NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Cowboys-Eagles NFL Kickoff Recap!

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to recap the Eagles and Cowboys opening the 2025 NFL season on Thursday Night Football. Gregg and Shook react to the play from Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense (00:30), followed by a deep dive into Jalen Carter's disqualification and 'Spitgate' (06:10), and chats about the Eagles offense (09:00), and Jihaad Campbell (17:18). After the break, some quick news including Amari Cooper retiring (26:00) and Christian McCaffrey's status going into Week 1 (29:50). Note: time codes approximate. NFL 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. The ball at the 45. Prescott lines them up. Motion to the near side. Turpin. Bonn. He's faking the blitz. No, he's coming. Back goes Prescott. He's going deep down the foreside of the field. And it's incomplete. intended for Lamb who goes for the football and he could not hold on as he crashed to the turf

and the Eagles take over on down a weird highlight for a weird game 24 to 20 the Eagles kick off the season the same way they ended last season with the victory but man it looked different

it looked weird we had an ejection before a play from scrimmage We had a Dack Prescott touchdowns saving tackle. We had more Jalen Hertz scrambled touchdowns than we had all of last season. And yes, we had an hour and four minute lightning delay, which turned one of the best offensive games you would ever want to see to a complete offensive no-show.

And it ends with a CD-Lam drop. His fourth of the game and the Eagles escape a strange opening night that we will not forget. I will not forget the start of this season because I'm doing it with Nick Shook. going to be doing it on all the primetime games all season. Welcome, Nick. What stands out to you out of this game? It's an often used phrase. Oh, it was a tale of two halves. Well, it was a tale of two and a half quarters and then a quarter and a half sandwiched around an hour long weather delay. Talk about completely different games. I mean, an offensive display from both

teams, punters got the whole first half off. They come out of the break and it just dies. And it just becomes not so much a defensive game, but just a battle of attrition that the Eagles ultimately win. And there's really a lot to unpack from this game. I know we're going to get into all of it because there are many layers to this game. And a great example of how week one doesn't tell the story of a whole season for a team, but it can give us some peaks into what it might look like. Right. So I love that you said it that way because to me, this was a window into what I think is going to be a different sort of Eagle season. And we even talked about it in the preseason. I think if you look at the defensive talent,

overall, I think they're going to take a step back and they're going to need their offense to make up for it. And what we didn't expect tonight was that the Cowboys offense would be totally up for the challenge to go toe to toe with that Eagles offense. There was zero puns, as you mentioned, there was zero stops for the first two quarters and 10 minutes. And then the biggest play of the game, ultimately, was a fumble by Miles Sanders when the Cowboys are in the red zone, and that set up the DAC tackle that saved a touchdown. That was the very last play before the lightning delay. At that point, we had had eight straight drives with a score, then that fumble. Afterwards, we had five straight punts, and then the turnover on downs that you heard the CD Lamb

drop end. And so, you know, they were two completely different games, but I was really struck by how well Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense moved the ball in that first section. And I do think it's okay for us to divide up the sections a little bit. And I'll start there. And I noticed by the end of the game shook, like the Eagles kept their defensive linemen on the field that you just wouldn't expect the entire game. So it was a Jomo, the defensive tackle, like playing more snaps than he's ever played. Nolan Smith, not leaving the field at all. Jordan Davis, who didn't really have a great night, not leaving the field at all. Jalick's Hunt, who's going to be a big time player for this year, like leaving the field occasionally and having a nice night. And it's these guys being asked to really

step up in ways that they hadn't before. And then the second cornerback spot, which we talked about all offseason, uh, Adori Jackson just getting flamed over and over and over. And I know it sounds like we're starting negative on this Eagles defense, but as much as I want to, you know, criticize them for struggling early, they got the stops late with a little fortune. And I want to give the Cowboys credit on offense too that they were making that Eagles defense look bad. Yeah. If you're watching on YouTube, you'll see I have this notepad here. One of my first notes is Adory Jackson is getting absolutely cooked by the Cowboys. And it didn't matter who they were targeting. I mean, early in this game, I was just thinking, oh God. Like, this was kind of

an unique situation because Jalen Carter excuses himself from the game by spitting it, Dak Prescott, you know, before the first play from scrimmage. But that changes the entire complexity of the game because then they don't, they can't get that interior pass rush. They have to lean more on the secondary and it immediately exposes how the losses that they had in their secondary could be a weakness for them. And then it kind of unfolds from there. Two things I really took away from the first half where I see the vision with Brian Schottenheimer's offense. This Cowboys his offense is better than I expected it to be. Even Javante Williams was better than I expected him to be.

