The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 08/13/2021 - HOUR 1 - Mac Jones, Justin Fields, MLB

Episode Date: August 13, 2021

First look at Patriots QB Mac Jones and their chances this seasonBears QB Justin Fields looks specialMLB got it right with the Field of Dreams gameGuest: Eric Mangini Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I felt like last night watching the Patriots and Mac Jones, the football season started. It started last night. Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. I had half a pan of casserole, a pint of ice cream, went into a food coma at 825, slept, woke up at 5.20 this morning. nine hours of deliciousness. I can tell it's football season.

It was a little hot in L.A. yesterday. It was very hot. So it didn't feel like football season, but the casserole and the ice cream and the couch. What kind of casserole? It had ham and peas and a little parmesan cheese, and it was melting all over the place. And I'm like, all right, that's what you make.

That's what you make in the fall. Right. And I just fell asleep. What a glorious night. then we had a baseball game that felt like a football game. It was a big event. That was crazy fun. I mean, that was like, it was magical.

It was magical. It's like, it's almost like Fox made it feel like, I mean, Fox, we do a really good job in big production pieces. It was a big, we do the best job of any kind of live production when it comes to sports. Live production, we do events great, right? Like, that was an event. It's like finally baseball's like. It was beautiful.

Oh, it was gorgeous. It was got footballs in the cornfields and it was just fantastic, the sunset in Iowa. Great sports night. All right. just start with this, though. Oh, I got, I slept well last night. I can, that casserole, post-casserol shows are always the best. So Mac Jones debuted for the Patriots. And you know what my feeling was on Mac Jones. The Patriots didn't give up anything. He fell to them in the draft. So I'm okay with that. That's fine. I think he has a very low ceiling. I think he,

he does things they'll like. He's efficient. He's detailed. He's an anticipatory thrower, low ceiling. But when he was rumored to be number three, I'm like, I'm not giving up. first round picks for Mack Jones. You've got to be out of your gourd. So here's the thing about the NFL right now. If you look at the teams that we all put in the Super Bowl bubble, they all have something in common, Kansas City, Baltimore, Seattle, Green Bay, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, they all have one thing in common. It's not their defense, it's not their coach. You know what they can do? In 2021 NFL football, they can give you cheap points, two play drives, throw it over the top.

During the Belichick era, which about three quarters of it, we were a running and a defensive league. That's great. You can win 10 games that way. But Miami and New England were like the ceiling's lower, right? You got to do the Kansas City, Buffalo, Aaron Rogers, Russell, you get cheap points. Brady, over the top, Mike Evans. The Rams, by the way, had the number one defense in the NFL. They got rid of their quarterback.

Why? And they went and drafted speed receivers. Why? What do the Rams do? They're like, we're not good enough. quarterback and we're not fast enough at wide receiver. Their defense was number one, out in the playoffs real quick. Steelers.

Their defense was number three. Baltimore. Can't just do it on defense. So when I watched Mack Jones last night, here's the dilemma of replacing Tom Brady. Mac Jones is exactly what I thought he would be. He's got good feet. He's an anticipatory thrower more than cam. He'll make adjustments at the line.

He's accurate. He's calm. He's supposedly his prep is fantastic. Like this kid lives in a playbook. But you're not making any plays. You're not extending any plays. I mean, Brady was drafted by a major league baseball team. Brady was bigger and he was stronger.

Brady always had a plus arm. He doesn't have a plus arm as much anymore. Brady always had a great arm. It's the best cold weather thrower I've ever seen in my life, including Marino, including Elway. Brady threw an incredible ball in cold weather. And Foxborough has it. And then now what New England has watching last night,

they got a little bit of two things. You got Cam who actually has some playmaking, but he's not as accurate. He's not an anticipatory thrower. The guy's got to be open. And there's limitations on Cam's efficiency. Like, that's not what he's for. But boy in the red zone, Cam tucked that ball in, like they don't have many playmakers. Or you can go to Mac Jones, who will be better in the efficiency and the accuracy stuff.

