The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1456 - TNF Preview, Kirk Herbstreit, Mike McCarthy, Dolphins CB Jack Jones, Dan Orlovsky, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

On today’s show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys preview tonight’s Thursday Night Football game between the Bills and Texans, and look ahead at this weekend’s slate as they set the table for week 12 of the NFL season. Joining the progrum to chat about tonight’s game, and some of the biggest storylines around the NFL is NFL on Prime color commentator and the voice and face of college football, Kirk Herbstreit. Later, Super Bowl Champion, former Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy joins the progrum to preview tonight’s TNF game, chat about managing rookies and how you develop young QB’s at this point in the season, and much more. Next, CB for the Miami Dolphins fresh off a game sealing INT in Madrid, Jack Jones joins the show to chat about this Dolphins team as a whole, playing for Mike McDaniel, and why things seem like they’re trending upward. Lastly, 12 year NFL veteran at QB, ESPN NFL analyst/QB guru Dan Orlovsky joins the show from the side of the highway to give his thoughts on JJ McCarthy and if the Vikings are in trouble, or if they’ll be okay long term. Make sure to subscribe to youtube.com/thepatmcafeeshow or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you, we’ll see you tomorrow. Cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our Humbley Bo, the Thunderdown. On this NFL week 12 kickoff Thursday, November 20th, 2025, this sports program begins now. Football! It's magical, and week 12 of the NFL season is kicking off in the AFC South as the Houston Texans host the Buffalo Bills. Now, Dougie Davis Mills will be the quarterback for the Houston Texans. He's out of Stanford. He's been in the league a long time.

We've been talking about Dougie Davis Mills so long that we actually just call him Dougie because that's how much we talked about him. Dougie got a lot of playing time throughout his career in Houston, very experienced guy. We've talked about these backup quarterbacks having experience and at least understanding how to operate in offense because whenever a backup quarterback gets dropped into a game, it is a nightmare situation. The team is not prepared for you to be the quarterback. You've got no reps with anybody.

And oh, yeah, you've been sitting for two, two and a half hours. Now it's your time. Now, I'm not saying that's what he's been doing here for the last couple weeks here since C.J. Stroud got the concussion, but I'm just saying that is a backup quarterback's life. So how good you have to be a quarterback. The backup quarterback position is a big deal. And Dougie has been a guy. I think that whenever they needed him to step up and play some ball, he's been able to play some pretty good ball for the Houston Texans. Now, he's taking on a Buffalo Bill's defense tonight. Now, this Buffalo Bill's defense has certainly been talked about in a big way. Because that big guy on a graphic right there with the white helmet, yeah, he's the MVP, and he just came off.

a record-breaking weekend. He did something only he has done one other time, and the autograph in 1954 has done since 1950. So he is special, that big one there. Can he win a Super Bowl with the defense that they have? Well, the defense can't really stop the run that good. Okay, so they can't stop the run, but past defense, very good. Past defense second, okay?

So secondary seems like pretty damn good. Front seven, being able to stop the run, haven't been able to do it. Now, they say, and if you listen to J.J. Watt, whenever he was calling the game, he said he talked to McDermott about it, and I actually thought to myself, well, JJ in these production meetings probably good, like JJ asking real questions. And I think everybody in NFL, not that this hasn't happened before, I'm not knocking it, but whenever it comes to the Buffalo Bill's conversation, I assume McDermott has a lot of respect for J.J. So whenever J.J. says, like, hey, why is your run defense ass, which is basically what J.J. Watt said to McDermott. He said, well, we thought it was kind of gap stuff that we weren't really at. And then it got down to, like, the tackling.

