The Kevin Sheehan Show - Jack, Jay, and Steph

Episode Date: June 11, 2022

Kevin opened with his thoughts on the Commanders' $100,000 fine of Jack Del Rio yesterday. He spent time on Steph Curry's incredible Game 4 performance last night in Boston. Then it was a conversation with guest Jay Gruden followed by Eddie C's Belmont picks.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. On the show today, Jay Gruden will be a guest. Also on the show today, my guy, Eddie C. Eddie C's been on with us handicapping Triple Crown events the last two years.

The Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, goes tonight. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast, especially on Apple and Spotify. It's a huge help when you do it. Two things to get to before we get to Jay Gruden. The first is that the team fined Jack Del Rio yesterday. And the team put out a statement from head coach Ron Rivera to announce that $100,000 fine. The statement was long. I'm going to read it to you.

Quote, this morning, meaning yesterday morning, Friday morning. I met with Coach Del Rio to express how disappointed I am in his comments on Wednesday. His comments do not reflect the organization's views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV. As we saw last night in the hearings, what happened on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism. A group of citizens attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election, and as a result, lives were lost in the Capitol building was damaged. Coach Del Rio did apologize for his comments on Wednesday, and he understands the distinction between the events of that dark day and peaceful protests, which are a hallmark of our democracy. He does have the right to voice his opinion as a citizen of the United States, and it most certainly is his constitutional right to do so. However, words have consequences, and his words hurt a lot of people in our community.

I want to make it clear that our organization will not tolerate any equivalency between those who demanded justice in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the actions of those on January 6 who sought to topple our government. After reflecting on the situation and circumstances, I've decided to find Coach Del Rio $100,000, which the team will donate to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund. I feel strongly that after our conversation this morning, he will have a greater understanding for the impact of his language and the values that our team stands for. Closed quote. That the statement from Ron Rivera yesterday while simultaneously fining Jack Del Rio $100,000. So I have a pretty good. sense. I'll call it a guess, a pretty good guess on what's happened in that building over the last 48 or so hours. I think they've made it very clear to Jack Del Rio that he is done discussing his

political views or anything else controversial on Twitter or anywhere else publicly. You know, regardless of what you think of his political views, he hurt his employer, an employer that has been, all right, this team has been and still is in a perpetual state of fending off controversy. He also, by the way, didn't help the league at all. You know, there's another rolling of eyes from the league office or there was the other day. You know, the same thing being said as it's been said over and over again. My God, can somebody stop that place from causing the rest of us in this league, you know, migraine after migraine? as if the league doesn't have other issues as well

because, of course, it does. But Washington and Snyder have become fatiguing and draining to the commissioner and to the rest of the league and Del Rio became the latest in this Washington three-ring circus, and the timing of it made it worse. $100,000 isn't something that I have a super strong feeling one way or the other. I know when there are fines in these situations, people like to really, you know, dissect whether or not this was sort of token or whether or not this was substantial. I think the statement was probably more important, but, and maybe what they discussed with Jack in particular.

I think he makes, by the way, I was trying to find his salary. I think he makes at least a million a year. He might make two million a year. That number isn't out there publicly. So my guess is it's probably not chump change that he got fined. It's more likely than not something approximating, again, something hefty rather than something token. But the overall takeaway is that they told him that while he has the right to express his political views, he doesn't have the right to express those views if they hurt the business of the private organization.

that employs him. I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least a conversation, maybe not a very long one and maybe not even a serious one, but at least a mention about whether or not he should remain as the defensive coordinator. The fine and the corresponding statement was the way they decided to go. I think what was most important from their standpoint was to respond in a way that made the league, their fans, their prospective fans, their business partners, their prospective business partners, perhaps many in the organization itself.

They wanted those people to feel as if they were appalled and they were taking it seriously. Now, as far as the statement goes personally, I don't think Ron needed to be that wordy, but that's just me. but the net of it is Jack is on a short leash, I would imagine. So for those that worried that they wouldn't do anything, they did. You guys can have at it in terms of whether or not you thought the fine in the statement was not enough or was too much. I think they had to respond.

I think the response was a serious one. I also wonder if they'll follow through if he can't help himself and decides one late night when he's knee-deep in his phone reading tweets if he decides to jump back in and weigh in on whatever the political debate of the day is. You know, will they at that point say enough is enough? I guess stay tuned on that. You know, next week is Minicamp,

and Ron Rivera is scheduled to speak. My advice would be keep it short and sweet, very short and sweet on this front. Jack will not be speaking. I did find out, by the way, that the coordinators are required to speak at least once during the off-season, and Jack had not yet spoken. They put him out there. Again, my feeling hasn't changed.

I would not have put him out there on Wednesday. But understanding that he has to make an appearance, he still would have had to have been made available this coming week. So perhaps he would have stepped on as you know what again in the mini, you know, after a mini camp day. But anyway, the other thing that I wanted to get to before we get to Jay Gruden was Steph Curry and his performance last night in Golden States, 10797 win over the Celtics. Look, I'm not going to get carried away here and let sort of recency bias dictate how I, how I describe. Steph Curry's performance. Okay, Magic Johnson's game six in the spectrum is a rookie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out, is the greatest finals performance ever.

