NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Winners and Losers from First Week of Training Camp

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon to give you the winners and losers following the first week of NFL training camps. Including Tua Tagovailoa addressing Dolphins fans after signing his new contract (2:19), Jordan Love's new contract (7:22), a potential Jarrett Stidham resurgence (19:18) and more! Next, we're joined by Bridget Condon as we hear about the latest from Ravens and Bengals camp (36:10). Note: time codes approximateNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're always trying to get Rod Tiddwell paid. It's 2024. Show me the money's still alive, and so is Patrick Claibon. So lucky to be joined by him today from a hotel room. in Cincinnati, where he covered the Bengals. And he's running all over the country. Patrick, I'm excited for this show, this weekend. Like, I've been prepping all weekend to give the listeners as many winners and losers as possible.

I've been reading way too many camp reports, watching way too much ITC. So I hope you're ready. I love that you try to pawn it off as, like, hey, this is a rarity. I'm not 100% plugged into all this stuff anyway. And I'm doing this. This is just Greg. This is Greg in his natural habitat. I love it.

Fair, but we, you know, we haven't always had these Sunday night shows. And it reminded me, I used to do these articles, like 64 things, you know, we learned from training camp over the last week or whatever. And so that's how I'm viewing these Sunday night shows kind of catching up on everything that's been going on while everyone else is paying attention to the Olympics. And you don't have time to check out, you know, what pewterreport.com is saying about the bucks. some radio station saying about the Steelers. So we hope to get you covered with all the news, big and small, the winners and the losers. And before that, I mean, I just want to get to one health note, which the Patriots announced Sunday evening that Christian Barmore, who I believe is their best player right now, overall best defensive player, is not with the team right now, suffering with blood clots. He is out indefinitely.

So I just want to wish him, you know, a speedy recovery. and they didn't say anything about his timeline, but just they hope that he's back. It's obviously very serious issue and glad that they caught it. So I hope he is well. Let's get to the winners and the losers, Patrick. And since we last taped,

Tua Tunga Viloa's contract got done, which I was excited about. And Tua was also excited about while talking to Dolphins crowd on Sunday. I'll tell you what? Show me nobody! Patrick's at his hands over his head. Second-hand embarrassment is really something.

And I know it was a dare for Tua to say that, but still, that is so not him, right? Like, whatever, whatever you think. And to people who don't know, because, like, you mentioned Rod Tipal, and yet, I don't even know the math on how long ago, Jeremy McGuire was. We're, are we in the 30s? It was 1996. So yeah, I don't think Tua was alive or he was maybe just born. But that's how it used to be before meme culture. Like, we would have a movie and then there would be a line from the movie and we would just repeat it for years and year. And that was the one from the movie. And yeah, like good for Tua. We were, when we were talking about it last time, we were in

the studio, right? When we're, you know, talking about this hypothetical show. And I, I got a microphone and everything, everything's great here at Cincinnati. But that was my question to you. Like, why not just, why not just pay him now and save the money and the hassle? You're going to have to do it anyway. And here we are. I was wrong. Being skeptical of this, I'll own my bad takes.

And it wasn't that this would never happen. But he got all the money. They showed him the money. And, yeah, no, I shout out, you know, that movie, which was a great movie, great, maybe over it, a very good movie. It stood the test of time. And that quote has stood the test of time. I love that it's still making waves.

But it makes more sense when you find out, yes, the offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevel dared him to say it, he said, afterwards. But I don't know. He got into it. I like seeing the personality, too. Like, he's shaking his hips. The press conference was a cool moment, though. I did watch some highlights of that.

And, you know, he just said words can't describe how I feel. And you could tell it. He looks different. he said how he gave up sugar. I mean, that's a big thing to give up. Sugar is in everything. Yeah. It's an essential part of the bodily function.

I mean, there's. He's got to have some sugars, right? Right. Oranges, like, are, have tons and tons of sugar. But I'm sure you're eating some fruit. But it was, it was cool to see him. It was cool to see his, his son peeking on the side of the podium, beautiful boy. And it's a journey that he's been on.

Patrick, I looked it up. It was less than a year ago at, this time, mid-August, that he first said publicly in a press conference that he had considered retirement at the end of the 2022 season, you know, all those injuries that he had, obviously the two concussions that were really serious. And so to be on that journey is pretty incredible to get to this point. Mike McDaniel said, it's why you coach is journeys like this. You could see how excited Tyreek Hill was when he was on NFL network with our Cam Wolf. And we'll get to the the money of it all in a second, but it is kind of amazing to me that that efficient of a season

that that much has changed in one year to where he's at. Yeah, and well, ultimately, the thing about Tua, right, is that level of honesty and openness that he doesn't really run away from. And there's not a lot of athletes, right, that would admit, right, or just even feel comfortable having that conversation publicly. And so you're getting it. Like, whatever it is that, you know, that he was dealing with in that particular instance, I know, like coming back from the hip, right?

