NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Takeaways from Every Preseason Week 1 Game

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to break down every game from the first week of preseason action. Gregg and Nick start the show by focusing on rookie quarterbacks getting their first taste of NFL action. Up first is J.J. McCarthy with the Vikings (2:02), followed by Caleb Williams with the Bears (10:10), Jayden Daniels with the Commanders (15:00), Michael Penix Jr. with the Falcons (23:18) and Spencer Rattler with the Saints (30:10). Plus, Gregg and Nick talk about Joe Burrow's return (33:50), Trey Lance's play for the Cowboys (38:58), Kenny Pickett's debut for the Eagles (56:35) and more! 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. and Shuki breaking down everything that could possibly matter and probably a bunch of things that don't really matter. From the preseason week that was, it's that time of year, Nick, and I know you're happy because you got your power back. Welcome. Yeah, we are out of the Stone Ages.

Back into the 21st century, after three days without power, everything in my fridge went bad. We're restocked, we're refueled. We have electricity again, and I'll never take it for granted ever again in my life. Oh, it's good to see, my friend. And I was worried, I was worried that I was going to have to pay for a hotel room for you out of my own pocket because the NFL wouldn't do it. But then you texted like hours, you know, a few days later and it was like, thank God.

Yeah, it was like, you know, I learned I had power when I was down in the flats in Cleveland and it was like the Cavs won the 2016 title all over again. It was the greatest feeling I've had in months. Okay. Well, we're going to get to a big sports weekend. You know, this isn't the Olympics, but I do like the preseason. And if you've listened to around the NFL and you read Shook on the site, we do our takeaways there. And yeah, like you can only read so much into the preseason.

But you can't see certain things with your eyes of like certain rookies that look like they're a little more ready than others. The quarterbacks, it lies more than maybe other positions, but running backs, there are injuries that happen. There's depth charts that are happening. And it's that time of year where, especially with the Olympics being over, it's like, we're hungry, we're ready. we covered two preseason games on the show on Friday. So those are done. We got 14 that we're going to hit here. That's 28 teams.

So let's not waste any more time. Let's start with Vikings and Raiders, because this actually, to me, had the biggest takeaway of the weekend. Let's actually listen to a clip of Justin Jefferson on the sideline, basically announcing a game before J.J. McCarthy goes ham. I think he's going to have the full rights to JJ from now on. And, I mean, I think I'm going to be the Jets, man.

I think I'm going to keep. Oh, there we go. Oh, here it is. Hey. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. McCarthy, 45 yards to Tristan Jackson.

And with Justin Jefferson cheering on the sideline, it's 2013 Raiders. Oh, yeah, that was Jefferson on a beautiful go route. J.J. McCarthy thrown down the sideline, just how you draw it up. And, yeah, if you're watching on YouTube, just seeing McCarthy's reaction. I love these in-game announcing gigs that the players and coaches get. Sean McVeigh was awesome with our friend Mina Kimes and Andrew Siciliano on the Rams broadcast on Sunday. And his energy, it was almost like Shuki. was like, ooh, I got a quarterback because he called a touchdown later in the game, too, where

he saw the formation before it happened. He's like, oh, this is going to hit. J.J. McCarthy saw the same thing. Hit another nice long touchdown. And yeah, JJ, I'll get into why I think it was so noteworthy. It wasn't just the touchdowns. But, man, he showed out in this game in a way that I thought, okay, do this two more times. And Sam Darnel, I don't care how well you play. You might be like Matt Flynn in 2012. You might be sitting on the bench. with all that free agent money. Yeah, that's the thing is that Sam actually played pretty well. It's just that McCarthy, statistically speaking, too, was so solid that it's very much a

possibility. And this is actually going to surprise me because I thought of any of the rookie quarterbacks, he would be the guy that maybe had the longest road because the Vikings just seemed to be so intentional about starting with Donald and making McCarthy earn it or at least giving him a long runway to get comfortable. And then he comes out the first preseason game and he looks just like he did at Michigan in the national title game. He's throwing touchdowns.

He's got his top receiver all fired up down. sideline. It's good news. It's a good start for him. We'll see, though. You're right. This could be like the old Russell Wilson job that he did back when he was a rookie in Seattle. It's not the first time. We've seen it happen before. We saw it happen with Mac Jones in New England. And this is a little bit more emphatic than even Mac Jones was that preseason. Okay. So preseason to me is more important when it confirms what the practice reports of the people who are there every day say. And the people who are there every day say, like, JJ's really exceeded expectations.

Like, he maybe looks like he's already better than Darnold, that he's better certainly in some aspects, like the red zone. And you actually saw that in this game. I agree, Darnold had a couple beautiful throws. He had one drive. So, you know, you're not really looking at too much. But he did hold the ball just like a little extra in the red zone. And so that didn't work out for him.

But it was really just J.J. McCarthy playing against his future self. And he just showed a lot. So those two touch. were great. The go ball was, was beautiful. It took a perfect throw. But the plays before that where he knew where to go in short-yard situations to keep the drive going, he had a dime as he was getting absolutely clobbered on one throw. He showed really good pocket feel, I think, moving around in the pocket. He was very aggressive, just in a way that I know Vikings fans are like, ooh, Kirk Cousins, like wasn't consistently aggressive enough after he made mistakes. And yeah,

McCarthy threw an interception in this game, and there were about two throws on crossing routes where he was just like a tick late. And I thought our guest, Jack Jones, getting the NFL daily bump with a beautiful interception, you know, got J.J. McCarthy early. So yeah, there was an interception. But these were outbreaking routes. It was just six, seven, eight throws in this game that were NFL throws in a way that, like, we'll get to Bo Nix and some other places. Like, Bo Nix had a solid game, but I didn't see any, like, I didn't see any, like, like big time NFL throws. He had six, seven, eight plays that were just like, ooh, I want to see more out of this guy. It got me excited, a nice scramble or two.

And again, I know it's preseason, blah, blah, blah, blah. But it was it was all he could possibly do. Well, I think it's also the product of JJ playing loose and free. And, you know, we talked about how when the intangibles are the like the headliner on a player that you're kind of worried about how they might play at the next level. But sometimes they can translate positively when in the right situation, when supported by the right coach, which is why this pairing with Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota could be the perfect storm for a guy like J.J. McCarthy

to come in and make waves and actually win a job and surprise people like me who just didn't quite see it when it came to the physical skills coming out of Michigan. And in order to really have that happen, though, you have to give the quarterback agency

to do that and let him play like he wants to play. And that's what we saw. Now it's one game. We'll see what happens to the next two, but it's a heck of a start. Right. And it's mostly with backups against backups.

Jaylon Naylor looked pretty good in this game. I just think he, starting to build a case, whether it's week one or week three, you know, it was fun to watch and the athleticism was there. On the other side was the other real quarterback battle that we have in the entire NFL along with the Broncos. It was the Raiders. Minchu and Aiden O'Connell, I was there at practice and they've been struggling all camp. I think Raiders fans came out of this game saying, few, you know, they had a nice performance against a very vanilla Brian Flores defense. it did not look like a Brian Flores Steehan.