Magic Johnson, the point guard playing center for Kareem in game six with a three-two series lead in Philadelphia on the road, and he goes for 42 points and 15 rebounds. and like I think it was nine assists, something like that. And they clinched the title that night in Philadelphia. That's the greatest finals performance of all time from my standpoint. Look, the Jordan Flu game, Tommy's been tweeting about, you know, a bunch of 1970 Knicks games. But last night is on a short list of the greatest finals performances of all time. Steph Curry was injured in game three.

They were down two to one. There was some thought that he would be hobbled and may not even be able to play. He did play, and he looked fine health-wise. They were playing in just an absolute raucous Boston Garden last night. That has become the best home court atmosphere in the NBA. They're down to one against a team that I think is better. I think I've said this, you know, I said it before the series. I think the Celtics are better.

You know, I think the experience of Golden State going into the series, I thought that would play into it. But ultimately, I picked the Celtics in seven. I thought they were a better team, and I thought they were the best defensive team. And he went in there on a night when he wasn't 100%, and they had to have it. Losing that game falling behind 3-1 was going to be pretty much series over. They had to even up that series to give themselves a chance in an even-up series with three games afterwards. And he was facing the best defensive team in the NBA.

He was facing a road environment that is unlike any other right now in the NBA. And let's be fair here, he's got a limited supporting cast. You know, Clay Thompson hasn't been Clay Thompson, although he hit some big shots in the fourth quarter. Draymond Green has been up and down. They benched Draymond Green. He sat for a big portion of the fourth quarter. Big move by Steve Kerr. It paid off.

Steph Curry's performance last night, essentially for all intents and purposes, carrying the team on his back, not having enough support, having an entire defense geared to stopping him, saying we don't care. care what everybody else gets. We're not letting you beat us because we don't think anybody else can. I mean, the doubling off the ball screens, the hedging, the forcing him out, the constant

trying to get him to give up the ball. And he went for 43 points on 14 of 26 with some bombs last night, defended bombs, one in particular that gave him the lead that should have been and won on a three-point play. He was 7 of 14 from behind the arc, eight for nine on free throws. And, oh, by the way, had 10 rebounds as well in the game. 43 points, 10 rebounds, four assists. By the way, I think he would have had more assists

if Golden State could have finished some of the passes that he made, but they couldn't. It was spectacular. Okay? it was one of the best finals performances of all time. It wasn't the greatest. That goes to Magic Johnson, 1980 Game 6 in Philadelphia. But given what he had, given what he was facing, given his physical condition, it was unbelievable.

And if they were to come back and win this series, obviously, if he doesn't score another point in they win this series, he'd be the MVP. Of course, they can't win this series. if he doesn't score another point. But my God, was it a great, great performance. It was incredible. I did not think early in that game that Golden State had a chance. Even when they were keeping it close,

I thought this is going to end like game three did, which is they're going to run out of gas, he's going to run out of gas. He can only do so much by himself. You know, I'm saying he was limited with support, I thought Andrew Wiggins was phenomenal last night for them. I think without him, they don't win the game. He had 17 points, 16 rebounds. And Clay really did come through in a big way in the fourth quarter with a couple of big time shots. And I thought that Gary Payton, the second, I thought he had some big moments defensively. And Jordan Poole had some big time shots as well. But it's a limited supporting cast. really it's borderline. I don't want to call it what LeBron did in taking the Warriors to six a few years back with the likes of Matthew Delavadova and Schumpert and Mosgov, etc. It's not that. But for all of those

people that say, well, Steph Curry isn't at the level of the greatest players that have ever played because, you know, in recent comparisons, like just take LeBron as an example. I mean, Cleveland was winning 60 games a year with just LeBron. LeBron essentially carried Cleveland to the finals that one year without the key cogs in his supporting cast, Kyrie and Kevin Love. But Curry did it last night. He did it last night.

And he did it, you know, for a small guy to do it the way he did it, makes it a little bit unique. You know, Tommy and I, I'm sure we'll have these conversations. early next week because I'm sure he didn't watch it. And if he did, he probably would have said he's just shooting it. No, he was doing a lot more than just shooting it last night. He had 21 points on threes. Another 22 points came as a score, which I've said and debated with Tommy.

He's much more than just a shooter. He is a great all-time score. So that series now deadlocked at two games apiece, 10797. What a fourth quarter. What a performance by Curry. Really incredible. By the way, Jason Tatum went scoreless, I think, over the last nine or ten minutes of the game. I think he's been forcing it a lot. I think he's spectacular. Don't get me wrong. But it was Curry over Tatum last night, that's for sure. And Curry certainly etched his name onto the list of some of the greatest finals performances in NBA history. All right. Up next, Jay,

Gruden will join me right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, we welcome on to the podcast, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, when they were the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden, who has periodically joined us on the podcast, and it's always good to catch up with Jay, especially when we've got football to talk about, you know, games and stuff. We don't really have that to talk about right now, but there are some stories out there, And I actually want to get your thoughts on Washington as a team heading into 2022. And maybe, you know, as kind of they compare right now in your mind to the rest of the division.