And then we needed to be better tacklers. So they think they got the gap thing down a little bit. Now, they still have been giving up. Okay? They still been giving up. But tackling is a mentality. And it feels like if they're able to turn that on, with how talented they've been on the back end in the past defense,

this Buffalo Bill's defense maybe can be one that can get there. They just haven't shown it. Do the Houston Texans says six-point underdogs on one particular sports bill? Wow. A lot of points. Five and a half points on every. other sports book. But you can get the Houston Texans right now and six points to kick this thing off against the Buffalo Bills off of a historic weekend, okay, in Houston. Now,

place to play. I have been on the record of saying this, and I know a lot of people think it's because of Houston Texans are the Houston Texans. Houston Texans, though, whenever C.J. Strav was a rookie, maybe, and then it's kind of, you know, not continued to happen there. But whenever I played for the Indianapolis Colts, and by play, I mean, kicked balls for the Indianapolis Colts. We had to play in Houston every single day. It was during the JJ. Oh, man, nightmare. It was, actually. Yeah.

I mean, every time he's jumping up on these. Yeah. You open a program, they leave a program on the locker room at every single locker before the game and you get there early, you just kind of, you're forced to read it almost, like you look through it. J.J. Watt with the local car dealership turn a corner. J.J. Walk can sell you headstones if anybody dies. Beautiful, I bet. Boom, yes.

Jay J.J.W. Bloody Nose. Yeah, but that's also selling the ear, nose throat. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, John, who's a huge. I mean, he was, you know, during commercial timeouts, they have, like, ads run on the jumbo truck. J.J. was representing some state. Every single one of them.

JJ, I mean, it was, and every time got a pop. And every time there was an opportunity and a chance, he was going to just take over the game. And every time, it was seemingly for, like, the AFC South. You know, it was like a big time. So it was normally Thursday nights we were playing, normally primetime games when we were playing down there. And that place was the loudest place that I had played in.

Now, I did not play in Seattle. I had a chance to experience Seattle a couple of years back. It is certainly loud. I'm not saying it is not loud. But the place that I played at every single year was the loudest that I have ever heard of stadium. That was one of those places where your ears actually kind of hurt once you walk out of there. So I assume tonight should be a great atmosphere. Now, it's much different than when JJ was on every single page and everything like that.

And when that team was obviously humming and doing their things. So I have no idea what we're going to get. but I do know that if the Texans are ever able to figure out how to get on track, which they have the number one defense in the league, D'Amico Ryans, everybody loves them. C.J. Strah was supposed to be got...

If the Houston Texans can ever get going, it's like, that would be a powerhouse down there. Especially how big that city is. Yeah. People forget Houston's top five city when it comes to population in the United States of America. It's like, that place loves ball. That place could be great. And tonight there's a chance that they make a massive statement

as six-point dogs on Thursday night football. It'll be on Amazon. Okay. We obviously love the prime telecast. We'll be having Kirk Herbstree join us in about 10 minutes. The Toxic Tables here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the Hammer, Cowboys AP tone is here. And I'm realizing you opened the box that we got sent to the Thunderdome and put the hoodie on

because that hoodie looks like no hoodie that I've ever seen before. And I opened that box this morning. And I said, wow, it seems like the hoodie just has no opening. So that's what it looks like on is what I'm realizing. That looks very cool. That's a super, the things that Bruce is showing me on screen down here do not need. I mean, it is. High fashion.

I didn't know that that potentially does look exactly like that. I was not thinking like that. I think you look awesome right now. I think you look immaculate. Thank you. Is that because you feel good on how you're seeing the game in the night? Six points spread at one particular sports book, five and a half everywhere else. What's the percentage of money on who?

And what can we take from that? Yeah, 77% of the money tonight, or 78, one point. I was on the Buffalo Bills. It's down to 77. Now, obviously, you said it's six at ESPN, five and a half at every other sports book right now. Earlier in the season... Which, so... That might be... This might be a part. Yeah. Go ahead. Could have been the issue. One more days. Jeez. Earlier in the season, it was all dogs on primetime and all dogs on Thursday night. But as of late, the favorites have had their way a bit. But this one is a, it's a heavyweight fight

tonight. You've talked about the Texans defense and the Bill's offense. They're basically both top five in literally every single category. So that side of the ball is going to be awesome tonight. And then it's how much do you believe in the Bill's defense and how much do you believe in the Houston Texans offense? Davis Mills, I just looked it up. He has thrown force in his two starts, 292 and 274

with about 62 and a half percent completion percentage. So he's been good. So there's a chance the Texans can move the ball tonight. They aren't the best rushing team in the NFL, but I think we're in for a heavyweight bout at least on one side of the ball. What did Herb Street do, talking about Iowa, Oregon?

