NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 Training Camp Whisperssssssss

Episode Date: August 19, 2020

A bunker filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler bring you all of the latest news around the NFL including Melvin Ingram holding out from practice (8:37), Dalvin Cook preparing for week 1 (15:51) and the Chiefs hosting fans this season (17:27). The heroes share the training camp whispersssssssssssss that they've been hearing (29:25).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast is still beefing with the Move the Sticks podcast. Welcome to another edition. I could use an editor. of the Around the NFL podcast.

My name is Dan Hansis. I'm coming to you from a virtual room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? What would you have like to edit from the top, that top? It felt like there were about three to four extra words there. Just a little clunky, that's all. That's fine.

They're not all going to be gems, just like the Moonstics podcast itself. Would you have liked it? Matt Money to edit it himself. I mean, he's a good radio man. He has a good ear for a good line. Well, you know what I do in the, whenever we have these type of situations, you know, you know my move is. Just blame Erica.

Well, another option is to blame Daniel Jeremiah just for even recently starting a podcast. I'm glad he took our advice. I threw it out there on the, around the NFL broadcast. That'd be cool. He's had this popular Twitter account. Everyone knows him, you know, in terms of the NFL draft analysis. And he has started a podcast, we found out recently.

And good luck to him. I think people enjoy it. That's a good job by you, Greg. I mean, to suggest, you know, another vehicle for him to get his voice out. I don't know why it's taking... Less college football. So, you know, there's just... It's going to be strange times for the draft analysts.

This is the Wednesday edition of the Around the NFL podcast. It's a fun one. Football's getting closer, boys. It's getting closer. So today, one day. is day, and then Is football three weeks from Thursday? As we tape, it's 22 days from right now.

Oh, my goodness. How about that? I mean, hopefully there's football, but you know what, on that subject, I do not want to jinx and I'm going to knock on wood right here, but it feels like, and yes, you can get on the league for maybe being slow to action through the summer or perhaps that's just how it was perceived on the outside.

But things seem to be going very well right now in terms of how these training camps are operating. Once again, and we're watching hard knocks every Tuesday night, you see the way the Rams and the chargers are going about their business and all the safety precautions. So far, so good. So far so good. Yeah, I think it's like the only blip on the radar is, you know,

in Seattle where, you know, A low-tier player tries to sneak in a female dressed in Seattle garb. That's the kind of thing that's going to throw teams off. I mean, outside of that, I'd have to agree that I don't know if I've ever been more optimistic about the league and the season getting underway than the last couple days. Right. And they're just starting to really practice and play football, which is a pretty big step to take in terms of contact and everything. But with the daily testing, it's like they're going to be testing daily, they're going to be testing daily through the start of the season. And they're talking about maybe extending it beyond that.

And I know that's not going to solve the virus, but it does have to make you feel better about these guys, you know, bump it up against each other. It is really good. There's less, I think there's under 10 players. What is with you, Greg? And the bumping up against each other stuff. Yeah.

They're bumping up against each other. They're bumping. Bumping ugly. How about like athletic combat? There's got to be another way to put this. I mean, Mark will tell you, as an ex-player. I mean, it's a physical sport.

You're not going to get in close contact with that with almost any other humans in your life. Greg, you're right. I mean, there is a lot of bumping going on, and so I think it applies. Oh, yeah, a lot of rubbing and bumping and tugging. All right. Today's show is going to be fun.

Yes, we're three weeks away just about from the first kickoff of the season. So we're going to continue to kind of spin around the league and find our league. excuse me, and find some storylines out there that are percolating just beneath the surface. Yes, it's that time again, people. Training camp, whispers, whispers. Hope everybody did their homework.

I got a lot. I mean, with less kind of like on-site reporting, it's just almost a breeding ground for, Whispers. You know, it's just like more whispers. You can't speak out loud anymore. They got all these media rules about what you can and can't report. So it's got to come out in a whisper. You'd have to be six feet under last couple days,

not to be on the receiving end of some of these whispers. Because the season, to me, starts when the news moves so quickly that if you leave your computer for like an hour, you come back to like 406, some of them very snarky roto world updates. And that's been the last couple days. And that's when I know that, you know, social life, family life is veering towards a hard stop for the next half year or so. Yeah, that's about right. So we'll spin around the league and get you caught up to date on what the beat reporters and so on are talking about.

But before that, let us do some news. The other thing I, you know, you get a chance to reflect on it, I apologize for my poor judgment, taking my shirt off on hard knocks. All right. Let's do you guys. I mean, it's all there. The theory that I posited last week totally checks out. McVeigh makes up this idea that the dog that he had can do a trick with a football near a basketball hoop. Clearly, he's just pegging the dog in the snout repeatedly.

Dog doesn't know any tricks, you know? But it gave McVe a chance to take his shirt off. And then he takes some ribbing both internally. and probably on social media. And now he circles back in episode two of Hard Knocks, the recap of which you could find at NFL.com, by the way, written by yours truly. And mentions again that he had his shirt off,

just in case some ladies may be watching missed the premiere. They could cycle back and see Sean McVeigh in his glory. He is a very well-prepared coach. And you can tell his comedy is well-prepared too. I mean, he has, like, he has his rundown of what he's going to accomplish at the meeting. and he knows he's going to end that coach's meeting with that joke. He knows he's going to make the Andrew Whitworth has been playing for 40 years joke while addressing the team.

It's all very planned out. I don't know if that always leads to the best comedy or not, but at least he's giving it a shot. When I think about what is the secret sauce to comedy preparation. Well, that's probably as good as it gets an NFL comedy circle. Yeah, he's right. I enjoy it. And I'm talking, again, Colleen, I'm going to give her all the credit because she's the one to mention on text.

That guy is turning into John Gruden. He sounds like John Gruden. He's starting to look like John Gruden. I mean, that was his mentor. So it's not like it comes from, you know, nowhere. It was the guy that he was trying to be like when he was a young coach. They love showing those clips. NFL Films does.

