win more. Russ got one. I think Jalen will probably get another one down the line at some point. But Bradshaw was never viewed as the best quarterback in the league. He was MVP one year.

But Jaylor's already been second in the MVP race. He may get an MVP as well. But Bradshaw in the playoffs, obviously he won four Super Bowls. And in the big moments, no one was more clutch than Terry Bradshaw. He played his best football. And that's what Jalen Hertz will go down. has. So I love that he put this out there. That would be great. And that's what

they need to do as a team. So I maybe I was projecting with the Russell Wilson piece of it because Russell Wilson to me is the more contemporary example of a guy who went through something very similar. And I did not think it was unfair then

and I don't think it's unfair now where you give the guy credit for how he plays in big moments. You give the guy credit for leadership, toughness, you know, those things. But you also recognize, like we did with Ross early on, that, again, and that Cam has talked about this one, we'll get into the Cam conversation in a bit, you know, was he driving the

bus of that team? Or was that, in Russell's case, Legion of Boom led, Marshawn as the, you know, as the kind of lead drummer, and he's on, I didn't play in a band like Wilds did, I assume. I never played in a band. I just seemed like a little clarinet to be 100%. I can see like an air supply. Absolutely. You know what I mean?

You know what I mean? Like that's what it was with Russ early. And then later in Russ's career, he developed more as a passer. Now, the teams weren't as good. I wouldn't put that on him. Because mid-2010s Russell Wilson was awesome. You know what I mean? Was never considered the best quarterback in football famously,

never got an MVP vote that was a good. But was consistently really good. And this, I, you at times, while it's not a knock seem like almost annoyed by this conversation while I I love it because I think this is a consistent through line across sports which is who deserves the credit and can you like what I think the late great Kobe Bryant was on the record what championship meant the most at least while he was playing now maybe at sometimes he would say that Brady said the next one or whatever, but it was the first one without Shaq.

Because there was always the question, and he'd do it without Shaq. We talk about Brady and Belichick all the time. Like, Tom did it without Bill, but Bill didn't do it without Tom. Jeff Van Gundy, during the broadcast of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, says at this point, LeBron already had three championships, had been to eight finals, said LeBron James will never accomplish anything greater. than getting this team to these NBA finals, because it was the inverse of this.

Now, you can disagree with the take. Cleveland, I thought. But the point was that we deify, man. Look what he dragged as far as he dragged it, even if it doesn't win a championship. And we look with a questioning eye to the stacked squads. It just is, it's what we did to Kevin Durant. It's what we did.

Like, those things happen. And so to me, it comes down to how you view Jalen Hertz in a lot of ways. What is the number one most important thing you want from your quarterback? And there's not a right answer to that because I think your answer Wilds would be winning. Well, yeah, that's generally why you play the game. But I think some people, and I think coach's point was when he's evaluating quarterbacks, it's when it's third and eight and everyone knows you're going to pass, can I reliably ask you to drop back and do it?

For what reason? In that scenario, what's the point of that? Because it can lead to winning. Of course. I'm just further down the narrative road than coach and you guys. Well, I don't think that's totally fair. I think that there are different things, and until, and this might be unfair, this is why I don't think Jalen's been criticized. I just think people are frustrated he doesn't get enough credit, so to speak.

until you see a guy in a bunch of different circumstances, you don't know how they would do under those circumstances. And so that's the question for Jalen that I don't think exists for the other guys that are in your top five. Right? Like the other guys that are in your top five, you're pretty confident they would win and do awesome with the Eagles, but you're also confident that they have won and done well with very different teams. I think that's what it is.

I don't think that's unfair to him. I think that's how we've always done sports. That's good. I just think quickly, I think the question is there's always a combination of individual brilliance and team success. You know, I mean, Bill Russell had the team success, and he did, obviously was a terrific rebounder and defender, but Wilk Chamberlain had the individual success. Some people feel Wilk Chamberlain was better, even though he won two rings compared to 11. And others feel Bill Russell.

So it's what this is the age old question. And it's, look, if the Pacers had won the championship, or we don't even have to go there, the Pacers beat the bucks in the playoffs. Does that mean Tyrese Halliburton is better than Janice Ante Coupo? No. You know, like, so that that's kind of related to what this is. And this is where I think when LeBron talked about ring culture, it's a nuance. Like winning is very important.

But it doesn't mean just because a guy who's a guy who's a. a very good player won a championship that he's better than a guy who was phenomenal but never won a championship. And that's KW, that's, go ahead. No, I don't think Jalen Hertz gets enough credit because what he is willing to do is right up there with all the other sacrifices that we see great athletes do, whether you're willing to cut your finger off or even Halliburton going out there, knowing that he's risking a career perhaps altering, altering.

injury, Jalen Hertz is willing to say, you know what, all I care about is winning. I'm going to shut out all the noise, and it's really who I am. Dating back to Alabama, if you watch that game or go and watch it on YouTube, when he gets pulled and they win the game afterwards, there is no like, man, he is 100% locked in supporting Tua. It's actually who he is in his DNA. So he's never changed. He's always going to be this guy.

And the fact that he is willing to sacrifice. But what do you think he's willing to sacrifice right now? Like do you, like that's the question I have. The fact that he's- Individual stats. Yes. Because I think he feels like he could put him up. So the, so that, and I think that's where maybe you view him differently than I think what you would call his critics.

I think, I think some people think he is, listen, he is obviously a great leader. He obviously cares about winning. We talked about the Alabama stuff back when it was happening, all the intangible. but I think there are some people maybe fairly that think this style he is not sacrificing this is the style that the only one that he can win with

that that is which is fine no no no but that's the difference between a sacrifice right because the saccharate I think what you're so and I think that's where Cam because and I asked you this off the air and we like who's better Cam or Jalen Hertz and my answer is Cam Newton

and someone's like why my answer to that is kind of I just believe it. I just believe it. And part of that is do I think Jalen could have done what Cam did with that 2015 Panthers team?

And my answer to that is absolutely not. I don't think there's 12 quarterbacks in the history of the league could have done what Cam did in that moment. Isn't that unfair where like, you know, switch, put Joe Burrow in the Ravens' offense. Is that going to work?

Like, maybe not. So does that mean Joe Burr, Lamar is automatic? dramatically better than Joe Burrow? You might think so already, but just when you start to switch guys around in scenarios with offenses that are built either for them or that they have succeeded in, I think it's unfair. So that might be unfair.

So maybe that specific example is unfair because I also think you can say Jalen couldn't have done what Cam did. We don't know that if you put Cam on this Eagles team, they would have had as much success. No, it would have fallen apart. It feels like they would have been awesome. Rina book on the sidelines. Because he can run. It feels like they would have.

Look, I agree. I do feel like Cam is better than Jalen. But assuming Jaylen Hertz has like a long career. He could go down as a better goal. He's going to. He's not good. He will. I think he'll win. Let's say he wins another Super Bowl.

Like, or he just has a winning career, even if he doesn't get another Super Bowl. Like accomplishments, that's why it's nuanced, how you say somebody is greater. And for Cam, the challenges, I mean, the numbers even, like Cam's numbers in the regular season, I thought you might bring up Cam. So here we go. It's numbers in a regular season versus Jailens. And this is Cam at Carolina. So I didn't even put in New England.

