The Kevin Sheehan Show - Redskins Still Missing The Point

Episode Date: March 27, 2019

Kevin opens the show with thoughts on the new NFL rule allowing pass interference calls and non-calls to be challenged. Thoughts on some of Bruce Allen's comments yesterday from league meetings in Arizona follows. JP Finlay/NBC Sports Washington was a guest on the show to talk about Jay Gruden and Bruce Allen interviews from yesterday. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I'm here. Aaron is here. This show's presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation. And tell them that we told you to call. It was a busy day yesterday at the league meetings. Jay Gruden sat and talked for an hour with all of the local reporters that were out there. Bruce Allen did a few interviews. I know he did one. with JP and JP's going to join us here shortly and we'll talk about JP's interview with Bruce Allen and the discussion that all those guys had with Jay Gruden. I know Bruce did one on one, did an interview with 106.7. Did he do one with 980? I haven't seen it if he has. By the way, for those of you who have asked, the answer is yes. I have asked to get them on the

podcast and I haven't been told no necessarily. I just haven't gotten a commitment from them. And I'm not, you know, I'm not totally surprised, and I'll just leave it at that. And for those of you that, you know, want to have me have them on the podcast to interview them. I appreciate the confidence that you have in me, and I'm going to continue to try. But just so you know, I listen to J.P.'s interview. I listen to the JFK interview. I think they did really good jobs with Bruce.

It's not easy in those situations. You know, you have a list and things you want to get to, and yet you're given a time limit. And as a fan, you're wanting to hear certain things. But you've got to understand from an interviewer's perspective, you know, especially in a time crunch like they all had with Bruce yesterday. It's not the easiest thing in the world. I thought they did very well. And I think they've all done well with the opportunities that Bruce has given them here over the last month, including the one at the Indy Combine.

So we will talk to J.P. Finley from Arizona. he is coming up shortly. The Caps won last night. The Islanders lost. I actually saw and watched some of the Caps game. If they're not going to commit penalties, I'm not a hockey person, but if they can keep people out of the penalty box, I just don't think that anybody wins four of seven from them in the playoffs. But it's hockey. I mean, anything can happen. But they are closing in on the Metropolitan. Pittsburgh's still there. You know, obviously three points back as well, but the Islanders got clocked last night. That's big for them. The Wizards lost to the Lakers, which is the right thing. They need to continue to lose games here down the

stretch. All right, I want to start with the new NFL rule that will now allow challenges and final two-minute booth reviews of defensive pass interference and offensive pass interference, whether flagged or not flagged, just to make sure everybody's clear on that. And I'm assuming that most of you read the news. I actually watched the press conference with Rich McKay, the head of the competition committee, who does a very good job in that situation. The commissioner kept interrupting him, which was ridiculous, because the commissioner is not a good communicator.

Rich McKay is. Troy Vincent does a decent job, too, but Rich McKay does an excellent job. And Goodell kept interrupting this. press conference. I don't know if anybody else saw this, but at one point, I'm like, Gidel, sit down. Nobody wants to hear from you. You're not nearly the communicator. Rich McKay's doing a phenomenal job at answering these questions about this new rule. But anyway, the new rule, again, is that, you know, and it stems from the New Orleans, you know, Rams missed, you know, pass interference call.

It was apparently really spearheaded by Peyton. Apparently, he really had to go into that room and convince everybody that it was something that needed to happen. And he did. And everybody was convinced because it passed 31 to one. Anyway, just to be clear on what the new rule is, you know, you will be able to, the coaches on the sideline will be able to use their challenge flag on a pass interference call, offensive or defensive. And it doesn't have to be an OPI or a DPI that was flagged. If a coach believes that it was defensive pass interference or offensive pass interference and wasn't flagged, they can challenge that. And if it's overturned, they will drop the flag. And the penalty will be called. I don't like it. I wasn't offended by the

missed call in New Orleans. Mist calls, bad calls, they've never hurt the game. Never. Missed calls over the years, bad calls over the years, have only added to the lore of the game. It wasn't the worst one I had ever seen, and it didn't approach being a game changer for me. That's my view. Many of you feel differently, and that's fine too. I don't think it's crazy, nor am I mad that the league and fans reacted to that particular call in a very visceral way. I just didn't have the same reaction, and we did a lot of that when it happened. I see a few problems. I see a few problems. with the allowing of challenges of these calls and non-calls. First of all, it's a subjective call.

You know, pass interference is truly subjective. And, you know, a lot of these calls are subjective. I guess you could say that many catch, no-catch, fumble, no-fumble calls are subjective also, based on the camera angles that you have. I would just say that the majority of defensive passers, interference and offensive pass interference calls are truly subjective calls, more so than fumble, non-fumble, interception, non-interception, catch, non-catch. I think the majority of interference calls, whether it's OPI or DPI, are really in the eyes of the beholder. So the rules

on both of, you know, the rules on OPI and DPI better be well defined, you know, in the rulebook, even more so defined, or the results of these challenges themselves may become more aggravating to fans than they already are. That's my view, all right? They better really have a handle on what constitutes defensive pass interference or offensive pass interference. Or and really have that well-defined so a team knows what they're challenging, or Al Riveron knows what he's looking at in the final two minutes, or it's going to become more aggravating. I do see a problem, Aaron, with a couple of things.

I see a problem with end-of-half and end-of-game Hail Marys. How many of those, you know, are now going to be reviewed from the booth? these are passes very often intended for nobody specifically. The plays end up being jump ball free-for-alls. We know from watching very often it results in contact initiated by the offensive player or defensive player in a jump ball situation in the end zone while the ball is in the air. Are we going to have to wait multiple minutes at the end of every half on Hail Mary throws now to ensure that there wasn't offensive pass interference or defensive pass interference,

especially in the case of the latter, because if it is the latter, defensive pass interference, it's going to put the ball on the one-yard line in an untimed down situation. I think the chances of that happening have been increased with this new rule. Not just increased, but almost made. This is one of the things when baseball went to replay, the double plays and the kind of the neighborhood play. Like everything about that completely changed because of

replay. I think we're going to see the same thing here. This was not something that was really addressed in this press conference on this particular rule. So I see a problem with end of half and end of game Hail Marys. You know, the end of halves and end of games now are going to be on these Hail Marys where there's contact and there's contact on almost all of them. When's the last time you saw a Hail Mary thrown into the end zone, a jump ball where there wasn't contact? So are we going to sit there while, you know, Al Riveron in New York? reviews every single one of them? I think so. So that, you know, that leads to, to me,

an answer on what I believe will become a problem. You know, I'm not convinced it's going to be a problem. It's just intuitively, I think these Hail Mary plays could be a problem. The final two minutes could just be a problem in particular, in part because you see a lot of passes in the final two minutes of haves and games. I think that this particular rule, should not be reviewable by the booth in the final two minutes. That's the one change I'd make now that the rule has been put in play. I'd make that change. I'd make the teams use a challenge flag in the final two minutes

on offensive or defensive pass interference, whether flagged or not flagged. And I wouldn't let Al Riveron buzz from New York in the final two minutes. Let him buzz in on everything else in the final two minutes. Don't let him overturn a scoring play and don't let him overturn a scoring play or a turnover because of OPI or DPI. Remember, all scoring plays are reviewed. So I would not let him overturn a scoring play or a turnover because of pass interference flagged or unflagged. All scoring plays are reviewed.