And yeah, there's definitely a little imitation as the sincerest form of flattery there. I mean, but not every men, not every mentee. He winds up looking like mannerisms like speech like the mentor. In this case, you know, he's going all out. Singing the Monday night football song, please. I know. I mean, I didn't even piece that together. The great Andrew Marchand, who dropped that Nug that ESPN and McVeigh had a conversation.

And now he's singing the song when he knows he's lined up. I thought that was like in terms of preparation, that to me seemed like he was serving that up so that we would sit here and others would sit here talking about it for the following day or two. Speaking of Sean McVeigh and Hard Knocks, Peter Schreger, a buddy, has the Hard Knocks podcast, and

McVeigh is on the show this week, so make sure you check that out wherever you get your podcast. All right, let's get into the news. The Chargers are also subject a subject on Hard Knocks Los Angeles this season, and one figure who has not been on the field for the Chargers,

Melvin Engram, the Great defensive end, the bookend with Joey Bosa that makes things go on that Chargers defense. The athletics, Daniel Popper, reports that Ingram is holding out from practice because he's dissatisfied with this contract situation. And Greg, this is an interesting situation here because in the old days, holdouts were commonplace. Today, with how heavy the fines are with the new CBA, you never see it anymore. Is Ingram a trailbla? has he found a way to hold out while also being in the holden it's either the holden

or the in-house holdout um i think he is a sign of things to come because this is the first training camp since the cba has been been signed and they not it now no doesn't give it no longer gives any wiggle room to teams finding players who skip camp they have to they're it's a mandatory fine and i think this is a way to do it you're going to have to have some sort of mutual respect between the two sides, which these two should, after nine seasons together. And he's coming up at the end of what was a massive contract extension back in 2017, I believe. And I think he's probably confident they can work something out.

I did see a report, though. He wasn't at least been outside watching practice, but now he hasn't even, now he's not even at practice anymore. And it's tricky because he's a leader. And yet I don't know if they would want to give him a big time extension. He's 31 years old. He's coming off his worst season in the last, you know, probably four or five seasons. He had a couple injuries.

Still played well, but not at his previous level. So it's a thorny situation. A lot of times when there's a player like this, they'll find some way to make them happy, maybe give him some incentives, guarantee some of this money if coronavirus ends up wiping out some of the same, some sort of small compromise without giving him a big contract, maybe gets it done. Like the agent shot that down, but that seemed like a logical, perhaps thing that he's pursuing is in a season that right now it looks good but if things got weird he's in the final year of his deal making 16 million none of it guaranteed maybe angling for some guarantees at least for now but

trying to do it in a friendly way where then the contract comes after but i kind of like the approach of um you know the being at work sort of like i could imagine going to the newsroom and say i'm here but i will not be producing anything that was my entire run at walgreens the drugstore in pearl river new york i mean i think we've all had jobs where we're literally punching the clock and then just counting down the hours right in your strawberry truck you almost took down the whole fruit industry uh in new england i mean look i my effort was strong with the strawberry truck uh going up and down the east coast now did i get lost many times in a pre gps era to the point where i was almost in tears you know like six hours from home at uh 8 p.m at night yeah that happened but i was trying i was putting in a good

effort. I just don't have a great sense of direction. We've seen that sense of direction. And it's all four of us are tagged with the lack of it when, you know, oh, let's leave our hotel and go walk to the convention center on Super Bowl Week and no one can find it. And we end up in a rough corner of town and need West to get us out of it. You youngans, no, really, Patra. Patra's the only guy that ever did help us. You youngans don't understand before GPS, before Waze, before Google Maps.

All you had was this thing called MapQuest. And it would be something you log on to your computer and you put in the entry point and the destination and it spit out directions. And those worked okay until you made one wrong turn and then they were useless to you. And I remember to your point, Greg, of you being on the verge of tears, when I was 19 and I was not somebody that ever really left my hometown really at that point. I was still just a kid. and I was driving to Villanova to visit my friend Sarah and I got there I got there with no problems

and I was really proud of myself it was a little like victory in my 93 Ford Escort but then going back I made the wrong turn and another wrong turn and then all of a sudden I had no idea where I was they had no cell phone and I still remember to this day gripping the top of my steering wheel as hard as possible racing 70 miles per hour down some turnpike and being like, what am I going to do?

Yeah, you kids don't understand. No, we all have those. My dad once tested me and I was not that young. I was probably like 18 or 19 and also had essentially never left my town. And he was like, come pick me up at work in Westchester. And I mean, I had never really been, I had never driven in a metropolitan surrounding before. And I'm like lost on the Tappenzie Bridge or somewhere like that. And, you know, weird, like, to your point, Dan, I thought, my life is over.

I've failed my father. The quickest thing to do would be to park this car along the tap and see and just hoist myself into what other, ever body of water is below. What can I achieve from this point? You know what I had, though, in the strawberry truck, no lie, was a car phone, like, you know, plugged in. That's cool. There was a car phone. Now, did I get lost sometime? Because I would just call up my girlfriend at the time on the car phone while driving around.

and racking up phone bills in retaliation for the $8 an hour they were paying me for like long. Wow, loaded. Give you a break. Greg, that was sneaky loaded with humble brags. You had a car cell phone in 1997. What wasn't mine? It was there.

And a girlfriend. I was driving an extended astrovan owned by this farm. It's not like it's not like the worst employee ever for that industry. But it didn't last long. Anyway, good luck to you, Melvin Ingram. I think he's probably part of the reason. this might be the end of the road beyond the fact that he's 31 is that Joey Bosa just signed a five-year, $135 million contract, maybe not fiscally responsible to do multiple massive deals

on one line, but you never know. These teams find a way with the salary cap, but we'll see how it plays out. In other news, speaking of money news, NFL Network's Tom Pelliserro having a big summer. You're right, Greg. Pelisero's having a nice summer. I haven't really spoken to Pelliserro much. kind of not a guy that I know too well, but I'm going to give him credit where credits do. He reports the Vikings.