Cam only had eight, like, really good seasons. So look at the numbers. But why do you still immediately? entered Cam was better. He's more talented. Cam was more talented and dynamic. And then Cam has a couple issues. One, when you compare him to Jalen,

the stats aren't as good as Jalen's overall. And then look at the Super Bowl. And Cam gets criticized for not diving on the fumble. But, I mean, the Super Bowl numbers. Jalen has been play his best football of his life in the Super Bowls. And Cam obviously did. Didn't return over. Was Cam was saying he was better than Jalen Hertz?

I don't know. In this latest one, in the latest one, Cam said that, you know, he's like, and then Cam's ego gets a hold of him and it's like, they're talking about all the things Jalen has that you don't. I can go down the list of things that I have that Jalen doesn't, which would be, you know, Cam's one of eight people ever to win the Heisman and League MVP. Like there is and there is, and I, this, the reason, and maybe we've gone on two, too long with this. I can never tell if I'm annoying you.

No, no, I'm not. Because I... Blanket, yes, but we're a good one. You get air on the side if you're annoyed. But I find some of this really fascinating because you have very clear, I think, relatively fair baseline

metrics, but I also think you think Cam was better. And there's no way to... It goes against everything that you believe in except for the fact that you watch, you're like, man, Cam's best was all-time great best. And I don't feel that yet with Jalen.

And I think that's fair. And I think that's fair. And I also think the- But Cam, the reason how this all started was Cam had Jalen at 10. And he made a nice top 10 list. And people like Justin Herbert, who have had no postseason success, were ahead of him.

With the idea being, and this is, it's fun to talk about like Cam's point of view without trying to get into his head. But it's like, all right, Cam is looking at the game in a different way than I look at it. He's looking at sort of, you know, as a quarterback and as an elite quarterback, he can spot elite talents. And I also think he's, I think there is far more talented. And, Drew, don't you think across sports, and then we, I guess we can leave it, there is a distinction between evaluating a guy based on just by virtue of their existence,

how high your floor gets. And as a team? Yes. Like, that's, you know, that's a metric that really helps Cam. Like, Prime Cam Newton drop him on any team, and they have a relatively high floor because of his ability to do, by relatively high, this means. Yeah, but I mean just like, just, you know, eight wins, something like that, even if you don't have this squad around you. I think that another way is a guy's ability in his specific situation to make the most of it. Jalen gets A triple plus on that second category,

but I don't know where he would be in that first category. And I think at some point we'll find out because the Eagles won't always have a super stacked roster. You know what I mean? At some point, you'll get to see it. I'm going to throw out another comparison to J.N. Hurts. It's cross sport. Draymond Green.

A winner. Wiles is going to be. No, I know. Draymond is going to be a Hall of Famer. Yes. Drayman on that list we debated the other day from Bleach Report it was 60 something. There are a lot of guys individually

that feel like, man, I was way better than Draymond as an individual player. Shooting, ball handling, whatever it might be. I guess he was 88 all the list. But because he won and because he did his role to perfection, essentially, just like Jalen hurts.

I think that's a similar comparison. Drayman is going to go back down as better than a lot of guys who have more skills. I totally agree with that. And here's why I like Draymond. I think some of Steph's greatness is directly, directly, or Raymond is directly responsible for some of Steph's greatness. I'm not taking anything away.

The Saquan year, Jalen doesn't get enough credit for. Yes, for everything. I think Siriani's a great coach because of Jalen Hertz. I think Seekwon had his best year ever because of Jalen Hertz. I think the O-1. Yes. Honestly, no. No, no, honest to God, when Jason Kelsey retired, oh, there goes the touch, push.

Really? Okay. We didn't miss a beat on it, and now the league's trying to ban it. Sorry, I'm trying to feel myself. I told you, Miles. I'm out here, dude. No, Devonthe's best year. A.J. Brown, is he better in Tennessee, or is he better with Jalen Hertz?

Everyone is better when they're around Jalen Hertz. but Jalen Hertz is being carried. And I'm glad you brought that up. I'd like to say, because we've talked about A.J. Brown, is he going to feel like somewhat understandably, man, I got to get my numbers. I'm trying to be a Hall of Fame.

There's another way for receivers to get in the Hall of Fame. You win a lot. Well, tell that to Julian Ellman. I've been trying to say that. With great numbers. Right. I mean, looking at very good. Julian didn't.

Yeah, you have very good numbers, but you consistently win you make big plays in the big moments. So AJ has to weigh. I mean, winning would, he's going to put up good numbers. And if they go deep in the playoffs or get to another Super Bowl or keep getting the Super Bowls, then A.J. Brown, that helps his case too for the Hall of Fame. Yeah, for sure. And he is the one that it, because there was also the other thing, we didn't talk much about it,

post-Super Bowl, the whole, you know, what do you get more satisfaction of that A.J. and Devante were talking about. and the answer was absolutely mixing a corner and watching the defeat on his face more than any team. And by the way, that's part of what makes you great, is trying to win your individual matchup, but it's also why wide receivers can be the more hard to corral emotionally because so much of it is one-on-one, I need to defeat you,

and I need someone to be throwing me the ball to do it. I'm just going to tell everybody as we enter into the NFL season, predictions week. I'm starting to get radicalized. About the Eagles? With this Jalen Hurts stuff. We can tell, but it is starting, it's going to, I'm going to get weird here. Why? I'm going to end up showing up like the guy with the Philly Fanatic on his belly button. That's going to be me. It's going to be weird. Hold on. Wait, I know we're late and I know

we got to go. I don't know, but I'm just starting. It's just like, ah, you know, I'm, I realized, like, if I redid this segment, I'm like, I guess my only place to go is he's the best quarterback in the NFL. And I'm like, well, wow, slow down. What if we traded him? What if we traded him to the Panthers? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what would happen if he got traded

to Panthers. I know he ended his season, smiling with confetti on him, smoking a cigar and everyone else was watching on TV except one of my other guy who was playing in the game. I'm getting radicalized on this stuff. Say it. Say it. Say it with your chest.

I'm not ready yet. It's not prediction weeks. Hold on. But there are contests. You know what I mean? Yeah, there isn't like, you know what? What would it be like if Hiree played Bob Coosie one-on-one? Wow, someday, maybe with A-I.

There are contests every Sunday. And Jalen Hertz takes the field against another quarterback. He takes the field against Matthew Stafford. Yeah, and they play and one guy wins. And then Jay and Daniels at the same time. And they play and they come and they're like, yep, all right, good. I win again. And then him and Patrick Hohens play and one guy wins there.

Bro, hold on. I'm starting. trying to lose it. You're surprised by this, Brew? He is this close to saying Jalen Hurts is the best quarterback. Somebody beat him. Hold on. Somebody beat.

Show me somebody can I. It's a team game. Okay. Then we shouldn't talk about it at all. We should just be talking about tennis. Can I, you guys are, brew, you're, you're, you, he's shocked by this. I told you. That's not the takeaway.

That's fine. What is in that? Real quick. Let me see this. That's not the takeaway. The takeaway is the least surprising thing ever. It's just NBA Wilds becoming NFL Wilds. You know the team I think is the best, the team that just won.

You know, you know who I think is going to win again, the team that won most recently. No one's beating the Eagles in one game series. And like that, I mean, that's what you're saying. That is very, when you're driving the tape like I do. It's not surprising. Well, thank you guys. There it. You know what?

There it is. Green, putting a little green leotard with wings on. There it is. That's perfect. Feeling good about Jane. I told you that had to be the take a month ago. I said to you for your child. I realize it.