And the coaches will love that because this is like the most detailed, most, you know, like pocket protector coaching staff of all. all time, right? They do all the details. The screen passes. They're like the best in the league. They're traps. They're special teams. They're defensive coverage. They never give you cheap touchdowns. So this is the problem with replacing Brady. Like Brady could give you both. Brady gave you super efficiency, super details. But he was 6'5 with a great arm, often in lousy, Foxborough weather. And he could throw it over the top. And he can, you got everything. Well, he's not a super athlete. A, he was a bet. You know, Brady moves in the pocket as well as anybody I've ever seen. So he was always sneaky athletic.

So I just watched them like, yeah, Mac Jones is what I thought Mac Jones would be. He is what I thought he would be. But that's not what, that's why the Rams went and got Stafford and in the draft. We made fun of him in the draft, right? Because he gets another fast receiver. You just can't win with defense and a, I mean, the Rams have a brilliant head coach, the best defense in the league, the best defensive linemen in the league. They don't commit a lot of turnovers. They have an incredible culture. And they were one and done in the playoffs. Because Jared Goff can extend a play and because they don't have an over-the-top receiver,

Kansas City does, and Buffalo does, and Tampa Bay does, and Seattle does, and Green Bay does, and Baltimore, what do they do this off-season? I've got big play-wide receivers potentially. So, you know, I watched New England and I thought to myself, you can make an argument this morning that Mack Jones is a better fit for them. You can make that argument. And he's obviously the future. You can make that argument. But boy, the ceiling feels really low. It feels really low. And I think they go in 10 games. But I look at New England and I think this is the dilemma replacing Brady. Do you want the playmaker or the efficient guy? Can't do two. It's not the way

the NFL works, not college, not the Mountain West Conference. It's not the way it works. So it's not a negative feeling. This is what I've said about Tua. Now, Miami went and got receivers. They got Will Fuller. They get Jaden Wall. They got. So when I watched New England last night, I felt like I'm watching the Miami Dolphins without all the speed and playmaking it wide receiver. And New England show no ability to draft that position. So I think Mack Jones is somebody the coaches could easily talk themselves into this morning and say, well, he's just going to be, you know, accurate. And by the way, if it was just about great coaching, smart quarterback play, pre-snap adjustments, and efficiency, Drew Breeze would have six rings.

But Drew couldn't throw it over the top at the end. And that's what I saw last night. The dilemma of Post Brady. You know, the delay, it's hard. Maybe the message last night is, boy, put your arms around life when it's good. because if good walks out the door, it is really hard to replace. 10-11 wins, no Super Bowl. By the way, here's Cam Newton talking about it last night about Mack Jones.

He came to me and talked to me, and we talked it out about, you know, just his expectation, you know, and every young quarterback goes through it, the excitement, the anticipation, you know, he wants to be so perfect and I see his preparation is always, you know, pristine and, you know, that's what I admire about him. The dilemma. That's not bad. I think you did find your future quarterback. Just know the ceiling's going to be low.

You've got to be a perfect football team, which mostly the saints have been the last five years with Breeze. And they, you kept thinking they were smarter and better coached and more detailed and they didn't got to have two play drives. It's the Chiefs got. Got to have three play drives. That's what's Seattle. Green Bay have.

All right, let me shift to this. So the Bears and the Dolphins, and this is something I wish the NFL did more of. In fact, I wish, I've said this for years. I do not understand television executives in America. Why do you not put NFL scrimmages on TV as games? They would get a million. if the Justin Fields of the Bears and two of the dolphins was a two-hour television show last night,

it would have beaten everything on television in America last night, except maybe the baseball game, and I don't know how many viewers they had. So they play. They have these scrimmages, right? And over the course of the next 10 years, you're going to see more of these scrimmages and fewer preseason games. I'm here for it. I think I just, it's underval.

Like the Summer League for 20 years, nobody took care of the Summer League. paid attention to it. Now they put it on and it gets real ratings, right? Like start putting these scrimmages on to a Justin Field. So here's the story out of the scrimmage yesterday. Four quarterbacks took snaps in the Bears, Miami Dolphins game. One got ooze and Oz according to the report. Ouse and Oz from the fan. Ooh, hoo hooo! Justin Fields. That was the guy. And this is where the Niners are and where the Bears are. Garoppolo and Dalton, you know, like all these snaps and experience.