He's been on the beat a long time, you know. He's putting in the work. You know, when we ever, when these league events ever, you know, come back together, the show's going to be six hours long, I am going to make a point of it to have a friendly conversation with Tom Pelliserro. I mean, and he should know or he should understand through back channels that if, after many league events that you and he have not had. that conversation, that he might be on your radar.

I'm just saying it's possible. I don't, no one knows that, but it would behoove him to get off your radar on that, on that fronts if we ever go to a league event ever again. Right. Anyway, Tom reports that Dalvin Cook, the great Vikings running back, broke off contract talks with the team and will focus on preparing for week one. He has one year remaining on his rookie deal. He wanted to get paid going into this year after his big breakout season in 2019.

talk that he might hold out. That didn't happen. This feels like kind of a best case scenario for the Vikings where he appears to be ready to drop his grievance and just focus on ball. But we'll see how it plays out. He's one of many

really good running backs that are slated for free agency. Alvin Camara. Joe Mixon is one of the players out there. And then like kind of a long list of guys who are like a solid second tier. And I don't know. I saw like Dalvin Cook pop up in the top 25 players on the top 100 list. And I was like, I love Dalvin Cook, but I don't blame the Vikings for being hesitant

considering his injury history and that it really was one amazing. So he always looks great when he's out there. But I would not want to be giving him a Todd Gurley contract right now. I think they also love Alexander Madison, not in replace a Dalvin Cook in any way. But these running back contracts make GMs look like fools in some cases. So the hesitation makes some sense. If you're a GM, you kind of love the franchise tag when it comes to running backs. Yeah, I'll give you $10 million for one year.

I just don't want to give you a four-year contract. In other news, the Kansas City Chiefs will not be one of the NFL teams playing in front of an empty stadium. The team finalized plans to host games at Arrowhead Stadium with approximately 22% capacity I don't know how much it holds so you don't get a chance

to see me figure out the math on this one but let's guess it's around 15 to 20,000 people. I don't know. So we'll see how this goes. This comes after the chiefs rolled out enhanced cleaning and sanitation measures and they will subject all staff members to health screenings upon arrival

and will direct all staffers to wear personal protective equipment and exercise proper hygiene Greg what do you think you nailed it by the way weird

16.8 would be their capacity right now I'm getting better at math as I age well it's becoming instinctual I'm getting worse in almost every other way

as a man but and man I'm just going through the roof lately I'm not sure I do the trade off there I mean I

every other way nor would I I mean what's what's the upside here what I don't know all these colleges, for instance, that, you know, brought their kids on campus for a week or two and then realized, oh, that was a terrible idea. Let's quit that.

Like, is this actually going to happen? And what are they really getting out of it? I guess the fans are getting the experience of going and they do want to go. And it's outside. And hopefully there's a way they can do it safely and everyone's separate. But it's like when you talk about like the sanitation and all, it's like that feels like PR. It's like, it's like, this. The research shows that the virus is not being transmitted too often, you know, through touch on surfaces.

Anyways, yeah, it's great. It's great you're doing that. But it just doesn't feel like the reward here is worth the risk. And I think you look at the rest of the world, which is in 700% better shape, whatever, like a million percent better shape. And they don't have fans in the crowd. So I don't know. Is that proper math there? I don't know if that way.

No, that didn't really make sense. They're in much better shape than us, and they don't have fans in the crowd, despite being in better shape. So it's like maybe we should start taking a cue from some countries that are doing a better job than us. The cynical part of me initially thought, well, this is the NFL attempting to, they always want to be the center of attention and the spectacle of spectacles that that opening night, they want Americans in the stands cheering and the slick cutaways to that. I mean, more reasonably, like the league said, some cities can handle it this way, others that way. It feels a little bit in the zone of competitive disadvantage if, I mean, 16,000 fans aren't exactly. It's also weird. It's going to be mostly empty.

Like, right, that's the thing. It's like going to be, is that really going to make you feel good? Is it going to be depressing? I don't know. Well, and they're talking about, you know, they're looking into piping and noise, like, which we're seeing in other sports. And I think that, that's fine. I don't have a problem with that. I would love that job.

I think you could do really weird things and freak some people out. if you were able to control the crowd noise through a whole NFL game, if you're like an editor of that. But at the same time, I mean, if you replaced that with 15,000 fans and at any given moment, you know, 3,000 are getting beers or going to the bathroom, that feels like a kind of lame crowd to me. So I'm sure they want to do it for the, for the, to push the people. It just raises a question about responsibility to the community you're in,

which is where I think the university should take a lot of heat for what's gone on already across the country. You are contributing to your community having more coronavirus. You made a decision out of, you know, in those colleges for more money. And the decision ended up being you are making it less safe for the people in your community. So that would be the concern. Why would we don't want to go too deep. From team to team.

Why would one, do you, does anyone else think to have like four teams that can have 20,000 fans going crazy? And then the next week, that same team goes and visits a stadium where it's, you know, completely silent. I feel like it's a failure in the realm of common sense by the NFL, both because of the safety, obviously, that Greg is hitting on and also what you hit on, that anything that gives a competitive advantage to however many teams do this feels like it's unfair. And it almost encourages other teams to take risks. But hey, listen.

