The Kevin Sheehan Show - Preseason Pass For JD5?

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

Kevin and Thom today with Thom catching up on all of the Commanders' topics he missed while he was away. The boys reacted to Dan Quinn seemingly leaning towards not playing many of the starters including Jayden Daniels in the preseason. CJ Abrams, the Lakers sale, and more on the show as well.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match   Ready to do your own spring reset? Join Thrive Market with my link www.ThriveMarket.com/SHEEHAN for $20 off your first three orders plus you’ll get a FREE $60 gift.   Chime is not just smarter banking, it is the most rewarding way to bank. Head to www.Chime.com/SHEEHAN. It only takes a few minutes to sign up.   If you want to try Momentous Signature Spec Creatine, head to livemomentous.com and use code SHEEHAN for up to 35% off your entire first order. 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 Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy is back and here. I am here. The show is presenting sponsors, as always,

Window Nation, 86690 Nation, windownation.com. Windows. Tommy, I got this from Carlos Z. Carlos Z writes, Kevin, is Tom okay? Was it a needle to an eyeball? an ear tube suctioning or just the other hip?

Or did he leave you after getting signed by a small indie record label down south? Please let us know that he's fine and just summering in France. That was good, Carlos. That's my biography right there. Yeah, other than when you summered, you summered in Spain, not in France. Yeah. And I think you have both hips that are the originals. the knees that have been replaced.

Yes, yeah, I have original hips. Right, original hips, and they move pretty well. Yes. They move pretty well when you're karaokeing. Yes, they do. How are you? Where have you been? What have you been doing?

Well, I was in Bethany Beach for a couple of days, and Wildwood for a couple of days, and came back to Frederick and turned around and flew across the country to Washington State where I was for about six days. Where you saw your granddaughter? Yes. And how are things with your granddaughter? Because we've kind of heard, you know, over the years,

as she's been growing into a young woman, you know, it wasn't so easy a few years back. But you, I think last year, indicated that things are really going quite well with her. Yes, they are. She's matured into a pretty smart, young woman. Actually, I told her she was a great, great travel companion. Nice. So, where did you travel with her too? Back and forth? She was with us. Yeah, she was with us at Bethany. She was with us in Wildwood. And then she flew out to Washington with us. Nice.

She flew here on her own from Washington. How old is she now? She'll be 17 in September. God, man. Oh, my God. I remember it was probably when she was like 10 or 11, you know, seven years ago. And you're like, I don't get it. She had, you know, she was doing the whole goth thing dressed in black. The morticia Adam's face. Yeah, exactly. So she got through that phase.

Yes. Nice. All right. Yes. Well, does she enjoy time with her grandfather? She seems to. More her grandmother than her grandfather. But, yeah, she seems to enjoy our company.

I mean, and if we embarrassed her, which I'm sure we did multiple times, she didn't mention it. Yeah, well, that's typically the case. You know, when they're not embarrassed being around older people, that is a real, you know, that's a treat. You know, it's a real sign of maturity, but it's also pleasant because then you can, you know, be with them and not have to worry about their level of embarrassment. harassment around their friends. You missed a lot. When we flew out to Washington, when we flew out there,

we flew a direct flight. That's five hours. Yeah, it's a hike. Well, that's a rough flight. Well, you don't want to, you want to go nonstop, right? Was it nonstop to Seattle, or was it nonstop to Spokane?

Nonstop to Vancouver. Oh, to Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver, Washington. Right, not Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver, Washington is, correct me if I'm wrong, it's north. Is it north of Seattle or south of Seattle? Actually, I don't know. Well, you know what?

It's 20 miles, it's 15 miles from Portland, Oregon. Exactly. I was going to say that it was like one of the first towns in Washington when you're going on I-5, right? It's I-5, Interstate 5, North-South, because I think I've told you this before. There was, Portland was a city that I spent a lot of time. time in. It was like over a five-year period. I would be out there for sometimes, you know, two weeks out of a month. And I spent a lot of time in Portland, which, by the way, is not as bad as probably most of you think. It's actually physically beautiful. The whole Pacific Northwest,

as you know, is very pretty. But it's not someplace that I would have wanted to live. It would have been a better place to have been from. But now that you're mentioning Vancouver, I think once you cross over the Oregon-Washington state line, Vancouver is like the first town, I think, on Interstate 5. Yeah. Yes, it's right there. Yep. Okay. What else? Do you want to share anything else about your travels and your vacation time? No, no, everything went pretty well. It was good, you know, we had a nice time at Bethany. Wildwood was great. We had great weather for every place we went.

It's just that I noticed that, look, I flew coach, you know. And five hours scrunched up in a Southwest Coats seat, man, that was a rough. You got to work your way up to the front for those long flights. You've earned that over the. years too. How about some of the awards that you've gotten? Have you shared with Southwest Airlines some of your awards that you've won? No, no, they don't seem to be interested. You know, this is the first time I flew Southwest with assigned seats. Oh, right. Yeah, they went to assign seats not that long ago, right? Yeah. It didn't really make a difference to me one way or

the other. When we flew back, we flew through Denver and then changed planes. I actually enjoyed that a lot more because it broke up the flight you know yeah no i i understand if you're in a bad seat and and it's uncomfortable five plus hours is a long time to be on a flight i mean i'm when we fly somewhere i'm always hoping we get the non-stop flight i'd rather just get there and not have you know an extra hour and a half or whatever it would end up being added to the trip but um it is not Now, did Southwest have, like, premium seating in coach? Like, could you pay a little bit more to get a better seat in coach like you can on some of the other airlines? All that means, well, they don't have first class.

