The Kevin Sheehan Show - Gruden Reveals Early Take On Haskins

Episode Date: July 30, 2019

Kevin opens with the Anthony Rendon grand-slam against the Braves. He then gets to Jay Gruden's comments this morning about Dwayne Haskins' progress. He talked about the Donald Penn signing too. Thom called in from the Jersey Shore to talk Nats, trade deadline, and more. Kevin saw Tarantino's latest movie "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" and spoke about that. Some Cowboys and Ravens discussion too. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I am here. Aaron is here. This show's presented by Window Nation if you're in the market for Windows. Call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com. Tommy's going to call in. You know, it's just impossible to keep track of all of his vacations. He's on another one this week. He's up on the Jersey Shore. So he will be calling in at some point. in a little bit, probably in about 30 minutes. Hey, Ted Lerner, Mike Rizzo, can you get Anthony Rendon signed to a contract extension, please? Goes! A no-douder! See you later!

Slams his way to a 6-2 Nationals League. Bob Carpenter last night on Masson, one of the moments of this season so far, a two-out bases-loaded Grand Slam to break a two-two-tie. in the bottom of the sixth last night in the first of three against the Braves, a huge series against the Braves as the Nats are approaching August in a legitimate pennant race for the first time since the franchise moved here in 2005. 6-3 was the final.

The Nats now close the gap to four and a half games in the National League East. The trade deadlines looming. Lots of stories out there about what the Nats will do between now and and tomorrow afternoon. There was bad news before the game last night. Max Scher back to the injured list retroactive July 26th, so he's not going to be available until early next week. Dave Martinez said after the game, actually before the game in talking about Scherzer's injury, he said, quote, the first time it was just Bursa inflammation and now he's got a strain of the rhomboid muscle. Oh boy, this is not good with Scherzer right now. Apparently

he was pissed off that they put him on the injured list. He wanted to go last night. He got a cortisone shot as he worked his way back, you know, over the last week, week and a half. Also had a stem cell injection after the second issue cropped up. That would be the rhomboid muscle issue. But things haven't improved. So Scher right now, boy, before the All-Star break, I was pretty much convinced that

Scherzer was just taking some time off. They were going to give him a break. He didn't want to pitch in the All-Star game. He's legitimately hurt, and this is an area of big concern. Eric Fetty will get the start tonight for him. But we'll get into the Nats in more detail when Tommy calls in. But needless to say, the Shursor injuries are legitimate concern. But with that said, the Nats continue on this incredible role. If you go back to May 23rd, they were 19 and 31. They are 38 and 18 since. And now eight games above 500, four and a half back of the Braves with two huge games still in this series at Nats Park. Some breaking news this morning. We're going to get to the Redskins here in a moment, but Ian Rappaport, NFL Network, veteran offensive tackle. Donald Penn is flying to D.C. today to sign a one-year deal with the Redskins tomorrow.

That according to Rappaport. and of course this in response to the Trent Williams holdout, which I've got more on. I know we spent some time on it yesterday with JP, and I did by myself as well, but we've got another thought or two on that and follow up to some of your tweets about the conversation that we had yesterday. I'll get to that in a moment, but Jay Gruden spoke this morning. By the way, I'm thrilled that they've signed Donald Penn. And you've got a veteran player that, if healthy, is capable of stepping up.

in and playing the left tackle position at a level that's NFL worthy on September, whatever that date is when they open with the Eagles. What is that? September 8th, 9th, I think. Right now, they didn't have somebody on the roster that could do that. They now do, a one-year deal with 36-year-old Donald Penn, who was a pro-bowler, a pro-bowler in 2016 and 2017 with the Raiders. He got hurt last year, but hopefully we'll be healthy enough. But Jay Grude and, after day off yesterday down in Richmond, held a pre-workout press conference this morning. And I want you to listen carefully to what he said in response to a question about Dwayne Haskins' progress. You know, one of the things that Jay's talked about is, you know, Dwayne's got to get comfortable in the huddle.

He's got to be able to get that tempo going of play called up to the line of scrimmage with plenty of time so that they can check, they can get their offense set, they can run their proper motion, etc. All the pre-snap stuff in plenty of time. This is always a big challenge for young quarterbacks, especially those young quarterbacks who really didn't have to call plays in the huddle in college, which Dwayne Haskins really didn't do much of. I want you to listen very carefully to what Jay said, because I've suggested over the months that Jay is brutally honest. He will be encouraging, but you will be able to be able to. to read between the lines based on the Jay Gruden, you know, listening to the Jay Gruden press conferences

and learn something about where they are in the quarterback competition. Listen to what Jay said this morning about Haskins' progress. It's going to come along. It's a long way to go. We haven't even presented all the different looks yet. So there's a lot of looks he's got to see and adjust to the biggest thing for him is getting in and out of the huddle. So he has time with the line of scrimmish to adjust things. And that's something we have to continue to work. And, the tempo is critical. You know, there's a lot of times we're taking too long in the huddle and to the line where we'd be stressed out with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 on the shot clock.

So I think the tempo's got to pick up a little bit, but that'll come with him to be able to spit out the plays in the huddle, get in the line, and be able to make the necessary changes. But he's coming along for just being here for a few short months. All right, what did you hear there, Aaron? What did you hear from Jay Gruden? It was interesting because it definitely sounded like Duane obviously isn't where he wants him to be right now. But I couldn't tell if that was just him being optimistic, seeming like it, or if he genuinely believed that, well, he's coming along quickly. So maybe by the time, you know,

September rolls around, he'll be exactly where I want him to be. He said long way to go. Yeah. All right. He talked about tempo, which is always a big J thing. All right. Getting the plays called getting up to the line of scrimmage with plenty of time left to make J's offense work. This is really important. Pre-Snap reads, where you're going with it. You've got to have plenty of time when you get to the line of scrimmage. Sometimes you are in an RPO situation.

You've got to read that. Sometimes you've got two plays called in the huddle, and you're going to check to one or the other. This is something that I am convinced now in my own mind that Jay Gruden does not want to move forward in the opener with a quarterback that is not ready to run his offense. Now, whether or not Jay will have the final say on this is still to be determined. My sense of it is, I understand the track record, I understand how Dwayne Haskins got here.

I just, for whatever reason, and maybe I'm being really naive or perhaps hopeful, I think the owner and team president are going to defer to the football people on Dwayne Haskin, Haskins readiness to play. Now, things could change like injuries to the other quarterbacks or a phenomenal performance in the preseason by Haskins that completely convinces the owner and team president that he's ready, even if the football people say, hey, look, that was against, you know, third stringers guys that aren't going to be in the league in the third and fourth quarter and we made it really simple. This isn't what you have to have for, you know, an NFL quarterback against the Philadelphia Eagles on opening day.

