The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: 3x Super Bowl Champion LeGarrette Blount and Week 10!

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel discuss when players start getting tired and feeling how far there is to go.  Winning makes everyone feel better, but does losing make you feel more injured?  After some wild games, the MVP rankings have shifted quite a bit.  The Bills beat the Chiefs, but will things be different in the postseason?  Cam Little kicks a record breaking FG and Bobby explains why he doesn't like it.  Matt wonders if Jacoby Brissett has made a case to remain the Cardinals starting QB.   3x Super Bowl Champion LeGarrett Blount talks about coaching and watching his son play high school football. Blount looks back at his time at Oregon including being homesick and his infamous suspension. Bobby asks about Blount going undrafted and starting his NFL career with the Titans then the Buccaneers.  Bobby asks about Blount's time with the Patriots and the difference from other teams.  LeGarrette wraps up with memories of his time with the Eagles. Mac Jones is playing well with the 49ers, but is it the QB or the system?  Can the team take its time with Brock Purdy's injury? Matt notes the play of Bears QB Caleb Williams and how he's quickly improving. Turning to the NFL Trade Deadline, Sauce Gardner is headed to the Colts. Quinnen Williams is also headed to the Cowboys.   Bobby and Matt make their picks for Week 10.  We wrap with Bobby's thoughts on DWTS, who he thinks wins, and some behind the scenes fun! Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. We got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. I'm holding a football and it's an Arkansas razor back football. I just keep it around.

Shocking. Well, what's part? Holding football or the Arkansas razor? You can saw razor back. And so I'm holding it as I normally do. The castle's like, let me see your grip. Now, I didn't move my grip, so I have you, you can comment on it without me changing it from what we talked about earlier. So you've got one finger on the lace, right?

I've got two at two. Two, yeah, yeah. Two fingers on the last. I got the pinky on like the third. Yep. My natural. Where would you, this is where it is for the camera. So if I were just grabbing it, throwing it, that's it.

How would you hold it? So I would usually hold it, bring finger. Did you have big hands? Not that big, bro. I mean, some of these guys, like... Yeah, but I'm saying... I mean, Carson Palmer's hand would go like all the way over the ball. It was the craziest thing.

So, I mean, I'd hold it here. Second lace all the way down there. And then every now and then when I get like wet outside, I'd go down to get a little bit more of the ball on like the third lace, which is very uncommon. Because a lot of guys like, They do, whether it's Stafford or Brady and these guys, they hold it here on this last lace with their third finger.

That pinky is going so far down the laces. Like when I hold it, and I'm right here, right? Yeah, dude. You're like, yeah, let me get more of that. I don't need that pinky. You know? Like that wrist. It didn't take much pink for me.

Let me see the L. Yeah, for me, it's right here. Yeah, anyway, yeah, your hands are huge. And I'm not a small man. I promise. I promise I'm not small. I'm like six foot and a half. my license at 6-1. I'm about 175. And so, you know, a little taller than average.

In shape. Thank you. Appreciate that. Mobile quarterback. Did they measure your hands? No, that was great. They never measured mine because at USC Pro Day, for whatever reason, I don't think that they measured my hands or maybe they did. I don't know. They ran out of time. They ran out of time. They were like, all right, guy, let's go. We got to go run 40s. We got to run 40s. Let's go. We don't care about your hands. All right. Question. So we're going into week 10, right? That's next next week. Yep. When do people get tired?

Like one of the players, what week is it where you're starting to not just make sure you're not injured or take care of your injuries, but you're battling the first stages of like season fatigue? Well, it's hard to say because I think for every team, it's based on how the season's gone because there's fatigue

that sets in when you're not, when you're a struggling football team, but even in the first half of the season, you know you've got so much more football left and you can turn the season around. but when you start stacking losses and they're difficult losses to take, that creates a little fatigue because the building feels that. The Mondays feel different.

You come in, everybody's a little bit more on edge. The coaches are coaching you harder. The little minute mistakes that you might have made after a victory where they let it slide, those are harped on. And it's just the mental grind of getting through the difficulty of losing games. because coaches, obviously, their jobs on the line, your jobs on the line. So I'd say that there's more mental fatigue in those type of situation. And it's turning those negatives into positive and having a positive mind frame moving forward,

giving hope, giving the motivation, the team motivation, I'm saying that, hey, guys, look, if we just go out and take care of business this next, what is it, eight games left, that we're going to be it, we can turn the season around. But that's sometimes more difficult, easier said than done, I guess is what I'm saying. So football stress is fatigue, the same as life stress to us is fatigue. Right. Dang. I mean, because think about it.

The cowboys are so tired then. They're so tired. Dallas cowboys are exhausted. They're exhausted. Because when you're winning ball games, I mean, you walk in the building the black coffee that they serve there, that just tastes a little bit better, right? Everything feels a little bit better. People are in a good mood like, hey, yeah, a lot more smiles.

Now, there's still work to be done, but there's a confidence that comes. with winning. There's a morale boost that comes with winning games. Even if you win a game like Chicago did the other day, coming from behind, and, you know, it was just the most absurd win you've ever seen, probably the most absurd football game I've ever seen. But at the same day, the time, you walked away with a win. And so you can build on that and move forward in the right direction. So it's, like you said, it's like life. When you're dealing with stress and your things aren't going well, It's sometimes more difficult. But when things are going well and you're winning ball games,

even if it's by the smallest of margin, that's your job. I don't even know how the Jets are getting out of bed, boys. There's quite a few out there. One other question about that. Do you tend to get injured a little more, or is the severity of an injury a little more when you're having a bad season? Meaning the player just decides it hurts a little worse than it really does because this year sucks anyway.

I can't speak for other people. I mean, I've never took on that mentality of trying to get out. Like, we got ourselves into this. We got to battle our way out. And your job as a professional, they're paying you to go out there and play ball games. And as difficult as it gets, is the adversity strikes and all that stuff, you've got to keep going out there and grinding. And it's not just for myself. It's for my team.

And my teammates, I've got too much respect for those guys in the locker room that I would never see. sit there and be like, oh, yeah, this ankle sprain. I need another three weeks out, you know, even though. That's got to be a thing for some people. For some people, I think that it is a thing. That hamstring that was, you know, supposed to be as mild hamstring two to three weeks, it ends up being four to five. And you're like, really?

You're not ready yet? No, no, you guys are the ones losing. It's not me. It's you guys. All right. We're going to go back and forth. Let's do a couple. We have Lagart Blunt coming up in just a little bit.

But I want to go first with the MVP race. And so I've got 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now, Draft Kings has given us the odds here. The latest draft Kings, MVP rankings, at number 5, Baker Mayfield. They had a buy this past week. They do have a game coming out. They got a pretty big one this week coming up.

Yes, they do. It's them of the paths, right? Yep. Yeah. That's a big one for both teams. Very big. Baker Mayfield at 5, Matthew Stafford at 4. Matt Stafford at 4, huh?

He went 24 for 32 for 280. I want to argue that he could be in four touchdown last week. The front runner. Okay, I'd like to hear that. Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you. You did, though. I mean, you interrupted as hard as I wasn't even through even the Stafford part.

I'm so sorry. Yeah. Okay, you know him. Let's start over. Let's start over. I know, Matthew Stafford. I played with them. We get it.

I wasn't going to say that. Yeah, you did, though. All right, number three, Drake May. 19 for 29, 2, 60, and two touchdowns. Hey, how did you feel about Drake May? I know you were dialed into that game, Kevin. Yeah, he had a couple bad plays, which he hasn't done since probably week three. So he was kind of due for one, but.

It was up and down. Definitely not the Drake May that we've seen from weeks four through seven or eight. You're going to have downs. Isn't it nice, though, that that down was a W? And it wasn't a complete cliff drop-off. You like your downs. You know who had a down is Daniel Jones. Like, that's a real down?

That's a down-day. So that's a very down day. It was nice to see a Drake-May down-day end in the W, and him still playing pretty solid, right? Yeah, because the last five years, the Patriots would have lost that game every single. single time. Yeah, right.

And his, the biggest turn number was at the end of the first half, but he's still like, you could tell he was still trying to come back from that, but not doing too much. He still played okay. He just had two dumb plays. You see, do you see Brable pumping him up on the sidelines? Yeah, firing up. I mean, I love the fact, though, he's not going to be perfect. And no quarterback is in this league.