They ain't ooze and Oz guys. And players are fans too. And coaches love when players, they drop a play and the player runs it all the way to the end. And Tray Lance and Justin Fields are not going to do that. Sometimes they're just going to wiggle around and make a play. And the fans are going to go, ooh. And the players are going to go, oh. And that's why Justin Fields is so exciting. You've got to have buy-in from players. This is what I said about Mac Jones. You can be smart and efficient and accurate.

Not getting a lot of ooze and awes with Mac Jones or to it. You're getting ooze and odds with Justin Fields. And they need a playmaker. They got one top receiver, Alan Robinson, then a bunch of kids. They have one young tied end, Cole come at that I like a lot from Notre Dame, but he's young and he's still developing.

They have one running back that is healthy the end that I really like. They need a playmaker. And the Bears and the Buccaneers are very similar. The Bears won a title in 85. The Bucks won it in 2002. They've had Hall of Fame coaches, Hall of Fame defenses, all time great. They've got a Super Bowl last 30 years, all that stuff. The Bucks and the Bears can never get the quarterback right. And the Bucks finally did. And it's like, oh my God, best team in the league. The Bears fans, the Bears organization, can't like Tampa, get the quarterback right. They've had cool guys, Jim McMahon. tough guys Jim McMahon smart aloof guys with big arms j cutler big arm wrecks grossman they've never had the guy

the arm the athleticism the maturity not trying to be too cool not trying to show off his arm just a winner they never had like just a winner every bare quarterback's got an issue McMahon's too into being cool and cutler's too aloof didn't get along with teammates and grossman was an arm and not much else. Good arm. It's like Justin Fields now. They got an Oou and A guy. Don't screw it up. Chicago is one of the great cities in America, one of the great sports towns in America. And I swear to God, the buccaneers and the bears have had everything. They've had Hall of Famers, coaches, defenses, everything. And they can't get the quarterback right. I don't know what's in the water. The Chicago, I don't know what it is on Lakeshore Drive. Maybe there's some salt coming in and they can't. It doesn't, I don't know.

This is exciting. Four quarterbacks took snaps, one. Fans are freaking out. And you know the players are because players are fans too. I read a reporter who was at the scrimmins. I swear it should have been televised. Adam Hogue says there is no doubt the best quarterback on either field today was Justin Fields. I'm going to tell you something.

Chicago Sports has had great hockey teams. They've won Super Bowls. The Cubs did it. The White Sox won it. one thing they've never had, the dude at quarterback. A 15-year grown-up can move around, big arm from winning high school program, winning college program. I think they've got it. I don't know.

I haven't seen them enough, but it's exciting. It's one of those things, one of America's great sports cities. L.A.'s had good quarterbacks. New York's had good quarterbacks. Hell, Canada had Warren Moon. Canada's had. Chicago's never figured it out. Looks like they have it.

Sounds like they have it. The sounds of having it are ooze and oz in 2021. All right. I have a theory on what I saw in baseball last night. I tend to have those. And I wish baseball did more of it. And they did it last night. And I'm not sure if it was their idea or if it was Fox's idea.

But it should be kind of a guiding principle, a guiding light for baseball, Just to think about, I know they always go back to their seam heads and ask their 80-year-old fans what they think. I think last night was a moment, a North Star moment that can lead them to a different place. Hopefully that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have. been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted

amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Can you move? I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious.

Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming.

Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart, the chip. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back.

The biggest decisions. You're going to look at stats and numbers. He has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron. heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball.

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. If I told you, the Yankees played the wild. White Sox last night, you would say, yeah, I mean, they play 162 games per team.

320 games, but combine, minimum, 20 each in spring training. Both teams good enough for the postseason. 400 games, who cares? But last night, the White Sox and the Yankees, it is projected this morning, I'm told, to be the highest rated baseball game at Fox Sports in 16 years. Here's the conclusion of a crazy and fun night. Anderson hits it in the end of right

Back at Sox win it Well you can throw the party But you never know how it's going to turn out And how about six runs on the board In the ninth inning alone And the White Sox with a walk-off 9-8 win This was some kind of night for baseball For the record

It was the conclusion of a baseball game In the middle of a cornfield The movie Field of Dreams is great They went back, brought in Kevin Costner. It was fantastic. It was wonderful. It looked like a minor league baseball game in the coolest stadium ever. It was good for the corn industry.