I think they need a business class? No, they have business class Southwest, nothing like that. I think the first couple rows have more leg room, but I don't need that. I have no legs. Yeah. You know? You need side room. Yes.

You need people. You know, if I sit in an aisle seat, I'm fine. You know, I'm sitting next to my wife. Right. So it's just a hall. Yeah, it's a hall. It's faster. I can remember the days when, you know, I used to cover baseball and you get on a flight

and there'd be, you know, there'd be 30 people on the whole plane and you'd have rows and rows. Yeah, it's not that way anymore. Those days are gone. Those days are gone. Yeah, I mean, the flight back is obviously a faster flight. So that would have been the flight to go nonstop on with you going out there having it be broken up a little bit. Well, you missed some activity while you were away. I mean, I know it is.

Really? I wasn't paying attention. Yeah, it's the summer and it's training camp and it's kind of boring stuff, which people get worked up over. But, yeah. where would you like to start? I don't know. I'm kind of curious about this. Did Brandon Ayuk ever show up?

Because that's what everyone was real worried about, you know, him embarrassing the organization. Nothing. When they signed Stefan Diggs, I think they did that while you've been away. You know, what's so interesting about what you just said is I haven't thought or talked or even mentioned Brandon Ayyuk since they signed gigs. Well, as I glance through things, I see that something else has taken Brandon Ayuk's place in terms of embarrassment for this team. Right.

Well, not for this team. Well, okay, for the fan base, how's that? For the LSU fan base, it's much more intense. But I think, you know, some of us certainly owe you not an apology. but at least some acknowledgement that, you know, about two years ago, you were the first in town to write about Jaden's mom and the trouble that she caused at Arizona State. She was banned from that school for five years. The school was sanctioned because she was essentially creating and paying for flights and travel arrangements for recruits. during a dead recruiting period.

She was more than a parent should be overly involved at Arizona State. And all you did was point out by pulling up what was written about it a few years earlier. And people jumped all over you. Do you remember how angry people were that you, they thought you had uncovered this, that you had, you know, that you were reporting on this when in fact it had already happened and she was, you know, she's still, I think, in the midst of a five-year ban from Arizona State University.

And clearly... Her name was in the investigation. Right. And you got a call from them after you wrote about it. You included it in your column. Yeah? They weren't very happy. But you're experienced with people not being happy about what you've written or said.

So they backed off pretty quickly. Yeah. So let's get to the elephant in the room. Sure. I don't think you, for what I followed on social media, this was a big mistake by the, by Jayden's people. Big mistake. Tommy, it's one of the worst PR blunders. I think I've

I knew it when I read it that morning I literally immediately reached out to Mark Schlebeah who had written the story on ESPN.com and then the cease

and desist letter got leaked and I immediately said that morning before everything blew up I said this is not going to go well for them

I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea but this is going to this is a self-inflicted PR error that's really not very smart. I had no clue, though, that it would turn into what it turned into,

which is basically every corner of popular culture weighing in and just absolutely bludgeoning him on social media. I know. I know. And it's such a strange situation because, you know, on the one hand, you're saying, well, you know, he's just a young man trying to play football, and we don't know how involved he is, but we're thinking that he pretty much leaves his management team to handle these things. Right.

So he's not an innocent bystander, but he also is responsible for stuff that involves his name. you know, he's responsible for his management team. They work for him. So it's kind of a strange situation that he's taken, he's taken a huge hit, and he's probably wondering, you know, I just want to play football, you know, but I can't say the hits aren't justified.

Yeah, I think that this is, yeah, there is, some work for him to do after this. You know, I don't think it's the team's responsibility. You know, the no one's suggesting

that she can't continue to be his mother and even be an overbearing mother. But she can't cross the line where she is now one of those controlling parents who creates more problems than they

solve. This is the NFL. It's not pee-wee football. The football team shouldn't have to deal with this. Now, I've talked about this for the last several days. The bottom line is, you know, because he's going to play football for Washington, this is going to go away when they open up with the Eagles and they're playing football games. The damage really done is to the relationship that he has with his alma mater, LSU. They're not very forgiving right now, in part because he's not going to play football for them anymore. He can't provide them any more value. But there is a real backlash there. I don't think that he can, I believe that he can recover from it. I think he's a good person and he's a good

kid. And I think even I had somebody on from Baton Rouge today who said, look, I don't know if you guys know this up in D.C., but we all know it's not him. And I said, no, no, we know where this came from. And we know it's not him. But with that said, it's like they're not giving up the jersey for a great recruit that can help them win now. And they all agreed that it was just a horrible way. to go about it. I mean, it just, it was, here's the net of it, Tommy. If she and anybody else that was involved in this, if they haven't learned a lesson, like I got this from Adam. Adam wrote, this is a nothing burger. It's only a big deal because people like you keep talking about it. Most people just want to talk about football. Yeah, Adam, we actually are talking about more

than just this. We're doing both. We can actually do two things. and sometimes three things at once. It is a nothing burger for now, but she is capable, she is shown, or the people around him, that if they haven't learned from this, they could create another major headache and distraction for him. And by extension, the team.

So hopefully they've learned from it. Hopefully this isn't going to happen again. Yeah, but we'll see. Yeah, look, here's one thing. You know, it will stop when they play the Eagles, but only if he plays well. Yeah, I don't think we're going to harken back to this if he doesn't play well. Oh, I think every place he goes on the road, if he struggles, this will be revived.