He's had the concussions. There were so many things that happened back to back to back and then disappointing finishes where, you know, you do question things and you do consider things. And then he let it up, led the NFL in passing. I know that a lot of those things are met with skepticism, considering the offense, considering the weapons around it. But if it was that easy to do, I, I think more people will do it.

And I think this contract is going to work out for Dua. Well, it's like, yeah, he landed in the perfect situation. But Mike McDaniel went there for a vision because he knew that Tua was perfect for what he's going to do. That's football. He's finding the right coach with the right quarterback. And it happened. And I know they're, I'm not that big on Tua.

I don't think he's like a top seven quarterback. But the top 14 or so quarterbacks get these big, hey, you're a franchise quarterback contracts. That's just the way it is. And when you dig under the hood, it's really a three-year contract. And Jordan Love's contract is similar. They're counted as four-year extensions. But when you look at where the guarantees stop, first of all, it's not even guaranteed past this year, which is crazy. If for some reason he played app, like the cap, it would be crazy.

But like, he doesn't have guaranteed money past this year. I'm just saying, like, it is crazy how NFL contracts work, that they don't really guarantee them anything. But it's really a three-year contract. contract. And then if they ever wanted to change, they could. Let's get to another winner. I'll throw out two to start with, which is Jordan Love because, you know, these two deals go together. What was your reaction, Patrick, when the Jordan Love contract went down? Literally the same exact reaction that I had with the Tua deal. We've seen it, right, play out, especially if you look at Devante and Aaron's like their last couple of years in Green Bay where

there was this himming and hauling, it seemed like decisions were, and ultimately like Aaron's decision and darkness closets and all that stuff. Like the team specifically, it seemed like there was a desire to play hardball, right, with these franchise cornerstones. And they had an opportunity here with Jordan Love. And I understand the people critical of the sample size and they say it's just a stretch late in the season, but the prices is only going to go up. Like, if you want him to be successful and you're trying to facilitate a successful team here in 2024, the price is only going to go up.

So it just makes sense to go now. Yeah, I was surprised how much pushback this got of like, he's only done it for eight or nine games. Like, what a risk. People said the same thing when they drafted him. Oh, what are they doing? Like, we had this argument on this show. What are they doing? Okay, let's see how that worked out.

People got annoyed when they actually gave him the two-year contract before last year. being like, is this a little bit risky, like guaranteeing him money into 2024, they have him in the building every single day. They know exactly how he fits with this coach. He's one of the best offensive coach in the league. They have so much information compared to like when you have to draft the quarterback number one overall or a first round pick or something. Like you have so little information. They know everything about him. If you can't see with your own eyes how good Jordan love is, you're just a hater or you're a Vikings fan. Like, I think he's going to be more up and down than a Joe Burrow or even a Herbert maybe just in terms of steady week to week.

Because I think he's just, that's his style of play, that he's going to have some bad games where you're like, oh, man, that was a bad Jordan love game. Like, like far, frankly. But the highs are going to be crazy. And the average game is going to be so good that I don't even care. And those last eight or nine games of the year, yeah, he was like the best quarterback in the league. I want to see Jordan Love taking risks. Like Jordan Love turning the ball. Like how many times do we see Aaron Rogers throwing the ball away?

Yeah, the touchdown interception ratio was crazy. But ultimately, you want to see a guy go out there and get buckets. And Jordan Love absolutely can and will do that. And if they, like, we've seen the team flame out late. We saw it with a guy who's going to the Hall of Fame. And so this talk about pressure and all this other stuff, Jordan Love has been there and throughout all of that. Why not? And I think it made perfect sense.

Pay everybody. Right. And in terms of underpaid, like, quarterbacks are going to take a huge portion of the salary cap. That's just how it is. It's not a higher portion right now than it used to be. It's just the salary cap has gone up. And Jordan loves contract, like all these, are going to look totally different in two or three years.

And if we really want to get into it, you know, we're team America, Patrick. You know, we're into capitalism. But if this was a free market, like, they would be making 100,000, million plus a year. I have no question. Like how much would Patrick Mahomes make if there was no salary cap? How much is Jordan Love worth to the bottom line if there was no salary cap? It's a conversation for another day. But to me, they would be making twice as much. So you could argue that quarterbacks are underpaid if you really want to. Yeah, I mean, we could, we could game it out. They, they would be, Patrick Mahomes would be the engine of some local economy where state

and local governments would get involved to procure his services. I think we could, we could supersede a hundred million dollars might not do it no not for my homes i was thinking about this because i was looking at like what rinaldo makes and messy it's like yeah my homes would be in the 200 plus range i think the difference would be without the cap there would be a way bigger gap between mohomes and alan and like a tua what the cap does is it makes it so all these quarterbacks are closer together than they really are performance wise which isn't patrick behom's fault it's just like you can only go so high and yeah shout out to

a shout out to Jordan Love we'll wrap this little quarterback section with my first loser they were both winners obviously and that's the reporters that insist they have to call Jordan Love

the highest paid quarterback in the league because his agent says so because he's not like first of all he's tied on average per year salary with Joe Burrow and Lawrence, I think it is.