Cowboys say they'll have fans, too. They haven't really specified the details, but Jerry Jones has been pretty clear about that. In Texas, obviously, is not one of the places that's in better shape, whereas New York is very clear. There's no fans all season, and yet they're in the best shape because they've kind of been scared straight. That's why I think it's tied to politics and who your governor is, but there are a bunch of teams that have not made a final decision yet. So we could see, and maybe part of it is you're waiting to find out where we are a month from now or, you know, middle of November. exactly my point like teams are going to keep the door open and then when it works in kansas city other teams are going to open the doors but are they going to have the same safety protocols

will they be able to carry it out in the way kansas city hypothetically can i mean it seems unnecessary let's talk some injuries not fun to talk injuries but it's part of training camp the dolphins place linebacker vince beagle an injured reserve with the torn achilles that ends his season uh he has been in the mix for the Dolphins. He had 15 appearances last year, 10 starts, but he will not be involved this season. Yeah, the handful of players that have been deemed out for the season with kind of non-contact injuries this week haven't been like serious.

Beagle was their best pass rusher last year and they don't have many good players on defense. But, you know, he kind of came out of nowhere. Robert Alford was another guy, the cornerback for the cornerback for the Cardinals that caught my attention, just because their secondary to me is a big problem, and Alford was expected to start. And I think when you look at the Cardinals being kind of a buzzy team, they have a lot of fun things about them, but they have some parts of their team that look up as bad as any team in the NFL.

And I would include their cornerback depth and their defensive line among that. Right. Only the Lions gave up more yards through the air than the Cardinals last year per game. And, you know, Alford, I wonder what the future. He's a friend of the show. You remember, Dan, you and Wes and I interviewed him after the Falcons knocked off the Rams in the playoffs a couple years ago. A best friend of the show.

A best friend. I mean, there's the, the, it's, it goes away. I mean, what could have been a Super Bowl hero if the team had finished it off, big time pick six? Am I crazy in the Super Bowl? I mean, is that a bad memory? I don't know. Check our research department.

I was writing about this as well, what you were saying there, Greg, on the power rankings, which you might think it's improbable, but it brings the clicks. So they asked the Zusser to roll out a training camp power rankings that dropped today. And I said that very thing, Greg, that the Cardinals, they're a buzzy playoff pick right now,

but you can't ignore the fact that no team in the league allowed more yards on defense last year. And Alfred, even if they were high on him, he broke his leg last year and missed the whole. whole season. They were asking him, hey, now jump back into the league and line up across and Patrick Peterson and solidify that spot. Well, even that was seemed to be a gamble. And now they're scrambling three weeks before the season. He was the one with the pick six in the Super Bowl, which at that very moment was one of the lowest moments I felt in the Brady era because

it was like, oh, this isn't going to happen. This is never going to happen again. I love that the lowest moment in the Brady era lasted about 41 minutes. And then suddenly, you know, the greatest moment in the Brady era suddenly is birthed from that. One of them. The lowest Brady moment happened in the Super Bowl. Think about it. Probably when he blew out his knee in week one, 2008. I was one of them. Coming off, 18 and one and having revenge on the mind and then it all going away. But maybe it was a Super Bowl. Speaking of whispers, there are whispers that maybe rookie Isaiah Simmons could see a little time at slot corner, could see, you know, they want to move him all

over the place. And so maybe with Alford out of the mix, that could be an answer there. You know, Mark, don't think we didn't notice. You missed Monday show for moving and internet purposes. And then all of a sudden, Tuesday, you're all over Twitter. You're tweeting about the Lions defensive backfield. You're tape dogging on a Tuesday night. And then, and then here you go. Here you go, dropping nugs about Isaiah Simmons. We're noting this. And he's got the NFL network polo on today. Now, is he on inside training Kip Live? Maybe yes, maybe no.

But dress for the job that you want. That's right. And I somehow moved to, you know, the studio that we were in last year, if you want it. Last week this time in my other house was, you know, leveling off at about 95 degrees each time. And I've found a room that is somehow about eight degrees hotter. And so I don't know if that's an upgrade or not. Bears, cornerback Artie Burns, also on Inzard Reserve

with a torn ACL. That is very bad for Burns, a former first round pick, rarely played for the Steelers last year and now his chance to kind of reboot things with the Bears, goes by the boards, you wonder what comes next

for the 25-year-old. And finally, Mack Wilson, a linebacker for the Browns who was in the news this week for the horse collar, tackle that gave Nick Chubb a possible concussion while that I believe the same practice he suffered a what Mike Garifolo the next day Mike Garifolo reported a significant hyper extended knee ESPN reported

it would be highly optimistic if we saw Wilson before October so it could have been worse but could have been better is this guy a difference maker for you mark I well he was projected to be a starter and you know you follow some of these guys on Twitter and I cannot find I cannot think when this happened he is the guy that I thought of all the Cleveland Browns who seemed like he was working out like crazy and so determined to make a big jump and he did a couple you know PFF did not love him last year but Mac Wilson had a couple plays that gave you a lot of hope that they had found something and I think enough that allowed them to think we can move on from Joe Schobert we can move on from Christian Kirksey and now that linebacking corps has literally nobody other than

B.J. Goodson with any experience. And I would be very concerned about, you know, they play the Ravens three weeks from now. Oh, yeah. I don't like the matchup at all. And no matter what, everyone talks about the offense, the defense could be one of these, if they get more injured than they are now, I don't like the situation for them at all against the run. It's devastating. Their linebacker court, maybe the worst in the league in terms of like known quantity right now. On paper, that was their worst position group before this injury. And he was. is probably their best player. I guess the positive would be

that's a good position to have as your worst position group, off ball linebacker. So we'll see. I think their defense is okay. All right. That is what's happening in the news. I need you to close your eyes. It's time now to listen.

Very, very carefully. Get in tune with yourself. How are you feeling inside? Do you hear that? If you close your eyes and tilt your head little to the right, you can hear the training camp whispers. Wow. Does that just put you in a place or what?

That was needed. That was serene. Sometimes I forget, like, this is going to be the part that's cut for social. I should, I should, like, dial in that we're on camera. I try to just think it's like a podcast, you know. But then I just halfway through that, I'm like, oh, yeah, this one's going to be cut. And I'm just sort of like checking my texts. I had the same exact thought and suddenly it was like, oh, Dan probably knew that this was coming. So he very, in a very organized way, closed his eyes. And I caught up later and thought, I'm going to jump in here and do as I'm told.

