First Things First - Von Miller signs with Cowboys, Ty Simpson's Debut, Lamar's Super Bowl Window

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

(00:00) Von Miller Signs with Cowboys, Concerns for Jaxson Dart (26:43) Shedeur Sanders' Odds of Winning QB1 Job, Ty Simpson's Debut (41:06) Danny's Weird and Wonderful, Lamar Jackson's Super Bowl Window (50:47) Jaxson Dart, Jeremiyah Love's Injury, Von Miller (01:10:43) Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood Preview Freedom 250 (01:20:23) 49ers' Injury Bug, Aaron Donald's Second Rams Workout (01:32:08) Winners and Losers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Real Canadian Superstore has everything you need this back-to-school season. Save on lunchbox savers like Ziggy's sliced deli-meat products for always $3.75. And get Life Brand Pure Vita shampoo or conditioner for $8 each. At Real Canadian Superstore, when you're ready, we're ready, with a whole world and more. Hello, mid-sized business. We see your big ambitions. But how do you achieve the wins you want when your technology is holding you back? SAP Grow is built to grow with your business, no matter its size.

With AI embedded at its core, working across every system, all ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow. AI Cloud ERP for any size business. Live from New York, it's the show where one of us has never had a personal assistant. You can take a guess as to which one that might be. I'm Danny Parkins alongside longtime NFLer Greg Jennings, who just learned Breaking News, America. Oh my God. Moving.

Very stressful. Can be stressful. So all of you out there who are moving hats off, look, I know what it feels like now. Now, Greg said to me before the show, he goes, you know, I've never moved. I'm like, Green Bay, Minnesota, Miami, you've definitely moved. He's like, oh, I meant I've never moved without a personal assistant facilitating all the details. Hey. life comes at you real hard, real fast, when you are trying to do it all yourself.

This is the violin I'm playing for you. I'm very, very sorry. Let's go, man. Let's go, man. All right, fine, we'll start the show. Greg's going to be okay somehow. We've got a busy one for you today. By the way, the Gotti offense in Dallas, that wasn't enough.

Greatest offense there is? No, now they are aiming to be the best ever. Optimism may be going a tick too far in Big D. Also, Indy car drivers, Joseph New Garden, and Kyle Kirkwood join us in studio. to discuss the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in our nation's capital, which is this Sunday on Fox. And finally, Josh Allen and DJ Moore already in mid-season form. Greg, I feel like since we've been doing this,

you haven't been the biggest DJ Moore guy. Did that shallow crosser with a lot of yak change your opinion? Look, they definitely look good. It's pre-season. It appears that they are going to be special. But it's early. I know I've picked a fight with you about the mover thing, but I'm going to try to change your mind about this by the end of the show.

I think I've got an iron-clad case that DJ Moore is being undervalue this year. Okay. I might jump on your show. Last week I said I'm guaranteeing that I would change Nick Wright's mind, and he said, nope, that I failed. So we'll see if I can do better this week. But let's start the show as we go to Dallas. Two-time Super Bowl champion, Von Miller,

is joining the Cowboys on a one-year deal. No big deal. he's just a 15-year veteran, saying, quote, I've always had blue in my heart since I was a little boy. I always paid attention to the Dallas Cowboys. My earliest memory of football includes the Dallas Cowboys. To be back home, it's a dream within a dream. Now, Greg, he is 37 years old, but coming off of, honestly,

a fairly impressive nine-sack season when you figure he only played 37% of the defensive snaps for the commanders. Do you think that Von Miller is going to make a big difference for the Cowboys? I do. And here's the thing. When you acquire a guy like Von Miller, there are so many things that we focus on from the outside perspective. It's like, okay, his stats, his numbers, his productivity on the field. But his impact just in just his presence alone, being a champion, going to a defense with a new defensive coordinator, a new scheme.

A lot of guys who no one on that defense understands what it's like to play in a Super Bowl. Well, one knows what it's like to play in the Super Bowl. None have ever won except now Von Miller. He brings that to the table. When you talk about adding depth at the pass rushing positions, you can never have enough pass rushers. Now we go back to what Jerry Jones said after trading away Michael Parsons. You know, we're going to do it by committee. We all were like, where's the committee?

Right. Now you got Rishon Gary. You get Malachi Lawrence in the draft. Now you got Von Miller. You got so many of these guys now because Jerry Jones' plan is starting to manifest. And so you talk about the sacks, the productivity that he had last year. If we look deeper into it, and I have a full screen for us, like, this commander's defense didn't have a lot of leads. 27th in the NFL while leading, 361 snaps, but 558 while trailing, fifth most in the NFL.

So he was doing this while trailing. So there weren't a lot of dropbacks and just pin your ears backs and go get it. So join a better offense, play from out in front. Absolutely. More pure pass rushing snaps. So will we be able to see a fresh and a productivity level of Von Miller that we saw last year? That is the hope. But I think more than anything with Christian Parker and what he's doing.

doing defensively. You just want guys that can contribute when you need a guy to contribute and they're on that field. And Von Miller has proven he can do that. And by the way, played all 17 games last year. He hadn't done that in years. So things are definitely looking up in doubts on that defensive side of the ball. The 17 games jumped out to me too. I'd got I'd forgotten that. Like when I was preparing for this was like, oh wow, good for him. He played all 17 games. And then nine sacks on 37% of snaps played, that was the most in the NFL. Like, we took every player who played 40% or fewer of a team snaps, he had the most sacks. So like on a sack per pass rush rate, he was actually pretty good and pretty productive.

So I do buy that he can make some difference. Two things. I think when you're talking about a guy who's age 37, the old father time is undefeated thing, is relevant. Like you could fall off the cliff kind of at any moment in productivity. So we were looking at age 37 sacks seasons. The guys who have been productive are the Von Miller types of the, like the Hall of Famers. Like Julius Peppers, Bruce Smith. And then you have guys who are really good Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame adjacent, who were productive.

But basically, like, this is not going to be a 15 sack season. This is not going to be, he's going to be top 10 on the team in snaps. He is going to be a situational pass rusher. third downs, close them out situations, get off the field, pure pass for spots. But then also to your point, if you look at their defense, there's just a lot new. So he just, I don't think he has to make a big impact.

He has to make some impact. Yes. Because Jalen Thompson is supposed to make some impact. Caleb Downs needs to make a big impact. Obviously Quinn and Williams, Rishon Gary, Overshone, as a rock. Like, there are so many guys that you go down. It's like they, the idea was let's not be as

top heavy with Micah Parsons, and let's have a lot of C plus B minus B, B plus players and have more depth on their defense and just that with a new scheme and a defensive coordinator bump, maybe they can be an average defense. And I do think that age 37, Von Miller, fits into that level of expectation. Yeah, all that true. In one of the elements, and I kind of touched on it, but Malachi Lawrence. Yeah, the second first round pick. Second first round pick this year, they have a lot of, they see a lot of upside with him.

When you have a guy that's young and you can bring him around guys like a Roshan Gary, obviously now Von Miller and they can, he can watch, not just be told, but now he sees a different technique or a different way to pass rush and they can communicate to him in the meeting rooms on what he's doing and how he can better sharpen up his skill set. That accelerates his time frame of being an impactful player early. And so that's the hope, I believe, in Dallas, because they got a lot of young players that you mentioned

that they're going to be relying heavily on. But it's not Max Crosby. They were in on that. Correct. It's not Trey Hendrickson. Correct. I do think it's like it's a name. It's a Hall of Famer.

It's an impact. But I don't know that it's a needle mover. So I don't want to say it's not a needle mover. Okay, so you're a little higher on it. I am a little higher on it because if Von Miller steps on the field and he's impactful and you have to now account for him, you already have the two guys in the middle and Clark and Williams and then you got Rishon Gary on the outside and then you got Caleb Downs coming down and then you got overshone.

You got a lot of, like you said, quality quality players and then you have Avon Miller that you take for granted, but then he beats he beats the. tackle and he's getting pressure on quarterbacks. That's just one additional guy. You think Von Miller's going to go back home, a place where he grew up, family's going to be in the stands, friends, always dream to hopefully play for the Dallas Cowboys and then low? No, it's not going to happen.

You're going to get the best effort. And he always gives that. Well, hopefully he can stay healthy. And if he's on the field, I believe he will produce. All right, let's stay in Dallas and talk on the offensive side of the ball because Because that came out and coined, you know, greatest offense there is, Gotti, last week. And now C.D. Lamb is doubling down saying that him and George Pickens can be, quote, the best ever. The best ever, the best offense.

It's certainly a great wide receiver duo, Greg. Optimism getting too high for your liking in Dallas. Okay. As you may not know or may know. Moving is difficult in stress. Moving is difficult. Yeah, got it. Playing wide receiver also difficult.

But when you have the skill set of a CD lamb and a George Pickens, they make it look very easy. And so you have the ability to then walk with this level of confidence and make these type of statements. It may seem outlandish and it, initially I'm like, whoa, wait a minute. Then I start looking into numbers. And I'm like, where do they stack up? And they have a ways to go.

And I'm just, this is just one year, one season of duos in their stats. Oh, you're saying like literally for them to be the best, wide receiver, a single year, okay. This is what it's going to look like. Now, when you look at Herman Moore and Brett Parraman, these are mostly all these guys' career best. Tori Holt, that was his second career best, Isaac Bruce, that was his second career best. And Tyre Kiel, second career best.

there's only one Hall of Famer on this list. And that's Isaac Bruce, Tori Holt and Tyree Kill. I believe they'll get in. We'll see about the rest. But these numbers are ridiculous. The best numbers that we've ever seen CD put up 1749 a few years ago. And obviously George Pickens at 1429 last season. If they were to do that again.

Right. Second on that list. Oh, wow. Okay. So they have to, you took it more literally than I did. I did. They have to have a more, a career best above their career best. So is it possible in that offense?