And then when I watched the game, I read those reports. I went back and watched it. I was like, let's not get carried away. It was like Minchu was chaotic, but chaotic good, like chaotic fun and had a very nice touchdown throw. And Aiden O'Connell was good, but there was this one play where he's on the run and tries to make an athletic play. And it was a total duck.

And none of them made, neither one of them like blew me away. So I think it just confirmed again what we've heard in camp, which is maybe like Minchu, a little bit of an edge. edge. He probably gets the start in the preseason game next week and can maybe cement the job. It's hard to know which way they're leaning, but it sounds like Minchu's been better. You know, it's funny as they've struggled in camp, the prevailing word coming out of Vegas is, wow, this defense might be really good. It might be special. Like maybe the Brown, I did radio in Vegas on Friday, and I was asked, hey, look, the Browns went to the playoffs last year with five

different quarterbacks and Joe Flacko. And it was because of their defense. And can the Raiders do something similarly. And I was like, hmm, it's kind of a big expectation to put on a team like that. But if you guys are seeing a strong defense in camp, is it a product of average quarterbacks or is it an actual good defense? Right. I don't know. We'll see. But it was interesting that like, that's the takeaway they had. It wasn't like, oh, both of our quarterbacks are just, like we know their ceilings. Like, we don't quite know Aiden O'Connell's ceiling, but I think we pretty much know. And we know Gardner Minchew. Like you said chaotic, but chaotic good. That is Gardner Minshu in a nutshell. If that's their peak, then they have to

start turning toward their defense for hope in that right and they move the ball which you know that's all that's all you can ask for and ain't no conno moved the ball too he didn't get the touchdown and like i said yeah i think minshu just looked a little more comfortable i was interested and then we'll move on to our next game we're going to go heavier early because they were the more interesting rookie quarterback games and we'll fly through the ends but uh i did watch their usage of michael mayor and brock bowers they're two tight-end And, you know, people say the preseason's vanilla. I got to say, they showed a lot.

Like, they had Bowers as a fullback. They had them offset. They had them both on the field blocking in the run game on the same side. They had them both on the field on the blocking passing. Like, they mixed up how they used those two guys. And to me, that's going to be the whole key to their offense, those two guys together. And Bowers made a couple plays after the catch, which showed his burst. I mean, he just looks like a wide receiver just like he did in college.

Let's go to the next game, which is Caleb Williams, making his debut in a bear's uniform against the bills. I'm going to listen to a play, Nick. That wasn't like a super highlight play, but it got my attention. Slot right and singles outside the numbers for Caleb Williams. Third down and long takes the snap against a four-man rush. Great protection. Williams whistles a pass. It is caught, and it should be enough for a first down across the 40 to the 41-yard line to DJ Moore.

There you go. The first completion has a Chicago ball. bear 13 yards and a first down great protection for Caleb and a nice tight spiral. I love that being the first completion he ever makes as a bear because he got to the entire opposite side of the field on his read. That's awesome. On third and 13 and yeah, he got great protection, but his first guy was covered. And for him to go all the way from right to left and put a dart, like take him out.

You don't need to see too much in the preseason, but that's the kind of. stuff you got to love. Yeah, I mean, we know he has the armed talent, but what I really loved about that play was watching him process and not freak out because the speed of the NFL game will fluster a lot of young quarterbacks and you see there's a moment in the pocket where he hitches where he goes, there's nothing on the right. And you can see almost him processing in real time where he slits his eyes to the left, sees DJ more there and then just rips one. Because you draft that guy at number one because he has that type of arm talent. And if he's able to do that and process at that speed, obviously defenses are going to get more complex during the regular season

and he's going to face more pressure and he's not going to get protection like that all the time but if he's able to actually get from one to two to three at that speed then it bodes pretty well for his future. Yes, he held onto the ball quite a bit in this game actually but let's also listen and watch if again if you're watching on YouTube to one other play he did not have a chance to hold the ball. Football at just about the 40 yard line snap back pressure coming

he dumps it off cuts with left 40 4550 Buffalo 40 to the 30 cutting at the 20 turf snake kind of got him with a man on his back to finish it off the Bears will be in the red zone of Buffalo on a dump off pass

under pressure Caleb Williams dumps it off and it's a catching run up 42 yards and a Bears first down any thoughts there because like when I first saw that I was like oh that's just a fluky play

but it's kind of badass actually well I just like that there were some blockers downfield for him I almost sat back and was like was that designed like I'd love to run that back two or three times it wasn't it was obviously be a dump off under pressure. But again, a guy finding a way to make a play out of nothing.

Fuluki a little bit. But it's also very weird to see D'Andre Swift wearing four. I just have to say that. Okay, I agree. And there's been reports, DeAndre Swift looks like one of the best players on that team. So in camp. And okay, maybe he's going to take where he was last year and stay at that level and go up because he leveled up DeAndre Swift as an NFL player.

But that was Caleb creating. He said, I was like, how does that play even happen? And, you know, the reporters asked the same thing. And he said, well, his gloves, DeAndre's gloves are so bright that he just saw a flash because he had nothing there. And that's what, as maybe it seems fluky, but I honestly don't think there's many quarterbacks in the NFL that could have possibly made that quick of reaction and made that quick of a play and that creative to just flip it in that second. They had like it was a bum rush. Like he had no hope in that play and it turns into a big play. So that's awesome.

The Bills actually played their starters for an entire quarter. And yeah, Caleb had another play. Probably his best throw of the game was this one where he's rolling out right and just has like the Mahomes type of throw. And so he showed everything you would want to see in a couple drives. And apparently they've struggled that camp against the Bears' defense, but look good in the precinct. So that was nice.

The Bills, they didn't show too much in this game. They played a quarter with Josh Allen. One thing I noticed, Khalil Shakir was out there in 12 personnel. and MVS, not getting a lot of attention. Ray Davis, their backup running back was getting a lot of, like maybe the only good thing about that offense. He's their backup running back. Otherwise, not a lot with the bills there.

Not surprised at MVS didn't get much attention there. It's going to be an interesting and potentially trying here for the receiving core, but again, I still feel better about them with Joe Brady to OC than I did with Ken Dorsey. So we'll see. They'll work it out. Personnel might not be quite as good at the top end, but we'll see. We'll give them time. Yeah, they've had a lot of injuries at safety right now.

They sat Vaughn Miller and Matt Milano in this game, but pretty much played the rest of their starters. I just think Shakir is going to catch 90 to 100 passes in this offense. And, yeah, Keon Coleman was out there every single snap with Josh Allen, so that's a great sign for him. Their top three is definitely Shakir, Coleman, and Curtis Samuel. So just learning a couple things. Austin Booker, this fifth round pick as a pass rusher for the Bears, has made noise

back-to-back weeks. They really need some pass-rushing help, so maybe. he will provide it. All right, let's go to the other rookie quarterback that caught my eye the most, at least, this weekend. It was in Washington when Jane Daniels faced the Jets. Third down and six, opening possession of the day for Washington shotgun formation for Daniels.

