Halford & Brough in the Morning - Are The Canucks Close To Signing Another Goalie?

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

In hour one, Jason Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they discuss who the Canucks might be targeting in the goaltending department (10:00), plus they talk some football with NFL.com's Nick Shook (26:00).  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- High drive to left field. And this ball is gone. One-timer by Edwards. Rebound. They score. Rutger McGrody levels the match. We can all learn a lot from this young man here. This, this. Rudiger. Rudiger.

And if we can all be more like little Rudiger. His name is Bart. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning Vancouver. 6-0-. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday. It is Halford and Brough. No Halford for the final day.

If you are missing Mike Halford, he'll be back on Monday. I promise. I assume. I think he's back on Monday. Nobody's missing Mike Halford. Nobody. No. Nobody.

Let's be serious here. Maybe one guy and his mom who listens to the show. Yeah. Are you suggesting me? Even her, I don't know. Are you suggesting me? I'm not missing him. No, no, no. Well, nobody. Let's be serious here. Maybe one guy and his mom who listens to the show. Yeah. Are you suggesting me? Even her, I don't know. Are you suggesting me? I'm not missing him. No, no, no.

You're not missing him. Nope. Just one guy out there. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. Good morning, Josh. Good morning.

Good morning, A-Dog. Good morning. Good morning, Laddie. Hello, hello. We also got Lena here somewhere. Good morning, Lena. I don't... She's waving from the back.

She's waving. She's waving. Okay. Lena is... Lena is... Lena Good morning, Lena. I don't... She's waving from the back. Lena is... Lena is me next week. Okay. That's way better. Yeah. Wow, thanks. Really feel loved right now. Halford and Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers.

Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. You can text in 650-650, the Dunbar Lumber text line. It's an Ask Us Anything Friday. So get those in. Hashtag AUA. Throw a pizza emoji on it

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More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider

powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Raffi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. There you go. Okay, here we go.

It was never supposed to be like that. See, Halford screwed you up there. He did things that I now have to do. Well, you don't have to do that. I actually hate that when he says, that's what you're waiting for. He's just supposed to say Kintec. And it's because he can't do it. He always has some weird way of like, Kintec!

Josh has just resigned to the fact that he's got... He's like, Kintec, that's what you were waiting for. I actually want to... When you started doing that, I was going to be like, no, no, we're not doing that. Just tell me the how for things not to be. It's too late now. You know who's really good at it? Dodd.

Bring back Jamie Dodd. He just says, Kintec! He's a real expert with the reads. You don't even know he's really good at it? Dodd. Like, bring back Jamie Dodd. Just saying. He just says, Kintec. Yeah. He's a real expert with the reads. You don't even know he's doing them. Doesn't make a big deal out of them. Anyway, go on.

Sorry. Jamie also adopted the that's what you're waiting for thing last week. We're all there. I'm sorry. It's like a virus. Today on the show, 630. He affects everyone one by one. Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com.

We'll get into preseason week three in the National Football League and takeaways from it as it continues, what you want to see, what teams want to see from their players in week three. I want to ask him about the kind of like Tua stuff from earlier in the week too. And Brian Flores, now a defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, does he ever get another coaching job? Right, yeah, because he's coaching your Vikings now, probably hurting their feelings a lot.

Yeah, probably, but it's okay. They're just defenders. He's like, none of you should be here. None of you should be here. You're right. Yeah, we're the Vikings. We're pretty bad at football. 7 o'clock, AJ of AJ's Pizza.

7.30, Stacey Jo Rost, host for Seattle Sports Radio. We'll talk about the Mariners because they made a move. They fired Scott Service and their hitting coach. I told you it was coming, bruv. I told you yesterday. Okay. Did you have the scoop? Struggling team fires coach.

Team that can't hit fires hitting coach. Laddie, how did you put that together? I had the scoop. God, you're going to be solving murders soon. The Blue Jays, though, are like, see, we'll do the opposite. Yeah. Double down on our guess. We'll also talk to her about everything going on with the Seahawks

as they get set for the regular season. And at 8 o'clock, it is the Moj, BC Lions play-by-play voice. We'll talk about the Lions this week taking on the Ottawa Red Blacks. Nathan Rourke playing again. We'll see kind of what expectations are for him. It's been a much calmer week around the BC Lions. Did you see last night's game and how it was won? Yeah.

The Rouge. The Rouge win. The walk-off Rouge by the Argos. And they celebrated. Hey, it was awesome. Hey, they won. Yeah. They won.

Something. That guy was just like, I'm hitting this as hard as I can. You know what would have been brutal, though, if he hit the post. Yeah. And it was really close. It was close. It was close. It was very close. I feel like you either better put that thing through the uprights or just hit it 10 yards left. If you're already-

I would have loved to have seen him hit it 15 yards left. I would have done that. That would have been awesome. Yeah. That would have been the ultimate and then just wave to the crowd crowd. It was like Argos rule, CFL rule. The Saskatchewan Rough Riders who scored only four rouges all last season, Jack. Oddly enough, it was the Rough Riders that lost. So that's good news for the BC Lions as the West Division continues to be the New East Division.