It can be done. I don't think they get it done because I think they will be a lot more balance than what some of these teams and that we just saw with some of those duos. I like it. You took this more literally than I did. And I'm normally the numbers guy. But like, they're two awesome wide receivers. It's a 17-game season, so you get an extra shot at it.

Stop saying that. What do you do? This is our norm now. Just let them have the 17-game season. I'm not letting them have it, but the 2014 Broncos didn't have it, and they're on the list. But also, they pass a lot, right? Over 600 pass attempts for DAC. It was just the Cowboys and the Broncos with Bo Nix and Dak Prescott to do that.

So, like, two great receivers, high-volume passing attack. Maybe this is because I'm coming off of a week where Ben Johnson said they want to be the greatest offense of all time. And he cited. No, it was something. Well, no, but this isn't a negative. It's like he cited the Broncos offense that was the record setting and the Patriots that had the winstreet. This is the time of year for optimism. Like, Coach Manjini was like, just talk about today's practice and just talk about the next day.

And like, I disagree. It's like it's an entertainment product. You have to be confident. You have to manifest it. You have to have goals. They all do. I've talked to enough coaches and athletes and like, including coaches. Yes.

They'll put it up. First goal, win the division. Next goal, win the conference. Next goal, whatever it is. Like, so if C.D. Lam says and Dak Prescott's like, our goal is to be the best offense in the league, good. That should be the Rams goal and the Bears goal and the Lions goal and the Jaguars goal. Like a lot of teams have that goal. Only one team will be able to say.

at the end of the year, but Dallas has just about as good a shot as anyone, given the amount of talent they have on the offensive side. Yeah, no doubt. And here's the deal. When you talk about CD Lamb and even watching him last year, I know we were excited about this offense and comparing them to the Bengals and without the defense or what have you. CD Lamb missed three games last year. To get George Pickens back, and if you just listen to just the vibes and how they're talking about one another. They really believe that they can be something special. Now, it's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to do it. These guys in this locker room, specifically those two on the offensive side, feel like they're the best in the game. Yeah. And they feel like they get

to play with one another who side by side feel like I'm better than you, you're better than me, but we make each other better and we're better than everybody outside of us. When you have that, historic things can happen. But what it does do is now it puts a microscope on them for the remainder of the season. Because we're going to expect this to be the standard. If they have a bad outing, it's like, well, remember when CD said that they were going to be the best in the game? Sure, it's bulletin more material. It can be used against you.

But it's ultimately just a quote in August. What I will also say about Dallas is there's a real chance that this year is their best roster for the next couple of years. They're probably going to pay Quinn and Williams. There's a good chance that George Pickens isn't on the team next year. You see they're doing this like a one-year deal for Von Miller. So like if there's a time for the stars to align in Dallas, it feels like it could be this upcoming year. So they're talking big.

I like it. Wear the Super Bowl shirt. Say you're going to be the best. It's a little different though because it's normally Jerry. I know. I like it. And now it's the players. I like it.

Have a little confidence. Let's go to MetLife. right here in our backyard, a little preseason action over the weekend. Jackson Dart made his debut Saturday against the Vikings. End of the first quarter, this looked painful. Demolished by safety, Jay Ward. He goes to the Blue Tent, where he spent quite a bit of time last year. He would return, though, just a few plays later and throw a touchdown.

Obviously not a great look for your franchise quarterback to get leveled in the opener. Here's Jackson DART on the play and the tent. Take a listen. I really respect. the rules and the thought behind, you know, NFL has of keeping players healthy and reviewing things. But at the same time, I'm still puzzled by it just feeling like every time that I get hit, you know, I just find my way in there, which at times I still try to wrap my head around. But that's all that I'm going to say about that situation.

All right, I got a lot of thoughts on this one. How concerned are you? I'm not concerned at all. No, not at all. Not at all. All right, we might be a moral line than I thought. Not at all. Like, this was just simply a missed assignment.

Like, Tyrone Tracy, like, the running back. Tyrone Tracy blew it. That's his guy. That's your guy. He blew it. That's your guy. And one of the things that I loved about Jackson Darton, and we didn't get to hear it, but he said it in that same presser,

when a reporter tried to kind of bait him in saying, like, asking him the question of, are you assuming that that's getting picked up? Meaning that Tyrone Tracy should have had that? Yeah. And he said, you know, like, there was possibly a misassignment or miscommunication in our protection. Well, Tyrone Tracy owned it after me. He did. He did.

But he's not allowing them to just own it on their own. That's what a good quarterback, that's what a maturing quarterback sounds like and looks like. But in terms of his history of getting injured, every quarterback's going to take a hit like that. It's football. And we went back and watched it this morning. I'm a little surprised he had to go into the blue tent. A hundred. Did you hear him?

Well, right, but he's not exactly a fair, an unbiased narrator on this subject. With that hit, yes. He's correct. Like his head doesn't snap off the turf. He stayed down for a little bit, but like a totally normal amount of time. He doesn't get hit in the head. It's not helmet to helmet. It looked like a guy who had the wind knocked out of the

100%, which is what happened at the end of it. And listen, I'm not going to say that Jackson Dart and the concussions and the reckless play last year wasn't at all a legitimate story. He went into the the blue tent to be evaluated for a concussion five separate times and missed two games. That's a little. legitimate story with diving head first and being a running dual threat quarterback and the league having a priority a priority and an emphasis on player safety. It's a point of emphasis,

no doubt. If your own teammates are cheering when you slide in practice, there's at least some validity to the story. But can we show the first play that Jackson Dart had when he came back from the blue tent? Can we show after this year that this is the touchdown pass flushed from the pocket rolling left right handed quarterback across his body third level throw toe tap on the sidelines go up and get it were only his player who's a rookie by the way can go up and make the play if that was my guy Caleb or Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes or jaden day or like someone who we have said is going to be a star we'd be doing how exciting is this for jackson dark like I don't get get how running back blows an assignment, quarterback gets the win knocked out of him, is more of a thing than that play. That play is, correct me if I'm wrong, that is an elite play. Like in terms of a secondary reaction, off schedule, making something out of nothing.

It has the makings of everything. That is like, oh, that guy can be a star. So if I'm a Giants fan, that point. play is the story of Jackson Dart, not a running back blowing an assignment. Yeah, and even the fact that he's in for that play. Right. In a preseason game, which is why he's expressing his frustration with having to go into the blue tent. Now, I do understand, you know, with his history, like you mentioned, his track record,

you're going to take precautionary. I don't think that's why he went into the blue tent because of it. I'm just like I think it's part of the narrative of why people talk about it. Yeah. The independent neurologist, as far as I understand it, is not supposed to say, like, well, Jackson Dart was in the blue tent last year, so we have to be extra cautious to put him in this year. You're supposed to evaluate the plays on its merit, but it's just, it's a part of the story of Jackson Dart until he makes it. Not the story of Jackson Dart.

And you've been in this situation, not because of you, but I'd imagine around teammates. I saw a tweet today that Najee Harris was at the Giants facility. Tyrone and Tracy had been getting reps with the ones with Scada. Is that the type of play where Tyrone Tracy could lose his job? Like, hey, man, you almost cost us our season by blowing that block and getting our quarterback injured. We can't have that. Yeah, so it is the type of play that will get a player removed from the depth chart.

Yeah. It's unfortunate because it's so clear, like, that is your guy. He's coming. It's a clean runner. You block inside out. So the overstep, I don't want to get into the nuances of it, but you just made a mistake. And again, he owned it.

Yeah. But when you cost your quarterback a hit like that, and it could potentially be our season now, there's a lot of weight that comes with that type of a missed assignment. Yeah. Yeah, I just thought Jackson Dart overall, was that a good game or a bad game for Jackson Dart? I was like, good game?

Yeah. Pretty obviously. Like, had a drive, got knocked out, came back in, through a high-level touchdown pass to a rookie showed toughness, showed leadership. Definitely so to rapport with likely. Yeah, like I think overall a very, very good day

for Jackson Dart and the Giants. All right, let's go to Buffalo here. New stadium. Same Josh Allen. Six of eight passing. Cool, 111 yards on six completions. You'll take that. And a touchdown in a preseason victory over the Panthers. His new

wide receiver, DJ Moore, three of those catches for 61 yards. He led the team. Here's Josh Allen on his new weapon. I'm going to go out and make an assumption that it's going to be awesome to do that every single game is to get him involved early and often. And, you know, teams are going to obviously know that. But again, we feel like we have other guys that we feel comfortable with. And, you know, you see Khalil had the first catch today, handing it off to Jimbo with Dalton and Dawson,

Keon making plays. So, you know, it's when everything's firing, we can be two-dimensional. You know, that's one where we feel like we're in a good spot. Greg, I think people are way underrating DJ Moore and Josh Allen as an addition. And part of this is I saw him with the Bears last year, and I feel like I understand some of the nuances as to why he had the drop-off from 140 targets in Caleb's first year to 85 in his second year, even though he played every game. Part of it is me being a fantasy football guy, and I'm like, he's ranked lower than

Terry McLaurin and way lower than Zay Flowers and way lower than Rishi Rice. I think he's in that level. But let me just make the case here. When Josh Allen has had a number one caliber receiver, Josh Allen and his wide receivers have produced better than any team in football. When he had Stefan Diggs, we can show the numbers. He hasn't had him for the last, what, a couple of seasons. They were 23rd in receiving yards among the wide receiver group.

The three previous years, the four previous years, excuse me. they were number one. And DJ Moore, still in his 20s, late 20s, but he's reuniting with Joe Brady, who he was with in Carolina, where he put up. He was special now. And that's with Teddy Bridgewater,

Sam Darnold, before Sam Darnold became Sam Darnold, PJ Walker, Cam Newton, four different quarterbacks. A revolving door. He produced. So, I don't really get yet why we could say like Josh Allen's the best quarterback in football.