I mean, it's an audio form, you know, to begin with. Um, um, that. That is true. Like if this podcast had PFF advanced analytics and there was a stat for like parts of the show that get cut for social, the numbers would really tell you that it's Erica Tamposi jams that get cut more than anything. We're just, again, just background players, the chorus when it comes to our social game around the NFL. Many of them very deserving because if we get too far down that worm, whole we'll never appear on social again so be wise all right let's go through it we're just going to kind of jump around the league our league with whispers let's try not to get too bogged down on any one topic this is more i got a lot of them so let's hit them yeah i have quite a few as well so we're

going to kind of jump around and hit on things and then move along uh sharing the whispers that we're hearing across the league Greg get us going oh all right let's start uh with one i thought was very intriguing today out of New England that Mike Reese, the dean of Patriots reporters, suggested not just in an article, but to Bill Belichick that the team might use a two-quarterback system this season. Risky move there by Reese. You don't do that unless you're the dean. Right. Well, I think he has not only a good feel of the type of team that they are, which is a team I could absolutely see doing this, but that he has some information backing this, that he's not going to report anything. He's responsible. He also knows that they haven't made any final decisions,

but that someone like Mike Reese, and that's why I wanted to bring it up as a whisper, would not bring this up unless I think there was some conversation, that, okay, let's say Cam Newton, who supposedly early, you know, looks great, but he obviously doesn't know the offense as well as Stidham and Hoyer, who've been there, that they could shuttle them in and out. I think this is something Bill Belichick would like love to do. Before settling in later into just Cam Newton, most likely. But early on, maybe a little of both. You know, I can remember a game.

I was sitting in college. It was 1992, like 4,000 years ago. But Broncos Cowboys, and the Broncos shuttled between two quarterbacks the entire time. And it was amazing as a fan to watch. I thought it was highly dramatic. It didn't work at all. I think that when this has been tried, people always hate it yeah it just doesn't work and i think belichick would have a beat on the fact that

it's um it could be like a one or two week type thing i think belichick would want to know exactly he would know by then who his guy is but this is the weirdest lead up for cam new or anyone else to succeed belichick though came off that and said that don't be not you know he said we could lean on a ton of super heavy sets um 23 formations where you know you're talking two running backs three tight ends i think they're going to get really freaky um which only adds to the intrigue of what Belichick, you know, I think that he's got a heart of revenge of the season to show what he can do. And all these little people saying the Patriots won't be relevant, we'll be bitten in the butt. If anyone else was connected to this type of scheme in 2020, a lesser coach, it'd be absolutely destroyed.

Since it's Belichick, people will say, hmm, that's an interesting thought. He has a little bit of credibility, doesn't he? I mean. Well, he did when Tom Brady was his quarterback. We'll see what he can do now. See if he can still play the guitar. Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't see him rolling out 14 win seasons before Tom Brady was around.

Well, he was there for one year before that, but okay. I mean, in Cleveland also, I think he got shit canned, as I recall. How about 11? How about 11? With the fewest points in the league, went 11 and 5, and then the last team to win a playoff game in Cleveland. So Belichick was treated unfairly when they moved to Baltimore. 11 and 5 with Castle, too.

Let's move on to the next whisper. Whisp. No playoffs. Go ahead, Mark. All right, I'll go to Philly because I think we've been focused on their wide receiver group for a while. And it seems like they've hit on something with Jalen Rager. Like Wenz is pushing him. He's compared him to Julio Jones.

They are working together well in practice. Aaron Moorhead, the wide receiver coach, says that he has that swag. I think they're just very pleased with their overall rookie group. I'd throw another name in here, too, who is sort of like a dark horse to make an impact. Quez Watkins, super fast, six-round pick, average six most receiving yards per game in college football last year. He's a super small guy, but when you take Markey's Goodwin out of the picture, someone like this could get snaps that he might not have otherwise. But I think Jalen Rager is someone that is obviously at this point ahead of the curve. You know, you get some of these wide outs that don't really pan out early.

And this is huge for the Eagles. You know, you get to Sean Jackson back too. a team that basically had 42 skill position players six feet under a year ago. Even worse, even more pressing or more important for the Eagles is this Miles Sanders whisper out there. He's week to week with a lower body injury. And this man was the key to their offense in the second half. I don't like the sound of it. ESPN reports that Sanders, quote, will be ready to play in week one.

Hopefully it's just one of those things where they're being safe and cautious, which makes a lot of sense. But then you, again, worry about the odd nature of this year and whether injuries are going to stick with players the way everything has been rolled out. Sanders was on the field for 72% of their snaps in the second half of last season and was a dynamo for them. They cannot afford with that wide receiver group, even if some of these guys pan out, Sanders not to have a similarly productive year. And he's a guy. I think everyone is expecting to be one of the clear lead type backs that he is going to be a fulcrum of their offense.

But you have to do it. You know, running back is one of those positions where it's like you got to see it. You got to see it before you believe it. He had 220 carries his last year, Penn State. So that's a pretty big workload. But he's never been that guy that's kind of been a best. El Cow type. There are fantasy drafts where he's going number one.

There is a belief in that he can do it. I don't think this is a serious injury at this point because the Eagles and other teams are basically just shelving anyone who get these lower body. There are people, wait, you're telling me, Mark, that there are people out there taking Miles Sanders first pick, first round? I'm not saying it's like happening all over the place, but I actually watched a show yesterday where that's,

that exact same thing happened. And it threw me because... You're getting into fantasy suddenly. Let's dive into this little. I'm hearing a little whispers about Mark Sessler. This is the time to prepare. You know, it's been a weird offseason where I thought maybe nothing would exist in October, November.