It was good for baseball. The white socks. It was good for Fox. It was good for every single person. When baseball lightens up and gets out of their comfort zone, and this goes for most people, be a little less cranky. Wake up with the idea of changing your habits occasionally. And it's amazing how much.

life can bring you. You know what baseball didn't have last night, guys saying things like, here's a way to play the game. Yeah, fun, like in the 70s. But then increasingly in the 80s and 90s and after, there were guys who kept lecturing us on how the game should be played. There is no one way to play football or basketball. Trey Young doesn't play like Zion, doesn't play like Barclay and doesn't play like Steph Curry or LeBron James and Magic and Michael had different games and Bird was from French lick

and had behind the back passes and was a six nine guy who could shoot and that's the gift of sports. It doesn't all look the same and players come from Cuba and Ecuador in baseball and they come from all over the world and they come from East Asia and they come from Iowa and New York and

LA and all over and they come from different cultures and have different personalities and some are young and some are old and some throw hard and some throw off speed and some throw knucklers and baseball has all this diversity in these different cultures and these different styles and you got to play the game the same way no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no you don't it's what's great about sports football quarterbacks now are six six or they're kiler murray or they're stoic or they're old or they're young it's great some are lamar jackson some are

Brady. Baseball's great when it gets out of its way and lightens up. Too often the sport relies on its oldest, crankiest, most stubborn and rigid people, most insular personalities to fix its game. It doesn't need that much fixing. What it needs to do is create events. Be bigger. Football makes their schedule release feel like Madison Square Garden in the 70s. He's Ali Frazier. NFL moved its free agency to a place where it was the only thing we talked about. Baseball's got so many gifts. I don't care about the length of games.

I don't go to a baseball game. I've got to be out of here in two hours and 12 minutes. College football games last four and a half hours. But college football, you know, gives me a lot of activity. Baseball's got more talent than it's ever had. Unbelievable. Fernando Tatis, what's the comp? Some of these guys are incredible.

Guys are huge. Now, Aaron Judge looks like a defensive end. The sports got diversity and multiple personalities and all these cultures. Lighten up. It's a big game. Let it breathe. Let it be big. Let it be fun.

Reggie Jackson was my favorite player as a kid. Pete Rose was running over catchers inappropriately. And Reggie Jackson was screaming at his manager and personality. It's what wins everywhere. It's what wins in my business. Podcasting. Football. Who are your favorite NFL players? Any guards out there? It's quarterbacks. It's personalities. It's big arms. It's big plays. Like baseball, get out of your way. Have some fun.

Lighten up. Whenever anybody tells me, I'm going to retire and go live in a golf course in Palm Springs. What, hang out with other old people? Give me a college town. I want to do stuff when I'm 80. Like, lighten up. Sometimes baseball needs a big bowl of lighten up. I thought last time was great. balls in the cornfields and the sunset was gorgeous and players are celebrating and their hot dog and showmanship. Baseball doesn't need to be. Everybody's always like, I got to fix it. You just got to tweak it.

We're tweaking the show every month. NFL's constantly tweaking. You don't have to fix baseball. Get rid of the defensive shift. I'm a big believer and lower the mound about three inches. Give hitters a better chance and have events. Make it more like an event. Now, we know you have 162 games per team.

It's never going to feel like football, like the urgency, the scarcity of games. But this idea that you need to massively change baseball, no, what you have to do is listen to people outside your sport. Copy the NFL, copy the MLS, copy Real Madrid. NFL does it all the time. If you ever watch the celebrations in the NFL right now, they lightened up like two years ago. Why?