But I'm curious, you know, I'm sure you have paid attention to the story this week regarding Jack Del Rio being very outspoken first on Twitter and then answering a question during a press conference. You know, politics aside, because that's not really what I've been spending a lot of. of time talking about as it relates to this. I'm curious if you ever had to reprimand any of your coaches. No, never had to. You know, I think this Twitter thing and Instagram and all this social media is quite dangerous. You know, you have to keep an eye on everybody nowadays, not just the players, but the coaches. And it's a pain in the neck, quite honestly. Unfortunately, Coach Rivera had to take steps to discipline one of those coaches, but I've never had to do it. that with one of my coaches. You know, I've

players, I've had to talk to, but not coaches. What were some of the players? Do you have a good story of a player that you had to talk to with respect to what they said on social media or otherwise? Well, it's well documented. I had a rift with one of our players. There's actually two of them that left, but, you know, I think the big thing is when they become that type of

outspoken person on social media, it's just going to become more and more of the way. reporters are going to go out and they're going to search them out after games. After tough games, they're going to look for them to create more controversy. And people didn't understand that. You know, they just wanted more followers or they just wanted to say they're speaking their mind or what have you, but it becomes a distraction. It becomes a problem when they put themselves out there like that because, you know, like I said, you know, after a tough loss or after anything happens negative, they're going to search those people out because they're going

to be the one to give the story to the media. All right. So I'm Remembering, I mean, usually the two players would jump right to my mind. DJ Sweringer, that situation obviously jumps right to my mind. So that's one of the players you're referring to, right? Yeah, I mean, DJ was very outspoken. It's well known, and he was not on our team. He was not a fan of mine, obviously, because he has spoken out many, many times after I got released. And while I was still there, you know, just one of those things.

things that I did not have a great control over. I wanted to try to nip it in the bud a year and a half while before we got him, but I was not able to do that. So he was able to speak his mind and he very outspoken negatively towards our team and what we had planned. What was the incident or the final nail in the coffin as it relates to Sweringer? I remember it happened late in that season. I think you guys cut him on Christmas Eve late that year. I think it was Tennessee when we called man-to-man on third and five, and Fabio Moro got a holding.

It was a terrible call. Taney Hill threw it over. The receiver said by 20 yards, and they called defense the holding, and then they give it to Derek Henry, ran up the middle for 40 for a touchdown. It was that one. He said we shouldn't have played man-to-man. We should have played zone, and just ridiculous, but whatever.

I mean, yeah, there's many of them. Who was the other player, though, that you were talking about? Because I honestly don't remember. It doesn't matter. I don't want to. It doesn't matter. For all the guys that I coached, I feel like I had a pretty good rapport with most of them. But there's always going to be, you know, with social media, people are going to find some stuff.

And it's going to be negative towards what you're trying to build as a franchise and make you look like a minor league team when people speak out negatively towards your team. So you've got to keep a close eye on social media now. days is my point. It's just so many avenues to create controversy, and the media is going to find it, and you've got to just be very, very careful. So you can bring in and who you sign them, and you've got to keep an eye on. You've never been on social media, have you? I think I got a Facebook. I updated a Facebook picture the other day, which is the first time in a while. Really? It was a more recent picture, or did you pick an old one? I was at Sean's wedding and put a couple pictures on there, me,

Whitworth, and Colt McCoy, and it was pretty cool. But, yeah, it was a great wedding and I was able to take a couple photos. Colt McCoy was always one of your favorites. I mean, we would talk about that all the time. Why did you like him so much? Well, I think he talked about it from a mentality standpoint. He was a tough, mentally tough kid. He worked extremely hard.

he was a great personality, great leader. And I thought he had the skill set to be a very good quarterback to the national football. Unfortunately, he kept getting hurt. You know, he couldn't stay on the field. I would love to see him have an opportunity to play at full strength. And I don't think I ever got that except for a game and a half before he broke the leg against Philadelphia. You know, but I just like the way he played. I think the players reacted well to him.

He worked hard. He practiced hard. and was a great player. Great guy. You know, he had a couple of, he's had a couple of really good games with the Cardinals when Kyler Murray's been out. I mean, when he got those starts as a football fan,

were you really interested in watching those games where he got those starts? Oh, for sure. You know, I texted them right after the first win. I think he was two and one of the starter. He played extremely well. You know, he's a guy that's going to be prepared. He's a great guy to have on your team if he's a starter or backup.

He's a backup. He's an unbelievable guy to have because he's very supportive of the starter. They'll work extremely hard and be prepared. Something happens to the starter like with Kyler. He'll come in and be prepared and can run your team. So nothing negative to say about Colt. I mean, Colt is you want like 100 Colts on your team. You'd be pretty good. You know, I've probably asked you this question before, but I'm kind of forgetting the answer,

but maybe I haven't asked you. before the 2019 season, you know, when Dwayne was drafted and Case Keenham was brought in, was your preference to just go with Colt McCoy during that offseason as the starter in that upcoming season? I would have to have that happen, but I was concerned about his leg. You know, he broke his leg and it was not on schedule. You know, I was told he'd be ready for this and be ready for this, and he never was. It didn't heal at the rate it was supposed to heal. So it took a lot longer, so I was very concerned about that.