I think those are the three that are tied for average. And it's exactly the same. It's 53.1. And so what that means is new money, average salary. The year's tacked on. But you could also measure it by guaranteed money. Neither of them are that close. They're like fifth and sixth or whatever.

You could measure it by cash over the next four years or so. Both of them are like fifth or sixth in that. You could measure it. over their whole contract because these are extensions in which they would be even lower. Like Lamar is making 53 a year, he just didn't sign an extension. So, and everyone knows that when they're making these reports,

but the agent who is so powerful that like, he helped get Deshaun Watson that contract and has kept that, because he kept everyone quiet enough to like get him that contract, like just serves this up and it's just, it's not the truth. So I don't want to hear that, Jordan loves the highest paid quarterback in the league all year and use it like as some weapon against him. Not that it would be his fault, but he's also just not. It's not,

it's not factual. It's a way to spin facts. Well, I think and in defense, right, of the folks, I think the general conversation, right, supersedes the agent and their particular involvement because, remember when it happened with Mahomes? Yeah, but they're the ones who are framing it and like writing those words out. So they're, I mean, we do have to bring personal responsibility. And, like, if somebody tells you that's like, well, like, maybe we should, maybe we should check on that. We just got to look at the flow. And so, like, we tell people how, like, how it's monopoly money all the time. And there's years at the end of some things that you'll never see.

Like, you'll never see. And somebody's like, well, Trent Williams has three years left on his deal. It's like, those years aren't what you think that they are, like, considering the flow. That's another way they weren't the highest paid, by the way, is total value. So I, that was four other ways that they weren't the high. highest pay. I just like pointing that out. I mean, no, I'm being like a grumpy person. It also doesn't matter. It was interesting to me that they made these deals shorter. I think ultimately it for both sides, especially the dolphins, it serves both sides. It's a little less risky for

the team, I guess. It's all about where the guarantees are, but it's more that the players get to get another bite at the Apple earlier. So you saw Patrick Mahomes sign that really long contract and you saw some other longer ones, now they're getting to be these three-year, four-year extensions. And so that's a little bit of a change. One last news item before we take our first break, and then we're going to try to go faster through the rest of the winners and losers. I guess a loser here would be the Cowboys' Depth. We got bad news Sunday afternoon that Sam Williams, their edge rusher, tore his ACL.

If you're not familiar, Sam Williams, good edge rusher, good young player, going to be their third or fourth edge rusher. thought the strongest on paper edge group in the entire NFL was the Cowboys in part because of how good their bench guys are. And Sam Williams was probably the first guy off the bench along with their draft pick. And so you feel for him losing a guy for the season this early in training camp. And he's got, I believe, one more year before a free agent year next year, after next year. And that puts him in a really tough spot because, you know, that's, the contract year and he's going to have to go into that coming off of Toran Cruciate, I guess silver lining, it's July.

And so maybe that'll put him about a year coming up next year. So the player I was talking about was Marshawn Neeland. They took in the second round who will have a big role. I think it was going to have a role anyways. And it could change up Michael Parsons' flexibility. It's been interesting to hear that they've had him at offball linebacker. more than a little at camp so far and they're probably just trying out things and that was something he did as a rookie and obviously he's the best pass rusher in the league they probably

didn't want to have him major in that but they wanted to maybe have him ready a little more flexible it's a position they're thin at offball linebacker and now with one less pass rusher they're probably a little less likely uh to do that very often in the regular season and that that's not gonna this that part of it won't disappoint cowboys fans because they want to see Parsons rushing the passer. All right, now is a good time. We're going to take a break. And now I'll let you even throw out a winner. Oh, okay.

I'll do that, Patrick, for you. Thank you, Matt. Back afterwards. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?

That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

Okay, Patrick, that's what I like to call the beefy portion of the program. Now we're going to get deep into the weeds with some. camp notes. You were in Denver. You're in Cincinnati. And you shouldn't just throw out your winners and losers from there. We're going to go all the way around. But why don't you start us off with a winner or loser? Yeah, I'm going to start on the left coast. I'm going to start with a guy who got blasted by everybody, Quentin Johnston, spirited defense from his head coach when people were asked about his struggles last year. And he says that Quentin got a bad rep. He's been making some plays in training camp. I think, you know, if anybody's familiar with my thoughts,

So I'm Greg Broman. I think that this could be a spot for success for Quentin Johnson. So I think he is a winner. Okay. Okay. And we're seeing he's mixing in with the first team. I think camp in the preseason will kind of decide whether he's the third receiver there. Could be DJ Chark.