Because they copied the NBA. The NFL copies everybody. They're borrowing college football schemes. They're letting their guys, have you noticed the NFL's personalities ramped up last three years? Why? Because they looked at the NBA and went, God, the NBA gets a lot of free press. God, Instagram and Snapchat and all those NBA guys are everywhere. It's like, you know, it's a fixed baseball. Just got to lighten it up a little. It's got plenty of personalities. Open the door and let them out. Last night was great

television. Just great television. And I don't know whose idea it was, but I read it this morning on the internet, somebody put it, well, it felt like a football game. It felt like an event. It felt big. It's okay. There is no way to play the game. That's a bunch of nonsense. The way to play the game is with passion and enthusiasm. And however that looks to the 19 year old from one part of the world and the 28 year old from another part of the world, that's how you play the game. You bring in Kevin Costner, you got a cornfield, you connect it to a movie. Yeah, I do that every year. It's just something. It's fun. It's big. I always think that baseball should,

games should look more like the all-star game than a Tuesday night in Colorado. And last night, it had an all-star game feel to it. It's just big and robust and dynamic. And I love it. And here's Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the Herdline News. I've said for years the best baseball environment I've ever been in was the World Baseball Classic in Miami. Oh, God, it was nuts. I couldn't believe it. I was like, why are all baseball games like this? It was so loud. Everyone was screaming.

It was like total chaos. It was so fun. And the more guys I talked to, they were like, yeah, like, that's how winter ball is. Like, that's the environment at winter ball. I'm like, let's do it here. Everyone was standing at a baseball game. Like the whole game. Everyone's yelling.

Like, chance. It was like being at a soccer game. Yes. When you have, baseball's never had more talent. Everybody throws 98 miles an hour. Everybody throws 98. The, the athletic is. in the sport is crazy.

So are the personalities. Let him shine. Let him out. So Jalen Hertz got the start in the Eagles preseason opener last night, but fans didn't get to see too much of him. He only played in the first two series of the game. He completed three of seven passes for 54 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

And Nick Siriani said he was pleased with Hertz's performance. They were great in the first half, by the way. Terrible in the second. But Philadelphia actually, and again, remember years ago, Detroit went undefeated in the preseason and then when 0 and 16, you have no idea what you're getting. But I will say this in the first half of all the highlights, you're like, oh, they look like they've taken it seriously.

They're taking the coaching because they didn't make any mistakes. They didn't turn it over. It was very efficient, very smart. They had a very good first half. For our opinion of Nick Seriani so far, the players seem to really like him. They're always talking about him. So they seem to be buying into his style and whatever he's doing in practice. I thought they looked good in the first half.

I mean, look, it's preseason. There's no schemes. There's no game plans. You're just trying to see what players are and get them reps if they're young and evaluate guys that are on the edge of the roster. Yeah, I mean, Patriots last night had a rookie running back from Oklahoma. And I'm like, oh, he popped. Now he's fourth on their running back list.

But I was like, oh, you can play that guy. They need playmakers. And I was like, when I watched that game, I was like, forget Mac Jones. That running back from Oklahoma, like, that's a dude. I mean, I did think Mac Jones had a, he had a nice night. Yes. I didn't know what to expect. but I felt like, I felt satisfied with what Mike Jones did last night.

But I would have liked to see more of Jalen Hertz. But I do think that this is a bit of a sign that Jalen Hertz is right now the starter. Yes. Because generally, that's how you're going to play your starter backup setup in a preseason game. Again, we know what Joe Flacco is. I don't buy into this quarterback competition thing. Oh, you know what else Philadelphia did last night? Jalen Rieger, the receiver, the first round pick, was it last year of the year before,

actually made a couple of nice plays. There's a lot of concern after year one, like, is he a bus? Can he play? He had a little bit of a breakout. So that's good for Philadelphia. They need some perimeter playmaking ability. So on the other side, Duane Haskins got his first in-game action as a stealer last night. They did get the win, 24, 16 over the Eagles, with whatever you want to do with that.

He did have a strong performance, though. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards in a touchdown, and Mike Tomlin was very impressed. I really thought he was in command tonight. He did a great job of communicating with people going through progressions and so forth. He had a third down play. That was, you know, third and eight or so forth. And I saw him go through three or four reeds and throw the ball over the middle of the field and convert for us. And that was just a snapshot of the type of night he had tonight.