I would not have the scoring play overturned because of a missed pass interference penalty or a an incorrectly flagged pass interference penalty. The teams, I think, should have to use a challenge flag on this one. That's not part of the rule. I'm just suggesting something that I think would make sense. Most plays, as I mentioned, in the final two minutes of close games are passes. Are we going to slow the game to a crawl in the final two minutes of these games on close, you know, on catches where there's some contact so that New York can look at it, Aaron?

you know, if you leave it up to the booth in New York in the final two minutes, and again, a lot of passes are thrown in the final two minutes of halves and games, especially close games at the end, every single pass that's completed or not completed where there's contact, are we going to stop the game so New York can review it? I think that the final two minutes on pass interference or defensive or offensive, flagged or unflagged should be a coach challenge issue, not a booth review. I would make the teams challenge this one. That's the addition I'd want to this rule.

I don't personally need the rule. I don't want the rule. But if we're going to have the rule, which we are, I would have made it harder for the game to be stopped for what is mostly a subjective review. I think if the coaches know that a defensive pass interference or offensive pass interference call or missed call won't be reviewable by the booth in the final two minutes, they're going to save the challenges that they have for that. They won't use it during the non-two-minute portion unless it's a huge play. I would not, that's what I envision. That is the one

downside that I envision. I don't want the rule, period. I don't need it. It's there, so I'm going to have to deal with it as a fan. There have been many changes to the game that I haven't liked going in. Like the new overtime rule of the last seven, eight years, or whatever it is, I didn't like that going in. I like it now. But I would not, would not allow this to be reviewed by the booth in the final two minutes. I just envision a lot of throws, Hail Marys, and other throws where there is contact

where the game is going to be stopped and we're going to be reviewing catches, non-catches in the final two minutes looking for pass interference. that wasn't called or pass interference that was called to make sure that it was called correctly. I don't like that. That's it on that. Before we get to J.P. Finley, I wanted to just mention one thing, and I'll bring this up with J.P. towards the end, after we get through a lot of other stuff about Jay Gruden and Bruce Allen. But one of the things that Bruce Allen said, and he said this to John Kime, I know, all right? He was asked about, you know, the hashtags on social media calling for his ouster.

And he said, Bruce Allen said to John Kime, in my position, I understand the fans. It doesn't matter if it's Bruce Allen or Bruce Jones, meaning his legacy name from his father from years ago. They want the Redskins to win. The last two years, it's been seven and nine, and it's not a great taste in your mouth.

It's not O in 16, but seven and nine still leaves a bitter taste. taste and it does to all of us. And that quote, I had a reaction to that I just wanted to share with everybody and I'll discuss it with JP as well. I think it goes hand in hand with what we've heard Bruce and others out there say since the season ended, that they are close and close to what we've asked. I think Bruce Allen just told you what he thinks they're close to.

I think he thinks that they are close to. And he said it before, too. Remember when he talked about being a game out of the playoffs this year and a game out of the playoffs in 2017, which, by the way, they weren't. They were four games out of the playoffs in 2017. But this talk of seven and nine over and over again and being close, and it's not O-N-16, it's seven-and-nine,

as if seven-and-nine is a badge of honor. That's the way I'm reading it. But I think what he's saying is that we're close to being 9 and 7 and being a playoff team, and we have been for the last couple of years. We're not a terrible franchise. We're not 0-16. We're not floundering.

We have had a lot of injuries. We had two quarterbacks break legs this year. That's why we ended up not in the playoffs this year. We had the most injuries in 2017. That's why we weren't in the playoffs in 2017. Things that aren't within our control. We are close, though. If we can keep everybody healthy, we can go nine and seven and we can be a playoff team.

And once you're a playoff team and you're in the tournament, you've got a chance. That's delusional. I think that what's missing are two things. One, that in their minds' eye, they're close to being a playoff team. Who gives you shit? They're not close to being a champion. They're nowhere near being close to being in a playoff team. 11 or a 12 win type of team that has a legitimate chance to go compete for a title.

And the other thing is there's no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever. And I've heard as much that they really believe, and I've talked about this before, they really believe that the reaction to Bruce is disappointment. It's not anger. It's not, you know, hatred, apathy, well, leading to apathy. They view this problem in the organization as a problem that they're very, very close to fixing, and that it would have been fixed without all the injuries of the last two years. They would have been a 9-and-7 team and a playoff team in 2017.

He's wrong about that. There were four games out of the playoffs in 2017. 9-and-7 wouldn't have gotten them into the playoffs in 2017. In 2016, they were a game away from back-to-back playoff seasons. Last year, without the injuries, they would have been a 9-1-7. team and would have been in the playoffs. And they view like the last three, four years is each one of those years being so close to being what? A playoff team. Not a contender. I don't know that that's really even something they think about. I think they believe, hey, if we're in the playoffs, we are

relevant. And these injuries have derailed playoff seasons for us. And that's an out of our control situation. And that's why everybody's disappointed. They're disappointed with all of the injuries because they like us believe that we were on our way to doing something. I just don't believe that that's what the issue is with the fans. I think the fans believe they're not close to anything.

And that the reason they're not close to anything is because of incompetence in the front office, the owner, the team president, an average coach going a step further down. This isn't a fan base, that's ready to jump back in on a six and three start in 2019. They weren't in on the six and three start last year. And you're going to hear, you know, JP talk about a question he asked about Bruce Allen

and with respect to the fans. They were not close to jumping on board last year. You had 15 to 20,000 empty seats for a six and three team in a game in November against Houston. You had a half empty stadium for the opener. You had a game against the Eagles in December on Monday night football. For playoff position, where nobody watched the game. This wasn't about Philadelphia taking over the stadium in week 17 after the Redskins had been eliminated.

