NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Around the League: July 29th, 2013

Episode Date: July 29, 2013

Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal discuss the fallout of Jeremy Maclin's injury for the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback battles, including the always complex New York Jets. Plus, Chris Wesseling chimes in on Carson Palmer running the read option and Patrick Peterson getting snaps on offense.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. Welcome back to another. edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined, as always, by the great Mark Sessler and also the great Greg Rosenthal. What is happening, boys? Busy weekend for you two. I was mostly off, but Sessler on Saturday, posting all day. 15 posts, personal record there. Mark was very proud.

Well, it was, it was brisk. I will give you that. And I wasn't expecting because I think a lot of the news that came in was essentially unplanned. And it's like, Dan was on Sunday. And I text So it's like, I'm sure it's busy for you, correct? And it was for a stretch. But it's like, I think what happened on Saturday was we got hit with a string of injuries and not just low-level ones, but like big names. Yeah, I mean, you had Dennis Pitta out for the year, busted hip, Jeremy Macklin blew out his knee.

That's a major issue for the Eagles. And we're going to talk about both those things. Also coming up today, we have Rex Ryan, an issue with the quarterback, whether he has ultimate say and also the quarterback battle for the Jets and some other. quarterback battles all up ahead and we have some iTunes update possibly right now Greg we hope to be on iTunes but this is kind of a recurring thing the producers promise us we're going to be there right now we might just be podcasting you know into nowhere but hopefully later today everyone that is finding the podcast will be able to subscribe and and if not we'll just look like

it's again yeah it's gone from on Twitter getting tweets like positive tweets like hey guys haven't been able to find the podcast one's it going to be on iTunes to somebody today tweeted to Mark and I, I don't believe you guys have a podcast. But it exists. It's happening right now in real time. And hopefully by this week, it will be on iTunes, maybe even by Monday. But Rich Eisen's podcast, I just saw an email land that he has now 10 million downloads. We do not have one yet.

But I want to throw it out there. When we do get on iTunes, we will have a special reward for wherever is our first downloader. I'm thinking it's going to be currently the 2007 Tennessee Titans media guide that's being used to hold up my computer monitor and also there's a Houston Texans mylar balloon non-inflated that has not been claimed in a giveaway in the newsroom. I also mail that out. What do you guys think about that as prizes?

Well, you've just motivated our base group of listeners, no question. I mean, it doesn't sound like that great of a prize, but people forget 2007 big year. Tennessee. A lot going on there back then. You got Vince Young on the cover. You got Albert Haynesworth? There's a lot of excitement. And plus a mystery personality from NFL Network will be

signing this media guide. Correct? Yeah, I think we'll all sign it. I think we'll all sign it and then maybe even put some type of inspirational message inside. It's really exciting. But we should get going because black tie behind the glass is used to having to push forward with Damashek on a show.

He's having to do that with us now. So we should get going into the actual content. And let's start. Greg, why don't you get us started with the fallout of Jeremy Macklin suffering a torn ACL in Eagles practice on Saturday? It's crazy, you know, we can go weeks of the NFL season where there aren't big end-of-season injuries that change playoff contenders. And we set it on Saturday, Mark, two big-time players for potentially good teams are now out for the season. Macklin, to me, is the lesser injury of the two compared to Pitta, because I think they're so deep, not just at wide receiver, but especially at tight end.

At practice on Monday, we heard reports three tight ends on the field at the same time. Seleck, the rookie Ertz, James Casey, they're very deep at running back. Macklin is such a big figure of that passing game, but it's a new passing game, and I do think they can survive without him, but, you know, it's a big, big loss for him, especially heading into a contract year. Yeah, and I mean, Greg wrote a nice piece Saturday night about this that framed it that way, but also just that we don't know what we're going to get from Chip Kelly, and it certainly, though, isn't a line-up two wide receivers

and throw to them all day long kind of offense. He, I think, from the start, Maclin was going to play a big role in this offense, but Casey especially seems to be this X-factor that may just get more targets, more snaps at this point, more looks than he would have. But also that running game is going to use a combination. That's a deep backfield.

I know Greg's a big fan of the Eagles backfield, number one. But it's like they're going to get, Kelly's going to find a way it's enough time to get around this loss. Yeah, I mean, there's no doubting. It's a big loss because what Macklin brought to that team, his skill set was perfect for what Kelly does. But the one thing you also hear about Chip Kelly, and it's very interesting to see how this all plays out at this level.