Spread it out on third down. Daniels pulls the trigger, looking for the deep ball, down the sideline, and it's hauled in. Diami Brown. Great snag for the first. You go ahead. I'll let you lead off what you want to say about Jaden Daniels and the start of the commanders. I love this throw so much because this is what the folks in Tempe saw when Jaden Daniels was a freshman in Arizona State. This is what the folks in Baton Rouge saw when he was

a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU. This is the natural ability right there. I see a guy open, quick hit, step up, flick the ball right into the bucket, right over a defender. Diami Brown makes a great catch. This is the future and the potential of a guy like Jaden Daniels. This is why they draft him so high. And not only that, not only that play, but then they finish off a drive with little read option, which takes advantage of his mobility. And it was almost basically a walk-in touchdown. Defense didn't do the best job when he came to contain. But that's what the potential is right there. Is a guy who's mobile, who is talented with the arm, who can flick the ball down the field and who can get out and get loose as well. So love that. Obviously, he didn't

play a ton in this game, but that was the only drive for him. And eventually, Eventually, we'll get Dan Quinn to, like, stop making him take the baby steps in the whole, like, he's going to start, but he's not our starter yet. Well, I don't know why. There is no baby. I mean, he's the one that started the game. It's just got to start his treatment. So they just, for whatever reason, aren't announcing it publicly, but they're treating him now like a starter, which is nice. Yeah. I do like the chutzpah on this kid, Jaden Daniels. So after the game, Sam Cosme, their offensive linemen, actually was during the game in one of those interviews with the broadcast. revealed that, yeah, he checked into that play. It was third and six. I think they were only going to have one series, so that could have been his last play of the game.

And he saw something the way the Jets defense was playing it. I think a screen was called, and they were going to run right, you know, throw it right into it, and he didn't like the look, they didn't like their chances. And he calls like a bomb. He calls like a go to Deawe Brown,

and he hits it. And after the game, Dan Quinn asked about it, And he's kind of, he compared it to Top Gun with the whole negative ghost rider scene. And he's like, you know, can I buzz down? Can I buzz? And, you know, it's kind of like asking for forgiveness after the fact instead of asking for permission. And Dan Quinn loved it because he hit the throw, you know. And that's, that's what you want out of your quarterback, man. I mean, that is, that is kind of badass right off the bat that he, the rookie is just taking charge and then delivering and kind of convincing the coaches,

okay, like, trust me, man, I'm going to do what I want to do. And that's the beauty of it right there is he could have put the money, put the ball right on Diami Brown, and Deami Brown could have dropped it. And I'm sure they still would have been just as thrilled with his decision to do that. You get one-on-one coverage, you trust your arm, you trust your teammate. Hey, look, I'm going to go make a play. That's the type of leader that you need in this team.

It's a tough throw, though. I mean, it's down the field. He actually was very good coverage, I would say, on the play. It's not like Brown had separation. No. It was interesting. Brown was out there, by the way. So this has been a little bit of a surprise in Washington.

We'll see. Jahan Dotson was playing very deep into that game. And Diami Brown's on the outside. And so I think they're just, it's a new staff. New regime. New regime. They're just figuring out things. I mean, Dotson's going to be in their top three wide receivers anyways.

And I think he's going to play more in the slot maybe than he did before. But it's just something to watch. Yeah, I mean, it's fine. Earn it. It's fine. You know, it's not your guy. Go out there and prove it. And Dan Quinn's a little old school in that way,

the same way he's treating Jaden Daniels right now. Hey, go out there and earn it. Go play in the deep in the second half. Yeah, but I just, I didn't expect, you know, Diami Brown to maybe be ahead of Dotson. I don't know. I do worry that they're a little thin in terms of playmakers, but if Jaden Daniels is great,

that's all that really matters this year. For the Jets, they played their backups, so there wasn't really much to take out of this game. Braylon Allen looked pretty good as a second. and running back. Oh, you got me some Brail and Allen takes?

I wasn't going to go back to you. He had a little pop. He's a physical runner. I liked his little cutups, his highlights. It was like, oh, okay,

get out in space. He runs downhill. All right. Yeah, at the risk of repeating myself, Chris Wesleyan, we always would talk about on this pot,

around the NFL, how preseason, the one thing you can really tell is the young running backs, like the rookie running backs. Because you can just see which ones have it

and which ones don't. I'm not going to go all the way that Breelan Allen like a difference maker, but he looks like it can be a good backup and they have some good young juice. I actually like their third guy too. Now I'm forgetting his name. What is it? I'm blowing it. But Braylin Allen played well in this game. He's going to be the backup. Also, Mike Williams is off the PUP list. And I did hear Robert Salas say it's going to be a slow

buildup, like playing against air. And there's some hope he might be ready for week one, but maybe not fully. So that's just something to keep an eye. I feel bad now. I was like, okay, that was it for the big time quarterbacks, but we still got three left, but sorry Broncos fans. Bo Nix just feels like he's the guy that's going to get left out of the excitement. And yet, they're excited.

He goes 15 for 21. On Sunday, they move the ball. It was, you know, one of the highest scoring preseason games. I can remember how did that game finish? 34 to 30 Broncos and Colts putting on a show. And yeah, I wanted to be more excited. There wasn't really many.

like exciting throws, but he mostly made quick decisions, and they moved the ball when he was out there, and he was playing with the second team for the most part, and he'll get a chance to start over Jared Stiddem, who started that game. He'll start next week, and then Sean Payton will probably decide who's the starter. It's probably next at this point.

Yeah, and I'm really curious to see how he performs with their pseudo-starters, you know, in the second week of the preseason, because I think that's going to tell us the most. I thought it was fitting that the touchdown pass that he threw was on an RPO. It just, it was like shade. of Oregon's offense. I was like, well, that's where he's comfortable.

Like, he made a quick decision. He ripped the ball to the outside right in front of the corner pylon. It was a pretty throw. It wasn't like a jaw-dropping throw, but that's him doing what he already knows how to do, which will help him at this level. Right. And so that's, when I went, I tried to watch all of his throws, and there just wasn't, there wasn't like much second reaction. Yeah. There were actually a couple plays where he tried to make tougher throws and those were the incompletions. That said, he seemed to know where everyone was in the field and like I said, more than not made quick decision. Tim Patrick, who's been out of the league for a couple of years with devastating injuries, made the first catch of this game from

Jared Stidham. He was maybe too excited and then he got a taunting penalty, but just nice to see him. It seemed like a great dude and was off to having a really great career after being an undrafted player. So he's back healthy. That's good to see. Anthony Richardson, the couple drives he had just like a little bit off, and which is going to be the problem where just like he was just like a little bit off on a third down throw incomplete, and then a little bit off on another one where he slowed his receiver down so they couldn't run.