And also, they may just have to be this team all year because I'm not sure that this defense is going to hold up against some of the better offensive teams. I think it was Dave Helman from The Athletic tweeted, they're essentially the Cincinnati Bengals with a star on their helmet. I mean, that's like a good, that's a good case scenario for them. I would feel good about that Cowboys over eight wins

that I went head-to-head with Nick Wright. That was before the Parsons trade, but I'm standing by it, and I still feel okay because, yeah, if you have a quarterback that is as advanced mentally as Doc Prescott, and he saw a lot of what was coming in this game and made the right decisions

and was not afraid to make difficult throws, and the lamb drops really killed multiple drives. I mean, two second half after the lightning delay drives basically were ended by dimes by Dak Prescott that C.D. Lamb dropped. And I was really impressed with him on this night. And you mentioned the Jalen Carter ejection. And I alluded to it right off the top that that happens before there's a play. And Eagles fans will, I think, hold on to that for the next 10 days before their week two game. And they'll think, okay, that's the reason everything went haywire. And it is a big reason. He is the most important player in this game.

in this side of the ball for the Eagles. And so let's start a little bit with Spitgate. He spits in Dak Prescott's face, gets tossed after the kickoff where unfortunately the Eagles loses a good special teamer, Ben Van Sumeran, to what looked like a serious injury. He's getting carded.

The two sides are kind of jawing back and forth. At the time he gets ejected, we did not know that there was a first spitter. and that first spitter was Dak Prescott. Good job by the NBC crew unveiling the tape after we came back from the lightning delay. It was kind of dramatic and showing that actually they were jawing at each other.

Jalen Carter was over the line of scrimmage and was he all by himself kind of near the Cowboys' offensive line and Dak, and the cameras caught Dak just kind of spitting into the ground, but he did step forward, was kind of looking at Jalen Carter, spit into the ground, And to be fair, he's like five feet away from Jalen Carter at this time.

But he spits into the ground. He's talking to Jalen Carter. We don't know what he said at this time. And he's got a big grid on his face. And then Carter walks right up to him, gets face to face, and spits on the man, which you just can't do. You got to have to have a code. I don't think the ejection was out of bounds.

I think there's an absolute chance that Jalen Carter gets suspended. And that back and forth. And maybe it was Dak Prescott, you know, breaking out his inner Chaunty Gardner Johnson, being kind of a starter there. You know, you know, a shitster, as it were. Sorry, Eric, to give you more work to edit on what's going to be a long night. But he gets Jalen Carter their best player out of the game.

And they never really seem to recover defensively. Well, it's like they highlighted immediately on the broadcast. This changes the Cowboys' entire game plan because now they can attack the middle of the Eagles front. And Brian Schottnheimer called a lot of runs in the A gap. He was targeting the interior of that defensive line. on the ground plenty often in that first drive. And it kept that offense really balanced and allowed them to move the football pretty much at will throughout the first half.

But I also wonder if we'd never hit that weather delay, would we have ever gotten this footage? Would it be treated like the Zapruder film? And how does this factor into how the league suspends Jalen Carter additionally? I'm curious to see how that unfolds. That's a great point, Chuck, because if the flow of the game, I don't think we get that. They had time to go back and look at that. Even then, it was after they spent like 45 minutes talking about, you know,

how Michael Jordan's, you know, impacted Jalen Hertz's life. I mean, you know, Chris Collinsworth and Torrico and the entire NBC crew was, you know, earning their money, just spinning their wheels. Meanwhile, I'm over watching a great Naomi Osaka match. I mean, that's what the real ball knowers were doing at that point. I mean, at that point, what's there to do? The football game's not happening. Okay, we talk about how great the Cowboys offense started.