Shh, shh, don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. Keep it down amongst the friends here. This one feels like Houston tonight covering six. I'm almost too confident. I don't like where I'm at. I've almost started to fade myself already this morning because of how confident I was, Houston Texans, plus six.

Then he starts rattling off stats. 2.92, 260 something. Yeah. He's been good, 270 something. And then you think about, hey, Chob, right? Oh, yeah. They got Chubb, sure.

They got a chubber. Yeah? I've seen him. Yeah, the big chub. I've seen him. I've seen them. Oh, yeah? You know, I've seen it out there.

Eico Collins is pretty good. Six points, a lot of points, especially with how that Buffalo Bill's defensive. But then you think about what what J.J. Watt said about Sean McDermen saying, we'll turn it to tackle it up. We'll get better at that. It's like,

Yeah, they will. Maybe this Buffalo Bill's team tonight wins by 30. Maybe this Buffalo Bill's team fresh off a historic weekend, a record breaking weekend for the MVP. Six touchdowns, three on the ground, three through the sky. Josh Allen's, Josh Allen, this is the MVP. This is who we have come to love and to come to expect.

And he still loves the game. I mean, he's celebrating every single time. The boy's still leading the group. He's having the boys over at the house. Josh Allen, the perfect NFL quarterback. Every other team is looking for a Josh Allen. Now, what does it take to be a Josh Allen? He got to be gigantic. think you got to be able to throw the ball 100 yards

actually be able to do that. You've got to have a work ethic as if you came from a ranch and you've got to have an attitude that is like perfect for ball, you know? Jovial, have a good time, but also voted the biggest shit talker in the entire NFL. It's like, this dude is what

everybody's looking for, okay? That is 100% true. So maybe tonight the defense turns it on and the Buffalo bill say we are exactly who we were supposed to become in this season. Or, the trend continues for Josh at NRG Stadium. Have you seen this?

Have you seen this? We have trends? Hembust that. Please pull it up. Josh Allen career at NRG Stadium, including the playoffs. Oh, and three. Oh, no. I don't know if it's the air.

I don't know if it's a stakes on the railside. 46.9, QBR, that's not a good idea. That's not Josh Allen. 46% completion percentage. Are those always right next to each other? Relation percentage in QBR? Do we know? No idea.

What goes into the R1 one down here? I don't know. So many. so many things. It's only out of 100. I know that because somebody told me somebody's QBR the other day and I said, quick,

need the denominator. Is that with the 1001 or the 127.4 one or the 150 one? It's the 100. The QBR one, I would like to let people know I like the QBR one the most. It's out of 100.

I think that makes the most sense. Yes, it does. The ones that grandstand and can't act like they can't get the 24.2 points down to 100 so that we can all understand what the grading system is as opposed to doing.

well 24 of 100 is a quarter so if it's an 80 we got to add a quarter difference onto that so it's actually is that a B rating or is that a what the hell is that's yeah the pass rate 153.8 or whatever it is bingo that's the one so then you start doing a math well what's a 110 that's 43 under good but it's above a hundred it's thirds I think so it's like a seven what you start doing a math uh-huh QBR they made it 100 that's my favorite one yep This one that Josh Allen has at NRG Stadium, not good, okay? He has been great, basically everywhere. NRG Stadium, which has had multiple names down in Houston.