And I think that's the issues. He's going to make good decisions, but that was the issue today in a very brief appearance. Yeah, he nearly threw a pick, and he had his intended target bail him out by getting a paw up there to bat it away and basically play defense. I expect some rust. It's okay. Just give him some time

to get acclimated, and he'll, he's always going to be a little bit off. Like, that's just who he is. His accuracy is not his greatest strength but that's not why they drafted him so shake the rust off over the next couple of weeks get ready for week one okay we've uh we've hit the first round quarterbacks except for one nick shook uh that played over there we already had drake may on on the last show on friday show uh we will hit michael pennix and his debut with the falcons after the break and all the rest of the games

Now, 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 Podcast, 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 diehard fan or just love understanding 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. Okay, we're back on NFL Daily. And yeah, just thematically, Nick, I'm going to just, we're going to keep going through these rookie quarterbacks.

There's a lot of them this year. They're taking over. And Michael Pennix doesn't have a chance to start week one, but he is going to play a ton in the preseason. because Kirk Cousins, I don't think, is going to play at all. And Pennix looked pretty good. Nine for 16, 104 yards. Did hit one nice go ball.

I believe that was to Blair. I don't even know who Blair is. It's that time of year in the NFL. But did the thing where he held the safety for just a half a second and then looked over and dropped one in the bucket. Had maybe one or two other passes that were. bit inaccurate, but other than that was kind of Bo Nix in it and just hitting a lot of receivers underneath and moving the ball pretty well. So, you know, he kind of, it was like a par. It was like

a straightforward 370 yard par four. And, uh, he got on the green like 25 foot. Yeah, a lot of, a lot of width, a lot of room to miss. It was just fine. It was fine. Uh, you didn't get to see a lot of like exciting panics, but it was fine. No, but the, the details were what mattered to me. This is one of the games I watched live and as I'm sitting there watching him I'm thinking okay that's that that's what he did well at Washington and at Indiana like he's got that arm he uses that live arm to his advantage he'll throw a little bit like off a back foot or not quite perfectly balanced with this feet just to whip it out there because the guys open the windows closing and they'll get it there and it showed that time and time again he didn't have a ton of time to play before they replaced him

with Taylor Heineke but when he was in there you know all of his strengths you know carried over which is what you want to see I would love to see like a full half of him if not more Oh, I think he'll play a lot in the preseason. I mean, look, he got 16 throws in however many drives that was. I guess it was, what was it, too? And, like, yeah, he's got to play plenty because one thing that actually made him look great was Taylor Heineke, who came in and went four, four for 11 for 11 yards. It was really ugly.

I'm a little concerned about the Falcons offense overall because they lack a lot of juice. They had goal-to-go situations twice, and that game came away with no points in the fourth-order. Yeah, they're really benching guys, though. Like, these teams in the McVeat, tree go hard in terms of their benching. So it's, it's tough to take too much out of it. And I know Heineke's playing with the third stringers, but you just wonder where his head is at that he's stuck in this terrible position. And then the guy behind him, Nathan Roark went three for 13. So the two of them combined to go seven for 24. That's not even a good batting average for 48 yards.

And poor Rourke was cut a few hours later, essentially. I did it. A couple other take. One last takeaway for the Falcons. Unfortunately, they lost Braylin Trice, who was their third round edge pick for the season with a knee injury. And that's a position that's among the worst position groups in the league. And he was practicing with the starters and maybe had as high a ceiling as anyone they have just because they don't have anyone. So you really hate to see that for that young man and for that team. I do want to go to the dolphins quickly, who they didn't play many starters early any either. But can you guess what guy got me excited on the dolphins?

What guy got you excited on the dolphins? Like I said, this is a game that I watched live, but now I have to access my memory. It would be Jalen Wright, the running back? Yes. That was it. This was the guy. This was the guy of the weekend that I was like, oh, oh, I'm in. I'm drafted Jalen Wright, two rounds higher in fantasy. Yeah, he's got it. He's definitely got it. He's got some juice. I see why they traded up to draft him. All the talk about him when he came out of Tennessee, like it's there. It's definitely there. This is one of the deepest backfields the NFL. Think about Devon A. Chan. You've got Rahim Mostert. Now you got this kid.

You can just cycle him out and you've always got fresh legs. You got all those weapons on offense. Like, load up, baby. Just let it fly in this offense this year. Very fun to watch him. But I will say this, Greg. You talked about brilliant tries getting hurt. A ton of guys got hurt in this game and I think a lot of it had to do with the field. The field was terrible. It was just sloppy, big chunks of turf coming out. Not good. I understand it's hard to grow a grass field. outside sometimes. I get it. But this is probably the worst surface of the weekend where they showed close-up shots

and you just had massive chunks of sod just on the ground. Falling left and right, people losing their footing. Got to get it better before week one. That game was in Miami, right? Well, they've had a million different events there. They had obviously the soccer tournament there just a few

weeks ago. I don't know. Maybe we got to be prioritized in keeping that football field first. They got tennis. They got F1. I mean, they're rolling people through hard rock stadium i really thought right was really exciting and impressive like on inside runs good vision crazy uh burst to you know cut across field which you probably can't get away with against starters but who i don't know you saw that play you saw that play where he went right and there was nothing there any reverse direction but also the touchdown run

too where he kind of gets skinny in the hole like the fact he can do that too so i i do have a takeaway that they need to, they'll use him and they got too many running backs. You do wonder, was there any team would be, like, desperate enough to give, like, a good pick for Rahim Moster? I doubt it. No. But, like, if the, if the Cowboys would, I think the dolphins would consider it. And they definitely would consider just, hey, if you want, like, Jeff Wilson for a fifth,

yeah, we could, we could do that. I don't think he makes that team. He didn't look. Like, Jeff Wilson is better than any running back on the, he's going to make the dolphins anyways. They have four good running backs, but he's better than anyone on the Cowboys. He would be the backup in New Orleans who could use a running back. So I don't know, maybe Moster, if they got really crazy. But why would he?

Well, the crazy thing is Moster's age and, like, you know where his production is and everything else. It's like that. Also the dolphins love him. It's a good problem to have OBJ, by the way, still not really doing anything. At some point, that's an issue. Aaron Brewer, their starting center is out a few weeks. The Dolphins, that's a problem.

Kevin King was out of the NFL. the last couple of years because of injuries also i think two years ago because he just maybe wasn't totally feeling it and it was like it was a mental health thing yeah yeah but then last year when he was trying to come back with no one knew i didn't know this they tore his achilles when he was trying to come back and so he was out there so he was a big winner with a nice he had a pick yeah yeah big moment for him really a heartwarming moment everybody every time somebody goes through some struggles like that and you see even if it's preseason it's always nice you know it's just nice he he has some talent and he could be playing pretty significant snaps for

them at cornerback, the Falcons. All right, let's wrap with, not wrap, but wrap the rookie quarterback section. The agenda, it's being pushed on this podcast, certainly on the block party podcast hosted by my friend, Adam West, and of course that boy Wolf, Ryan. Look, Spencer Rattler. People are excited about Spencer Rattler. I know he's a fifth round pick, but he gets out there, he shows an impressive arm, he shows some athleticism with some runs, and then he gets a chance to go have a game-winning

drive, and he calmly moves him down the field and gets that game-winning drive. So let's go. I'm pushing the agenda, only if Derek Carr is struggling in the regular season, but at least give Rattler the backup job. And, like, if this same season is not going anywhere, maybe this is not a normal fifth-round pick. This is a guy that could have been a second-round pick, so a nice little debut for me. Yeah, I mean, he could have if he had taken more of.