They're going to play some two tight ends. I'm actually going to be at Chargers camp on Monday. And so that'll be part of our next show. I'll let people know what I saw of Quentin Johnson at practice. I'm looking forward to that. I'm going to throw in Kyle Pitts as an early winter, in part, just because he is part of a four-person room. You know, the dorm room at the end of the hall that would, like, have four people and would close the door. Do you remember that?

I was in one of those rooms. It was the only year I lived in dorms. And it is the three quarterbacks in Kyle Pitts. I mean, that's like sending a message right there to just, and now, and at every Falcons practice, they're like, Kyle Pitts is getting all of the targets. And I think it's because of his spot in the dorm. You think that relationship doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he's like a mechanized destroyer of worlds out there.

Okay, that might be part of it too. And he's healthy. But yeah, every, every Falcon's training camp report is just like, yeah, Kyle Pitts is getting the most targets. And then I see that he's hanging out. He's rooming with the three quarterbacks. Can you name who the third is? Of course, it's Kirk Cousins, Michael Pennix.

and I feel bad for number three because he's a legit NFL quarterback but he's in a tough spot now. Is he? Yeah. No, no, I feel horrible because I... Taylor Heineckee. Come on. Oh, yeah. There he is. Look at the survivor.

That's like Taylor Heineke just making it... Wouldn't be shocked if he's someone else's backup come week one. All right, give me another one. Another winner. We're going to go to the Denver Broncos where I was yesterday. there was, look, Jared Stidham is winning this quarterback battle through my eyes.

Oh, wow. And again, that is a very, the caveat is, these are through my eyes. So, but the quarterback rotation, right, was Stidham in the first practice. And then they went with a rookie, Bo Nix, the second practice. And they actually gave Zach a shot, shot at to Steve White. He feels that the resurgence is coming. But then it went back to Jared Stiddle. And I think when pads go, like just blitz pick up, understanding the offense, the way that

the offense moves, it feels like Jared Stittam is going to win the Broncos starting quarterback job. Wow. Now that would be an upset. I do think there's a better chance of that happening than the consensus. So I'm glad you threw that out there. It kind of reminds me of Trevor Simeon back in the day. Remember on the around the NFL podcast?

We were on Team Trump. We were on that August. I was like, guys, I think this dude, Trevor Simeon might win this job. And I kind of feel that about Stidham, but most of it is still yet to come, for sure. But Sean Payton did kind of indicate they might change up the rotation sooner than later. And my guess would be that it just narrows it down to Nix and Stidham. I don't think they would take Nix out of the competition anytime soon. Reportedly he had his best day, I think, on Saturday.

And those are the two main guys, but maybe a little less for Zach Wilson. Let's stick actually. I'm going to go back to Atlanta, but stick with the quarterbacks. Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rogers are just winners that everything went well this week. And all of their practice reports are just like the ball's not hitting the ground. And I'll get to like a loser later, but that's just like, it's rare in the NFL actually at this time of year that the offenses are being functional. Like it's usually a tough week this first week for offenses. So the fact that Cousins and Rogers are just doing the things you expect and all the caveats apply, it's non-contact, blah, blah, blah.

but they're not looking any different than you would expect them. Cousins in a new place, Rogers off and Achilles. Like, that is, I think that's really good news. I actually think that is a genuine takeaway from this first week. And perhaps it speaks to the advance of medical technology, or maybe it's just these guys and the ability, right, where you have quarterbacks who are later on in their career who have had all the success, they can, well, you know,

Kirk Cousins come up short a couple times, but he's had playoff success as well. and they get a chance to pick a very good spot. And we've seen guys just when you have that opportunity to pick your team, you normally do it for a reason. And these guys have found themselves in a pretty good spot. Yeah, it doesn't mean I'm like just assuming they're the same guys because that was on, that is on my radar.

But just the first, I think, test being passed that, okay, no red flags here. While I'm talking about it, might as well not delay. like offenses are losers around the league like just as someone who is going through all these reports like everyone is concerned that their offense stinks and so i think it's just what happens when you can't really block as an offensive linemen the first week and granted most of these offenses might stink in the regular season that have been really struck in the patriots the giants the broncos the jaguars i've seen just a lot jaguars are a little surprising that it's just every day they're like the defense is absolutely dominating

Trevor Lawrence and there's been a lot of interceptions there, but I just think it's partly it's that time of year that it's just, it's difficult and some takeaways from there, but like overall you don't want to get too panicky. Yeah, it's, it's very, very early. And it's very, very difficult, right? Considering the stakes and a lot of stuff, you know, people will see like seven on seven stuff where you could take it either way, right? It's like, oh gosh, we can't cover anybody but i was watching a rep this afternoon where trin irwin is is getting is getting open and like there's there's decent coverage and joe burrow just puts a ball in a great spot and it's like well so how are we marking that there's no pass rush and you got a guy that can you know

throw the ball wherever he wants um so it's it's it's very difficult to evaluate like offense defense right now everybody chill okay maybe i maybe i'm over i'm over no no i'm just i'm saying we're trying to say in all these places like okay just calm down it's it's okay that the Patriots offense is not working against a defense that's been together. It's not at Matt Patricia levels. All right. What do you got for me, Patrick? Anthony Richardson looks great.