He has not been fantastic. I'm excited to see how tonight goes. There's so many things we can pull from to make ourselves feel justified. 77% of the money now is on the Buffalo bills, minus five and a half or minus six, whatever the case is. And this first time I've ever been this like, to layup. 23% is an absolute.

dude, layup. And then you start thinking like that, and then all of a sudden another stat pops out from NFL and prime folks are like, hey, just a heads up. Whenever dudes on Thursday nights, never loses. Did Hembo Habekite said that one? Or is trying to tell a story one way? It is interesting what story the stats tell from the perspective of the statistician.

Yes. You know, because it does feel like we can find stats for both sides of everything. we'll hear some stat that makes us go just like we said and then somebody will come back with the opposite I'm like wait I thought there was a majority on this side that said this how is there a majority on this side that says this well there's two different focus groups that we get the numbers from but also there's two different questions and sex of answers that there could potentially be so now we got a majority on both sides well how so what's the purpose here what is it no it just they help your argument it's like well I need one to pick a Thursday night football game exactly okay Josh Allen really good on Thursdays. Not good at energy. Which one means more? Which one means more? Which one means more? Which one means more?

Unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Can't really earn the greatest. They're not good at all against the run. He can throw their greatest stopping it. Does that just completely mean the Buffalo Bill's defense dominates the Houston Texans tonight? Because their worst part is there also not the best part. You know, there's so many. Two of the bill's losses, two of the best defensive they played, Atlanta and New England. They scored 14 and 20.

So can Dougie Mills get to 21? That's the question we'll be asking all day. Let's go around the NFL a little bit, shall we? J.J. McCarthy chit-chatted about what life is like now that he is a starting quarterback in the NFL and what the expectations are now of his game. Coming in here, I was taught how to play quarterback in a very different way. That's expected going into the league, going into any new team, any new system. But at the end of the day, you know, it was really just the injuries that I felt like,

you know, kind of took away all those reps and the constant repetition to make those a habit and make them concrete like K.O. talks about. But, yeah, I feel like, you know, it's just the repetitions, you know, how many times could I go home and every time I take the dogs out, I'm getting, you know, 10 drops each time, little things like that where you just keep building the reps. I like stealing reps. Now, I was a guy that would do a wall sit somewhere, like an ass. You know, like if we're out somewhere.

Sure. Let me go steal a wall sit. Sure. Let me go get a minute. Let me get two minutes. Now, I used to be a public pass set guy as well. And I did that mostly whenever AQ Shipley was in my life. And I think that was because I was trying to showcase to him that he can get extra reps publicly as well.

I like any time somebody's stealing reps. Now, what a lot of people are taking from that, I think, is, hey, he needs to work on a lot of stuff all of a sudden. He's already in the NFL. he's in a second year. What's the entire angle here? And what's the end game of changing up your entire swing once you make it to the PGA? And it's like, well, we've seen guys in the past

have to change the way they throw and change the way they operate in the pocket. And we're just chatting about the guy he's playing tonight. Josh Allen was one of the most raw, talented humans that I think the NFL's ever seen. I think that would be an easy sentiment. There was things in highlights of him,

his rookie year, jumping over. Like, not somebody diving at his waist. This person was meaning to helmet to helmet tackle him. And he jumped over this guy's head in the middle of a game. And then he would go to throw it. And boy, it was in the stance. Nobody's near where that is. So it was like, ah, it was also, it was, it was its own experience.

It was. It was its own experience. And then the next year he showed up and, wait a minute, his balls aren't in the stands anymore. They're kind of a little bit closer. Then the third year he shows up and it's like, bang, we get Stefan Diggs over here. we get another deep option and also pinpoint target bang bang bang so everybody kind of points to the josh allen story because where he was his rookie year versus where he is now let alone

where he was year four year five is uh is what everybody hopes whenever their guy maybe doesn't fit the NFL football style early enough joining us now is a man who has i hope uh literally maybe the most sane answer about this all this guy watch jay Jay at Michigan told us JJ has everything that you would possibly want to be an NFL quarterback. Now he's hearing that JJ McCarthy is having to change some things up midseason here in his second year. Excited to hear what his thoughts are on how JJ will attack this and if he'll be Josh Allen. Ladies and gentlemen, Kirk Herbstree. Yeah, Kirk. It feels like you're the right guy to ask this to and about. I don't know if