So we had to go out and get another guy. And I like Casey. You know, Case was a good pickup for us. He's a good solid player in the league. Good solid backup-ish type. A starter could be a, you know, he can run a team a little bit. But he got to get better than that. And obviously, that's why we had to drop the quarterback.

This time of year, OTAs in Minicamp, I want to exclude Minicamp from this conversation because that's, you know, that's a mandate. participation event. But the OTAs have kind of taken on a life of their own, like everything has in the NFL. I mean, it's a full 12-month NFL calendar as far as the fans are concerned, and teams as well. And the league's made the most out of it. What do you think about OTAs? Like, how legitimately important are they for the following season and beyond? I think it's important to get guys in the building and teacher system. It was an opportunity. It was an opportunity for us to install our offense, then practice it, then give them some time off,

and then come back and reinstall it again in training camp. So you could see it three times. You can install it, practice it, and then reinstall it and then practice it again in training camp. So it's important. Quarterbacks, you've got to have them in there. I mean, you can't just expect these young quarterbacks that come in in training camp in three weeks and then be ready to go to play a regular season games. It takes time, terminology. You want them to spit out plays. You want them to know exactly what's going on, what to expect. You've got to get them in shape. I mean, I know guys have their own trainers at home and they're supposed to do their work,

but you want them in the building with your strength coach, with your trainers, getting themselves in shape. For me, the most important thing in the offseason was conditioning and making sure they were working on their bodies, and then we could talk to them about football, our terminology, what we want them to do, what we expected of them, and then get themselves ready for training camp. I was having a conversation on my radio show the other day with Logan Paulson about in OTAs with young players that, you know, you don't know anything about, but you drafted or you brought in his undrafted free agents about whether or not you can actually learn anything about them.

Because what you get Jay from a fan perspective or even a media perspective, you just get a lot of like when they're open to media, you get a lot of people tweeting, oh my God, Carson Wentz is dropping dimes into Jahan Dotson's hands. and Jehan Dodson has become uncoverable. Logan Paulson actually said, and one of the reasons I had them on the show, he said, Jehan Dodson, their wide receiver, you know, first round pick out of Penn State, has been uncoverable in OTAs. And I said, what does that mean? Like, I mean, they're not playing against anybody. You're really not going to know until the season started.

And he said, no, with some position players, like wide receivers, you can tell. Is that true? Oh, yeah, for sure. You can learn a lot about guys. The good thing about OTAs, too, is you can learn a lot about guys what they need to work on. And also, you can, you know, make some moves. Some guys aren't ready for the NFL, and you can get rid of them and add to your roster spots with different guys, you know, before the season starts. That's kind of important, too.

You can get rid of some guys, you know. So it's very important. But skilled guys, you can see the skill level. You can see the speed. You can see the burst. You can see the hands. You can see the separation they get defensive back. You can see their footwork, their transition in and out of breaks.

It's very important to see that. You know, the offensive line and the physicality you may not be able to see, obviously, because you're not hitting, but definitely the skilled guy, the quarterback, the receivers, the tight end. You can learn a lot in OTA. When did you know that you had more than just a really good special teams player, but you had a really good wide receiver in Terry McClure? Oh, my goodness.

It was early. I think probably about this time. You know, once you get them out on the field and you're doing routes, you start with routes versus there. You know, you just see his burst and his acceleration and his hands. And then you get in some team drills. You see him going against defenses and his knowledge of the game, ability to line up and run the routes to the right depth,

his detail. The attention to the detail is phenomenal. You know what I mean? some guys are short out of their brakes. They're, you know, they stumble. You know, this guy was smooth out of his brakes, his transition. He ran every route, very similar. Everything looked the same, whether it was an out route, a big route, whatever it was.

He'd come off the ball. He'd snatched the ball in traffic. Yeah, so it was about this time of year. Is there a player that stands out that this time of year you brought him in and you had no idea what you had and you and the other coaches were like, like, wow, this guy's going to be a player? Probably, you know, when I first got the job here, I wasn't sure about Jordan Reed.

I wasn't a big fan of Jordan Reed in college at Florida. I thought he was soft. I didn't think he was that good. Blasey Blasey was in the draft with Tyler Eiferts, and I had him down the list as far as tightens are concerned. And obviously he played pretty well at Shanahan before I got here. But once I saw him in person, he was the most impressive guy. in this type of setting.

Rout versus their, shorts, whatever it was. He was unbelievable as far as the ability to get in and out of break, snatching the ball in traffic and just a natural athlete. Jordan was a quarterback, I think, when he first got to Florida. Logan Thomas, who they have as their tight end here. Now he's coming off a serious late season injury, was a quarterback at Virginia Tech. How much of an advantage is it?