You are good. I told you that a month ago. You like Tom Brady? He put up great numbers this whole year or was he just collecting rings? First thing's first podcast this morning. I checked it. We're number 43. Now the Bleacher Report, top 100.

players. Number 43, Clyde Frazier. So subscribe to the Clyde Frazier podcast. Wow, he did have 36, 9, and 17 in the game seven of the finals. That's like that. That's one ever let Brew and I talk about. I think Clyde's a little underrated. No. You know, you to see him there. Yeah. Number 42, ice man. So we want to climb up. Wow. ABA legend on Bleacher report. Right now, however, it's time for the most motivational segment in all sports. The Bud List. Also, a time for some viewer mail. Now, you should we have, I didn't, I wasn't sure if you were going to mail it in today or have mail? Well, my son is at camp.

I actually wrote a real letter today and went to the real post office. My daughter's at camp and I haven't sent a letter immediately. This is a YouTube comment, real. Not that Ryan and Brian and Don and Don and Don Senior aren't real, but I'm just reminding you. The number one most liked comment about the show going to three hours on a little video that we posted. The number one most like comment is from our friend, The Buff Librarian, who seems unhappy with the change, unfortunately, which this was a common refrain.

People are like, oh, well, it's two hours. It's nice and tight. I can watch it. I don't like that first things first will be three hours from the buff librarian, bro. I know what's coming. I like what the librarian loves it. Yeah, so shout out to the buff librarian. Before you start the bud list, brew, just spoiler alert.

Sometimes we know it's coming from you. Oh, buff library. Well, look, I'm glad they use. use my real body. Sometimes they don't, I don't know whose body that is, but this one's me. Sometimes we know the misdirections coming from you, Brew, but we sell it. I was going to say. You could have done that for the Buff Library. I don't know if I've ever done that and not gotten chuckles out of you guys. Even when you know it's coming. Sometimes you don't know it's coming. It's always funny. Some people are saying you should use it

more often. I don't know. It's like, I like to keep people guessing. Yeah, but sometimes I also think it just you forget about it. I have a lot of those and I move on from the break dance. They just come. The break dancing and. Yeah. We used every time the dolphins play. The grades.

It just came out. The grades we do every Monday after Cowboys. Yeah, but when it started, it was just a natural thing. Yeah, Brew was the first one. The first TV. It's so popular. The teachers at my kid's school are doing. I know.

It's unbelievable. With that said, let's get to the butt list. All right. It's all quarterbacks, all motivation. Number three. Jaden Daniels. All right. Now, Jayden, you had the best rookie season ever.

Some have said one of the best. No, the best. It's not one of the best. You had the best rookie season for a quarterback ever. But I'm here to tell you, stay hungry. All right? That doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing from here. Keep working hard.

I believe you will. But sophomore slumps happen. Just asked our guy C.J. Strow in Houston, who had a bit of a slump, you know, helped himself in the playoffs, but had a bit of a slump during the regular season. Defenses have more film on you. They've had more time to study you, your strengths, your weaknesses. Oh, and at least for now, your best wide receiver, Terry McLaurin, is not there in camp. So don't get complacent and think you've solved the NFL. You have it.

stay working hard, stay hungry, stay humble, and stay focused, and you can avoid the sophomore slump and have a great season with the commanders. Jaden, I believe in you. All right, at number two, DAC, Dak present. Now, DAC is in a strange situation, albeit one that could actually work out for him personally. All right, and here's the first of all, expectations are low. And you've said this many times, Nick, but it's true.

Like, let's say DAC had stayed healthy last year. They win 10, 11 games, whatever, get to the playoffs and lose in the first round. This year, the expectations would be very high. You've got to get to the playoffs. Let's see what you're doing in the playoffs. Now, the over under is 7 and a half. It reset. Yes.

So if you just win 10 games or if you get into the playoffs, Dak, you will be viewed, it will be viewed as somewhat of a successful season for you. Or there's another path. Let's say you guys don't have a great year. Let's say you win nine games or less. It's a losing record. But you put up huge numbers.

Now, I know you'd rather win, but I'm just saying you individually put up huge numbers and you should because your defense isn't very good. You're going to give up a lot of points. That means you're going to have to throw the football to stay in games. You've got two very good, one great receiver, another very good receiver in George Pickens.

And so you should put up huge number, not much of a run game. Your numbers could be, I think you might throw for well over 5,000 yards. Well over 5,000. He could throw for over, you could throw for over 5,000. When they're down 30 to 18 in the fourth quarter, you're going to be winging it.

And you're going to have a lot of yard. I believe. Wow. And if that happens, you throw for 5K plus 30-something touchdowns, you're not going to get blamed. Again, I know you want to win, but they're going to say the defense has to get it together.

We need a running back. What happened to Tony Pollard? And you will be in the clear. So, Dak, I think you can come out and have a very good individual season. I believe you. All right. At number one, Nick's guy, Caleb Williams.

Thank you for saying my guy. I mean, you did pick him to win the Super Bowl. Reach the Super Bowl. He's my guy. He's my guy. All right. Caleb, I'm not even mad at you for the 4,000 yards goal, the 70% completion goal. That's fine.

But here's what I would say. Just do what you need to do to improve as a quarterback. Take the Kevin Durant approach. Just every day you throw the check down a little better than you did the day before. You read the defense a little better than you did the day before. Your handoffs are crisper than they were the day before. If you do all of these things, then you will have a good season. And some of these things, look, be on time, be on schedule.

You're great. It's a challenge for you because you're so great playing like backyard football and being, you know, off schedule. But in the NFL, you live on time. You might kick it every now and then off schedule, but you live on schedule. All right, so that's what you got to do. Get rid of the ball, a lot quicker. All those sacks weren't on your offensive line. A lot of them were on you.

Get rid of the ball quicker. Don't run backwards very much. You can't outrun everybody like you did in college, all right, and the body language. I know you've been working on that. Ben Johnson's been working on that with you. You have got to show certainty, conviction, authority, resilience. That's what they want to see. When they look at you on the sideline, that's what you have to show. Caleb, you do all these things. You'll

throw for 4K plus. No question about that. I don't know about the 70% but that's not that important to me. You will have the season individually you're looking to have and you guys will win games. Caleb, I believe in you. Even though you're Nick's guy, I'm cool with that. Thank you. Great buddless. It was motivation. I'm telling you. Very little motivation today. Wow. Are you, just before I go,

are you a little anxious about a Jaden Daniels sophomore slum? Not anxious. I just, look, I didn't see it coming for C.J. Straub. And obviously, McLaurin's not there. Yeah, I think it's possible. I think it's, I bet you do too. Well, you know, I certainly, I think it is oddly, more likely he has a worse year than last year than a better year than last year. But that's, but it's very hard to have a better year than he had last year.

All right, it's timing's a little weird one. Yeah, so I, unfortunately, because usually at 4-10, we do the media, sports media, ombudsman, whether you like it or not, but we are not doing it today. It's just going to. I thought we're doing it today. We're still doing it. Oh, I thought it was time-dependent. No.