you got to hear the sound bite, which is why I was trying to re-summarize it for you there. as I was asking you the question. J.J. McCarthy had a press conference where he chit-chated about how changing his drops, changing his throat. People are basically saying, hey, he's changing the quarterback that he is here, middle of his second year. He also mentioned, because of the injury, I didn't get all

the reps my rookie year and also rookie off season. So what do you think this means for J.J. long term? And is he, Josh Allen, is there another Josh Allen on the way where development is about to be crazy? Because we're seeing J.J. miss, you know, some balls that I don't know if

we all expect it. I certainly did not, Kirk. I agree with you. I don't know if, you know, the Josh Allen trajectory and what he's been able to do is kind of a unicorn. I mean, he's such a rare commodity. Looking forward to seeing him tonight. But I think what, how many starts does J.J. McCarthy have? Five or six starts in his career at this point. And I think in a year where we've seen Daniel Jones and Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold all kind of get things, kind of resurrect their careers and get it in the right spot, I just think it's very premature, whether it's a guy like J.J. McCarthy or Michael Pennix or wherever it might be, to look at them and evaluate them and make a declaration that this guy's trash or this guy's not, doesn't have what it takes. I'm not saying that you guys are saying that at all, but I know there are people out there because we are as a world of consuming sports, especially at that position, we want results right now.

What have you done for me last week? What did you do against Baltimore? What did you do against Chicago? And like this week, if he goes out in balls and people will be like, oh, he figured it out this week. It's not like that. You know, I think the injury last year set him back, just getting reps, just being around. Even this year, there were times when he wasn't able to get a lot of reps, you know, Monday through Friday.

So that's going to slow down your development. I was surprised. I don't know if he's going to rephrase that next time he talks publicly with the media about, you know, I'm learning how to play quarterback totally different from what I knew in the past. I mean, he was pretty effective at Michigan. Now, let's remember the kind of quarterback he was at Michigan. he was not a quarterback like you see in some of these systems that run some form of a spread and the quarterback does everything you know he's throwing it 50 times they go as he goes

this was an offense in college that ran the football they they were in 12 and 13 personnel they were in 22 they ran the ball and set him up to do play action and he and he did it really really well. I just, I think when I, right there is. Yeah, right there. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I think that I always thought is the marriage. I thought with he and, and, and, and, and, O, I just thought the scheme very similar, he could, I thought, K.O. could kind of adjust this scheme to his skill set, and I still think that. And I think as, as, as they progress and get better, it's funny, we were at dinner

last night, and Sherm asked me if I'm out on J.J. McCarthy, we were walking back to the hotel. I was like, are you out? He's like, I, man, I don't like, I don't like what I'm seeing. And he's like, he's like, I wouldn't be surprised maybe if, maybe they wouldn't get like a Mac Jones or somebody else. Because it's really hard, you know, to watch a guy develop when you're trying to compete in the NFC North. They made this decision, though, Kirk. Like, you mentioned Daniel Jones there, whenever you're saying the resurgence in the second year because you let somebody develop,

but like Daniel Jones was in their building last year. Now, they made an offer for Daniel Jones to remain. I think the Colts did not offer as much, but certainly told him like, hey, you could be the starter here, no problem going forward. Then Sam Donald, the success that he's having. I think Aaron Rogers wanted to play there. And what Kevin O'Connell's been able to do,

to your point, everything you're saying, is like he's been able to win. So they were playing for the number one in the NFC last week of the year last year. So I think it's natural that everybody's thoughts like the team is ready to go. You got Addison, he got Justin Jones. I mean, look at the pieces around him. I mean, you got a lot of pressure to play good now

though, I think. Like that was kind of building from all the decisions that made before. Now, let's go back. We talk about how good of a coach Kevin O'Connell is. This is J.J. McCarthy literally talking about quarterback development right now, you know, like that is what he is saying. Like, he's having me work on this. He's having me work

on that. That's like development. That is actual coaching. That's happening. at a team near you, you know, you would help. So I don't know. Them making, my entire thought on is all those decisions they made. I think they thought JJ was going to be good right now. I think he said, I look at him almost as a rookie, you know, and, I mean, look at Caleb last year. I think there are a lot of people that are like, this guy's trash.