And I thought it was a bad sign, though, shook, that they started the game. touchdown, touchdown, field goal, and then another field goal on like a 45 second end of the half. Good drive by Dak Prescott to get some points before the drop the end of the half. And yet, despite how perfect that half was, it was a 99 percentile success rate half according to Shield Capadia over at the ringer. They were actually trailing at half time. So they had more possessions. They had a perfect offensive half essentially and they were trailing at half time. And that felt like a bad sign for the Cowboys defense. You got to, to give Hertz and this offense and Sequin Barclay and even Jahan Dotson some credit for how

the Eagles offense answered every score that the Cowboys offense had in the first half of this game. Yeah. I mean, if you look at, I mean, Dotson had a great catch late in the first half as well. But I also think that it's going to fuel the narrative. And I think this narrative would have been even stronger in the days to come if the second half followed the course of the first half, which would have been the Cowboys trade away, their best defensive player. And then they can't stop a nosebleed against their rivals on the opening and kickoff night. And then because it ground to a halt, people kind of forgot about that. But I think it also kind of highlighted the difference in these teams,

the difference in how the Cowboys strengths are basically how they have to move the football. They have to basically air it out the entire game. And I think it gave Dak Press got a lot of credit. Granted, it was two different halves. You can't blame this one on Dak. Like, he played a great game, especially in the second half. it's going to be interesting to see how

they're perceived after just one game. Okay, I mean, perception, whatever. I don't care about the perception. These two teams could not have been more even to me throughout the entire game. I mean, the Eagles won. Good job by them. The second that that fumble happened,

that was the biggest play of the game. But when we broke for the lightning delay, which again went an hour and four minutes, the stats were almost entirely even in every respect, yardage, yards per play, basically everything. And I give the Cowboys credit actually for staying balanced on offense, even though Dak Prescott was getting the big plays and even got a big pass interference to George Pickens,

that was called on Quinnion Mitchell, who stayed on Pickens early in the game, eventually went over to C.D. Lamb a little bit, but for the most part, it was burnt toast with the Dory Jackson going up against C.D. Lamb. But the Eagles offense, like I mentioned, And they were just methodical and Hertz was scrambling so much. He ends up as the leading rusher in this game shook with 62 yards on the ground,

two touchdowns. He did not have a scrambled touchdown all of last year. I think you have to go back to like October of 2023 to find a scramble touchdown for him. And so whenever he couldn't find his first read, he was taking off with his legs and it was working. And ultimately, I mentioned that 99 percentile success rate that the, the Cowboys had in terms of comparing it to other NFL teams and offenses before the lightning delay, the Eagles had that too. You know, they would have basically had two of the best games. Any offenses have had all of last season through that point in the game, they were essentially

pitching a shutout. And so even though Hertz wasn't getting to the outside, wasn't getting to AJ Brown, who didn't have a target until late, they can just beat you so many different types of ways. And ultimately, they do deserve a little bit of credit for scoring all those points. And then finally, at the very end of the game, getting a first down that sealed it. Yeah, it's a bad time for me to rank Jalen Hertz outside of the top 10 in the QB index. So I know Eagles fans are going to come from me

because he carried this offense, especially in the first half. Every play that they made moving the ball down the field, whether it was through the air or with his legs, it was all centered on Jalen Hertz. And you're right. It's a great example of how, I don't even care if you win the Super Bowl,

how no two teams are the same from year to year, because this was not their identity last year. And in fact, in the fourth quarter, I'm just waiting for Sequin to be the same closer that he was last year. And he had some nice plays and everything, but it wasn't him. Third down, fourth down, you got to get a first down. You're out of touch push range. You line up five wide and Jalen Hurst takes off for a scramble for a first down. Because that was their most successful play was a scramble.

They knew that that was on the docket. Yes, and I have to give a lot of credit to new O.C. Kevin Petullo because there was a period in this game where after the delay, I don't know what happened to Matt Eberflus. If he went in the locker room and just got really pissed off or something, but he came out with pure aggression in his play calling on that first series. Blitz is on second and third down, stacks the box with eight on first down, basically saying you're not finishing us with Sequin. We're not letting you get out from deep in your own territory. We are going to fight all the way to the end. And for a sequence there, Petulah didn't really have an answer for that blitz.