But you're able to make some mistakes, but still play consistently enough to put your team in a position to win. And the defense that come through at the end, that was big as well. their team's playing really well and that was a big win, especially when you're not playing as good or MVP type as you've been the last, what, five, six weeks

of the season. Right. Also, Atlanta's got a pretty good defense. They do. Yeah, the one thing that's concerning right now is the sacks, the Patriots are giving up. Because last week was five. Well, Miles Garrett doesn't count though. You can't do that. I know I get it. He's switching tackles. He's running over both guys. That's Miles Garrett. That's a

you cannot put that in the equation. I'm just not, you can't. I guess. The Falcons at six. Yeah, I agree. And the strips act was a meeting at the quarterback where he was so caught off guard. It was like a race to the quarterback on both sides that they strip sack and return for a touchdown, right?

Oh, no, right. They did score, but close to it, yeah. I just will not allow you to compare Miles Garrett to anybody else. That's fair. Honestly, that's fair. Number two, Patrick Mahomes. Number one is Josh Allen. And I think those two would have been,

number one's going to be whoever wins that game. And Josh Allen happened to win the game, which, by the way, it does seem, and I had to look it up to see, but it does seem like the bills have won a whole lot more of the in-season games and obviously the Chiefs are winning a whole lot more of the postseason games and it was it's five they're five and one yeah the bills in season five and one against the Chiefs

and I wonder what their record is in post I mean oh and four I believe Josh Allen's never beat him that game has to be like for Josh Allen for Patrick Mooms it's got to be like if you're Josh Allen okay I'm glad we won but I mean, we always win. And then for Patrick Mahomes, it's got to be like, okay. I mean, we typically lose these. So, okay.

That's okay. We'll see you again. It was a, that was a fun-ish game. The bills were running away with it and it was going to get ugly quick. I can't see. He made a nice little, nice little run. It was amazing that they were actually in the game the way that they were at the end because I felt like the bill's dominated time of possession.

They ran the ball effectively. They just got after Mahomes. Mahal's was hit like 17 times in that game. I mean, and they pressured him consistently. So it never felt like Buffalo wasn't in control. But then you go to the end of the game, and they have the ball back with an opportunity to go down and potentially tie the ball game.

And that's what's mind-boggling about the Chiefs, even when they're not playing well or they're getting dominated, they're never out of the fight. That's second to last Hill Mary, because he throws one, I believe, on third and fourth down, or it was the last two, depending on the time. That was almost caught off the deflection. because he throws in the end zone.

I think it's Thompson who hits the deflect. And the ball is up. And again, it was either Rice or Hollywood. It's probably Rashid Rice. Like, he's a second away from catching that ball on the inflection. The last one wasn't near as close. But you're right. The Chiefs are like always in it.

And then you go back to the game when they won with only 13 seconds left. And so you're going, yeah, they might actually do it again. They might tie the ball game and it might go. Josh Allen is your favorite for MVP. that is my first topic of the day. Yours. Well, it's kind of, the segue would probably be right off that. I was listening to the sports show the other day, and it was Nick Wright.

Nick Wright's a big Kansas City Chiefs fan, and I think the guy's brilliant. But he said something, kind of to your point about, look, the Chiefs don't care if they lose this game because they know they'll meet him out, but he suggested that the Chiefs were potentially holding back plays, not showing everything during this game, because they know that they're going to meet them down.

They just don't want to show them. But I thought it was the most absurd take. And I'm just saying that because... Let's go. Well, I thought it was the most absurd take. Get ready to clip this one, boys. They're five and three team right now. And I'm not saying, look, they've been on a roll.

They've been... But this game meant something because now you're five and four. And there's no guarantees that you're going to go run the table. Even though, look, I think the chiefs are going to win a lot of games on the stretch. But in addition to that, do you think... Do you think Andy Reid is legitimately sitting there going, hey, you know, we could put Patrick in a better position right here if we ran this play, but let's hold this for playoffs.

Or we have this one play that we maybe we can get a touchdown. But if we don't, it doesn't really matter if we win this game. I don't think any coach has the mentality of going into a game and saying, let's not have all the bullets that we need to win the game. That it just was a take that I was blown away. coming from him. But I think part of it was the understanding that, okay, they'll probably meet down the road.

But nobody's holding plays back. Nobody's not going out there to win the game. And I just don't think that anybody would go into a game and not put their best product out on the field just to hold back for the playoffs. Do you think a bit of it as him being a homer, a big Kansas City homer, and he really doesn't want to feel in his heart

that they tried as hard as they could and still lost? I think there's part of that. I really do. Because if you have the belief in your mind that, oh, they held back plays and they're just waiting to get them down the road, it's one thing. But with the record being what it is and also primetime matchup against an opponent that's in the AFC that will maybe have an impact later on for playoffs, I just, I found it to be just a ridiculous comment. Have I told you, have I told him my recent Nick Wright story? Recent? No.

Okay. So I go to dinner with Nick Wright like three weeks ago. Okay. And I haven't told you this. No, because we were all in New York. That's when we were there together. Yeah, you left us and told us, look, I got a bigger deal to go. No, no, no, no, no.

And you guys could find your way around New York. My agent is Nick Wright's agent and Ariel Hawani, who is the big fight guy, massive guy. I didn't know who was going to be at this thing. And so I get there, my agent's like, hey, this is Nick. Obviously, I know of Nick Wright. I'd never met him. Right. And I'd seen a bunch of clubs of Ariel.

and so we're sitting at a table. And it's all of us. And what sucked is I'm lactose intolerant. We're an Italian restaurant. I can't have anything. I'll have the beef carpaccio, please? Yeah, exactly. And so we're there and we were talking just about podcasts and stuff.

And he had mentioned that he had been invited. I said, did you know Matt Castle back in Kansas City? And he said, yeah. And he was very apologetic in that he think. he was probably the guy who was a little too brash, going a little too hard, that it wasn't just towards you, that it was towards everybody.

But he did say that. He was like, I was probably a little too hard on him because I was just like that. I was a shot out of a camera, paraphrasing him. And he said, you know what?

I got invited to do his podcast the other day. And I turned it down because I had something else going on. I didn't say anything else. And then one of the- He didn't realize that we're doing the podcast. He had no idea with me. And then Ariel next goes,

is it that your podcast? And I say, yeah, Matt and I do it together. And he's like, oh, I'm so sorry. I'll do it. I'll do it whenever you want. That's so funny. Yeah, it was pretty funny. I did not.

First of all, you disappeared when we got to New York. You went to your room and never came out. What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Am I wrong on that? No, we went out. No, we met immediately down the lobby because you told us that you had an obligation. I did.

And we as a group. No, I don't use the word obligation. You're right. I'm totally wrong on that. just, I was thinking of what I told myself instead of what really happened. I was going to say, did you say, hey, let's meet down here. I know, I said, I'm going to go meet my agent. That's what it was.

Anyway, he was super nice. And he was also like, I was probably ran a little too hot around you. And then thought he said no to your podcast and realized it was our podcast. It was our podcast. Yeah. So we might actually get them on. Yeah. He was like, call them whenever.

But I think that's an interesting take that they held stuff back. I mean, you got to be so confident. And I feel like their record isn't good enough to be. so confident, especially playing out of that division where Denver is now winning. The Chargers are now winning. Right. You know what? I'm going to slide with you because you're my friend. Well, I just... No, just because you're my friend.

That's the only reason. That's the only reason. Yes, that's right. Okay. All right, moving on to my second point. Camlittle kicks a 68-yard field goal. And pretty cool. I know Cam. He played University of Arkansas. We went and worked out with Cam. He made a 70-yard field goal in the preseason. He drilled the 68-yarder playing the Raiders this last week, but I got a call total nonsense on them giving them these balls before the

season starts. It's, you know, we had Ryan suckup on a little while ago. That's how I even know about it. This is why all the kicks are going in from so far. It was crazy because Vic Vanjio had an interview and he's like, you know, it's crazy because now we get a stop at the 40-yard line and it's a 50-yard field goal and they'll be three-for-three from 50-plus. And he's like, you're going to see more and more of this that teams are in games just

based on the fact that these field goal kickers, number one, are good, but two, the way that they doctor the ball. And I don't know what they do to their ball. Well, the difference of the doctoring is they get to do it before the season starts. In the past, they would get them the week or the day of. Right. And you only have so many hours to just sandpaper or whatever they're doing with the ball. You got hours instead of now. You have weeks. Right. To create your own ball. Right. To mold it into what you want. Yeah. So the kickers are getting better, bigger, better, and stronger for sure. Look at Aubrey. I'm not going to say anybody's a better kicker than Aubrey. That dude in Dallas.