Long before they were eliminated, nobody was disappointed. They were done. Too many people were done. It's really missing the mark. as to what the fan base, the majority of it, thinks of them. It's also missing the mark to indicate that you're close to something and then you refer to, we're not 0-16, and we were close to making the playoffs. You weren't a threat to win anything in the playoffs in recent years if you had gotten there.

Not even close. Everybody knows that. All right, real quickly, Wind Donation, and we'll bring in JP. Window Nation loves this podcast. I want you to give them a shot if you've been thinking about new windows. I've bought Windows from Window Nation twice in the last 10 years. A lot of my listeners have done the same, and I haven't gotten one complaint, and I didn't have one either. Right now, Windonation's got a great deal.

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and he sat with Jay Gruden yesterday, and then he sat down one-on-one with Bruce Allen. We've talked a lot about what both of them said, and I listened to your interview with Bruce. You did a great job with Bruce, and we'll get to him in a moment. But what do you think, like from the Jay conversation, what were your top two or three takeaways from that? Well, I think maybe the biggest takeaway is that I was pretty surprised when Gruden said we don't really know what our offensive identity is going to be. He's an offensive coach.

He's been running his systems for, you know, 20 years. I was very surprised when he said we don't know what our identity is going to be. And that leads me to believe that they are very much in the hunt for a new young quarterback, whether that's trading for Josh Rosen or trying to take somebody at 15. There will be players available at 15, whether it's Duke to Daniel Jones or I don't think Drew Locke gets there. But for the head coach in late March to not know his team's always. offensive identity, I found pretty eye-opening. And I think it also speaks to a couple of other things

that they have this mandate. They have to win, but they don't really know how they're going to do it right now. And I don't think the other thing I really took away from sit and talking with him, I don't know about this Colt McCoy's situation. I think it sounds when Gruden's roughly said, yeah, you know, we tried to push them back so fast so we could have them for week 17 or for the playoffs that now, you know, we're able to kind of clean the injury up. And I don't know, between Alex Smith's infection, Darius Geis's infection, you know, I think John Wall had an infection, I don't know what's going on with injuries around D.C. But it just, it sounded like the organization is trying to dismiss that we saw a

Colt on crutches and that it's not a big deal. And it is March. But I think Jay said he expects him back for phase two of offseason workouts, which means not phase one. So certainly right now, I think Case Keenoms are starting quarterback. You know, just adding to that, one of the things we were on the show yesterday as you were basically transcribing the interview on Twitter, Tommy and I were sitting here and we were taking each one of your tweets and talking about each one.

because it just happened to have synced up simultaneously with us doing the recording of the show. And, you know, on the Colt McCoy thing, you know, the mention that, you know, he doesn't like to keep three quarterbacks made me jump. Yeah, made me jump back to, you know, the day of the case Keenum trade. And I suggested, and a lot of people thought I was nuts, but I suggested that, you know, if they end up making a big deal like for Rosen or they draft a quarterback in the first round that they. They deem to be someone capable of competing for a starting position. It's not out of the realm that Colt McCoy could be released. They're not going to release Case Keenum. That's a $3.5 million accelerated salary cap hit.

Not to mention they traded for him. So I think we can throw the Case Keenum won't be on the roster conversation if anyone's ever had it. That's not going to happen. But it is possible in my mind's eye. And based on what you just said and the conversation with Jay Y. yesterday, it is possible that Colt McCoy's not on the roster when we get to the end of training camp. Do you agree with me? So this is really funny. I was at dinner last night with Tarah and the guys that are out here,

and we were talking about that because I found Jay saying he doesn't like carrying three quarterbacks fairly stunning coming off a year where you had to start Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson. I get if that's your theory, but I would also get that the experience. of last December might have changed your mind. But we were talking about it last night at dinner, and I was like, man, somebody has said maybe Colts not there. And we couldn't remember who it was. Obviously, that was you.

I find it hard to believe. I think Gruden really likes Colt. We all know that. I think they have to carry three quarterbacks. But I don't know if you heard the part of the conversation when we started talking about running backs and and jay i thought oddly did a minute or two on how much he likes samaj p rind how he's got to get p rind the ball and so i jumped in i was like i was like you're going to carry four running backs and three quarterbacks and he's like yeah i don't know we're

going to have to figure it out maybe that means less corners maybe that means you know he just named a bunch of roster spots but i don't see i don't see i don't see how they can keep four running backs and three quarterbacks. That's just... I don't know what it is about Jay and always mentioning running backs, but over the years, we have constantly heard him discuss running backs that have never even gotten carries in the regular season. You know, it really does. It happens all the time with him, you know, whether it's Matt Jones or Mac Brown or, you know, and Samajie. Like when I heard that he was talking about Samajie P-Run, I'm like, there you. goes with these running backs. I think part of it is in his own mind, he believes it's a commodity

position that he can make anybody work back there. Not that Adrian Peterson wasn't a massive difference maker and that he didn't appreciate the difference maker that he was. But the Capri Bibbs mentions the Mac Browns over the years. He always goes out of his way to list the running backs you know, fat rob and all of them that could potentially get a carry and he never seems to want to leave any of them out in the conversation and that's what I took out of this

Somaget P-P-Rine thing. For sure, and he does that, as somebody that has to transcribe a lot of what he says, I know he does that with almost all the position groups. And I think he generally feels bad at leaving someone out. I think you're right about

that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday he mentioned Casanova McKinsey. And when we talk about receivers, he'll mention Darwin Kinsey. You know what I mean? Like, he'll mention everybody, whether or not they're particularly germane to what we're

discussing. I think that's so true, and I think there's just been a special emphasis for whatever reason on the running backs, but you're right. He never, when he's talking about competition, he goes down the list of everybody

that is on the roster at those positions. It's just his thing. That's why on the on the Samajai P-Rine thing, I didn't, I didn't think too far into it. Like I didn't, I, he's not carrying four running backs. I don't know. Yeah. Because you can't, they can't trim at O-line. With everything that's happening at O-line, you got to, you got to keep a bunch of those folks. Right. And I, you know, I still don't understand. The way he talks about Vernon Davis, Vernon Davis,

certainly on this team for 2019, there's got to be a restructure coming there or something. I don't know. I find that really remarkable that we're three weeks into the new league year, and Bernard Davis is still slated to make, I think, $8 million. Yeah, it is interesting. And maybe part of that is that they do have tight end in mind in the draft, and that's when they would make that move once they have.

I mean, look, we've seen, they didn't make those cuts right away on the, on McGee and on Zach Brown until they had you know they had a sense of what they were going to have. They're just they wait until the last minute on a lot of these things.