But when it came down to crunch time, he turned to his best player on offense, who wears number one, who is the quarterback, and asked him to go get the win. And he did. And that is a huge feather in the cap of the Eagles offense as they evolved from year to year. And it makes in that much more dangerous because we know how talented they are. They also had to deal with an injury to land in Dickerson, by the way, at left guard. Tooth comes in to replace him. They largely don't miss a beat except for when they were dealing with some pressures. It's an example of resilience with this Eagles team.

They've been there. They've done that. They know how to win these close games and they did it tonight. Yeah, Dickerson's back injury is something to watch. He looked like he was struggling with it before the lightning break and then afterwards he was not able to continue. And yeah, when they came back from the break, they got four more drives. and they went three and out.

They had an 11 play drive where they got three first downs but ultimately had to punt and then they went three and out again. So they weren't able to close the game. You're right, it's absolutely different. And I was about to send one of those tweets out and I'm glad I didn't thinking like,

this is zooming towards worst defensive performance of the Vic Fangio era. And that's how it was trending for a while. When the Cowboys were in the Red Zone, that was about when I was about to send it. And then it did flip. But by the numbers, that actually was the worst half of football defensively that they had, you know, compared to all of last year under Vic Fangio.

And then, you know, they got it together, got more pressure on Dak Prescott. And I'm glad you mentioned the Iber Flues changing his strategy because ultimately I don't think this Cowboys defense is talented enough up front. I, you know, I've been talking about their depth edge. It didn't really show up tonight. Azaraku was quiet. I thought Marsha on Nealon plays really hard and made a bunch of plays. Dante Fowler had like one good pressure.

But ultimately, Sam Williams was kind of all over the place. They're not great overall up front. Odigizu was okay. But after the break, they had not blitzed at all before it shook, and they blitz six times after it. And the pressure rate for both quarterbacks went from very low before the break to sky high afterwards. So it really was two different games.

Maybe it's a lesson for the Cowboys that, look, they're going to have to scheme up some pressure. They're going to have to be creative. And there were positives to take from this game, including that Trevon Diggs played a lot of this game. Not every snap by any means. He was a part-time rotational player, but that was a plus that he got to get out there and play. He was healthy enough to, you know, be used on one of those blitzes in that first series after the delay. I want to keep saying after halftime, but it wasn't after half-time. It is after the delay, though.

I know it's like, it's a very strange game to talk about and to analyze. because it was completely two different games. I know Eric, you know, is back there. He said he's up watching it. And I feel that it's like all of America is having a great time. Then this happens. And then the vibes are just weird and off. And the game is off afterwards.

It's just one of those things. Yeah, I want to spotlight a couple of guys because obviously the news last week, the Michael Parsons being traded. Kenny Clark comes to Dallas in that deal. Had a couple of moments. What I really noticed after the delay was the Cowboys started to win up front. Now, obviously not enough to win the game. but they did start to get a little bit of a surge.

Clark was in on one of those with Neeland for that sack of Jalen Hurts. And I was like, oh, there is, okay, he makes a play there. And on the other side of the ball or the other sideline, Jehad Campbell, who is my defensive rookie of the ear pick, by the way, great game. Flashed, made key plays, forced to fumble. He forced that Miles Sanders fumble that turned the game in more toward the Eagles favor. Continue to keep an eye on him. He's going to be a big part of this defense, especially if they aren't quite as strong

up front as they were last year and if they have issues in the secondary, they're going to lean on those linebackers more, and he's a really nice compliment to Zach Bond. I can't believe it took us almost 20 minutes to get to Jahad Campbell. I mean, I got 15 texts from our friend Jordan Rodrigue about it. Just kidding. I mean, it was like two, but we're excited about Campbell and him running down the post in the middle of the field in coverage. And he got beat on one of the plays where it ended up being a penalty, not on him, but that Dak Prescott was trying to get a touchdown. But he made an incredible play in coverage on another. And the thing that really struck me was, like, he didn't leave the field.