Get rid of this guy. He's terrible. You know, and then they went out and got Ben Johnson. He got more reps. Game slowing down. He's starting to make better decisions. Have you been eating vitamin C? Have you been taking vitamin C?

I need vitamin C. No, it's too late. You already lost. Yeah, you're done. You should have been seed up, bro. Hey, how long have we been seed up in here? Oh, since October. Hey, we actually, this is a, we're not a big like, hey, let's think months in advance type of.

I've already, I've already lost the battle. Oh, yeah, you're done. Sounds like it. And I don't want to. But we've been seed up. I've been battling my boys for three or four weeks now. Seed up. bro you need to be seed up you need to start that that's what we do every morning there's actually

somebody that delivers the sea you know around like hey here we go can't have anybody doing the whole what what what brand on the sea are you are you guys going with we're looking for the pure c out there if you have good pure vitamin c from our understanding it is good for fall especially if you're in a position where you have to speak a lot and there's a guaranteed allergy or something going to hit everybody's this area you know how about last week um we were in and Todd Graves and Luke, Brian, were having a little house party. We were getting ready to call the game, and my voice was like this. And I go over there with Peter, and they wanted to say hi to Peter.

I go over there and people are, you know, tailgating, having a good time. And I'm talking the way I'm talking right now. Luke's like, what's wrong with your voice? And I go, man, it's just that time of the year, you know, traveling. He's like, man, he's like, I got something in the house. He's like, you got to take this. And I forget what it was called, but he's like, here, you got, you got inflammation. He's like, this will help you out, runs into the house, comes out with this bottle.

And this is how much I trust Luke. I got no idea what it was. And Todd's like, you sure this didn't go to affect his mind? You know, he's got to go call Texas, Georgia in a couple hours. And Luke's saying, no, no, no, he'll be fine. It'll just help his voice. So I rolled the dice and took it. But I had no idea what I took.

But it didn't affect my mind. I would have been sick, man, if it would have been like dealing. stuff somehow, that'll make sure, imagine your, but he said he uses it on stage. When you get on stage, you'll be doing this too, but I, I, you need to watch it. You need to watch it. There is something on the way up to something season is currently in full bloom. But on that note, I've talked to a bunch of those guys, and they have a bunch of shit. There's like a vaporizer thing with some stuff that helps, because that's obviously their

livelihood, you know, and they're doing a lot of traveling. But for us, I think in the fall, I think in this weather, it's a guarantee. I got to start taking my seat. I've got to get on the team. Even Conner's doing it? Oh, yeah. He's one of the drivers. What the hell is that supposed to mean, Herbie?

Let's not get to start. You don't want me today, Herbie. You don't want this. Hey, Connor, what did you think of, I know you guys tune in to Cam all the time on his takes. What do you think of what Cam had to say there about the quarterback that I love and this Patriots team that I love with Braves? I mean, what he said today, I think he's not too.

far off. Can you really say you trust Drake May more than Patrick Mahomes right now in the playoffs? No, no, fool's goal. I don't mean that. I think, I thought he called him Fool's goal. He said that originally, but even that, I'm not sure. I'm not, I don't put too much stake in those shows just because we all kind of know how they work behind the scenes. So that entire thing is not something I really even. I don't know what that. Well, you know, a person wants to say one thing and not everybody can say the same thing even though one thing would be right. So the other person's going to go the other way for the debate itself. But, I don't put too much stake in it.

I also... We would like to say, we do not know if that's 100% their gimmick. We are saying that it's weird that it finds the microphone, the person who disagrees with the other person on a regular basis. Yeah, this is not factual. This is just based on how the show has gone for the last 10 years, all those types of shows. Typically, it's one side versus the other.