He looks spectacular. I was able to watch a little bit of him going four for four in a team session. Just moving great. Ball has great velocity coming. It's all the things that we saw in those four games. and he's back. He's healthy, and I think they're going to be even better. I love that one.

And, yeah, I do love, he's another guy that, because he missed a couple days in OTAs that I was a little worried about coming into camp, and it's been all systems go. They're not putting 80 Mitchell ahead of Alec Pierce yet. That's something to watch as we continue. I think they've got to go to bone on the field. Yeah, it's early. It's early.

I am going to give a loser, despite just saying that we should be patient with offenses in terms of like performance and just say hearing that Daniel Jones just hasn't been accurate and is underthrowing everything that's a little different to me than the offense totally struggling as a whole that that they're trying to go deep all the time and he has just been off target again five weeks till the regular season starts but it's one thing I was worried about with a guy coming off a torn ACL sometimes it messes with your mechanics and your accuracy and in just your throwing motion and it just reportedly hasn't been great in in New York pretty consistently throughout the start of camp.

The positive is that Neighbors is like always open and maybe he's just too hard not to underthrow because that's every day, it's like, oh, neighbors had to come back for a pass that Daniel Jones underthrowing it. Daniel Jones has a big arm or he had, you know, he had a good arm. That's not a concern to me.

But that's the positive. His neighbors is supposedly wrecking shop every practice. But Daniel Jones struggling and Drew Locke also struggling. So it's just a struggle fest. And maybe, you know, if we're going to miss, now's the time to miss, right? I get a chance to work on things. And perhaps there's hope for dimes after all. Who knows?

Who knows? But, yeah, it's a watching Malik neighbors basically stop and look like a fair catch was not inspiring. No. And but it is exciting to hear the way that they're talking about neighbors there that just like he wants the ball. They are insisting on getting him the ball. A couple guys I'm going to give his winners that might be getting. the ball a little more out of the backfield. Tasam Hill, lining up as a running back

and a fullback quite a bit. I just like that as a fullback. Let's go. Taysam Hill, fullback days. And then I'm buying in on the Damien Pierce resurgence season. He does pass the test for me of like he has been good in the NFL. We've seen it with our eyes. And he talked about maybe he wasn't in like perfect shape last year and just learning

some things and had some injuries. And Joe Mixon hasn't really practiced at all at Texan camp. He's an aging player with a lot of miles on him. I'm not going to push the panic button there, but that could happen during the season. And everyone who's been at practice just says, oh, Pierce looks like he's back to being the old pierce. So I'm buying back in on Damien Pierce.

He's trying harder. Joe Mixon came and he's motivated now. It has nothing to do with him being a, you know, healthy. I don't think it's not. He says he's thin. You got any more for us? I got a handful of little ones to come. Well, it's odd because Trent Brown isn't,

isn't practicing right now, but Amarius Mims comes in, and that's one thing that Zach Taylor has said when you have all these veterans, right? Like, you don't need to teach Jemar Chase, right, how to play football. Like, you don't have to coach guys up when you've got guys that have been around for a long time. So I think Amarius Mims getting more time playing, playing tackle is good for the Bengals. How was the, how are the vibes there, Cincy? The vibes are immaculate. There's, you know, a sarah kid with the blonde hair.

Today, apparently that's going to be a thing. I mean, Joe's probably going to grow it out. It's not going to be a thing. No, Jamar Chase. That's still a thing, but that's okay. I'm hearing some Andre Yoshavaz, buzz. That's fun. Yeah, and Jermaine Burton as well.

I think receivers, the team looks great. It's just going to be a question of how they stay together. Is Joe healthy and back? But compared to Denver, there is a notable difference when you have a franchise quarterback and you're watching practice. Yeah. I got to say, I watched that Sean Peton opening press conference freak me out more than anything. He just didn't seem happy to be there.

It was like he had just walked off the field of a 41 to 7 loss, and it was the first day of training game. I ended up watching work as someone told me, like, just watch this thing. And it's, I don't know. It's almost like he, he's not, I don't know, he's giving me Parcell. like in Dallas late, or maybe Parcells as an executive in Miami vibes, but we'll see, that's not fair.