Yeah. This will be revived. And here's the, here's the, to me, besides what the, the, damage they did to, you know, LSU and the fan base down there. For commanders' fans, there's damage, and here's why. Because the wound of embarrassment is still open and sore from decades of, you know, having to apologize for rooting for such a team. And here it comes along this golden boy, somebody you can be proud of and point to

and say that's our quarterback, and now the rest of the world sees him as a source of ridicule. And it just opens that wound up a little bit more. I mean, a wound that has to heal, okay? It can't heal now because, I mean, you can't ignore. I mean, it's everywhere. And, you know, it's driving commanders fans crazy when they should be excited about, from what I read,

how sharp he has looked. Yeah. Well, look, Tommy, I'm sure you know this and I know this. It's our fault. Hal and several others tweeted and or emailed something similar to what Hal wrote. He wrote, another DC media-created story. Can't believe people fall for this stuff. What have I always said, Kevin?

What have I always said? If it's a media controversial, then it's a controversy, because you can't separate the media from the organization anymore. Those days are gone. Well, I would just say to Hal like grow up, dude. I mean, this is far from a DC media created story. This was created by the people around him. They made this a public story.

this was not the the pop culture reaction to it the the literal punching bag that he has become for the last four or five days like i when i when i read things like this like i i know that these people are limited but what really disappoints me is that you know the fan base a portion of the fan base has become like a Tompom waving small college town fan base where, you know, any sort of controversy, any sort of criticism they can't deal with. I mean, can you imagine what the reaction to all of this would have been in New York or Philadelphia or Boston? And you get people like how literally that just he needs to grow a pair. Like this is big boy stuff. He's a lot. professional football player. Do you understand what the people around him did? They created a massive distraction a month before the regular season begins. And you can't avoid talking about it. It's

everywhere. It's omnipresent. With that said, I do think that he's going to get it, that he's fine, he's dialed in, he's focused. It's not going to affect our team. I just hope that the next decision on something like this, that the results of this last decision are considered seriously and that the people responsible for this learn something so that they don't repeat it. We don't need that. We don't need, you know, I had, she's everywhere, you know, she's a big part of the Netflix series, and she's his mother, and he's not married and he doesn't have a significant other that we know of.

And Cam Ward's parents were a part of the Netflix thing as well. But she has fallen in love clearly with this celebrity of it all, of being Jaden's mom, being Jaden's agent. She's signing autographs and taking pictures at training camp. I had somebody tell me the other day, two people tell me the other day, and that's why I feel comfortable repeating it. She literally at the joint practice turned and told the crowd, Can you imagine, by the way, wanting her autograph for taking pictures with her?

Whatever. I mean, we... Anything. What? I've had people, I've had people at commanders practice ask me for my autograph, so anything's possible. Oh, I know it's anything's possible, but apparently she turned and she told everybody that she wasn't signing today. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God.

Look, I actually liked her in the Netflix series. I think she's bright. I've been told she's extremely bright. She's obviously a way too involved parent. I'm not saying that she's a way too involved agent, although you would not see Drew Rosenhaus or David Mugoleta make that kind of a mistake that was made last week. But this is professional football.

This is a real business. You know, you don't bring your mom. to work. So he's got, to your early point, he's going to have to take on some of the responsibility of being a 25-year-old to say, what happened last week can never happen again. And that means everybody's got to take a step back. But that's going to be awfully hard to do. It might be. To look at his mother and say, from now on, everything, things like this, you have to run them by me first. Well, that's what he has to do, though. he's the boss

he's the celebrity not the family I don't think like you said in part I don't think this has strong foundational roots as a controversy

I think it could it could flutter away I think it will I think it could definitely could but I think it has enough roots

connected to it that it could easily resurrect It'll But this is what I'm saying Is that whether it's this that resurrects or something else That has to be the takeaway from this We really

Fucked up in a major way We thought that LSU And fans across the country And Redskin fans, commanders fans Would would view him the way we view him Which is God's gift to football And there are all going to back him. They're all going to be supportive of him and they're going to rip through

LSU and that kid's not going to be wearing number five. No, the opposite of that happened. So they have to understand that they don't have a real sense of reality. I hope for him and the guy that I had on from LSU said he thinks this will happen, but others have said that they don't think it'll happen. But I just can't imagine a guy like Jaden Daniels not being on a side. sideline during a by week in Baton Rouge watching his LSU team play, you know, Florida, you know, standing next to, you know, Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson. LSU people say that that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I think eventually one day it'll happen.

He's got to fix that. Look, look, I mean, people have been welcomed back for less. So yeah, eventually it probably will for far less. but basically his management team, his mother, whoever, part of the group, whatever, they've left scorchurch with two programs. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, there's a cleanup in Isle 5 necessary at LSU, you know, and Jaden's probably going to have to be the person that does the cleanup. But not now, not a month away from his real job in the NFL where his real focus needs to be. And I think he'll get through this. I think that this is not, you know, there were a lot of RG3 vibes last week. And I don't think that they're similar at all. That one was owner entitled. The person we're talking about.

Yeah, is different. The person we're talking about is different. I agree. It's different. And, you know, on the, I mean, other hand, if we're going to talk about football, that's not exactly heartwarming either right now. What do you mean? In terms of this team.