He's unbelievable. Although he did miss. You see the big one he missed? Yeah. Yeah. But I think we need to chill out and giving them the balls at the beginning of the season. This isn't cheating, but it's like a different ball. So either we're committed to staying with this ball forever, so all the records stay the same,

or we need to stop this because these field goals, you're right. As soon as they start at the 30 or the 35, or depending on where the kickoff is, you're going to have an opportunity. They're two first downs away from a pretty normal. field goal attempt. Right. But to say 68 yards. I'm not taking anything away from it. It's incredible. And I will say this.

I think that there's a lot of people that have the same view because it got such limited play. It was like, oh, also Cam Little just set the NFL record for a 68 yarder and they show the clip and they're like, okay, moving on. Also, they were playing the Raiders.

And it's like, you know, when you're seeing two logos up there that you really care nothing about right now, it's the Jags in the Raiders. Yeah, that's pretty true. But good for Cam. Unbelievable. 68 yard, and I think it's given him a few yards because the balls are already kicker friendly.

I wonder if somebody will break the record this year and go 69, 70. I think there's potential for it. Aubrey tried 68 too, right? Yeah, he missed it. Yep. Yeah, see, it's not that easy. Did you see the Green Bay kicker this week? Did you see the Green Bank picker kicker this week? You're being out of later. He literally missed the PAT

and a chip shot field goal. I mean, it's not as easy as you think. Hey, the Falcons missed the extra point to lose the game. Beautiful. I didn't say it was easy, by the way. You need to not put words in my own. I didn't say that it was you're putting words in your own mouth. Right. You said you hated Nick Smith.

Nick Smith. Right. Right. Dang it. I didn't get it right. Oh, yeah, that childhood bully Nick Smith. Yeah, he was mean to me. Sorry, I was thinking of the Arkansas basketball player.

They got drafted by the Hornets. I got my Knicks mixed up. All right. Go back over to you. All right. Nick Smith. I'm such an idiot. Go ahead. Monday night football.

I know it's Dallas Cowboys, but Jacoby Burset for the Cardinals is making a case for himself to stay on the field because he's now played, what, three games, and he's been incredible. 860 yards in those games, six touchdowns, only one interception, but the team looks different. They've got confidence going. And how he distributes the ball and what he's doing, just the full command of that offense, it just looks different. And I think Jonathan Gannon's got a question that he's got to have to answer pretty soon. of when Kyler's healthy if they keep Jacoby on the field and see if they can continue to ride the success

that they're having offensively or if they're going to put Kyle Murray back on the field. I think it's a tough decision. I think there were too many moving parts this season to trade Kyler. I think he's traded in the offseason. I think Kyler ends up getting traded. So I would ask you the question, what's best? Not to play him.

He doesn't get injured. Everyone knows his ceiling or play him and let him play a little injured, because everybody's a little injured right now, right? Like week 10, week 11, week 12, everybody's a little injured. Right. Play him and you have the risk of him not performing well and his trade value possibly goes down a little.

What would you do? Well, I think as a GM, you think about trade value. But as a coach that isn't somewhat of a hot seat, hasn't had a tremendous amount of success in a division that's probably the most competitive in the NFL and the NFC West, that he's sitting there going, I need to play the guy that's going to give us

the best opportunity to win games now. And so he's got to make that decision, and I'm sure the evaluation process is still ongoing. And the five games that they've lost this year, all of them have been one score games and multiple have been three points or less. So it's not that they're getting their doors blown off, but they haven't been able to get over that hump

where a guy makes them play late, or the Tennessee game was just an absolute debacle. We talked about that with the drop ball and the goal line and all that stuff. So they should, it could be in a much different position if they would have won a few of those games. But just watching how Jacobi's performed as a coach, I think it makes it a much harder decision. It's not just the financial decision because Kyler Murray, look, economics means something. And the amount of money that they're paying him, a lot of times will influence a decision of, hey, look, he's going back in. We've, we've committed money to him.

He's our franchise, the face of our franchise. but at the end of the day, you do have to look at it from a coach's perspective, which I think that there's going to be pushback from him saying, if he believes that Jacoby Berset puts him in the best position to be successful, that he's going to say,

we're going to go with him and see what happens. Leggera Blount, coming up next, we'll also do our segment with Draft Kings that we can preview. Is that what we call it? Is there even a name for you? Yeah, we can preview.

Preview. Preview. Preview. Don't edit out my Nick Smith clip. Nick Smith. That's stupid. All right. We'll come back with Legerick.

The 26 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig, after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the I.

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg, free agency, the combine, the NFL draft pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future.

This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits, to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely.

It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the I-Hourdes and Free Agents on the I-Hour. heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Now let's get to three times Super Bowl champion. Legerra Blount, who won two with the Patriots, one with the Eagles,

led the league and rushing touchdowns in 2016 with 18. Man, if you had him on your fans team that year. You killed it. Dude. A lot of people still remember him, and I do, not only for this, but when he knocked the dude out from Boise State. Dropped him. Yeah, dropped him.

It was amazing. Thought his career was over. but he proved everybody wrong, went on to have a great career. Now, you did not play with him with the Patriots. No, I did not play with him with the Patriots. Actually, my last year, and I believe it was his last year, in 2018 with Detroit, we were both together. Matt Patricia, obviously he knew Matt Patricia from New England, and I knew Matt Patricia, and I think probably that's how he came on board as well.

But we were together in Detroit, and awesome teammate, awesome guy, and just a beast of a man. Like, 6-1, 2-4-5. want to tackle him. Like, he just run through your face. Big thanks to Ligarrett. Here he is. Ligarra Blonde. Hey, Ligarit, I'm with Matt every, you know, every week we do the show. And Matt, like yourself, a retired ball player. And I know what he does now because we talk about it a lot. But since your retirement, like, what do you do? What's your fulfillment now?

Man, my fulfillment is coach. My own point in high school, go pride. Yeah. You know, we're in the playoffs. We're in the playoffs right now. So we've got a game on Friday. So my son is just turning 16 in September. So I am enjoying, I guess recreating my glory days of high school, watching

him play. Hey, well, what type of coach are you? Are you the get after them? Are you more of the teacher? What's your approach when you're coaching the youth these days? So I am more of a, I'm a lay-back guy because I have had so many

coaches be that guy. always getting after them or cussing and yelling at the kids. I've had so much of that growing up and I just, there is a place for it, but I think that's not my place. You got to get guys in there that's willing to be the bad guy that kids don't like it. And, you know, they can talk about, you know,

I don't like this guy. So I try not to be that guy. Just for the simple fact that it's pretty tough already on them. I'm already pretty tough on them. I got them. They go straight to meetings after school. So I give him pretty much as close to a schedule of ours that I can. You know how I go.

He's 16. Do you see a lot of his instincts that you had? Do you see a lot of you and him? I do see a lot of me and him, but he is a lot more athletic than I was. He plays safety and receiver. I played running back and linebacker. So he's a lot more fluid.

He's a lot more athletic. shoot he's probably my height right now. Ball skills is nice. Man, he's a go-getter, man. I've filled a few phone calls about him recently, so that's always good. Is it hard watching your son play? Because I know when I go to my kids' youth events,

like you're sitting there and you feel the good and the bad, and it's so different being there as a parent watching your kids play sports and try to separate that from the emotional side of it. I try to stay disconnected, especially on the defensive side. I'm the officer coordinator, a co-office coordinator with Coach Justin Nardis. He's a military guy. And it's crazy because he's the military guy, and he's still the guy that does the discipline.

And it's like in the military, you're disciplined. You go on a schedule. You're routine-based and all those things. But, again, he might be a little bit done with that as well, just like I am. So we delegated to someone else. We try to give it to a younger guy who's trying to establish himself

because, you know, they usually tend to try to impress older coaches. So we delegated off to that, man. It's fun to watch him, though. I don't get nervous. I just enjoy watching the play. I don't get nervous. I feel like I've taught him well.