ownership of his collegiate career, but that's neither here nor there. This is one where I'm, it's a little tongue-in-cheek, but he's having some fun. Yeah, it's cool. It's fine. I mean, sure, give him the backup job. Kids got some moxie and some physical tools. Why not? Jay Caner actually played pretty well in this game, who is the guy battling Rattler for the

backup job, but Rattler had one of the best throws of the game. I forget if it was, it was either dropped or there was a penalty, so you didn't get credit for it, but like a beautiful throw down the first. field. Puka Nakua's brother was involved in this game-winning drive. You know I'm putting in the work for NFL Daily listeners when I'm watching Samson Nakua late on my Saturday night in a game-winning drive for Spencer Rattler over Clayton Tune and the Cardinals. I'm not sure if they're related, but that's yet another Nakua in the NFL. There was a Kai Nakua in the NFL for a little bit. Something about that name. I don't know. Well, I know. Oh, the other one. Well, I know it's Puka's

younger brother. And they got another one coming up that was in the Polynesian bowl this year, which is like high school players. So don't ask how I know that, but I do. Because you're a sicko, and we're all sickos here. That's why you come to NFL daily for football sicko talk. Yeah, there weren't a lot of starters in this game. So otherwise, there wasn't a lot. Rattler really has been playing well at training camp, according to everyone there playing better and better, that they're getting improved quarterback play. And so that's exciting to see. Koolaid McKinistry was out there for a little while in this game and giving up a lot of passes. I think there was some thought. Would he start for this team? The answer is no. They have a

really good trio to start. Paul Senadivo, Marshawn Latimore, assuming he gets healthy, and Alante Taylor. And so Taylor has that job over Koolaid McKinistry. So that's a little bit of a nugget. And then supposedly according to Cardinals people, like Clayton Toon, greater than Desmond Ritter. He certainly wasn't this game, but even at practices. So if you're interested, in that battle. That is the backup quarterback battle in Arizona. You don't look that interesting. Can I interest you when a Trey Benson was in this game and didn't do a lot? Might be the backup running back. I'm interested. I'm just, I think about, I'm still curious about that trade to acquire Ritter. Like, I understood they had two and he played one game last year and

everything else and you got Kyler. But I'm just like, really? Like, you just were like one for one, player for player. Rondale Moore, who unfortunately is now out for the season. But Rondale Moore, I guess maybe just didn't fit what they wanted to do on offense. But he's an NFL player. I guess Ritter, yeah, maybe. It was just two guys who were trying to revive their career. So I get why they did it, but it might not work out for Ritter there. All right, let's go through the rest of the games in no particular order. Now that we've gotten through the rookie quarterbacks, let's go to Cincinnati, Tampa, because they did play Joe Burrow in this game. I always appreciate the coaches that play the starters.

Now, some of these teams, I think the bills might be like this this year, they like doing it in the first week because they got joint practices coming up and they would rather just do it further away from the season. And so this might be the only couple of the series that we see at Joe Burrow, but we saw Joe Burrow and he looked good. Yeah, I mean, look, he had an abbreviated season last year. It's been a long time since he's played competitive full-speed football.

So if you're going to get it out of the way, you get it out of the way now. We know who he is. All he has to do is stay healthy. it's good to see him out there. And I'm glad he's not the statuess guy he was last year in the first month of the season, because that was just sad. Good call.

Yeah, he rolled out. The best throw he made was not caught. He threw it into double coverage, about 50 yards down the field while he was rolling out, and it was like he just put it on a platter to T. Higgins. I was like, man, this guy is so talented. Yeah. Just with his accuracy,

he's just maybe the most accurate quarterback in the league. And T. Higgins leaped up it had it in his hands and it was knocked out at the last second by the cornerback so it was just good football it was good football by everyone you know no one made a bad play there i did notice higgins got like a target on almost every other snap he was in the game made a bunch of catches i think it was joe burrow saying like hey man like let's get back on this same page and let's get you some confidence and so he made uh some nice catches to keep that drive going i noticed andre Yoshivas, who we've been talking up a lot, each week, made a big third down conversion

early in that game to keep that drive going. And yeah, Amarius Mims, their right tackle first round starter. I think he's going to be a week one starter and looked pretty good out there against backups, against the bucks, but he's been a big story in Bengals camp too. Jermaine Burton, three catches, 82 yards, and a touchdown. Hey, I know we're all team Yoshivas here, but maybe there's some sneaky depth in this receiving core. Okay, so he looked incredibly athletic late in the game, just torching these undrafted like third stringers. So that's one of those things in preseason where I've learned over the years like, is it good that he's torching the third stringers or is it a bad sign that

he's out there at the very end of the game? I don't think it's a bad sign. He's obviously making the team and can have a role eventually and showed them, hey, you've got to figure out a role for this guy. does show me he's further down the depth chart right now, certainly, than Yoshavus. Because Burrow had been out of the game for like two quarters by the time Burton came in. Then again, he freaking hossed these guys, like a guy from Alabama. Yeah, that's what I was going to say is like that's the Bama product right there. It's like, I trust he'll be ready and he'll find a way to make it.

So he might be just a slow builder. Not much from the Bucks. They did play their first round pick, Graham Barton. I watched the cut up of him making a lot of nice blocks. and they were good in the running game. Bucky Irving, their rookie running back, had some nice runs and kind of all their young skill position guys, which have, I think this team has a chance to be a little deeper skill position-wise

than people realize, Tray McMillan, Jalen McMillan, Tray Palmer, they all made some plays. Let's talk about a game that happened on Sunday, Rams, Cowboys, and yeah, I'm going to watch as many of these Rams preseason games as I can just because I just love listening to our good friends. Andrew Siciliano, along with our good friend, Mina Kimes, and someone I don't know personally, Andrew Whitworth, in the booth. Let's listen to the most electric moment of the weekend.

Take it away, Andrew. Fourth and gold to tie the game. This is it. Stetson Bennett. Rolling out to the left. Bennett slings it back in the end zone. Touchdown. All right, playmaker.

Miller, Boristol. And we are tied. with four seconds to go. I love it. I love Mina getting into a radio call on the show. She's going to be back on NFL Daily, by the way, next week. And I'm looking forward to that. Yeah, that was a great redemption moment for Stetson Bennett,

who threw four interceptions in this game, and it was down 12-6 when they got the ball late and delivered the only touchdown drive. And that was actually a pretty sweet play, fourth-down rolling to his left, side-arming it, right-handed for the touchdown. So that's the preseason for you, moments like that. It's fun to see a guy like Stetson Bennett

who was basically not with the team last year, now in preseason, and making a play. Yeah, he threw four picks, but it's still fun to see him backing uniform on a field making a play. Yeah, he threw four picks is kind of a big problem. I did watch a decent amount of this game, and other than the four picks,

I thought he looked much better than last preseason where he looked loft. Then again, he threw four picks. Can we also talk about how Trey Lance threw 41 passes in a preseason game? Okay, yeah. Can we talk about Trey Lance? I'll start with a positive.