Would you like to. Sorry, I regret to inform you. Whether you like it or not, it's time for the sports media ombudson. early edition. I'm sorry. Thank you. We got our wires cross. So an odd thing happened this morning if you were on Twitter following the NFL, particularly odd if you're a Jets fan, particularly odd if you're a Jets fan on live television at the time. It's really a true emotional roller coaster through no fault of your own, which is you see this Adam Schepter tweet and your heart just absolutely sinks. And so if we can, well, if we can show the tweet, please,

please, Jets quarterback Justin Fields was carted to the locker room with an apparent lower leg injury. Everybody hears carted off or carted locker room and we see the same thing. We see an aircast or we see a non-contact injury or God forbid something related to your neck or head and all of it. There are then some follow-up tweets that clarified it just a bit. And this happened, Zach Rosenbaum, Justin Fields is being carted inside after limping, off being checked by a trainer. Not great. Another tweet, Rich Samini, early concern for the Jets, Justin Fields with the car to the locker room. He's writing shotgun on the cart, not on the back. And then Samini posts his article. Similarly for the Jets, he dislocated a toe, not even his big

toe. You can call shotgun on the cart. Right. So here's the point. This is, this happens brew every training camp. Beat writers, please. carted off, writing a cart, two different things. I understand both you are taking a cart to the locker room. But when we hear carted off, we think catastrophic injury. When you hear sitting in the front seat next to the PR director, writing into the locker room, you think, oh, maybe he's tired, maybe he turned his ankle, maybe in this case,

he dislocated a toe that wasn't his big toe. So again, it wasn't even his big toe? No. Oh, I thought it was. No, it was, I don't know which toe it was, but it wasn't his big toe. And again, he was sitting in the cart like you were golfing with him. So again, guys, I understand you're going to get the most engagement by say carted off and clean it up later. But carted off during the regular season only ever means one thing.

It's awful. Because nobody takes a cart because they get hurt in the game and it's not a big deal. Card it. You ride the cart for all different reasons during training camp. So just please, the extra word, it's very important. So you have to roll carted two. Yes. That's more of a verb.

Again, road the cart. If you're sitting in the cart, it's not usually a big deal. If you're prone in the cart, it is. Carted off, prone in the cart, riding a cart sitting. About carting, like those like birthday parties? He's carding. No, that's not. Without knowing the exact situation, but haven't been a reporter, obviously.

I'll defend Schaeffler a little bit in that he probably wasn't that practice. No, he wasn't. He was reading other people? He probably, well, was he the first? Because I'm guessing he got it from a jet source and may have, who may have texted him, hey, Justin Fields just left the field on a cart. And so he just puts that out. The beat riders were there.

And I, you know, they get to watch summer practice. So maybe they actually saw it. So theirs were a little more tempered. So that, that's very possible. This is why none of these problems in Jacksonville. They don't have cards. Exactly. You never get this mix up there.

No. You got to walk off. Exactly right. Or just like you get to report is laying there. Yeah, exactly. Waiting for people. The guy who's body betrayed. I'm talking.

No cards. I'm putting Super Bowl expectations on the Bud list. This is a little sports media ombudsman by me too. Maybe. Yeah, I'm telling you. Stay in your lane. Yeah, it's it's in. Yeah, it's inching toward Nick's lane.

All right, so here's the thing about life. You know, you've got immediate goals, you got long-term goals. But when people just ask you day to day, you shouldn't be talking about your long-term goals. You're like, hey, how you doing? You're like, trying to get to heaven. Like, what? Or it's like, hey, how's work? Like, just trying to retire comfortably.

Like, that's, you shouldn't really be talking about your, eventual goals, just talk about your immediate goals. So that's kind of the lesson I have for three different teams talking about Super Bowl expectations already. We'll start with the Cowboys Tyler Smith. Take a listen. Super Bowl champions, it's always expectation. So, yeah. I think that's a realistic goal? I think it is a realistic goal. Because we can win the Super Bowl. Sure, you know, maybe win total at seven and a half. Now let's head over to Cleveland to check on the defensive player of the year. Did somebody Cleveland said this?

Well, Miles Garrett, take a listen. Oh my gosh. I expect you get to the Super Bowl. That's our expectation every year. Okay, that's four and a half is their win total in Cleveland. And finally, this is more of the media sports me on budget. Here was the questions posed to the Titans front office. Take a listen.

Simple question, the team you put on the field tomorrow, can that team win the Super Bowl? Listen, we have here. That's always the goal every year. was the goal every year. Oh, we get it. Hey, that's a little more honest. Just hit the brakes a little bit. It's my goal to get to happen.

But you know, right now, it's just to kind of get through the B block. And we got Tyron Matthew coming up and weird and wonderful. That's sports Super Bowl. That's good. That's a little media sports media on Boston. This is where, and y'all think I'm making, I'm not making fun of KD. That's the, we just want to get you know what?

One of those players or coaches, she said, look, we want to get better every day. Every day. If we do that, we do what our players do what we're being coach to do. Our coaches do their homework. Then we believe we can go out there and have a chance in every day. Just kidding you all that. Is that your pivot?

You are kind of making fun of Katie. No, I'm not. It's what you missed for it? It's what you say? Mastery player of all time. He's mastering the game every day. Bo Nix revealed in the NFL top 100. Coming in at 64 ahead of Jordan Love and Doc Prescott, 29 touchdown passes as a rookie last year.

It's the second most ever, only behind Justin Herbert. Nick, you loved this story. What was your reaction to see? I just think I think it's stunning. And I think that it's stunning to you guys as well. Because yesterday when we were talking about whether or not Purdy is going to be on the list and like the other quarterback, and we were, I listed 11 quarterbacks who hadn't been named, who we expected to be named.

I didn't list Bo Nix and nobody was like, oh, you're forgetting somebody. And the idea that, now listen, I think Bo Nix had a nice rookie year. It reminds me a lot of Mack Jones's rookie year in a lot of ways. And where both guys came in as older prospects, high floor, low ceiling, surprisingly led teams of the playoffs,

showed up on the top 100 list. and then fell off significantly. Now, Mack didn't have Sean Payton, and I know you think that's a big part of it. But I don't think anybody thinks Bo Nix is better than Jordan Love and Dak Prescott. I just don't. And so, well, I say that, except you just got rated high of the,

yeah, I mean, I, so let me rephrase it. I don't know anybody that thinks Bo Nix is better than those two players, better than Darnold, maybe, because they both had one good year. So I get it. Tua is a very polarizing player. So, you know, so I think there's a lot of players that, you know, I bet some people voted Drake May ahead of Tua.

Like, you know what I mean? Some people just don't believe in Tua. Dak and Jordan Lover, right now, better than Bo Nix. And so for him to be this high on this list is, it is shocking to me, bro. Wow. What does this say? Oh, you read it. Nobody can read your writing ever works.

Stunned. Oh, stunned. Ahead of Dak question mark, ahead of J-Lo question mark. I agree. This is stunning. This is absolutely stunning. Now, I do think he was much better than Mac Jones, his rookie year. Mac was pretty good as rookie year.

No, he was solid. It was seventh alternative on the Pro Bowl or something like that. But both through 29 touchdowns. I can't remember how many Mac through. But I think he was very good. But to have, I agree with you. Like, to have him ahead of Jordan Love and Dak Prescott already? Well, that didn't play.

So I can take Dak. That gets knocked for not playing, finishing. I mean, look, it's not just a lot of the media. The players really, and I will give the players, I don't know how seriously they take this, but I'll give them, look, they're on the field. They're facing the guy. They felt like he had some magic.

I also felt to me because Bo Nix, no, Bo Nix's numbers look the way they do because he finished the year so great. And that counts. And so, he did. And so I can show to you through 14 weeks, then the final three games. You know what I mean? That is where the numbers get crazy.