The bill's going to be the best offensive football. DJ Moore's their number one receiver. DJ Moore is healthy, but DJ Moore is not going to have a big year. The two things just do not compete for me. Yeah, you know, after, and I've been on the side of, I don't know how it's going to look. I've always been a DJ Moore fan. I respect his game. I know he's been a fantastic receiver.

He's tough. He plays. Absolutely. You missed his best year with the Bears with Justin Fieldack. Justin Fields at court. Yeah, I was just showing the Joe Brady years because it's not like people could say like, well, they're not going to know how to use him.

Like they know how to use him. Clearly he will know how to use him. What is scary is exactly what you said. Josh Allen with a true number one receiver. And if DJ Moore gets back to, and I hate to say gets back, but it has to be that because of what we've seen the last couple of years,

regardless of how they were using them in Chicago. If he gets back to being any version of Carolina and his first year with the Bears, and even the second year, it just didn't have much opportunity. Yeah, this Bill's offense will probably be unstoppable. But that's not been the problem with the bills. That's a different conversation. I'm not here to talk to you about the Bill's defense right now. I agree it could be a problem.

But I really do think, like, wait, why did he have in Caleb's first year 140 targets, but in his second year, 85. I was like, well, Ben Johnson came in, and Ben Johnson drafted Colston Lovell and then he wanted to get him involved. And Caleb always kind of preferred Rome because him and Rome came into the league together. And then Luther Bird and exploded. DJ Moore in the two playoff games last year, 15 targets, 11 catches over 100 yards and two touchdowns.

It's not like he was bad in Chicago last year. It's really as simple as this. When you are a new head coach and you are a play caller, you have you have priorities his main priority was getting Caleb to run that offense the right way it wasn't necessarily let's get the ball of DJ get the ball of DJ yeah I guarantee you Ben Johnson knows the value of who and what DJ more provided however there was a pecking order and so in order to get the best out of Caleb Williams I have to kind of go through this and you're at by default and because of what his contract was going to be they knew they weren't going to be able to afford it this year. So they were trying to bring the younger guys along. I'm just saying there's a lot of reasons why he was less than spectacular in Chicago, but still played every game, blocked, was tough, showed up in the playoffs.

Like, people talk about him like he was bad. He wasn't bad. And now I just think he's in a great situation. Yeah, he's in a fantastic situation with a pretty good quarterback. Pretty good quarterback. Pretty good offense. Not everyone had a sparkling preseason debut, though. Shador Sanders played the aforementioned Bears.

might have already cost himself a starting job, though he will be starting in their preseason game number two coming up this week. That's next on first things first. At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a nail salon, everything needs to be perfect from tip to toe. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company,

so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on K. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. Back here on first things first talking a little indie car. We've got Joseph New Garden and Kyle Kirkwood stopping by the studio today to talk Freedom 250, which is this Sunday live from our nation's capital on Fox. Getting back, though, to preseason action.

The Browns were in Chicago on Saturday. Deshawn Watson got the start when 11 for 15 passing for 126 yards. Shador Sanders followed that up by going. 6 for 11 for 79 yards but did throw a pretty ugly interception. Here is Sanders after the game on his costly error. Take a listen. What I see, the right read just slip, you know, it's the right read, it just slipped. So that's what makes me, that's what makes me be mad a little bit because of it.

But you know, I don't, any decision I make, I know it's the right decision. I just didn't execute the decision, but the right decision was made. All right, Jeff Schwartz, kind enough to join us now. Jeff, this feels a little harsh because they've already said Shador will be starting his second preseason game. So the competition is not over, but did it feel like Shadur already lost that starting job with that pick? I think he lost it beginning of training camp, right? The reps are going to Deshaun Watson. He's the guy taking the reps with the ones.

They've been very clear about wanting Deshaun Watson to win this job. They've given him Everton to win this job. My thing with Shadur is this, right, is when you are starting quarterback in the NFL, for any period of time, one year, two years, three years, when you become the guy, you've got to have a couple traits to build the offense around, right? What are we building around with Shadur? He's a little bit late most of the time, even on the interception. The ball was late. He slipped, I get that. He's a little late.

He's accurate at times when he's on time. His arm strength is not great. He's not terribly mobile. What are you building around Sanders, right? I think he looks like a fifth round pick. He's going to be a good backup for many years in the NFL. but he's not a starting quarterback. Todd Munkin did not draft him.

There's no relationship with him. And they've been very clear about wanting Deshaun Watson to be the starting quarterback. And Deshawn wasn't really great either, but I think they liked the upside of maybe, hey, look, in 2020, the last year he was good. He was really good. Maybe the more reps he gets,

he finds some of that magic. Shadur, to me, doesn't provide them any upside, right? Maybe with Watson, you can probably peek back and say we can maybe find some of that guy in the past. So it's not surprising that he is the second. constrained guy and he will start the season game. They said he would. They're sticking to their word, but it felt very clear from the beginning

that they've always wanted to show Watson to start. That matters, right? Where you start training camp and how the reps are divided is a lot more of an indication of how the coach that feels about you than where you actually play and where they actually sort of say you're going to play. Yeah, Jeff.

You're absolutely right. We all know in the locker room like when the guys takes the field first, how they feel about you, because you took the field first. You're not second in their mind and their thinking in terms of depth chart. You're first.

And so with that being said, I don't think he lost it. I still think there's a chance for him to possibly win it. And you're talking about there not being an upside with should doer. I think the upside is he's going to take those chances. Yes, he is late. He was very late on that throw, that interception. Clearly, the slip, you can,

Forget about the slip. The ball should be gone on the first hitch. He didn't let it go. Then he slipped. So as a receiver, you're throwing off my timing. Now you're risking me running into a shot that I ordinarily wouldn't have to take because you're late. That's going to be an issue.

With Deshawn, I don't know if Deshawn is even going to push the ball down the field. That's the issue with Deshawn. So they're in a almost lose lose situation because with one quarterback who's going to make the right decision, who's going to be more on time. to Sean, he's just not showing the willingness to push the ball down the field where with Chouder, you're going to possibly not be on time at times. You obviously have those errant throws, but he does push the ball down the field and you have the potential to have those big plays.

And so for me, they're still going to be trying to weigh those two things. So I buy that this competition is not over. I agree with what Jeff said that it before camp at the start of camp, I've assumed, they still invested multiple first round picks and a fully guaranteed contract in Deshawn Watson. Absolutely. And they invested a fifth round pick in Shador Sanders. They probably would like one guy to win the job over the other. That seems logical even if it feels like it was ancient history.

I also like the devil's advocate case I would make, though, is if Jeff is right that Shadur Sanders is going to be a good backup quarterback in this league and have a long career as a backup, Deshaun Watson's not going to be a backup quarterback for a long time for the Browns. Like, is there any chance? Maybe this is Galaxy Brain here, Jeff. But is there any chance if, like, the Browns have said, neither one of these guys is our starter next year. But one guy could be our backup next year.

And that's Chodor Sanders. That actually plays into his benefit of getting more reps. We're drafting Arch Manning or fill in the blank player anyway. So Deshawn is off the team as soon as we're off the hook on his contract. Shador could be here as a backup. Maybe we'll actually give our future backup more reps. Any chance that's coming into play here?

I mean, I think you're right in the sense that Watts is not the starter. He's probably not on the team. And they have to eat his salary and move on. Like, that's probably, he's not a backup. I think we all agree on that. He's either starting or that's it for him. So if he doesn't start, then yeah, play standers.

Look, the Brown's goal has got to be to be three and what, 14. like that has to be the goal for that. I know no one wants to do that in year one of a new staff, but that has to be the goal. The roster is not terrible. There are some good pieces on that roster, and you need to get a quarterback next season. Watson's not the future.

Sanders is not the future. Maybe he's the center as a future as a backup. But whatever they do this year, whoever they choose to play quarterback, they have to think about, let's try to win games, but actually not. We know how that works. I've been on a team that tank before.

You try very hard and the quarterback stinks, and you finish 2 and 14, you draft Cam Noon, right? That's the way it works. works. And they have to think about that in the back of their minds, too. I know they want to win. I get that. Everyone wants to win. But maybe there's a guy who gives us a chance to be competitive every week, but there's just a little bit missing from his game. We end up losing a lot of these games instead. Yeah, I think there's a lot missing from both of their games. I just don't think

that even with Deshawn, we're not going to get the Deshawn of old. That that Deshaun, that ship has pass. Shadour, he's just not consistent enough. Again, I believe he has more upside. To your point, if that is the case, you do give Shadur a lot more reps. You got to give them this opportunity like they're going to, like they said they're going to do and giving them the starting

opportunity in the second preseasoning game and see what he does with it with the ones. But you have such a young team. You just want to see the best of the guys around them as well and them be put in advantageous situation. So who does that more consistently? It's going to probably be Deshawn Watson. Yeah, my guess is Deshawn Watson starts

because Todd Munkin will want to win games. He will quickly realize they're not ready to win games and then they will move on to Shedore Sanders and they will continue to be the Browns. But a lot of draft capital. So maybe it'll be better in the future. Let's talk Rams. This was a legitimately fascinating preseason story

as they were in Kansas City Saturday, 13th overall pick, the surprise in the draft. Ty Simpson made his preseason debut. Just a cool 21 of 25 passing for a hundred and twenty five for excuse me hundred and ninety yards and two scores. This was how Ty Simpson described his hot start to the preseason. Take a listen. I definitely felt more comfortable than I ever had.

I'm in a game, but you know, I also didn't know what to expect first NFL game. First live and it fell, you know, it's NFL teams. Um, but once that first drive kind of, you know, got done with, I was like, all right, like, yeah, this is just like playing in the backyard in Martin. But, you know, guys did a great job. So happy for our team. And, you know, on the next week. All right, Greg, I'll start with you this time.

What did Ty Simpson prove in his debut? He proved that he can learn and he can execute, period. The credit, I'm not going to take the credit away from him, but I definitely give lion's share the credit to Sean McVeigh. When a player steps to the podium and says, This is the most comfortable I've ever been in the game. That lets me know that coach puts you in the position to be successful. They leaned into who he is and his skill set versus how we want him to fit into our system.