I've never seen him run any better. I don't know if he's lost weight or is just... Not that he was ever overweight, but he just was incredibly explosive as a runner. I was just like, wow. I mean, I know he's always been a good runner, but this seemed next level. but yeah those 100 those 40 what was it 41 throws only resulted in a hundred and 88 yards so that's

not what you want no not not not great Greg not great uh he's he looks springing when he's running and everybody wants you know to ride that story because what happens with dag and they got tray lance for basically nothing but it's still tray lance it's still you know it is what it is here's the problem is they wanted him to be their backup this year and he's not going to to be Cooper Rush is going to be their backup and Cooper Rush made the best play of this entire game really the most the best NFL play I saw the whole well that last the last touchdown was pretty sweet but he hit Jalen Brooks for 43 yards earlier on a total dime I will mention Chuma Adoga who is their left tackle projected starting left tackle for the season left with

an injury that sounded like it was at least somewhat serious that he's going to be out at least a week or more. And so that's going to give their first round pick, Tyler Guyton, a chance to be their starting left tackle. Jordan Wittenham is a camp guy for the Rams that looks a lot like Pook and Akua body typewise. And they've said all summer has just been lighting it up. And he went six for 74 in this game and had another long catch overturned by a penalty. So they know how to pick wide receivers. And I think at least he's going to be a good depth pick for them. And then just a little note, Nashan Wright, who was

taken in the third round a couple years ago, was traded for Andrew Booth, the Vikings, who was taken in the second round a couple years ago. So a trade of guys who weren't really working out for their... Second straight year in which the Cowboys traded a cornerback for a cornerback in August. They did it last year for

Ifiatto Milafon as well. No, it was Calvin Joseph for... Yeah, right? Right, yeah. No, I... Igbonagny. That's not. Not not no fun, ignogony, long last names.

And then he returns the blocked field goal for a touchdown in week one against the Giants, and that was the highlight of his year. That time, it was a first rounder. They'd trade a second rounder for a first rounder, former,

and then this year it was, what, third rounder for a second, former second rounder. Yeah, and probably these guys aren't, you know, if they make the team, they're going to be the last cornerback.

So you don't need to spend too much, too much time on that. I do want to say, though, that Jerry, watching Lance, like his contract runs, out the same time as Dax and it's Jerry Jones basically told everyone he made that trade on his own without telling anyone like more or less he just wanted to do it like a year ago he was like

we didn't tell anyone we didn't even tell Mike McCarthy and it was just like he just wanted to do it and my son who's back from uh Japan uh and has jet lag was we were watching last night this show he just watches anything football he doesn't care the show the pick is in which is on Roku which I've never seen before. It was actually pretty good. And this was the 2023 draft process. And they had pretty good inside the room of the Cowboys draft room. And it was just so clear that Jerry Jones is just doing whatever he wants.

And then like everyone else is just like making up arguments to support him. And I just don't know if that's like a, yeah, they all like he's like, hey, this Mazee Smith, this seems like a good idea. And then everyone's like jumping in to support. They're like, yeah, it is a good idea. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not the best way to operate in today's NFL, but then again, he is an owner and he's the boss.

He is. We're going to take one last quick break, and then we're going to wrap up the final few games preseason week one. 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 Podcast, 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 diehard fan or just love understanding 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. You still got six games left, Nicky. We got a crank. Well, it's a good thing we just went and pulled some music from the vault out in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, NFL films. Seahawks Chargers might be. be the game of the week that I have the least to say about. The only thing I, my biggest takeaway was like it was cool Jim Harbaugh had a full back in on the first two plays. It was kind

of like, hey, this is what we're going to be. And they like used them in creative ways. It was like, hey, this is what we're going to be. They also did not move the ball. They did not have a first down, Nick, until their seventh possession. That's not good. I mean, the quarterbacks that played Easton Stick, Max Duggan, if you look at that on paper, that explains everything to me. It's preseason week one and we're putting a fullback out there. We're working out the kinks, all right?

We're establishing. Joe Alt was out there and Joe Alt, I think, played pretty well. There was one pass rush where Nuwosu kind of pushed him I was watching. Other than that, I don't think he gave up a pressure, but otherwise it's ugly.

I think Harbaugh might start panicking over the Easton Stick is our backup quarterback thing sooner than later. Easton Stick had 31-yard in an interception on 13 attempts. The Seahawks played their starters for a couple drives, and they gave up a total of seven yards.

So that's good. I mean, they feel good about it. Byron Murphy had a couple nice flashes. And then I just noticed, you know, the Chargers practice reports lately, like Harbaugh said Bosa is likely to be back for week one, but there's some question there. Like, Junior Colson, who they thought would start at linebacker as a rookie,

like basically hasn't practiced still. Gus Edwards is back in and out of practice. Ladd-McConkey has been out of practice. Yeah, that's concerning. You want to be about as healthy as possible. And they're going to count on a guy like Ladd-McConkey and the fact that he's been in and out of practice. I mean, unless Quentin Johnson lives up to his billing.

Daniel Popper of the Athletic was going through the wide receiver battle and he was making clear like he wasn't sure if Quentin Johnson was even wide receiver 4. Yeah. He was like he might not make the team necessarily or they would trade him, I think. But there's a battle there, but all bad. Not a lot of Seahawks starters played there either,

but they showed some creative looks on offense, actually, some blocking schemes, and they were doing some things with Grub, so they're just someone to watch. I'm excited about the Seahawks. Titans 49ers played big-time win for the Titans, 17-13. We haven't even been giving scores because they don't matter. Here's what you need to know about the 49ers. 23 players of their team missed their recent practice

because of injuries or because they're holding out in the case of Brandon Ayuk and Trent Williams, that's so many players that they actually cancel their joint practice with the Saints this week because they're like, we're missing too many players. We don't even want to do a joint practice. Or maybe they just didn't feel like it and change their mind.

I don't really know, but that's what they said. That is a lot of players. That's a lot to deal with. You're missing 23 players. So they're not coming down. And Ricky Pearsall is the one that catches my attention most because he wasn't healthy in the off season. then he wasn't healthy coming into camp with a different injury.

Then he plays for like four days, and then he gets hurt again with the old injury from OTAs. And it, to me, puts a different light on the whole Brandon Ayuk's situation because Ricky Pearsall is their first round pick who plays wide receiver. Yeah, I don't think that those two things can operate exclusively. I think they're interdependent on each other. And the longer that he is not on the field, the more the Niners are like, hang on to IU can try and work something out.

Because if we don't have him, it's not like he is Iyuk, but we're talking about numbers and talent on a depth chart. And if you get rid of Brandon Ayuk, you got to have somebody else to slot in there unless you get a receiver back in a trade. But we're also going on like week three of, is he going to get traded? Is he not going to get traded?