And now they oddly lost the Chargers game and the Bengals game, but that wasn't on him. And then the final game of the year against the Chiefs backups that you crossed. Yeah, it was like a fake. Yeah, 38 nothing. But whatever. But what to me, undercut, at least for my feeling about Boe, was how poorly he then played in that playoff game. It'd be one thing of like he fit. It's like, hey, it clicked in late in the year,

and then he turned into a totally different player. Instead, it was he had a really good game against the Chargers that they lost, and that's a good defense. Then a really good game against the awful Bengals defense that, again, they lost, but that was because of their own defense. And then the Chiefs game,

which I don't really count for much of anything, and then in that playoff game, and again, he's a rookie in a playoff game. I don't expect him a little bit of a pass. No, I give him a little bit of a pass. My point is, you don't, it stymied some of it. the like end of season momentum.

And I just think this is, this means, I mean, the players think he's the 10th, 11th, 12th, best quarterback in football. There might be more quarterbacks on there than there have ever been. That feels like where we're headed, right? Yeah, but even with that being the case,

he still can't be lower than 12 or 13. There's not, you know what I mean? There's not 13 more guys that could be named. And again, ahead of Jordan Love and DAC is stunning. That is. deck didn't play last year, but it's not just, they're not historically voting based on best performance, just for rookies it isn't last year.

I don't know what their criteria is because when you look at people's numbers, like some years, they just didn't make the list. I'm like, well, why? Let me ask you as this. Most players probably have different. Do you think he'll be on the list next year? Because I don't. I would guess he is not on the list.

I think he's higher on the list, like in the 80s or 90s. But I think he'll, I think he'll, I think. Patrick Sturtan says he's good, he's good. Well, that's his teammate. Well, here's the thing. He can be like, I don't know, I'm on the set of ball. And I guess it was the case last year. He doesn't have a great receiving core.

We'll see what the rookie running back Harvey does, but I don't think he's got as much support. I think it's going to be a lot of words. He got a great defense, great coach. Okay. I think he's going to be good receivers. Coming up next, Michigan coach, Shroom Moore joins us. What a success look like in year two.

Next. I from New York. It's the show that has been radicalized by Jalen Hertz criticism. Can I just ask questions? Yes. What is the criticism? It's lack of praise that you're bothered by. Who is out there criticizing me?

Well, several people. Who? The entire. The entire. You think it's a straw man that Jalen Hertz is considered like a fringe top 10 quarterback? Right. Despite going to two Super Bowl? Again, you think you should be praised more.

but who is out there saying criticism means people are saying bad. No, lack of praise is criticism. Yes. Oh, really? Yes. Yes. If you had a, you know, if I had a brand new baby, brand new adorable baby, and I bring my brand new adorable baby to work and you're just like, oh, a baby.

That's not criticizing. Isn't my baby cute? Wow, what a baby. There it is. That's a great baby. That's, he got you there. You have to say it's adorable baby. Yeah, that's, that is a dis.

Dissing my baby. It's a cute baby, soul. I disagree. I do think this analogy is quite patron. I think this is the most insulting thing that's been set out jail and hurts into the Super Bowl. You're comparing him to a defenseless little baby. No. You're saying that's what you're doing.

A perfect, a perfect. Being. Depiction of God's will. Okay. That's what it is. You're very religious today. Today coming up, Big Ten Media Day, head coach of the Michigan Wolverine. Sharon Moore joins us.

Meanwhile, we're still digging in to the NFL 100 list and still talking about Brock Purdy, who hasn't appeared. So he either is going to be super high on the list or not on the list at all as we're starting to worry. It's going to be interesting. He's getting a little nervous. A little. I'd be stunned if he wasn't.

But you were stunned by Bo Nix's place. It's an odd list so far. But right now we are talking about Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Bengals have consistently started slow in the Joe Borough era. So Zach Taylor, Bruce, switching it up. Now in Burroughs career, he has only thrown eight preseason passes. Well, that's going to change. Buy your preseason tickets.

You get to see Joe Cool. Here's what Zach Taylor said. Last year, you know, there were days where we limited him. where he did not throw. Right now, none of that. He'll participate every single day like we normally would, fully healthy, and then anticipate playing him more in preseason games than we ever have. Well, that's great.

Brewery reaction. And do you think this gives the cure to the slow starts in Cincinnati? Well, look, obviously they have to get their defensive players back. Shamar, Stewart, and Trey Hendrickson. That's number one. But yeah, do something different. I get it. Some of the preseason lack of activity was injuries,

but you have to try something different, Nick. And look, last year, we've all talked about it. They beat the Patriots in week one. Good chance they make the playoffs. That borough, his passer rating was his second worst of the year in that game. He had zero touchdowns for only the second game that year. And he only threw for like 164 yards, which was his lowest of the season. So he clearly wasn't like in mid-year.

It's season for him, so to speak. So getting more reps in the preseason, I don't want to make too much of. I don't think he's going to be out there like a ton. But you've got to try something different. You've been one in nine the last five years in the first two weeks. And Nick, they got Cleveland and Jacksonville. You better be one in one at the very least.

Oh. You should be two in old if you're the team that a lot of us think you are. The, so I mean, Jacksonville's made the playoffs as recently as the Cincinnati Bank has, just to be fair. The, here, I think this is a misleasing's wrong word. Joe Burrow has not played in the preseason last two years because he hasn't been able to. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Some, like Sean McVeigh has basically a way of doing things. Like, I'm not playing any of my starters at all in the preseason. It's not what I do. I don't necessarily know that's always been the Bengals MO. It's two years ago Joe had the calf strain that hampered him throughout the first month of the regular season. And last year, he was wristwatch. Yeah, he was on wristwatch the whole time because of the injury he suffered. So this does make sense if he's healthy, play him more.

And listen, arguably the two best coaches in football, certainly two of the best, have diametric approaches to preseason. Andy Reed and Sean McVeigh. I told you Sean McVeys and Andy Reid's is we have tough training camp. We play. Patrick's going to play a bunch in the first two preseason games at least. and so, you know, to each their own, there isn't clearly a singular way to do it. I just, I guess I'm going to keep beating the same drum,

which is I do, I am not worried at all about the Bengals offense, and I am wildly worried about the Bengals. And I think this Warren Sharp tweet, I know we don't have much time because we have Honey Badger coming on, I don't know if we can show it. This to me is just a total misallocation of resources when you saw, hey, who's spending the most on why, receivers and it's we don't have it but it's the bangles by a mile you know what i mean and when you also

have a star quarterback on his second contract and so and what is puzzling to me about that choice was they saw how last year went they had a choice this off season in my opinion between dealing with an unhappy t higgins and paying trey higgins yeah or dealing with an unhappy trey higgins and paying T. Higgins. They paid T. Higgins and then, or I guess they did that a year ago, because they signed him and Jamar early. But regardless, they knew that was coming down the tracks. And now Trey Hendrickson's not there and his replacement's not there either. I just, I think it's going to be deja vu all over again for Cincinnati. We're going to take a break. Even if he's awesome. Take a break now. Tyrone Matthew, fresh off retirement, joins the show

right after this short commercial break. Welcome back to first things first. us now fresh off of a retirement. This week is three-time first team all-pro Super Bowl champion Tyron Matthew. Tyron, thanks for joining us. It's great to see you. Great to see you. Want to congratulate you on your retirement.