And that's what you do with the rookie quarterback that you've invested in. You want to put him in advantageous situation so that he shows well. And he did. He did exactly that. Now, the Kansas City Chiefs, very bland defense. Sure. Second string. But he did the job that they wanted and was hopeful of him doing,

and he executed at a high level. So, I mean, kudos to him. Greg, you mentioned that this very important here. I thought McVeigh had the best game plan of anyone this week for any quarterback. They ran three run plays. They ran a ton of boots, easy throws. He had some drop back passes, of course, because you have to do that on third down. But they built a game plan.

I thought that was very comfortable with Ty Simpson. But here's the thing, guys. I know people want to give him a Hall of Fame bust already after one week. Again, it's a preseason. We're going to overreact. But the way you look at the preseason to me is quite simple, right? It's do the players check the box or is it a red flag, right?

So you have the 13th pick overall playing against a backup cheap's defense. He looked like the 13th pick overall. He looked pretty good. Check the box, right? Like that's good. Good for week one, move it to week two. On the flip side, right? Like a guy like Cam Ward, the Titans won offense

played the Niners backups. didn't go very well. Red flag. Like, that's the way I look at the preseason, right? So do we check the boxes? It looked like it should. The expectation is you're the 13th pick in the draft. Maybe you're drafted too high.

But then we all agreed he was going end of first round. He went a little bit higher, of course, to a team we didn't think he was going to. But still, we thought Ty Simpson was very talented. He showed that first round talent against a bunch of guys that aren't making the Chiefs roster. You should do that. Give me the check mark.

Good job, buddy. Move on in next week. And there's other opportunities for guys to show the same exact thing next. couple of weeks. But to me, the preseason is more about red flags, man, is if you're playing ones versus twos and the ones aren't playing well, that's a red flag to me. Why is that happening? Why are we not performing? I get the people want to say it's vanilla in the preseason and this and that, but plenty of teams move the ball with vanilla offenses. We're watching highlights

the Rams. They're not doing a ton crazy in week one with the preseason, but they're executing, right? That goes to coaching. It goes to player readiness. It goes to practice, all those things. So to me, Ty Simpson, just check the box, man. Good job week one. Let's say, we're he does week two maybe against better competition and then obviously he'll play at some point potentially this season maybe he won't and we'll get to judge him then i'm not ready for the hall of fame bus neither am i but but i wouldn't want to be stetson bennett the number two on the death chart right out out like so it's like okay but then that's not nothing like that that that's a little bit more than a checkmark like if you if you if you drafted a guy at 13 that should that should

shocked everybody. He's not going to make any impact. This is for after Matt Stafford. This is because whenever Matt Stafford retires, we're going to have been too good. We're not going to be in position to draft a quarterback. We want the transition to be smooth. You talked about Ty Simpson as like the future. One year as a starter. This is about the future. If Matt Stafford hurts his back or sprains his ankle, I'm not positive that the guy that I just saw, and I mean this as a compliment in this context, he kind of looked like Brock Purdy to me. Smart, got the ball out, accurate, able to move. Not the biggest arm. Not being asked to do the most, but like playing with a really smart system that puts

in a quarterback and a good, like, you can win with that guy. And again, I'm not overrating the preseason and I'm not talking about who was on the field for the Chiefs Defense, but just like, can that guy execute Sean McVeigh's offense this year for a game or two if he needs to? to. Man, Greg, it looked to me like he could. Yeah, and look, you got to understand, like, the Rams are playing chess, not checkers. They understand how the world viewed them selecting this young man this high. Yeah.

And so naturally, you know Matthew Stafford's not going to take any snaps in the preseason. So all their attention went to let's get him prepared. Let's ensure Jeff that he's going to have a play call every single time. and a script that he's comfortable with and that he can execute. Because you talk about checking the box, they wanted to ensure that we check the box on, yeah, we made the right choice.

And to the Stetson Bennett point, it's a non-conversation. So you think he's the backup. Ty Simpson's the backup. Craig? Or Jeff, sorry? He's Greg. They drafted him to be the backup.

He did a great job. Yes, backup quarterback. Yes, backup quarterback. Okay, that's not nothing. then. Based on how they talked about him out of the draft to now, if in one game we're saying that he's the backup to Matt. They're the Super Bowl favorites with a 38-year-old quarterback with a bad back and a questionable offensive line. Being the backup quarterback for that, like Jimmy Garapolo, not getting that call, jumping Stetson Bennett. Like that is something. That is more value than I would have thought on draft day that Ty Simpson would have been able to provide. I switch both of your guys mind that segment. Not the Hall of Fame. But the back of quarterback to Matt Stapford. Coming up. Lamar Jackson, this is going to shock you,

is talking Super Bowl. That's next on first things first. Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest.

Conditions apply. Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-SA to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Sunday the NFL is back on Fox. That's the greatest sentence ever. It's a preseason showcase. The reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks are taking on Wilds as Titans.

It all kicks off at 8 Eastern Sunday on Fox. Back in on first things first with a little weird and wonderful Wilds is out watching the Titans, so I'll take his segment for a spin. First up, wonderful. Cardinals rookie Joshua Baez makes history back to back to back to back. home runs to start a career. Impressive, man. Now, I am a Cubs guy, so I didn't love this is wonderful.

But back to back to back, Greg is pretty good. This is wonderful. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. I don't, okay. It's wonderful. Okay. Jeff, wonderful.

Yes, you're in agreement? Wonderful. The reaction from his AAA teammates was awesome in the locker in tune for me. Yeah, that was good. That was good. All right, now let's also get to another one that I didn't love the characterization on. Weird. LeBron James launching his own YouTube golf channel, highlighting his Cavs 2016 reunion golf outing.

Now, Jeff, I would say this. There's no better advertisement for golf than that, like, LeBron could do literally anything he wants, any day for the rest of his life. And he's like, when I retire, I just want to golf and videotape it. I feel like Jeff LeBron's the man and golf is better for it, yes? I like LeBron, but this is another. like athlete podcast video I'm just not going to watch like I good for him he's golfing but I just have no interest in in his golfing but look he's he's pretty good right so have fun doing it I don't know that he's pretty good yet you want to plug your athlete podcast by the way Jeff

want to plug yours yes bear bets this one of my podcast it's very good thank you yeah I thought so wonderful let's check out Cowboys rookie wide receiver Camden Brown nasty Great one-handed touchdown snack. But Greg, I don't know. Listen, he's undrafted, scored twice on Saturday. So if you want to do the real evaluation on him as a player, that's fine. But I struggle with like great catch or just great gloves. I don't know.

I don't know. Don't be that guy. Don't be that guy. Some of one are great catches. Some of them are great clubs. I don't know. So since Chris Bussard is not at the desk, you have to, you have to say that. I'm just asking.

Did he call you? Did he text you to make that statement? You did? He did. Chris, thank you. I will either confirm nor deny. I'm just saying Great catch. Great catch. A lot of guys would have dropped that. A lot of guys would have dropped that. So what? Their gloves are different. Maybe. Exactly. Stop it. No, they're not. They're the same. Great catch. All right. Great catch. Weird. Let's look at two as a.

Not a great start as a falcon. Fell on his own fumble. Finished three of five for 22 yards. Jeff is this debut something or nothing when it comes to checking preseason boxes. Falcons red flag. Down two pass rushers. Don't have a quarterback. Greg, not good. Red flag.

I love you. Short, short and sweet. Look, I was scared for Tua being on the ground right there. Like, oh. That coach is like, why don't you like Tua? I'm like, because he can't get hit. I mean, legitimately, I was, I was worried. Because everyone else is playing tackle for ball.

Because you could literally just fall on them right now. And it's over. Not good. Final wonderful. Check out Daryl Ducet. I mean, this kid is. Whoa. I mean, I felt like Chris Berman there.

What? I mean, that unbelievable U.S. men's flag football team wins their sixth consecutive world title. Yeah. It's pretty nice. Greg, have they called you for the 2028 Summer Olympics? No, thank you. No.

Not interested. No, absolutely not. I mean, you got the gloves. No? I got the hands. Oh, you got the hands. I mean, your hands with modern gloves. I'm just saying, think about it.

Time now. You got to do that. Now I'm probably. That's the problem. Time now for afternoon headlines sponsored by Ram trucks. Nothing stops RAM. So Lamar will be playing this season with a new head coach and a new offensive coordinator.

He's got two MVP's already in the trophy case. But he's got even higher expectations heading into the year. Take a listen to how it's going with Lamar and the new offense. He's great in me like. Like, no tomorrow like I'm a rookie or something. You know, he's always on me. But I appreciate that, you know. Being coachable, I feel like that's what he want me to be.

And that's what I'm accustomed to doing. That's my job. And it's fun. First time or first season with a new O.C. MVP. MVP. Should we expect a third here in year one with Declan? You know, that's not the goal.

You know, that's just it happened, you know. But hopefully it's something better, better than just MVP. Well, it's a perfect question. What do you think is the ceiling and expectations for the Ravens this year? Well, for Lamar, for Lamar, obviously, he's been a two-time MVP. So personally, MVP, as a team, I think this is a team that can have a deep playoff run. I am not confident in what I've seen in the past. And I know new head coach, Jesse Mentor, new offense coordinator, Declan Doyle are bringing a lot of new energy and vibes and all the things.

However, seeing Lamar in the postseason, and this is not just about Lamar, it's about this Ravens team. They tend to fall apart when it matters most. And so I'm not confident enough, Jeff, to say this team is going to the Super Bowl and they will be representing the AFC. They fired the coach to go to the Super Bowl. That's why they fired the coach, right? They're bringing a new coach to go to the Super Bowl. Now, maybe not in year one. It's hard to go to Super Bowl as a brand new head coach.

year one. We saw last starvation Raybo went in year one, but he's been a long-time coach in National Football League. The next step is going to a Super Bowl. That's absolutely the next step. There are really two quarterbacks, I think, that have to go for their legacy this year, right? Lamar and Josh Allen. The Chiefs would love to go, but the Chiefs have won through Super Bowl's.