But he was known as a guy that could take recruits that maybe weren't guys that were thought as big-time guys at Oregon and then Oregon and then turn them into productive players in his offense. So we'll see if he can do that with some of these lesser guys. Do I think Riley Cooper has a 1,300-yard season in him? I don't know, but now he's going to have an opportunity to step up. Cooper did start a few games. I think it was in 2011.

It was. He started three games, played very well in those games. He's pretty talented. Demaris Johnson, I think, can be more than a returner. I'm just curious what Deshaun Jackson does with this opportunity, because I looked at Macklin versus Jackson as, okay, both of those guys are here this year. Let's see how they fit with Kelly. One of them is back next year.

Jackson's salary goes way up. Maclin is a free agent that they were probably fighting to maybe stay because you can't pay that much money at wide receiver. Now Jackson has a chance really to be that top sort of guy. He hasn't shown that he can really do that at the NFL level in terms of being a dominant number one guy. And this is a good chance to. Yeah, you'd have to say that Jackson was potentially on the bubble to not make the roster a year from now. But Macklin, the timing for him is really rough, I think. Unless the Eagles say we still feel like he's been so consistent in each of his four seasons that they made.

might have confidence that if we keep him on, we're going to get the same thing when he comes back. But, you know, he's in a contract year. That's not a good time to get injured the way he has. It's 25 years old, though, and he could sign a short-term deal and then be back out on the free agent market. He's pretty young. I think he'll be fine.

So while we have confidence that the Eagles will be able to get through this, things are a little trickier for the Ravens with Dennis Pitta. Yeah, I mean, you have a situation there where Anquan Bolden, they get rid of for salary recap reasons, but they still had Pitta as a guy, okay, not only did this guy develop chemistry near the end of last season or really all season, now we see him making that type of leap to becoming a star

tight end of this league. Now he's gone. Who knows how long he's gone. What are the Ravens do? Top 100 player in the NFL. Dennis Pitta. Cracked it. Crack the top 100. Right? And that obnoxious Terrell Sugg's sound bit that we had at here where he was like, the white receiver is always there when you need him. And it was like,

what are you even talking about? I'd like to say RIP to Dan's Terrell Sugg's impression. That will never be on the show ever again. Look, Chris Wesleyan, our guy who we're going to call up in a little bit, he's downstairs right now, chained to his desk, feverishly writing post. He's set all offseason. He expects Pitta to lead the team in targets, maybe lead the team in receiving yards. And I think that was a pretty strong prediction because you look at him and Tori Smith as the two guys, and it's a big, big, drop off after that at wide receiver or tight end, and now you're losing that guy in Pitta.

Well, and it's, Tori Smith is not a guy you're going to throw the ball to play after play. He's going to kill you deep, but you need a guy like Pitta to set that up. And he and Flacco, obviously, A, they're best friends. I'm not sure what that means on the field, except that what they have done on the field is probably show better chemistry than anyone else with Flacco outside of Anquan Bolden that postseason run. They're fantastic. I like the report also that Joe Flacco was.

walking around despondent at Ravens camp like Charlie Brown with the piano music behind. That was an interesting discontal detail. I mean, Flacco to me, might be the most interesting part of this whole story because he's getting paid like a top five quarterback. And

you know, look, Ron Jaworski, who knows a lot more than us about quarterbacks, he put him in his top five. It's the type of season that you expect that of a top five quarterback to improve guys like Jacoby Jones and Deonti Thompson and Ed Dixon and Ed Dixon and lift those guys up into being great players.

And they haven't been. And I don't think Flacco's ever done that. I don't think Flacco's ever gone from game one to game 16 and been that top tier type of receiver. There's too many peaks and valleys that we see with him. They made the playoffs last year, but they easily could not have. And then we would be having a very different conversation.

So I want to see if Flacco can be better this year than he was last year when he wins the Super Bowl MVP. And one thing, you know, in Ozzie Newsom said over the weekend and I think it was to King, we just don't know exactly what our offense is going to look like right now. I don't rule out, number one, a trade for someone recognizable. But secondly, you know, that team only ran two tight-end set like 15% of the time last year.