I thought he was very much in command of his play. Well, he's a big strong kid who was a first round pick. Dwayne Haskins. I mean, listen, I said this when he came out. He looks the part, big, strong and accurate. it. We had some maturity issues, which you obviously exhibited in Washington. No, there's, I don't think that's going to continue in Pittsburgh. It's a different culture. No, it's a better ownership group. But it's like when you watch Duane Haskins, that is what Washington thought they were getting.

Right. He can move a little, big, tall, so it's a very nice. I mean, Urban Meyer is a pretty smart guy. Urban Meyer said he was the best, I mean, look at it. There's a real ball. Urban Meyer said he was the best quarterback prospect he'd ever had. Any school. Tebow, Chris Leak. J.T. Barrett, all these guys. He was like, that's the best quarterback prospect I've ever had. Well, we're all very impatient with quarterbacks in general. Me and you specifically. Don't give young quarterbacks a long runway. And I'm kind of with you on this. Other positions you have a little bit more leeway to make mistakes

than you do if you're the quarterback. Like there's higher expectations of you. It's more responsibility. There's more pressure on you. And, you know, sometimes guys need a few years or another place in order to get to the. that space. Now, he's obviously competing for the backup position at this point. We're going to see Ben Rothesberger in the third preseason game and see how that

offseason diet has worked out for him. Can we just make Dwayne Haskins the backup? I'm with you. Mason Rudolph, we've seen it. Let's move on. I do think specifically for the Steelers, though, who they decide to make their backup quarterback is actually more important than some other teams because Ben's going to need some rest at some point this season and you're going to need somebody to come in and be competent. So this is the first time I've seen Dwayne Haskins play for the Steelers. I immediately went, oh yeah, that could be the heir apparent. I have never once thought that with Mason Rudolph thought.

Yeah, that's the air. It's like, no, he's a backup. Dwayne Haskins, if you're a Steeler fan, and he's number three on their depth chart. You watched him last night and you had to say to yourself, oh, that kind of is, if you go to the history of Steelers' quarterback, Bradshaw, Bitt, big strong throwers, Mostly pocket. Yeah, he looks like a Pittsburgh quarterback. Yeah, big strong guy with a big arm.

They do an amazing job to draft running back or a wide receiver talent. He can throw the deep ball. To me, it was like, oh, that, oh, I can see moving into that. Now, again, the maturity issues. I had two sources said, Ron Rivera told me. You never knew what Duane showed up. Some days he was all in, some days he wasn't. So he's got to get past that.

Right. And if that's a character thing, then he might not. but if it's just an immaturity thing, then he may. Like, sometimes it just takes different people to get there at different times in their career. But I liked what I saw from him last night. It's also funny to compare what Mike Taullin had to say about Dwayne Haskins in comparison to Bill Belabcheck about Mack Jones. It was like, I did some good things and we'll evaluate the rest. And that's it.

So the Cowboys are still being cautious with Dak Prescott as he works through his shoulder strain. He hasn't been able to do much during practice recently, which he said was especially tough when he held a joint practice with the Rams, but when they get to the regular season, he'll be good to go. He said, I felt like I could go out there, especially when you had the crowd going and the excitement. Your adrenaline's rolling and you hate missing a day like this, but I feel great and I'll be ready when it really matters. So he feels like he's going to be ready for the beginning of the season. I do too. I do too. I just want to see him get through the season healthy, as do obviously the Cowboys. But, you know, watching Hard Knocks, you can tell Dak is.

dying to be out there. So he would go out there whether he was 100% or not. And that's where the Cowboys need to be careful with him. Not that Dak isn't self-aware, obviously. I think Jack is incredible with all of his intangible. But he also really wants to play. So making sure that he is as close to 100% as he can be, like you need him throughout the whole season.

It's not a situation like we were just talking about with the Steelers where you're assuming Ben might have to rest a little bit. Like the extra game this year is a massive difference, especially if you have an older veteran quarterback. Like you need to have somebody who can step in for you maybe one or two games. Like you should anticipate that. They don't have a solid backup quarterback situation. So if somebody has to come in and play for three or four games because he reaggregates this,

that could be their season. So they really need him to be 100% or as close to it as they can. All right. Good stuff, Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. It is amazing. How much good football.