But just netting it out, I think they're going to defer. I think they're going to defer to Jay and Kevin O'Connell and the football people on when Dwayne Haskins is ready to play. And I think what we heard from Jay Gruden there is that as of now, he's not ready to play. That he hasn't taken like this significant jump between OTAs and mini camp in the beginning of training camp, where he is ready to operate Jay's offense at the last. level that Colt McCoy can or perhaps even Case Keenham can. Right now, the betting favorite to start the opener is, you know, in order, is Keenham McCoy, Haskins, in my view. And I know

you have thought since, you know, going back to June that Haskins would start the opener. I think it's more of a long shot now that he'll start the opener. Yeah, I agree with you. It obviously has been barring injuries to the other guys. Barring injury and barring just a dramatic turnaround. JP Finley actually tweeted out a few minutes ago from an offshore book who has lines on who will start week one for the Redskins. It has case Keenham at even money, Colt McCoy at plus 150, and Dwayne Haskins at plus 250. Seems about right. I'd actually, you know, perhaps, yeah, that seems about right. I'd make Keenham the slight favorite over McCoy and Haskins more of a long shot to start the opener. It doesn't mean that Haskins, again, don't be disappointed by this.

Actually, it's interesting because I talked to so many. of you and so many Redskins fans who are friends of mine who would prefer that Haskins doesn't play right away, would prefer that the organization be super patient with him. And even if he doesn't play in this first year when they don't have a lot of weapons and they're not ready to contend or be a playoff team more likely than not, some of you actually, I think, have thought about you know, how positive you would be if the result was they were patient with him. I think that they're going to be patient with him because I don't think he's going to be ready to play at the level that Jay Gruden needs his starting quarterback to play at for the opener.

Now, maybe he's ready by week five. The problem is once the season starts, the amount of work that Haskins gets is truly limited. You don't have backup quarterbacks getting snaps once the regular season starts. So what you will have more likely than not is Kevin O'Connell and perhaps even Alex Smith, really working with Haskins and hopefully in the meeting rooms, and Haskins gets work as a scout team quarterback and gets extra work with guys like Alex Smith and Kevin O'Connell after practice, that kind of thing, to get Dwayne Haskins ready. But I, my gut after, and I heard that live this morning.

When I heard that this morning, I just said, it's Keenham or Colt in the opener, more likely than not Keenham, in my view. Colt certainly is the most comfortable in Jay's offense. But I think what Jay is saying reading between the lines is he's encouraged by a lot of things. But he understands this process for his offense and understands it would be very difficult if Dwayne Haskins, or very difficult for Dwayne Haskins to get to the point where he's totally comfortable. to operate Jay's offense in the way that Jay wants it operated by opening day. Where did those odds come from that JP tweeted? Sports betting AG.

I know they're known for kind of these. Was that updated this morning after Jay's press conference? I don't know if it was after Jay's press conference, but JP tweeted that out a half hour ago, and this is a site I know that sends outlines to reporters and tries to get the buzz. So probably fairly, it was set this morning whether or not it came after the press conference. I don't know. One last thing on this, because we are, what are we, nine days away from the preseason opener.

It's a week from Thursday night in Cleveland against the Browns for the preseason opener. I've always been a firm believer that what we see in the preseason is so misleading. So misleading. Now, you can, as a fan, evaluate new players, hey, that guy really runs well. That guy's super aggressive. That guy, you know, made a couple of really good plays. there's no game planning. You're playing against players in many cases that aren't going to be there in the regular season. I want to see Dwayne Haskins in that number seven under center or in the shotgun.

I want to see the physical stuff, but I just don't know that you'll see what Jay Gruden and Kevin O'Connell and the quarterback room will see in training camp practices. I don't know that you're going to see that necessarily as a fan in the preseason games. learn something. I don't know that we will from watching him because he's going to have a big arm and he's going to make a couple of throws and he may hit on a big play or two down the field in the third quarter or fourth quarter of one of these preseason games, but ultimately I don't think that means much. A quick tweet that I want to read from Alvin who tweeted me yesterday. Alvin said, leave Landon Collins alone. Being motivated by the disrespect shown by your previous employer will be a good thing for the Redskins, comma. Kevin, you should know this more than

anybody else, period. Thank you, Alvin. I appreciated that. I wasn't really motivated last summer necessarily, and it wasn't a disrespectful ending at all. So it's not analogous at all to the Landon-Collins situation. By the way, tweet me at Kevin Shee in DC if you want to send me a tweet. For those that missed it yesterday, Landon Collins, I mentioned, was at it again this weekend. He can't get his former team, the Giants, out of his mind or off of his lips. He can't. He told the NFL network that he'd love to bump or thump Giants' GM Dave Gettelman in pregame warmups when he sees him before the first Skins Giants game in week four. Now, he was having some fun. It wasn't mean-spirited. He was asked about the Giants this time. He didn't bring it up. He may

have brought it up, but this time he was actually set up with a question that he answered. I hope he's motivated by what he perceives the Giants did to him. He was clearly hurt. I mean, listening to Landon Collins since signing with the Redskins, he was clearly hurt that the Giants weren't interested in bringing him back. Similar in some ways to OBJ, he's upset over the lack of love from the team that drafted him. And, you know, he's referenced the Giants in just about every interview he's done since signing here in free agency. I hope that motivation helps, and I don't have any issue

with him being motivated by what the Giants apparently did to him. I just don't want him to talk about the mistake the Giants made by not attempting to bring him back. I want him to show me how much they effed up by not keeping him. And not just in the games against the Giants, but the games against everybody.

I think Landon Collins in this off-season has put a ton of pressure on himself with his comments. He better play well. I think he will. I like him as a player. I liked the signing. I think the Redskins had to go big in this offseason. That was the big splash in free agency.

They haven't had one like that in a long time. They paid him more money than any safety's ever made in the NFL. I like him as a player. He thinks that this system here is better for him. More cover three, more quarters coverage. Don't forget that the Giants with Landon Collins there the last four years, they've had some pretty good defensive talent on that team with him. Better talent than the Redskins have had over the last four or five years.