I've given him all the ends. And I've been coached him since he was like nine youth. So he knows how to tackle well. He knows how to protect themselves when he catch the ball on a like a bang, play. He knows how to high point. I mean, he's a good athlete, man, so I don't get really nervous

watching him play because I feel like I've taught him really well on how to protect himself in the game. You ever sit down to show him dad's highlights or catch him watching dad's highlights? He's a little bit older now, so I ain't caught him watching my highlights in a long time. I remember when he was

growing up, you know, getting 6, 7, 8, 9, probably up until 11 or 12 years old. I mean, I guess that's Speaking of now, it's just down crazy because that's four or five years from now ago. But I used to always come home and see his iPad on the ground with just highlights of my runners playing. And now it's highlights of Soss Gardner and the guy from the Ravens, Hamilton, and, you know, all these nice safeties and, you know, corners and D.Bs in the league, that was his, those are the highlights you look at now. So if you're going to watch mine,

it's going to have to be an Instagram post that a team, that a team contributed out to me, you know. Hey, shout out to Lagarene on this post. By what the Buccaneers did the other day, you know, that'll be the only way he looked at my highlights anymore. Even the NFL's sent me like a little USB drive with all my players on. I don't even think he's looked at it yet. All right, let's go back to you.

You grew up in Florida. You obviously went to Juko out of high school, right? You went to East Mississippi, Juko. Talk to me about making that decision. to go all the way out to Oregon. What went into that decision versus going somewhere else around the country and why Oregon? The funny story about that is when I was getting recruited, it was heavily, I had a handful of offers, whatever.

But the thing for me was my parents had a tough time watching me play because I was in Mississippi and they were in Florida. So initially I committed to Florida State. That was my initial commitment because that's only like 40 minutes away from where I grew up at. And, I mean, I'm not the biggest Florida State fan, so I'm going on record and say that. I'm a Gator fan. But I didn't like the vibe there. The conversations weren't great.

When me and my dad was asking about what does it look like for me to play and things like that? Because I was going to go into college D1 as a junior. So I wasn't going to have like three or four years. I wanted to have two years to play left. So that was important for us. The playing time. well, when I got there, Antoine, Antoine Smith, I think, was the running back,

and they pretty much told me, without saying in so many words, like, hey, he's the guy, he's going to continue to be the guy until he's gone, he's waited his turn. You're going to have to wait your turn kind of thing. And I understand that. I felt like I was a better guy,

but I didn't want to risk it, you know. And then I went to Oregon on my official visit and talk to coach Cam, and talk to, you know, talk to Coach Bilotti and, you know, all those guys. And they made me extremely comfortable and made me feel at home. They made me feel better about the fact that my parents would want to watch me play. They made sure they was going to get them out there and stuff like that. So all that played a huge fact that in me and me deciding Oregon and choosing Oregon.

Whenever you go up and you are so far away from home, is there an adjustment period to where, because naturally, I think I would be homesick. Even when I go to Oregon now for like three days for work, like it feels that's, way away from it. I'm from Arkansas. I live in Nashville now, so Oregon's way up there, man. Was there an adjustment period for you to not be homesick? Yeah, it was, man. It's different than Florida, that's for sure. I mean, Florida gets all the different seasons and hurricanes and stuff like that. But when I got there, it was always rainy. It was always gray outside. I didn't know a lot of people. So yeah, it was an adjustment. I was pretty homesick.

So it was a phone call about almost daily with my mom or my dad saying, man, I don't know if I can do this. You know, I don't know if I can do this. It's tough out here. Things that I've got to do now. I never had to do in junior college. And it was just tough, man. They're not there by yourself.

And, you know, only having friends, only having just a couple friends that's, you know, that can kind of relate because a lot of those guys are from California and stuff like that. Yeah. And your second year at Oregon, obviously, you went through the adversity, the situation early in the season, Boise State, which that dude came up, smacked your shoulder, and you had to teach him a lesson real quick. But talk to me about that season,

because that had to be difficult, right? You had the suspension, you had to serve the suspension. It was going to be a big year. You were going to be the dude. But what type of growth did you find through that experience? One thing I will say, man, that hit me hard is you don't know everybody that's on your team until you know everybody that's on your team

and that's on the side. all the praises and stuff like that was was cool and all but when that hit it was it was a tough sledding and i only had a handful of guys that that were on you know i felt like personally on my side um with edy pleasant and tj ward and ed dixon and you know a handful of the other guys out there um Walt thurman and the list and the list goes on those are the guys that i really talked to the most when i was going through that man i wouldn't you know i stopped going to class because it was just such a huge deal, so I couldn't go to class anymore.

And, I mean, all my guys just brought my, you know, brought my school stuff to me and, I kind of submitted it through them as well. And I got to a dark point to where I didn't want to see anyone. You know, I was only allowing one person to come over to my house at, you know,

at that point. And that was Ed Dixon. He was the only person that was allowed to come over. I wasn't trying to see anyone or anything like that. And it was tough, man, it was, I had Kenyon and Barner, I will say that, man. Kenyon was a huge piece for me, man.

He let me vent to him. You know, he cried with me. He, you know, he sympathized with me. He understood. So, I mean, that was a tough transition, man. But getting back was the bright light. I was still able to practice. I was still able to go to everything.

I just wasn't able to play on Saturdays. And the suspension originally was for the rest of the year. And me and coach, me and Coach Kelly had a conversation. You know, hey, man, how do we, how do we, how do we fix? just how do we lift this? How do we figure out yada, yada, yada. And then, you know, there was a couple of demands that I had to meet. And I met those, and he let me back.

And for about two or three games, I wasn't playing. Like, I just didn't play. And that was tough because at that point I was eligible. You know, he hadn't brought me back, so I was eligible. So that was really tough. And then in the Oregon State games, is when I actually got another shot at, you know, going back out there with my guys.

So that was kind of refreshing for me. It felt really, really good. But it was a tough time, though. Did you feel like you had to explain? Because you went undrafted, and I'm assuming a lot of that is because of that situation, because obviously you were obese and you were awesome as a college player. But were you explaining to a lot of general managers? Were you explaining to a lot of those general managers?

Hey, look, that's not who I am. That's what I did that one time, but that's not who I am. And do you think that's what affected your overall, like a draft stock? Man, you know what? I can't answer that question because I don't know. when I was in one of my one into my pre-draft visits like at the Combine and stuff

when I was talking to the thing I talked to the Steelers I might even talk to the Patriots and I talked to one other team but they didn't really ask me about that like they more ask me stuff like you know what kind of runs you like can you draw up this protection

can you draw up this concept you know can you block this and you know that's really what the conversations were not a lot of guys asked me about that so I never really had to explain it to any general managers or any coaches or anything like that because I guess that was, I have no idea.

I don't know if that was the least of their worries, you know, because, you know, guys fight all the time or I don't, I have no idea. But I never had to really explain the situation to any GMs or anything. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles.

Join me, Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything. thing that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the Combine, the NFL draft Pro Days, trades, this is where teams reshape their future.

This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season.

Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your first. favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So you go undrafted. Well, number one, did you think you're going to get drafted, but you go undrafted and you obviously go to Tennessee. What went into going to Tennessee versus some of these other places? So the reason I chose Tennessee was I originally, I had a. I committed to the deal with the Niners. This is sound crazy. It sounded like I am the most unsure person ever.

So during the time I did think I was going to get drafted, my agent at the time was telling me like, hey, bro, you know, they're giving you a third round evaluation, you know, fourth round evaluation, which I'm, you know, okay, that's cool. I just want to go at this point. And, you know, you see it go slipping away, and they see these guys that get drafted before you that, you know, no knock against them, but they're nowhere near the caliber player that you are.

And, you know, they're getting the opportunities to get drafted. And it's understandable, right? You have, if you're looking outside, if you're outside looking in as a general manager that didn't ask those questions and stuff, you're looking at this guy like, oh, my gosh, like, am I going to be able to handle him? Yada, yada, yada. But I told Coach Stingletary of the 49ers, he called me in the fifth or sixth round, and he said, hey, man, we're looking to pick you up with this, you know, with this next pick.

I'm excited. I'm like, hell yeah, let's do it. You know what I'm saying? And the pick goes by and they choose Anthony Dixon, running back from Mississippi State. And then after the draft is over, they call me. Like, hey, man, we would love to have you here. You know, we want to give you a shot, man. We think you're a great player.