Well, suddenly, you know, we're two fortnights away from everything existing and probably being the only thing that exists in our life for six months. So you got to start doing the homework. You used to call the fantasy community a bunch of hobby horses like playing like a pretend game, but now you're watching like live stream draft, so it just feels like a big

180 degree turn. You know, I'm trying to change in better ways, but I also, I'd ask you this, is it bad to be a hobby horse playing a game? Hey, look, I never thought so. I love fantasy. It gave me a entry into this whole thing. Thank God for fantasy.

And let me neatly transition into a plug for the fantasy extravaganza, which returns to the Around the NFL podcast next Wednesday, and let me just say this, listeners, this will be the biggest extravaganza yet. That is a promise. No extravaganza in the history of A.T.N. Extravaganzas will ever approach what we're doing next week. Make sure you listen to that episode before you draft. Or don't even bother showing up. I could listen to you and say extravaganza all day.

It was a year ago during the extravaganza that you, um, you, um, you would, deemed me to go sit behind the glass. I wasn't even part of the show. I don't think you can pull that. You can't pull that move on me this time around. Could we put you in the waiting room of stream yards? Well, you probably could, or Erica could. So, you know, I should plan it.

I mean, why would we want to after this development that you're watching live streamed drafts? Can I jump in? Because I've got a real whisper that's in Philadelphia. It's connected. We're doing Eagles. I heard a little whisper And this is not someone that's with the team But after I sent out something

Talking about that whole Nate Sudfeld thing He might be the backup not Jalen Hertz Because they don't have a time I got a little whisper from someone connected That was like That's a bunch of public BS That Jalen Hertz is out there Impressing the heck out of this coaching staff and team

on a daily basis that Sun fell maybe shrinking from the pressure a little bit and that anything Peterson was saying publicly was a bunch of expectation lowering nonsense which likely that they love that they love them some Jalen Hertz early on a natural leader and an athletic marvel wow that's a good whisper that's like a legit whisper it was I meant to lead with that I think we whispered about Jalen Hertz on our network show if times. Did you guys hear that by the way? Why do you seem so scared? All I wanted to do is play with you. That is problematic. Who's voice? To the core. Let's let's let's uh let's head over to your neck of the woods, Mark Sess. I want to talk about the Cleveland Browns and this is not just

Cleveland Browns thing, but more a reminder of what's going on in our league right now. J.C. Treader, their starting center has a knee scope that they clear out some loose particles and so forth. There is positive vibes, rap sheet reported, that Treader will be ready or should be ready for week one. But the Browns, like my Jets and other teams out there, are really up against it if you're trying to gain a coherent feeling on your offensive line this summer. It's hard enough as it is. It's been, it's unheard of to imagine to get an offensive line. And you can play all the call of duty you want. I've read some notebooks that offensive linemen are finding other ways to bond,

group text chains with memes and everybody's becoming best friends. But you actually got to be on the field getting the work in to develop chemistry and know what the hell you're doing. So the Browns will use in his example. Treader may be back week one. Even if he's back week one, he's not practicing with the team right now. this is a Browns team that has new tackles on the right and left side and now a potential fifth round pick rookie Nick Harris, who's going to be picking up snaps at center in the pivot,

as they say, in the game. In the meantime, it's just a challenge for the Browns and other teams that are trying to get things figured out on a reworked offensive line. I think they have one secret weapon, and you're absolutely right because they like Nick Harris, but this was not the plan. They had a number of offensive linemen opt out, which really killed them at right guard. And you're asking Jedrick Wills, and we've talked about this a hundred times, I can't think of a tougher deal than a guy that played right tackle in college to go have to suddenly play left tackle. Again, three weeks ago, against a revamped Ravens defensive line and a Ravens defense that's going to come in and kick people's butts anyways. I think the secret

weapon is Bill Callahan. I mean, everywhere he goes, the offensive line really shines. And I watched an interview with him where he went on for about 45 minutes about each one of these guys. And barring injury, I do think they'll be much improved, but losing Treader who got a contract extension last year and totally deserved it, I don't like that situation at all. Or the idea that he gets in there too early. I mean, this is a huge concern and it would affect every part of the offense. Arguably the best offensive line coach of the last 10, 20 years, yeah. And yeah, Callahan is maybe the best in the game. But back to my point, he's still got to be on the field. guys got to be getting the reps it's going to be very it is going to be and i know i'm not the first

to make this point it is going to be sloppy those first few weeks especially week one i'm going to call right now we're going to have a record in um pre sap pre snap infractions they're going to be talking about that on the second monday night football game that's why you got joe judge making them run those laps speaking of which they they announced that the the lead at monday night football team is on the second Monday night game, while the Herb Street combo, Fowler, is on the first one. If you're a conspiracy theorist, it's kind of like, well, which team do you really want, you know, more? Which team?

So Steelers Giants gets Fowler in the Hurstreet. The bigger game is going to the college guys. It kind of raises the question of who's going to be there next year. I have a theory about that. Monday Night Football has been under so much fire for so long now that they probably want to get a big chunk of the East Coast audience to go to sleep after the Giants game so that the second team, if they don't thrive in week one out of the gate, there's a lot less eye balls on it. A little less pressure.

All right. I like that. Let's move on. Greg. All right. Let's go to Oakland where our friend, Victor Fur. It's been writing a lot of good stuff. How did we mispronounce his name before?

I remember we did. It's Tafel. It's Tafour. I'm going to check my... I'm pretty sure it's Tafor. So he was noting that Mariotta buzz coming from John Gruden's press conference was maybe a little overstated in retrospect. And he even prefaced this little note saying, here's one for the aggregators. And then noted how stiff...

