NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Takeaways from EVERY Preseason Week 1 Game + Jeremiyah Love’s injury

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue recap all the action from every preseason Week 1 game starting with the Bills and Panthers. Gregg gives Jourdan her flowers for her debut this weekend as a color analyst for the L.A. Rams radio broadcast team. Plus, they bring you the latest details on Cardinals’ rookie RB Jeremiyah Love’s injury, and its impact on his upcoming season. The NFL Daily podcast is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Media.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Get Bell purefiber internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league.

I'm JJ Zachary Eisen, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the late round fantasy football podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where the preseason matters if you know what to look for. It matters for the friend of mine joining me from a... Houston hotel room across the country because Jordan Roderig made her debut as a member of the Rams broadcast crew. And yet the most impressive thing I think you did all weekend, Jordan, and you were incredible on the game, was get to that hotel room just in time to go over all of

preseason week one. Good job by you. Yeah, for once, Greg, my logistics anxiety really came through in the clutch for us. Incredible. You literally just landed like an hour and a half ago or two or something like that. You just got to the hotel room and you're ready for the show. We're going to get to Jordan Starter. She's going to be the announcer for the Rams as an analyst throughout the preseason when we get to the Rams game in just a little bit. But here's the setup for this show. We're going to go over the 10 preseason games that we did not hit on Thursday evening's show. And it's not just about the preseason. It's about what we can draw that matters from it and also from some of those teams practices this week. So that's about 20 teams right there. And then we'll also hit

some other news from other teams around the league, including a Jeremiah Love injury to keep an eye on. So just about every team in the NFL will be covered here. I'm going in no particular order other than we're going to go back, you know, Saturday and then the Friday game. So let's start with the first game I watched on Saturday. And that was the Bills with a big victory 29 to 14 debut at the new stadium in terms of a game. The Bills did play their starters. The Panthers did play their starters both for three drives or so. So that's why I wanted to start with two teams that actually played some guys that we care more about. And you know how I love omens, Jordan. And Eric Roberts, our great producer, mentioned when this happened, what a great omen that Keon

Coleman scores the very first touchdown. Of the preseason, it's not the first touchdown, but of the preseason. It's Keon Coleman making right after a rough off season. Let's listen to that call. Over on the sideline for first down, Ray Davis is the running back behind Allen. Alan rolling right pump fix. Good pressure again by the Panthers. Alan keeping the play alive. And he's got Keon Coleman for a touchdown. The first touchdown at Highmark Stadium. Alan to Coleman. Ooh, this is testing me. I can just recognize the voice. That's Andrew on there with the local bills broadcast. And yeah, it was, if you were wanted to get excited about the bill season and

Eric Roberts, for instance, was these first few drives gave you everything. You got three catches from DJ Moore for 61 yards. And you had Josh Allen making a crazy play there for a touchdown. I'm not taking much out of any results of the preseason Jordan. That's kind of what I don't care about. And yet, the starters were both out there for each team. And at one point, it was 200. 146 to 17 in terms of yardage when these starters were out there. It was kind of outrageous how much the bills dominated this game and almost we're treating this as like a regular season game in their new stadium.

Yeah, new stadium. And also Joe Brady, you know, the new head coach obviously wants to show the offensive plan, at least some of it, that he's been trying to cook up all off season since taking the head coaching job there. And I think that people really quickly forgot because Joe Brady's time in Carolina was so brief. DJ Moore was hugely productive in Carolina with revenge game in the preseason you're saying. Revenge game in the preseason. Let's add as much meaning that doesn't make any sense to it as possible. No, I was not surprised to see them really cook up some things with DJ Moore very quickly. This was a big trade for them. This is the GM in the off season, you know, making the big trade for the receiver. This is DJ Moore, change of scenery.

I mean, I think this, a game like this for him and, We'll get to him getting banged up. But a game like this for DJ Moore was just sort of an inevitability in the preseason, in my opinion. Probably. And look, he was out there for two drives and he had four targets at 61 yards. And the thing that I actually take away that is meaningful to me were the variety of the types of throws. And one was an outside breaking ball winner where he wins on a contested catch. And like, he can do that too.

It's not all going to be the run after the catch stuff over the middle, which they did. You mentioned, yeah, he appeared to hurt his. his ankle on that last throw that I was talking about. It doesn't sound like it's serious. We'll see if he practices this week. But, you know, he was out of the tent pretty quickly. From a bill's side of things, Connemar governed, their center has been out for a week.

And then he talked to Joe Basalia, your colleague at the athletic, and said he's going to be out multiple more weeks, but it sounds like they hope he's going to be ready for the season. And then Deion Walker really flashed for the bills. You're dude. one of your guys who actually is your guys is not just me saying it's your guys and that kind of remembering. Yeah, that kind of

actually flips to the other side of things where like the Panthers offensive line for what it's worth and they have a lot of backups out there because they're not very healthy, not just at the tackle position but both their guards who they pay a lot of money were not there and they kind of got steamrolled and the plan

was for them to go 15 to 20 plays Jordan and Dave Canales was punished them because they went three and out three straight times. Jonathan Brooks playing his first game since college, like in years because of these serious injuries, he has nowhere to run because his line is getting overwhelmed. Like, Canales was legitimately pretty upset after this game because they couldn't do anything on offense. Yeah.

And for that to happen, I mean, that dude is actively and wants to project the highest level of positivity. Like, I'll see your positivity and I'll raise you positivity. That's kind of the Dave Canales way. So for him to be not only show his disappointment by keeping those guys in the game as long as he did. But yeah, the comments post game. And yeah, it was a, I don't know if we gets, I would have been, I would have been upset too if it started out that way, I think. Yeah, just getting steamrolled. There were good things to talk about what the Panthers are.

They're two big pickups. Jalen Phillips and Devin Lloyd both flashed. Phillips had back-to-back pressures to end the first Bill's drive a sack and then a pressure. and Devin Lloyd showed up with a nice tackle for loss. I went back to watch the Jonathan Brooks runs and touches. There wasn't much to take away from them, maybe a little passive, but he was very patient on one run.

And I think the key thing is he's just back on the field. Canales said he got a little emotional talking to Brooks during the game. And that is the most important thing to see. And the most important thing is that this team just gets healthier. As I mentioned, not just the tackles, but Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, their guards have been in and out of practice. they weren't able to play. And so this team just needs to get healthier.

Let's go to the Vikings and the Giants. Another team where I have an omen for you. I don't know if you are ready for this one, Jordan. First play. Now, omens are more important for people paying close attention. Omens are more important than the regular season for for sure. First play of the regular season, that's intent. But first play preseason can matter too.

Outside zone, full back starting the game. Max Bredison, going to be sneaky big factor, I think, for this team. the Vikings outside zone very first play kiler murray under center hasn't done that much of in his career and aaron jones looks great popping a run to the outside for about 18 yards everyone's in sink great omen for the vikings yeah i like it and actually if there is going to be a team that very clearly wants to like put some sort of commentary out there without overtly putting some sort of commentary out there it is the kevin o'connell led minnesota vikings So, yes, I would think this would be an omen and a sign.

Not only did we know that Kyler Murray was going to have to play more under center than he ever had in his career in this offense, that does not mean that we're not going to see some of that shotgun and also the pistol with Kyler Murray, because reportedly and the Vikings PR department, they don't want their local reporters talking about this. It's a rule of the credential. But the run game and also those gun and pistol runs will still be part, and the offense in general will still be part of this. offense. But I would not be, I'm, I'm not shocked at all that they go with this one and I'm not shocked at all that they're not showing a ton of that stuff because that's also Frank Smith,

getting in the mix there, formerly of the Miami Dolphins, was the co-architect of that run game with Miami with Mike McDaniels back in those years. And this is going to be really interesting to see what we actually get. Yeah. I'm excited. The fullback in there. They kind of did show a little because for what it's worth, you know, Murray's only in there for one drive, I think it was nine, nine plays. Yeah. The only shotgun snaps were on third and long, like a third and seven and a third and four. And one was a pistol snap to your point. But the rest were under center, uh, running the ball.