How many fascinating stories there are. It starts tonight. Cowboys play Arizona. Dak won't play. So that's not as interesting. But Buffalo's at Detroit, the Dan Campbell, Jared Gough, Penae Sewell. I want to watch it. That's interesting to me. Good God.

By tomorrow morning at 10, I get two against Justin Fields. Then at 1, I get Drew Locke. And then I get Urban Meyer and Tebow tomorrow at 4. I get Zach Wilson at 4.30 with the Jets. I get Jordan Love at 5. I get Trey Lance at 530, and the following morning, I get Sam Darnold with Carolina. It's incredible. I'm crazy.

Honey, I'll see you Tuesday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick, David Gascon, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports,

and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashed. human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented

it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and our And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Farrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school.

Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar.

Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit you. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album?

Come on. Could you believe? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.

You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart, the chip.

Score! I'm TAB Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back.

The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup. team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Eric Mangini, three years jets, two years Browns, three rings

with Belichick, joining us now. Brought to you by Mercedes Benz, the best nothing, Fox Sports NFL analyst. All right, so I was saying that you can't ask your players to be perfect. You can't just have a team that can score on 13 play drives with no turnovers and no penalties. You look at

these teams like, this is why Stefan Diggs changes Buffalo. You get some cheesy eat touch stick. Not everybody can coach perfectly and play perfectly. I watched Mack Jones in New England last night. And I'm like, I don't see a lot of two play drives. You know, like, I know he's efficient, he's got clean feet, he's anticipated,

but Tori and I think to myself, okay, they're already smart and efficient. That's not their issue. Not to be negative, but I looked at him and I thought, you can win a bunch of games that way, but good luck beating Kansas City and Buffalo and the, I don't know, what did you make a, what do you make of Mac Jones? Well, if there's a, if there was a perfect place for Mac Jones to go, it's New England. It's absolutely the best landing spot he could hold for. He goes from Nick Sabin and that discipline system and the demand.

that they have into the demands that New England has, and everything there is based on playing smart football. It's understanding pre-snap reads. It's taking advantage of defenses weaknesses. And for a guy like him who has such limited mobility in an environment in the NFL, which values mobility so much now at the quarterback position, he couldn't have asked for a better spot. And I think he's got a chance, Colin, to play early. If he progresses quicker than then Cam does, and Cam should show leaps and bounds based off of having played last year, I could see them going to Mac Jones very early in the year. Listen, there's a ton of fast.

And I wish you were out here in California, not there in Ohio. I mean, honest to God, coach, I get by 10 in the morning tomorrow, I get two against Justin Fields. I got Drew Locke. I got Urban Myers debut. I got Zach Wilson, Jordan Love, Trey Lance. I get Darnal and Care. It's a great weekend of stories. I'm interested on Justin Fields.

Four quarterbacks played in that Miami-Chicago scrimmage, and they play Saturday morning. And according to reports, only one quarterback got ooze and Oz, and I said, players are fans too. And that goes a long way. I mean, Andy Dalton may be able to audible six different ways in Sunday. But I think for Matt Nagy, would it be hard not to play fields because of his dynamic athleticism? And players see that. And they feed off it. Yeah, Andy Dalton, to me, has the shortest runway of any starting quarterback.

And they want Justin Fields to play. They want Justin Fields to work. And you hear it from the players to you. You mentioned that their fans, they're sitting there watching him perform, and they want that ability to be dynamic. I think it was Jimmy Graham that compared him to Russell Wilson. When you start getting that type of lobbying in the locker room, you know that ownership wants him to play because it'll excite the fan base.

It's not going to take very much for him to unseat the starter who came in in a very unenthusiastic manner. So, yeah, he's another guy. You're probably going to see very, very early, if not right at the start of the season. All right, Dak Prescott having a second MRI. Dallas sent out a tweet yesterday that was carefully worded, Don't be alarmed. It's no big deal.