Maybe the skins have better talent defensively now than the Giants. But who knows if they're as well coached? Remember, Landon Collins played for Steve Spagnulu in its first few years. Landon Collins signed a contract that already was going to put him in the spotlight, because of the money, but he has doubled down this offseason with his mouth. Hopefully, you know, he doesn't fall into that Redskins trap, which we've seen, you know, snap on so many players and coaches over the years where they over-promise and under-deliver, because he's promised a lot,

and he is really damaged by what the Giants did to him, if you listen to him over the last few months, and he really wants to pay him back, and I hope he does. I just want to see it because we've lived with everybody telling us in burgundy and gold what they're going to do without a lot of backup to it. Another quick tweet that I want to read. It came from experience on Twitter. Kevin, you don't have to, he said, Kevin, you have to stop with this trade trend narrative. It's not happening. Either they work it out or they don't and lose easily the best redskin in the last 10 years.

I don't know, that's debatable. Kirk had a few years there that were pretty damn good. Certainly, RG3's 2012 was a better season. But no, I tend to agree with you. I think Trent Williams, in terms of talent and even performance, has been the best Redskin in the last 10 years, even though he hasn't always been available or reliable. You know, we certainly know about the suspensions, key suspension in the latter portion of the 2015 season. Look, I am in favor of trading Trent as opposed to giving him a new deal. I would rather trade him than give him a new deal.

Obviously, what he would bring back in a trade is important to me feeling that way. I think that they can get a second, no worse than a second plus a mid-round pick, you know, a second and a fourth or a second in a fifth or a second in a conditional. I think that's the worst they would do. But I also think there's a chance that if a team gets desperate because of an injury, it could be more. It could be a first rounder. I do believe that that could happen. That's my position on this thing with the information that I have right now, which probably isn't enough information. You know, Jay Gruden said this morning when asked about Trent Williams,

no update on Trent. He said, I'll let you know. The update we'd all like to hear next would be to hear from Trent. But he's probably smart keeping this between him, his agent, and the team. I think that that's the smart path for him. Could he win by going public with what his specific issues are? I guess he could. But I personally, I think in these situations when you're talking about, you know, perhaps a delicate situation, and by the way, him, I do believe, I absolutely do believe that some of this is about a new deal

and a desire to get that new deal in a new place. So if that is part of this, I don't think he'll help himself by going public. I think he's smart to keep it quiet right now. Who knows? Maybe we'll get Trent on this podcast. I've tried. Or maybe he'll end up on one of the radio stations, perhaps. Or maybe a print interview.

Who knows? But as of now, he's not talking. I just think that Trent is getting to that point in his career where one more big deal may be the last big deal of his career. and then you add to that he's a competitor. So having a chance to play for a contending franchise before his career ends would be, you know, a natural aspiration for him at this point in his career. And then add to that if there's some bad blood over a medical issue or lack of trust with the team president,

you know, this is probably where he is. I just think the Redskins have to be careful with this thing. I just would not pay him. I would trade him. I wouldn't pay him. Now, somebody said to me yesterday, Kevin, this would be a dangerous precedent to either pay him or trade him. And essentially saying, you know, the precedent of a player holding out and getting rewarded for it. And this someone mentioned to me, Ryan Kerrigan, who may be watching this very carefully.

He's got a few years left on his deal and maybe he'll want to leverage his situation next offseason. There's no comparison to the leverage that Trent Williams has, right now with any other Redskins on this roster. He's a much better player and more valuable to the Redskins than any other player right now if the Redskins have the mindset of trying to win now as many games as they can. There is nobody on the roster right now who can replace him. They just signed Donald Penn, according to Ian Rappaport. That will help the Redskins leverage a little bit.

It also may be setting the stage for a trade. The precedent and the fact that they signed him to a one-year deal And we'll get more details on the deal If there's any actual guaranteed money in the deal That may have been what took some time there Or maybe they wanted to see Corey Robinson first They saw enough of him and they're like You know what? We got to pay Donald Penn

We got to have a real veteran in here But Trent right now has unique leverage Whether the skin's given or he decides not to use that leverage When push comes to shove I mean we'll have to wait and see But this is a guy who is supremely talented, has performed, but hasn't always been there when they've needed him. I think we can say that as fans of this team.

Again, my position is I wouldn't pay him, but I would trade him if he's intent on holding out. I would absolutely try to get as much back for Trent Williams right now, because this would be one of the most optimum times to get a lot back for a player who's still has a lot left, but may not be the same player when you are getting ready to content if that ever happens. I mean, you have to think that way, right? Like if you're building a roster, Trent Williams, if I pay him, by the time he gets to the back half of this extension, will he be the same player when we're actually ready to contend?

Or could I get a first round or a second and a fourth and add two young players for less money that can help us when we are truly ready to do something good on the field. Again, I also wouldn't fear setting a precedent that others might look at it and say, hey, if they caved on Trent, maybe they'll cave on me. Trent Williams is a unique situation. I don't think we have to worry about that. So Donald Penn signed, Trent Williams still holding out. Jay Gruden talking about Haskins today. Training camp really starting to ramp up and we're nine days away from the preseason opener against Cleveland and the regular season will be here before we know it. It always happens that way that the month of August flies by with these horrible preseason games,

the first of which in the NFL airs tomorrow night. No, Thursday night, I'm sorry, in the Hall of Fame game, the Broncos and the Falcons. It's just always nice to see football on television, which we'll get to see on Thursday night if you're interested. All right, quick words. about window nation. The intense summer heat is back, causing your old leaky windows to produce unnecessary high energy bills, allowing damaging UV rays to fade your valuables and make your windows even less effective. Listen up. The kids are at camp, families are taking vacation, but my good friends, Harley, Aaron, Eric, at Window Nation, they're still working. They're still satisfying over 80,000 customers, including me, with an A-plus Better Business Bureau rating. They've got

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Call soon, there's no risk in having them come out to give you a free estimate. This sale ends end of day tomorrow, July 31st. All right, let's bring in Tommy from the Jersey Shore, where he's spending the week. and, you know, there are several things to get to, but we got to start with the Nats and what Anthony Rendon did last night. Grand Slam, bottom of the sixth, they're four and a half back now. Shurzer's back on the IL, Tommy, and that looks maybe a little bit more serious than maybe we thought two weeks ago. But on Rendon, he's having a career year. He's going to be in the MVP conversation. How expensive will it be to keep him here now with the same?

season he's having. Did the Nats make a mistake by not getting this done much earlier? Well, yeah. Yes, they did. Of course they did. And now we're talking about a situation where they have two months left, where they have exclusivity to basically negotiate with him. After, you know, he'll become a free agent after the season's over, and then every, then they'll be competing with every other team that I want to sign Rendon. Now, who knows what the free agent market will be this year? Last year was a big disappointment to a lot of players who cost themselves a lot of money. Most of them, save for the Big 2, Machado and Bryce Harper, by becoming free agents.