I think the Rams should go from the NFC, but Stafford's already won. I think Joe Burrow wants to go back, but he's already been to one, right? Lamar and Josh Allen have not been to one. And there's guys coming up behind them that are really good quarterbacks, and teams getting much better. If they don't capitalize now on the opportunity that's in front of them with the chiefs sort of going through Mahomes coming back from injury,

a little older at some positions, younger at some positions, right? I think the Chargers, maybe not this year, but they're coming soon, right? The Broncos are really good football team. I'm sure I missed some that someone yell at me about, but the rest of the AFC is coming, right? They're young. They're ready to catch up to Baltimore and to Buffalo. Those teams have got to win now.

I thought last year was going to be the win now with the Chiefs out of it. But yes, of course, Lamar, it's Super Bowl robust for the Ravens. It's going to be most of the rest of his career. But they, again, they fired the longtime coach that won a lot of football games in Baltimore to get back to the Super Bowl. That's the only reason this works out is if they get back to the Super Bowl. And really, if they win the Super Bowl. That is clearly the goal. I actually think it's more likely that they make the Super Bowl than Lamar wins MVP.

Really? Yeah, I don't. It's a first time play caller. They lose Isaiah likely. They lose Tyler Linderbaum. They hire Jesse Minter who overachieved with the Chargers. Then he gets to come into a defense that has Kyle Hamilton and Madibuque and Roquois and Roquan Smith and Trey Hendrickson and Wiggins and all of the players that they have on defense. Like that's, that can be a top five defense.

I think their defense is better than their offense. So I do not see a likely path. Listen, Lamar is Superman. He's one of the toughest players to game plan in the NFL. It's not like likely he's been the most productive player was there. Derek Henry's now 32 years old. I don't think there's a ton around Lamar Jackson on offense. There's a ton on that defense.

So I think they could be a complimentary team with Lamar doing enough on offense and then their defense being excellent where they could win a ton of games. I don't think there's enough there around Lamar this year compared to some of the other guys that, you know, Josh Allen and what he has on his offensive line with Cook and with DJ Moore and keeping continuity with Joe Brady. or Matt Stafford and everything they bring back. Caleb Williams, Drake May, what they bring back.

I think it's a con... You can laugh about the Caleb thing. But I think it's a very crowded MVP race of which Lamar is not as well equipped to win this year. And of course, it's every year's a crowded Super Bowl race. But I think they are a very balanced both sides of the ball team and they could win big. And for me, that is exactly why I think this is an MVP opportunity.

Because just last year, we were looking at Josh Allen and it was like, well, man, he doesn't have, he doesn't have all, or two years ago, he doesn't have all these weapons, and what can he do? This will be a Super Bowl or, I'm sorry, an MVP opportunity for him, and he rose to the occasion. He did that. The same thing can happen this year with Lamar because of the lack of talent. If they're a top five offense, Lamar will definitely get a ton of votes.

Coming up, the Cowboys just picked up Von Miller. He would be eyeing his third Super Bowl. That's next on First things first. Live from New York, it's the show. that also might miss practice with tightness. It's first things first. Don't laugh at me, Greg. I got a big golf trip coming up this week.

A lot of stretching. Coming up, the Cowboys added Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller. Is this the right move for the Cowboys? Also, IndyCar drivers, Joseph New Garden, and Kyle Kirkwood live in studio this hour to discuss Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C., which is, of course, this Sunday on Fox. But we start the hour in MetLife where Jackson Dart made his pretext. pre-season debut Saturday against the Vikings.

Low light, he got demolished by safety. Jay Ward had to head to the Blue Tent where he spent a little too much time last year. The highlight, though, he returned and threw a beautiful touchdown pass. Here's the second year quarterback on the difference between taking reps this season and last. Take a listen. What's really nice is now is that I get more reps than I did last year in practices. So I think that that's really the time where I try to grow. as much as I can.

You know, I'm definitely not afraid to make mistakes in those periods. And I think that when you get out to a game, like I said earlier, like consequences are different. And that's what you learned from practice. When you're able to have these live action looks that it's different from what we're seeing every day, I think that it's very valuable and gets us better. Jeff Schwarz still with us. Jeff, how big of a leap can DART take this year?

Well, I think can and Will are two separate things. I think he can take a big jump forward, right? I think all the physical gifts are there, right? You mentioned the blue tent. Got to stay out of the blue tent, obviously. Got to learn how to slide it protective. That wasn't the case the other day. That was the running back's error.

And he paid the price for that, not all his fault there. But obviously, staying healthy will be hugely important. The one concern I have mostly is the coaching staff, right? So you have Matt Nagy's offensive coordinator. Now, look at his time in Kansas City. They were okay when he was there the first time. And then Mahomes took over, and he left. And then he came back, and the offense sort of went downhill.

We saw his time in Chicago away from Andy Reid. go very well. Brian Callahan, I believe, is a quarterback coach, passing coordinator, not great outside of when he was with Joe Burrow. And Greg Roman's been up and down in his career, like three separate philosophies, too, by the way, between Nagy, Roman, and Callahan. So sort of, what are they running offensively? And are they going to coach up Jackson Dart in the right ways? You know, learn enough from those guys to become the player they want them to become. But I do think if you look around his draft class, Greg, he probably has the best chance for success. He has all the physical tools. He's got a decent,

offense align. Neighbors is fantastic if he's healthy, right? And there's other weapons on that team that are pretty good. I like his head coach. I think he's got everything in place. I just don't know if I trust the coaching staff he's working with on the offensive side of the ball to get the most out of him. So you make a great point in terms of play callers and the other coaching staff around him. But I think that's where the player of his caliber with his skill set overcomes that. And sometimes as players, you have to be able to overcome the coaching. And I'm not saying he's going to have to do that. I believe he's capable if he needs to do that. When you listen to him talk, he has a level of confidence and a belief of I am

that guy. And when you have a guy in the huddle that is running your offense, whether it be year one, year two, in this case, or year 15, you know you're going to get the best out of that individual. And so I'm watching him play. He can make every single throw. And he has the athletic ability to get out of bad situations to make those throws. So the leap for me, for him, it's definitely around that middle of the pack, easily top 17, 18 quarterback play in this game. So I think that your point also about the coaching, Jeff, is well made. And I've certainly had my issues with one of those three in particular.

Oh, have you? Yeah, you know, it's fairly well done. documented if you know where to look with Matt Nagy's time in Chicago. But is it going to be worse than last year? No. They fired Brian Dable, you know, 10 weeks in. So, like, Jackson Dard is a rookie, has to lose Malik neighbors. He played zero full games with Malik neighbors.

He played four games with Scataboo. They fired his head coach and play caller. 10 games into the season, like six games into his career. And he still was 24 touchdowns, seven turnovers, 10 of his 12 games, he has multiple touchdowns, and he was a big play guy. So even if it's different systems and a new staff and like a little bit of this and a little bit of that, it should at least through continuity be better than it was last year. And oh yeah, by the way, here's a top 10 pick on your offensive line. here's Isaiah likely, here's Malik neighbors,

here's an adult in the room as a head coach who will just stabilize everything. Like, I think Jackson Darts going to be good. I think he has a very high ceiling. I don't think there's a ton of players in the NFL that can make that throw. I'm not going to say that it's like a one of five list, but like flush from the pocket, roll left, righty, throw to the third level of the defense, over the defender, jump ball to your guy on the side.

Like, that's, that's an elite play. And so I, I think his talent represents a high ceiling. And I think his situation, while not perfect, is way better, Jeff than it was last year. So I think he's going to make a huge leap this year. The throw you keep showing is the reason why he was the sixth pick in the draft, right? Like those physical gifts that he has. And now they can just hone in the pocket play, right? And make that a lot better.

And you're right about the voices, right? Like last year was a bad year for him. It just happened. not on the field, but just everything off the field, right? That does play a role as a rookie, to not have your coach, have him be fired, all the turmoil around him. None that's going to happen this year, right? You're going to the season.

You've got a firm coach. You know he's going to be there for a couple of years, maybe longer than that. Obviously, you hope that. And you know you have a staff that's seen a lot of football. So, yes, I would imagine he's much better this season. Or he ends up in the ranking of quarterbacks. I don't know, but the physical tools are there.

And if everyone says healthy, Neighbors is the number one deal for me with that. I agree. If he is healthy all season long, this offense changes to something. else. If he's in and out, it's just not going to be as good, but that's, that's life in the NFL right guys get hurt all the time. Look, he's just simply a player. Like, I don't know any other way that I need to put it. Again, when you have a guy that has the type of confidence

that he has, he's, he's one of those guys where in the locker room, even if it's year two, with new coaching staff, they may have a game plan, they may have a scheme that they want to put in. And he may oppose that. And he's going to speak up and say, No, I don't want that. When I've been in Minnesota, I've been around the JJ McCarthy, he's just going to shake his head and be like, okay, that's not Jackson Dart. Because he believes in his ability of making things happen, but he also has a way he feels like it needs to look.

So I just believe that his confidence, his belief in himself is just going to bow well for this giant's offense. His biggest thing clearly is staying healthy. He's got to stay healthy. And like we said, that that was Tyro and Tracy missing a block. Correct. That had nothing to do with the concussions from last year. I had the wind knocked out of him.

But let's go to Arizona. Good news was rookie running back, Jeremiah Love looked incredible in his preseason debut. Bad news. High ankle sprain on his last touch. 14 touches, by the way. And that injury could delay his NFL debut and puts his status for week one against the Chargers in jeopardy. Greg, the question is how concerning is this for the third overall pick? But also, I don't get it.