So we just continue to ride until it's all sorted out. By the way, Greg, I don't know if we've had a joint practice or any sort of two-team activity, not on a game field canceled since COVID. I have to wonder, how do the Saints feel when they get the call? They get stood up on their date. They're annoyed. They're annoyed. They gave them like four days notice, which was like canceling a dinner reservation or whatever, like a haircut. You're not going to pay the fee because it's far enough out, I guess. But I'm sure they're a little annoyed, the Saints. And maybe they're going to have to change their practice schedule. Maybe the 49ers were just like, ah, there's not enough juice down there. There's no fans in Irvine. Irvine was weird. It is a weird environment. It's a weird environment. It's very strange. I was down there and it just was, I mean, it was, they were practicing. It was a that point.

part was normal, but it was like, you're on a campus. It's, yeah, and it's, it looks very higher ed around you. It does not feel like a football environment. Right. I mean, the Raiders only had like 300 fans because they only could bring season ticket. And those 300 fans were louder than half the camps out there. They were, and the music was blaring. It was great. The, there is the, we do have more on IUC and Titans will give you a quick note or two. Since we've last taped, Tom Pell Serro at NFL Network reported that the 49ers have re-engaged contract talks with Brandon Ayuk, and there is an increasing chance that Iyuk signs with them. I just defer to Brandon Ayuk here, and he just keeps putting out on Instagram, like,

stop just putting all this stuff out in the media and, like, make a decision. He literally went into the comments of one of these reports and said that. And he kind of said what I was thinking, too. Like, what is this public, like, facing back and forth? Why is it necessary? Just, I get that you're negotiating, but you don't need to leak everything and just make a decision at this point, because it's pretty clear Ayyuk is not interested in going to the Browns. It's pretty clear that the Steelers, according to reports, are not interested in paying enough in a trade for Ayyuk. Like, there was a report that, you know, they just wanted seconds and thirds. And the Steelers, like, weren't, now, we don't know how many exactly.

But they weren't even asking for a first. And the Steelers weren't even meeting their price on that. So just pay the man. I guess that's my take. Yeah, it's all about trying to control the narrative outside when you're leaking stuff like this. And honestly, I got tired of this a week ago. Guys, figure it out. It's not that hard.

I mean, it's hard, but it's not that hard. my my read of the situation is they would trade him to a team that's giving up enough in in compensation in the Browns reportedly were giving up Cooper a second and a fifth Cooper then sends an Instagram out a story that said I wouldn't mind that one bit yeah now he didn't say what it was about and he didn't talk to the media after the game so he can have some deniability that's like, oh, I was talking about something else, but it's like, we know what you were talking about.

I mean, I wouldn't mind it either. No offense to your Browns. No. The 49ers are contending for a Super Bowl every year, and they're the number one offense in the league, and the Browns are very much not the number one offense. Yeah, I had friends text me panicking as soon as that became public, and I said, could you blame him?

I'd want to go play for the 49ers if I was Amari Cooper as well. Right, and he's not going to, though. It seems pretty clear to me that. that Ayuk doesn't want to play for Cleveland. He obviously didn't want to play for New England, and I think they're going to get the deal done in the end, maybe because Pearsall can't get healthy. My biggest takeaway from the Titans in this game was just,

Will Levis needs to protect himself. I mean, he tried to run over like a linebacker at the goal line again and took a huge shot, and because he's Will Levis, and he's incredibly strong. He's very, like, Cam Newtony to me. Yeah. He bounced off it and was fine, but that's kind of how he plays. I don't know, man.

I don't know if you can keep playing that way. That's not who he is. He is a bull in a china shop. He's a guy who has a chip on his shoulder. He's a guy who's out there to prove a point. And usually it's done physically. This is the same guy that went to the combine and bragged about how live his arm was.

And he does have a strong arm. But he does, yeah. He's not going to back down. And that's usually not good for the longevity in a career. So you know what else I learned from that, or remembered from that show, The Pick is in, was how the consensus last year, I couldn't believe this.

before the draft, was that Levis was going to the Texans. I kind of forgot that. I memory-hold that as, like, C.J. Stroud was predictably going there. And that was only the case once you got to, like, three hours or two hours before the draft. Before that, no one knew that. This is crazy how wrong that was. And I will support my friend Justin Graver, the Grave digger, in his assessment that this is the best running back duo in the league. Tony Pollard looked really good in this game, had some juice, which was nice to see.

because he definitely did not have as much use as we were used to last year with Dallas. And then Taji Spears didn't have many big plays, but great touchdown run showing just his great ability to stop and start. So I do like that running back. Duo Jags, Chiefs, we got Trevor Lawrence versus Patrick Mahomes.

This was like a playoff game as it goes for the precinct. Now they were out by the end of the first quarter, but that's, you can't ask for much more than that. I mean, it's a good reason to watch. You know, the people that got to the stadium on time and paid their preseason ticket prices, they got a little bit of a show,

at least for a quarter. This is like a playoff game. I'm not going to stop laughing at that in my head for a while now. I mean, it was just like it was two real quarterbacks, looking like real quarterbacks. Mahomes' drive was fine. Sua Matea continues to be their left tackle.

He's going to be their guy. The big takeaway from this game was Marquis Brown, got hurt, and you hate to see that. He had a clavicle shoulder injury that I'm going to stumble over how you say it, but he's out four to six weeks. That's not official from the team, but Tyree Kill had almost the exact same injury. And that was how long he was out for. It was four, four games when he had it. And some of the Twitter doctors and stuff say, stuff say that's about

the timeline. So that puts Marquis Brown's availability for that opener in doubt, which is disappointing. He's going to be a big part of their offense. Yeah, fun fact about that injury, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rappaport and his report on NFL Network today, usually associated with car crash injuries, not football injuries. I mean, that's, that's what, that's what like these guys do, 17 weeks a year. Car crashes. The biggest takeaway of standing on the sidelines of NFL games other than, obviously it's very fast, faster than you can imagine.

And then number two, I'm amazed officials get anything right. and I have way more tolerance for them after being on the field. I was just like, how do they get anything right? This is impossible. Or stay healthy enough to officiate all season. The third thing is I can't believe

there aren't more injuries all the time. Everyone just isn't always hurt. It just seems insane. Let's go a couple of more games. Eagles, Ravens, not a lot here. Tanner McKee, Kenny Pickett. I did like how Nate Wiggins

looked in this game. The cornerback for the Ravens, he then left with a shoulder injury that he got diving on a tackle. John Harbaugh did say that his injury and Rashad Bateman's injury, which kept him out of the game, are believed to be pretty minor. So that's a good sign. Before that,

he looked incredible, the rookie corner Nate Wiggins. Yeah, this is the two sides of the coin with Nate Wiggins that I've held since the combine. The guy's incredibly fast, incredibly athletic, and was very productive at Clemson, right? And he is a natural cover corner. There was a sequence where

Kenny Pickett went after like three or four straight plays early in this game. He's a little grabby on the first one, but he bats it down. Second one, he basically blocks it with his lower back because he just shielded off the receiver and pick it under through it. And then the third one was a legit good pass breakup. And I'm like, there it is. There's the product. You got this guy at the end of the first round. Ravens fans are all fired up, but then he gets hurt. And he actually had a couple more nice plays before he went out of that game. And the reason that I even bring up the injury beyond the fact that it's

probably like day-to-day, whatever, is the fact that I, when I watched his tape and I looked at this build, I'm like, man, he's super athletic, but he's kind of wiry. Like, he's a little slight. He's almost like you need to put some weight on to be able to play, you know, a full NFL season. And, you know, it's already kind of popped up. So hoping for the best, hoping it doesn't become a consistent thing. But that's the two sides of that there. Yeah, they've had a lot of injuries. Kyle Hamilton left Sunday's practice with a knee injury, but they initially they think they dodged a bullet, but they were sending him for more tests. So we're taping this Sunday. night. And so we just don't know that obviously is something to watch. Arthur Millett,

who had a role in their. Secondary is going to miss the beginning of the seasons. We've had some injuries, you know, really rack up. Eagles didn't play many starters. Weren't some, any huge takeaways for me. I have one takeaway. Please. I'm very concerned about the long-term future of Kenny Pickett. I know the statistics say he was okay. I'm not like panicking, but he has not gotten any better.