They, they ripped off a big gain for, uh, Jordan Mason to. Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news. They had a serious non-contact injury for Jamal Adams. It's a knee injury. There hasn't been confirmation on what type of injury. injury, but the way Kevin O'Connell talked about it, it sounded like a season ending, and you fear potentially career-ending injury for Jamal Adams, who I think was going to be a factor for them and makes you wonder a little bit about Harrison Smith, possibly rejoining this team. Yeah, it's tough. I think that of any, you know, if Jamal Adams was going to join any team in the NFL at this point in his career, the Brian Flores, we love to blitz and we love to throw crazy blitzes at you. defense was going to be that system.

So I feel for them. And obviously, you know, any of these preseason games, and anyone goes down, that just sucks. It's brutal. Caleb Banks, their first round pick, big dude. So you really notice him out there. I noticed he got pushed around a little bit on defense. It's just something to watch there,

but a rookie learning leverage at the NFL level. And then, yeah, Kyler looked fine. He had a couple nice throws. The drive stalled when he got to his third read pretty quickly. But him and Aaron Jones were just like a, slightly not on the same page and they end up kicking a field goal, but a decent first drive for him. J.J. McCarthy did not look good.

His first third down of the game, he airmails it. They were really slow. That was what I took away. The operation was super slow when J.J. McCarthy was out there, but not when Carson Wentz was out there, not when Kyler Murray was out there. Like he kind of ran into his running back on one. He had one great throw and then his receiver dropped it.

It's just like, if it's not one thing, it's the other. Very unlucky. but four for nine, 34 yards, had a PFF grade of 50, so not really showcasing him if they were going to trade. Now, we don't have much sound on this show, but we have a lot of giant sound here because Jackson Dart probably had the play of the weekend. This came pretty soon after he got absolutely crushed by the Viking J. Ward on a blown assignment by his running back, Tyrone Tracy.

I mean, he was lit up, laid on the first. field brought into the blue tent we'll get to that in a second but then comes back out on the field a couple plays later and through this pass to malachi field a second and 12 from the 15 yard line dart with time now darts to the outside fires it for the end of touchdown malachi fields that's why they drafted the rookie out of notre dame at six foot four threw it up to Yeah, he climbed a ladder on that one. Yeah, getting a lot of comments in the chat for some Giants fans like Dwayne, who was saying, look, he looks like wide receiver two.

Camp Skadigboo kind of looked in peak for him. He had a run where he ran over everyone. Arvel Reese, Francis Maui, you know what? You all had moments. Like you do love to see the camp stories. Like Malachi Fields, a rookie who's had a big camp, kind of come through on the preseason stage, too. It's a little bit of chaos ball, too. So I love having a receiver like that because,

that type of receipt, his body type and just his sort of his catch radius and he can high point the ball too. It makes it so when the quarterback is inevitably scrambling around as Jackson Dart will be wont to do. Just throw it up, Malachi down there somewhere. You know, like it's, it just is going to be, that's fun. That's just flat out fun. By all accounts. And I would, I had my doubts about this pick and we'll see. You don't want to pat your, you know, assume that your confirmation like was, was, bias was proven true. with good preseason games and you don't want to just assume you were wrong with good bad preseason games too but malachi fields according to the people that are watching every

day has a real chance to be their wide receiver too like to to start it's probably going to be a rotation but he is very much in that mix maybe ahead of the mix with darius slate and darnel mooney and who is it my uh austin calvin austin which means odel beckham who got a nice cheer from the crowd and made a couple short catches is really battling just to stay on this team but before we leave dart. I did just want to go to the sound of him. Not happy with the NFL necessarily. And the spotter system, once again, you know, he just plays a couple drives. And once again, he's in the blue tent getting checked for a concussion. Let's hear that. As far as the blue tent, like I, I really respect the rules and the thought behind, you know, NFL has of keeping players healthy. And

reviewing things but at the same time i'm i'm still puzzled by um it just feeling like every time that i get hit you know i just find i find my way in there um which i'm at times i still try to wrap my head around but um that's all that i'm going to say about that situation um you know i'm really happy with how the drive ended hmm he's so sick of this note to jason dart when discussing your distaste or I guess in this case polite distaste for not wanting them to look closer at any potential head injuries you have try not to use words like puzzled or wrap my head around when you're discussing

just a thought just pointing out out there I understand he's a competitive guy but if he went and watched that film which I'm sure he has by now but he hadn't at that point that was a 1992 style jacked up hit like that was

as bad a hit as you will ever hear see on a Sunday it did not connect with his head it was a legal hit his head did not slam on the turf really when they showed it again

but he laid on the ground motion list for a second and a half and so when the quarterback just lays there and doesn't move right away because it was that and I'm sure he had the wind knocked out of him like they're going to check

on you and it's all it's all for his own benefit. But yeah, like I mentioned, Maui Noah, who's playing guard now was the high pick, had some really nice moments. You know, Scadaboo is definitely their starter. Tyrone Tracy is not helping himself by missing the past protection on that play where Dark got lit up. And Arvel Reese had a run stuff that was just incredible. He had two different plays where he just shed the blocker. One of them was Landon Jackson or Donovan Jackson of the Vikings. It's like 310 pounds. And he just throws him out of the way to make the stuff.

So get excited about Arvel Reese. I love that he's playing linebacker. Okay, those are two of our chunkier games there, Jordan. We're a lot going on. Some of the games I got to admit is like backups versus backups. There's not a ton from this Jaguars Saints game with the Jaguars ended up winning. The biggest thing to talk about from either one of these teams is actually something that happened before this game, which is that Jordan Tyson heard his hand.

Hamstring. We knew about that before the game. We did not know that it could threaten the start of his regular season. It sounds like a multi-week injury. We just don't know when he'll be back, but Kellyn Moore wasn't making any promises. You know, it could be something where they put him on short-term IRP to start through. Who knows? We just we just don't know. But it just underlines this really important player who obviously struggled with hamstring injuries has another pretty significant setback in his report. recovery. Yeah, it's such a bummer, too. I was thinking when I saw some of the comments that were coming out of the press conference and then the news, obviously, that what a bummer too. We were so excited. We were talking with Trevor on our NFC South preview and just the potential that Jordan Tyson has when healthy to be the best player on that team is in Trevor's opinion. And I just felt like this, when it is a soft tissue that is recurring and you hope it. You hope it. it's not and you hope that getting into an NFL building and kind of maybe they have different thoughts of how he can treat it or something. I don't know, but it's just tough. And I really can't

wait to see him play in game action in the NFL. I think that he elevates their offense from, you know, showing a lot of potential to bona fide good. And to your point, Greg, that you made when we were doing that preview, it also reiterates the point that this is a very high variance team because of that type of injury. One, and I'm sorry for for smiling at the end of that because it is a bummer. He's looked so good. Because I said you were right. In practice.

No, I happened to do something I shouldn't do, which is put my eyes on the comment. And one, one was from a hoodat who said nothing to take from the game. Did you watch Zach Wilson perform? Yeah, Zach Wilson did light it up. Very preseason for Zach Wilson to light it up. But it does make you wonder because Rattler kind of struggled in the game. And Zach Wilson wants that number two job. and our friend Adam at the Saints Block Party podcast.

People should check that out. Does wonder with Rattler a little bit. He has kind of been like a great practice player, not always as, you know, flowing in the game. He was kind of holding onto the ball for a while and Zach Wilson had some moments. So we'll see a little bit of a backup quarterback battle there. Kristen Miller, who flashed a little bit,

the second round pick at defensive tackle in the game, but played a lot, which not the best sign, you know, where he is on the depth chart, appeared to hurt his shoulder late in his appearance, so we'll keep an eye on that. Adrick Estime, who looked like their RB3 on that team behind Camara. And of course, Etienne, he suffered an injury, which could be serious. And then the Jaguars didn't play anyone and yet still lost their swing tackle in the game. Like, they didn't play starters, but Chuma Odoga was one of their tackles that was going to make the team.

And he looked like he was hurt. their offensive line is really injured right now just from practicing. And they played a lot of 13 personnel, though, Jordan. That's my one little note from the Jaguar. So there you go. Yeah, I'm not surprised. They were one of the teams that kind of broadcast it throughout the offseason, that that is something they wanted to do.