They ran two running backs like 45-50. So it's like they're just... But what I liked about the Ravens Lasher was they got into that three-wide receiver, more aggressive passing game, and they're going to have to almost revert back to that real, real run-heavy, attack that we saw when I don't think the Ravens were quite as, you know, as damaging on defense. And I will just say

you know, for proper sourcing, because we do that around here, you credited Peter King, but it was actually SI.com's Don Banks, who spoke with Ozzy Newsom. Wow. Thank you for correcting me. I thought you were going to point out that Mark's clearly been reading his football outsiders. Well, no, and I, because I tweeted that today, and it is from footballers, but it's interesting. The two backfield stats.

Here's why, because everyone says, oh, they were just going to they're crushed because they were going to run two tight ends the entire time, but they didn't do that. almost at all last year. No, they're crushed because their second best receiver on the team right now is Jacoby Jones. I mean, that's not an NFL high-quality passing attack. And so I think it's going to be very difficult for them. They're going to have to rely on Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce more than ever.

And, you know, those are two backs that you can rely. Does Brandon Lloyd's phone finally ring? This would be the perfect spot for it. I mean, to me, they have a history of bringing in veterans. and sometimes guys that haven't been perfect soldiers elsewhere. Brian McKinney is a perfect example late in the mix and adding them to a good team. It just seems wide receivers have a shorter rope with this kind of stuff

when it comes to reputation. I mean, this guy should have a job right and lord. He could still play. I know he has the still not sure what it means locker room lawyer type reputation. I don't know what that means. Someone please tweet at us the best definition of what locker room lawyer means. And you can have the 2010 Marvin Lewis Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, no, it's not 2010.

It's 2003. Marvin Lewis weighs about 50 pounds less. It's like his high school yearbook photo. He looks about 35 years old. The Cincinnati Bengals make you look a lot older. So please let us know. Elsewhere in the NFL, you know, Rex Ryan, John Idza came during your shift from hell on Saturday, Mark. Yes.

He stated what? What did is exactly? Well, the reason it was news. is because, you know, Manish Meadow, who's followed that team very closely, tweeted that, you know, Ryan has basically said definitively over and over, I will have the final say on the quarterback situation, which isn't that unusual in the NFL. Right, in the past, he said that.

He's gone on the record. But when they asked Idzik, well, hold on, what's your role in this? And he basically said, I'm going to have a pretty big role in deciding who plays week one, how this whole thing shakes out. And, you know, why don't you go to where it happens Sunday? And, of course, Rex then is asked about that the next day on Sunday, and Rex, the old Rex would have been defiant and would have said, this is my team, this is my choice. This Rex is the company man that's fearing for his life and his job, well, not his life. We hope not his life, but his job.

And he's saying, well, it's always been that way. And even last year, for instance, when he benched Sanchez in favor of McElroy, he said that that was really a group decision. I said it was my decision because I didn't want, you know, anybody else need to be asked about it. ask me. And it all seemed very, it seemed very soft. And it's, it's really the new Rex Ryan now where gone is the bluster. Now you have this almost like a limping dog that just needs mercy at this point. It's kind of sad to watch. Dan, Dan is sad about it. Did you think this, Mark, do you think this storyline was overplayed? Yeah, I do because, well, here's where I think it's different with the Jets, because you take a guy like Ryan, who I think had incredible power and

He wasn't using Tannenbaum to make on-field decisions, and his power has been reduced. And a lot of other teams, though, with lesser influential, less strong head coaches, I think a committee approach with a strong GM might play. But, yeah, I think it's been overblown. No, I think that in general, like I said before, though, I mean, you're a guy like Ryan did have that power, and it's been taken away from him. See, I don't think this is a media story, and I know there's a history between Mniche and some of the New York media along with Rex Ryan.

and that, you know, they're going to play up every little angle. But he's the head coach of the team. What else is he doing if he's not deciding who the starting quarterback is? What is this? Is this money ball where the GM in the front office has say? I mean, you really think Bill Belichick or a number of head – you think Mike Tomlin's going to say that Kevin Colbert has a say in who's the starting quarterback? No way.

When you have a really strong head coach like Rex, that's why I think it is a story. It wouldn't be – like in Cleveland, for instance, as a Browns fan, I know that Chud will not make that decision alone. But that's because he's the first-year head coach and he's got a lot of other powerful people in the room. With Ryan, it's an issue. And again, this all goes back to, and Greg and I were speaking about it downstairs.