Zach Bond played literally every single snap of the game. But Jehad Campbell played 51 out of 56 snap. So that is what every team is looking for. To have two linebackers that they can actually keep on the field that can make a difference as pass rushers in run defense and they both made plays in coverage tonight. Like, that is some special stuff. And I think we're going to look back and wonder, how did Campbell and Josh Simmons slip to 31 and 32? The two teams that made the Super Bowl last year and I like that defensive rookie of the year

picked by you. We'll see about Abdul Carter. There'll be other guys. But man, what a strong first statement by your boy, Jehide Campbell, today. Also, a peek into the Eagles,

maybe not being as deep defensively as they were in previous years because of attrition, because guys leave in free agency. With these rotations or lack they're of. Like a ton of guys played a ton of snaps as we've already talked about. And I think I worry about their depth

over the course of a season. Like Sidney Brown gets a little dinged up tonight and Andrew McCuva has to come in and replace him. I worry about their depth at the second and third level. But that's, I mean, that's football. And they'll figure out ways to do it. But it was interesting that they did not rotate a lot of guys tonight. All right.

Let's take a quick break. We're going to come back. We will wrap up our thoughts on the Cowboys and Eagles. We'll have a couple quick, surprising, but important items of news. And then we'll send you on your way. We're here late at Chris Westlings. podcast studio.

Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my.

We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly. what you're going to get. Listen to NFL cover zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters.

Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year.

Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding. finding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back on NFL Daily, Philadelphia Eagles, 1 and 0 on the season. Dangerous, you know, situation. for the Cowboys because I think they'll take a moral victory tonight. I think their

fans are going to feel better. They're actually going to get like a lot of hats on the back. I'm always wary of a moral victory, especially in week one. Like it doesn't really do you that much good. But we did see some positives. And one of those positives, I think you mentioned it earlier, was Brian Schottenheimer's play calling. And I think the organization in general on offense, they looked cohesive, they looked intelligent, they looked aggressive. One of my favorite play calls was on my third and short, Dak Prescott deep to C.D. Lamb. Third down and one to go. Prescott under center, two tied ends,

gets the snap, bakes the handoff, prox back seven, blitz is on, long spiral, near side, caught at the five, down to the three on the sideline, is C.D. Lamb. It's first and gold, Dallas, out of bounds, near the two of Philadelphia on a 30-yard beautiful strike, first in goal Dallas. Dak Prescott's PFF grade is going to be so high in this game. Oh, yeah.

So many dimes. And he had so many moments where he just subtly stepped up in the pocket. And that was one of them. He was just giving me Peyton Manning vibes tonight just because no one was more accurate than Peyton Manning. And even if he didn't have the biggest arm in the world, that guy has a good arm. But on those deep passes, it's just like they'd get there in the perfect amount of time.

Sometimes it'd be a little bit of a hospital ball and you might get a penalty that happened tonight too. But he was really reminding me of that. But I really wanted to point that play out. not only to get Kevin Harlan in the show. Love that guy. So happy that he's, you know, in my mind, part of the show for the 2025 season

after joining us in the off season. I just like the play call. That was one of many calls shook tonight where they had a short-yarded situation and they went deep. So they didn't go too crazy pass-heavy, but they used motion. They had the condensed formations.

I thought they attacked the Eagles in a very intelligent way. Yeah, a certain level of organization execution that I don't think we've seen from the Cowboys in recent years, even with Mike McCarthy calling plays and everything else. They just, they were very sharp in what they wanted to execute. I think that starts in the offensive line. Of course,

I'm going to highlight Tyler Booker. I'm going to highlight the rest of the group that they have up front, but he was good. In his first game in the NFL, he was good. This is a very strong unit across the board. And so it starts there. You have protection. You're able to feel as if you can take those risks. I think on that play specifically, I was like, oh, no,

why are you throwing? Because I'm conditioned to think of the Cowboys in the past, not of this Brian Schottenheimer Cowboys where they're in a motion of tight end and then run like an inverted split zone and that's going to pick up yards up the middle. Now granted, of course, Carter wasn't in the game so they felt like they could take advantage of that. But the diversity and the balance of this offense, I think is going to propel this team, especially if we worry about their defense. Basically what I'm saying is the Cowboys are going to put up a lot of points this year. They're going to be fun to watch. I just don't know how many games they're going to win. Yeah, I think if you're a Cowboys fan and don't think Nick,

you, you know, slip back to that, uh, inverted, you know, split zone by me without noticing I'm, I'm getting like, oh, this is some real football talk. Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. It's like one in the morning on the East Coast where you are, uh, Cowboys fans have to be excited about the running game in this because there were questions. Jaden Blue, their rookie was actually inactive for the game. I think a healthy scratch. And yet they had a 62% design run success rate tonight, which is astronomically high. It's, it's incredible. You know, that would be, you know, be an all-time record. Like the Eagles were at 46%, which is very good.