He noted how stiff and not... great marcus mariotta looked throwing the football the first four or five days of uh training camp which makes sense because we've seen marcus mariotta throw throw the football and uh that if you were just watching these two guys you would not think there there's anything remotely close between derrick car uh and mariotta especially uh for a guy like car who's now been in that offense and is often very good in camp and should be good in camp and it's just it's just worth pointing out, a little nice whisper. Stunning. Tafer in a big spot.

Stunning that Marcus Marriota actually doesn't look that good as if we didn't get enough years of tape to concern that on our own. They are pumping up Henry Ruggs and Brian Edwards quite a bit. I mean, I know it's rookies and I know it's early, but I do think these guys will be playing, and I don't doubt that Henry Ruggs' speed is kind of un-otherworldly. So they are liking at least what they see so far in practice. from those guys. Mark, you're up. Well, I'll go to Buffalo. And I just am impressed with how

quickly the bills have put together a bunch of interesting skill position players where they were an empty cupboard, you know, two or three years ago. Running back. You've got Devin Singletary. Zach Moss is getting a lot of heat. Joe Biscaglia and Matthew Fairborn from the Art of the Athletic went off on how he has been sort of a physical berserker at the goal line. And basically saying if this continues out of practices and into the regular season, that you pair Moss, who is like a really thumper type running back with Singletary, and you've got something in the backfield that go along with the rebuilt wide receiver group. The same crew, though, has mentioned that I think the thing is with Josh Allen, and this is not a whisper, this is

just sort of like what we would expect to happen, is that he had a practice earlier in the week, I think it was Monday when Cole Beasley said he is making throws, completing throws, that he couldn't even attempt a year ago. But then on Tuesday, he was completely all over the math, according to some reports. So that's the Josh Allen experience, but there's a lot to like around him. And it does not dim my hopes for Buffalo as a potential AFC title team. AFC title. Title game.

I'm not saying they're going to win the game. I mean, if they get to the game, they can win it. I mean, if you're speaking, here's a little fantasy extravaganza teaser for you. do not hesitate to draft Josh Allen because he is going to be great in fantasy he's going to run the ball he's going to score touchdowns of his legs

he'll throw 20 to 24 more but geez I don't put too much into these practices right now everything's so out of whack but geez yeah I don't either I do I think hey early fantasy stuff don't be hesitant to draft single Terry

I know Moss is there and he's going to steal some touchdowns and maybe that helps I think Mons too. Bump Singletary's value down a little bit. But Devin Singletary is a special talent. We'll see if Zach Moss is. And if he gets more work, which he should, forget it. Why are you eating the microphone, Greg?

Give it to me, microphone. It doesn't sound good or look good, actually. That just became the social clip. All right, let's cycle through quickly a couple more guys each, Greg. All right. I want to give Jason Verrett a little shout out. I mentioned the 49ers secondary. could be a problem.

Jason Verrett has only played one healthy season in the NFL. So this comes with a major asterisk. But there's some whispers in San Francisco that he kind of looks like the old guy that we used to see with the Chargers and that he's getting first team snaps. And he would be a major boost for them. Even if they got 500, 700 snaps out of him, I don't know if he's going to start or not. They should try to be careful. But he was a dynamic player.

I mean, he was a pro bowler. I thought he was maybe an all-pro quality player. That was five years ago now. So it's asking a lot. The guy has not been healthy, but he's just a name we kind of forgot existed on the 49ers, and he might be playing. You're obsessed with the 49ers right now, Greg. And I like it, Mark.

Mark. All right. I will just say, I think the early rookie of the year race to me is getting exciting because up in Detroit, D'Andre Swift has been doing it all. Tim 20man saying that he's been great, not only as a runner, but on passing downs, which means, you know, if you're Kerry on Johnson, I don't know what the role will be there, but I love DeAndre Swift. And then what if he goes up against Jonathan Taylor,

who the Colts are at this point now where they're putting clips of Jonathan Taylor weaving through the defense to classical music? They love him, and I think that he's going to have a huge role in a pretty young but exciting offense. Let's circle back to the Detroit Lions. T.J. Hawkinson, the 2019 first round pick,

acknowledge this week that his ankle is still not quite 100% after sustaining a season-ending injury last November. remember Hawkinson going off in his NFL debut last September for 131 yards. But then he just kept getting hurt a bunch of injuries and then the ankle injury that ended his season. You hope that his lower half is right or close to completely right by the time games start. Because if he could build on his chemistry with Matthew Stafford, an already solid Detroit offense gets that much better. but it is fair now to be concerned that the ankle that wrecked is 2019 could impact his 2020.

Sorry, Patra. I'm going to throw out one in the same division, Minnesota. A name I haven't seen a lot, you know, getting buzzed this off-season is Irv Smith of the Vikings. Hit it. Let's hear it for the little girl. Why do you seem so scared? All I wanted to do is play with you. Please be scared of this Viking's offense.

Irv Smith can be dynamic. He's one of a bunch of second year guys who I think can be really exciting. They're using him a little bit more as receiver. He's a guy if you waited until the end of fantasy drafts. Too much fantasy info here that I'd be excited to take. But he seems to be flashing. Maybe it's taking Justin Jefferson, the rookie a little longer to get up to speed than you would want. But to me, Irv Smith might be the number two receiver in that team behind Adam Thiel.

I got one for you real quick. Well, I just go down to Miami. I didn't expect, you know, Tua to start right away necessarily. I think it's because Chan Galey is there and they know Ryan Fitzpatrick so well, the two of them, that it's going to be Fitsy. But there were some whispers. I read some things here in there that even Josh Rosen has at times looked a little more with it and better than Tua. That's how you know it's camp. I mean, I don't know.

Well, it means, so it means it's a whisper. It's not a news report, but it's a little whisper out there. I still think Tua, you know, probably by week four. they're going to want to see what he can do. Ben Ralthusberger is throwing with some, quote, nice velocity, according to the athletic. His throwing motion appears that have changed. Mark Koboli, Kabali, who's, I think, been at it for a long time with the Steelers.