I think that Rendon would go for a huge amount of money on the free agent market, maybe $250 million or more, which for him would be a large amount. So, yeah, they've made a mistake, but it doesn't appear that the learners have any sense of urgency to make it deal with him. Why not? Because on some level, and I know that he is obviously not, does not like change. He doesn't want to be a public figure. He probably wouldn't want the, the show. show that goes with a long free agency for him, and he may want to get something done sooner. But I would think naturally that the season he's having, that it's now going to be more difficult for the Nats to get him signed because he'll want to test the market.

And a bigger market team with deeper pockets and the ability to throw, you know, a massive deal at him probably exists more now than it did. I'm worried that the expense of it could make it, you know, less likely that he returns here. Well, it's always, whenever there's a Boris client, it's always about Scott Boris. And what Scott Boris does, what he did for Harper in Philadelphia, was he gets his hooks into an owner. And he convinces that owner that this is the most important deal he can make. I mean, he convinced the Phillies owner that Bryce Harper would be worth the money that he paid. This is the Boris M.O.

He bypasses the general managers and gets his hook into an owner. That's what he's done here in Washington, you know, over the years. And sometimes it's helped the nationals and sometimes it hasn't. But, I mean, I've heard that he's convinced the Texas Rangers that they need to have. have Anthony Rendon. The Rangers are moving into a new ballpark next year. And contrary to what the nationals did, most teams, when they move into a new ballpark, want to compete right away in order to get fans there and start things off right.

And while Rendon's from Houston, he is a Texas native, you know, and Arlington's a long way from Houston, but it's still Texas. So all it takes is one. It doesn't have to be a deep pocket, one of the obvious guys like the United States. Yankees or the Red Sox, as we just saw this market. All it takes is Boris and convincing one owner that he needs to make Rendon and offer he can't refuse. The nationals have always been unwilling to do that. All right. They got the win last night. They're in a pennant race right now as we approach August, and the trade deadline is tomorrow. What will be, what do you think

the learners and Mike Rizzo's approach needs to be between now and the end of day tomorrow. Well, I think the learners have given Rizzo very specific marching orders that he can't inherit a lot of salary to add to the payroll that would put the team in danger of going over the luxury tax threshold and pay a penalty. That's what they've done in the past. They've handcuffed Rizzo at the trade deadline in 2015 probably was the most famous when they told him He couldn't add any payroll, and he wound up getting Jonathan Papelbon from the Phillies, who agreed to pay his salary for the rest of that year. But I don't expect much.

I expect bullpen table scraps, not bullpen steak. You know, they're going to get some arms, maybe an arm, if they're lucky, that will help them. And it's going to cost them a chance to compete for the World Series, because they have a lineup that can compete in the program. postseason, and if Scherzer is healthy, they have pre-starters that no team save for the Dodgers can match up with. So they have two-thirds of the ingredient, but they have a bullpen by prayer. I mean, you know, it's just, you can't go into the postseason with the bullpen as constituted.

You might as well just, you know, sign your exit papers right away. Well, I mean, it's the playoffs. I mean, I understand the significance of needing a bullpen in close games, but there's always the possibility that they generate so much offense and their starting pitching is so awesome that they're able to get through a best of five in the divisional round after winning a wild card. It could happen, but I understand that to increase their overall chances, they've got to fix the bullpen. And you, would this be a result when you say they'll end up with bullpen scraps and not a star? Would this be because the learners are cheap or because other teams, there's just too much competition right now for it? I think it'll be a combination of both.

I mean, you've got to win the trade deadline. You know, you've got just like the nationals compete in the post. season for free agents. Now they're competing at the trade deadline. Now, their farm system isn't as strong as it was, so they don't have necessarily as many prospects as they have had in the past. But believe me, the main hurdle will be Mike Rizzo's inability to add significant payroll for the rest of the year to compete.

All right. How's the beach? A beach is fabulous. Beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky. Excellent. Excellent vacation. What do you do? Do you just go and sit on a chair underneath an umbrella? Yeah, that's pretty much it. I go in the ocean a little bit. I read a book. I walk on the beach. You know, all those kind of feel-good moments. Went dancing last night, buddy.

Really? Where'd you go? Went to Keenan's in North Wildwood, heard the sea. Soul Cruisers, one of my favorite bands. And we had 28 people at one table. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. And you were out there just hitting the dance floor and moving. Absolutely.

I'd love to see that. I know you've told me over the years that you are an exceptional dancer. I am the boss with the Red Hot Sauce. Don't ever forget that. What book are you reading? It's a collection of Chicago sports writing over the past hundred years. I mean, you know, what do I do? I read other sports writers to, I know this is hard to believe, given how good I am,

but I even try to get better. So I try to read other sports writers, especially from the past, to see how they've written and see what I can steal from them. Who's your favorite sports writer all time from Chicago? Oh, wow, my favorite. Look, you know, it's hard to say Mike Royko is my favorite writer from Chicago all time. Rick Tellender is pretty good. Mike Downey, I really liked him.

And, you know, as questionable a human being as Jay Marriotti may have been, he was a heck of a sports columnist. He really was. Right. Yeah, because on television he's a pain in the ass, right? Yeah, yeah. As a person, what's he like as a person? Well, I haven't had any dealing with him, but it's not hard to figure out.

Google. He doesn't have a job because of who he is, not because of his talent. He can't get work anywhere anymore. All right, I want to get to some Redskins stuff. First of all, I haven't played this soundbite from Jay's press conference this morning, and I'm going to play it for everybody, including you, and then we can respond to it. But there are some, by the way, the Redskins did sign,

according to Ian Rappaport, they signed Donald Penn to a one-year deal. So they've now signed two left tackles here over the last few days, which is more likely than not an indication that they don't think the Trent Williams thing is going to end anytime soon. And I'll get your thoughts on that here in a moment. But this is what Jay Gruden said this morning because I think the context was a question that, you know,

so far, you know, other than the Trent thing, not a lot of drama in training camp so far. This is how Jay responded. You know, we haven't had a whole lot of drama here over the years, in my opinion. There's been a few. instances from time to time, but it's a good group of guys. They're all diligent and working hard. Not a lot of drama here over the years, he doesn't think. You know, I have no idea if that was tongue in cheek, and if he was smiling when he said it,

but it didn't sound like he was smiling when he said it. You know, who knows what's going through his mind. Here's what I understand it, but yet I don't understand it. What happened? When we left the end of the season last year, the Redskins had cut one of their best defensive players and team leaders because after every game, he was lighten a blowtorch to the coaching staff. That's not drama. DJ Sweringer, after every game, I mean, he couldn't wait to rip the coaching set. Now, you could chalk it up to a malcontent, a loud mouth all you want.