But Dax having a second MRI. You've been in this league a long time. It's not, there's 32 starting quarterbacks. One's had two MRIs. What do I make of it? Yeah, it's the May West comment. If you've got to tell people you're a lady, then you're not. When you start tweeting out, you start tweeting out that someone's not heard,

then you start thinking, well, maybe there, maybe there is more to this than what we're hearing. You never want to see a guy. who's coming off a major injury, you're so worried that he's going to be able to adjust to that and to recover and to think on his feet and not take that in account. Now he's dealing with his shoulder injury. And the first thing you think is, how did this happen? How did you get to that point? I respect the cowboys being overly cautious and it's really their only option. They've got what is, $120 million invested in them and really no plan be. And really no plan. So you've got to be as cautious as possible.

But multiple MRIs, this much rest this early, you wonder, is it really just caution at this point? Or is there something deeper here that could be problematic when he does start throwing the ball with some volume? So two people that I trust implicitly told me the same thing about Duane Haskins in Washington. He just wasn't ready to be a franchise quarterback. He only had one year starting at Ohio State. He was immature. The work ethic was hit and miss. He just didn't understand, you know, the gravitas of being a franchise quarterback.

And he's a kid. A lot of these guys don't. In your experience, because I watched them last night with the Steelers, and I'm like, he's big and strong and accurate. Like, there's a lot I like. He looks like an heir apparent to somebody. He's still only like 23, 24 years old. In your experience, if the only issue is maturity, have you seen players who come in?

They're a little raw. They just don't quite. Can you correct that? Or is it just like immature at 24 is immature at 31? You know, sometimes the greatest gift that you can give a player is to cut them. And that sounds counterintuitive. But when you come in as a high draft pick with all those expectations and with all the benefits and benefit of the doubt that you get as that quarterback, there's some guys that can't handle it. They can't handle the freedom that comes with pro football in terms of,

what you have socially and there's no one checking in on you and everybody handles that differently. So it was bad. It was everything I've heard out of Washington is how bad it was. And you've got to mess up really badly for a team to move on from you as quickly as they did. So if he can handle that aspect, if he can fix that aspect, obviously he has tons of potential to play at a high level. Now, I wouldn't get too excited about last night because it was against the twos. He does have experience, and there really isn't any game planning, so the studying aspect isn't as much of an issue right now. But from the Steelers perspective, he's a lottery ticket.

He's $850,000 non-guaranteed. He's the 53rd highest paid player on the roster. So if he makes it, he makes it. If he doesn't make it, he doesn't make it. And he knows what a great opportunity he has. And if he doesn't take advantage of this one, it's probably over. where he may get a, you know, one more, one more check-in somewhere else. All right.

We got a minute and a half, two minutes left. Urban Meyer, rookie quarterback, rookie coach. Your gut feeling on how it goes year one for Urban Meyer and Jacksonville, they open up this weekend tomorrow afternoon against Baker and the Browns. I think he's going to lose more games than he ever has in a season. And there's going to be a dramatic adjustment that has to take place. It's so, in my mind, it looks like it's really hard for college coaches to adjust to the pro game because, you know, you don't have 120 players on the roster. You don't have a bunch of future first-round draft picks.

You have what you have and you've got to make that work. And the guys respond differently to motivation. It's not the same way that you can maybe get young guys going. These guys are a lot more cynical. and they're in a show me phase. They want to see that he deserved to be the head coach and that he can put them in a position to win. And I've got a lot of respect for him.

But that learning curve, as we've seen, from college coach to college coach, it's steep. And I'm interested to see how he responds to maybe long-term adversity four or five game type of losing streaks. Yeah. Eric Manjini, Fox Sports. it's here it's football good seeing you coach great to see you count have a good weekend yeah it's uh i you know urban's one of those guys that he's smart and and i've i've told joy this before i've told people

this in radio you don't have to have radio experience are you smart and and and willing to learn none of this stuff is Elon musk level like it's it's football's not you can teach people radio and football and tv urban's really smart and he knows football and he's terrific with with So I've said, I know he's going to draft well for three years. I love their draft this year. That I don't question. It's the player coach relationship. These are pros.

We'll see how it goes. Endless hot water. Choose Navian right now save hundreds on a Navian tankless water heater with local rebates. Go to tankless made simple.com. Tankless made simple.com. Hour two and a documentary you've got to watch, a sports doc. We'll talk about that next. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

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I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

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