But the Cowboys actually ran it on a consistent basis better than the Eagles tonight. And that was Giovante Williams and they weren't big plays. It was Miles Sanders who did have the one big play, but also the fumble. He had a 49-yard run and the fumble. But they got Cavante Turpin involved. He had four touches in this game. And so it was kind of move the chains type of football. And I've been talking all off.

season that the offensive line has a higher ceiling than people think. If they come together, it's a bunch of young players, most of whom were drafted very early, playing together. And I think they have to feel good. Before we move on from this game, is there anything on the Eagle side that you want to hit? I do want to give Jordan Milata and Lane Johnson some credit for just looking for the two most, like the two most dominant guys in this game. So I don't want to totally look past them. And if you're an AJ Brown fantasy owner or Devonty Smith fantasy owner who combined for 24 yards, I wouldn't panic. It was a weird game. And I don't think that's going to continue. No, no, I mean, week one is, we think that it can, you know, give us a, like we said at the

start of the show, a window into how a team might look. But also, it is the perfect, it's the most fertile land for overreaction. Like everybody's going to come out. I'm going to overreact. And overreact like crazy. So everybody can, you know, cool their jets a little bit. The only things I wanted to note is I do want to know, you know, in the coming days or hopefully not weeks, the status of Landon Dickerson, because the Eagles, just like to be talked about the Cowboys Offensive Line being so important to them, the Eagles offense is predicated on the performance of their offensive line, as is the case for most teams, but especially this team and how they like to run the football with Saconne Barclay. I mean, you don't want Jalen Hurts having to do what

he did tonight every game because eventually teams are going to game plan for that. You're going to go somewhere else and you're going to need time to throw. So, I am hoping that they get good news on Dickerson so they can retain the interior three. They're already playing Tyler Steen as the new starter at right guard after losing Mackay Beckett in the off season. So I just want to keep an eye on that. But Eagles fans can feel good about this win tonight.

They're one and no, and that's all you could ask for. Oh, it's the perfect Eagles result because they're going to complain. They're going to treat it like a loss. They're going to freak out, but they actually get the win over the Cowboys that they get to celebrate.

It's absolutely perfect all around. All right. Let's get to just a couple. items that I did want to mention before we start getting ready for our YouTube live show Friday night, by the way. Everyone check. Shuki and I out. I will be back home and we will be on YouTube live for the Brazil game. Chiefs and Chargers. We'll try to get going a few minutes after the final whistle. We will be ready. So look for the links in our socials, Twitter, blue sky, all the places. And yeah, you can set up a reminder on YouTube for that.

I thought this week, Chuck, when I assigned myself Raiders Patriots, that I was going to watch a little Amari Cooper. That is not going to happen. Amari Cooper has retired from the NFL, which maybe, you know, tells me why he was sitting out there as a free agent for so long. Like I was really castigating myself for ranking him way too high on my free agent rankings and he probably was a little too high but maybe the game just just ain't in him no more like he's done

he came back and it was not for him yeah I mean usually when you retire that's the case but look you're you're a glass half fool kind of guy you're an aspirational thinker and I was kind of on board with you unless you looked between the lines at his last season which was the surehanded receiver

who ran very polished routes and was super dependable started to kind of fall apart. He started dropping passes in Cleveland. He goes to Buffalo. He catches a touchdown pass his first game. Everybody's cheering, what a great trade for the bills. And then he fades into the background.

He's only, you know, he only has one more touchdown catch in a blowout win, I believe, over the Jeff late in the season. I think his only other notable play was tossing it back to Josh Allen on that crazy play in the snow for a Josh Allen touchdown.

And that kind of suggested what ultimately was his final result in the NFL, which is that, yeah, he's done. Like, he's moving on. The reporting from our instance, Siders today was that he, you know, he signed last week. And in the ramp up process, which is a week is incredibly short to get ready for an NFL

game, even if you're staying in shape, he felt as if he couldn't ramp up quick enough to play and didn't have it in him anymore. So respect to you, you want to walk away from the game before the game pushes you out. And he's kind of doing a little bit of both here. He had a heck of a career. I mean, I think he had 6,000 yard receiving seasons. He should have had more Pro Bowl nods than he did. one of the more underrated receivers of his generation

and a guy that we're going to look back on and think quiet about his business but pretty consistent had a good career. Yeah, when he was good, he was great. He just would pop up for months at a time and seasons at a time and then he'd kind of step back into the background. But yeah, it was of course Cuddy.