Yes. Something Canadian in me kind of just like gets hyped when a Rouge is scored. I love it. I love it. There are a lot of people like, this is the dumbest league ever. And the other half of the people were like, this is the greatest league of all time. So working in reverse, do you mind when Halford works in reverse? Is that a good thing?

I don't love it. It's not necessary. He doesn't love anything Halford does. Halford just puts it in there, though, because there's these awkward, he doesn't know how to go to what happened. Oh, okay. He can't,

so you can do it. Just do it one last time. Just do it one last time. No, no, no. I said the guess. I'm only going to say them one time. You can find them on Twitter if you're lost

and you need to catch up. That's what's happening on the show. Let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies

the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit bccsa.ca. So a few things happened yesterday in the NHL. It feels like everything has turned on in the National Hockey League. Every day there's some sort of news. Lately there's been something Canucks related almost every day, which is wonderful. And yesterday there was a couple things there was a

report from rick dollywald that we'll get into shortly but also the knucks made a signing a very minor signing they signed forward sammy blay to a contract with the abbotsford knucks that includes a pto and if you're like i've heard the name sammy bl before. It's because he was traded for Pavel Buchnevich a few years ago from the Blues to the Rangers with a second-round pick. Rangers obviously did not win that trade. Worked out very well for the St. Louis Blues, who then eventually got Sammy Blay back. But last year, he was very not good.

He had seven points in 53 games in St. Louis. He's a physical guy, though. He had seven points in 53 games in St. Louis. He's a physical guy, though. He is a physical guy. I was watching some highlight reels of his big hits, and I was like, I like this guy. He hits. He hits good. So maybe he's not going to make the team.

No. Well, unless there's an injury. Yeah. I don't see him out. I don't see him making the team, personally. But, I mean, there's a reason they, one of the reasons they traded Paul Colson, right? They're like, there's no real room on the team,

so we're going to trade you now, as opposed to losing you on waivers. Sammy Blay would be, I think, a call-up option, probably. That's most likely what's going to happen. And maybe insurance for if like a guy like keifer sherwood gets hurt because these physical guys like you can never really have enough of them because they do get hurt because they are physical but i i i like the additions of guys like keifer sherwood and sammy blay i think it's important to have guys that not only

get in on the four check and and hit, but you remember their hits. And the defensemen on the other team are like, that guy's not just like kind of registering hits. He is actually hitting me. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah. Like there are certain guys that register hits. It's like last year, the pod called pod Colson.

Yeah, yeah. Where it's like he hit, but he didn't really hit. Yeah, there was a – I mean, and we're not ripping on Pod Colson here. He was taking the body, finishing his checks, and that's good. But there's those types of hits. And then if you want to Google up some of Sammy Blaze hits, there's those hits too. And so we mentioned Pod Colson.

It does feel like kind of the consensus going around, it seemed, was this kind of fills the pod Colson role but you kind of have less of an investment in him especially from a fan's well he doesn't even have an NHL contract right now so I you know there are guys that might just get signed by Abbotsford I'm a little bit surprised that well maybe I'm not like I'm surprised that he had this much trouble finding a job but I guess there's a lot of guys out there with seven points in 53 games or whatever that does that don't necessarily get it. There's a lot of Sammy Blaze out there.

Yeah. At any rate, let's move on to the Rick Dollywell news. So from Rick Dollywell, here is the tweet that came out yesterday, and obviously goalie talk has been huge on this show this week. Yeah, good for you. This is a big, great variety. He says Canucks continue to look for a goalie. It appears that Kevin Lankanen is their target.

Lankanen had a very strong two seasons in Nashville, made $2 million last year. The Canucks' salary cap situation will likely make this very difficult to pull off. That's from Rick Dollywall. So why would Kevin Lankanen, I mean, besides the fact that he doesn't have a contract, isn't the narrative around Kevin Lankanen, and Lanny, you might need to help us out here, he hasn't signed because he thinks he's pretty good and doesn't want a deal that's going to pay him like league minimum.

Yeah, I think. He wants a pretty big role. Well, opportunity, I think, is the big thing, which would be tough to find in Vancouver. I'd almost be scared if he signed here, if he actually agreed to sign here, because that would mean that he was told you're going to get an opportunity here. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Well, there is one connection, though. He has apparently worked with the Canucks' new goalie coach,

Marco Terranes, before. So maybe there's a connection there. He'd make a move just to be in a comfortable place for a year and then maybe move on. But, yeah, it's still pretty fluid in this offseason. You never know what could happen. And I think at this point, the goalie carousel, sometimes guys are just willing to latch on wherever they can

because that's what they can find. There are no obvious – are there any obvious backup roles available in the NHL right now? Like are most of the spots filled? You were saying that there could be some guys on the waiver wire even once it comes to that time. Yeah, every year there's goalies up and down. Look at the Canucks last year with DeSmit, right? I could easily see a move like that happening instead,

and then the Canucks are probably open to that as well. But if you can get ahead of the game and get a guy that you like and a guy that your goalie coach already has worked with and likes, I could see it being a fit in Vancouver for sure. And everything we've heard from Woodley or other people that have talked about the goalie market has been that Kevin Lankanen is the guy that most people seem to be the highest on. For remaining options that you can go with.