How have the first days of retirement been going? Well, appreciate you guys having me on, man. It's definitely been a blessing, man. It's been a great ride. I can't even think of like, any bad days I've had over the course of the last 12, you know, 13 seasons, man. So I just feel really, really blessed, man, and fortunate that, you know, I can make this kind of decision and be happy with it and move on and be looking forward to, you know, what life got to offer.

Well, and congratulations to you. You know, I think that one day you're going to end up in the Chiefs Ring of Honor. You were part of, you know, the first Super Bowl champion for the organization in 50 plus. years helped kind of change the course of that franchise along with Patrick and the other guys. But there's something I think bigger on the board for you. You're an all decade team member. Wilde mentioned the all pros. Do you think you're a Hall of Famer? Oh, man. I hope so. You know, I think, you know, that's what you strive to be. You know, I think, you know, all the great teammates that I've had over the years. And I think back to Patrick Peterson,

and Larry Fitzgerald and, you know, spending time with JJ White and Houston. And, you know, obviously all the great players I played with in KC and even New Orleans, you know, with Cam Jordan, DeMario. And I think I think we all kind of aspire to even really be in those conversations. And so, you know, hopefully five years from now, you know, one of my old coaches of former teammates could knock on my door, you know, so I'm definitely hopeful of that. I think you've got the resume. I think it'd be deserved it.

that even if you, you know, weren't a Chiefs legend. I want to talk about maybe some other legends quickly for we get to some other stuff. You know, long time in the league. I felt like an old man watching the LSU highlights. I'm like, I remember those highlights. And you're now having a whole NFL career. Who was the hardest quarterback in the course of your NFL career

to game plan for? Like in the week leading up to deal with? Who was the hardest one? Man, I probably say the hardest one for me, really. early on in my career, at least, was Russell Wilson. I mean, he was just, he was really, really tough to play against. And obviously, he had a great team around him. But, you know, I think about Russ 10 years ago, and, you know, he was just so clutch,

so accurate, right? Like, he knew when to run. He knew when to take shots. And I think, you know, playing against him, you know, twice a year and Richard Sherman and all his other guys, I think, you know, guys like that definitely, you know, make you better. And I'll probably say, you know, aside from Russ, man, you know, Lamar Jackson, like, he was always, he was always tough to game playing against it. He was even tougher to tackle, you know what I mean?

Yeah. And then I guess the other side of that for your, in your career, the receiver version of that question, but in the game, was there one receiver in particular that either gave you the most trouble or when you saw was on the schedule like, man, this is going to be a monster? Yeah, I remember, you know, my. my rookie season and us playing against Calvin Johnson. And I remember walking out on the football field, pregame, and, you know, just going to do normal pregame routine. And I remember Calvin Johnson came out of the locker room. And I just, I think at that point, I realized, like, like, wow, like I'm actually small.

Like, don't be really short. You know, like, maybe I should, you know, be out here. You know what I mean? But, you know, I think about Doug Baldwin, you know, when I first came in league, like, he was really, really good and playing against guys like Anquine Bold and you know what I mean, the golden takes of the world. I feel like all those guys and being able

to play against those guys, you know, two times a year, I think they definitely got me better as my career went on. Tyrone, Nick mentioned you play three years with the Chiefs. When you were there, you guys did win the Super Bowl and the offense was spectacular.

A lot of long passes. You know, obviously Tyreek Hill was there. Mahomes was putting up huge numbers. last few years, his numbers have been a lot more pedestrian. They haven't had the light show, as people have referred to it. Why do you think they haven't had the dynamic offense they had in the past with Mahomes? Well, I mean, first and foremost, man, it's kind of hard to duplicate, you know, some of the great things, you know, Pat has really done, you know, in his young career. I mean, it's absolutely hard to do it.

And, but, you know, I think the chiefs and especially my homes, man, like, like he, he, he's one of the best players I've ever played with, competed against. Like, like, he's that guy that I would never, ever, you know, count out, you know, no matter what. Like, like, I feel like he, he has a legit chance, man, to be one of the greatest, you know, quarterbacks, you know, ever, you know. And I think it was an honor to play with those guys and be a part of that. They've got Xavier Worthy had a great rookie season. A speedster like Tyreek Hill was. Some people have said they think he could have a Tyreek Hill-type impact on that team. Do you think that's possible for Xavier Worthy?

I think so. I think they share some similar qualities. You know, obviously I haven't, you know, been around Xavier as much as I've, you know, been around Tyreek, but Tarreek is a freakest athlete, man. Some of the things he does is really unreal. So I think it's a little bit of pressure to put that kind of, you know,

task on, you know, Xavier's so early. But, I mean, like I said, man, like he's in a perfect situation. Like, he's around the right coaches. He's around the right players. And I can definitely see him continuing to get better.

And, you know, I think a lot of people forget about Rishie Rice. Like, I think he's going to be one of the 10 best, you know, wide receivers, you know, in our league for the next 10 years. I think he's really special. So I think they able to get him back. And obviously, Kelsey, I think they'll be just fine going forward. You were a DB, obviously.

You just talked about a few receivers. Travis Hunter's trying to do both. Like, how much of a challenge? I got to be honest, as great as he was in college, I just wonder, can a guy be elite at both of those at the same time in the NFL? I tend to think not. How big of a challenge is he facing? I mean, it's a huge challenge, you know.

I mean, obviously, man, like so much goals into, you know, studying game plans throughout the week. And I think at times, it's a lot, you know, just if you play offense or defense, right? Like, it's a lot of information. And so I would say, you know, early on in my career, Patrick Peterson used to play offense every now and then.

Probably not quite as much as Travis will, But I remember, like, you know, after those practices, after those games, you know, like, you know, Pat took, you know, 20, 30 extra reps than all of us. And so, you know, he always felt, you know, a little worse about himself than we felt. But, yeah, man, it's a great task. I think he can do it. I hope he can do it. But it's a tall task, man. So we'll see.

We'll see. We've talked about some guys that you played with are against earlier in your career. Are there any young guys that you either played with? last year or coming out of college that are maybe flying under the radar that everyone thinks they're good but are actually great or that you think they have the ability to be great? Yeah, I mean, you know, I think Buda Baker, I think he gets a little love, not as much love as, you know, I would, you know, like for him to get because he was so talented. You know, I remember we drafted him as a rookie in Arizona, man, and, you know, the kind of plays he

make that the instincts, the edge, the attitude that he play with. I think, you know, guys like that, man, he just makes the team, you know, so much better, you know, man. You know, obviously, I think Chris Jones, too, you know, like he, he was one of the most elite defensive linemen. And I played with JJ White, too. And I just thought Chris was just so dominant. Like, he's one of those guys, too, that can take over the game at any given moment.

So I would like for Chris to kind of put the game. together the whole season because I know if he's able to do it. Like he definitely can win, you know, defensive player the year. So you guys last year in New Orleans, um, played in week three, the Eagles. And going into that game, you guys obviously were flying high. You had had two massive scoring outputs in starting the year. The Eagles were, you know, getting on the cusp of getting booed by their home crowd. And that game against you guys was an ugly one if people don't remember it.