Omen's and signs sometimes, you know, they call their own out. So that's definitely. And a lot of tight ends that I think are, that they think they're right about, basically. And we'll see. if the rest of the league think so. Yes, as people are commenting, it is very lucky for us that we were able to book Budding Broadcast Superstar, Jordan Rod Rieg,

for our show. Stop. Oh, my God. It's true. It's true. You know, we're going to hold on as tightly as we can while we can. And we're going to get to that Rams game in just a minute. But before that, we're going to go to the Rams, you know, NFC rival, I would say Eagles, the team that's kind of owned them. in the NFC for a minute.

The Eagles did what they do in the preseason, which is not show up. The Ravens did what they do in the preseason, which is just Win Baby. I mean, they are the most dominant. Like, forget the Chiefs. The team of the decade is the Ravens in the preseason. They always kill everyone.

There was a moment. And even though they didn't play their starters, Jordan, neither team did. So this is another quick game. Five minutes left in the game. Someone sent me this screenshot. 31 first downs to two, Ravens to Eagles. You don't see that too often.

And people can be like, we don't care about the preseason. The Eagles were playing their third stringers too. I'm sure the third stringers on the Eagle side don't want to be losing 31 first downs to two. That's outrageous. Yeah, I think Willie Lampkin was responsible for creating one of those all by himself, at least. Yes. I'm glad you mentioned that. We'll start with the Eagles.

Mark Hill Bell at right tackle. He's been played both tackled, I believe. They're rookie. I think they might have found something there for the Eagles. So that was a positive. And then, yes, Willie Lampkin, you're the former Ram from last preseason. Smaller guy. People kind of, you know, like that story.

He's having a good camp. And so that's something positive there. Negative would be a bad omen, which is that we had an Eli Stowers, their second round draft pick, a hold on the very first play. It's supposedly been kind of a tough camp for him. It's the new offense. They did not look comfortable running this new offense. both Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee struggled in the game. Tanner McKee, my guy, who used to light up preseason couldn't do anything.

And I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen there. I feel like one of those guys is going to get traded. Would the dolphins give up like a sixth round pick for Tanner McKee to just be their backup? I don't know. Maybe there's. Who has a better, who has a higher trade? This is a crazy question.

Listeners and commenters. I understand how crazy this question is. but who would have a higher trade market? Tanner McKee or nine? Oh, JJ? I think it's JJ. I think it's JJ. Not by much.

I thought you were going to say him or Annie Dalton. It might be Andy Dalton. Maybe Andy Dalton gets you like a pick swap for one of these teams that are really desperate for a backup quarterback. Maybe I don't know who that would be. But Dalton wasn't much better. The fact that the Eagles have held and like clutched onto Tanner McKee. so many years at this point and it's the Eagles is like, I don't know. I feel like teams like sort of side eye emoji at that when they see it.

Yes. And maybe people like me are part of the problem there. And maybe they're trying to showcase Andy Dalton. Because I thought Tanner McKee's had some like incredible preseason moments. That happened for him this year. You know who their new guy is? Cole Payton, seventh round pick who's incredibly athletic. I mean, he looks sick running the ball.

He looks too good where they're going to keep him, I think, as their QB3 to develop. and then cut or trade one of the other guys. Not many starters, though. Jihad Campbell is one of the only equal starters that played a significant amount, really the only one. So just noticing that. And then on the Raven side, Jacoby Lane has been a big training camp story. And so we are allowed because we work for the NFL, Jordan.

I know you don't like to admit it, but at least when you're on NFL daily, sort of technically. Eye hearts in the mix. It gets confusing. But we have the rights to the highlights, which means we can actually watch a Jacoby Lane touchdown on this very program. Let's do that. Here in this opening half, high snap, Vignano with time.

Over the middle, it's Jacoby Wayne. Call it the two, dies for the end zone, and he's in. Jacoby Wayne stamps the debut with a touchdown, and the Ravens strike first. Here's what you don't want. Two Eagles defensive backs running into each other on the play. No. But nice hands catch, and when I said at the beginning of the show, there are things you can learn from the precinct.

It's just like the rotation, the order, how people are being treated. So Jacoby Lane's out there at the beginning of the game and for the first portion of the game, gets a bunch of targets, looks good. Whereas the other guy, Elijah Serat, who I was higher on in the draft, fourth round pick there, there are two mid-round picks, is buried, like doesn't even play his first snap until the middle of the third quarter has a fumble in the game. And so you're like, okay, that's how that's going right now. Jacoby Lane, going to be a factor, going to be playing in the game, you know, week one when we watched them play the Texans.

Elijah Surat might be like a game day inactive. And those are the types of things if you're a big enough football dork like like both of us are that you enjoy. You know who else I enjoyed in this game? Joe Fagnano, Fanano from Maine and Yukon, making it happen. Look pretty good. I never heard of this man. I mean, I never heard of him, but I think he's going to make, he might make that roster as a QB3. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. You know the feeling. You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than. crushing your fantasy football league.

I'm JJ Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends, and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback, data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help.

bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late round fantasy football podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to the Bears and the Browns. The Bears roll up on the Browns, even though the Browns are the ones playing the starters, bad omen there. First drive, run, run, run, punt. I mean, we got a quarterback battle going on.

That's how we start. That's a terrible omen. Yeah, let's, hey, we. We have a quarterback battle going on. Our game plan is called hide the quarterback. Right. And look, eventually Deshaun Watson threw a lot of passes. If you just looked at the box score, it was misleading.

11 for 15, 125 passes. I am not just showing my bias, which I fully admit to. It just looked a lot rougher when you watched the film. And I felt better because on the NFL network coverage, like Gerald McCoy couldn't get over. Just like Watson just did not look comfortable in the one minute. drill. His average depth of target was under four and a half yards. So it was just really short passes. He was lucky to avoid like a possible interception. There was a fumble. He had a couple of nice

throws too, but he was indecisive like taking sacks. And you saw like three carries for four yards. That's because like at the last second he tries to run and just gets like a one yard gain. The thing that gets me though, Jordan, at the end of it, Todd Munkin says he functioned at a high level. And it was awesome to see that from Deshaun Watson. So I don't know what's going on. Are you trying not to laugh at me just. No, I did the thing you just did reading the comments. The comments are really funny on this.

Thank you to everyone watching us live. We're trying to do this during the preseason. We'll be doing it each Sunday and when we can. But yeah. Good job, you guys. So I don't know what to think about this because it was kind of like lose, lose. The two performances by the quarterbacks. Yeah, I mean, this is what they're, this is the, the situation they've created and they are going to ride this through, however they do one or the other or both or three, all three or whatever through the course of the season.

So I don't really have a take because I just think this is what it's going to be. And I hate it because I like the receivers. Casey Concepcion, Denzel Boston, you know, I was really had Denzel Boston in the draft. I really, I really want to Harold Fanon, you know, Quinn John Jenkins being. back at some, you know, I just really want to see what these guys can do it and how Todd Monkin can scheme everybody because I do like Todd Monkin as a play caller. Yeah, I think, I think what it is is he's trying to build up Watson confidence because I just see a player who plays with so little confidence. And it's funny because Watson, all Watson talks about is how confident he is. And

just like, the more you have to say it, the less I believe it. And like, I'm watching the game. He's just, he's just holding on to the ball. They had 24 yards. on their last 12 plays. The numbers look good because some of the players around them did some good things. Samson, Dylan Samson breaks a few tackles on a short screen pass. They go 45 yards. You mentioned Concepcion. Great catch on an outside. One of Deshaun Watson's better throws to the outside where it's contested. It's like, okay, showing a little toughness there. He's tough for his size, but really tough on this 18-yard touchdown run where you just saw the speed and he runs through tackles like it was James White winning the Super Bowl where you're like, how did he get in there?

He got first contact at the four lowers his shoulder, a smaller guy, and gets in. Denzel Boston is just a massive man. He's out there. He made a couple catches. It definitely wasn't all negative. And I think that's the case for Watson is just like he can operate the offense. Whereas Shudor Sanders comes out there. The first two throws he made were way better than any Watson throw of the day.