Well, there's not much else on UFA. Yeah, it's like anti-Ranta. Anti-Ranta, Martin Jones, who we learn has retired. Or you're dipping into the European market. The third best option is not playing hockey anymore. Do you think if they signed Carter Hart that that would be controversial? Maybe a little bit. He's one of the guys that comes up on the list.

Edmonton would do it. Yeah, he's more of an Edmonton guy. But do you know what I mean by if Kevin Lankanen agrees to come here and sign that you'd be like, ooh. Well, because, I mean, in reality, I think people were like, they've got Demko. They've got Silovs. They already, they already signed Patera. So heading into this season, we were kind of thinking, well, there's three pretty good options there.

If you need NHL games, if he agrees to come here, then he's being told. Do you know what I mean? Does that, does that make sense? Like. Lakenin is also better than she loves and patera though like clearly he would be a more legitimate backup and probably but don't you think that would mean that they're more worried about demko than yeah but also they might

be letting on they might also like the worry might be hey can we play him as much as we played him in recent years? Yeah. That was going to be a worry heading into the season anyway. Exactly. And so maybe they're coming to terms with that worry and they're just like, let's get a legitimate guy who could potentially in other situations be a 1A, 1B. I got no problem with trying to go out and get the best guy.

I just wonder, you know, every time a player signs, he wants to know, okay, first of all, how much? But also, what is the opportunity here? This is going to be an interesting storyline to follow for numerous reasons. If it's a short period of time that you need him for, you sign him for a million and a half, you put him on waivers in a couple months. I could see that being an option as well. Yeah, that's true. You don't need to fully commit to the guy. Yeah, that's true.

There's ways around it. Good point, laddie. Thank you. You know what? Good point. You're not stuck on the roster. Can we just have a normal, non-stressful Canucks offseason for once? No, that's not the Canucks.

I feel like in terms of options, this is pretty non-stressful. Is this that stressful, though? Well, the Demko situation is slightly stressful, yeah. Even without Demko for any length of time. What if he's broken? What if he's just like, well, this without Demko for any length of time. What if he's broken? Like, what if he's just like, well, this guy's injured for the rest of his career. You know, like, well, that changes their trajectory

a little bit. I'm just saying, what if it happens? You're right, it would change the trajectory a little bit. What if he's, like, super injured for, like, what if this... God, I get accused of being, like, a doomsayer or whatever you call it. Well, the fact that I'm so mysterious about it is freaking me out a little bit. Just tell us what's going on.

And the fact that they're not is just like. You know why? They're enjoying your panic. Yes, exactly. They wake up every morning. What if the stress ate on you after a while? That's not part of the plan. Just tell us what's going on. You used Thatcher Demko being broken?

We're going to break you. Yeah, we're going to break you. I must break you. All right. Speaking of broken, what's going on with the Mariners? The Mariners, they have fired their manager, Scott Service, and we've talked about it often. Their offense is really, really bad, and their pitching is really, really good.

Here's a stat that I saw yesterday. Seattle's pitching ranks first in baseball, in ERA, WIP, and batting average against. Meanwhile, the Mariners are 30th in batting average, 29th in slugging percentage, and have the most strikeouts in the league. Seattle has scored two runs or less 48 times in 128 games this season,

and their record in those 48 games, 6-42. That's not good. They are a flawed team right now, and it doesn't feel like they should be this bad, which is kind of why you look at the manager. Oh, and by the way, the hitting coach, Jarrett DeHart, also fired. Okay, so what does a baseball manager do?

What is his biggest responsibility? Setting the lineup. Setting the lineup. I think. Handing the card to the umpire. It's kind of like a vibes controller, I think, almost. Right. So I always have this.

Did you say vibes controller? But I always have this conversation when a manager, when we're discussing a mid-season manager, field manager replacement. So he's essentially the head coach, right? Yeah. When it happens in hockey, you get it. You bring in some guy and he changes maybe the structure of the team or he probably mid-season, the biggest thing that he would do

is be like, I'm going to hold you guys accountable. Like you're going to bring in an ass kicker. And when it comes to hockey, so much of hockey is going out there and winning battles and really just, you know, as Rick Talkett likes to say, breaking the seal. Just you go out there and that's also the same in a lot of cases with football, like especially with the defense. Like we had Ryan Phillip on talking about his defense,

and he was just frustrated with their lack of tackling. And a lot of that is, he said, you know, like I asked him, can you teach fundamentals or whatever during the season? He's like, well, we don't really practice tackling. A lot of it's just like will, right?

So a new coach either convinces you or threatens you, or maybe a Boudreaux comes in and gives you a hug or something like that, and you play harder. You play harder, right? That's the whole idea of making the coaching change. Like in baseball, are the Mariners going up to the plate and not trying? Are they going up there and they're just like, eh, I don't know. What can a mid-season management replacement do it's definitely less

of an impact and I'm not going to pretend that there's like equal impact to a head coach in hockey or really any other sport but I do think there's a the the wake-up call effect is similar where when you fire a coach in hockey it's hey, this is to wake the team up. And obviously they're not hitting expectations, exceeding expectations whatsoever. So you do something to shake up the room. Yeah. Cost somebody their job. It shakes up the room a little bit. And basically, yeah, exactly.