Back to the quarterback thing. You did tweet out that Jay said, you know, on Josh Rosen, it doesn't matter because he's not available. What did that mean? I think

when I, so I asked Jay about Rosen and knowing that he can't comment. I mean, just tampering don't allow him to comment on another player, which is weird because if I ask him in season about facing Carson Wentz, he can comment on it. But I think he was just kind of playing it carefully. The way I phrased it was, you know, did you scout Josh Rosen last season?

What did you think of him? And he said, yeah, I scouted him. He's certainly a good player. but he was just kind of dismissive of it. He's like, but that doesn't matter because he's not available. He's like, do you want me to comment on, he made a joke about, let me just talk about Tom Brady too. And I was like, I don't know, is Tom Brady available?

And it was, you know, kind of just went away from there. Well, clearly there's, you know, limits as to what he can say about a player that's not on his roster and is under contract with another roster. But I sort of thought that perhaps, I believe that they have probably sniffed around the possibility of Josh Rosen being available, that there's some conversation that's been had like, is he available with the Cardinals? But I also have this sense that the Cardinals aren't going to make them available until they're 100% sold, you know, from an organizational standpoint that Kyler Murray is going to be their number one pick overall.

I mean, you know, there's no, they don't have to make a deal for Rosen now. They can make it the week before the draft, three days before the draft, or once they get on the board, or after the draft. I mean, there's no urgency from Arizona's standpoint other than a team may be willing to give up more to have that player available for all of the offseason activities leading up to next year. Yeah, especially a quarterback. I think you'd like to get in your building and learning your system as soon as you can. But I think Rosen gets moved on draft day or maybe in the run-up that week once teams are really focused on it. But I do think Tyler's going one overall. I do too.

We don't know, but I certainly expect that to happen. All right. A couple of more things from Jay. He mentioned about Jordan Reed. You said that he used the words, we're going to buck the trends. Jordan's going to be just fine. What did he mean? In a lot of ways, I feel like Jay kind of got boxed in on some questions because of the question,

I think that came from Mike Phillips from Richmond, was, you know, you have all these guys that have a long history of getting hurt. How can you keep building around these guys? And I think if we had truth serum in Jay Gruden, his answer might have been different, but in that position, he had really no choice but to say, this is going to be a different year and just try to sound optimistic. And I think that's all I'm saying. No, that's fair.

You know, on Paul Richardson, you know, he mentioned that, you know, we never got a chance to see the full Paul Richardson because he was dealing with the shoulder injury from the start of the season. Well, Seattle in many ways never got a chance to see the full Paul Richardson either because he was always dealing with various things. I mean, this has been a bit of an issue with them and, and, and, you know, and, you know, certain players is that these players had the injury history coming in. Absolutely. Richardson is a really good example.

Relying on Colt, you know, potentially as a backup. Jordan Reed. Right. Trent Williams. Morgan Moses is, Morgan Moses plays through it all, but is always hurt. Brandon Sheriff is coming off a major injury. And it doesn't particularly sound like there's a lot of progress towards his extension. Yeah, there's guys like that all over the roster.

Interestingly, defensively, they kind of have more durable guys. Ryan Kerrigan's never missed a game in career. Josh Norman, I think, didn't miss a game last season. I think he missed a game two years ago. You know, Allen and Payne played every game last year. Ionitis is a guy that gets banged up over the past few seasons. But certainly on that offensive side of the ball, Chris Thompson's one we haven't talked about.

who hasn't, I think he's finished a year on IR twice. And then you look at the receivers. Richardson, certainly. I mean, have you ever seen or spoken to Paul Richardson? He is almost shockingly skinny. And, you know, that's great because he's a speed guy. But you have to worry about him taking big hits because he is a slight person. And then docks in with the heels and Achilles.

whatever else. I mean, we can keep going, but there's... Look, I mean... There's a lot of injury-riddled players, especially on their offense. To your point... To your point, I mean, one of the things none of us should forget is the way we felt at the very end of the season, which was, yes, there were a shitload of injuries,

and they had two quarterbacks break legs, but the strength of the football team we thought through the first half of the season was the defense. They lost... The defense lost basically Quentin, Dunbar, and it regressed significantly. And so here in the off-season, you add Landon Collins, and you get Dunbar perhaps back, I'm not entirely sure as to his health, and you lose Preston Smith and Zach Brown at this point in terms of starters. How good is the defense going to be?

That was the single biggest reason they were six and three. Oh, yeah. And Jay put a He challenged two players specifically in yesterday's comments in Josh Norman and Ryan Anderson. And I don't think that was on accident. I don't think he just kind of stumbled into those questions and said that about those guys. And frankly, both Norman and Anderson are guys that pay attention to that sort of stuff, you know, social media and whatever. So I think for Ryan Anderson, it's pretty understandable why he needs to be challenged. I think the production for a second round draftic hasn't been there, frankly. I think for Norman, he actually had a better year than most people give him credit for in 2018,

but his price tag is so high that the expectations that comes with he isn't delivering on him. Yeah, I agree with that. And, you know, I heard that Bruce has sort of patted himself in his front office on the back, for how well they've drafted, yet, you know, you just mentioned Ryan Anderson, and then the year before that, Sue a Cravens. And, you know, you have, that's dramatically hurt this team. Darius guys, they got nothing out of. You go further back. David Amerson. Did you get enough out of Trent Murphy? I would say you didn't. Well, I mean, and you didn't resign Preston Smith. So what did you ultimately get out of that? I mean, it was four years of inconsistency, more

more or less. Not to mention the year they drafted Trent Murphy, everybody needs to remember. They traded out of the pick that became Tank Lawrence for the Cowboys, moved back and took Murphy. Yeah, I didn't remember that, but that's a good catch. Two more things on Gruden before we get to Bruce. He said Locke is ready to play and Haskins isn't. Do you think he told us that Locke is higher on their draft board than Haskins?