By far. They were deep. They were beautiful. They were aggressive. He's in the flow. His next throw right to. decision, he just sails the ball. Like, again, aggressive down the field, and he sails it by like 10 yards and it's an interception. And then he really struggled, kind of like I was talking about

with J.J. McCarthy with the mechanics. When he was under center, he's stumbling. It kind of kills a fourth down play because he takes too long under center. Another play, they have a pre-snap penalty. And that's the stuff that makes coaches mad and I think would make him, him being Monk and lean towards Watson, but it's tricky because Chedur shows you a little more of like, okay, that looks like a more of a quarterback that you want to see. There might be at some point because what a lot of times coaches are watching for right now is exactly what you said, how they get in and out of the huddle, how they operate just the sort of very vanilla version of the offense at the off the line of scrimmage and not just what it looks like and not just how it results, but what the

operation itself does in terms of the timing and some of the cadences and mixing things. up with when you mentioned that Dylan Samson screen pass and the big gain off that, like they have players who are going to be able to do that for them. Dylan Samson, it's really underrated, was the highest EPA per, you know, running back

off of screens last season and was phenomenal there. And for me, when I think about that, that's a timing. Yes, we often think of it as a checkdown, but not in today's league with some of these modern offenses. It's an extension of their run game and certainly in after the catch receiving

play and it also is predicated on really, really good timing and operational ability from the quarterback. So at a certain point, the Browns are just going to probably be like, all right, whoever is just going to operate and distribute the way that gets the timing of this correct, because this is where we're going to live here for the next year, is going to get the job. I think that's really well said. And I also think it's easier to go from Watson to Shudor. Just like one last chance for Watson, they're probably both going to play. You might as well start with Watson. In their mind, I don't think it makes sense.

But yeah, for positives, Judkins did play. It's amazing his recovery, considering the seriousness of his injury. It looked fine. The starting offensive line was out there and healthy. And it was the offensive line we expected in penciled in back in March. So great. Like everything's sort of on schedule there. Zadaria Smith is back on this team somehow.

We think he's expected to sign with the Browns. He had a tryout there. And so, you know, they're adding players. They're there. And yeah, Dylan Gabriel's there too. There were some reports. He's looked better in camp than the other two guys, but he came out there and threw a duck of a interception.

He's out there with third stringers, but he actually probably looked the worst of the three, so not great. The Bears sat most people. They have a lot of injuries. Ben Johnson doesn't want to play his starters in the preseason any way. My biggest takeaway, Jordan, is they did it. They opened in 14 personnel. They somehow benched.

I think they sat their top two or three tight ends just because they were sitting starters. And yet they started with four tight ends on the field. I feel like that was kind of sending a statement. Who does that? Ben Johnson literally, someone, I believe it was for the athletic, went and checked. I hope that's right. And yeah, they had never done that once all last season. But four tight ends.

It's kind of fun. He's just nuts. I just love it so much because it's like, you know, the talk right now. I'm going around to camps, Greg. I'm at a different camp tomorrow. I've been kind of just all over the place here. And really the talk of camps is just like what we've been talking about and honking about all spring.

And it's how many tight ends every team has in Benjians? And it's just like, look, I'm going to want up you here. Like it just, I just, I love that guy. He's wicked nuts, though. I told McVeigh, I mean, I don't know if he's going to listen to it. But when we interviewed him, I threw out the idea of, I want 05. You know, I don't know what you would call that. Five personnel.

Just five tight ends. They got five good ones. He had a name for it. I forgot what he said. But we, I want to see it. I want to see it. I just want to see all of it. I just want to see all of this.

This is so fun. Nothing makes Jordan happier. Like the first time the Rams got into two tight ends during your broadcast. You just immediately blurted out like, oh my God, they're in 12. I was like, Jordan. Well, in the red zone. They never were in 12 in the red zone. Anyway, we are not on that team yet.

That's great. No, not yet. Jedrick Wills, who's competing for left tackle, gave up a pretty bad sack in that game. I think Kieran Amagede is probably leading that battle. But the good news there, Ozzie Trapilo, their second round pick was activated off the PUP list. My sense is he's probably pretty far away from playing. I would be surprised if he's ready for the start of the season. But it does indicate that he's ready to advance his rehab to a point where they just feel comfortable with him practicing a little more.

so that's good news. And a thought crossed my mind, and I wanted to throw this by you quickly, Antoine Randallel L calling plays in this game and doing it well. I love that. Their assistant, 34 to 10, going crazy in the second half. They're like playing hurry up. They're throwing the ball all over the yard. Future head coach, what do you think?

Ooh, I like that idea. I mean, Ben Johnson is going to be one of those guys who everybody who is on that coaching staff should get a look. Right. And I love it. I love when coaches do this when they have their assistants call the games, especially in the, obviously in the preseason. That's fun too because they were doing a lot of different stuff. And I think it's a nice, like not of respect when the head coach says, hey, put your plan in and call it the way you want it. And then it looks like this. I freaking love that. That's awesome. He's been around. And I think receivers coaches get typecast a little. But I think it's really. interesting that Ben Johnson, like he took him with Randallel L to Chicago from Detroit. I don't think the lines were thrilled about that. They liked Randallel L. Randall has been an assistant for a while, two good coaches he's been under and that he is the one that he says like could be a play caller.

We talk a lot about the lack, you know, the lack of a pipeline for like young black like play collars. And for him to tap Randallel is like actually this might be the next dude up. Just a name to watch for either this cycle, next cycle, just something to watch. All right, let's go to the The Cowboys. Hey, how about make him an OC? Just a thought. Right. Right. That could be next. That could be next. Somewhere else. Well, yeah. And to your point, yes, I do think that when you are looking this good at this part of the job, this early on and in this with this little, like, actual live experience with the call sheet, that's a huge sign in terms of head coach. My point is, you know, make a difference and make him an OC. Actually make him an offensive coordinator. Don't just have. people as your receivers coaches or things like that. Well, it got me thinking, I have to admit, off the top of my head, I was like, who is the Bears Offensive coordinator right now.

I know who it is. It's press Taylor. Oh, yeah, of course. It's always press Taylor. It's always press Taylor. Whenever you don't know who the O.C is, it's Press Taylor. Jacksonville. Got it.

Cowboys 17. Seahawks 7. Mike McDonald, not thrilled. I was pretty annoyed after this game. I don't have many takeaways from the game on a Seattle side. Drew Locke and Jalen Milrow went back and forth, trading drives. Locke had started pretty well with a touchdown drive, but then it was, you know, it wasn't great. Milro took a lot of sacks.

The numbers look good. He had some really good runs, but afterwards, Mike McDonald was somewhat pointed in talking about Jalen Milrow, like saying, we got to take it to another step, just like encourage him to rip it in his words. He did extend some plays with his legs. That really helped us, but the play doesn't have to end when there's no one. to throw it with your progressions. Like you're allowed to extend the play, you know. It's up to you how long the play goes. So I think he was getting a little frustrated about the sacks that Milro was taking when he was staying in the pocket. I'm thinking of a fourth down sequence

later in the game. And so, you know, a little bit of buzzing the harsh of the high I was on with the good Jalen Milrow training camp. But let's go to the bigger news there. Devin Witherspoon is the highest paid cornerback in the league. Not a shock, but he gets that contract done, $101 million guaranteed Jordan, four years, $132 million extension. It's a six-year deal. He's signed with the Seahawks through 2031. How about that? What do you think we're going to be doing in 2013?

I know we'll be watching Devin Witherspoon play football. I do know that. I mean, I hope we're still working together, Jordan, that this is the show and we're talking football. Hey, I told you, I'm a barnacle, baby. I am stuck to you. You cannot peel me off now. what you say now. Like she's going to be, you know how they made Ross Tucker the number two with Ian Eagle to J.J. Watt? Like by then Jordan will be up to number three, you know, so I'm not going

to bump them off because I like them. But you'll be up to, you'll be it up to number three. The quote from McDonald after the contract I really like with Devin Witherspoon, Spoon is all the things. He's a great person. He's a great football player. He's a great teammate. He's a great leader. He is all the things. I really like that. And I have noticed these. contracts, they're getting longer and longer. It sounds like he, you know, broke the barrier for cornerbacks, but it's tacking four years onto the two years that were already there. It's, it's not as much per year if you do the whole six as some of the top guy. It doesn't matter. It's there. It's a framework for Gonzalez. And they control, like, really, his career now moving forward.