This team, from afar to me, has an aura of collapse around it. An aura of collapse around it. Okay, well, let's talk about that after we take a break. We'll be back after these words from a few of our sponsors. Back to school isn't fun for the kids and their anxiety isn't fun for you. Let me make a recommendation that will ease the angst. Thrive Market is your answer to lunchbox dread, label concern, and it replaces that target or whole foods run that you have to make every week.

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They have over 45,000 five-star reviews. your home in better condition than when they arrived and you'll have new windows and perhaps new doors. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. So you described this team as you're feeling an aura of collapse? Why? Yeah. Well, I mean, starting with A, the tonsil injury. We haven't talked about that. No, we haven't. No, you just got back after being away forever. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the tonsil injury, I mean, this team was, for what I read, this offensive line was considered a top 20 before Tonsel got hurt, and then it went to the bottom. Yeah, pro football focus ranked Washington's offensive line with Tonsel gone as the 32nd ranked offensive line in the league. Okay. collapsing there. What else? Okay. And this happened even before Camp Open.

There was a definite disconnect between what we the information that we have to make decisions and the national media. The national outlook for this team in most places has been pretty negative.

Bleak. It has not been positive. Yes. Yes. All the way around. Now, some of it may be to you know, who's not really understanding what's going on up close, you know, not having enough confidence in Jaden Daniels. I don't think that's rising any time soon, but, you know, at least not until opening day. So you've got this whole national feeling that this seems not going to be very good, and that was even before Tonsel got hurt.

Okay? You've got real question marks at the center, okay, right now. And these are the people who are going to protect your value, you know, number five, where number five still matters in Washington. I mean, I didn't watch the preseason game, and it seems like a ridiculous little reaction. But people wanted, people had some issues with Sunny Stiles. Oh, I didn't think you were going to mention that as part of the aura of collapse. Joel wrote me.

Hold on. I want to put this in. Joel wrote, I guess you hadn't heard, Kevin. Twitter has already gone through the All-22 and definitively determined after a couple of preseason series that Sunny Stiles is a bust.

I know. That's so good. I know. He only played one series, by the way, not even multiple. I know that. Yeah, or a couple. I know.

But he's fine. He didn't give anybody any reason. to say, wow. It says preseason. Played 14 plays, one series. I know that. I'm just, and that's why I'm talking about the aura right now. Again, whether you discounted, whether you think it's misguided, misinformed,

there is not a sense outside the headquarters and the pom-pom waivers that you're heading for a good season. You know what? you're right most of the people out there the NFL people aren't expecting much from this team you know it reminds me of a year ago when no one was expecting much from Seattle nobody was expecting much from new england and a lot of people were expecting big things big things from baltimore kansas city and detroit uh all good point it's the NFL I mean it's the preseason I I will say this it like the reality of this time of year is what's real are things like injuries, things like player acquisition, and they lost their second best player, arguably, in training camp in Laramie Tunsell, but they also added, I think, a really solid wide receiver in Stefan Diggs. I'm not thrilled about the Tunsell loss. Nobody should be. I've heard some of you suggest that this is not a big loss that Brandon Coleman is going to be fine. And Mitch Tishler was on with me last week, and he's a

big Brandon Coleman fan. And all that can be true. I'm not saying that Brandon Coleman isn't going to play well, but he's not Laramie Tunsell. Laramie Tunsell is a top two or three pass blocking left tackle in the game. You go into a game and you say the left side's taken care of. Let's focus on the other four positions along the offensive line. So, um, that is a big blow. It's not as big of a blow as losing Jayden Daniels, but it's a big blow. Yes.

And let me, I fail to mention the injury to Marcus Marietta as well now, which means he'll be out for at least the preseason that we know of. You don't know if that'll wind up being wrong. Well, they're saying that he should be ready for week one. Okay, right, they are. I know they're saying that. Right. But that could not be the case.

and after Marcus Marriota, does anyone have Josh Johnson's phone number? He's in Cincinnati. He's backing up Joe Flacco and Joe Burrow. Yeah. Okay. You know, I talked about Sam Hartman on the podcast yesterday. I mean, I don't...

Boy, he's a good-looking guy, isn't he? He's a handsome man. I just... I don't know much about anything, but he just does not really look like an NFL quarterback. I'm surprised that they haven't added somebody more... capable. The kid from Rutgers is, you know, okay. So what else? Have you missed anything else in describing the imminent collapse of this team? I didn't say imminent collapse. I know you did.

There's a sense that around the league, not here. Not heading. Heading for success. The pom-pom waivers are feeling still pretty good about everything, although it is true. the sunny styles, you know, amateur Twitter film breakdown people had a field day with him. I don't know what they were looking at. I don't. I don't know how you could possibly come up with the conclusion that Sunny Stiles might be a bust based on one series in his first preseason game. So let me add to your, you know, not add to it. Let me just suggest that it certainly doesn't seem like there's much concern in Ashburn. They're not, it looks like, they're not going to play many starters in any of these

preseason games. Dan Quinn was asked, I talked about this on the podcast yesterday, Tommy. My position is, I'd actually really like to see Jaden Daniels with a new center, with a new coordinator, with a new receiver, with a new running back, with, you know, I'd like to see him play in the preseason. But Quinn was asked today if he'd be comfortable with Jaden Daniels playing zero. preseason snaps and he said, quote, yes, I'd be comfortable with him and other veterans that have played. But we haven't decided in terms of will we or won't we? We had a joint practice last

week. They all got a lot of reps. He'll get a lot today and tomorrow because they went full pads today and tomorrow. They're doing the same. So I have a better sense for where everybody is before we make any of those decisions. But he's thrown an incredible training camp, his accuracy, his command of it, a new system. You wouldn't feel like that for him, but I've certainly been impressed by what I've seen so far by him, closed quote. That certainly is a quote that would indicate that unless things go badly in their padded practices this week, we're not going to see Jaden Daniels, and we're probably not going to see many of the starters in any of these two remaining preseason games. So with all of the.