You know, the whole spill. And I'm like, well, y'all just drafted Anthony Dixon after calling me and telling me y'all were going to draft me. so it was not a backup plan or if he wasn't there, was y'all going to pick me like, what was the plan here? It was like, man, we believe in you, we love you, we love your running style. It coincides with what I believe as a football player, yada, yada, y'all.

So me and my agent went on, we had a talk. Me and my mom went for a long-ass walk around the neighborhood. And I came back and talked to my agent, and they, you know, say the Tennessee Titans want you as well, Jeff Fisher. we had that conversation. I was like, hey, man, I want to call Coach Singletary and tell him like, hey, man, I don't know if I'm going to be able to make that decision to come there because I don't

I don't know if you're going to be honest and truthful with me considering how to draft unfold. And we called him and we told him and he, you know, he kind of, yeah, I'm pretty sure he hung up on us. And then I called Jeff Fisher back and I'm like, hey, man, I'm coming to Tennessee. And, you know, he's kind of like, you know, a kid in the candy. store. It was like, man, hell yeah,

da, da, da, da, that, you know, and I was to play with Chris Johnson. So,

that's kind of how that whole story unfolded. When you go to Tampa, is it like, I'm finally

able to play at home when a family can watch me? Yeah, that was, I ain't gonna lie. That was, that was a highlight

of my career because I was, that's only about three and a half, two and a half, three hours away from where I grew up at. So,

um, I loved it. You know, I enjoyed it. I was, it was the first time I had ever played in the same state as my, you know, as my family being able to watch since high school. And you ran for a thousand yards that year, right?

You ran for a thousand yards and set the tone. Yeah, they put a big-ass 180 feet, New York-style banner on the side of the football stadium with me on it. It was pretty cool. So did you know, so at that point when that happens, right, so early in your career, did you know that you arrived at that point? and you're like, okay, see, it was part of it the motivation of proving everybody wrong of saying, look, I went on drafted, Titans, they let me go.

Tampa Bay gives me my opportunity, and now I've got this stage where I can prove to everybody I'm the player that I thought I was. Yeah, man, it did give me a lot of validation. I never really had any doubt in my skill set and how good I could be, but I did have, you know, some doubt in my mind that people, didn't trust the fact that, you know, I was going to be able to come in and contribute and, you know, keep it together if things don't go right and things like that. So I think that played a big factor in some of those things. But I did feel good about myself, man,

because I was in the backfield with a guy that had just run rookie, that had won rookie of the year while he was there as Cadillac Williams, right? Auburn, Auburn Beast, one of the best college football running backs in ever history, in my opinion. And, you know, he was a rookie of the year, and I came in behind him, and he took me up under his wing. Him and Ernest Graham. That's a Florida gator guy, man. Hey, shout out, EG. I love them gators, man.

But Ernest Graham and Cadillac took me up under their wing, man, and they took me to dinners. I didn't have to do the rookie dinner stuff, so I didn't have to spend all my undrafted money. I didn't have but like a couple thousand dollars, so I probably would have been broke after one meal. But, I mean, they took me up under their wing, and it, Cadillac's, was good to me, even though they transitioned until me being the starting back that was getting most of the carries. He didn't hurt. He didn't

like hamper like or hurt like my development. He actually just helped me a lot and everything that I needed help with, he was, it was as helpful as he possibly be. So it was a good time in Tampa, man. I'm not going to lie. I like that. So I've heard a lot of Patriot stories from Castle because obviously he played with them for a long time.

And he said you guys did not cross paths in New England. At least you guys didn't cross paths until later in your guys' career. But what was the first, like, Patriots moment where you're with the Patriots and you're like, oh, this organization is different? He's got a big-ass smile on his face. So one of the, one of the, I'll say one of the biggest changes for me was the fact that you go into a meeting. And I didn't know this at the time.

So you go into a meeting and you have your notes ready. And, you know, you're looking at film and, you know, everybody's just, just kind of taking out their notion. I'm just kind of with Brown. Because in the offseason, I got traded in the off season. So everybody's OTAs and offseason workouts and all that stuff is the same.

But when you get to the meeting room and you're about to play a team or whatever, even in the preseason, you know, Bill always asked these questions like, who's the second-streen linebacker if this guy goes down? Who's the third string defensive end if this guy goes down? Who's the defensive coordinator?

Where did he go? Where did he come from? Did he, is his first? year there. Did he come from college? Did he come from high school? And up until that point, I had never had those questions actually. I've never had, I've never had dealt with that before. I had to kind of get on my P's and Q's on that. But man, that's like a, that's like a, man, it was different. You know what I'm saying? It was definitely different. Even the field going into the building was different. I'm not going to lie. Like, you go into Tampa, you know, you guys are

high-five in it. Oh, what's up dog? And da-da-da-da. You know, you know, you're going to the locker room. you can turn your music on and you can chill and you can, you know, hey, FaceTime and all this stuff. And you go to New England, it's strictly business, you know, no phones allowed or videos, like, no videos or pictures allowed in the locker room. Entertain each other, basically. And, yeah, man, those are, those are some of the biggest turning points for me, man. Those are different. A bit of that seat before. The anxiety.

It may be a better player, though. It does, though. The anxiety, though, that you have going in that meeting real. when he's calling dudes out and goes, what the F Castle? You don't know who the backup Mike linebacker is or what's their favorite blitz on third down? You're like, it's Wednesday.

We haven't even started third down yet. And you're just sitting there in a full panic. But you see guys sweating that meeting. But what it does do, like you said, it makes you accountable because you start to study that stuff because you don't want to be embarrassed in front of your teammates. And it's one of those situations where you're like, man, this is good grind.

but okay, let's do it. I mean, all right. You look over at, I look at James, I look at James and I look at James because James or, you know, I look at Brandon Bowdo because those guys are there before me, you know what I'm saying, and Shane Verene and those guys. So I'm looking like, when he asks me those questions, I'm like, I got the D coordinator.

Okay, I got the O coordinator. I got the special team coordinator. I got these guys. And then he'll ask you a question out of everything you wrote. He'll ask you a question that you don't have on that. 100%. And I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

James. Hey, his name is Mike Jones. Scott, L.G. So, I mean, it's pretty incredible what you were able to achieve, but you obviously are one of the only players in the history to win three Super Bowls, but you won Super Bowls back to back

with two different organizations. Does one of the Super Bowl championships stand out to you? Man, I'm on record saying this, lot, but then that Eagles one is different, you know. It was a fun full year. Like it wasn't like, oh, let's just have fun now. Like it was a full year of we're going to put this work in. We're going to work hard as we can. We know what kind of team we have. We know we have the opportunity to make it work. Let's just grind, grind, grind. And it's not always going to be, you know, it's not always going to be that. You know, so we

We just, we grind it out and we have fun and we play basketball in the locker room and we listen to music and we play pool and all that stuff. But we always knew that it was time to put the work in. And that's what I like. And I even had fun at practices. Like, you don't never have fun at practices. It's like, bro, damn, here we go again. We're out here. You know, it's 110 or it's, you know, sometimes it's, you know, whatever.

But I have fun at practice, man. Doug was awesome. Doug and Howie are awesome. And they showed me love and they believed in me at the end. entire season. And they told me, once we got into the playoffs in the Super Bowl, like, man, hey, we're going to ride you to the wolves fall off in the postseason. And that gave me the confidence like, okay, because you go into the game, confident in New England, bro, but it's different. You go to the playoffs, confident, but it's different. You walk on eggshells because if you make a

mistake as a back, not as a quarterback, you know what I'm saying? But if you make a mistake as a bat, bro, you might not get no more carries that game. You might not, you might not even go back in. You know what I'm saying? But in Philly, they allowed you to make mistakes and not be like, I'm not going to play a game.

They allowed me to, like, I didn't make a lot of mistakes while I was there, but you can play more loose if that makes sense. One final question. I enjoy it, man. When you go to Philly

after winning the title with New England, was there an expectation of you just want a championship? We want you to bring some championship culture to Philadelphia. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. there was yeah there was well another guy that that actually was on that 10 was Chris Long had just came from New England with me and the funny story about that is how he asked Chris Long about me Chris Long vouched for me and then he told me he hit me up and said hey bro come to Philly I don't know if I still have to text messages or phone call log or whatever but he hit me up and basically said come to Philly bro it's amazing here they've been asking me about you. They love you here.