But the fact is, he was an important guy on that team. one of their best defensive players. He was, we've been told, one of the leaders in that, in that locker room. Now, there could be revisionist history on that. And now I read from Josh, Josh Norman, that the secondary is smoking, smoking hot. You know, I mean, what, what happened to what DJ Sweringer said? I mean, who answers for that? I mean, that's just one drama that added to many dramas.

but it's like it never happened before. One of your best defensive players. And nobody tells us in the league. I think we've read this. It was so blatantly critical of the coaching staff and the scheme and everything they do. And it's like it never happens. Yeah, I mean, Jay, I mean, you could go through a list of every single off season.

There's drama in every single off season. Albert Haynesworth, RG3, Kirk Cousin, Scott McLuhan, you know, by the way, Trent Williams, this is the first holdout like issue that we've had, but it's a holdout from arguably the team's best player and the team's number one leader where the reports are is that he doesn't trust anybody in the organization. I think that's rather dramatic. You tweeted yesterday, you saw the Landon Collins story, which I've talked about, I talked about briefly today and talked about more yesterday about hidden, you know, essentially saying that he'd love to thump Dave Gettlement on the sidelines during, you know, in pregame warmups before the first Skins Giants game. What did you tweet out? You tweeted out of a comment with that. Well, basically, I tweeted out, they must do drug experiments on Redskins players while they're in Richmond. Because the stuff that comes out of their mouth. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. It really is. It's like a lost grip on reality.

You know, and I mean, something like that. It happens with the new players, too. Quickly, they're in and all of a sudden, for whatever reason, they get wrapped up into, I don't know, maybe it's the Lombardi trophies, maybe Dan's selling them one-on-one, because apparently he can really motivate people when he's sitting there talking to him one-on-one.

They get paid, and they're just, they're ready to go. This guy is so hung up on his former team. He was so clearly hurt by the Giants having no interest, in bringing him back. He's got some playing to do this year because he has run his mouth since the day he signed that big deal. You know, but I thought this was his dream place. I know. Well, it is. The two can go hand in hand. He can't go home every night and look at that Sean Taylor jersey that Dan Snyder gave him and said, I'm so thankful for Dave Gettleman for not signing me so I could come to Washington. What's the

matter with this guy? Well, I mean, I think you can be both. He may, the funny thing, the ironic thing, is he may not have wanted to sign with the Giants even if they were interested because he loves Sean Taylor so much. So perhaps the Giants knew that all along, but he doesn't need, I just, you're right, something happens when these people get here, and I don't know what it is, but one of these days, well, it starts at the top. If you're the owner of the team and you see this consistent culture of running your mouth and not delivering on the field. At some point, you put a stop to it. You don't sign those players, you sit down and you find those players, and you really make

it very clear that we are going to take the high road. We're going to shut our mouths and play, because if you look at the great teams here in previous years, they're not teams that run their mouths much. I mean, and the players that do, OBJ and Antonio Brown and others haven't been on winners. Brown, yes, in Pittsburgh, OBJ not. I just, it's amazing how this happens when people get here. But, you know, that the foundation of fostering that culture, at least starting it, is coming to grips with the reality and telling the players, we haven't done anything.

We haven't done anything here. We haven't done anything here for a while. So we have nothing to brag about until we do something. You see, the thing is, though, I'm sure Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen think they've done something. Well, that's where the delusion gets in the way, is that, you know, the combination of what we've talked about in the past, just being so self-absorbed and not real bright, they don't get it. They think these years have just been disappointment. because of the injuries that it has nothing to do with how the organization's been operated.

Anyway, what do you think of Trent Williams? My position, Tommy, is if this is going to be a long holdout, I wouldn't pay him. I would definitely not pay him. And if it's going to be a long holdout, I'd be trying to trade him. It's sort of the way I felt from the jump. Well, it seems like they're in a better position to trade them now than they were at the start of training camp. given the fact they've brought in two tackles at least to try to soften the blow a little bit. Neither one of them adds up to Trent Williams.

Look, this is a tough one because if the Redskins hold fast, I can't fathom Trent Williams sitting out a regular season game. I don't know if he's ready to do a levy on Bell. But, you know, if this is about something more than money, of course, it's just, it includes money. But if it's real, if he really feels like he was betrayed by the organization, that runs deep. And you know how these guys are. These guys, athletes make up flights to motivate themselves.

If he really feels that he was betrayed by them, it may get in the way of all rational thought. Yeah. I think the, you know, there's always, um, Three sides to every story. You know, their side, his side, and the truth. And we haven't even heard from his side yet. So I think there's probably a lot of pieces to this story that we're missing. But somewhere along the way, the medical and the money probably plays into it.

And I mentioned earlier, perhaps at this point in his career, the desire to actually play for a legitimate contender. You know, and this may be the opportunity to force a trade, to get a new deal and play for a team like Houston at home. that can actually contend to go to the postseason and do something, although they haven't in recent years. But seeing him on that team or seeing him in Cleveland or seeing him in a place that seems to be arrow pointed up, I can understand that aspiration from him if that's part of this. Yeah, so can I. That could be a component as well.

And, you know, look, the Redskins can have. handle this because this is the first real drama that they've ever had under Jay Group. Yeah, true, true. You know, I mean, I don't know. They may not have, I mean, the lack of experience with handling this kind of drama may hurt him in this situation, but in all seriousness, they really haven't had this holdout situation. No, they haven't. Here, I got an idea.

Yeah. the Redskins quarterback room. And we know how rowdy those quarterback meetings can get. And the presence of Alex Smith seems to have had a calming effect. So maybe he can have a calming effect on Trent Williams as well. Well, apparently Alex Smith was at training camp today, walking 25, 30 yards with Dwayne Haskins having a conversation. So that can help.

Sean Springs is a big guy that's really, I think, a mentor for Dwayne Haskins. and he knows Trent Williams, played with Trent Williams. He could help. They should try anybody but Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder. Yeah, there you go. That would probably be the best strategy to get Trent interested in playing again. And any, no one from the Redskins training staff either. So the last thing is Gruden today, and we played the sound bite earlier, but I'll just paraphrase.