I do not get why. And I know he's a rookie. So he doesn't have the huge tracker. But I said it last week before the injury news came out. 14 touches in a half of preseason football for a running back, the most injured position in the game, reckless. Like, why does Devon Achan need to play? Why does he need seven carries?

I know what Devon A. Chan is. He's awesome. He's the Dolphins' whole offense. Maybe don't play him in the preseason. Now, he got out of it unscathed. but just unnecessary risk. So you can take it for Jeremiah Love or just in general. I don't get why coaches keep doing this year in and year out.

It boggles my mind. So in this situation, I get why coaches want to play their guys. They want them to get the reps, want them to get the real live action field. Jeff, you know this. You don't get that in practice. You can try to emulate it as much as possible, but you just can't emulate real game play. In this situation, first year head coach and Michael Floor.

your entire offense is revolving around Jeremiah Love in terms of, man, we got a young quarterback, we got this awesome running back that can be split out, that where everybody's comparing to CMC, we see him in practice, we know he's like that, we can use him in the passing game. He's clearly going to be a heavy dose of what you look like and perform and put on the field every single week. So I don't agree that they should have played them this much.

And this is going to be very concerning because ankle injuries linger. They just simply linger. Jeff, you know this. He can say, he can be good for a moment and the moment somebody lands on it

or he rolls it, it flares back up and you got the issue ongoing all over again. I hate when skill guys have injuries in the preseason. I don't have data to back it up but it feels like it lingers

all season long, right? I'm sure you felt that same way if you ever got hurt during the season. There's other guys besides him that have hamstring injuries that are out. The rest of the training camp, like Jordan Tyson. I just, I kind of just write him off for the season. It just, it's what it is. He's, he'll place him, obviously.

Look, I'm pro playing starters a little bit in the preseason. I said a little bit, right? Not a lot. It felt like a first year coach trying to show his team how tough he wants them to be. And he went about seven carries too many, right? Like, you can be tough and decide to show your team. I want to be a physical brand of football. but do it for two drives.

And we did see rookies besides him play more. I think the Lions right tackle played a while Peter Woods, the Chiefs three technique played the entire first half. I mean, guys have done it. But at this position specifically, I don't know, maybe seven carries at the most, five carries. I understand the need to want to do it. I'm pro playing young players or playing stars in the preseason.

It just went overboard. He learned as a coach, first lesson, I guess, in the first preseason game, hey man, I guess second for them. We don't need to set a tone with 14 carries for what we want to be the engine of our offense and a running back. And listen, to be fair to Michael Lefleur, I watched the press conference and he said, he was like, the plan was... At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a nail salon, everything needs to be perfect from tip to toe. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs.

you put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. To do it a lot early because you can't replicate the speed to your guys' point and then to throttle it way back. Give him the exposure early and so if anything did happen, he'd have time before the season.

He wasn't going to get 14 touches in every preseason game is what he's saying now. convenient to say it now, given that your guy got hurt and everyone's crushing you for it. I just, Sean McVeigh has gone the other way. And he's like, the guys who matter don't play. And he doesn't come out and say it in those exact words. I'm paraphrasing. But like, it's worked. They've started hot.

They score a ton of points. Their quarterback wins MVP. They play deep into the playoffs. I just, I think now that all these teams are doing joint practices where you can kind of simulate the game and it is live tackle. and there are refs out there, but it's a little bit more of a controlled environment than a freak thing that could happen in a game. I would personally just be so conservative

with my players who matter, because if Jeremiah Love misses, you just said, it's like, well, that derails the Cardinals offense. It's like, well, so then why was it worth it? Why was it worth it? Yeah, but I want to clear up, like, it's still not live. Like, it's live for Jeff in offensive line to a degree in defensive line,

but for skill guys, they are not taking us down to the ground. It just does not happen. You can't risk that in a practice in training camp. I don't care if it's combo practices or not, joint practices or not. You're just not going to risk that. The issue with a guy suffering a high ankle sprain is it's simple. It just simply lingers.

So you would downgrade Jeremiah Love for this season because of this injury. I would down, pending on if he comes back and they, And he can get back to 100% because he hasn't played and they hold him off from playing, even if it's week one or two. And they say, no, we're not going to let you get back out there until you're 100%. Because what typically happens is you have an injury.

You're a young player. You want to show that you can get back out there and you're tough and all the things. Everybody knows it, but you want to show it and prove it. You get out there and you still feel a little something, but you're not really fully disclosing that information to your training staff because you want to be available. and something happens and it starts right back over

and it resets you. Let's go to Dallas where the two-time Super Bowl champion, Von Miller is joining the party with a one-year deal. He's a 15-year vet and he said, quote, I've always had blue in my heart since I was a little boy. I always paid attention to the Dallas Cowboys. My earliest memory of football includes the Dallas Cowboys to be back home.

It's a dream within a dream. Now, Jeff, I'm 39 years old and worried about playing golf four days in a row later this week. He's 37 years old, but he's coming off a nine-sack season. Probably a better athlete than me. Do you like this move for the Cowboys? I really do because I think he will, his role will be Russ the pastor, of course. But 200 snaps a year, he's not going to probably play a lot until they really need him to do that.

They have two young defensive ends that they just drafted. They have young safety. They just drafted. His job is going to be to get those guys ready to play high-level football, right? Because those guys are more important for the future of the franchise. that Von Miller is for one season. So that's why, to me, they signed him. Of course, he can still produce, I think,

nine sacks last season in Washington. He can still produce when asked upon, and maybe him being in the game still draws the attention of an extra tight end, of a running back, of a center, and allows the other players on the defensive line to get more one-on-one opportunities. And that will obviously increase the production,

presumably, of those players, but I think more than anything else. They drafted two young pass-rushers. And those are the guys that they have drafted to be their long-term. solution to that spot since they let Michael Parsons go. So that to me, Greg, is why he's there. He's there to produce, of course, in big moments, not every down, but also there to train

those guys, get those guys ready to play football for a long time in cowboy uniforms. Yeah, I said this earlier. He's there for the tutelage, the leadership, obviously championship pedigree, which they don't have on that side of the ball at all, and then he can still get it done. And so you have to account for who he is and what he's done. and his track record. When you sign a guy like Von Miller, what you're saying is we get a high value motor guy, a high character guy.

We know we can trust him to play without getting the amount of reps that everybody else has to get and he's going to produce. And so with a team that's trying to do it by committee in terms of rushing the passer, you gotta have pass rushers to do that. And that's what Jerry Jones and his team is doing over there to Add Von Miller, it only gives you more weapons to rush the quarterback. So, Von Miller is going to walk into Canton. He's a legend.

To Jeff's point, he had nine sacks last year. It was only on 37% of Washington snaps. We looked at it. Players who played 40% or fewer snaps on the defensive side of the ball, he let all of them in sacks. So he was productive for a limited work. If we throw up age 37 season, you're not expecting a ton. But the guys at the top of the list that were double-digit sack guys.

they got gold jackets and Von Miller's going to have a gold jacket. So play on a great offense, a bunch of pass rushing snaps. He goes in on third down, pure past rushing spots. I have no doubt that Von Miller can give you some production. I guess what I would caution here is they were in on the Max Crosby trade. People thought they maybe would be a Trey Hendrickson spot. Max Crosby is in Vegas and Trey Hendrickson is in Baltimore. And you're taking a guy who's 37 years old that's going to.

to play a couple hundred snaps this year. Like this is not, I don't think this is a needle moving move for DALS. I think it's veteran leadership. I think it's maybe situationally relevant. But I don't think, Jeff, that this is some sort of like, wow, I have to reevaluate the Cowboys defense because they got a name that I love. No, you don't reevaluate him, but what about a playoff game, a home playoff game? It's third and eight.

It's loud in that stadium. He's on that turf and he's lined up to go over the right tackle. Like, that's when you need him, right? You need him in that moment. In that moment, he gets a pressure, a sack, any disruption. Like, that's why you signed him. You signed him for those moments. That's it.

You didn't sign him for week seven. Like, you signed him for the end of the season. Not we, I won't talk for you guys. I think Cowboys are going to be good. And they're going to be a playoff team. They're a very good roster. I think Dax really good. He played well last season.

They revamped the defense. It's just those moments. It's all they care about, Greg. In those moments, can he get home? Can he disrupt the passer? I think he still can. I think playing inside on turf is a big deal. It's much easier for him as a person.

pass question is to play on grass. That's going to help them a lot as well. There's other guys on the line that will draw some attention away. All they need for is those big moments. Yeah. And when you have, you mentioned it with the young rookies that they have coming in, when you have a veteran guy who you can watch, who you can glean from, and you can just simply be in meeting rooms and he can show you little tricks of the trade and be able to inform you on different things and technique, it accelerates your process. You want Malachi Lawrence three years from now saying, I learned that from Von Mill. attached to the hip.

You understand? Like that's, that's the hope because that's the future. Jeff mentioned it earlier. That's the future of your franchise. And the quicker you can get them up to speed and start performing like a young Von Miller did early in his career. Boy, it's going to be tough down there in Dallas with that defensive line.

I was looking at the names too. Guys are like, all right, Quinn and Williams, Rashon Gary, Kenny Clark, Von Miller, Azaraku, Caleb Downs, Jalen Thompson, overshowed. And it's like, it's a lot of names. It's a lot of dudes. Yeah, they're okay.

Well, they shouldn't be. And I don't, I've had enough players telling me that the new defensive coordinator bump is like a real thing. Just new voice, got to earn it, prove it, intensity, attention to detail. Like all of that newness, some youth, a Hall of Famer, and the new defensive coordinator, I don't think Jeff, the defense will be awful this year with all of that new. I think it's going to be good. I think it's going to be good a football team, man. There's a lot of talent on that roster.

They win when DAC's healthy, and they're going to win a lot of games this season. All right. Well, straight up good. That would be very exciting because they're talking Super Bowl in Dallas. But next up, man, that's a good shot right there. Indy car drivers, Joseph Newgarden, and Kyle Kirkwood join us in studio. We're counting down to the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will be live from D.C. This Sunday only on Fox.