Come to Philly. I'm like, well, man, they ain't calling me. This is around the weird time that Bill had put that weird tender on me. If you guys look it up, you'll find like that weird crazy tender where it was like, I risk for 11,200, 1,200 yards, and 17 or 18 touchdowns or whatever. And I was filling all these phone calls. And then all of a sudden they stopped. And then I see this thing come out saying, oh, the Patriots have put this rare tender on

legaria blunt that hasn't been used since 1970 only bill would find that because because they want to have compensation you know how it goes matt yeah if you ball out and you're you become a free agent and if you if you do sign with a team the team that you come from got to get compensated still even though you're a free agent right so he found that he found that clause somewhere and i mean you had four or five teams back out and feeling stood strong and was like bro we'll give up that draft pick or whatever we'll have to give up for him. That's cool. So that was pretty tight, man.

That was, I love Phillies organization, man. I'm not saying it's better than New England by any way of the word, but that year that I was there was extremely fun. I had 14 carries, 91 yards, and the touchdown. It was great. It was great. Well, good luck Mountain Point, right? Mountain Point. That's what it is, right?

Mountain Pride, baby. Mount Point Pride. We really appreciate the time. You guys follow Legerette, L. LG Blunt and hey, love watching you. Appreciate your time and hope you guys have a great healthy rest of your season this year, Coach. I appreciate you guys, man. Thanks, man.

I appreciate you guys having me on. Hey, Andrew, Bobby, Brandon, Kevin, everybody, Matt. My guy. I appreciate you guys, man. Thanks a lot, man. Always a pleasure. Anytime you need me, Matt, you know you can get a hold of me, brother. I appreciate you, bro.

Thanks again. Good to see you. Yes, sir. All right, see you guys. Peace. The 2026 NFL draft is here. and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez after night one on Thursday.

Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents.

The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the Combine, the NFL draft Pro Days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits,

to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are. built cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move? We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team.

Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's do our final topic. I'm going to go the quarterback situation and say, San Francisco. The 49ers are 5 and 2 with Mac Jones as their starting quarterback. As a Patriots fan, Kevin, an only fan.

Not that you subscribe to his only fans, but you didn't play for them. Drake Mays. Yes, yes. Does it drive you a little crazy to see Mack Jones being successful since you're a Pat's fan and he really wasn't there? It did at first, but I think I've come to the realization that our coaching was that bad offensively while he was there when he had Matt Patricia as his coordinator, and just everything around him was just that bad.

I'm like, wow, I knew it was bad, but now you're really seeing how bad it was. If I'm correct, and Bill Belichick has a history of not drafting the best, I believe Belichick drafted him as a linebacker, Mac Jones. Yeah, hybrid, maybe? Is that right? Yeah, hybrid. Like walk up three, four linebacker that can come rush on third down, for sure. 1,800 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, only five interceptions.

He's got a QBR in 90, 3,000. even from this last game, he was 19 to 24, two touchdowns, no interceptions. So, Mac Jones, good or Shanahan, great, or combination of both? I think a combination of both. Kyle Shanahan's one of the best offensive coordinators and offensive minds, I should say, in the sport today. And he's proven that year and year out, just the way that he runs his offensive system. and you could tell that it is a quarterback-friendly system.

It's a rhythm-based system. So the ball's going to come out. He's going to have you coached up and understand it's footwork-based, right? So you're hitting number five. You're letting the ball rip. And if you're taking a hitch, you're getting the number two. So he coaches a hell out of those guys. What's really impressive to me, I also believe for Mack Jones

and to talk about him being, he's been really good stepping into this role, is they've had a ton of injuries at the skill position players. wide receiver, Kittle was out for a while, but they always, also, I feel like, have an identity. And that offense runs through Christian McCaffrey, but even if you watched the game this last week, he was in rhythm.

He's deadly accurate. He's tough as nails because he's been beat up this season as well, but he just makes play after play, and he's been consistent. And that's what, if you're that in Kyle Shanahan's offense, you'll have success. And he's shown that time and time again. So I think it's the brilliance of Kyle Shanahan.

that offensive structure. But it's also, Mack Jones is a good quarterback, and he was putting, you know, dealt in unfair hand early in his tenure with the Patriots. Brock Purdy's injury status is weird.

It is. I don't think that they thought the injury was as severe, and I think now it's severe, because they would have put them on the IR. Right. I feel the same way, because you go back, Burrow had,

what, the same kind of toe injury, and they immediately said, look, he's going on IR for the year. So I think that they're trying, to figure out whether or not eventually they can get it to a point where he can go. I just don't know how prolonged it will be. A couple quotes I took from his postgame. Shanahan said that Purdy's tarf toe is something that probably won't fully go away all year.

And regardless of when he comes back, he's always going to have to deal with it. He said, quote, I thought about Purdy as a backup or emergency third quarterback, but I think the more time we give him the better. At this point, it feels to me that Mack Jones probably at the version, he is now is a better quarterback than Purdy will be coming in with a turf toe and a partial injury. I agree with you. And then I also agree with you that they've got some confidence. And Mac Jones is starting to, you're starting to feel those guys support him and go around them. Not to say that they wouldn't with Purdy, but when you put Purdy back in the game and

now you know he may be a game to game basis, he gets tackled once and he's taken all the reps during the week and now he's back on the IR or out for the rest of the season. While Mack Jones is a healthy scratch, why not go with the guy that's healthy and that you know who's probably going to be there and use Purdy in that emergency role, whereas if he has to come in, then it's out of necessity. I just shut him down. Shut him down. Purdy Hurdy Hurdy.

Purdy's hurdy. Purdy's hurdy. Purdy's hurdy's hurdy. Purdy's hurdy. You want him back next year. That turfto, terrible name. Turftoe. No, it sounds fun.

It does sound fun. It sounds like, oh, it's turf toe, not a big deal. No, I heard it's one of the most excruciating things you can possibly have. I want to go and play with some Play-Doh on my turf toe. It feels like all those go together. Okay, do you have anything else? Do you have a final topic? Final topic?

I really don't, but I do want to talk about Chicago. I mean, the city, Caleb Burns. The bean? You ever been to the bean? I haven't been to the bean. I need to go to Chicago. I heard they've got, you know, a great city. I've been there just like for a day trip,

but I haven't really got to experience it. Did you never play in Chicago? Yeah, I did. But like I said, that's a day trip to you? Well, yeah. Playing in Chicago is a day trip? You don't get to experience Chicago.

Okay, but I wouldn't call that a day trip. It is. We go in on a Saturday and I leave on a Sunday. A day trip's like when you live in Milwaukee and you drive down and have dinner and then drive back and it's a little longer than a normal commute. It's not going to play a professional football game. Okay.

I would fly in. to fly out. Basically, that's what I did. Fair enough. It was a work trip. That's better. Yeah, it was a work trip. But, I mean, I watched the complete game of Caleb William last week.

And my God, he is one of the most physically talented quarterbacks in the league. He can make every throw. And he might not be the biggest in stature, but the guy can rip the ball anywhere. And then also, his ability to move and make plays outside the pocket has been, it's like such an exciting. offense to watch. And I say he's still, you know, a lot of people are saying this, that, and the other about, they want to critique him.

And yes, are there some flaws in his game still? 100%. But you can see the growth with Ben Johnson and the just constant improvement that he's made. And I think this guy's going to be a superstar sooner than later. I also am starting to see

because I have different eyes than you because you actually know what you're looking at. I just go, oh, go play. But I also can see that I can see what people love that he will possibly be. He's such an athlete. At times, he drives me crazy.

Sure. But I think that's... Also, this is like his real rookie year. Iberflus, that wasn't really a rookie year. That was like when Trevor Lawrence played with Urban Meyer. You know, that year shouldn't count. Right.

So we're looking at a real rookie year with a real coach, an offensive coach. And so, yeah, it's kind of exciting to see. because he's such an athlete. He's such an athlete. He does things that just blow me away. And I'm not, I'm not comparing him to Patrick Mahomes, but he's got that type of ability,

just freak athleticism where he can make any throw at any time. And his ability to throw on the run is one of the best things that he does. Sounded to me like comparison to Patrick Mahomes. I don't know what you guys. So like comparison to Patrick Mahomes? Yeah, pretty close. Yeah. Well, I don't want to make a comparison,

but I want to make a comparison. Nick Smith. God, I love Knicks, man. Kevin, run through the trades. Yeah, give us a trade. So the big one of the day is Sauce Gardner. He got traded to the Colts for two first rounders and A.D. Mitchell, the receiver. Damn.