Speaking of careers, DeMarcus Lawrence had said it's going to be his last year. So this is a swan song for DeMarcus Lawrence. I did notice their second round pick, Bud Clark, was playing well into the second half. So probably not going to be a factor in terms of playing for this team early. I think there's some safeties ahead of them. Let's go to the Cowboys. Don't you love an undrafted free agent story? Camden Brown is the guy.

I got to admit, I hadn't been tracking this, Jordan, but he had a couple touchdowns in this game, including just an outrageous catch on one of them. And then I went and did some digging. I guess this has been a thing. I mean, Cowboys beatwriters are like, this has been a thing. They're calling this the Camden Brown game, but it's been the Camden Brown Spring and they think he is making the team. I listened to some speculation from one of the podcasts, Love of the Star that was like,

is there a world where they keep him over Cavante Turpin? I was just like, whoa, that's kind of shocking because Turpin's such a good return guy and makes a lot of money. I kind of doubt that, but I think they're going to try to find a way to get this guy on the team. Dak said something to the point of or is reported that like, if they cut this guy, deck is not going to be happy. Camden Brown. That's great. Yeah. And with Ryan Flournoy playing so well, he looks so smooth, like this is a, this is a solid four deep, in my opinion. So I understand why there was speculation. I don't want to knock Cavante. I was only at practice out there for a day up in Oxnard last week. And Camden Brown has moved up in the reps lines.

Now, that is hashtag noticing for me when that happens with a young player, omens and signs. I love hashtag noticing right now. This is really hashtag noticing type of season. So I think he has passed Jonathan Mingo, who actually made, probably played his best game for what it's worth as a cowboy. But I don't think he's going to make that team. Marcus Vald is Scantling. I don't think he's going to make that team. And so, yeah, I think you find a spot for Camden Brown.

I don't know if the back of running back is on this team. Jayden Blue, we hear a lot about. And then you watch the games and it's just not happening as much. Malik Davis is a good player for them as a special team. so I think he's on this team. And then I do like to track the first round picks. Caleb Downs, kind of being treated like a real deal starter. It's been really positive, everything you hear.

Malachi Lawrence was their other first round pick. And some talk of camp that like maybe it's been a little slow going, like a little bit like Donovan Azaraku, who looks more comfortable this year, year two. Malachi Lawrence, maybe going through that same process and having some struggles playing a little bit in this preseason game and not looking like amazing. so he might not be like their, he might not, he's a first round pick, but he's not necessarily one of their top three edge rushers right now if they had to play a game next week.

Dangerous. Dangerous group. I don't know what to say about them. They could be great. I think when I was out there, it was like the vibes are high, and I love talking to that beat because they've all been, they've all been on that beat for so many years and they've seen it all at this point. And, you know, there are.

always like, you know, everything seems great right now, but, but, you know, kind of a thing. And I'm like, come on, guys, this team looks great. And I was there. Even Dak had a bad practice day and the offensive general was, was not what it had been looking like. But this defense, they seem really connected and like they're getting better. Quinn Williams is just like a freaking joy to be around, it seems like, for everybody. And he talked and he was talking after the contract extension and he was talking about all these moments that he's gone back and watched when, you know, legendary defensive linemen have gotten a chance to close big games and he mentioned, you know, the Aaron Donald Super Bowl and, and he mentioned the third and the fourth down,

which I think people forget that third down run stop. It just was cool. I'm like, okay, this guy matters. This guy is going to be a really cornerstone. And I think they think, just talking to some people in the building, I think they think that he, is the type of player who can bring up sort of help quote unquote raise everybody in terms of their development even if it takes a little bit. I can't wait to watch this team. They are they are right near the top of the list for me of like watchability and what I want to see the first month of the season. The Rams are obviously there too just because they're like the they're the superpower. They're the evil empire now Jordan. They are the evil empire just because they I was working for the death

star. Yeah, they look so good on paper. So they're like they're the superpower. They're the, uh, they're The Rams pull out a 20 to 12 victory. I do want to get to your experience in the booth at the end of this game because it was awesome to see and was really proud of you. Thank you. You were great. But let's talk, Ty Simpson, because this was one of the bigger stories, I think, that came out of preseason week one.

You know, I was ragging on him, struggling at practice a little bit. And we can give the context of Ty Simpson's performance, but within the context of what they set up, for him and how he played. I think it was a really positive step for him. And I think Sean McVeigh's comments after the game really, really supported, like, how confident he was in what Ty Simpson did. I like the way you put that because what they set up for him, I think that's the exact right way to put it. Now, we had Dave Rookoehung, the quarterbacks coach on and who's been in charge of the development of Ty Simpson and Stetson Bennett. And we had him on and he sort of,

I asked him directly, hey, did you set up a lot of these like long? bootlegs and some of these throwing on the move plays, especially early on, you know, partial field reads and all of those things early on in the game to really get him going and build his confidence. And Dave were going answered the question well. He basically said, you know, we could call anything we feel confident, like that kind of a thing. However, this is not the offense that you're running for Matthew Stafford, for example. And I mean, you wouldn't expect it to be. the guy got no almost no reps in in camp i mean he was he he maybe got like you know under 50 for sure reps total in camp so far and with with any sort of uh you know because of how much they were doing

with sets and bennon as the as the qv2 in those days and then also on stafford's rest days then ty simpson would come in as the q b2 because stetton was distributing to the ones right so i was really happy for Ty. I mean, that was cool because as the game went on, you could see his confidence building. And I mentioned this a couple of times with Rob Havenstein on the broadcast. The thing that we hashtag noticed is that he was distributing to a lot of different types of players. He was going through his reads, even if he wasn't necessarily doing the exact same and complex things that we would see in this actual system. They're running a very, I want to say, like, very 2018 version of this offense, which is what they always have done in the preseason.

And this time they did it with more tight ends, which I liked to see. But they, it was, I thought he did really, really well. And you could actually feel him get so much more into flow and into rhythm. His pace, that long touchdown drive, where Dean Connors, you know, has the, has the catch, like the catch and run. Like he, that there was a throw to C.J. Daniels on that drive that was excellent. and he was seeing it well and his pace was excellent. I thought he executed two minute really well as well.

Yeah, they played no huddle. That was impressive. Look, the numbers are crazy. 21 for 25, 190 yards, two touchdowns. Like the average depth of target was, you know, would have been by far like the shortest average depth of target of any quarterback in the NFL last year. He wasn't throwing it over 10 yards. And yet, you know, I actually was a little more impressed when I did go back to watch it on film

than I expected because the couple of times he did go downfield, they were on point. They weren't the easiest throws. You mentioned the Daniels one. There was one other one downfield. That was good. It was all on target. He did get to his second read a handful of times. I mean, they opened the game.

It was almost funny for him with literally four straight brute legs, like every single play. I started charting at that point. I'm like, okay, that was four straight. I'm going to count how many of these 25 throws are bootlegs. I think there was only two more. So it wasn't as crazy the rest of the way. And it's mostly first read, get the ball out. But he was decisive.

And there was actually one second reaction play to where there's a defender at his feet. What stood out to me for him and Bennett for the most part was like the offensive line played, you know, incredible. So there was no pressure. But that's my test for NFL quarterbacks. If you can deliver when there's no pressure, you are an NFL quarterback. Like you will have a career. And he was doing that. Yeah.