of the collapse aura surrounding them, they don't seem to be that concerned. No, no, they don't. Well, I don't think they would show it if they were. You know, the decision, if Jane Daniels doesn't play, it reminds me, harkens me back to a preseason game last year where on a drive where they were near the goal line, he took off on a 14-yard run, breaking. tackles along the way instead of sliding to score, you know, and put himself at risk. And Dan Quinn was not particularly happy about it, you know?

I remember there was a quote saying, I mean, Quinn took him out after that, took him out after that. And there was a quote here from Quinn. Basically, he was asked about Daniel's failure to slide. Quinn said, you think those conversations haven't been told? It's part of his game of what makes them special, you know? But he was not happy with that touchdown that Jane Daniels did in the preseason game. He put itself at significant risk.

So I'm glad you brought that up because I actually thought about this when I was talking about this on radio this morning. because yes, there could be the, if he doesn't play in the preseason, it could be because they're really comfortable, but it could also be because they don't want to take the risk. And I went back in that Cincinnati game in the second preseason game, which were the only four snaps he took during the preseason. It was a four-play drive in which there were three runs, and then the drop back was the scramble for the touchdown, 14 yards,

and Cincinnati players held off hitting him, but he didn't slide, he didn't go to the sideline, he went to score. And I just wonder if part of the calculus here is this guy, when he gets going in these games, he can't dial it back. We'd be absolutely vilified, skewered beyond belief if this guy got hurt trying to pick up a first down in the second quarter of a pre-season. season game on a second and 10 or whatever it would be. So there could be some concern there, but let me just throw out one other part of this. Because these teams don't game plan,

because they're not dialing up, you know, protections against Aiden Hutchinson, you know, on dropbacks, there's probably additional risk for, you know, quarterbacks because they're not, it's not, there's no game plan. There's no, look, on third and seven, when we drop back, This is how we're handling Aiden Hutchinson. No, this is player evaluation in these preseason games. Can Brandon Coleman block Aiden Hutchinson one-on-one? We want to see it. Well, they probably don't want to see it with Jaden Daniels in the game.

So I'd give them some leeway on that stuff too. It could be all of the above. I will just say this. I think with all of the new players on defense and a lot of new players on offense and two new coordinators. I don't know how, other than the risk of injury, I just don't know how they don't feel like some level of dress rehearsal wouldn't be helpful.

Well, I would agree with you. I mean, look, I would tend to, on decisions like this, leave it to the many football people who were involved in making this decision. you know, but with all those components that you mention, it doesn't seem logical not to want to let them run through a series or two, even in a preseason game, unless, like you said, it's a fear of injury. Jared tweeted me.

Tom Brady used to throw 30 times in the preseason. if they are worried about JD5 being too much of a competitor, we have a real problem. Look, the preseason playing time has shifted. I mean, Sean McVeigh sort of started all of this, but I pointed out yesterday, Josh Allen played last weekend, Joe Burrow played last weekend, Jordan Love played last weekend. I had a guy on today, Jordan DeJani from CBS Sports, who said that Robert Sala in Tennessee is planning on playing starters close to a half this coming weekend and up to 30 snaps in the final preseason game. That would be a complete shift in the way most teams view these

preseason games. The joint practices, you know, for a while seem to replace the preseason games, but many people think that teams hold back in those joint, in those environments now too. It's, you know, it's about survival until you get to the regular season. And they've already lost one major piece in just a practice. But yeah, I remember, I don't think Brady threw 30 times, but I remember watching Brady, Aaron Rogers, when he was in Green Bay. There were a couple of, you know, big-time quarterbacks who would throw like 15 times on a drive or two just to get into rhythm with their receivers

in a real game environment throwing the football. They didn't care about running the football. You know, the other thing, too, Tommy, is if they start off poorly against Philadelphia and these starters don't play in the preseason, they shouldn't care about this, but it just opens up the, you know, the path to major criticism

for the way the preseason was handled. But you're right. They know a lot more about this than we do. And I don't know what they really get out of these preseason snaps. anyway. It's just so not real football. I mean, I'm very skeptical of what you're seeing out there on preseason. Yeah, 100%. On the other hand, dress rehearsals seem to have some kind of value.

Yeah. All right. Anything else on the aura of potential collapse before the season begins? Look, I'm not waving any white flags here. Yeah. They're going to go as far as Jane Daniels takes. I just don't know, again, if he's got the supporting cast to help him get there. I have no idea what to expect from this team heading into this season. I'd like to think that if he is healthy and plays the majority, the significant majority of the season,

they're going to win plenty of games. I think they'll have a chance to win more games than they lose. And then you look to the other side of the football, adding all of those new faces and a new defensive coordinator, is it possible that they could be as bad as they were last year? I don't think it's possible to be that bad again. I don't think so. And so could they have improved?

Will they have shown improvement defensive? to where, hey, man, they're not dead last or second to last in takeaways. They're not horrible on third down. They're actually getting off the field. The offense has more opportunities. And I know people will point to the schedule. That's a dangerous game. I don't know.