I don't know. because I think it was more about the systems they're playing. The conversation was about, one thing I kept trying to ask Jay and Bruce was how do you balance needing to win and developing for the future. And so that question tied in with like the systems they're running in college, how quickly can these guys be ready to go? And Ohio State basically runs a Big 12 offense. You know, they're not, that is far from an NFL offense in Columbus.

and Askins only started one year, whereas Locke was the starter. I want to say three seasons in Missouri. And I think Jay was pointing to that, not necessarily where they are on their draft board. That said, I think they do like Locke. I think NFL, I think fans might be surprised by how much teams like Drew Locke. And it wouldn't shock me if he nudges ahead of Dwayne Haskins. once draft day comes, but I don't know that I didn't take that exactly that the skins have

lock higher on the draft board, but it wouldn't surprise me either. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if Locke goes before Haskins either. Did Jay tell you that, which is what I think Bruce told you, and Bruce wasn't happy with you telling him the team's names. needs, which was funny. We'll get to that in a moment. But do you think they told you that there is absolutely no guarantee at all that quarterback is top priority in the first round or second round? That essentially, let me rephrase, because that was confusing. I got the sense from both of your interviews that it is not a lock that the Redskins are going to take a quarterback in the first

two rounds. Maybe. Jay and Doug at the Combine both said that quarterback is very, very important. And that was before Colt McCoy's second surgery. Whenever you talk to Bruce, somebody over Redskins Park told me this, and I think it's a really good way of framing conversations. I never, I went around for the George Allen era of coaching the Redskins, right? Yeah. But I understand that he was a all-time secretive type dude. Didn't he like have people in the bushes making sure nobody was watching their practice? Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. He was convinced the Cowboys were spying on him and Tech Schram and Landry were convinced the Redskins were spying on them. It was a different day. But George Allen was incredibly paranoid as a, as a, as. as a coach and as the front office, you know, executive and general manager. So I, someone at the park told me, you know, this is George Allen's son. And that was their way of framing it as Bruce likes to keep everything very secretive. And, and get, you know what you actually said it earlier, Kev, how they do everything at the last minute.

I think that is, that is on purpose, that is strategic. Like on cut down day was what I referenced with Bruce. was, I don't understand why you have to wait to the absolute last minute if you know you're going to cut these guys. But the belief over there is we wait to the last minute to see who other guys cut. And what if we want to put that claim in on our roster? And I think some of his reluctance to say that the team needs a quarterback is based on not giving any sort of advantage to other teams to tip their hand of what the team needs or wants. I very much think a quarterback is in play at 15, and if not, I find it kind of telling that Jay Gruden had dinner in Morgantown, West Virginia, with Will Greer, who's probably a second

round quarterback. I'm curious, I don't know if or when NC State has had their pro day. I'd be very curious if the team reaches out to Ryan Finley. They have 30 official visits. I think we only know about two or three of them so far, so there's going to be more names come. All right, let's get to the Bruce Allen interview that you had. You had 10 minutes, I think, with him. You did a great job. What was your big takeaway from that? What was your favorite part of it? Whenever you have these interviews, and I know I've done them so many times over the years,

you always, you know, when it ends, you're always thinking, yeah, that was a really good, you know, Q&A piece of the interview. What was your favorite part? Certainly kind of pushing back on them about quarterback. I think that that's the part that stood out for me was just to press that issue a little bit. And I know there are lots of issues folks would want to press with Bruce Allen. I don't get as caught up in the business aspect of things, but I did ask him about the fan base. And Week 17 was full of Eagles fans.

And earlier in the year, there weren't any, you know, it wasn't very crowded in there. And I think, you know, it's important that at least that discussion, happens. You don't really get a lot of answers. And credit Bruce Allen. He's really good at kind of that senior executive level of speaking where you talk but don't say a whole heck of a lot. But I certainly think we had a decent little back and forth about, like you said, what I determined the teams needs to be. And for those that haven't listened to it, it's a good listen. It's on J.P.'s podcast, so you can get it in NBC Sports Washington or anywhere you can get a podcast. It's called Redskins Talk Podcast. And, you know, of course, follow JP on Twitter at

JP Finley, NBCS. The, yeah, so Bruce, you know, basically JP was talking about needs and at one point Bruce was a bit flippant, or that's what it sounded like to me, saying, well, you've got, you know, you got our needs all figured out, huh? Basically, which is fine. And I took that in good strength. I have a little bit of a relationship with Bruce at this point, and I think it's good to be able to kind of joke with one another. Yeah, sure.

That drives towards honest conversation more somewhat. There are two things that I wanted, three things, actually, that I wanted to focus in on with Bruce. Number one is this, you mentioned the Eagles game, and whenever the fans, reaction, the fan apathy, fans disappearing conversation has come up with him recently. He focuses on, look, our fan base was disappointed. Not angry, not checked out, not gone, but they were very disappointed because we had quarterbacks that broke legs and it derailed our season. And when we got

to the end of the year, I mean, you know, Philadelphia was in it and we were out of it. And I wonder whether or not you think he has a grasp on what the real reaction is, which is not disappointment, as we both know. Nobody's disappointed about the injuries and the season derailing because of the injuries. They're disappointed, they're angry and now apathetic because he's still there, because he's got a losing record, the team's lost big while he's been there, and that he's still there. Do you think he grasps that reality? or that he has been able to convince himself and Dan that it's just a fan base that's disappointed

because of the injuries and the way the season went at the end because of the injuries to the quarterbacks? That's such a good question, and I don't know the answer. I do think the organization very much believes if they start winning again, that will take care of everything. And I'm not sure that the game I point to was when Alex got hurt, but six and three skins, six and three Houston, battle of first place teams, nice weather.

I think it was early November, maybe mid-November, I don't remember. Beautiful day, the week before Thanksgiving, yeah. I mean, that was perfect football. That's what you would script, and that place wasn't full. Not even close. That and the home opener against the Colts are really the games that stood out. With some team against the Eagles, I mean, Philly fans have always come down. That's happened forever, you know.

It was certainly disappointing and crazy to see, you know, to that degree. But I think the home opener in that Texans game were just the bigger kind of jaw droppers. and does Bruce recognize, I mean, that hashtag thing was so wild there for a couple weeks. Still is. Still is. It's not as bad as it was, though, right? I mean, I look at their Twitter, you know, once, twice a week just to see, you know, what the reactions are to any tweet they put out. And it's still pretty prominent.

But I just, I don't know the answer to that either, which is why I have. asked you because you had a chance to sit down with him and you sort of went in that direction. And what he's done is he has, you know, publicly focused in on the disappointment rather than the reality that I think most of us know, which is no one was disappointed, you know, for the home opener. Nobody was disappointed with two, six and three teams in November, you know, in what was, you know, a big game. No one was, no one was overly, you know, disappointed when, you know, you you went to Philadelphia for a Monday night game and barely anybody in this city watched the game compared to what it would have been two years ago, three years ago.

So we know it's a much larger issue than disappointment. I think they've been able to convince themselves, he himself and Dan that it's a disappointment thing, not a, you know, it was revolt and anger. Now it's just we can't even get their attention. Yeah, I think there's some disconnect between what a lot of the fan base, and you and I have talked about this, not on the air, about guys we grew up, people we grew up with that were huge skin fans that are still, to me, you know, a lot of my friends are still big skin fans. They just don't go to games. They're way less interested. Yeah. And I think that is 20 years of mediocrity to bad football. I think that's a huge part of it.