Yeah, it's just waiting for the wins to come. There was a great, he did have a great moment that not a lot of people picked up on, it was on Friday, I believe. Somebody asked about his quarterback's execution, and he said he was for it. And there were only like a couple laughs. And I'm like, wait, hey guys, like,

gotta give that some pop. Yes, that is a classic reference. Good job by Sean Payton to John McKay, who said that back in the day when he was running the expansion bucks who were on just a brutal, brutal stretch. I think they're probably there as the worst team, maybe in NFL history. They were in the mix. A couple quick winners and losers. Winner, Jake Bates, you might not know him, but he's the U.F.L. legend who had never kicked a field goal in a game until he kicked a 64-yard field goal. in the ufl this is not an exaggeration patrick i'm not talking professional he had never kicked one in high

school or college or professional he was on some college teams but but never got beyond being the backup uh i think he came from a soccer background and he got a shot in the ufl and hit two sixty four yarders and now he's on the lions and unfortunately because michael badgley tore his hamstring and is out for the season the positive spin is this kid bates is going to get the job most likely he's looked good at camp. And so it's a fun story, a guy, a guy who literally had never kicked a ball in a game until a few months ago, you know, dreams are made in the UFO. I'm going to throw out some losers, cornerbacks, cornerback injuries. Chidobey Wuzier, I think it was a calf injury early. This was a, I know I'm not taking a victory lap. It's way too early, obviously,

but this was maybe the most curious contract in all a free agency, a guy who just did not look right coming off his torn ACL last year, had to get benched with Cincinnati, and then they gave him a huge contract in Tennessee, so I hope he can get better. Marshawn Lattimore, hit pointer. The Vikings' cornerbacks, Shaq Griffin has now joined Mackay Blackman. On the sideline, Blackman's going to miss the season. Shaq Griffin, it's not going to be that long or anything,

but they're starting right now at practice, Andrew Booth and Duke Shelley, who was just signed a couple days ago. And so that's tough for the Vikings. And the Rams have Darius Williams on the shelf after they already lost the cornerback. So injuries, unfortunately, are kind of the most noteworthy thing this time of year. You hate to see that, but especially Vikings, Rams, and I'll keep an eye on Latimer because he's only right when, you know, he can be the best player at cornerback in the league,

but when he's hurt, it's just not the same. It's a bad start to his season. Yeah, I got to get him. It's just, especially when you think back about how good that draft class was and how they're kind of falling, you know, by the wayside. And it's like 2017 wasn't that long ago, but you start looking at the clock. And we got some miles, we got some miles, piling up. You got any more you want to squeeze in before we get to Bridget Conn, who also is Cincinnati?

I'm going to get some Bengals Ravens takeaways from her. I'm just, I'm all positive, Greg. I mean, I didn't. It's really tough. It's tough. Like I wasn't going to go negative on Bo Nix and make it a positive on Jared Stiddlem. You know, it's hard to throw out some more positives then. Do you have more positives?

Chris Godwin coming back, looking healthier and better. I think the Evans and Baker situation, everybody coming back, I think this is going to be a bounce back year for Chris Godwin and Tampa Bay. I like it. I like the bucks in the south. Okay. And yeah, they used them more in the slot last year. I think he totally works there.

They sign McMillan from Washington, who's getting to buzz early in Kansas. I thought about him for one of these nuggets. And so you got Trey Palmer who did some things as a rookie. That's a sneaky great receiver group if McMillan is as good as they like. Again, pads haven't come on. But that is a pretty great receiver group. I'll go positive too. I mean, number one, I've heard just insane things about Gino in practice so far.

I don't even want to get too excited. Someone wrote they've never seen a Seahawks quarterback start camp this well. I was like, okay, I don't want to get too carried away. But their O.C. Ryan Grubb, the way he talks about Gino is just like one of the most natural throwers of the ball that he has ever seen and really is making Grub look better with all the protections he does. Excited about that. Justin Fields getting all the first team reps. It's not a bad thing for him. Even if he's not going to win the starting job, like he has now had almost a week of starter reps at Steelers camp because Russell Wilson's still not back from that calf injury. And then last one is Kingsley, Sue Mataya, the Chief's left tackle. Looks like the second round pick is going to be their left tackle.

So we don't know for sure, but he's getting all the reps with the first team right now. And so that is a big spot protecting Patrick Mahomes. If you want to jump on Gino or Fields, let me know. If not, you know, I'll let you free into the Cincinnati night. Well, what do we got going on there? Well, I mean, there's some sort of festival going on downtown. So maybe I'll get out here to see some vendors. And yeah, I think, Greg, you shouldn't be cautious with your optimism for Gino Smith.