From Indy. What was that about, about A.D. Mitchell? No, two first rounders. Okay. But you said that after A.D. Mitchell, not the two first rounders. I was letting him complete the complete trade. Since when do you let people complete stuff? I'm over here a minute ago talking about Matthew Stafford.

And I said Matthew Steph, oh, my God. I didn't know that I wasn't. interrupt. And then the very next one was Drake May and you're like, Kevin, what do you think about that? So I guess we can't have a conversation in the middle of your thing. It's different. It's different. You are a highly educated with experience

former Patriot. He is a fan who watches games in his underwear. No, I was going to talk about Stafford. He was going to talk about the Patriot. No, I know. But act like, Kevin, go ahead. Go ahead. Mom and dad and Dad are, sadly, I'm Mom. That's what sucks. Calm down,

guys. Yes. And the Jets, they keep wheelin and dealing, they also traded Quinn and Williams de-tackle to the Cowboys. Oh, was that the trade? Yeah. Okay, so we're doing this on Tuesday afternoon. Because when Jerry Jones goes on Sunday, or maybe even Monday early and goes,

yeah, I got a trade. We've already done. I thought it was when they traded for the Bengals linebacker. Yeah, Zach, Logan Wilson. And so I thought, you know, I don't know that I would have been hyping that one up. Like Jerry Jones was doing, like we got a trade coming.

this one is actually better. This is legit. Yeah, big one for... Williams is a stud. A second round pick in 2026 and then 2027 first round pick and defense tackle. I believe it's Mazzie, Mazzie Smith, Mazzie Smith. I know Ozzie Smith. Play for the Cardinal, shortstop.

Oh. Oh, I don't think of. Different Smith altogether. Wait, so... They gave up a first... They gave up a first, a second, and a detackle. That's a lot. Quinn and Williams.

That's a lot. Quinn Williams is good. I guess... He's really good. The only things that I have is a question here is what's on Quinn Williams' contract. And secondly, the Cowboys really aren't in it this year. That's what I'm saying. That's a lot of draft capital to give up in a season that you're not trying.

You're really going to, you've got an uphill battle just to get back in the mix in your own division. Because I think, listen, that was a lot for sauce gardener too. However, where you can argue is it too many two ones is a lot. At least it's the Colts trying. a year where they're winning. Right. And like I can respect that. So you're like, oh, it's too much or it's too little.

I like it when my team tries when my team has a chance to win. But this, this is weird, unless he's got like three, four years left. Well, I think it's two left. Two left. It's also like it feels like Jerry's trying to do something to make up for the Parsons. Or before he dies. Well, like I have to, I have to do something to give these fans an understanding that we're trying to fix the defense.

Or before I die. The Parsons feel, I mean, they traded for 10 years. I mean, they traded for Kenny Clark. That was to stop the run. And now here's another de-tackle mid-season. They want to stop both runs. They stop all the run. They want to stop every run in the NFC East period.

What about the defensive backfield that gave up 300-something yards the other night? Yeah. What if his new approach is they're going to put Quinn Williams as a defensive back? Oh, that would be. Everyone's zigging, he's zagging. Just playing cover zero. Just jamming them off line, but just don't let him go. Just jam.

There's no chance. You get run by every time. You get like two yards. So jam them and hold them. Perfect. Our draft king segment of the week. Here we go. It's as Kevin would call it, the week in Pavoo.

Presented by draft kings. From first touchdown score to anytime touchdown props or the thrill of in-game live betting. Every snap is loaded with opportunity. Three games this week, big game. Patriots at Bucks. That's just going to be a good game. I'm excited about it. Both teams on the way up.

Both teams aren't used to being on the way up. pick a winner there, Matt Castle. I'm going to go with the Bucks at home. And the reason is, I think that their defense is really good. And I think the offensive line for the Patriots have struggled a little bit to protect Drake May consistently. And I think this will be a defense that's probably one of the best defenses that they'll face this season.

I'm going to pick the Bucks as well, but just because they're coming off a by week. And I think that's helpful too. Those are two equal teams. I think if they're playing in London and they both come off a bi week, I'm struggling with picking one of the clear winner, but because they are playing. at home and because they did have the week off last week. I'm going with the bucks as well. Rams at 49ers, Matt Kessel?

I'm going to playing the hot hand. I'm going with the Rams. I mean, Stafford's playing as well as anybody at the quarterback position right now. And Pook and the Kua, Devante Adams. I mean, they've got weapons across the board. I think their defense continues to get better. And they've got a young defense,

but I'll tell you what, they're producing pass rush, and they've got an identity. So I'm going to go with the Rams. I'm all right, Mac Jones. you rarely see a kid come up, drafted as a linebacker, make it a quarterback. I'm really pulling up for the guy.

Or a tight end. Yeah. Eagles at Packers, this is Monday Night Football. Man, what a bad loss for the Packers. Hey, keep poundons what I say because I'm a lifelong Carolina Panther fan

for about, what, five weeks now? Is that about right? Yeah. Whatever take. I'm a lifelong Panther fan for about five weeks. Yeah. What a whim for the Panthers

over the Packers. But Eagles at Packers, Packers are the favorite, Monday Night Football in Green Bay. I'm going with the Eagles, man. I mean, they've been playing really good football, and they've been finding ways to win. I know they haven't put it all together,

but they've had the buy. Packers struggled last week. Bad injury, too, for the Packers. Bad injury at the tight-in position. I mean, that was huge because he was a go-to guy for Jordan Love. And there's just, I think Jordan Love's a really good quarterback, but there are times when he throws the ball up, and I just go,

why in the hell did you just throw that ball? Like there's another ball that there was one in a team meeting down the field that got intercepted. There was another one where he was trying to, and it might have been wind. I don't know. But he hit the guy directly in the hands in the end zone and the Carolina Panther DB dropped it. And I just go, that was. Oh, right in the end zone. Right.

Do you remember that one? I'm talking about hit him right in the chest and everything. But he was scrambling around trying to throw opposite. And I was going. Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. I couldn't believe he dropped. The throw was so bad.

But he dropped the easy. interception in the history of interceptions that I forgot how bad the throw was. And then you go, and that's why you play DB. I mean, that's... But the throw was just absurd. I couldn't explain it.

I couldn't even tell you what he was thinking about doing at that point. I just heard the announcer say about 11 times, this is my memory from the game, that Jordan Love was 27 and that Aaron Rogers won his championship and Bartstar won his championship at 27 years old.

And if they didn't stop bringing up that stupid fact, Like, get over. Move on. Yeah. They love that fact. They love it. No pressure on you. No, no.

Jordan, love. New customers bet just five bucks. And if your bet wins, you'll get 300 bucks in bonus bets instantly. Your team hitting pay dirt pays out to you. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Use the code to say. That's T-O-S-A-Y, as in lots to say. For new customers, turn five bucks into $300 and bonus bets if your bet wins.

In partnership with Draft Kings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler. In New York. Call 8778-8-8-Hopen-Y or text Hope-N-Y at 4667-369.4-6-6-9. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling, called 888-9-77- Or visit ccpigee-G.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casinoin Resort in Kansas. 21-on-over, age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. Before we go, we did an episode with Eric Decker, go back a couple episodes,

listened to it. It was really a whole lot about his career. It's not super timely, meaning it's evergreen. It's a great Eric Decker history. He ended up leaving Special Forces because I guess he got hurt. Yeah, he said he was a back, tight back or something with his back. Is that like when you get injured and your team sucks? He was like, dude, are you serious?

Like, this is going downhill. I'm out of here. On last week's episode, Special Forces, Eric struggled to. keep up in the military-style competition, causing his wife Jesse James Decker to worry. During a check-in with staff, he admitted that he'd been pushing himself, quote, as hard as I can, but he was reaching a point of exhaustion in his soul. When he went to visit the doctor at base camp, a few tests showed it wasn't safe for him to stay in the game.

Quote, I'm concerned that we can't afflict any more punishment on that hip the doctor revealed. I don't think we can safely really let it carry on. Eric Decker out, and Jesse left with him. What a good wife. Can you imagine if she stayed in one? I can, and I would have. I know, I know you would have. You're like, all right, man, sorry, go fix that hip up.