But certainly, to your point, I posted a picture on my Instagram and go follow me on Instagram. There's a plug, J.P. Finley, NBCS. But I posted a picture of Bruce and I just from the interview. And I got a bunch of comments on it at least 30% are just higher Bruce Allen with the hashtag, which I didn't even think would hit Instagram, but it's kind of funny. It's certainly still going. Yeah. What do you make of what we've all been talking about to a certain degree over the last few?

weeks, and that is communication between front office and coaching staff. Jay Gruden's comments when the season ended that they had to be more on the same page. Then the Doug Williams comments after the Landon Collins press conference from a few weeks ago. Tell everybody what, you know, essentially you got out of both Jay and Bruce on that front. Yeah, I wanted to ask both guys about the communication issue, just because Jay's comments at the end of season press were so relevant. And I do think a lot of that, what Jay said when he was upset about communication between the front office and the coaching staff, was more about, I think a lot of that was about DJ Sweringer, honestly.

Right. I think there were probably members of the staff that wanted that dealt with earlier, and maybe it didn't happen at quite the same time frame. Jay and Bruce said they communicate fine. I think Jay has some frustrations in the building over his role and his future. I tried to press Bruce on that a little bit, just that, you know, Jay is going into the second and last year of his deal. A lot of coaches get a little antsy, and Bruce said, you know what, that's normal, and it just kind of dismissed it. The one thing, though, that I found pretty interesting. So, Jay, you know, a couple months ago in January, Jay said there was a communication issue.

here in late March in Phoenix, Jay says no communication issue, Bruce says no communication issue. Yet, Jay and Doug have talked openly about needing a quarterback, and Bruce says it's not a need. Now, again, I think some of that is just the Bruce Allen subterfuge mantra he operates with, of just not tipping your hand at all, and I kind of understand it, but it just kind of spoke to that point of maybe there still is a divide, or maybe at least publicly these guys don't seem to be on the same page. Yeah, you know, part of that is simply put, they have too many, you know, cooks in the kitchen with respect to public relations right now. We weren't hearing from anybody there for a while except for Jay,

and now all of a sudden there's been this, you know, ambush of Bruce multiple times, Jay multiple times, you know, Doug multiple times. So, you know, at some point, if you've got three people talking to the media, they're going to get, you're going to get, you know, somebody to miss, state something or crossed, you know, crossed wires, and it's going to look to be perhaps even more confusing from the outside than it is actually on the inside. But that's their fault, too, right? Because they should have one voice that's able to communicate the message from the organization, but they haven't been able to do that.

Yeah, I don't know that I, as a reporter, I'm not going to say it's their fault because I like the increased access and availability. And, you know, we blasted them for a while. That's right. For nobody talking. So I'm not going to fault them now. I mean, it's pretty, yesterday we, you know, and Bruce talked with everybody. It wasn't just me. I just kind of, and the only person to put it all out, you know, other outlets do different stuff when they get those interviews.

You know, in a weird way, I kind of ran out of stuff to ask him because I've talked to him four times now. It's off-season. Yeah, no, no, no. And by the way, just so we're clear, what I was saying is. is on some level it's not really that unusual if you've got multiple people out there speaking on behalf of the organization, that there's going to be some perceived, if not, you know, real wires getting crossed. Like it's just the natural result of having too many people, you know, communicating, which, by the way, to your point, we were looking for just, you know, somebody to communicate other than Jay.

And I think everybody wanted Bruce. And we've now gotten multiple, you know, Bruce's here. over the last month. And my guess is we're not going to get much more of them because they will be in draft lockdown mode. And, you know, other than somebody probably dug to speak right before the draft and afterwards, I would guess that that's probably it for Bruce for a while. Do you agree? Yeah, I do. There's an NFL, I believe it's an NFL mandated presser. I think it's the week of the draft. It might be the week before. And I think you're right, that will probably be Doug, and then we'll get, we get Jay on a conference call after the first round, and then I think

after the second and third picks. So, yeah, we'll get Doug and Jay, is my guess, kind of for the next little while here. But the wild card in all this is when do we get to hear from Dan? When does Dan Snyder speak? And I think when the stadium news comes out, we're going to get to talk to Dan. And I think that, he hasn't talked in years, I don't believe. And it's interesting being out here at owners meetings where other owners do a media session. He's not comfortable with it, J.P.

I think the thing we've learned from the last several years is this is not something he's comfortable in doing, and that is just public speaking, public appearances. And I think that's one of the reasons he's felt so good about Bruce, is Bruce has taken them off that hook of having to do that, you know, time in and time out. I can't remember the last time we heard from Dan. It was more likely than not at some sort of, you know, Redskins charity event is my guess. I can't remember. We talked at the Redskins Welcome Home Lunch with Muriel Bowser, I think, talking about, you know,

there was a lot of talk about getting back to RFK. And, you know, I don't think he liked speaking with the media. but in that event, I thought he was really well-spoken and engaging. Now, he and the mayor certainly seemed to have a relationship that they were quite comfortable speaking with one another. But, you know, I think in the wake of the Brian Lafamina stuff, I don't know that one has anything to do with the other, but the organization has been way better about media requests

and Bruce talking and Doug talking, and it's interesting. Speak for yourself on that. I mean, just availability anyway. Yeah, again, speak for yourself on that one, because it's been more of a challenge here on the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast to... But if you were out here, I wonder what would have happened. I know, but, you know, when we were the rights holder and we were owned, you know, by a company that Dan Snyder, you know, backed.

We didn't have, for whatever reason, the access that other people had. But that's for another day. You and I've talked about that before. But the last thing, and I agree with you, like, since everybody was begging for Bruce, like, when's he going to talk at the end of the season, we've heard from him. I mean, you know, what have we learned from him? It depends. I mean, everybody's, a lot of it's open to interpretation.

and the last thing that I wanted to ask you about is definitely an open to interpretation kind of thing. And that is, and I don't know that he said this to you. Although, by the way, real quickly on the RFK thing, I think that was a great, you know, when you asked him about, what do you remember about RFK? And he said, it was great. It was all, like, those are my, I'm older than you, those are my first memories of this franchise, is his father. And, you know, bringing, that was really the beginning of what we know to be.

the popularity of the Redskins. I mean, Sunny was a popular player in the 60s, but the team became really, you know, beloved because of his father and what his father did, you know, starting in 1971. But anyway, I got sidetracked there. One of the things that he has said, he said this to Kime yesterday, he may have said it to you as well. And this, this bothers me to a certain degree because I think that this goes sort of hand in hand with what we were talking about before, you know, that people are disappointed, not, you know, angered and now apathetic. He said, we were seven and nine the last two years. You know, it's not a great taste in your mouth, but it's not Owen's 16. But seven and nine is a bitter taste and it does, you know, and it tastes

that way to all of us. I really think that this, this guy and this organization, really does believe in their own minds that the last couple of years, they've just been right on the cusp of being 9 and 7 and being a playoff team. And that that's really the goal. They just want to get into the playoffs. Yes, I mean, I think the whole organization, after Alex Smith broke his leg, I mean, that place was a fairly depressed building. I mean, from the front door to the locker room.