I just don't want it to be in every show thing. But the Seahawks people are getting me excited right now. I mean, Gino's getting them excited. So it's excitement all around. It kind of makes sense. Like, he had to survive this offseason. He lost his guy in Pete Carroll. the way his contract was set up in the draft, it could have gone sideways for him in terms of

keeping that job, but he did keep it. And I mean, talk about best shape of your life. Just look at Gino right now. He just looks like a different person. It's his third year there. He's got a very creative offensive coach. He's got a group around him that is primed. I mean, it's prime D.K. You get the second year of Smith and Jigba, who's going to be better. And it's just, this is his year, I think, to have, like, his best year is right now, Gino Smith. There it is. I think it's, I think the, the West is going to be fun. I, I got Kyler down as a winner as well.

It just, there's, there's an excitement. There's a juice there that they haven't had in a while. I, the division's going to be fun to see. There was a report how he didn't feel that his lateral agility. See, this is where reading all those team reports are coming in handy. He didn't feel like you really had that last year. He could run straight and you saw that. He could still run, but he couldn't really do the juking that he is known to do.

And he says that's all the way back now, and you can really see it in practice. So that's a good shout to finish up our winners and losers. You're always a winner. Patrick, check him out on Inside Training Camp live all week on NFL Network. We are really doing it big this week, and Patrick is in the middle of it. We'll see you later, buddy. And Bridget Condon is coming back after the break. Talk little Bengals.

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

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew, Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL Daily and back for Bengals practice.

It's one of our best reporters at NFL Network. It's Bridget Condon. Wow. What an intro. I know. She's straight off the field into your hotel room. I know how it is these ITC days. I don't really know how it is, but I can imagine. You were in Baltimore for a couple nights. You fly into Cincinnati. What is your level of frazzled right now? Well, first, I just want to announce, like, welcome to my crib, MTV cribs, because I feel like I'm letting you into my bedroom. Love that. I am happy that this is a video and not, us together because I smell awful because I was just in the blazing sun for like six hours. Yeah, my brain is fried. I literally went to Chick-fil-A yesterday and the cashier was like, okay, that's going to be $16. And I was like, okay, thanks. And she's like staring at me and I'm

staring at her. And she's like, you have to pay now. And I was like, oh, got it. I was talking to Eric DeCosta and he's from Massachusetts. And I was like, oh, I'm from Massachusetts too. And he was like, what city? I was like, Massachusetts. So that's, that. That's where I'm at. That, it is hot at that Baltimore training camp. I, I've been there and that'll fry your brain. But yeah, I love, love that Bridgett's on, another mass hole like me. And, yeah, you spent a couple days with the Ravens.

What were your takeaways? I know Lamar must, you must have missed Lamar one day, and then he finally returned from his sickness. Yeah. What was your thoughts seeing, see even the Ravens for a couple days? So initial thoughts here, Lamar Jackson running out on the field. on Saturday was one of the coolest experience. And I know a lot of people want us to get into football and we'll get there,

but I just have to say there were 50 youth football teams in attendance, boys tackle, girls flag football. The way that these kids all went absolutely insane when Lamar ran by them. And then they're like all running to the fence where they, you know, fans can go up to. And he comes over in waves. And these kids are screaming their heads off, which to me is just a cool, cool moment.

Lamar is so inspirational, especially to young kids in Baltimore. And to see that in person, that's what training camp is all about. I know that it's important for, you know, the players to get into football shape. But that was so cool. It gave me chills. Yeah. I don't know if there's a player now that OBJ is not who he once was that connects with fans like in the same way that Lamar does.

Mahomes, certainly. But he almost just seems like he's on another planet. And somehow Lamar is like one of them, especially in Baltimore. No, that, that's cool to hear. It's been an interesting camp there. I mean, they started before some other teams because they were allowed to with the TNF game. So they've been hitting. You saw some padded practice. Like, but, you know, anyone you talk to there in terms of front office, coaches, talk about which players are kind of shining right now or looking bad. They're not going to say who's looking bad. Yeah, let me tell you my list of players looking bad.

no um my second note of training camp derrick henry have you seen him in person yes okay so i have had never done a titans game i've never seen him in person we interviewed him on saturday that man is huge like you look at him and you're like you're a running back like he's just like big and thick and it's crazy to think about what this offense is going to look like with lamar jackson and derrick henry with that one-two punch plus you know zay flowers obviously is elevating in his second year. He had a great end of the year, his rookie year last season. So just seeing the way that they are going to design the offense and all the different options that they have, it's going to be amazing. Yeah, I will never forget standing on the

sidelines, which we are lucky enough to do when we do the London games for Sky Sports. And it was Titans Ravens last year. And so we're standing right at the goal line. And it just seems crazy that anyone can ever tackle that dude. And they, and they did. There was a big goal line stand in the game where, like, it was like a car crash. And you're just kind of amazed that anyone can ever tackle him. And yeah, I read that article about his diet, how he doesn't eat in the season until four or five p.m. and then he's again at 8 p.m. sounds insane. How could you, how could you operate like that? That's kind of crazy. I'm like, oh, is this safe? Like, can we get a nutritionist? But he, I guess because the Titans used to practice, like, early, so he wouldn't need it right away.