I'll meet you in Germany. Yep. Or wherever they're at. Yeah, yeah. So I'm sad to see him go. He did not in any way indicate that that happened. He didn't tell us anything. He stayed right by his NDA design and he really did.

Revealed nothing to us. I was like, could you have told, maybe that's why he's been stretching so much at the Little League games. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, he was stretching out that hip. You thought it was to be sexy. Him, he tore it doing special forces train. or whatever you call it.

I hope, because we're recording this, again, late Tuesday afternoon. I hope I get to watch Dancing with the Stars tonight. I'm so annoyed because I have YouTube TV. Oh, yeah, you guys got a dispute, right, with Disney? Yeah, I couldn't watch Game Day. Now, I'm not part of YouTube TV. So it's not like I have a dispute with Disney.

No, I'm saying that they had a... I know you don't. Well, you said... Well, you do now. You do now because you didn't get college, did you? Yeah, no, I didn't get college. I didn't get money in at football. Oh, gosh, what did you do?

You got to have another streaming service. No, I learned to buy Slash. on a one-day pass for six bucks a day. That's actually nice. Who knew? Who knew? But I'm really hoping to get it back for Dancing with the Stars tonight.

You can come over to my house and watch it with the kids. Are you guys watching it? I don't know. So you're not watching it then? Probably not. No, no, no, no. You missed my question.

Have you been watching it? I haven't been. Okay. Where are we in the season? I think it's like six left, but we're close. Just a couple weeks left. Who's a front runner?

Who do I think is going to win? Dylan Ephron or Robert Irwin. Probably Robert Irwin, if I had to bet. He's Steve Irwin's son, Bindy Irwin's brother, the younger brother. She was a champion on the show. And now Robert Irwin, he's really good.

He's really good. Except he's not professional. Like, he's really good without much experience. So that's what you like. Yeah. Zach Efron's little brother. There's a lot of nepotism here, huh? Yeah, Zach.

There's those people. It's Dylan Ephron. Good looking dude. Like, good dancer. I'm sure. great with no shirt, like makes it work. Yeah. Yeah.

They're one of those, sex appeal. Yep. Yeah, go get it. They're both good. I'm rooting for Andy Richter and Emma. Andy's like, he's like 60. He wears knee braces on both legs. Love it.

Not a great dancer, but like really has America's heart. Yeah. Just give it full effort. Yeah. So by the time that this has heard, you're going to know who's been kicked off. I don't know yet, but I'm really rooting for her. And I like Emma a lot when I was on the show. Like, Sean,

was my partner, so I got to take her out of the comment. conversation, but Emma was the absolute greatest and the biggest helper to me and was like an emotional resource too. And like when they would come to town, she'd like come over to the house. Oh, wow. Like I really like had a great relationship with her and her husband at the time who they're no longer married, but he's still part of the, he's at answer to. Oh, really? And now she's dating another dancer. No, no, I don't know. I know. She's still on the show. He's still on the show. Oh, I got an even better wrinkle. Ready for the big wrinkle? This is an incredible. And then she's, but now she's, but now

She's dating another dancer on the show. So. Wow, this is one incestuous group of people. Well, can't you imagine they're together all the time? I know. And they're great dancers. So they were dating. It was Emma and Sasha.

Sasha's the guy. Okay. They were dating. He proposed on the show. This is seasons before I went on. That's romantic. So how can you say no? Exactly.

They both danced on the show. They got married. They were together. I knew them married. They were a married couple when I was there. Okay. Even when they would come to town, they came over and hung out with me married. They then got a divorce.

My... Assumption and the limited knowledge that I have is they're still cool, but now she's dating another dancer from the show. It's her boyfriend and I knew him and really liked him as well. Now Sasha still on the show, not this season. Here you go. Here's big finale. Sasha, her ex-husband, was supposed to be on this season and rumored his partner was Jordan Hudson and she backed out, Bill Belichick's girlfriend. She backed out last minute because she decided she didn't want to go on the show. So he lost his spot because she backed out of the show. Wow. This is great. They need to do, can we do it behind the scenes? Like, I'd tune in for that. Uh-huh. Like, I wish Belichick's girl would have went on. I do too. That would have been amazing.

And so Sasha was going to be on the season, but rumor has it, that was his partner and she backed out so he didn't have a partner. And they also didn't want him to beat up the new boyfriend. No, I believe they're cool. Gosh. And they both are so nice. I know. They're both. Dancers are normally pretty, pretty cool. Have you ever met

like a dancer that you didn't really like? Or was there one on the show? You don't even have to mention them. That was like, uh, yeah. Uh, two of them.

Both males? I have no comment. Come on. You got at least. I'm not asking you to name anybody. But you're cutting half off. If you say male or female, you're cutting.

Of course we are. Yeah. Are you, I'm going to say there were two very difficult dancers that I would say weren't loved by all. that weren't super nice to me either. And I was... Was it because of the competitive nature

that they have? Or was it just because of the person? Nobody saw me as competition because watching back, I'm doing a whole video series because I've never watched my dances back ever until now. And I was actually a little more athletic

than... I wasn't as bad as everybody made me feel. Yeah. And I had a little trauma with it. Like, with watching it back, which is why I never watched it back. I won the freaking thing. I was proud of winning.

But I was like, I'm not going to watch it. I had just understood. in my heart and soul that I was terrible. But I won through the people. But now that I watched back, I definitely won through the people, but I wasn't near as bad as I gave myself credit for being. Yeah. That they made you believe you were.

Yeah. Because I really believed, man, I was terrible. And I'm never dancing again. Your wife's like, can we do the first dance at the wedding? You're like, no chance. I called in a stunt dancer at the wedding. It wasn't me. I was like, I will not have this first dance.

Let's wear masks during our first dance, babe. There were a couple that were difficult. And it wasn't even towards the competition part. because nobody thought I was competition for real until like the last four weeks. That's when they knew they were in trouble. I was never in the bottom three. They don't do bottom three anymore. They do random three, but five seasons ago, they did bottom three.

Well, random three would be you don't even know you're in the bottom three? They just have three couples at the end. So they start telling people so and so, you're safe. You're safe. There are three couples on stage. One of you is going home. Doesn't that make it the bottom three though? It doesn't.

It feels like it is. The bottom one is for sure of the bottom three. but the other two, they don't have to be. Oh, they could be the number one. But you never know the voting. Nice little twist. Good job producers. My season, it was just the bottom three so you knew.

Yeah. And you're never wearing the bottom three? Not once. Hell yeah. Screw you. But I was never coming. America loves me. They knew you're a competition when they got to like week eight and they're like,

this dude's never been the bottom three. And then once I, because I was pretty heavily involved in creating television shows. Like I had signed a deal with BBC after Dancing with the Stars, BBC America, to write shows, like to create concepts of shows. And then I would learn about where they would put. And then I would learn they would put certain dancers at the top of hours. And those are the ones that they really wanted. I shouldn't say to highlight, but they were the ones that they knew people would like.

Because let's say that the show goes on 7 to 9. After another network has their show 7 to 8, let's say people are flipping around or finding a new show. They're going to come and sample that first few minutes of dancing with us. So they would put one of the people that were getting like the best votes at the top of the hour. It'd be either the first dancer, the top of the hour dancer, or the end dancer. I never knew this. And then once I finished the whole season, I started to learn this, I realized most episodes, I was either the first dancer, the top of the hour dancer or the final dancer.

Hell yeah, Bob. You know me, Bob? Yeah. That's weird. Yeah, I meant to say Bob B. But you didn't want to keep interrupting? I just want to stop because I've already got scolded by mom the day. All right.

Sam Darnold and Bob up. I'm sorry. I started to say your name, but I wanted to stop. We're done. That is Matt Castle. That is kickoff, Kevin. That is Brandon Ray. That is Nick Smith.

He is a fictional character that we created today that we just throw in for no reason at all. Anytime we want. I'm Bobby Bones. Thank you guys. If you don't mind, the one favor we would ask, share this on your Instagram story.

If you like, hey, this podcast is great. If you like funny things, if you like quarterback, if you like Nick Smith, like post it up there because nobody's promoting us. We would love to help if you don't. Thank you guys. Thanks to Legerat Blunt.

We'll see you guys next week. We've had lots to say. Bye, everybody. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles.

Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Daniel Jeremiah.

And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents

and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free IHeart radio app. Search 40s and free agents and listen now. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.