I am excited about this team. I think Diggs was big for them. I think that was a big addition because it gives them Tommy a known entity heading into Philadelphia, a tough opener on the road, rather than a maybe in. somebody like Traylon Burks or you know, Van Jefferson or whomever the other person would have been. I think the Diggs edition was big,

but I think the tonsil loss was huge. I'd like to see him get some work, but I also want to see him completely healthy going into that opener. The opener is always a little bit weird to begin with, but I'm excited about this season. I'm excited about this team. Last year was just the aberration season

for an NFL team when it comes to health. What they went through is really hard to duplicate. I mean, if it happens again, I don't know, you know, at that point you throw up your arms and I'm sure everybody will want major changes. But if they have relative health compared to the rest of the league and Jaden Daniels is healthy all season, I think this will be a pretty good football team.

You know, I don't think on paper they look like the Rams or the Seahawks or the Eagles. I don't know. There's something weird about the Eagles. I just have this feeling about the Eagles. I don't get that. I think offensively, there are major question marks with them. Major.

But, you know, certainly more likely than not going to be wrong about. Like, Philadelphia is so good defensively, talent-wise. The division is interesting because, If Dallas is improved defensively, they should be a good football team. If Philadelphia is improved offensively from where they were at the end of last year, they'll be really good. But I don't know about the fit with Sean Mannion and Jalen Hertz. I'm not totally convinced.

All right, I want to ask you about this C.J. Abrams situation, getting moved from shortstop to second. We've got a couple of other things to get to as well. We'll do that after these words from a few. of our sponsors. Summer can really add up when it comes to how much money you spend, and it adds up pretty quickly. You know, a trip here, a dinner there,

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I miss it. Okay, whenever I'm on the road for any extended period of time, and I get a chance to maybe check out some other cigar establishments, it only makes the heart grow fonder. Shelley's back room at 1331 F Street Northwest in the district. I'm looking forward to making a stop there next week sometime, and I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends at Shelly's. I've made a lot of friends at Shelly's over the years. Some are longtime friends who are regularly there. Others are people who I've met who were just passing through town, you know, business

people, vacationers, because it's that kind of place. It's a warm, friendly place that invites connections with the people around you. And I'm looking forward to making those connections again at Shelley's Backroom. And I'm really looking forward to have one of those burgers from that custom blend beef that they got at Shelly's Backroom. I have a lot of good burgers on the road, all play second fiddle to Shelley's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. Excellent burger. Excellent food at Shelley's.

That was nice. That was very nice. It really is a place for friendships to, you know, start and blossom. I mean, yes, it's the kind of place that makes a great bar. And you can smoke cigars in there. Yeah. Neighborhood bars. We've done that segment before.

All right. CJ Abrams agent spoke to the athletic about Tommy this move that the Nats are planning on making, moving CJ Abrams from shortstop to second base. The agent said CJ is, quote, not thrilled, closed quote. And then the agent, his name's Mike Sanders of Rock Nation Sports, said that his client believes himself to be a shortstop, short term, long term, and I don't think we have a full evaluation yet of how good he can truly be there, closed quote. So if you miss this last week, Blake Boutera and Paul Toboni said that Abrams

would be swapping positions with Nassim Nunez, him moving from shortstop to second, Nunez, who is a much better defensive infielder, would be moving to shortstop, And Abrams initially said, whatever is best for the team, I'm on board, but it will seem a bit strange. Today, the agent said, not thrilled at all. So what do you make of this? Well, I don't know what to make of it. You know, on the surface, I don't think it makes them any more tradable because I just, I don't see where, I mean, I think if a team wanted to trade for him, they would either play him at short or second or do whatever they wanted to do with him.

I don't see it making him any more tradable. Look, he's not a great shortstop. Right. Okay, he may want to play shortstop. He's not a great shortstop. I don't think it makes him any more signable because he's clearly, if they had any intention to sign in, which I doubt they do, because he's clearly not happy with the move. And short stops, let's say short stops make more money generally than second baseman.

Okay. There's exceptions to all rules, but generally short stops get paid more on the open market. Now, I think he'll be traded sometime in this off season. We don't know what the off season is going to look like because of the work stoppage that's probably coming up starting December 1st. But I think that somewhere along the way this off season, he's going to be traded. But I don't understand how this makes him a more tradable commodity, unless they've already had discussions with teams and those teams that have basically told the nationals, you know, we'd be interested in him at second base.

And the nationals are using this to try to help, you know, sweeten that. possibly look for those teams that might be interested in them. I just don't get it. I don't get the timing of it. I don't understand it myself. But, you know, they have a plan. I'm sure they do. I mean, they've had a plan for everything else so far.

So I'm sure that they have a plan, but it just doesn't make sense. The timing of it in particular. This guy isn't... On the other hand, You know, the air has already added a balloon for the nationals this year. You know? Yeah, I know.

But C.J. Abrams is having a great year. He is a very good offensive player. I mean, he is currently, I think, ninth in home runs. He's second in RBIs. He's had a hell of an offensive year. And, you know, you can talk about two, three years down the road. Some of those trades that they made were an indication that they think they're close. They're not as close without C.J. Abrams.

No. No, they're not. And again, this wouldn't seem to help their relationship with the player or his agent. But, you know, that's today. It could change with the right amount of money. So, I mean, I just don't understand it. I don't have a strong position on it because in a way they're probably right. You know, he's probably, I mean, you can do better at shortstop on the field. And they have a line of young shortstop in their system. One of them, Seaver King.