It's like you disappointed so much that somebody lost their job because of it. Two people lost their job because of it. And so what is the result there? Do you know what I mean? I can take you down that road in hockey. I can take you down that road. I'm going to go win more puck battles, right? I'm going to go and sacrifice the body a little bit more.

Is it guys going into the cage more and practicing more? Is it guys going up to the plate and just being like, all right, you said you were focusing last time, but really focus this time, right? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I's like, it's not a physical sport like that where you're asking to sacrifice physically and, you know, go beyond yourself. It's just, it's a more cerebral sport.

Yeah, I think it's just the overall kind of mindset around the team. And then that leaks into what you're doing on the field as well. The hitting coach part of it is obviously – I mean, that makes sense. That's a much more fundamental change, and whoever the new hitting coach is will probably go in and make some changes to what they're doing

because one thing I've seen from Mariners fans – I notice a lot of you guys have a lot – like between your left hand and your right hand, there's quite a big distance there. You're holding it like a seven-year-old. You're holding it wrong, right? You little scrubbery. Get a home run.

Okay, Skip. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. I told him to do that. But seriously, I think there is an aspect of just having a different set of eyes that matters too. Having a manager in there. You're the liaison, right? You're the guy that's there on the field.

You can see the heartbeat of the team. You can make those informed decisions with upper management on how to manage your team. So I think there is a value to having just a different set of eyes in there as well. Okay, so Basketball Phil texting in with a early, what we learned actually basketball, Phil texted in this, texted this in just past midnight. Very early.

We were all past asleep. I was at the bar. What we learned new coaches in Seattle for the Seahawks, McDonald in for Pete Carroll, Kraken, Bilesman in for Haxtall. Mariners, Wilson in for Service.

UW football, like Fish is in for DeBoer. UW basketball, Danny Sprinkle. They got some fun names. In for Hopkins. There's a new athletic director at UW and Wazoo, plus new conferences for both of them. Oh, and the Sonics might come back. Crazy times in Seattle.

One of the things I'm looking forward to chatting with, um, at 730 with Stacey Joe Roast from Seattle Sports Radio is kind of how different Seahawks training camp is without Pete Carroll and all these new coaches, not just the head coach, Mike McDonald, new defensive coordinator, although that is Mike McDonald, but a new offensive coordinator, new offensive line coach.

And both those guys, by the way, are come over from the Washington Huskies. It's just like completely new. I don't, I don't recognize any of the names on the coaching staff compared to the last few years. They're all new. And I wonder how different this team, when it's playing, is going to look too. How many changes are they making? Because when you have an entirely new coaching staff, the other part of this is the Seahawks weren't bad. Like this isn't a situation.

Their defense was bad. Their defense was bad. Their defense was legit bad. But the team as a whole, generally when you're making like huge changes, it's not because your old coach is kind of old now and you want to move on. Right, right, yeah, yeah. It's because your team was really bad. Or they're mean to your quarterback

right and that happens and then they go on to be uh defensive coordinators for a great team anyway um yeah so like the defense obviously you want to have some big changes on but i just wonder like how especially offensively i'm really interested in seeing what the changes look like and Well their offensive line is a concern. Yeah. And it's been a concern for ever I think. Ever. Yeah. Pretty much ever. I feel like it's the same for most football teams. No. Not like this. Not with the

Seahawks. And they've got issues with Abe Lucas and we don't even know if Abe Lucas can be ready for week one. And frankly, you know, there's a lot of people wondering if this guy's career is in jeopardy. And this is a guy they drafted just a few years ago. Um, they brought in some new faces on that offensive line, but it all starts with the line, right?

I mean, it's like, we're going to have Mo John later and he'll say like, probably games are won in the trenches. Right. But it's absolutely true because you're munching the Seahawks offense. There are some weapons there. Yeah. Like the running back, like their receiving group. Gino, when he's on, when he's protected, he can make the throws, he can make the plays.

They are full of talent on offense, but if they can't get protection and if they can't open up holes for the running game they're not going to have any success and then you know when you can't keep your offense on the field then your defense and this is what happened last season a lot like your defense is even in a tougher position because the defense is like hey guys we're not good yeah you got to stay on the field because at the very least, we don't want to be tired. One other note before we go.

Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins, they swap former 14th overall picks, Rutger McGroarty, great name, for Braden Yeager, also great name. So Yeager goes to the Jets, McGroarty to the Penguins. There had been... Hold on, the Penguins traded Jaeger? Yeah. Different Jaeger.

Different Jaeger. McGroarty had previously been rumored to be questioning his future in Winnipeg, so he had not signed there, and a big part of it was not... That's a nice way of putting it. He was like, I'm not going to Winnipeg. I'm not questioning it. I have some audio from Sheveldayoff, and he doesn't clear it up at all. He tries to explain why he wanted to leave.

Sheveldayoff being just saying words and having no meaning? Do you want to hear it? It doesn't sound like him. We don't have time. We don't have time. On the other side. It's very, a lot of lawyer speak, where he doesn't really say much.

Okay, we'll play it later. That could be what we learn. On the other side, Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com, will join us. It is Halpern and Brosh elliot wolf jason brock sports net 650. Welcome back to Alfred and Brough. Josh Elliott Wolfe, Jason Brough here with you, coming to you live from the Kintex studio. Get your Ask Us Anythings in. Ask Us Anythings Friday.