You were a quarterback. How much of an advantage is it for players who are playing other non-quarterback positions to have been a quarterback? Yeah, I think when you play quarterback, obviously you're in charge of the offense and you have to know what everybody's doing. So it helps you in the big picture. You know, a lot of guys get tunnel vision. This is what I do. This is the only thing I need to learn. But when you know what's going on around you, what everybody else is, the concept of the play, it's important.

And it gives you great advantage when you. you can see the field like that. When you know exactly what everybody else is doing, it's like a concert. You know, everybody has an instrument, and you're just part of the choir. And Jordan understood the big picture of each concept, so we could line them up in different spots. And it was easy for him to learn the play because he could see the big picture. It's really kind of a shame, isn't it, that he had all the concussions and couldn't stay healthy?

we've done these what-if segments before on radio, like the greatest what-ifs in franchise history. Sean Taylor's clearly, you know, number one. You know, what would Sean have become? And everybody believes that Sean would have become, you know, one of the all-time greats at safety. For me, you know, Jordan Reed is often the one that I come up with next. What if he had stayed healthy?

What if he hadn't been, you know, out and missed so many games and had a shortened career? What kind of player do you think you would have become? A superstar, without a doubt. He'd be talked about with Travis Kelsey and the best tight ends in the league, for sure. You know, this guy changed the game for me as a play caller. Third down in two to five, we were dang there unstoppable when Jordan Reader Selfie. His ability to create mismatches when he lined him out up outside.

When he's inside in the slot working against a nickel or a linebacker or a safety, he was unguarded. You know, so my last year, he got the concussion week three against the Falcons in the preseason game. I'll never forget it. I said, we're playing two series, and that's it. We went three and out on the second series, and he dropped the ball. And Kay said, I want one more series, and Jordan says, hey, can I get one more series? I said, fine, one more series, and that's it.

And that's when he got the concussion and put them out for the year. But his concussion was odd because we had three weeks before our first game. and our trainers kept telling me he'll be good, he should be good. And so we're game planning for him to be in the game for four straight weeks. But on Thursday or Friday, he would have concussion-like symptoms. He'd be out. So our game plan would change from having Jordan Reed to not having Jordanry. It was a drastic change and was quite different without him.

It was much more difficult to get those third and two to fives without him than it would be with him. Right. I mean, I'm just thinking about some of the games he had. that Saturday night game, you know, the night after Christmas when you guys had to beat Philadelphia on the road. Unstoppable. The Tampa game, you know, the Code Red game, as you called it, which we've referred to many times against Tampa. I mean, there were just games in which he was clearly the best player on the field. And as you said, uncoverable.

And at the same time, you also had two wide receivers on the field. And sometimes Chris Thompson out of the back field, I mean, you had some weapons there for a few years. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we were really good. And, you know, when you lose those types of guys, people don't understand. Obviously, you're replacing Jordan Green. No offense, Jeremy Sprinkler, the guys we replace them with, but they're not Jordan Reed. And then you lose your quarterback, Alex Smith, and it's just, it's hard. You know, you take away Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams. I don't think the Packers are who they are. You take away Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup. I don't think the Rams win the Super Bowl. You know, so your big, you know, The most important thing in pro football is your stars have to be stars, they have to play like stars, and they have to stay on the field. And unfortunately for me and my tenure, I'd never got to play with all my stars. Trent Williams didn't play, obviously. He's a star.

Jordan Reed hardly ever played. Quarterback got hurt. So it becomes very difficult. Back to Terry McClure for a second before the 2019 season, and you knew you had something in him, right? You knew that this guy was going to be a. really good receiver for you. We didn't know that because you barely played him really in the preseason. He certainly wasn't very productive in the preseason. And then you kind of unleashed him

on everybody in the opener at Philadelphia. Do you remember was that part of the plan? Because not many people were thinking that Terry McLaurin was going to be the number one wide receiver that year before the season started. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, there was no reason in the preseason to strike them up and show what he could do. You know, we had to kind of keep them under wraps, and we wanted to keep them healthy. You know, there's different theories of the preseason. Some teams want their guys to play.

Some teams like the Rams, they don't even play their guys in the preseason. They want them on week one. They know their stars are going to be stars, and they keep them healthy. And that was kind of our approach to Terry and some of the better players on our team. We've had so much bad luck with injuries that I was taking that approach where, hey, we'll practice them and get them mentally ready to go. But as far as preseason games are concerned, let's not show our hand too much. Let's get them ready for week one.

All right. One more about Terry McClorn and Carson Wentz in particular. You know, he is not at the OTAs. He's in a contract negotiation. We think it's a negotiation, ongoing negotiation, for a potential big contract extension. I think everybody that roots for the team wants Terry McClure to be signed to a long-term extension. But you talked about the importance of this time of year, especially, you know, with quarterbacks and everybody getting on the same page.