He had time to pap up. the ball. I don't always like to see a quarterback do that, but the fact that he had time to do it and really had time to settle back a little bit, it was funny that the social media team for the Rams is excellent, and they sort of made an inadvertent pun because they were going with Alabama, roll tied, but he was rolling out in these boots every single, every other play. And so they said roll tie. And I was like, did you guys mean to do that? But it was, yeah, it was fun. And I thought Dean Connors, the running back was excellent. They're trying to get Jarkas Hunter a draft pick last year more uh more diversity of looks because he was a shotgun running back a lot for a lot of

it in in college but they're trying to get him to have a better feel for under center and get just getting him more carries but then dean conners gets in the game and it's clear you know all the all the he's been one of the players everyone's been talking about in training camp and all the all the coaches sort of and scouts have had their eye on um because and it's it's the physicality it's he picked up a really great pressure at one point too which they are definitely going to show on the highlight reel this week. And then the catch and run, he can be on the field for every down. They love Ronnie Rivers. And Ronnie Rivers is a core four special teamer and he's an excellent pass protector. So I don't see him making the leap there. But I could see Dean Conner's

making this team. Hmm. Love it. You know, the comment that, look, if I was very critical, the Ty Simpson draft pick and, you know, we're seeing like if you're, if you were critical of being drafted, don't switch up now, especially if you're a Rams fan because he was dealing out there. It's one preseason game. I would never change anything off of that, but what you want to do is just evaluate what you saw for one game. And what it makes me think about more practically is like Stetson Bennett, some of the practice reports haven't been as good lately. And so you just wonder if they change up their reps plan in practice with Simpson getting a little more into the mix. We'll see. Or like, is it possible that, you know, Jimmy G is still the backup quarterback for the team?

Is it possible? Ty Simpson is the backup quarterback. We will see. We have future weeks to talk about it. I was disappointed to see Keegan Trost, their rookie tackle, suffer an injury. He's supposed to be their swing tackle. Allerick Jackson could just potentially be suspended, so he's a key player for them. And so we will keep an eye on him for the Chiefs.

Some Cyrus Allen pop. He's back. He's healthy. I think this rookie and their rookie running back, Emmett Johnson, who also looked pretty good in this game. I think they're going to play for this Chiefs team, which talk about a team like I'm looking forward to seeing open the season. I'm really curious what this Chief's team looks like.

And I think they're going to get some production out of their rookies. R. Mason Thomas had a couple good rushes, their rookie pass rush. I'm not going to go crazy there. But, you know, especially Cyrus Allen, Emmett Johnson, like I think they could have rookies who actually get snaps for the Chiefs. Yeah, and I, you know, my questions, I think their starting offensive line could be really, really good, but my questions about their backups only intensified and some of the depth questions there, only intensified. A lot of false starts, a lot of, a lot of push from some of the Rams, you know, third, like deep third string and undrafted free agent, interior defensive linemen, you know, especially, and there's some undersized guys there too.

That was notable. I thought the Chiefs backup DV. I thought that DBs played well. I was like Spags is that dastardly, man, he's doing it again. I thought they looked good. I thought they looked long. They were good. It's not like there was a ton down fee.

It's a preseason. I don't want to over comment. But I just, I like the way they moved. I thought they looked good. Christian Fulton, who's a veteran who was with the Chargers and getting paid a lot of money by the Chiefs was out there actually in the second quarter. So he's healthy. but I found that interesting. The experience of listening and watching to you was awesome.

You killed it. You were succinct. You were, you were, no, I'm just kidding. You were just confident. Like, and you were talking ball. You were educating. Rob Heimstein, you mentioned who you were with. I thought it was a great rapport.

J.B. Long's great, too. Just what was it like? You sounded like you were having fun, which was, you know, as a fan of yours, as a friend of yours, that's all I wanted to see. Because I was like, if you're having fun, the love of the ball and the knowledge of the ball is going to come out. And yeah, like Ty Simpson was not the best rookie out there on the field. It was Jordan. I have to tell you, I was so nervous.

I know you know this, Greg. I was so, so, so nervous. For any of you listeners who don't think that Greg Rosenthal has a heart, that there's just a computer ticking and whirring away in there, Greg sent me some really nice, wonderful confidence-building text before everything. And I had a moment on the bus ride in. I got to ride on the bus. I was sitting behind Rob Havenstein. And there was no room on some of the other buses and some of the backup rookies and second-year players had to join the staff, sort of the quote-unquote, this team support staff bus.

And Blaskey, the left tackle, ended up sitting next to Rob Havenstein. and I got to listen to Rob, who was an 11-year veteran and a Super Bowl winner and one of the best tackles they've ever had, give advice to this young guy who was just looking at him with the biggest, like, saucer plate eyes. And it was the coolest thing ever. I couldn't believe I got to do that. It was so much fun. And once I got there, I had so much freaking fun, Greg. It was like one of the most fun things I've ever done in my entire life.

Like, it just, it was. I hope this doesn't feel like a letdown, you know, afterwards. Now you're in a hotel room talking about the Jaguars third string tackle. I love ball, man. I just love ball. No, it was so fun. And the crew was great. And J.B. is the freaking man.

Like, that dude steered us, guided us. Like, we didn't have time to feel nervous once it started. Like, it was fun. And Rob did a brilliant job as well. It was a lot of fun. And I have a lot of things I want to get better at, which I know is not surprising to you to hear. but it was cool not I didn't ruminate over them afterward because I just tried to be in the moment and normally I I do be ruminating quite a bit. That's the great thing about live anything, but especially live like you're at you're literally at the game.

You are in the moment. I have not gotten, you know, the chance to have like have an opportunity like that. But like you know, calling the Super Bowls for the radio for talk sport and everything. and like we're working on hopefully maybe calling some of the game together in Paris this year. Like it's just, nothing is more fun than that. You're just part. You're in the moment. So the great thing is you're going to get to do two more preseason games. You're going to have that job for as long as they'll keep you.

And I bet you're going to be getting more jobs. So look forward to it in the future. Get Bell, Pure Fiber Internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on Internet with a two-year term. and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. You know the feeling. You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in prime time. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league.

I'm JJ Zacharyason, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft, are players to Target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends, and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback. Data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now we got a hard pivot to the Friday preseason games, you know.

The Jets. The Jets. Bucks, 2417, the Bucks, you know, played their third. Like, they went deep, I believe. Who was it that started this game for the Bucks at quarterback? I should have this written out. Let's start with the Jets, actually, because it was a little surprising. They played all their starters except Gino Smith because Gino Smith has a foot injury struggling

with, which is not great. I don't think it's gotten serious, but they didn't want to put them out there in a game. game. Cade Clubnick delivers 10 points and two drives. Afterwards, Aaron Glenn says, this kid's got moxie. That's what we, that's what we saw at college. And he was throwing it up there. Garrett Wilson had an insane catch on like a hospital ball that I was like, ooh, I don't love that in the preseason, but he made a great catch.

And here's a positive omen here for the Jets, Jordan. First defensive third down for the game. You got all your starters in there. You got Will McDonald on one side, getting around the edge. You have the draft pick David Bailey kind of going inside and pushing the pocket. It's all collapsing in. They all win their battles and it's a sack for McDonald. But yeah, David Bailey, who's had a really nice camp by all accounts, like good team defense.

Okay, maybe this pass rush, I think, could be pretty darn good for the Jets. I am really excited about both lines. for the Jets, honestly. And I'm, you know, you have to check yourself sometimes because the Jets do seem to frequently have really nice camps and pre-seasons. But in this case. And they reportedly got destroyed in the joint practice like the offense did when Gina was out there.

But one thing, you know, our, our friend MJD has also been on the road a lot. And I was talking to him about some of the camps he's visited. And the Jets really, the. that past rush, and especially David Bailey, like, really, really frustrated the Bucks offensive line. And I think that that's really telling to me because that's a talented offensive line. They've had some questions and obviously some returns from injury and whatnot. But David Bailey just seems like the real deal, football robot. Like Zach Rosenblatt, my colleague at the athletic, followed him around camp for one day, just basically Iso-cammed him.

but with a pen and paper. And it was just like, this dude is just a machine. Like he just loves football and he just wants to be good at football. That's it. Simple as that. Yeah. Love it. And a really interesting rookie class, which might not get as big an impact out of Omar

Cooper as we thought right off the bat, the late first round pick. This is what the preseason is about for me is to watch guys like that and to confirm things that you're kind of hearing whispers about, which is that Isaiah Williams, who was their return specialist last year, named the team MVP by his teammates for his big returns, has played so well in camp at receiver and there has been a drumbeat of him like really developing that he is their third receiver right now. Omar Cooper was playing with like the second, the third stringers, you know, for a while in this game. And so, you know, those are the types of things I think that we learn right now. Omar Cooper, like if you're thinking about him in fantasy

league, like don't bother right now. It's fine. It happens with rookie receivers. Some, Sometimes guys come out faster. Sometimes they don't. For the Bucks, Ameca, Abuka has a sprained toe. They do expect them ready for week one. We're not going to see him in the preseason. It was Connor Bezellick, who was the starter. I don't know how I forgot that.