Get them in on the 650-650 Dunbar Lumber text line. Attach a pizza emoji if you would like to win a $100 AJ's Pizza gift card. We'll give that to the best. Ask us anything today. And also, Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. We go to the phone lines.

It is Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com. Appreciate you taking the time, Nick. How are you? I'm fantastic. Thanks for having me on no problem and uh i i'm struggling not to have huge takeaways from preseason like the chicago bears go 4-0 i'm pretty sure they're winning the super bowl the chiefs they go on three i think their time might be up do you have any major takeaways from the preseason so far well i mean I mean, those are obviously very extreme, and I would like to remind you that the Browns once went 4-0 in the preseason and then went 0-16.

I know obviously we're being facetious here, but no. I mean, there's small grains and little clues that you can find in the preseason. You know, it's often a proving ground for young running backs. It's our first glimpse at new quarterbacks. But oftentimes, there's also the suggestions we can get from preseason that don't end up sticking. Last year, the Steelers' starting offense went a perfect 5-for-5 with five touchdowns on their five possessions in the preseason.

And then they were so bad that they fired their offensive coordinator in the middle of the season. So it's all about the small things, looking for players to kind of get their feet underneath them, the Xavier-worthy types. I've been a big fan of Ray Davis from Buffalo, and that's about the most you get out of these things. Is week three, like, where does week three of the preseason

kind of rank within that? Is this where we start to see more of what we might see in the regular season, or is it the same as the earlier weeks? Back in the day, week three would have been the week. It was the week when you'd see about a first half full of starters playing, and then they'd shut them down for week four, and that would be the pointless game. Now we're kind of stuck in between.

It depends on the team. Some teams will play a good amount of their starters. A lot of other teams will treat week three as the old week for the preseason and put everybody on ice until the start of the regular season. The difference being is that we still have week four. We just don't have week four games. It's just a dead week. So some coaches look at it as, well, they still get a week to rest after this. Let's not, you know, the rest versus versus rust thing let's not allow too much rust to accumulate here before the start of the season all they want to say it's not worth the risk we've seen enough and we'll go forward um like i think about michael pennix with the falcons uh you know the falcons have essentially said we've seen enough from him

we know he's our backup we don't really need to see him in the preseason anymore and that's the type of guy that you may or may not see in a week three game. But then I also think, you know, Jaden Daniels was named the starter in Washington. Do we need to see him again? I don't know. I personally don't think so. I've been impressed enough by him to think I don't need to see him again. But Deshaun Watson hasn't played a snap for the Browns in the preseason. And it sounds like he probably won't.

So it's a case by case basis. It's not nearly as uniform as it used to be. There's still some reason to watch these games, as always, but it really comes down to a team-by-team situation. What do you think of all these rookie quarterbacks kind of getting their starts early? I believe there was a comment. I think it was from Tom Brady.

I might be wrong, but there was a comment from someone just about, hey, these guys aren't really getting enough time anymore. Do you think that that's an issue? Should they be staying on the bench a little bit longer, or is this just kind of the way the NFL is heading? I mean, I feel like our attention span, our time, our patience has just shortened, generally speaking, in all areas of life in the last 15 to 20 years, essentially since Tom Brady started playing quarterback. I mean, I even, you know, revisiting some footage of football from the late 90s and early 2000s and old broadcast tapes and everything.

I'm like, man, like I was alive then. I remember watching these things live and it looks, everything, the pace of life itself just looks so much faster now. And I think the same thing can be true in the NFL where the pressure is just higher and higher every year and patience runs thinner and it doesn't run as long with these owners and these GMs and the regimes that they bring in. And because the NFL has such a spotlight on it, it has such a massive platform. You know, the quarterbacks, they are the main characters of the NFL's story.

Every time a team drafts a quarterback, they instantly are putting the weight of the world on their shoulders because that's the embodiment of hope for an entire fan base. Now, J.J. McCarthy, it sucks that he can't play this year because of his meniscus injury and the repair, but it may be a blessing in disguise

because he looked good in his first preseason game, but the problem with preseason is it sometimes gives fans a false sense of hope and belief that the better guy is actually on the bench when maybe he may not be ready to be the starter yet. So McCarthy sitting out this entire year is going to avoid that potentially derailing him in the form of a Tim Couch with the Browns back in 99,

2001, when they couldn't protect him to save his life. So I think it is a case by case basis. I think some quarterbacks are perfectly equipped to handle it. And it very much matters in the situation around them. So CJ Stroud in Houston last year with Bobby Sloan, cause his OC, they got weapons around,

they got a franchise left tackle. They built an offense that, you know, took advantage of Stroud's, you know, greatest strengths. But I also think that the opposite can be true, where you see a quarterback in a bad situation, not a lot of talent around him, and a coach that's not on the same page, and

you see it ruin their career. So I really think it's a judgment call, and it really starts with organizational stability, which often you don't find when you're drafting a quarterback at the top of the draft, because usually if you have an organizational issue, that's how drafting a quarterback at the top of the draft because usually if you have an organizational issue, that's how you end up at the top of the draft. Is Drake May a yes or a no to start for the New England Patriots once the regular season starts? Well, the offensive coordinator spoke yesterday