Yeah, yeah. Who is at AAA, lighten it up. Lightning it up. And maybe here before the season is over. I understand the logic. I don't understand the timing. And I'm not sure, again, if they're going to keep him and they're going to sign him, then fine. But, you know, those are long shots.

Yeah. This season really, what a buzzkill the lead up to the trade deadline was. I mean, I'm not even paying attention. like I was. I mean, they got swept by the Mets on the road over the weekend. They're playing the Rangers tonight. I think that guy Jackson, Kent, is pitching again tonight. They like him. They think he's going to be a part of a future winning team rotation. We'll see. How about the Orioles with a losing record, three games below 500 would currently be in the postseason if the season were over? I think they're tied actually for that third wild.

wild card spot. I still have a lot of friends that are so into the Orioles, you know, even more so than the Nats. I mean, that's what you get for not having baseball here for 34 years, but they're not even a good team. The American League is really so different right now, and so many teams are in the hunt for that. I mean, you've got teams that are five and six games below 500 that are like a game out. Washington's, I think, six games now under 500 after the weekend series, and they're like seven or seven and a half out.

Look, the Orioles, I mean, you know, what Paul Tabani is doing in Washington, he's capable, I think. He may be capable of building an organization like Tampa or Milwaukee, where you don't have to have a

big payroll as long as you've got a farm as long as you hit right on your farm system. But they also could wind up being the Orioles. Mike Elias was a genius regarded far more than Paul Savani was when he came from Houston. And, you know, here we are on what looks like another, if not rebuild, readjustment with the Orioles. And, you know, even though right now they're in the wild card hunt, it's been a disappointing season involved. more.

Yeah. And they had to trade, you know, the lynchpin of the rebuild to division rival in Hadley Rushman. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Saw him last night every single.

He's struggling too. Well, he had, I think, two RBIs last night. But actually, Boston last night, every single batter in the lineup had an RBI, which is not easy to do. All right. Speaking of Baltimore, I actually have something on Baltimore's football team that is interesting. We'll get to that to finish up the show after these words from a few of our sponsors. Quick favor to ask if you haven't rated this podcast and you don't mind doing it.

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Following this podcast, hit the plus button or the follow button. That helps us out a lot as well. So I saw this this afternoon. Aaron Shats, the guy that created. the DVOA rating metric, a way of evaluating teams and a more accurate way. I've been citing that metric as a way to evaluate offense, defense, overall team value for many years now. We've had Aaron on the show many times. He put out a story today on ESPN.com where he went back and ranked the best teams never to make the Super Bowl. So, you know, the 2007 Patriots are one of the

greatest teams in the history of the game per DVOA. They made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Giants. So they don't count. It's teams that didn't even make it to the Super Bowl. In the top two teams in NFL, in the Super Bowl era, not to make the Super Bowl, the 2023 Baltimore Ravens and the 2024 Baltimore Ravens. That 2023 Baltimore Ravens team was one of the best teams ever per the DVOA ranking. That was the team in which it's like, okay, they've got home field advantage. They're playing the Chiefs at M&T Bank. Lamar's got to get us over the hump here, you know, if you're a Ravens fan. And he didn't play well in that game. And they lost to the Chief 1710. The 24 Ravens were a good football team. They lost to the bills in Buffalo when Mark Andrews, you know,

couldn't hold on to the two-point conversion that just would have tied the game in forced overtime. It wouldn't have been the difference necessarily between winning and losing for the Ravens. I just thought it was interesting that the top two teams of all time not to make the Super Bowl were both recent Baltimore Ravens teams. And this is why Lamar Jackson is a very, you know, I guess it best for him polarizing conversation. There are some that say, well, it doesn't matter at this point. He's won multiple MVP's going to be. in the Hall of Fame. He's a great quarterback. But these quarterbacks, Tommy, as we know, they get judged on how far their teams go

and how those quarterbacks play in their biggest games. And he hasn't played well in their biggest games. No, he hasn't. So that is pretty damning of, I think, more so than anybody else, Lamar Jackson. And then the team that, the team that. that finished third because those two Ravens teams were essentially, well, I'm sorry, my fault. The 2023 Ravens, I messed that up. My fault, they did a bad job of laying it out.

So I'll give myself a break on this. They listed the two Ravens teams that I mentioned as the first two teams on this list. But they actually designate the 2023 Ravens as the best team number one on the list. and the 2024 Ravens, sorry about this, as the fourth best not to make the Super Bowl. They just put them at the top of the list, which is why I was confused. Number two on the list, and this is a team that you remember and I remember. I think it may be the greatest defensive team other than the 85 bears in NFL history. The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers.

They lost Bradshaw during the year. Mike Kruzek played a lot of the season for them. By the way, he went to St. John's here locally, high school before, I think, going to Boston College. I think he was a Boston College quarterback. That defense, like, I've got to pull it up just to go through it. They had like five shutouts during the course of the season. They held like eight teams to six points or less. Here it is.

one, two, three, four, five shutouts during the course of the regular season. Five shutouts. And then they also held two other teams to three points and one other team to six points. So eight games of holding teams to six points or less with five of those games being shutouts. They beat Baltimore in the divisional. round of the postseason. That was the game in which the small plane after the game ended crashed into the upper deck at Memorial Stadium.