But then Jalen Daniels, remember him in college, Kansas? Yeah, he played pretty well. He might make this team as their third quarterback. Who knows? There was a guy like Aidan Garns, who I think the broadcast, he had a pick six, and he's had a good camp apparently in the defensive backfield. And they were like, he makes the team. You're like with a pick six.

You just kind of love that. Bailey Zappy, unfortunately, is the one that threw the pick six. And then poor guy almost threw an interception, I think, on his next pass, which was a drop. And I want to go back and watch the Ted Hurst film, a receiver that I like because I hear good things. We got to keep moving. Let's go to the Broncos and the Falcons. The Broncos made the Falcons feel bad about themselves on both sides of the ball. because the Falcons were playing their starters.

The Broncos played a lot of starters too, except for Bownicks. Actually, they pretty much played all their starters. And Jared Stidham goes out there. He's reportedly in a backup quarterback battle, Jordan. He goes three for three for 75 yards in the first drive. Cortland Sutton is out there just dominating the Falcons. He goes three for 61 and he's just dunking on guys. Pat Bryant is doing things.

They are just killing people. And then Sean Payton at half time is taking shots at them saying, quote, there's a lot of people dressed as empty seats today. He still hates the Falcons. It wasn't a revenge game, but he still got that hatred of the Falcons, even as a Saints coach. And it was pretty darn empty there in Atlanta. And they just went up and down the field.

We'll get to the Tuotunga Vailoa, but the Broncos defense also was just absolutely killing the Falcons. One thing I always hashtag notice about you, Greg, is the way your voice changes when you talk about Jared Sidham. So I'm just noticing that that seems to be back already. Well, Pete, you know, he's in this battle with Sam Hall. You had a tough one there for a minute. Now you're all the way back.

He's what's called the gamer, you know. It didn't hurt that he had all his starters out there with him. Except in the actually very important game that he played in. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He was going against started. Jadae Barron had like a very weird deflection pick six,

but was out there like late in the second. quarter. So I don't think Jaday Barron is going to be a starter, their former first round pick, or last year's first round pick. The bigger story in this game was the Falcons. Bad Omen, their first drive was a one-yard run, a Tua Tunga Vailoa

fumble, and then a throw short of the sticks. The next series with Tua, they got one first down, but then it just looked really rough, like the operation on a screen. That one ends. He goes punt-punt-punt. Their drives go punt-pun, interception,

punt pick six in the first half. And then this this locked on falcons podcast headline just cracked me up. The headline was all caps flop, colon, no more all caps. Tua and Falcons offense all caps now. Exposed. This is this is what this is what's happening in Atlanta these days. They're pretty upset. Wow. Yeah, they're, you know, not always a good thing and certainly mostly a bad thing to be memed also in your first there's a you know you know what's funny is I listened so it actually got me to listen I was like I want to hear them kill they like didn't even kill it they were like they were understanding and it was I watched this game it wasn't that big of a deal it was very one-sided but it there weren't a lot of takeaways here that was a lot of these YouTube things do

though now there's at least one word that's all capitalized now just so like really draw you in four passes to Kyle Pitts by Tua. I barely was in there and it was all to Kyle Pitts. It's fine. James Pierce was suspended since we last talked. There was a few suspensions around the league. The biggest one was James Pierce, their edge rusher. It suspended eight games. I think the Falcons knew this was coming. He's been with the third string defense throughout camp. He was listed there on the depth chart. He was one of the defensive rookie of the year candidates last year. The baseline for domestic violence suspensions is six games, so they actually

went above that. Not exactly sure, you know, they don't, they don't explain the reasoning, but, you know, if you look at what James Pierce was accused of, three felony charges, it was scary stuff. He also resisted arrest, you know, drove away from the police, the, the woman that he was accused of, you know, harassing and committing the violence against, you know, feared and had to drive away from him. Like very scary stuff, but he's entered a diversion program to, in theory, avoid jail.

And this is how the NFL has come down on this. And, yeah, that's the James Pierce of it all. And, like, I could have seen them suspending them more. I'm glad that it's a baseline of six games. I could have seen a year. I could have seen a year, yeah. Yeah. It wouldn't have surprised me.

And he's not appealing it. So it's happening. They already announced. He's not appealing it. Let's go to the commanders and the dolphins to wrap up and then a little bit of news. I got to get out of here. I'm going to a Yo-Asobe concert tonight at the Hollywood Bowl with my daughter. It's her band.

I doubt there's a lot of Yosobi fans out there listening. But if you are, let me know. You never know. The commanders, 20, dolphins, seven. Really, it's just been an excuse to get off Jane Daniels Daniels five jokes. He's in this little skirmish with the LSU. People are really mad at Jane Daniels. I know.

I was like, that was my first reaction, too, to think Jaden Daniels is overreacting to tell them to stop using his name by giving away his jersey. But he's like, he's like a young kid. Like, it's not that big of a deal. And he's just getting killed everywhere. It's just like, go easy on Jane Daniels. Jayden Daniels is backup quarterback, Marcus Mariotta, sprained his MCL. This is one of those injuries that I feel better about after hearing what it is because he looked very worried right. away. The report is that he could be back for week one. He'll be out for the preseason. They're

not signing another quarterback right now. So that shows that they're not that worried about it. He's one of the best backups in the league. So, you know, they need him. They may need him. Unfortunately, with Jane Daniels's injury history, they may really need him one or two, maybe more games. And as a spot starter, he's fantastic. So hopefully he is back sooner rather than later. Yes, Sam Hartman. He of the flowing locks is the third string quarterback right now on this team. Teams tell you more with their actions than their words. So if they don't sign someone else, they're not too worried about Mario. Dorrance Armstrong, their pass rusher, also suspended for one game for violating the league's conduct policy.

Quan Martin is a guy who was drafted pretty high a couple years ago. He looks like he's on the bubble playing deep into this game. Johnny Newton, a guy liked a lot in the second round. He was playing a lot. I think he's going to be on this team, but he is not near the starters because they rested all their starters. Sunny Stiles was part of six starters who did play on the first drive that gave up a touchdown. Some positive plays somewhere he looked a little bit slow. Your boy, and I think Jeff Hapley is one of your boys, was trying to send a message here on his first drive.

Malik Willis looked awesome, but do we really need to give Devon A. Chan seven carries on your first drive of the game? No, and it also was like he, I've met Jeff Hapley once, I think, so I know. I don't think that he qualifies. I do like the dolphins what they're doing. I do like the dolphins. I like their plan. I'm higher, but not this year. I'm higher on the dolphins like over the next 18 months than I think a lot of people are.

You may be more, maybe the front office. Maybe that's more your guy. Yeah, John Eric Sullivan, I think is really solid. But, yeah, Jeff, they were joking on, I believe it was Rich Eisen about how he's going to get like 40 carries a game or 40 touches a game, which is like quite. Obviously not being serious because that would be absolutely insane to do. But he certainly didn't calm people down by the opening script of this game. So it's like, okay, maybe he's just trolling. I don't know.

They were all like in, except for one off tackle run. I watched. I went back and watched it. They're all like inside runs, including some like tough, you know, short yardage situations. So remember how Tyree Kill was trying to give those coaching notes that he didn't like A. Chan and the short yardage. Halfley saying he's great in short yards. Devonne H.N.'s great. Seven carries is a little much. But your guy, John Eric Sullivan, one of his draft picks, Caleb Douglas, looking good. He is going to start for this team. Third round pick. He is a specimen. Had a ridiculous one-handed catch. Go look it up.