and kind of left it out there as if, well, I guess he could, but basically spoke of Jacoby Brissett as the starter. So I think that's going to be, we're going to see Brissett be the starter to start the year, and I think that's fine. I think May is actually an example of a quarterback who could use a little bit of time to get acclimated. The only thing I fear, though, is that when they do get kind of thrown into the fire at some point in the season, it's usually like a turning point

or an inflection point where it's almost made out of desperation. The fans are upset. They're bored of out of desperation like where you fans are upset they're bored of seeing the yeah yeah the fans are upset they're oh they're oh and four they're oh and six they're two and seven bring the young guy in uh that's he's thrown to the wolves so yes exactly so that's that's what i fear um with drake may but i i do think we're going to see jacoby percent start the year which of the quarterbacks, and I'm talking about the ones drafted in the first round, have the toughest test in terms of their offensive line and their protection and their running games

and their lack or lack of weapons? Which guy would you look at and go like, oh, this guy better be really good? Honestly, I think it's May. Yeah, and maybe that's why they're protecting him? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And that's why i kind of side with that approach because like caleb i think it's gonna be excellent not immediately but i think he'll be excellent before long um daniels they've been very impressed with pennix we already know we're getting out of him bo nicks looked very

impressive and has won the starting job in denver uh mccarthy's out for the year and then i'm always forgetting one last quarterback in the XO's five. Who was the sixth quarterback? I think you got the other. Oh, yeah, because I skipped May. Okay. So May is the guy that, you know, if you kind of keep your ear to the ground with local beats, you'll hear, you can read between the lines

and just kind of in the tone of the way that they disseminate information, you'll be able to tell, tell like whether the people that are closest to the situation are really confident in the abilities of a player and especially a rookie quarterback and it just hasn't sounded very good out of new england this entire camp really since the off season you know we hit the summer and um so i i think that it's best that they don't play him immediately because they're a team that has retooled. They're in a transition phase. They have a new regime and power. You don't want to ruin this kid's career by throwing him into that

and expecting him to make magic. Look what just happened with Mac Jones. It's kind of a similar situation. I think that he's probably got the worst situation. I don't feel like I'm going to see a ton of great things from the Patriots this year, but I also don't think they're going to be as bad as some people expect. Like I'm not putting them in like the 30 win category, for example, I think they're going to win more games than that, but it's better to not play May in such a situation, at least not immediately. How do you think the Steelers quarterback situation will play

out? You know, this has been my, and I don't know, maybe it's just me, but this has been my and i don't know maybe it's just me but this has been my test every once in a while you get a the football gods give you a gift of a test that allows you to differentiate between people who are clearly just checking numbers and box scores and highlights and people who are watching the game because the steelers week two preseason game was a defining moment between those two groups. Russell Wilson had a rough time behind a pretty bad offensive line, a young offensive line still trying to find its feet. Pass work, they had to move Broderick Jones over to the right side because Troy Fucano couldn't play and all this stuff.

You know, it's just a lot of movement up there that contributes to a lack of stability in the offensive line. Russell Wilson hangs on the ball a little too long. We already know that, but he really didn't have much time to throw. All of his yards were essentially gained on checkdowns. And then he was gone and it was Justin Fields' game. Fields played about twice as much as Wilson did, maybe not in terms of total possessions, but in terms of game clock, Fields was out there for a long time. And in that process, he was able to finish with a higher yardage total and and everything else but they still only put three points on the board and if you watch the game and didn't just watch the highlights you'll see justin fields make the wrong read on a read

option on fourth and goal and they turned over on downs because he runs right into a brick wall defenders those defenders but you would also see the the kind of disjointed play where he breaks out of a sack and throws a ball into coverage, he gets a tip, and then somebody else on his team catches it for a first down. And you might also have seen Justin Fields miss a touchdown pass down the middle by about five feet over the head of his receiver. It was very up and down. But if you just check the numbers, you'd think Fields has won that job.

He's done better than Russ because Russ hasn't really shown much. Admittedly, Russ has been hurt. I don't think there's a good answer in either direction. And I don't feel very good about the Steelers in general right now at quarterback that could change but from what i've seen so far not to take too much away from the preseason but with two new quarterbacks i just haven't seen very much to be encouraged right now yeah actually that was gonna be my next question is the most likely scenario that this is just a season that goes by for the steelers and then they're to have to address their quarterback situation again?

I mean, you always run that risk when you come into a situation like this with a veteran who's trying to hang on and maybe rejuvenate his career, and then a former rookie who is at the end of his rookie deal. And, you know, I mean, the field situation is kind of unique in itself. I don't know if it's complete retool. I don't want to jump to those conclusions right now. I could be very wrong, and we could get to week eight, and Russell Wilson looks great or Russell Wilson stinks,

but Justin Fields is coming and taking over. Crazier things have happened. I mean, look at Joe Flacco last year. Crazier things have definitely happened. But right now, I just don't. Going into the season, I think that the Steelers' biggest issue will be quarterback. And that's a bummer. But it's also basically been their problem since Ben Roethlisberger retired.