Do you remember that? Yes. That was that game. Terry Bradshaw was back and healthy for the postseason. And then they ended up losing to the Raiders. That was the Ken Stabler. Raiders with Madden as the coach that went on to pound Minnesota in the Super Bowl. But that Steelers team, the second best, the 2010 Patriots, they lost to the Jets in the

AFC title game, and then the 68 Cowboys who lost to the Browns in the divisional round. Going through some of these others, the 8749ers who lost to Minnesota in the divisional round, and that's why Minnesota came to Washington for the NFC championship game is seventh on the list. no Washington team on the list anywhere because really but the 83 team made it to the Super Bowl exactly right that's right yeah they made it in 76 at Steelers team yeah uh you know I would have listed also on that list the 76 Baltimore Colts who they beat for who the Steelers beat 40 to 14 40 to 14 in the division in the postseason yeah division of playoffs That 76 Colts team was 11 and 3.

They led the entire NFL in total points scored an offensive production. Bert Jones. Bert Jones was the NFL MVP that year. Right. Lido Mitchell set a franchise record with 1,200 yards rushing, and they had a great defensive line. Joe Herman, John Dutton. I forget that they had a great front four.

Yeah. I mean, that was a great Colts team. Steelers team crushed them 40 to 14. Crushed them. I mean, those Steelers of the 70s, like I'm looking at the starting lineup right now for the Steelers who beat that Colts team in the divisional round. Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Rocky Blyer, Lynn Swan, Mike Webster on offense, all Hall of Famers, Elsie Greenwood, Joe Green, Ernie Holmes, Dwight, Jack Hamm, Jack Lambert, Andy

Russell, J.T. Thomas, Mel Blunt, Mike Wagner, Glenn Edwards. My God. What a defense, those Steelers teams of the 70s. I mean, and I've thought about over the years, like, the 85 bears are the greatest defense I've ever watched. The 2000 Ravens were awesome. But that 76 Steelers defense, I mean, it's a different game back then. It's really hard in today's. game to shut somebody out. And then to do it five times is, you know, I don't know that anybody's had a shut out twice in a season in recent memory. But those Steelers, if Bradshaw's healthy the whole year, they have home field advantage

in the AFC championship game and they probably beat the Raiders. The Raiders were so good that year. That was the one Super Bowl for Stabler. Yeah, it was. Yeah. But they kept running. running into the Steelers and Miami. In Miami.

70. Right. Yes. Miami and Pittsburgh. Miami went to three Super Bowls. In a row. Yes. Lost to the Cowboys, then beat Washington and beat Minnesota.

They went to three straight. Yeah. Real quickly, before we call it a day, have you been following the Lakers story with the buses and what's going on there? You know, the reports last week were that the sale, Mark Walter, who paid $10 billion last year, was selling to Josh Kushner and Bob Eiger at a record $12.5 billion price for the Lakers. And now you've got the six bus, Jerry Bus siblings kids. Five of them want to sell their 17.8% stake, but Jeannie Bus doesn't. And so there's a real snag.

One of the reasons Jeannie Bus doesn't is that Mark Walter, when he purchased the 60% or whatever he bought last year for $10 billion, he promised Jeannie that she could continue to be the controlling owner until 2030. And she hasn't necessarily gotten that promise from Eiger or Kushner. So this will be interesting to see how it plays out. I've always liked Jeannie Bus. There's something about her. Going back to that, you know, HBO series about the Showtime Lakers when Jerry Bus obviously really believed in that one, you know, kid that he had more than the others. She was incredibly smart.

She was, you know, out-of-the-box thinker as a young woman. I mean, in sports, there were very few women that had the kind of influence the Jeannie Bus had when she was like 22 years old. Yeah. I'm more interested in the whole Mark Walter's sale. Yeah. And the fallout from that. Yeah, sure.

Which could wind up with him selling the Dodgers to. And that would cause a major shitstorm in baseball. Because I don't know who could come up with the money to buy the Dodgers. I'm sure somebody could. Maybe Iger and Kushner could. Maybe. Doesn't he also own a soccer team? Chelsea, right?

He owns Chelsea, and supposedly that he is selling that, from what I've read. What's Chelsea worth? I don't know. I mean, those teams are worth. I mean, this is, I mean, actually, part of the story is above my pay grade because it involves so many complicated financial aspects of how he got his money to insurance companies. Chelsea's valuation is about six and a half billion.

All right. You got anything else? It's really good that you're back. I'm glad you're back. Will you be with me now for the rest of the summer except when I go on vacation? Or do you have other summer plans? I have no more summer plans. Okay.

Well, we can be here together as we approach football season, monitoring the aura of the potential collapse of the team. We can do that together. And Thursday. Thursday we can have a big breakdown of the preseason game against Detroit on Saturday. A preview, not a breakdown, a preview. Yes. A preview.

And we can talk about my man, a fat man, who I understand played pretty well in the first game. Is that Ketron Allen? Yes. The other back looked much better. I thought. I mean, I actually was really, he was the number one most impressive player. Robert Henry, Jr., yeah, from UTSA. I thought that Ketron Allen looked fine. He got 23 carries in the game. They gave him the ball 23 times in a preseason game. That's insane. The fat man likes to eat. He likes to eat. I wonder what the record carry count in a preseason game is. I'll tell you what, it's got to be the most in the last like five or six years.

Yeah, they actually both look good, but Henry Jr. really actually was impressive. But it's the preseason. Who knows? All right. Glad you're back. I'll talk to you on Thursday. Okay, boss.