What do you think the absolute drop-dead deadline for Terry McClureen being together with Carson Wentz to get the appropriate amount of work is before the regular season begins? I think training camp would be fine, really. I think Terry's a different type of guy. One thing about Terry is he's going to be prepared. He's going to be physically fit. He's a great person. He's going to work his tail off. And I think as long as they get together a training camp,

I think him and Carson will get together and have plenty of time to get ready if he reports the training camp. All right. Let's talk about the upcoming season as it relates to this team. And you did tell me before we started to record this interview that this was the first year in forever in your professional life. really that you did not immerse yourself into the NFL draft. But taking what Washington has right now on paper, what kind of season do you think they're going to have in 2022? Well, I think that they have

the skill to compete for the division title. That's the first thing they have to do is worry about their division. Can they compete with the cowboys? Cowboys are loaded, obviously. They have not made that step that everybody expects the Cowboys to make. I think the Eagles are getting better. Obviously, they've got some pieces now that they should be much improved. But I think when you compare them to the rest of the division, they should definitely be in contention to win the division. They should be. I mean, Coach Rear has been there now.

He's been able to build his team the way he wants to build it. Del Rio's been there. The defense, you know, I feel like we left them in a pretty good place with the defense and some skill on defense. And obviously, they should be ready to fire on all cylinders. I mean, it's time for them to do that. You know, the excuses are over. They could say the culture was bad that I left it, whatever they want to say, but they've had plenty of time to put their stamp on this franchise and build it the way they want it.

Time is now for them. What do you make of Philadelphia and everything they've done, adding A.J. Brown to their offense, adding James Bradbury to their defense, along with, you know, they drafted one of the more gifted defensive linemen and one of the lineback. out of Georgia that they, you know, was projected at one point, you know, mid to late first round pick. They got him in the third round. But what do you make of the Eagles led by Jalen Hertz and a bunch of playmakers on offense? Well, you said it right there. It's all about Jayless, really. You know, I think surrounding them with AJ Brown is obviously going to help. They got a very good tight end. Their running game should be good. Their offense line has always been pretty solid. Their defense is going to be better.

so I think that if Jalen can figure it out, then they have a chance. But I think when he's a young player still, he's still developing. He's got his great ability to create plays on his own. But if they get behind, can he bring him back with the passing game? I do not know that yet about Jalen Hertz. I still think that there's some issues there with this throwing. But they have added pieces around. them. They can stay close where he can hand the ball off and do some zone reads and beat some teams

with his legs. And they have a chance. But if they get down and he has to become one-dimensional, I think they'll have problems. I think the last time I had you on, we talked about Carson Wentz, but just netted out. Do you think Washington got it right with Carson Wentz? I think that Carson, when he was young and he was a rookie, I think he had the ability to be on of top quarterbacks in the league, really. The skill to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He was big, he was strong, he could create with his legs. He was accurate, and then he hurt his back or whatever he hurt, and he was different.

He changed. So if he can become healthy again, gain his confidence back again, he does have the skill set to be a very, very good quarterback, but that has not happened since his injury. So I think the time will tell with them. I think he's got a one-year deal here. he's got a great opportunity. He's got a good sporting cast. So the time is now, and there'll be a lot to be said about Carson when the season is over.

So hopefully he makes that step and does what I think he can do from a skill standpoint. But when you have a major injury like he had, your mechanics change a little bit. But from a mental standpoint, I think he should be very comfortable in this offense and should do some good things. Where are you on Dak Prescott? Do you think he is a legitimate upper tier QB in this league or not? I do. I really do. And I know that some big games, they have failed miserably. But I think from the ability for him to drop back and rip it, I think he's a very good quarterback. He's strong. He's physical. And again, the injury had a little bit of an effect on him, I think. but I think that is one of the top tier quarterbacks in the lake for sure.

But you like Washington, you're certainly expecting at this point year three with the Rivera regime. You expect them to contend for the division. They better, right? I mean, they better. I would think so, yeah. I mean, they added the quarterback that they want it. They got a heck of a running game.

they've had a defensive piece. So, yes, they better compete for the division. Well, they better versus what you think in terms of will they are two different things. You know, I know everybody can hear what you're saying there, but do you think they're good enough to win the division this year? Yeah, I do. I think personalize they are. you know, if Carson

shows that he is the guy that he was drafted in the top two picks, you know, this guy has a great skill set. He really does. And if he can continue to develop and be that guy, then yes. You know, obviously if Carson struggles,

then they'll struggle. But it all goes through the quarterback. I mean, we know this. I mean, there's no secret. The best teams in the league are who? The Tampa Bay Bucks of Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Green Bay, Matthew Stafford at the Rams. These guys, you know, the development of these quarterbacks in Buffalo and the Chargers, the top-tier quarterbacks make top-tier teams.

There's no secret. So if Carson Wentz can become in that conversation, then yes, the Washington commandos will compete. If not, and they won't. Yeah, the commandos, you don't love the name either, do you? No, I hate it. Yeah, I do too. You mentioned about Rogers without Adams. Do you think Green Bay takes a step back without Adams there?

No, no, no, because this quarterback is special. I mean, he's a one-of-a-kind type quarterback, once in a hundred years type talent. He's a special guy. He'll make people around him great. That's the good thing about the best thing about quarterbacks. They make people around you better. Tom Brady won Super Bowls with different. supporting cast year and and year out.