Yeah, I always have this discussion about, you know, if you're trying to find the next franchise quarterback, which position is best to be? Do you want to be a terrible team, so you get the first or second overall pick? Or would you rather be kind of a middling team so at the very least, when you bring a guy in, you've got a team around him? I think about what the Seahawks were right before they got Russell Wilson, and they were pretty good.

They had the makings of a good defense. Their offensive line was decent. They had a running game with Marshawn Lynch. You know, you think about some of the great quarterbacks, not all of them were first overall picks, in fact, far from it. And I'm just wondering, I don't know, any thoughts on that? Because we're in Seattle and we're starting to talk a little bit more about the Seahawks and the coaching staff is probably the most interesting aspect but you know Geno Smith is what he is I like him as a quarterback that can maybe get you to the playoffs but you know I want the Seahawks to win a Super Bowl I don't want them

to just get to the playoffs and I don't see them winning a Super Bowl with Geno Smith as the quarterback. Yeah I mean a big part of that whole Seahawks run was the fact that they got Russ in the third round because he was short and you know they they quickly realized that he was better than that Flynn and they'd given all that money to you right like that that's sometimes you get a couple strokes of luck and some good timing you catch lightning in a bottle and it all works out for you I think that we've seen the peak of Gino already not to you know be a Debbie Downer or anything I just think that two years ago was basically the best year to get out of him. And I think the Seahawks kind of know that too.

And they will eventually have to kind of look ahead sooner rather than later. And I just hope he stays healthy for a year because I feel like last year health was an issue and they never really got on track after they made the playoffs two years prior, such as a surprise team, but he was also coaching his way out. They're on the backside of the transition now, and I'm hoping that they'll be better off. They've got a defensive head coach,

so we'll see how that affects their offense because Lord knows they needed a defensive mind or a new defensive mind to help the front four and the front seven stop the run. But I'm telling you what, man, if you've watched the preseason games, I'm saying don't put too much stock in the preseason, but I do like watching Shane Howell play. It was really fun watching him play against Tennessee last week. I was like, look at Sammy slugging it.

So I'm not saying he's the future, but, you know, this is the best you got. It's still better than – would you like to be the Steelers with Russ in fields or would you like to be the Seahawks with Gina? It's kind of a toss-up now that I think about it. Well, I think I'd probably take Gino to be perfectly honest with you, but I would take a bunch of other things on the Steelers over the Seahawks. Do you think this season for the Seahawks is going to be a lot of Mike McDonald setting a new culture there and setting a new program? And because the Pete Carroll era, we heard so much about culture, and it wasn't just cliche stuff.

There was a specific Pete Carroll culture, and now there's a new guy in there, and nobody really knows what to expect from him. Yeah. You know, that's the thing. I feel like with the master motivator types in the nfl like it's pretty surprising that that pete lasted as long as he did in seattle because in most instances master motivators and guys like that who are rah-rah guys and everything else

great coaches but like their personality is defined by being rah-rah guys they tend to burn out in the nfl before long i think about you you know, Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco, mostly like player siding coaches, like players coaches, they tend to burn out a little bit quicker too, but especially the guys who are, you know, giving you all the chants and the mantras and everything, it tends to kind of wear out. So the fact that Pete, you know,

because he had a lot of substance behind his whole personality too, and that's really what helps him. But now we don't know what to expect from this new, because this is a new generation of head coach with Mike McDonald. I mean, he's still, you know, he's quite young and he's coming off of a fantastic showing. He's a defensive coordinator in Baltimore where they had a ton of talent. Now the question is, is I think it's really going to depend on performance.

Like defense has got to play well. And they have the talent on the defensive side of the ball to play well. We saw what they did with that draft class last year and the last couple years really with Reek Willen and Devin Witherspoon and, you know, in that secondary. And they have enough talent to be, you know, a decent or better defense, and he could probably get the most out of them. And that's really what's going to define him more than culture

and how he approaches a press conference and everything else. It's really going to come down to wins and losses because what I've realized over the years is you don't get coaches with the personality of a Pete Carroll that often. And that's why we remember them. Because if they succeed with such a personality, they instantly become beloved by the local fan bases and they're respected by the rest of the league

and all the people involved in football. And if they do it over and over again, then they become legendary. I think that's what Pete did both at the collegiate and the NFL level. And you don't need to be that guy to have success. It's just going to look different. Speaking of coaches and getting worn out, earlier in the week there were comments from Tua about Brian Flores and how things have kind of changed under Mike McDaniel.

What did you make of those comments and kind of Tua's growth, I guess, in the last few years? Well, Tua lit him up. He lit Brian Flores up. He did not pull any punches and explained how hard Flores was on him. And you know, it's funny, when I wrote this up for NFL.com, I actually failed to remember Tua's season entirely accurately, which is that he was replaced on multiple occasions by Ryan Fitzpatrick in a move that Brian Flores made. Now, these cannot be viewed in a vacuum, of course, because Brian Flores was trying to save his job,

and ultimately he did not end up saving his job. But he was coaching for his job almost from the word go in Miami, and especially with Tua, who was admittedly inconsistent as a rookie. I think Tua's grown a lot. Mike McDaniel has been the perfect coach for him, but I also think that it's a bit of a unique and beautiful pairing because this is a quarterback whose confidence was broken down by his old coach and also by just health issues,

not being able to be out in the field and be consistent. Dating back to his last year at Alabama, you get a coach who is a little quirky, a little different, and says nothing but, hey, man, you're the perfect fit for this offense, and I'm going to last year at Alabama. You get a coach who is a little quirky, a little different, and says nothing but, hey, man, you're the perfect fit for this offense and I'm going to prove it to you. I'm going to give you the agency to run this offense and thrive. And they're thriving. You know, the proof is in the pudding.