But I think with the Ravens, they start practice at, like, one, he's having to eat something before. So he was telling us that he's eating these avocado spinach smoothies. He doesn't eat chicken wings or anything anymore. And off camera, I was asking him about it. And he's like, do you want to try one? I was like, yeah, he never brought it over, unfortunately. But he was like, honestly, I hate avocado. Like, I have to drink that smoothie and, like, chase it with water.

And I was like, if that is not dedication, like he, he's doing everything he can to help this team. Yeah, I don't care how good a job you're doing interviewing me. I'm not sharing my, my smoothie with you or with anyone. That just doesn't seem like the thing that you share. I guess you could, like, pour into another cup, but just... Hold on, hold on. He wasn't going to share his. He was going to have, like, the trainers make us our own, okay?

Okay, okay. I would feel, yeah, embarrassed for that, too. But that's nice of him. He is, he's known as nice guy. Let's move on to Cincinnati. where you were today. I know it was hot down there. Like, how did this offense look?

I know Jamar Chase hasn't been out on the field. How did it look without him? Okay, so he's still at practice. I don't know how much you saw online or whatever. So he actually was throwing passes with Baldi. It was hilarious. Baldi was like, hey, Jamar, throw me a pass. Baldi dropped it.

Baldi was like, it was my finger. I was like, you can't use that as an excuse, Baldi. But he's like in every rep, right? Like he might not be playing on the field, but he's there right next to the coaches talking to the players. He's very much still involved. Like that leadership role is there. Joe Burrow looks phenomenal. I was watching him today and I was like, this guy had wrist surgery.

Some of the balls he was throwing, I was like, dang, those are really nice. One interesting thing from 11 on 11, T. Higgins dropped a pass like over his shoulder and he got down immediately did 10 pushups, which I thought was pretty cool. Like, it was a contested ball, and obviously he thought he should have caught it. But that's just the dedication. You can see it from the, you know, all these stars that have been together for so long. T. Higgins said earlier this week that Joe Burrell looks like he did the offseason going into that Super Bowl run. So take that for what it is. I think it's so important.

And I don't know if we're talking about it enough that he's out there during preseason. I mean, his rookie year, no preseason because of COVID. and then he was coming back from an ACL. He had the appendectomy. He had a calf injury. He's never completed a preseason pass. And, you know, of course, people say preseason, whatever. But the Bengals have struggled the past three years to start the season.

They've been five and four. They've had to get themselves out of these holes in like November, December. They've been able to go on runs. But imagine if they can start the season eight and no, nine and oh. What is going to look like? I'm almost afraid to talk about it because I'm with you. It's so huge and less about the preseason. games and more just these practices and stacking one after another. And I mentioned early in the show,

we did winners and losers. And my losers are just like NFL offenses around the league are just usually struggling at this time of year. So I do note when some players coming off, some struggles come out like a house on fire. And the two names probably that have stuck out the most to me of just everyone that's been there has said they've looked excellent are Joe Burrow and Jalen Hertz. And so I think if you're Bengals fan, it's fine. It's fine to get excited. It's fine to get overly excited at this a year. You haven't had a build-up like this. So that would be huge for them. And the lack of Chase gives Andre Yoshavos, who's the number three receiver right now and Jermaine Burton, who might be the number three receiver eventually, like more time with Borough, which isn't the worst thing.

Yeah, Trent and Irwin, too, making some place say. So it'll be interesting to see because they're trying to work a couple different guys into that slot with obviously Tyler Boyd gone. They need to figure out who's going to be that number three. So that's really important this time of year. I don't know. I'm tempted. I do think maybe it's a year for one of the other AFC teams, but the one of them that had been here. I'm debating, but no, I was high on the Chiefs. I had the, I think, going into the Super Bowl going into last year.

But this year, I think bills are Bengals. I'm debating between one of the two. See, I'm obviously just coming from Baltimore and I'm like, nobody can stop these guys. Yeah, one of the, those are the four heavyweights, although we know one of those four, and it's probably not going to be the Chiefs, will disappoint because that's just like, That's how the NFL works. You never disappoint, though, Bridget. Thank you for joining me, and thanks.

We're going to try to get you in the show when you're back in the studio, but enjoy the rest of inside training camp. I know you will be on the road the next week and a half, like most of NFL Network. We will be on the road on Monday, but just down the road in El Segundo, talking to the Chargers. Until then, it's been NFL Daily. We'll see you next thing. This is an I-Heart podcast.