Gruden essentially said long way to go with Askins, tempo is the key. You know, getting comfortable with calling plays and getting to the line of scrimmage and plenty of time is going to be really important. It was one of those read-between-the-lines thing, things that I think he's telling us that it truly is a long way to go. He was also simultaneously very encouraging and that Dwayne's working hard and he's getting there. But I really think as of today before we've seen anything on the field in the preseason game, not that we learn much from that anyway. I think it's Keenham or Colt. I think Keenham's the favorite, Colt, you know, a slight second. And I think it's a long shot that Haskins starts the

opener. That would seem the logical way to proceed. I mean, that would seem to make sense. And you're probably right. That's probably what will happen. I would think even those who want Dwayne Haskins to succeed, and it's in their best interest for him to do well, would realize the folly of throwing him out there early in the season against that brutal opening schedule. But, you know, Landon Collins may want him out there for that big Giants game, you know, that big game four so he can put it to his old team. Yeah, put it to Daniel Jones and or Eli Manning. All right, last thing for you, and I texted you this over the weekend, and I haven't talked

about it yet. But you're at the beach, and, you know, if you're not out dancing tonight with your 27 friends, I would urge you to go see the Tarantino movie, once upon a time in Hollywood. Tommy, it was incredible. You're a huge Tarantino fan, and this one you are going to love because it's got all the late 60s L.A. nostalgia,

which he just nails from all of the sound, from the music to some of the radio newsre newsre reports to the physical, you know, features of Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Hills and all of that. And it's wrapped into this story about this, you know, at this point, this B-rated, you know, Western actor played by DiCaprio into the Manson murders of Sharon Tate. Like the whole thing, Tommy was, and I'm going to say this to those of you that have seen it already will understand what I'm saying. it wasn't slow for me, but I do think for some, the first hour or so will be slow,

but it pays off in a big way, but I don't think any of it will be slow for you. I think you're going to love this movie. And the DiCaprio performance and the Brad Pitt performance, both of them, were just incredible. Oh, I am looking forward to it. I don't know if I'll see it while I'm on vacation. Tonight's boardwalk night, Kevin. Tonight's board. I've got to hit the boardwalk tonight, baby. I got to win some prizes. What do you?

Ski ball for you? Ski ball. The horse race, you know, the horse race thing where the horses race across these mechanical tracks. And you make your horse go fast by shooting the water pistol into the horse's mouth? Is that what it is? I am an all-star in that game. And I've brought home some pretty impressive stuffed animals in the past.

What kind of food you're going to eat on the boardwalk? Max pizza. There's about three or four of them along the boardwalk. Really good New York-style pizza. So much grease, you need a towel instead of a bib to eat it. Oh, God. All right. Well, enjoy it.

I'll let you know about Thursday, because I'm supposed to go away this weekend as well. But I'll talk to you sometime tomorrow night to let you know if you're going to call on Thursday. And if you don't want to call in because you had a big night out the night before, that's fine too. Okay, boss. Enjoy the beach. I'll talk to you later. I'll see. All right. That's it for Tommy for the day. Did you see the movie yet? Have you seen it or not? I haven't. I'm hoping to see it this weekend. I'm telling you, it was a spectacle. For me, anyway, I've heard, I've talked to a number of people, and it seems to be sort of a mixed

feeling on the movie. I loved it. I thought it was one of his best. To me, in order, it's pulp, it's Inglorious Bastards, it's Reservoir Dogs, and then probably Django in terms of the Tarantino movies. Wasn't a Big Kill Bill guy or Jackie Brown guy. I thought Hateful Eight was okay, that it wasn't great. This one, though, the performance by DiCaprio in particular is just so good. But it is a a long sort of interesting, nostalgic, you know, late 60s, Southern California build up to what ends up being a really odd twist of history at the end. I'm not going to give it away, but you may also have to be somewhat familiar with the Manson murders of Sharon Tate in the group that were in that particular house in 1969 to really get a lot of it. But I thought it was

spectacular. He is so good and the acting in that movie was phenomenal. You got to go see it. But I was reading reviews, I guess, after I went to see it. I didn't read the reviews before I went. And I was surprised at how mixed they were. There were some people that said it just never came together for them. But others loved it in the same way that I did. Anyway, I think Tommy's going to love it. It's right up his alley in terms of a movie. All right, quick word about launch workplaces in Bethesda. Brand new facility in Bethesda. If you're looking for new office space and you live in that Bethesda area,

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And you're looking for a place to work or looking for a place to move your office to consider launch workplaces in Bethesda. Again, 24086714 or launchworkplaces.com. So I'm following this, you know, as we have done here the last few summers, the top 100 NFL players of 2019 list that the NFL network does or NFL.com does voted on by the players themselves. It's a list that right now through the top 80 or the, from 100 to number 21, there's one redskin on the list. It's Trent Williams. He'll be the only one on the list. There's not going to be another redskin on the list. And Trent Williams came in at 81.

But here was the interesting thing about this list as I was going through it late last night. There are already seven Dallas Cowboys on this list. Seven. Now, they have a very good defense. The Cowboys are going to have one of the better defenses in the NFL. I don't think there's any doubt about it. They've got Byron Jones who comes in at number 97. followed by the next one is Vandreche, the rookie from last year, comes in at number 74.

Then you've got Amari Cooper is number 64 as a wide receiver. I think that's kind of high for Cooper. Then Jalen Smith comes in at 61, the linebacker. Then you get some of their offensive linemen. Zach Martin at 59 on the list. Tyron Smith at 52 on the list. Then back to their defense with DeMarcus Lawrence. at 45 on the list. The Cowboys loaded up with players in the top 100. The only player not

mentioned yet is Zeke Elliott. I would think he'd be in the top 20, don't you? Zeke Elliott's a top 100 player in the league. He hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm assuming he's in the top 100. He's in the top 100, which doesn't seem to be the case. Yeah, he's not going to be devalued. He's going to end up being, I think, their eighth player. That'll be eight players in the top 100. That's a lot. I'm not sure any other team will have that many. The Cowboys may have as many players in the top 100 is voted on by the players themselves as any other team. I haven't gone through the list of all the teams, but I would think that seven is an awful lot on the list. I think the Chargers have a lot so far listed.

In fact, as I'm looking through it, well, maybe not anywhere near what the Cowboys have. Joey Bosa comes in at 56. Melvin Ingram at 45. Chargers have a good defense too. Keenan Allen at 38, so that's three. Melvin Gordon comes in at 34. That's four. Derwin James comes in at 31. Wow. I'm going into his second year. So that's five chargers so far with clearly Philip Rivers to go. So that would make it six. Philadelphia so far has four players. The Giants don't have any. All right, the Giants don't have any players. have the one with Trent Williams, but I just thought that was a lot of players for the Cowboys to have. Their defense is going to be outstanding. I mean, it really is.