It was awesome. And then the offensive line played really well in that drive. I know they're going to against backups, but Jonah, Jonah Sabs, as they call him in Miami, looked really good. And reportedly, the light bulbs turned on, whereas he was like one of the worst starters in the league last year and has reportedly had a really good camp. That offensive line right now is healthy and on paper looks pretty good. So cross your fingers, Malik Willis also looked very comfortable and accurate. It was one drive, but, you know, pass-deck notice. Don't sleep on the Miami Dolphins over the next 18 months is all I'm going to say about that. Jamari Sawyer, who I thought was a really good depth signing for them, like a good swing tackle, is on injured reserve.

if he is going to be out for the season. And Quinn Ures, their backup quarterback, is out with an injury right now. Could that be an Andy Dalton or JJ McCarthy destination? Who knows? Remember when you assigned me all of the Quinn Ure's snaps for our games? That was not the most fun assignment you've ever given me. Whatever. It was fine.

I enjoyed it. Reportedly not having a good camp. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave Netflix and Disney Plus. From $94 a month, price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. You know the feeling. You make a pick in your fantasy draft and the entire room groans because they wanted that player.

Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in primetime. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm J.J. Zacharyason, host of the latest. round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data-driven analysis, historical trends, and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers, and the mailback, data-driven, quick-hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy.

Listen to the late round fantasy football podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's wrap up with some quick news here. Jeremiah Love is out at least a week with an ankle injury. I hate to say I told you so, Jordan. But we got on Michael Flore a little bit for 14 first half touches for Jeremiah Love. On the 14th touch, Jordan, where they're using them in the red zone. That was the play where he got bent back pretty awkwardly. When I went back to watch it, I was like, ooh, Lefleur says he's out at least.

He said a week, and I was like, oh, was that just like a hard week? But since then, it sounded a little more vague. And now some reporting from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN says they are hopeful that he could be back for week one, but it's uncertain. Also, their second round pick, guard Chase Bessantis is out for the season with a torn MCL suffered in that game. That is a, that's a really tough one-two punch. And I think players should play in the preseason, but that's just a, that's a huge workload in a short amount of time, 14 touches in one half of a game.

It'd be even different if it was 14 over the whole game, but he looked a little indecisive in that game and then was warming up. You really hate to see it. But I think if you're drafting fantasy, I'm a little lower on Jeremiah Love than I was even coming into this week, because it's a little indecisive. You have good veterans around him. You don't have to ask him to have 300 touches, even if he is playing well.

Yeah, I can understand why. Normally, I draw actually a pretty hard line. I don't think starters should play in the preseason. That's just my opinion. But in this case, I do understand a running back. You really want to make sure he understands the spacing you're going to use him in, not just in the run game and in the passing game, too. And some of the blitz pickups and some of the things he's going to just

have to be a factor on because he will be an every down player. And then also, how long does it take him to warm up? How many carries does it take for him to really find his legs and really see it well? So I do understand with like rookie running backs who were expected to be premier players for their teams, just something you really hate to see. Like I just think injuries suck in general in the preseason and all the time, but especially in the preseason. And this one is, you hate to like, this one's so easy to have hindsight about, right? And that's what also makes it tough. It does.

And we're taping this Sunday afternoon on the West Coast. Thank you to everyone in the chat and watching live. Give us a like, follow. We're trying to grow this NFL daily to kind of be a live thing. Sign up to get notifications when we do go live. We appreciate you all. And when it's live and this is the case, you know, when we tape podcasts too, sometimes we get information as we're taping literally minutes ago.

from Adam Schefter, Jeremiah Love is dealing with a high ankle sprain. Ooh. He's not going to play obviously in the preseason. Don't like that. Yeah. So that is something that could linger. And I hope that they don't rush him back. I'm sure they won't.

They don't need to. No. They have like a million running backs. To me, that is an injury that they are such nagging injuries that like put them on ice for at. Like the opener isn't for a ball. month, but put them on ice for six weeks. Like, do not, like, let him sit out the first couple weeks of the season. 15 games is plenty for a rookie running back.

You know, whatever it is. Like, just be careful with that young man. But, man, that is frustrating. Also an update on Jamal Adams, kind of what we expected. It has been confirmed by Ian Rappaport that he has a season-ending knee injury. So now that is more official, but it confirmed what we thought looking at that. And yeah, the Basantis injury is a big one, too, for the Cardinals. a second round guard that they took.

Some other season ending injuries, the Texan's third quarterback Grand Mertz suffered a torn ACL, hated to see that. Kyle Munung guy, you are a Kyle Munung dude. You are a Kyle Munung dude. Suffered an injury at practice. We're going to be watching at Sunday.

Grady Jarrett kind of fell awkwardly into his knee. It didn't sound great. Speaking to hashtag noticing. Am I overreacting to this one, Jordan? And thank you to our crack producer, Thomas Warren, sitting in on a Sunday because Eric Roberts has a very important wedding. He has a life too to go to.

Like, let's let him live. So Thomas has given me this great information breaking on Jeremiah Love. He's got the graphics ready. For Clint Kubiak, hashtag noticing that QB1, the way he talked about it is now, Kirk Cousin, it's his job to lose when they asked. I was like, oh, just like phrased a little differently.

I don't think it's different. But then it was also reported that that Mendoza might be getting more first team reps this week. And then he tried to couch it like, well, everyone deserves first team reps. Adrian Martinez deserves first team reps. Like, we know what you're doing. It's like after how hard they sold this whole thing, they're just doing the same thing every team does. I'm hashtag got to see.

Am I overreacting to this? No, well, I always think my first reaction when anyone, any coach ever says it's his job to lose, it means to me, what I hear is he's already in the act of losing it. Like, I don't know. I don't know. I will see them this week. I'm in Houston. And part of the reason I'm here is I'm going to be able to go to Raiders, Texans, joint practices. And that's not going to be an easy defense for either of those quarterbacks to practice against. I'm very excited for this. This is like probably one of the highlights of my of my summer. But I also, whenever somebody says that, it almost puts it in active tense to me. Yes. I know I know coaches are not thinking about this. like the same way that like people who do words for a living are. But that is always what I think about is, hey, his job to lose, meaning, you know, I've already put the thought into my brain that he could lose it.

Raiders would be high on that teams I want to see list. I might have to do this as a podcast. Hey, come out and visit. I'm here. You come out to see joint practices. We have you on staff as the Raiders, Texans, joint practice correspondent. I want to get you on the show to give us your official winner. to declare a winner of the joint practice.

Well, that's a condition I'm not willing to agree to. That's ridiculous. You have to do it. It's obvious. There's always a winner in competition. Tucker Kraft is back at practice. The Packers' tight end, doing 11-on-11s for the first time. Rayshon Slater, we've been watching the Chargers tackle has been out now for at least a week. At first, Jim Harbaugh said, oh, it's just maintenance. He's not even hurt. And then they haven't said anything about it since, basically. And it's okay. He's coming off of really serious injury. So basically his recovery, not going as well right now as Joe Alt's recovery. Nick Bosa had a setback. He was seen for the first time in two weeks at the side of practice for the 49ers. So that's a positive step. But he's just doing like light individual things. Meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey, who they wouldn't say anything about, he hasn't been seen in over a week with quote unquote muscle tightness. I love Rota World. But,

Roto World had a, you know, a post today. It's like, we're not worried. Still draft him in the first round of your fantasy. Like, why aren't you worried? This is what everyone, that fantasy, like people were saying up until the moment, his season was over last time around. Be worried. Be very worried.

I'm not taking him, period. I almost forgot about that. Man, that brings me back to that too because it was like, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. Super, super, not fine all of a sudden. Yeah. No team lies more about injuries than the 49ers.

As our friend Cynthia Freeland would often call Kyle Shanahan, who she's friends with, so she felt like she could do this. On TV, though, calling him the lying liar who lies about injuries. So keep that in mind. And then finally, Aaron Donald, back on the transaction wire. He's worked out again. So I guess it's not a tryout anymore,

but he's working out with the team. So let us know when you're ready to go. We're ready to go. I got to get to that concert, Jordan. Thank you so much. Not just for your star turn. But for lighting up this show with your love of ball in a somewhat sad looking Houston hotel room. We will be back on NFL Daily on Monday.

It's our AFC East preview show with Taylor Kyle's first-time guest. Really excited about it. We'll see you then. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they won. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zachary Eisen, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off.

Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.