At Desjardin Insurance, we know that when you own a nail salon, everything needs to be perfect from tip to toe. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. All right, history is coming to the nation's capital. Indy car races through the heart of Washington, D.C., in a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, celebrating America's 250th.

The Freedom 250, live Sunday, August 23rd, starting at 11.30 a.m. Eastern, only on Fox. And joining us now, Indy car drivers and friends of the show, Joseph Newgarden, and Kyle Kirkwood are here today. Guys, thank you so much for being here with us. Great to see you. I'm the only one that didn't wear a jacket. It's my dressy polo, as you called it. It's a very nice polo. I didn't mean to take a shot.

Right before we came. We're ready to fight before this all started. I was like, why aren't we on air right now? If we're fighting, I got the first pick. I'll take Greg. All right. Kyle's on my team. Yeah, I'm the last pick on the draft.

All right, so this is a very cool spectacle. The numbers, I had them to double check it. So it is general admission. Nearly 80,000 people requested over 288,000 general admission tickets. So just those numbers are kind of jaw-dropping. But what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like? I think it's going to be crazy. I mean, we're all excited to go do it. You know, it's a big year. We're obviously celebrating the 250th anniversary. And I don't think we'll ever see this again where we're going to race around our nation's capital.

I mean, when are we ever going to have an opportunity to do that? So I think everybody should tune in and see what this is all about. We're racers, though. I mean, we're there to compete. But we want everyone to see a great show, especially people that have never maybe seen IndyCar for them to tune in and check it out. What do you think, Kyle? What's it going to be like? I mean, it's going to be a big opportunity for IndyCar, as you just mentioned, right? I mean, 100,000 people there. That's probably going to be our second biggest event. We get 330,000 people out at the Indy 500. But, I mean, every media outlook is picking this up. It's a huge deal. Obviously, they had the UFC earlier this year, and now this is the second one. And I've been to DC recently, saw some of the setup. It looks incredible.

The suites, where it's at around the museums, the track itself looks great. There's a lot of repaving gun. They built that place to our specifications that we would want as racing drivers. So we're really excited for it. So you speak about the track, brand new track. What is the strategy that you have? Without telling us everything, give us a little insight. on the approach when you're dealing with a brand new track?

Sometimes it's surviving the chaos. I mean, I mean that we just had a brand new race. Literally yesterday, we were in Markham in Ontario, Canada, and we always run in the Toronto area, moved up to Markham just north of it. We have a huge fan base up in Canada that comes out for that one. And it was a brand new track, and it's exciting to see how everyone approaches it,

and you don't know how to race something new. So that's your kind of working on the fly in the race to figure it out. And if you can survive the chaos, a lot of times it's fun to watch. But if you survive the chaos as the driver, then you can come out on top. So it's not necessarily so much what is your strategy. I think a strategy is to just survive. And that sometimes is the winning strategy. I mean, you want to learn as quick as possible, right?

I mean, we have so many things that we can change on one of our race cars, whether it's gears or actual mechanical setup or down force or ride heights. And we get a day to figure that all out, right? Saturday. One whole day. It's a two-day show, right? And that's it. So one whole day, two practices qualifying straight into the race practically on Sunday.

So quite honestly, yes, survival is a big thing, but also trying to learn on the fly, develop as quickly as possible is a big thing for us as drivers. Yeah, and I think, you know, where I was touching on too is when you watch this race, you can kind of see the cadence of it, but it flips all the time. You can have someone in the lead that gets shoved to the back through strategy or a caution at the wrong time. And then you think someone else is going to be winning the race. And then all of a sudden it flips again. So it's one of these races that can change constantly where,

you know, if you're watching it and it's a two-hour show, what's happening in the middle may not be what's going to happen at the end. So they've done this before, like in terms of, it's a road course. It's through a city. You guys haven't done it before. So this one is, wait, it's seven turns. It's 1.7 miles. Like anything from your past experience on road courses that you would expect if people are

tuning in and they haven't seen it before? Well, I mean, you can watch our race from yesterday. It's a bit of chaos. But quite honestly, I don't, I don't think it's going to be as much chaos as what we had yesterday because it's all kind of pretty symmetrical 90-degree corners. which allows a lot of passing, but it's not like what we may have seen yesterday at Markham, which was big 180s and a lot of incidents.

So, yeah, I mean, we're hopeful it's going to be a great show. I mean, that's what we need. That's what we need for IndyCar. I think all of us drivers are going to push for that as well, and they can expect some of the best racing, I hope, on earth with these amazing cars. All right, Kyle. You're in second place and points.

Like, how important is it in denying Alex Palo his fourth straight title That was a question to you Kyle This was a question that we've all got You got it at the beginning of last year We were all like man it's the first race of the season But we now two years now it's like

Yeah we're we're he's making us look bad He's got to stop But I mean we're doing we're doing all we can right Like he's won two races I've won a race this year Just him that 10 car their crew everything clicks And it seems like they can do no wrong Like they get lucky when they shouldn't be lucky and it's just incredible what they're able to do. So, I mean, we're going to go into the end of the season just trying to win as many races as possible.

It's going to be nearly impossible to beat him in the championship at this point unless a crazy miracle happens and he's out for the rest of the races. Wait a minute. Hold on. Wait a minute, Kyle. No, no, no. We competitors, all of us up here. Yeah. Competitors at what we do. There's if you're saying there's a chance, there is a chance.

There's always a chance. There is a chance. I'm just saying that chance is very, very small. All right. But there is a chance. That's all we need. Listen, I'm going to go try my best and try and win everything from here on out. But it also takes him making mistakes too.

So we're going to control. We can control and try and win. So again, I follow it really quick. So what you're telling me right now is he understands the strategy of surviving the chaos a little bit better. He has currently. He really has. I mean, that's why they've been so good is they don't ever make mistakes, you know, and they capitalize on everybody else's issues.

And sometimes that's half the battle is to not beat yourself. Like when I look at our program, you know, half the time we're losing because of ourselves, you know. And so when you can fix that, and they've been on a great run. He's a great competitor. They've had a good team. But every race counts. You know, we look at the championship. You know, when you look at our entire season, the championship matters, the Indy 500 matters.

But then every race individually, I mean, D.C. itself will be a lot of pride in just winning the event. So it's all building towards the championship, but you want to win every race that you show up to. And we have four to go. That's why Kyle said you just want to win out as best you possible. So I got two more, and you just touched on it a little bit. Like, is there something extra to this because it's once in a lifetime? It's America's 250th. Like, do you put extra emphasis and what it would mean if you did win this individual race? Oh, totally.

I mean, I don't think this will happen again. So you're going to be... You only turn 250 once. You only do it once. When are we going to be allowed to drive indie cars in our nation's capital again? I mean, it's going to be an unbelievable opportunity. There's going to probably be some amazing trophy for this. Look, we're race car drivers.

We want to succeed when you put a challenge in front of us. I don't know that anyone will have the opportunity to go through this challenge again. So you know, you're going to want to win it if it's one time. And as a fellow American, right, I think for America's 250, we want to see one of us win. I mean, there's a few other Americans in the series, but we're a very diverse group, right? And the guy's been beating us a lot of this year as a Spanish driver. And we want to see an American win on the 250s. So that's a big deal for us, too.

You mentioned the trophy. That was the last thing. So it's milk with the Indy 500. Yeah. I'm thinking one of you guys should get like a bald eagle. Oh, my gosh. Did you imagine? He just like lands on you as you reach victory lane.

Is that ridiculous? Like what type of America themed celebration is planned for that? I don't know. I think you should be. Oh, man. I don't know. I don't know where I was going to go somewhere else with that, but it should be something very American. I agree. Maybe there's a bald ego statue or something that you receive. See? You know? Yeah. Run for Congress.

And, you know, name the $250 bill after you guys. Oh, could you imagine? That would be cool. Yeah. You should get something. I want to know where you were going to go. I don't know. I was thinking like you should be given a horse or something. It's just like a famous American horse. Great job. You won the race, you know? You get a secretariat for winning this.

I mean, we got to brainstorm this, right? You know, it's only one time. I think on national TV is as good a time as ever. Everyone can put in their opinions for this. Put it in the comments. What should these guys get? These Americans get when they win. Right.

Americans. Thank you guys so much. Joseph Kyle. You guys are great. We'll be watching. And best of luck. Sunday at 1130 on Fox. More first things first on the other side.

Be sure you tune in Sunday to the race. Saturday night, baseball night in America this week. It's showtime. Catch Shohei and the Dodgers against the pirates or other regional action. Could get the Cubs and Mariners, Giants and Red Sox. Check your local listings for the game in your area. Saturday, 7 Eastern on Fox. All right, let's talk Niners.

They're just 24 days away. from opening their season against the Rams in Australia. San Francisco, they're already dealing with a slew of injuries. All pro tight end, George Kittle. He suffered the torn Achilles in January. He is staying optimistic about his return. Here's Kittle. Like I said, I have a chance.

We're running around a lot, hitting top speeds. You know, hopefully we're back in pads practicing sooner than later. You know, just trying to check the boxes and not be a d' is what I would say. I don't know we needed to meet that one. He said, don't be dumb, basically. This is the notable 49ers injuries. Those are names everybody knows. A little bit.

Mike Kevin, Mosa, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle. So close by substation rumors, notwithstanding of that being a cause of these injuries. Let's remove that conspiracy from the equation here, Greg. Like, should the Niners already be concerned? Of course they should be concerned. However, if you're a Niners. fan, you were concerned last year when all these injuries

started to mount up. And then as the season progressed and you continue to realize man, but we got one of the best coaches in all of football that seems to somehow always find a way to pull things together. New defense

coordinator, Rahim Morris, he's no slouch. He's going to have that defense ready to go. And I just believe in Kyle Shanahan And without George, without CMC, getting Debo Samuel back, and whatever version of him you get, you know he's going to maximize it. And I think that's why I am not as concerned as I have been in the past because I've seen him overcome situations like this as long as he can maximize the guys that he does have available.