Now, I don't know if Cam Newton truly feels that way. I do know Drake May grew up a massive Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers fan, so it would be weird for him to take that stance from the young quarterback, who loves him, who also did an ode to him versus the Panthers when he scored a Russian touchdown and did Cam Newton celebration. So there's a lot of things that go into that thought in general.

We just hope they move along this entire thing. But he has to prove it. No matter what, either way, whatever the schedule is, you got to win the biggest games in the playoffs when that comes down the road. Yeah, Drake's still very young. Obviously, not a lot of big-time football yet because he hasn't had the opportunity,

just literally hasn't had the opportunity to be there. We're all excited to watch it. We all believe in him. And I don't think Drake may take a shot back at Cam Newton. No. think if you pull the quote and and write it and just put it out there it certainly sounds like it's a shot but what is actual answer and what he was asked it's not a shot at all let's go to a w-e-e-i uh 93-7 fm you're familiar with this guy and he played for the patriots cam newton

um said the patriots are fools gold that was his words not mine um do you do you hear those things Do you react those things? Any comment on that? No, no, I don't know even. I don't know what show he's on. I think they get paid to make remarks and you'll make certain comments. So, you know, I'm just worried about what people in our organization think and worry about what we think and my teammates think.

And everybody's going to have different opinions. So we should go out there on Sunday and worry about ourselves. Great answer. That was from. That was from Fitsy, and I really apologize. I'm not sure who is co-host. Fitz and Witt. We appreciate that. Just got pulled up right here.

Okay, boom, yes. No, Fitz and Witt is... I don't think that was not at all. No, it wasn't a shot. He was asking if he heard it. Go ahead. I think he was just basically saying, you know, I don't know what show the... You know, I'm in the film room.

I don't know what show he's on. I'm just worried about the guys in the facility, this organization. We're just trying to win games. I think he just went into kind of that Bull Durham quotes. You know, I think he was... I didn't take that any... I really didn't take anything there. But if you pull it and you put it up there and say,

I don't even know what show he's on. That is certainly, if you potentially put it out there, it's Drake May saying, who said what? Yeah, I don't even know what show he's on. Love the uni. Yeah. I love that, you know. Hey, we love everything they're doing.

We actually kind of hate how much we love everything that the New England Patriots are doing. You know, it's kind of a tough pill to swallow at this stage of life in football fandom. Yeah, but even to your point about pulling the quote, sorry, Kirk my bat, real quick. He also called Stefan Diggs a diva in jest. And if you were to pull that quote, of course. And you read it, it's like, oh, what?

He's calling his number one wide receiver a diva. But like he's just joking. And yes, I guess it's kind of weird if your starting quarterback isn't watching ESPN every day from 10 to 12. But Drake May is a 23-year-old kid. All he knows is what Vrable is teaching him. And what do you think Vrable is saying, like, hey, yeah, you should be listening to what everybody's talking about you? Or do you think Vrable is saying, hey, if you're listening to anything outside, outside this building, you probably don't belong in the building to begin with.

Well, and also, if you are listening things outside this building, when you were speaking to the media, you were telling them you are not. I think that is certainly a part of it. And I think you were about to say something about the Patriots. I was just going to say two things. Number one, about Drake May, probably the nicest human being I've ever covered. He's got three older brothers. They all love to kind of bust each other's chops.