Whether or not fans believed in the 6-and-3 record, the team did. And I think the year before 7-9 was actually a little uglier because they had been, they were eliminated, I think, Thanksgiving. Or the week after that bad loss. At Dallas, yeah. You had all the Kirk stuff going on. But this year, the team, the organization, really thought. they were going to win the division, you know, maybe be able to win a wildcard game and, you know,

get to the second weekend of the playoffs. So that was really the thought there. So certainly, I think, you know, I think the coaching staff and the front office don't feel the same as so many fans that the sky is falling. It's time to rebuild. Yeah. And you see it in the move to go get Case Keenum. Yeah, it's, and that's what's troubling. What's troubling is what you just said, that they were devastated with Alex's injury. And the fact of the matter is they must have missed the point that Jay Gruden's now made and made out there yesterday with you guys just how bad they were offensively. You know, and at the position.

And it's like, well, okay, where was this headed, though? Well, for them where it was headed was a potential backdoor 9-and-7 Cs. in first round wild card road loss, but hey, we got there without the last guy. I mean, we got there and we didn't need the last guy. It would have been sort of proved a point in their own mind. Perk-related? Yeah, I think it is on a certain level, I think it was. I think that they felt a lot of pressure to outperform the previous, you know, two years. And it doesn't mean that they're aspiring. They got the same thing. Yeah, and they got the same thing. But my point is, is that the

aspiration, the goal here, they can say it's championship, but really in the moment, they just want to be nine and seven and be in the playoffs because they feel it'll sort of take a huge weight off the organizational's, you know, the organization's shoulders. I don't know. I mean, we all, you know. I hear what you're saying for sure, but like coaches don't think like that. Players don't think like that. You're right. You're right, but Bruce did it was. don't know. I think, I mean, Kyle Smith doesn't think like that. The organization is trying to win playoff games at the highest level. I think maybe Bruce thinks differently because he wears a lot of hats. He's on the business side of things, too. I just, I mean, they're not drafting, like when they go to

the draft or they go to free agency last year, they're not just trying to get players that make them good enough to be a lot of big violent crime. I know what you're saying and I completely agree with that. I guess what I'm saying is when I hear Bruce talk and I hear him talk about how close they are and we all know that they're... We can debate close to what. Yeah. It's not that they're not intending when they draft a player for that player to be great and for their roster to be great and eventually win a Super Bowl. I think last year was a year in which Bruce more than any other because of the previous years and the quarterback decisions that were made, I feel like he really needed and wanted and felt they were on their way at six and three

to a nine and seven season and a playoff berth, and that would have been arms raised in a V. And I'm just saying that the goal shouldn't be nine and seven, but he has spoken in various ways of we're close, and we know that they weren't close to a Super Bowl. we know that they weren't close to a 12 and 4 or an 11 and 5 season. The thing that they've been close to the last few years, and last year perhaps, is a 9 and 7 wild card kind of season. And that shouldn't be the goal, but I think it is for him right now.

Not that he would ever state it that way. Well, and I agree with you that maybe that was part of it last year on the heels of Kirk and just how bad that got handled and everything. But I don't think now that matters. Right? I think whatever shadow the cousin's saga created has moved on. Yeah, now the shadow is the hashtag fire Bruce Allen and to prove all of those people wrong about how he's been building a football team,

which is why I think all of those players on injured reserve coming off, injured reserve and playing well is his hope more than any because those are his players. I mean, I think the shadow to me now is Alex Smith's contract. Yeah, but in his defense on that one, I mean, we can all debate as to whether or not they should have given them a contract extension. And I think, you know, it's debatable. And not everybody was for it. Not everybody was against it. But, you know, that's an out-of-the-control situation, a career-ending injury, which no one counts on or even thinks is a possibility.

Totally. But I think for the team, that has the absolute biggest impact on what they can. do for 2019. Yes, agreed. Agreed. I think that when we get to training camp, I mean, we will start asking the question again to each other and fans with each other, whoever's left,

you know, is it a win or see you later to everybody's season? Because I felt it was that way last year and was proven wrong about that. And I can't imagine that we're sitting here a year from now after another seven and nine season talking about the conversation that you had with Bruce Allen and Jay Gruden at the league meetings. I just can't even imagine that that's a possibility, but it is a possibility. Distant in my view, but it's a possibility. That the whole gang comes back? After a seven and nine season?

Again, I didn't think it's entirely possible. I think I think seven and nine is absolutely possible. I think Jay and Bruce all coming back is entirely possible. I think I see very few scenarios where Bruce Allen goes anywhere, honestly. And I think at least until a stadium deal is done. Yeah. And so, you know. And the only place I really think he would go is retiring.

I don't, I think Bruce Allen's future with the Washington Redskins is very, very secure. Yeah. Well, and there you go. You just answered the question as to what your view is now. And I think that that is stunning on some level, but you can't discount it as a possibility because this organization with Bruce Allen has been a losing organization and yet he continues to come back. And there are reasons why, I'm sure. I think the owner feels comfortable with him more than anything else. that's it but we're you know we're talking about we weren't oh and 16 last year we were seven and nine and we're close and I think most people would look at this and view next year's team right now as a double-digit loss team on paper at least that doesn't mean it'll play out that way when I saw when the when we talked to Bruce in indie I think at the combine I asked him

I was like you know you said you're close and and as you make moves this off season what are you close to? And the answer was kind of a non-answer. But I think, you know, the biggest questions for me are my term is QBX. Who is QVX? Who are they bringing in? Because they're definitely bringing somebody in. And what are they trying to compete for?

I think the steps the Cowboys have made. I think the Eagles are really good. I think the Giants have backtracked. But are they competing for the NFC? title? Is that a realistic goal? The Redskins are going to go in as certainly, you know,

the Giants have taken a step back here in the last few weeks, a few weeks we know that, but I think the Redskins over under right now is six wins. You know, and that seems like the right number to me. I mean, that's... I kind of like the over. Okay. I think I get seven and nine again. Another seven and nine.