So you and I thought about this in a similar way. Like I think that there's a short list of coaches who you have a very, very high floor. as long as you don't lose your starting quarterback. And Kyle Shanhan's on that list. Yes. And so I don't think their season is sunk by any means. And I think some of these, like Christian McCaffrey, he doesn't need to play a snap of preseason football.

And I'm not sure how much he needs to practice. Now, I saw Mike Florio float whether or not he thinks it's a contract, if it's really tightness or if it's actually a contract. But regardless, like, he had over 400 touches last year. only player in football. And I was concerned that, man, are they overusing him? Yeah. And so you could say, though, that after you have a 400-touch season,

that's when you're going to have injury or you're going to have a drop-off because it is that much of a workload. He's an unbelievable athlete. My gut tells me that the Evans injury is minor. The McCaffrey injury is minor. The Bosa injury, most guys recover 100% from ACLs, I think they're going to be okay. Now that is what the injuries right now.

So now it's like, all right, period, next sentence. They are old. They are. So that's, so I think I can believe two different things at once here, that right now they're still okay. And their problems are more that they're in a division with the Rams and the Seahawks, and it's just a tough spot and all of that.

Over the course of a 17-game season, Kittle and Bosa and McCaffrey and Evans, and Trent Williams and on and on and on down the list. They're relying on a lot of old players at key positions to be excellent, and that to me is where I would be concerned if I'm a Niner fan. Not with any news that's happened so far, but with just the overall makeup of my roster and whether or not it is equipped to survive a 20-game season

if you're trying to win a Super Bowl. Yeah, and they've heard this every single year. You know, the roster is old. The roster is old. You've got to worry about injuries. I think them being in. in this NFC West actually helps them because they're going to beat up on one another. And so I don't think there's any one of these teams.

I know we're high on the Rams and obviously the Seahawks are right there with being the defending champs. I don't think anybody's just going to take off and run. If there were a team, the Niners made it last year, but then got blown out by Seattle in the playoffs. Correct. If there were a team, I could see the Rams possibly being that team. But everybody else, I think they're just going to beat up on each other.

in the NFC in general. But Kyle Shanahan is just the, he's the great equalizer at times where he understands how to scheme up teams and take advantage of what they expose themselves to. Do you look at, like, Shanahan's the coach and Purdy's the highest paid and he's the quarterback? I do think that offense goes from good to special

because of McCaffrey. Like he is the guy, it's like 400 touches in the backfield, in the slot commands the defense's attention. He's the first read often in the passing game, obviously in the running game. He's a touchdown machine. Like, he is the guy on offense that I would be most concerns to lose due to injury.

So, like, I'm hoping that this tightness and missing practices is just overly precautious and not actually him being in danger of missing that game in Australia. Yeah, so, I mean, I feel like they can run the ball no matter what. That's just a strength. They can run the ball, but they don't pass

to the running backs without him as much. So for me, I look at those skill guys because Mike Evans is long in the tooth. Obviously, he's been very productive for the course of his career. You got Debo Samuel coming back, familiarity with the offense. What version of Debo are you going to get? Who's going to step up on the perimeter? If Mike Evans continues to have this historic career, then you're good.

But there has to be somebody else. if Kittle, because I'm not putting Kittle out there until he's absolutely 100% ready to go. Let's talk about the other team in that matchup to open the season in Australia, go to L.A. with the Rams, where Aaron Donald completed his now second workout. This is unreal. This is unreal. Full stop then. We'll get to that reaction in a second, because we want to hear from Aaron Donald.

But Sean McVeigh was asked about Donald and whether or not there's a timeline on this. Take a listen. I'm hopeful that it'll be sooner than later, but I also want to respect, you know, when he does feel like that clarity will come. And I think there's a chance that we'll be closer to that than not. But again, I don't want to say too much or put some sort of invisible deadline on something that doesn't exist in my mind for him. Can we get a camera on, Greg, please? This is unreal. This is a man who is in elite physical condition.

This is unreal. You're a bodybuilder and you are wowed by this man. I am absolutely wild by this. Like, a couple things. Obviously, he's in great shape. Number one, he's making us all look bad. Two, like, to go from I'm retired, mentally check out of the game, to then definitely have a conversation with the misses and say,

hey, do you think we can do this again? Yeah. Clearly she's signing off to some degree because he's out there working out in training. But just to watch them out there and putting the cleats back on, Aaron. Oh, my good. This takes me two totally different things. Chris Paul, when he was going to get traded to the Lakers,

and the NBA stepped in, they were like, no, we're not letting that happen. The league needs to do something. Oh, you think this is unfair. They need to step in. Because if Aaron Donald and Miles Garrett are on the field at the same time, on the same team, we're in the same uniform,

stop playing, man. Really? As much as I want to see it. Yeah, it's just. I would love to see it. I'm just, the league got to step in. This is getting too much out there in L.A. Okay.

I can't report it because I don't have any sources on this, but it's happening. Yeah. You don't do this if you're not going to play. No. It's just I respect what Sean McVeigh is doing and I can recognize. from a PR standpoint that they want Aaron Donald to do this on his terms. And like, he is the cherry on top of the Sunday because they've got the chocolate ice cream, the vanilla ice cream, the strawberry ice cream, the whipped cream, the sprinkles, and the fudge.

Like, they got everything. Exactly. And so it's already a great Sunday and then he would be the cherry. So, like, I get that it's just a bonus. But it is funny to me that we are still talking about this in the terms of if what it's like, well, he's a matter of when. Yeah, he's posting workout videos. He's showing up at the facility.

He's going back to the facility. He's communicating with the players. He's wearing the jersey. He's practicing it. I'm like, guys, I'm pretty sure I can report that Aaron Donald is going to be a member of the Rams this year. Again, I'm not reporting it, but I can report. Yeah. Look, if I'm the, there's no reason for them to rush.

Yeah, of course. It's Aaron Donald. And if he says yes, which he clearly is going to eventually give them the nod. You don't do all of this. No, you're doing. You don't. And post about it. You don't.

If you don't plan to do it. I just, if you know Aaron Donald, he's not the type to tease you like this and be like, nah. He's not looking for attention for his Instagram page. No, absolutely not. Yeah. This man is, he is all of what you don't want. If you end up. I don't care how far removed he's been.

So, but I guess that has been. Like, will he play? I don't think should be debated anymore. But how much of an impact? A 35-year-old defensive tackle who's missed two seasons is going to make. You're talking about it like not fair. Wrap it up. Let me tell you something.

This man is strong. You understand what I'm saying? Hold on. Let me write that down. This man. As a matter of fact, I just moved to the South. And instead of strong, they say strong. Oh.

This man is strong, strong, strong. Strong, strong. So just his presence out there, you've got to give him attention. Yeah, that makes sense. I would give him a, yeah, I would want him blocked. Just his presence out there, you're going, you're not going to take him for granted. So I'm going to try and they will find out. And we'll be like, oh, yep, that's Aaron Donno.

I went back at a second. Okay, he retired as a first team all pro who was number one among defensive tackles and pass rush win rate. I'm like, oh, you just walked away. But you didn't lose a stout. No. You just walked away. He just said I'm done.

Yeah, he's probably going to be really good. Uh, coming up. Quick edition of winners and losers, including Josh Allen. He's a winner because he's adding even more weapons. Coming up. First thing's first. Predictions week, Greg, is just two weeks from today. Can I spoil alert, give away your NFC North prediction?

You've got the bear this year. Yeah. Ha, ha, ha. I just, no. Okay. Ha. Ah. What is that your Dr. Evil laugh there?

What's going on? Time now for winners and loser. First up, firsts. Josh Allen and Keon Coleman, the first touchdown at Highmark Stadium. I like, by the way, that the stadium is outdoors in Buffalo. Everyone's complaining about the stadium. You still a believer in Keon Coleman?

The jury's out, man. Look, Joe Brady's giving them another chance. You drafted them second. second round, we'll see. It seems unlikely that he's going to live up to the draft position. Clearly. At this point, but like, you're behind the running back. You're behind the tight end.

You're behind DJ Moore. You're behind Shakir. Like, you're, like, you're counted on to be the fifth or sixth most productive player on their offense. It's just when his opportunity is, and his numbers called, he has to deliver. Let's get to a loser here. The loser is uppercuts. That's Jason Tatum.

and Joe Missoula boxing. Now, Greg, I don't have no days off mantra and exercise and always. Do we like this form from Tatum? Is he dropping his left? What do we think? So I'm not going to judge him and grade him on his form because cross-training is one of the best things you can do. Regardless if you have great technique, great form,

it's one of the best things you can do. So, yeah, go get it. I'm not knocking you, Jason. I'm not knocking. You working. Go get that work. That's what I get for asking the bodybuilder to make a joke about it. He's like, no, I'm going to take this very serious. No, very serious.

All right, my bad. He's taking the series. That's why he's doing it. Winner lists. Speaking of receivers, Justin Jefferson, despite the worst year of his career, showing up at 19 on the NFL Top 100 list. I do not like lists that are not my own, but I do think that this is a amount of respect for Justin Jefferson. It's like, we know you're still awesome and that was J.J. McCarthy.

We're not. This is the lowest. we could possibly put you, Jeddah. Right? 19. It's like, he wasn't the 19th best player in football last year, but it's like, we know.

Yeah. We know. Yeah, this is, look, I didn't mind it at all. I thought it was impressive. It just speaks to everything that's just saying. Like his previous years in knowing what he was up against last year, under center.

Well, everyone talks about who's the best receiver? Is it Puka? Is it JSN? Is it Jamar Chase? I'm like, it might still be him. I mean. might still be that guy. He just had Max Brosmer and J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz. Yeah, it's hard to give him that when those guys just continue to predict it.

I'm not going to downgrade him. We're back tomorrow. Thanks for hanging out with us.