It's I think Goddert got loose or Ert. The tight-in got loose for a big play late, and they won 15 to 12. When you walked off the field that day, could you have foreseen that team really only losing one more time the rest of the year and going on the run they did? How surprised were you that that team turned into the team we saw at the end of the season? I mean, to be honest, man, I wasn't surprised at all. You know, I think especially once you're able to compete against those guys and play against them,

Man, I think that that entire team, you know, they had a lot of edge. They had a lot of attitude about themselves. And, you know, I think the last couple of years, you know, especially with Sequin, not being, you know, as available or not used the right way, I think a lot of us kind of went to sleep on Sequin as well. And, you know, obviously you talk about Goddard getting loose in the four quarter. But it was really Seekwon that put the nail in our coffin, you know, with that 60-yard touchdown run. But I think, man, anytime you're able to look at a team like that, man, and realize that they have a pretty good quarterback, they got a great system, a great scheme, great run outfit.

And then AJ Brown, man, I think he's probably one of the most underrated, you know, number one receivers in our league. I think he's one of those guys, man. Like, if it's one-on-one, like he's the guy you want to give that chance to. And so I think playing against him, obviously, it was tough, man. But you realize that, man, he had a lot of. the football players on their team. Not just offensively, but defensively as well.

Quickly, before you go, obviously I'm a chief's guy, but I also pull for the Bears in the NFC because I have quite a bet on Caleb. They have a new head coach. They also have a new defensive coordinator. He's your former head coach. Dennis Allen, the report out of first day of camp was Ben Johnson kicked the offense off the field

and Ben Johnson made the defense do up downs for screwing up a drill. What should Bears fans? be expecting from Dennis Allen as their D coordinator? Man, I think DA is going to bring, and obviously, man, it's a high standard when you start talking about some of the great Bears defenses of the past. I mean, it's hard to kind of duplicate. But I think everything that Dennis really would he preach as a defensive coach,

like I think Chicago fans and people that love football, they're going to be happy with the way those guys play defense. You know, I think D.A. is just one of those, he's one of those defensive coaches, man. Like, like he's so good with the modern offenses and motions and using safeties and run fits. And, you know, just having just having so much in his package that he could just use at his disposal. So, I mean, obviously, it's a tough scheme. I think they're going to have some growing pains with just kind of, you know, understanding the scheme and doing it exactly how D.A. wants it. But the style of play and the attitude of that defense, I think is going to be a positive, you know, representation, you know what I mean, of Dennis and everything he really brings to the defensive side of the ball.

So no excuses for Caleb is what he's basically saying. No excuses for Caleb. It's on Kailin. Tyrant, thank you very much. Congratulations on a wonderful career. We'll see you soon. Friend of the show, Tyron and Matthew. Yeah, thanks, Tyne.

Thank you. More first things first with Michigan head coach, Your Honor. Next. Welcome back to first things first. Joining us now, it's the coach of the Michigan Wolverine Sharon Moore. Coach, thanks for joining us. We know you have a busy Big Ten Media Day. I want to start off talking about last year.

So I'm interested in how momentum plays into how you get prepared for this year, right? So you end with a huge win over Ohio State, then you beat Alabama. Now you're starting your season. So I get it. It's always like a brand new year. But certainly if you lost both of those games, it would feel differently. So how did those two wins affect this upcoming year?

Yeah, first again, thank you guys for having me on the show. Awesome, big fans. Really appreciate it. But I think those two wins, especially that one against the Buckeyes, it's something that we take a lot of pride in. You go across our building and you'll see, what are you doing to beat Ohio State today? It's pretty well known that the rivalry is well-heated.

And it's something that we think about 364, because that day it's in our mind. We're ready for it. So it's something that we take a lot of pride in. But, yeah, the win against Alabama, a prominent program that we've had the fortune to play twice in the calendar year. And to win those games has been huge. Yeah, momentum.

It has been a little bit momentum, maybe into the winter. But I feel like when you get in the spring and you get in the summer, that momentum kind of shifts into, you know, it's your thought process of what you're going to be versus what you are and what you have been. And so for us, we've really just taken the step of attacking every single day because yesterday doesn't really matter. Tomorrow's not old.

And all we have is the present. So for us, we've just taken it day by day to try to get better. Coach, I mean, like you said, everybody knows how big the Ohio State rivalry is with Michigan. I don't know if many people outside of Michigan know, like, I mean, there's no red allowed in your facility. Can you talk to us about that and even having, if recruits show up in red or they're family? Like, how do you guys handle that? Yeah,

it's well known. It's stated. There's signs that say no red and green or green in the facility, and it'll be stated again next Tuesday when we have our team meeting just in case the freshmen decide to pull out some red socks

or have some green shoes that they want to wear. They better know that they can't do that. It's something that it's well known in the building, and it's reinforced more so by the players than by the coaches. But yeah, and if a recruit comes in with the family and they have on red, they're kindly asked to redirect the other direction

and make sure they get colors that we can attire them with. So we make sure that we have the proper attire that people can wear that is not red and green in our building. So you guys obviously have beaten Ohio State the last four times. how do you account for that? I mean, that's huge for you guys. I guess two-part question. One, why do you think you've had so much success against them recently?

And two, last year you obviously, eight and five didn't win as many games as you wanted. But how much does beating Ohio State kind of make up for not having the greatest season by your standards? Yeah, I think to answer the first question, why the last four years we've won, it's because we've had really good teams. We've had a lot of kids that have been really invested in the process to win that game

and taking a lot of pride in winning that game every single year because that game is a little different. And that's something you prepare for for 365 days a year and make sure you're ready for. But, you know, last year winning that game meant a whole lot, one, because it was the first year as the head coach and being able to have that on the resume for our football team. But the doubters, the things that people were saying, you know, we don't, we don't pay attention to it, but we understand it, we know it,

and we talked about in our building was really about trust. It wasn't really about belief because we all believed. We just trusted in who we were as a team and what we are as a program to make sure we can get the victory, and we did that. And from now on, you know, we can't count on those victories in the past. It doesn't really matter. We're motivated to be better and to be a better team, and we'll continue to try to try to do that. Coach, a member of the First Thing's First family is Coach Eric Manjian.

and he worked with your former boss and now Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. And I've asked him, I don't know, it was on the air or off the air, about, you know, what makes Harbaugh, you know, special. And the anecdote he gave us is that he writes everyone birthday cards, which seemed like handwritten, like notes or whatever it was. And it seemed kind of quirky, but he explained it as people just really believe in how much he cares for them. I think a lot of people got to know you when he, he was still there and you were the interim and you were overcome by emotion in your i think

was the ohio state game but the game that you when you guys won and he had been suspended or set on the sidelines what is it about jim harbaw who is an objectively odd cat that makes everything everywhere he goes instantly better and makes him such a successful coach yeah i think what makes jim different is it's a lot of things it's a combination a lot of different things But I think the number one thing is he cares about the people that he's working with and working around. He really cares about his players. He does everything to make sure that the players understand that he cares about them. And we'll find different ways to be different.

He's not afraid to be different. He doesn't really care whether the people think. And that's something that I've learned in my eight years and my seven years with him that I really had to adjust to to figure out how he did such a good job of it. It's an intonated in his ability and how he's been blessed and grown up. he looks at things through a different lens than other people, and it's okay to be different. But at the core of him, he's a good man with a great heart that cares about the people around him, who cares about his staff and cares about his players.

So I think the players just understand that he's always going to be himself. It doesn't matter how corky it is or how different it is. I mean, the memes flying around right now, him looking through the tarp at the Chargers practice. But that's him. Like, he doesn't care. Like, that's just who he is. So I think the players appreciate it and staff appreciate it when you're around them. All right.