Zeke Elliott's a holdout right now. Did you read what Jerry Jones said yesterday about this particular holdout? I did see that, yes. He essentially said, you know, he minimized the running back position. You know, they signed out. Just a few years after drafting him forth. Right. Exactly. They signed Alfred Morris, by the way, a second stint in Dallas. You know, they may need, you know, Alfred to start the season. I actually didn't realize that Alfred wasn't on a roster. But anyway, Jerry Jones, in talking about Zeke Elliott's holdout, said,

quote, the point is you don't have to have a rushing champion to win a Super Bowl, Jones said yesterday. Emmett was the first one to do it. That's one of the dilemmas at running back, is that the league knows that you can win Super Bowls and not have the Emmett Smith back there, or the Zieg back there. Consequently, when you're looking at putting Zieg's contract in place, we've got to realize that the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. So you've got to do all the

things along with having Zique that allow you to have other players so that you can win the Super Bowl. That's what we're going through, close quote. You know, this is the, you know, this is the, you can't pay, you can't overpay one player at the expense of losing other key players on your team. Now, you don't need a rushing champion to. to win the Super Bowl. You don't need to have a great running back to win the Super Bowl, as we know, from looking at Super Bowl winners in recent years. However, here's the one thing that I thought about when I heard Jerry say this, is that the Cowboys absolutely have to have Zeke Elliott. This is what they do. They want to run the football, and they essentially, by drafting him fourth overall,

and really focusing on having a big time back, who by the way, is an elite back. No matter what you think of him as a person or no matter what you think of him as a football player, Zeke Elliott gets four yards after contact or whatever it is. He's a dude, every time they hand it to him, it's like you're shocked if he doesn't get four or five. He is a top flight back that the Cowboys have now won what, two division titles with in the last three years, right? Haven't they won it two of the last three years? Yeah, they didn't win. Their rookie season, Dax and Zeke's rookie season, and then last year they won the division title. And they've done it with very good defense, an exceptional pass rush,

which they're going to have a great defense again. And the ability to dominate time of possession by running the football. This is their model. You know, the Patriots are, adapt to the talent they have and they've got a great quarterback that can do that. Dak needs a run game. I think he does. Maybe he will evolve into being able to throw it on his back and go win football games without a running game. The Cowboys, the Cowboys formula is to run the football with Zeke Elliott and dominate time of

possession and then put that dominant defense on the field. I actually think the Cowboys have a chance to be really good. this year. They were a good football team at the end of last year. They were. Defensively, they were. They were excellent defensively. Let's not kid ourselves about how good, as much as we can't stand the Cowboys. That was a first-rate defense last year. It was an exceptional run defense, and they were very good at pressuring the quarterback. And they had an offense that could rush the football. They had Zeke Elliott, who had the ability to run the football to the tune of probably close to 1,500 yards last year, didn't he? It was somewhere in that neighborhood.

Yeah. So that's their model. So Zeke, I think he's got him a little bit. They're not sticking Alfred Morris back there and continuing to be a dominant run offense. Now, the funny thing about Alfred is when he got his opportunities, you know, he actually played pretty well. In part, because they've got a quarterback that is also a run threat. And this is sort of what Alfred succeeded with with RG3 in 2012 and in 2013 to a lesser extent. The Cowboys, I'm trying to think of the other backs that they have there. Did they draft the Ohio State guy? They've got Darius Jackson.

I'm looking at their... Yeah, Darius Jackson, Tony Pollard, Mike Weber. Tony Pollard. Mike Weber is the Ohio State guy. Yes. Where did they pick him this? because I know they drafted him. Mike Weber was seventh round. He's actually not a bad back. But they add

Alfred Morris to the mix. Cowboys will be hurt by not having Zeke Elliott from start to finish. They're going to have to figure that thing out because they have a team that has a chance this year to make a run. They have a chance to win 11, 12 plus games. Their defense is that good. And if they can run the football and get the same kind of performance from Dak Prescott where he's not losing games and he's keeping him in there. And I think DAC at times has played well.

They obviously added weapons with Amari Cooper, you know, midway through the season at the trade deadline last year. They added Randall Cobb in this particular offseason. That guy Gallup could really run. Jason Witton's back in the fold. I don't want to be overly optimistic about the Cowboys. It makes me ill to be that way. But I picked up on them early last season, if you recall, Aaron,

and I said, this is an outstanding defensive football team that's going to be in games because of their defense. And what were they? Weren't they like three and five when they went to Philadelphia on a Sunday night and won that game that essentially kept their season alive? And they had been good defensively. They had been okay defensively. But that game where they went to Philly on a Sunday night and won that game,

I think they were three and five. Let me pull up their schedule. Yeah, they were three and five. And they went and won that game and that totally turned their season around. Went to Atlanta the following week and one, the Redskins on Thanksgiving, and remember that game on a Thursday night against the Saints? Yeah. When they held the Saints who were rolling offensively to 10 points.

This was the thing, even early in the season, like they held, you know, the Texans down. They held Carolina to 16 in the opener. They were, and they killed Jacksonville, if you recall. And Jacksonville didn't have much of an offense. But this was a good football team last year. And by the way, the type of football team and the type of formula that can work. win in the postseason. Now they beat Seattle and then they lost to the Rams on the road in the Coliseum. I think with Zeke healthy, I don't know that they should pay him and I don't know what

they lose by paying him in terms of other big players. They've got to, you know, they've got to extend coming up. But Zeke Elliott is super important to that team. Super important. And by the way, unlike the Trent Williams situation here, they do look like they can contend for deep into the postseason. They do. They do to me anyway because of that defense. You know, it's a situation where running backs are, you know, teams don't want to pay running backs. They think the girly thing got completely out of hand and they don't want to follow that. But at the same time, during his suspension two years ago, we saw that the Cowboys running game just, you know, there was a thought that they had such a great offensive line that they could put anybody back there.

And we saw two years ago, they can't. You know, the other thing, too, and I just pull up the Cowboys schedule. And you know how I feel about schedules and trying to predict schedules. but the early portion of the schedule, the first three games are Giants at home at Washington, dolphins at home. They have a legitimate shot to start 3-0 before they have a huge game Sunday, September 29th at New Orleans. You don't believe in Fitzmagic in that week three game? No, I don't.

I mean, you know, they've got a chance to start, you know, quickly and do some damage early. I mean, things change. We know this. Injuries are a huge determinant of NFL games and NFL seasons. But to me, the NFC East really does look like on paper a two-team race. It's the Cowboys and the Eagles. They are far superior in talent to the other two teams in the division, including the Redskins. The Redskins have defensive talent in their front seven.