In the newsroom this morning, the Jets not going all in on this rebuild. It's kind of, they went kind of halfway on it. So you have situations like this where the new GM and the old coach are clashing on some level or there has to be this discussion about who's really in charge, whereas if Izik had his own guy in here that he trusted and believed in, you would get a you have an idea that it would probably be the coach saying it's my call and then

idzick backing him on that but that's not how it is with the jets because they have this disjointed nature up top of course the jets and rex are discussing everything i mean that that's what you do but there shouldn't be any confusion over who whose decision it is and i do think that's significant and it does show a change uh in new york well in fairness it's not confusion though i mean that Rex is saying that it's always been this way but the the question is is that really true? And you get the feeling that this is a little bit Rex rewriting history to try to save some face. Why is Santoneo Holmes still on this team?

Why is Mark Sanchez still on this team? Why is Rex Ryan still the coach? All these guys feel like they're left over from a rebuild that started, but it won't finish until next year. And I want to know, and I, who won the arm wrestling match to bring Braille and Edwards in here? That does not seem like an Idzik move to me. They were definitely, in my opinion, better options than Braylon Edwards, but that's a Rex Ryan guy. So it's like there was some, you know, he gave Rex some sort of say there on some level, right? You get the middling over the hill wide receiver and I'll choose the quarterback.

Sounds like a nice deal for Rex. Isn't the best thing for the Jets for one of these quarterbacks to completely break away from the other as soon as possible? So this topic goes away where it's very clear who the starter should be? Yeah, I mean, the whole question is you want to move on with the next era and that's Juno Smith, but you also don't want to set him back by forcing him into the lineup early. But, you know, there's no weapons on this offense. So to me, it doesn't make sense to force Gino in. But you start to see, you're starting already to see some signs that both comments by Rex and some people in the locker room, how much they like Gino Smith.

I got a feeling that Gino's going to be the quarterback week one. You do feel a change in the air, even from about four or five days of practices about Gino Smith. The reporters, the coaches, the players all seem more positive. He hasn't thrown an interception. It's too early to say anything. But to me, Gino Smith was always going to be the week one starter as long as he's not incompetent in the offseason. And so if he can be okay and it's close to a tie, I think they go with Gino.

Because I think with Sanchez, and it's easy to go to town on Sanchez, but you're not going to suddenly see a quarterback that blossoms into a top 10 guy. He is who he is to some degree, and the offense hasn't changed. He's in a new offense, if anything, so he's going to have to catch up to that to some degree. They know what they have in Sanchez. they kind of, what's the wrong in throwing Gino Smith out there in seeing if this guy maybe has something special? This is a team that the preseason, I think, is going to matter a lot.

That's very good point. And so we're getting some early good signs on Gino. We've been talking quarterback battles on the site all day. It's very early, but any impressions from, there's really about five teams out there that are battling a quarterback, that the position's pretty open. Any early impressions on the battle so far? Well, I think, you know, I covered over the weekend the Raiders situation, which I think is probably maybe the least sexy of the group just because we have no hope for the Raiders to make a difference in the AFC West.

But for me, that feels like that's Flynn's job, basically, as always, to lose. And last year he went out and he lost it. So if he can hold off Tyler Wilson, I don't see Terrell Pryor as a factor in that one. Wilson had a lot of buzz through minicamp and OTAs, but that seems to be calming a little bit now. Remind us next year not to do. It's just so hard because we're, because we're. writing all day, but just, man, many camps and OTAs don't matter. They really don't.

No, it doesn't seem that way. Are you suggesting maybe we just take a couple months off in the middle of the late spring? That wouldn't be that bad. We could do that. That's one of the greatest ideas. It's one option. Other quarterback battle, we haven't learned a lot

early. I think Cobb and Vic is still 50-50. Manual, you know, the bill started their camp a little late. I think, sorry, not Cobb and Vic. I said Nick Foles and Vic in Philadelphia looks even. I don't think there's anything to learn other than in Jacksonville. It's really 50-50. They are giving Chad Henney a chance. Blaine Gabbert has an ankle injury,

so that could give Henny a better chance to win the job quickly. All right, guys. So we got Chris Wessling downstairs. He got back from vacation today. He's probably in a rough spot mentally. But, you know, we should call down and check in with him and see what he's working on right now. Chris, are you there? I am. Wesleying, one floor down. What's going on? Sure. I am reinvigorated after my Karowak-esque exploits throughout the Midwest and the south of the past two weeks. And not too angry that you're downstairs right now, well, we're just goofing off upstairs here. What are you working on right now?