I've got one more kind of looking back question about a former player. A big debate on the show today was actually about Eagles quarterback Jalen Hertz. When it's like, you know, he sacrifices. Is he sacrificing his numbers for the sake of the team? How do you judge a quarterback when he has this great roster around him if his numbers aren't that great, but they win? You guys were in a very similar situation two years ago with J.J. McCarthy where I, obviously a lot of NFL teams thought incredibly highly of JJ. A lot of folks, I will say myself was one of them,

he's a great quarterback. I would think they would throw the ball more, but you guys won all those games. So when you are, when you guys had JJ, how did you balance his talent with the way the team was built? And the follow-up, I guess, is how do you expect him to look this year now that he has the Vikings job? Yeah, I mean, the common denominator with JJ and Jay, Hurts on both those teams that they won championships. So I think the number one thing for a quarterback is they want to win.

You know, JJ probably going to be one of the winningest quarterbacks ever to play at Michigan losing one game as a starter. Jalen Hertz went on to win a Super Bowl. And that's what you want. You want a winner. So I think for that piece, JJ was special and he was a team first guy. And people say we didn't throw the ball. He won quarterback of the year in the conference.

So I don't know how you can not throw it when you win quarterback in the year. We just ran the ball very well. So those numbers sometimes, you know, we're deceiving. But JJ is going to do outstanding this year. I'm excited to watch him play. I always knew how special he could be and how special he was and the things, the leadership qualities he had not only as a on the field quarterback, but off the field and things he's done.

He's already doing with the Vikings. And I got a chance to talk to Quasi a little bit through Texas. messages and and talk about how the progress and what he's doing as a teammate. So JJ is going to be outstanding and we hope that what he does permeates through the guys that we have at Michigan now. Coach, if you could take us behind the curtain a bit, when you go out and recruit players now, like what's your best pitch to get them there at Michigan? I mean, there's so many things.

There's so many advantages to come to Michigan. When you come to Michigan, you're obviously going to play on the biggest stage. you're going to play in the best conference in football. I think, obviously, the Big Ten is the best conference in college football. You're going to play against great competition every week. You're going to be on a national stage. You're going to be on one of the biggest brands in college football. You're going to have a chance to play in the NFL,

but you're going to have an elite education, and there's not very many universities where you can garner an education like we have at Michigan and play elite football. So we always tell guys, like, if you don't like school, if you don't want to get challenged educationally, if you don't want to get a great degree, Michigan's probably not the place for you, but if you want to do that, if you want to have a great alumni base that are going to help you for years and years to come,

and you want to play elite football and a chance to go to the NFL, then it's the best of both worlds. Bryce Underwood, Coach, what should Michigan fans be most excited about when he takes the field? Yeah, I mean, first, he's got to win the job first, so that's the piece that they've got to be ready for first. So he's got to go win it, but talk about an outstanding kid, and just a great human being, a great teammate. I mean, he literally just called me earlier to figure out what time the team meeting was on Tuesday, on Report Day.

I mean, he's 17 years old. He doesn't turn 18 until August 19th on, you know, this training camp. But he's 6, 4, 230 pounds, and he doesn't look like a 17-year-old. So if he wins the job, you'll see a guy that has elite talent, ability, that can make every throw and do all the things as a leader. He's got to go win that job. All right. Coach, thank you very much. Best of luck this year.

We'll be rooting for you and enjoy Big Ten Media Day. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Hopefully I can come back and make sure there's no red on the show. Host Ohio's still victory. We got, coach. Thank you, coach. NFL 100, Bo Nix was ranked number 64.

No one liked it on the show except me. I said, hey, the guy had the second most successful rookie year of all time, according to passing touchdowns. Justin Herbert at 31. Wow. He had 20-something, 28, I think. Would you call it the second best week of season? No, but he had the second-most-past-in-custom.

Yeah, we get that. Well, what's the point? Hold on. Can we get to the topic, please? The topic is made up, too. I understand what is. Who do you think is going to be? The fact that Nick makes up top, he a key.

No, it's July. You spent the whole week. Everything is made up. He spent the whole week. I hate this guy. Gru keeps on Dragon Brock. Purdy into every conversation. This isn't a Brock Purdy conversation.

And then he says, let's do Bo Nix at 64 and have the question to be. Who's the next quarterback? It's not a Brock Purdy conversation. Okay. It's a Gino Smith conversation. Which is a conversation about what, Gino Smith. Now, if someone else brings up Brock Purdy, if they happen to put him in the screen behind you, there's nothing I can do about that.

Who did that? There's nothing. Why is Brock? Not me. I don't even know how to press those buttons. Who did Ramsey? Um, here's the deal. we now have five quarterbacks on this list, bro.

We all agree Mahomes, Alan Lamar, Burrow, Hurts, Jaden, Stafford, Baker, Gough, Stroud are making it. That's 10. That's 10. So that's 15. The most there's ever been on the list is 16. Now, maybe they're going to break that this year. But that does not include Herbert, Gino, Purdy.

You think, tell me if I'm wrong, that Herbert and Purdy are definitely making it. Right? Yes. Definitely making it. So that would mean my guy, Gino, is going to make it. He had 4,000 yards. That's what I think. I think they won 10 games.

They lost the playoffs on the tiebreaker. He had 4,000 yards. I think he's got to make it. Yeah, he's making it. I also think he probably is the next guy, like the lowest of those guys remaining. So I, and I, you know, I'm not going to bring up Purdy. Purdy he's being a little nervous, though. I think the next guy is one of these three.

Gino, Purdy, CJ. Oh. You think Herbert's going to be ahead of those guys? Yeah, I think Herbert I mean,

all the, I mean, obviously he's a very good quarterback despite his lack of playoff success. Everybody is giving him major love,

essentially. I'm sure the players feel the same way. But yeah, I think it's going to be Strout, Purdy, or Gino. I'm not convinced

Gino's on it. Are you convinced purdy's on it? Yeah, right now I'm still convinced. I mean, I'll admit, like, I don't know how many quarterbacks they're going to put on it. But to have Bo Nix ahead of party. At 18. 18 of the top 100?

That, to me, that's bad. There's 22 positions. You're going to have 18% when it's never been that? I wouldn't like that. I wouldn't like it if a fifth of the list is quarterbacks. Otani and Boston. I'm nervous for Gino. Gino might get snubbed.

But a helmet. Hey, Sunday on Fox with historic three Pete on the line. No, that's not true. What am I just reading? Dodgers Red Sox. What am I talking about? What's the three feet? It was the, it was, uh, Palo.

Oh, it was Indy car. I was lost. Uh, Indy car from Laguna. Looking into, like if the Royals win the championship, it is kind of a Kansas three three. No, it's not. One championship in three straight years. Sorry, 23, 24, 25.

Fine, I give it to you. Thank you. Dodgers Red Sox opens on Friday, the game on Fox on Saturday. Otani has a five-game home run streak going up against Brian Beow, who he is four for eight against tomorrow night, but he's never hit a home run. You call him the best of all time. Do you think he can hit a home run on Friday to make it six straight?

Yes. I don't think he'll hit a homer in every game in the series, but I think he's going to get to six straight. I was surprised that he has the, Dodgers record. Five, it was four, I think four. Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. I understand it's impressive,

but the Dodgers has been around a long time. And it was surprising to me that no one's ever done it. Welcome home, Mookie Betts as well. I might have to drive up. You should, you should. We'll see you on Monday.