They do. And I'm optimistic about that and hopeful that it gets coached well and that we see a big jump defensively, like we did last year for the first half of the season, and that John Allen and Duran Payne and, you know, all, Tim Settle. I heard Jay Gruden talking about Tim Settle this morning and that he's going to be a part of the rotation. They apparently love him. Obviously, Ionitis and sweat is the guy that I think could be a star, but, you know, we'll have to wait and see until they start playing real games.

But, you know, they got issues at inside linebacker right now, at least. We're not sure about the secondary completely. The Cowboys and Eagles are far superior on paper, roster-wise, talent-wise, to the Redskins and the Giants at this point. One other thing, John Harbaugh made a comment yesterday about the Ravens offense. Harbaugh was on NFL network, I guess, yesterday. Perhaps they were at the Ravens training camp yesterday or the day before, but I read this yesterday. Brian Billick, who was on the NFL network set, had made the comment about the Ravens' offense saying, it's going to be an offense that looks unlike any offense ever seen before in the NFL.

Harbaugh said in responding to that comment from Brian Billick, quote, I would kind of agree with that. I really do. Closed quote. Told that Cam Newton's career high is 139 carries. Harbaugh said Jackson will run the ball more than that. Quote, I'd bet the over on that one. I'd bet the over for sure on that one. Closed quote. He also talked about some of the revolutionary offensive guys like Bill Walsh.

And he said, quote, the game was probably revolutionized with Bill Walsh and Joe Montana in the 80s. What's the next era going to be? And he says, we're about to find out, closed quote. quote. He has a quarterback with speed and the ability to be a dual threat quarterback like maybe we haven't seen. I mean, we've seen a lot of them. Russell Wilson right now, obviously the most successful of the last six, seven years in terms of being dual threat. And Russell Wilson does everything so well. Lamar Jackson struggled last year as a passer most of the time. And they got to the playoffs the Ravens did running the football and running their quarterback.

last year. And I think what we're hearing from John Harbaugh is the following, that dual threat running quarterbacks who run a lot in these games and the fear that so many have had over the years, you can't run your quarterback that much in the NFL. You get them hurt. You can't win. It's got to be able to throw from the pocket. When all is said and done, got to be able to throw from the pocket, yada, yada, yada. I think what John Harbaugh is saying, my quarterback's going to occasionally throw from the pocket. He will. But we are going to run the football down people's throats with a dual threat running quarterback. That's what we're going to do. It's not going to be the wishbone, but there's going to be shotgun and a whole lot of zone read. A whole lot of zone read where

Jackson is keeping it and using his speed to break games open. In that first game that he played when Flacco got hurt. They went to Cincinnati as a, I think it was a four and five team. He had 26 carries for 119 yards, and as a team they ran it 53 times. I mean, remember what the Ravens did last year. This is what Harba is talking about, revolutionizing the offensive game with something that people haven't seen. Well, we saw the beginning of it last year. We saw them basically use their starting quarterback as another running back. The following week, in his second start, against the Raiders at home, he only carried it 11 times for 71 yards, but they ran for 242 yards in that particular game as a team.

You're talking about some massive rushing performances. The following week, they played in Atlanta. That was the game that RG3 actually got into because Jackson got hurt, But Jackson carried it 17 times for 75 yards, and the team again went over 200 yards rushing in a win in Atlanta. And then there was that incredible game at Arrowhead between the Ravens and the Chiefs, that the Chiefs won in overtime. They came back and won that game in overtime, 27, 24. In that game, Jackson rushed 14 times 67 yards. And also, he actually threw, I think, that was the one game where he threw a couple of touchdown.

passes as well and had, you know, a passer rating over 100 in that game. And I don't think he threw, I think that was the game he didn't throw a pick in. Let me just see. Yeah, he didn't throw a pick in that game. I think he fumbled it once or twice, but didn't have a pick in that game. Then you got later into the season, they played Tampa. And in that particular game, he rushed for 95 yards on 18 carries, 242 as a team, barely throwing the football in the game against Tampa. There was that Sunday night game, remember against the Chargers that followed the Redskins Titans game, where the Ravens just took it to them with their defense. And Jackson and the Ravens offense actually made more big plays in the passing game that particular day. They

threw for over 200 rushed for a buck 59. You're just, this is what you're going to see from the Ravens. They are fully committed. When Jackson came in last year in week 10 or week 11, whatever that was, And it started to work. They moved on from Flacco, and this was the way they were going to play football. Because remember in the playoff game against the Chargers when they got behind, and the one thing about the Ravens last year, well, if they get behind, they can't possibly win. And they fell behind in that game, I think it was 12-0-0 or 15-0 in that game, and I was convinced that he was coming back with Flacco in the second half.

And he stuck with Jackson. And the reason, and he talked about this after that loss, Lamar Jackson's our future. This is the way we're going to play football. And Jackson did a good job of bringing them back in that game and giving them a chance by throwing a couple of touchdowns in the second half. They are one of those teams next year, and I know people have accused me of becoming sort of a closet ravens fan.

I just enjoy great defensive football, and I love John Harbaugh as a coach. Love them as a coach. The Ravens are going to be a very interesting team to watch offensive. defensively. They should be really good defensively again. They lost some players in free agency, but they are going to be very interesting to watch in 2019 play offense. And Harbaugh just told you that he agrees, that he agrees that you've never seen an offense like the one that the Ravens are going to roll out in 2019. And I think what we saw was the beginning of that in 2018 when Lamar Jackson took over for Flacco. By the way, Josh Johnson turned down an offer from the Ravens. The

Ravens brought Josh Johnson and worked him out, and he turned it down. Weird. And the reason was is he said, they are keeping Griffin, and Griffin's supposed to be ready or close to ready when the regular season starts. So I think he was seeing himself as just a placeholder until the regular season and didn't want to be that. I'd love to see him catch on. I think one of the things we learned from Josh Johnson last year is he is at the very

least an NFL backup quarterback. I know he got hurt, which may have hurt, which may have hurt his opportunity. and free agency, but somebody should sign him. All right. I think that's it for the day. iTunes, if you're listening to us there, rate us, review us. That'll help us subscribe as well. Back tomorrow, got a Redskins guest, got a Nats guest, and we'll certainly talk trade deadline with it just a few hours away from happening tomorrow

when we record the podcast. Maybe the Nats have made a move. We'll certainly recap the Nats game. from tonight as well. Have a great day.