It's in the results. And Tua has plenty of reason to feel confident now. But it was definitely refreshing. And, honestly, the candor was invigorating to me that Tua was just like, look, man, I hated this guy. And I I love my coach now and we see the results it's it's always I guess more difficult for a defensive coach to get a head coaching gig uh regardless and obviously now there's going to be more baggage with Brian Flores but do you think he ever gets another shot at a head coaching gig somewhere um i don't know um i think that's that kind of falls in the realm of eric bnm with me sometimes um just because we this is a name

that bnm hasn't gotten the head coaching opportunity obviously floris has this is a name that has been floated out there since he you know lost his job with the dolphins for a number of different reasons there were some off-field stuff, some legal things as well. But I think about coaches that we hear in the cycle over and over and over again, and sometimes they never get that second opportunity. I think what it's going to come down to with Brian Flores is, can he put together a defense that really proves that they're upper echelon elite? Because that's what gets guys interviews.

Unless you are well-connected and you come from like a quality control and special team standpoint, because a lot of special teams coaches end up being head coaches, at least historically speaking. It's all about your production. It's about your results. You know, Michael McDonald doesn't get the job in Seattle off the Ravens defense isn't

excellent, you know, down the back half of last year and really in the last two years. And that comes with exposure and being a coach on a good team as well. So Flores is going to have to be able to coach up a defense into being a monster for him to, I think, get those second looks. But if he does, then yeah, I could see that happening again. What did you think of Mike McDaniel's new look? See the pictures of him?

He's got so many different looks. I struggle to keep track of it. I did notice that in the preseason, I was like, you know, it's not quite as, and I don't know, I'm not a great fashion guy. I'm a millennial. I'm not a Gen Z-er. I have Gen Z siblings that I try to lean on

to direct me in my fashion style and realize I'm woefully behind. But I saw him at the first preseason game and I was like, he doesn't look as swaggy as he did last year. Is he saving the outfits for later? Oh no. He had some sweet sunglasses that came out that I'm going to read a tweet

from some guy named Mike. It said, but it got a lot of retweets and it made me laugh. It only took two years in Miami for Mike McDaniel to go from best buy assistant manager to South Bay, South beach, cocaine, Kingpin.

Like it, it, it – I was waiting for that. Yeah. I mean, you knew there was going to be a cocaine reference in there. But he – Of course, yeah. He does – it looks good.

I like him. I like it. All right, buddy. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the rest of the preseason, and then we'll chat before the real thing, which is coming up real soon. All right, guys. Thanks.

Appreciate it. Thanks, Nick. All right. There's Thanks. Appreciate it. Thanks, Nick. All right. There's Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com. Have you seen Mike McDaniel's new book? Yeah, I'm looking at the picture right now, the tweet right now. I don't know if I like it as much. I liked him leading into the nerdy thing,

and now it kind of looks like he's trying to adopt. He is cool. He's just an overall cool guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know. I saw people comparing him to this is going to date me He's trying to adopt... Like, he is cool. He's just an overall cool guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But... I don't know. Well, I saw people comparing him to... This is going to date me and you won't get it.

To Sean Penn's character in Carlito's Way. Oh, yeah, of course. Which was the lawyer. That, you know, you're in the game now. I can't remember what the line was, but... At any rate, it's wasted on you. Yeah, 1993. Oh oh i'm seeing it now i'm dying yeah okay yeah they look similar i got it it's the curly hair yeah the glasses okay that

was fun let's do that some more sometimes uh it is how to do tough josh elliolf jason brough throw some references i dude i've been trying to it's six years before you were born yeah five thank you sorry 98 see josh what you should have done is before this week you should have watched every Dude, I've been trying to. It's six years before you were born. Yeah, five. Thank you. Sorry. 98. See, Josh, what you should have done is before this week, you should have watched every episode of The Simpsons from season one to season nine. At the very least. I mean, that's just good life advice for anybody.

I'm upset I screwed up that line. You're a gangster now. Do you remember that from Carlito's Way? You're old. Carlito's Way? I watched it once, but it was a long time ago. He was the lawyer. Yeah, I remember's Way. I've watched it once, but it was a long time ago. He was the lawyer. Yeah, I remember the movie.

I only watched the episode. And then he got it. It was Sean Penn. He had an awesome fro going. It was incredible. That was a good movie. It does look good. You should watch it.

It's fun hair. I'm going to start using that. I'm going to be like, you're a gangster now. You're in the Alfred and Brough show. Awesome. What's coming up next? AJ's coming up next, and then we'll hit some Ask Us Anythings, too. So get those in on the 650-650 Dunbar Lumber text line.

It is Alfred and Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Jason Brough, Sportsnet 650. Before we go, though, Jam Pro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace demands a clean environment, contact Jam Pro for a free, no-obligation quote. Visit jampro.ca.