Aaron Rogers is going to be called. He's always going to be one of the top match quarterbacks year and year out because he is a special player. He's going to make people around them great. You gave us your thoughts on the NFC East. Give me a team in the NFC that people aren't thinking about, because obviously it's the Rams and it's the Bucks and the Packers. Give me a team in the NFC that you think has a chance to have a surprise season

that maybe people aren't thinking about? I think the Vikings have a chance to be really good. I think Kevin O'Connell is going to get there and do some very special things with those guys. I love Kirk and with Cook as healthy. And obviously, Justin Jefferson, Athelian, they have a chance to be really, really good. I think if they get their defensive pieces healthy,

they have a chance to compete for that division and go pretty far. All right. A couple of more and then. let you run, because I'm sure you've got a tea time at some point today. How's your game, by the way? You playing a lot? I play a lot, but it doesn't change. I'm the same. I think. No, you don't. If you can't putt today, you can't putt tomorrow, and I can't putt. Well, have you gotten a lesson? Have you gotten a putting lesson? You can improve your putting. TikTok. You know, I get a lot of lessons on TikTok. So, yeah. You do. Yeah, those are the ones that

usually really help out. So Aaron Donald earlier this week, Jay, signed the biggest deal, non-quarterback deal in the history of the game. You got to coach against him, but you've been a fan forever of the game as well. And it kind of sparked the conversation about Aaron Donald and where he fits in among the greatest defensive players of all time. What do you think? I think when you talk about defensive players, you talk about changing.

in the game. And I was fortunate enough to coach against some pretty good players and watch some pretty good players growing up, obviously. And he talked about guys that dominate the line of scrimmage. And that's why Aaron Donald's getting paid because he changes the game, blocking schemes, everything. Lawrence Taylor, to me, was the most fun guy ever to watch on take and to watch as a kid growing up.

Lawrence Taylor, I think, was most dominant defensive player ever. Yeah, I do too. We were having this debate the other day. To me, LT's number one. I think he's the greatest football player, overall football player of my lifetime, and you and I are basically the same age. Several rankings have Reggie White ahead of LT. That's a debate for sure.

But to me, LT, nobody changed the game like LT did. Yeah, I agree. And then the other guy that people probably don't talk about, Dwight Greenie was pretty darn good too. he was a freak. You know, he was tough. The guys that I coached against, you know, I think, which people probably don't talk about,

Ed Reed, to me, was probably the most dominant safety other than Sean Taylor, his short-lived career, obviously, but Ed Reed was phenomenal. He was a guy that you always had to watch. He was off him back there. He controlled the defense, one of the best defenses of all time. He was the catalyst.

back there. Yeah, I completely agree. All right, thanks for doing this. I'm not going to keep you any longer. I always appreciate it. Hopefully, things are well for you, and maybe we can talk once the season starts. Anytime, I'm free.

Thank you, Jay. Appreciate it. All right, man. All right, one more segment on the show today. Our guy, Eddie C, is going to jump on and handicap the Belmont Stakes. That's next, right after these words from a few. of our sponsors.

Belmont Stakes later on this afternoon, early evening in New York. Third leg of the Triple Crown. Our guy, Eddie C, is back to handicap the race. It's me, Eddie C. on Twitter. Eddie's a local guy, a big-time handicapper, and a guy with major DC connections. And he's joining us right now. Thanks, as always. Obviously, before we get to your picks in the Belmont,

You know, you always look for what's the storyline. Well, the storyline here is that Rich Strike, the 80 to 1, you know, all-time long shot that won the Derby and Skip the Preakness is back in a Triple Crown race running tonight. Tell us about the storyline of Rich Strike and the return after winning the Derby, you know, over a month ago. Well, I mean, you know, the big story about Rich Strike. And once again, thanks for having me on. Kevin always a pleasure talking with you and being back in the DMV with my peeps. But, you know, the story about Rich Strike is here's a horse that the Friday before the Kentucky Derby wasn't even known to be in the race.

And all of a sudden he gets in because of a last minute scratch of another horse. And he goes off at 80 to 1 and shocks the world and gets the most perfect ride I think I've ever seen in horse racing from a, from the Jockey Leone and wins the Derby at 80 to 1. And then they make the decision, the owners and the trainers make the decision to not run into Pretenance, which is incredibly rare. And I would love to think that they did it for the betterment of the horse, thinking that, hey, this race took a lot out of him, let's rest him up, and run him in the Belmont and give him five more weeks to rest up.

Now, that all being said, looking at the race a couple of weeks ago when I started handicapping it, I would have told you that, yeah, I'm not using him. I'm throwing him out. I don't think he's got a chance. But in the last couple of weeks, talking with the people that are watching him every morning, watching him work out, the clockers, some of the other handicappers that are out there, they say that he looks fantastic, that he's full of himself, his skin is shining, he's eating all his feed, he's doing everything right.

So a lot of people are giving him a chance. So, I mean... Are you surprised at that? Are you surprised that a lot of people are giving him a chance? As I would have told you 10 days ago, yeah, I would have been surprised. But after talking to all these people and watching his workouts and seeing videos of him, no, he looks fantastic. He really does. And I'm a very visual person.