He's still the same guy. And in a game against a lot of backups and Baltimore defense led by a new defensive coordinator and Zach Orr, I was underwhelmed. Not a lot of confidence. You can just, sometimes you can see it with quarterbacks when they're just not playing with any confidence, not sure of himself.

And yeah, I mentioned Tanner McKee that there's a battle there, I guess, for the backup quarterback job. My guess is they keep both those guys. They're not going to cut Kenny Pickett anyways, but Pickett's probably even bad enough that they want to. have McKee there. They might like him better. We don't know. Steelers, Texans. I'm a little worried about the Steelers' tackles. That was my big takeaway in this game. So Fautano, who is their first

round pick, gave up a sack and a half and then left with an injury and is out at least a week. Broderick Jones, who was their first round pick a year ago, had three pressures in this game, played a lot, played deep, switching sides back and forth. They're just, it's a little unsettled when that's supposed to be the identity of their team. And the crown jewel of their offseason, which is that, look, we invest in the offensive line, we should be good to go. But this is the risk you run anytime you depend on rookies

or young guys to play key positions in the offensive line. I mean, it'll pop up in the preseason if they just don't have the experience. Broder Jones worked his way into the lineup last year. It's not like you got a full season of experience. You got two other rookies on that offensive line. This is going to be a problem until it's not anymore. It's just, can it be solved before it actually affects themselves?

significantly. Right. And there were two botched snaps from their new center, Herbig, who was there a year ago, but now he's playing center. They also drafted a rookie Frazier at center. So we'll see, like, just a lot going on there. Justin Fields had good numbers. Tomlin kind of downplayed it because the two botched snaps, he said, was partly on the quarterback's two, but I don't know. It seemed watching it looked more like this was on the center. Nadja Harris looked like he had a little juice. There's been a lot of, like, best shape of my life, uh, buzz on Najee Harris. And he did look pretty good in this game. So that's something to watch. And then just watching an NFL team roll out Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson is your wide receiver two and three, Pittsburgh. And

you're not giving up a seconds and third for Ayuk. Really? If I had hair, I'd pull it out. Joe Mixon was back at practice for the Texans on Sunday. So that's a good sign. Christian Harris, who's a really key linebacker for them, also back at practice for the first time. I believe all camp and then immediately left. I don't know if it was the same injury, but that's a bad sign for them. Danielle Hunter had a sack in this game. Strowd and Tank Dell just had a beautiful touchdown that just made me not, you know, I can't wait to watch them in the regular season. And then one thing I will note about the Steelers, they came back to practice on Sunday, and Justin Fields is still taking first team reps. Not all of them. I guess

Russell is still getting some of them. That's something. And then Nick, on top of that, The team sent out a celebratory photo, the annual home run derby, was won by Justin Fields. No, no. Wasn't Russell Wilson drafted in Major League Baseball? And Justin Fields is out there winning the home run derby? He's a supreme athlete, but, oh no, we're reading the tea leaves already. I can't wait for a weekend.

That's an athlete right there, because there's some professional ballplayers, and Fields goes out there and wins the home run derby. I give him some credit, and supposedly in the, situation all the red zone drills and stuff he was out playing russell wilson it's like if this wasn't a battle before it's obviously a battle right now i'm curious if they actually let it get that serious they're going to let russell wilson play they said russell wilson will probably play in this game so yeah like does this level off like does all the excitement kind of taper off and they they return to business as usual with russell maybe but the leash is going to be so much

or does it yeah does it run long enough that it actually does because we're almost there right now Right. I think he has a chance. I think at this point, it's very fair to say Justin Fields has a realistic chance to start week one. Now is that 20%, is it 40%. I wouldn't give it over 50-50 yet, but if Russell Wilson doesn't look great in practice and doesn't look 100%, then, yeah, it's going to happen. Last game is the game I have virtually no notes for. It's your Cleveland Browns. Good.

And the Packers. I went to this game. The preseason DTR is back. Dantavian Wicks. I love him, had a long touchdown. I did think the couple of young Packers recent draft picks, DeVante Wyatt, Lucas Van Ness,

they had some flashes. And so that's about all I have for you from the Packers and Browns game. Yeah, I'm curious to see what type of jump Van Ness is capable of making. He's a hulking edge guy, came from Iowa, and didn't see a whole lot from him last year,

but that's something that I'd like to track. I'll tell you what, Greg, you and I talked about this, I think off on the side, Sean Clifford versus Michael Pratt. Sean Clifford looked really good he looked in command of that offense he looked comfortable he used his athleticism

he rolled out he delivered on target passes all over the field it almost felt like they were playing like the junior squad for the Browns or something like the JV team because that's how well he was playing I got to this game I'm trying to get my eyes on all these games but I did check the PFF grades

because I'm a sicko to see if Pratt and they had Pratt out playing that yeah well Pratt got less time Clifford played into the third quarter. And I'm sitting there at the game going, can I see Michael Pratt already, please? Like, this is why I'm here. You win. What was the scene like? How was it? The preseason Browns action. They had power. They had typical preseason Browns. All of downtown had power the whole time, luckily for them, because they had a bunch of sports going on in the city this week. But yeah, no, it was the Savannah bananas were playing at Progressive Field during this game.

So it was a very busy downtown. But typical preseason action, beautiful day of weather. The Browns couldn't do much offensively. Not surprised. It is the preseason. Yeah. And look, We're trying to get into regular season form. We're going to do this. Every Monday morning, you'll have it in your feed. There's three preseason weeks. Some weeks, next week, they'll be even, I think, more take, you know, more to sink your teeth into. Week three, we'll keep it quick and just go around the league of what's going on because there'd probably be a little less.

But it was fun having actual football with officials and uniforms and all that fun stuff. So we'll be doing that. Nick at night, once the season gets going, you're with me on Sunday nights. you're with me on Monday nights. I'm looking forward to it, buddy. Thanks again. Burn it into your brains. Get used to it. It's not going anywhere. All right. For Nick Shook and, yeah, for all 14 of those games, we'll be back on Tuesday with Jordan Rodriguez, Steve Weiss. We're doing a new fun segment called QB Island. Check this one out. It's going to be good. Until then.

Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 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 podcast.

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