I have the Arizona Cardinals, Carson Palmer, running a few option plays in practice, and Patrick Peterson seeing time on offense. What is this Carson Palmer situation? Is he actually running the read option in earnest? No, it sounds like they just want to get him out there as a way to get the running back to ball, but he's never a threat to run. Oh, we knew that. So is that really an option? What's the option?

I don't think there is an option. How is a defender going to have to respect his running ability? And what's up with Patrick Peterson? Where are they using him? He's been at wide receiver and running back. He had one deep route and then a pitch at running back, but I don't know that we'll see him getting the ball once a game or anything. like that. This might have to become a regular segment. You know, what is Wes or whoever's stuck

downstairs doing while we're having fun? And, Wes, the upside for you, you could just take the sound file, put it right below the headline, and move on to your next piece. Sweet. Well, I mean, Wes, you're a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, so you've obviously watched Palmer a lot over the years. What are your hopes for him down there? I see him as possibly the least mobile quarterback in the NFL, so I would, just for amusement purposes, I would love to see him running the option. Yeah, it's one of those trends that's like every team now is, well, not every team, but most teams are involving some sort of option. To a fault.

It's kind of like the Wildcat where there's just, there were too many teams that were just kind of half-assing it and just throwing a few plays out there each game just to do it. And it's not going to really make sense unless you commit to it. This seems like a turnover waiting to happen. Wes, where were you exactly one week ago today? I was in a tidal back creek off of Tibery Island, just having a blast. Are you satisfied to be back in Los Angeles? We were a little concerned you may never return.

I am satisfied that I am still alive and kicking after last week. I looked up at one point this morning, and you could see Chris's mind just drifting away, and he was thinking about that lagoon and sitting on the big tube with the girl of his dreams floating down the river and now you're here in his hand now you were in traffic this morning to get to the NFL newsroom uh west thank you very much for uh answering the phone and we will see you very soon my pleasure guys okay so moving forward i got i got to ask you know we have maybe a new recurring segment here uh the name is a work in work in progress i thought sessler had a pretty good name for it today the metrics mind bender metrics mind bender which is

still need sound effects apparently which is basically every story as you might expect for the mega corporation there it is that's not bad on the fly on the fly I guess I won't just chime in with my own one next time no I like that's the Wilk Ty

the difference in quality you see between Wilk Ty and black tie so thank you very much today but basically we track every story and how stories do and it determines how things get played up on the site and with ATL we come up with so much content but sometimes

stories that you would never think would be huge are huge. Greg, who has a massive monitor in front of him every day, stares at it for numbers. Greg, what is the metrics mindbender for Monday? It would have to be Terrell Pryor of the Raiders saying that he never knew how to throw until this offseason, until someone, you know, on the new staff taught him how to throw. See, I would argue and we just, it's like, it doesn't surprise me that people are clicking into that particular narrative. Why is that? Because a pro quarterback who's entering, you know, years into his career,

not that he's been used heavily saying, you know, listen, much like the three of us, I don't really know how to throw a football up until now. I will say this. This smacks to me of classic early training camp story. It does. Absolutely. So when 12 prior has a pass a rating of 14 through the preseason, I'm like, oh, I thought you knew how to throw now. Well, it's kind of like, please excuse everything you've seen.

I'm a new guy, and as always, I'm competing. competing for the number one spot, and now I can gun this thing, right? I like the idea of if you watch tape from Pryor and nobody ever noticed that maybe throws like a girl left-handed or something. You're like, how do we not even notice this? And now he throws a rifle. People do love some Torel Pryor. In general, people are just interested in him.

Intriguing that. And this is probably his last, I don't know how many chances he's ever going to get to start in the NFL. But this is a decent one. I kind of doubt he'll ever get the chance, though. Well, that should do it for another episode of the Around the League Debate Club, shouldn't it? I think let's wrap it up, yeah. Yeah, let's go.

And we'll let you know. We're going to keep you informed on the iTunes front. Greg, as our fearless leader, it's really on him. So the pressure's on Greg to reach out to the proper people, the back channels. Wilk. Wilk Ty, it's up to him, M-I-A. But when we get on there, you'll be the first to know. And if you're the first subscriber, you're going to have a lot of, you know, subpargifts coming your way.

Until Wednesday. 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 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. This is an IHeart podcast.