I mean, it's one of the things that, especially when I'm up at Saratoga, I go into the paddock and part of my handicapping is looking at the horses close up and how they're looking prior to a race. And visually, Rich Strike looks like one of those horses that, wow, it's a wow-looking horse right now. Why didn't people notice that before the derby? I think part of it was because prior to the Derby, he'd only won one race, and it was his, a maiden race, which is meaning that it's, you know, you have to run in a maiden race basically to get your first victory. And he'd never really shown much prior to that, except he's regally bred. He's a well-bred horse.

and he was also not in the derby field. He was what's called and also eligible. So he wasn't eligible to get in unless a couple of other horses backed out, scratched out of the race, and that's exactly what happened. And, you know, when you and I spoke before the derby, we didn't know that he was in the race. And, you know, I'm not going to go back and tell you that story that I told you before the preakness, but, you know, nobody really,

he was totally overlooked because he was a last-minute entry. Early voting won the Preakness. Rich Strike wasn't in the Preakness. Early voting was the winner at the Preakness, and early voting is not running in the Belmont. Why not? Yeah, I think the reason being for that is that the connections of the horses,

meaning the owners and the trainers, they're pointing them towards Saratoga. They would love to win the Traverse Stakes, which is arguably, it's not a triple crown race, but it's really close to being that big of a race for three-year-old horses. And they're from New York, and they really want to win that race.

So my thinking is that, and I don't know this, this is my summation of talking to some people, but I haven't gotten this factually from anybody, but my thinking is they want to rest them up, race one race prior to going up to Saratoga, and then try to win the travers with this horse. I think there are eight horses in the Belmont tonight.

Go ahead, handicap it. Tell us who you like and what people should be thinking about. Okay, so the six horse, Mo Donagall, is probably going to be the favorite. And deservedly so. He's a good horse. But I think the horse is more of a plodder. I think he's going to run a good race. He had a little bit of trouble in the derby.

A lot of people liked him going into the derby. He got into some traffic trouble at the very beginning, and then he came on at the very end a little bit and finished fifth, was closing. But I'm going to try to beat him just because I think the distance is going to be a difficulty for him. They're running a mile and a half after this race. None of these horses will ever run a mile and a half again, more than, I mean, 99% sure they're not going to ever do that.

So I'm going to take, as my top pick, the one horse, we the people. This horse is going to, the only negative to this horse is that he's breaking from post-position 1, which sometimes for a young horse can be a scary thing because the rail is right there and there's a lot of people. And this horse actually back in the Arkansas Derby did get a little spooked out by a huge crowd. I don't think that's going to happen this time. And he's also the main speed of the race. So I think he breaks well.

He breaks on top, goes to a lead. He doesn't get pressed too much by anybody. And it's going to be a catch-me-if-you-can type of race. He's bred to get the distance. he's got arguably the best jockey in the United States on him, Flaville and Pratt. So I give him a huge shot. He was the morning line favorite at 2 to 1 when they put the odds out.

But from all the early money that happened yesterday, he's actually drifted up to 8 to 1. Wow. I expect him to probably, yeah. I mean, it's a huge, all the early money went on Modanagel and Rich Strike got hit hard too. But I believe we the people can end up going off at probably maybe four to one, three to one at the lowest, four to one at the highest. But that's who I like.

And, you know, as we just spoke about, I wasn't going to use Rich Strike, but now I have to. So I'm actually going to take a big chance today. I'm not going to use Modanagall at all. I'm going to use We the People on top. And then I'm going to do it trifecta. I'm not going to do them exactly today. I'm going to do trifecta, and I'm going to use Rich Strike, the eight horse, Barber Road, because the eight horse has a big jockey change.

Juel Rosario, who's the other top jockey, in my opinion, riding. So he jumped on this horse. And Barbarode is usually a closer, but I think he's going to be closer to the lead. And then I'm going to use, once again, we talked about this for the Preakness. there is a Philly in this race. And it's the three horse nest. And she is the best bred horse for the distance. Now, her figures, her speed figures and past performances may not match up quite as highly as some of these other cults that she's running against.

But, you know, she's run six races. She's won four times, one second, and one third. So for me, I think, I don't think she's going to win. But she also gets that same five-pound weight allowance. So having five pounds less than any of the horse means something. So I think she's got a great chance to come second or third. So to summarize, I like We the People, the one horse, and I'm going to key him on top in the trifecta over the three,

the Philly Nest, the four, Rich Strike, and the eight-horse Barber Road. All right, so we the people is the pick. And you think we the people will go off at around 4 to 1 after, you know, opening as the opening line favorite, it's somewhere around 2 to 1, drop to 8, but you think it'll go off at about 4 to 1. It's not a bad payoff for the winner of the race. Thank you for doing this, as always. It's me, Eddie C, on Twitter. If you're big into horses, follow Eddie on Twitter. Eddie's also a former golf pro as well. He's had quite the eclectic sports life. That's for sure.

I will talk to you soon. Thanks for doing this as always. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. We got to get you up to Saratoga this summer. I know. I've got that on the list of things to do. That would be a lot of fun. Thanks, Eddie. All right. Thank you, Kevin. All right. That is it for the show today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I'll be back on Monday. Thank you.