Woo! Let's go get another seven and nine next year. Seven and nine's always in play for any team in the league, I think you could say. I don't know. I mean, we've got to see what Keenham looks like. But are we, now he'll turn the ball over more. But I think he'll go down field more. Is this team dramatically different than last year?

No. No. That's one thing that fans have kind of pushed back. I don't see them bottoming out. I don't see three and 13 or four and 12. I think six and ten might be the right number. that's what Vegas has it said at. But I think if six and ten is the number, seven and nine is absolutely in place, I think

five and eleven would be. Here's why almost anything other than, you know, 11 wins or more is in play. It's because if you start out poorly, you know, these things tend to spiral out of control. And we haven't seen that necessarily, you know, with a big hole early enough, you know, in the season where it starts to spiral. I mean, you know, even we, I mean, it's been a while since there's been a, you know, the two losses to start 2016, but remember, they'd come off a playoff season in 2015, and then 2016 turned out to be really one of the best regular seasons, not 2016, yeah, 2016 at the point where they had beaten Green Bay, they were in the midst of their best 10 game record in a long time. I think it had been in 20 years, something like that. Were they 5-3-1? 6-3-1 after they beat Green Bay, I think it was.

And, you know, the tie was a joke because it was a missed 30-yard field goal that would have ended that one. And, you know, the losses they had during that stretch, I think one of them was in Detroit where, you know, Hopkins missed a couple field goals. Well, Matt Jones got a football. Yeah, right, yeah. So, I mean, in terms of – Didn't they give up a 90-yard drive to lose in the final minute? Kirk had that bootleg touchdown. take the lead.

Right. Exactly. Had they had the read option keeper to take the lead. Was that a read option or was that just a straight boot? If my memory serves me correctly, he was a read option keeper. Yeah. But the, you know, there's no doubt in my mind that the high point, 2012, but in the last five years, the most optimistic you had, any of any fan member, any fan was, was it 6-3?

and one after that Sunday night went over Green Bay. And even after they lost to the Cowboys in that Thriller on Thanksgiving Day, it looked like things were on the rise. Like they were, they, they were close to something, not 12 or 13 wins, but they were close to being what appeared to be, you know, consistent in the Hunt playoff team at that point. But we know how that went. None of it touches 2012, the excitement there. No, nothing, nothing touches 2012. Totally agree. I would think 20, 15 when they beat the Eagles to Clintonian Division, went down to Dallas for week 17. That was meaningless. Didn't they ring up four touchdowns in the first half? Oh, yeah. That's where he set a bunch of the records and Jordan Reed set a record, you know, in that first quarter.

I mean, that was Kirk's best football. Was that six-week stretch in 2015? I think his best stretch was in that 2016 run up to, you know, actually through that Dallas game, really. when they were six, three, and one, and, you know, you put up nearly 500 yards on Thanksgiving Day at Dallas, and the defense, the defense was horrific. We know, in 2016 was about the worst third down defense, worst third and long defense in NFL history since the merger, and that killed them, you know, all year. And then, of course, Kirk and the team played poorly in that final game to get to the playoffs against the Giants. All right, thanks for doing this, as always. Have a safe trip back. And let's get some.

something on the calendar for golf. Are you going to that touchdown club dinner thing? I don't know yet. I may not be in town for it. Okay. I'll be there. Okay. Well, we'll think. Open bars, so I'll get your drinks. All right. We'll figure out of time to play golf too. See you. Sounds good. Thanks, Kevin. Thanks to JP. Always good to catch up with him. Real quick word about launch workplaces. Launch workplaces has fully furnished brand new offices in their Bethesda location. Conference rooms, co-working desks, high-speed internet, complimentary drinks, cafe, free parking, and 24-7 access.

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if you mention my name, 240, 86714, or go to launch Workplaces com. That's 240, 800, 6714 or launchworkplaces.com. They've got facilities all over town, and you can find out where all of those are at launchworkplaces.com. Last thing I wanted to finish up with real quickly, and then we'll turn this one loose for the day. Be back tomorrow, get you ready for baseball season, and that's opening day with a couple of guests. Tom Eil Collin as well, Sweet 16 discussion tomorrow also. So Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Steelers, and their sit-downs, see, all of these coaches had all of these sit-downs yesterday at the league meetings.

And I mentioned, you know, Bruce talking about 7-9, we weren't 0-16, 7-9, and all of the talk in recent years about being close to something. Mike Tomlin said, in a very, you know, disappointed way, reflection and analysis of how we operate and how I function is a natural point of procedure when you're a normal. nine six and one football team like we were last year we all need to look into the mirror what we do and how we do it starting with me that's the approach i am taking closed quote they were nine six and one last year and the redskins would have paid to be nine six and one and who to have just barely qualified for the playoffs which i think they would have done at nine six and one or you know

been able to to hold up their head and say hey, we had a pretty good season. Big difference between, you know, organizations like the Steelers who have struggled here a little bit in the offseason with, you know, the Antonio Brown situation. And by the way, yesterday Tomlin also said he's got no issues with Ben Rathesberger as the leader of this team. He said, quote, I have no problem with his player, his leadership. You know him. You don't know what he's, he said, you know him, you don't do what he has done at the level that he has done it for the time in which he's done it without responding appropriately to the challenges and adversity.

That's in his DNA, closed quote. Juju Smith-Schuster also came out on Twitter and defended Ben and said he's been a terrific leader for him, to which A.B., Antonio Brown responded on Twitter, and I'm paraphrasing, basically guys who haven't gotten paid yet are always going to be positive about their quarterback, wide receivers in particular. A.B. should shut the hell up. He's in a new place. If I'm John Gruden, I mean, I know it's hard now that he's been paid,

but you've got to go to Antonio Brown and say, let your last girlfriend go, all right? Enough about, you know, the Steelers. You're a raider now. Focus on this. Who cares what Juju Smith-Schuster said about his quarterback or Ben Rothelisberger's coach said about Ben? Who cares?

You're a raider now. Let's hear you say positive stuff and nothing about your old place. But I thought the Tomlin, you know, Tomlin, to me, I don't think he's a great coach. I never have. thought he was a great coach. But I can only imagine that playing for him,

that there's no gray area. There's no, you know, figuring out what his meaning is and what he's saying. He's very direct. I imagine that he's a terrific manager of people. And whether or not he's a great coach, you know, I think a lot of the game strategy and clock management stuff over the years, It's been horrible from the Steelers. But anyway, him coming out saying we're a nine, six, and one football team and being disgusted about it,

put that side by side with we're close at seven and nine. Have a great day. Thanks to J.P. Finley. Thanks to Aaron. Back tomorrow. We'll do some baseball. Sweet 16. Tommy will call in probably another guest or two as well.