The great, like one of my favorite characters from the Wire who just had to tell Avon, like the game ain't in me. no more, you know, none of it. And that was, that was Amari Cooper. And it leaves the Raiders a little shorthanded. I know they have a lot of receiving weapons when you include their two tight ends and Ash and Gentie, and I still really like them, but they signed them because they wanted some receiver depth. They usually, they literally only have four receivers on their roster right now. And one of them is the rookie Jack Bess, who has reportedly struggled in training camp. And I don't think they were going to give much of a role to. So they were hoping Cooper would

help out on the outside with Dante Thornton and he'd have Jacoby Myers. on the inside, but that that's not going to happen any longer. No, Amari Cooper. Nick Benito signed a big contract with the Broncos. I had ranked him as the number one potential unrestricted free agent for 2026. Since I wrote that article, six days ago, I think it posted, three of the top 12 players have signed contracts. So that, you know, that's what happens. Luke Getakie, Duran Bland. And now the number one player, Nick Benito, are they reading my free agent list? And then saying, hey, we better sign these guys. Maybe. Who really knows? The news I wanted to ask you

about, which to me, a little worrisome, and maybe this will turn outdated, but Christian McCaffrey was added to the injury report as limited with a calf on Thursday. This came out of nowhere. The thing that I really noticed, Shook, was they did not make him available

for a regularly scheduled media appearance. And so if someone in your league didn't already rushed to go get Brian Robinson or he wasn't drafted, you should do that right now. I actually in a fancy draft on Monday was cooking dinner and had queued Brian Robinson for a late round pick and then forgot that he was at the top of my cue

and I got auto-drafted him way too early. So maybe I'll look like a genius in the end. But, okay, when it comes to Christian McCaffrey, I think a guy who's limited on an injury report wouldn't incite a lot of panic with most fan bases and most players. But the 49ers fans had to feel like it's Groundhog Day because this is essentially exactly what happened last year.

We thought he was going to play week one. suddenly he's not even dressed it drags out he finally comes back he gets hurt with a different injury and ends a season prematurely this is a guy with a documented history of injuries throughout his career it's been i mean for lack of a better term i guess his achilles heel throughout his entire career has been this and anytime that a calf issue which is what sideline him early last year comes back into the picture you can't help but worry and this is a niners team that went out and signed brian robinson because kyle shanahan just flat out said we needed better depth at running back. Well, now you really need depth if he can't play. So you keep your fingers

crossed that he's going to be okay. But we have enough history to know to take this stuff seriously with Christian McCaffrey. It just makes you worried of all players to see that. This might turn into a completely ridiculous conversation when CMC gets 160 yards this Sunday and looks fine. But I just thought I would note that another injury news, Christian Kirk was reported to not be available by ESPN that they expect that he is going to be out. So I'm curious. who the Texans end up using some of those rookie receivers. Man, fun night, weird night. We got some answers.

Cooper Dejean, he's staying in the slot. He's staying in the nickel. They're not going to use them at outside corner. They're going to watch Adory Jackson and Jacori and Bennett, you know, get flamed. Nick Siriani, still got the magic touch. You know, I would have flamed. I would have roasted him for, you know, getting a little cautious and punting on fourth down in the fourth quarter. But he made all the right moves.

He actually trusted his defense. and he should. They were playing well at that point. So, you know, it's nice to be an Eagles fan. And for 31 teams, including your Browns, Nick, still undefeated on the year. It's only the Cowboys that have now. You know, look, we end this show with the same phrase most of the year, which is that football is back.

Tonight, truly, it is a beautiful, glorious moment in which we can accurately say football is fully back. I love that you said that. And I think now that it's back, like this might be, for the last time until next off season if that makes sense because it's like they did their job

they freaking got kicked out before the game even started like there were no punts the cowboys were involved there was controversy it was an NFL like dream world next in the feed you got the pick show and then we're going to be back

Friday night live on YouTube football is so back 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 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.

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