Big check guy, often on the DDFP, I feel like. There you go. Caboli said he noticed it, especially later in practice. So it's throwing motion a little bit different, more of a, quote, whip action, almost like Philip Rivers-esque. So I don't know what that means. It's just a whisper. But Ben Rothesberger with a Philip Rivers-type arm sounds like a total disaster.

But we'll see if he could still play the guitar after tearing three elbow ligaments last September. I think it's interesting because I read all that. And, you know, he said it was especially at the end of practice. Short Army. That's concerning. Short-arming, but then I went to NFL.com, and that's my employer, so I think they do a wonderful job. And the top video was Big Ben lobs deep dimes at Heinz Field and training camps. So it's like, we've got a couple different storylines clashing here.

I mean, is it that, or is he short-arming Philip Rivers? I mean, you guys have been to some of these, or, you know, we've been together to these Rams early practices and stuff. And seeing them live, you do realize how much you're putting your faith into the reporter recording, like, hot takes off of this stuff. Because I think most people watching it would be like, oh, there was some practice. You got to really know what you're watching. And you know what? A guy like Mark Caboli has been going for 20 plus years and is a real football head.

No's Big Ben. You know it. And you respect it. And that's why it's one of the whispers. But then you got to be careful. There's some other cities. There's some other sources. Maybe you don't want to put as much stock into.

And speaking of the Steelers. Whispers. Uh-oh. Whispers. and whispers, whispers. Adi Kinkabwala, who does great coverage of the AFC North and the Steelers for NFL Network. I believe she'll be joining us around the NFL broadcast on NFL Network on Saturday morning. So stay tuned for that.

We'll almost certainly be asking her about Big Ben and other matters concerning the black and gold. Black and yellow? Black and yellow. Black and gold? Black and yellow. Black and yellow, that's a song. Well, I have a different name for them, but I'll, I'll accept that. Your daddy?

Basically. Since 2000, yes. All right, that closes the whispers for now. But I'm sure we'll bring back some whispers before the season kicks off again, because that's a good way to, you know, to see what's going on out there. because we are now, it's legit. And I loved, I really loved the most recent episode of Hard Knocks, how they really did manage to show you the enthusiasm and the excitement and the joy,

to be real honest with you. That was coming out of those buildings as they actually put on helmets and shoulder pads and we're running all over the field and hitting each other, rubbing their bodies against one another, as Greg would say. So it's good. It's good. felt it almost felt a little bit normal watching hard knocks when they're just going through a practice and some poor undrafted rookie is getting absolutely obliterated for being

overweight and it is like okay this feels normal normalcy is not a bad thing in 2020 right it was like kind of slow pace but it was a little it kind of reminded me of like football ASMR you know it's just like kind of pleasant to have football things happening you know with the sounds and everything on the TV. It didn't have to have a lot of like juice, you know, or big like, you know, um, plot points. I mean, you want to, you know, want to fall asleep, talk to Jared Goff while playing golf for a few more minutes, but I mean, the rest of it was just sort of like pleasant to have there. I, I like that. I like the episode a lot just because it really did feel like a slice of life. Like they kind of accomplished what the show sets out to do,

which is taking you behind the scenes to what it's like there. And that, I, I think exactly, I think they got that across. Go ahead, Mark. Yeah, I think the contrast to, like, what we were dealing with with the Oakland Raiders a year ago and Antonio Brown, which was, you know, a massive news story unfolding. I don't, you know, with this, and I'd like to see what they do with Melvin Gordon next week. They're both very likable teams. And I've been harsh on the L.A. teams, but I've grown fonder of them this week, especially.

I didn't like last week's episode very much. But the whole, like, Andrew Whitworth thing, finding out how Corona spread through. his family and him like sort of calling out his nanny on HBO, I thought, was a next level move. He did not call out. He did not call her out. He actually went out of his way to say he didn't blame her for it, but he told the story that it started over a lunch date. Her name has ever appeared on television. She's probably not, you know, there could be other circumstances, but I thought also the Seth Ryan, Rex Ryan's son thing was fascinating to watch because it from another corona angle where like there's this decision made or, you know, results come in and

then is it true, is it not? And like, but the whole idea that Seth Ryan materialized, which makes so much sense because, you know, Anthony Lynn and Rex Ryan are super tight, and it makes sense that Seth Ryan would show up there. But I thought there was a lot to like in the episode. Speaking of Beat reporters, anyone that's a Jets fan that keeps up with the team,

back in the golden ears of Rex and the Jets, it was a very popular notebook item that Mark Sanchez would attend a lot of Rex's son's football games, high school football games. So it's just funny how the passage of time, now that high school kid is Seth Ryan, who's a centerpiece of an episode of Hard Knocks for a false positive coronavirus test. I wish we had more Ryan's. It's good to have some Ryan lineage still in the league, but we got to get Uncle Rob back in the league. I know he's doing great stuff at Sky Sports.

I mean, we're working with him. And Rex would be great too. That would be fun. No, we need, I want Rob coaching on the sidelines and not just as a linebacker coach. I want him as a D.C. and swaggering up and down the sidelines of the flowing silver hair and the belly and just being completely in control of his domain. I want that, Rob. Well, that means we can't have beer with our Rob. So I like the latter where he's just in London with us somewhere, you know. And that would take away if he, if he left Sky, I think he's Neil Reynolds's best friend. So we can't do that. We couldn't do that. All right.

Good stuff, guys. We'll be back on Friday. A lot coming up this week. We'll have our news edition, rundown edition of the Around the NFL podcast. And then also we'll be taping our Around the NFL broadcast that you could check out on Friday afternoon on NFL.com and then Saturday morning on the network.

So everyone can see it if they like. All right. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm. Yo boss Ricky Hollywood There she is Wondering where she's been

Hi Until Friday Hey, Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down. college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluate team building philosophies,

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