And so if he does something, if he says like, hey, I don't even know what show he's on. I don't think that was taking anything more than just trying to kind of spin it towards. We're focused right here on what we're trying to do. He's entitled to his opinion. We're just trying to win games. But I do think can you find more talented teams,

more experienced teams on rosters? Absolutely. But as we know, this is a team game. And right now you have a team, a mix of old with young, that are having a lot of fun playing together. And you know what winning does to a

team. And some of these games, Connor, they would have lost some of these games earlier in the year. You know, you start stacking wins. Think about how their season started and think about where they are now 11 weeks into this thing. I just think this is one of those teams that looks forward to going over the facility, looks forward to practice,

looks forward to the meeting rooms. It's incredible what good karma and what good kind of that mojo that you try to create. Culture. And right now this team has it. How far will take them? Who knows? Are they fools gold? Who knows? They haven't played the toughest schedule. But I'll tell you what, the more they believe in each other and they play for each other,

and the more they start to really show that, hey, we can win some of these games. They're going to be a tough out as we go down the rest of the way. One of the MVP favorites is the quarterback. So, yes, you can win any game with that. That's kind of the conversation. And to the Fool's Gold thing, I think the perfect encapsulation would be you can argue the two best wins for most teams this season. One would be Patriots in Buffalo in prime time in the last night game at Highmark Stadium when they were wearing their new uniforms like you're seeing in New England and they beat the

bills. And then you can argue Todd Bulls off a by on the road in Tampa Bay against Baker Mayfield, who was an MVP candidate before he played the New England Patriots defense. So the Fool's Gold, yeah, that's Asinine. But aside from that, the other thing to talk about too, Kirk would be, I think it was the last 10 Super Bowl champions each played eight or more teams who were under 500. So if we want to do the whole schedule sucks thing, we can go back through every single Super Bowl champion schedule over the last 10 years and judge their schedules.

But again, people who don't know ball don't realize that when you finish last or second to last in your division, your schedule does actually get easier. And that is what's happening. Hold on, Herbie, hold on Herbie. Hold on Herbie. Hey, how sick of hearing that day? I'm not even sick of it. It's just one of those things where it's like so many people don't know ball

or understand how it works, that, like, you can't answer them all. And it makes sense why football coaches, football players, people who are actually in the game, can't even go on the Internet just because of how stupid people are on there. Yeah, the Patriots are a wagon, though. That's all we care about right now. Exactly. Yeah, and with the Trivion Henderson's become a great story,

but Ramandre Stevenson comes back. Boy, they're going to have a one-two punch in that backfield. And they've been doing this the last couple weeks with just Trevion. So when they get healthy, be fun. I think Baltimore on the road, Buffalo, of course, looking for revenge. Those are going to be tough games for them, but they're going to be heavily favored all the rest of their games. I mean, I said I think last week, there's a real shock. This team's looking at 13 or 14 wins, you know, whether it's Fools Gold or not,

they're probably going to be the one seat throughout. In my opinion, I know you love Indie. I think New England is going to get home field throughout the AFC playoffs. And we know how important that is when you. get to the postseason in that cold weather with Brable as the head coach came so close to the AFC championship when he was in Nashville. And I think if he gets that home field throughout, they're going to be a tough team to beat. Yeah, Foxborough always incredibly difficult and their fans very, very good. And you look at their road, they certainly have what seems to be a great

path to that. And we got to remember, these are all NFL teams, even the teams that are ass at the end of the season. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of players, though, at the end of the season who are trying to like earn spots in roster spots. So there's a team that is, an ass team that is going to catch one of the very good teams towards the end of the season. That's just kind of how it always is. Who is that guy? We have no idea who that guy is. Well, he just earned a job next year somewhere.

So that was like a Super Bowl type situation for him. We talk about the Patriots, obviously, being the team that could potentially be the one seed. Let's talk about who they have. The Bengals, go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Kirk, it looks like, I mean, speaking of ass teams, you know, this Sunday, the Patriots played the Bengals,

but it looks like the Bengals might be getting back Joe Burrow. He's full participant at practice yesterday. We'll see what happens today. So they have that on Sunday and then quick turnaround and they play again on Thanksgiving. What's your take on that whole situation? Obviously, if you're

a Bengals fan, if you are that franchise, he's your franchise guy, he's the face of the franchise. So if he's healthy, he's going to want to play and you're going to want to see him play. But at 3 and 7, I just, I mean, is there any way they can get into the playoffs? We'll see. But what are you expecting to see from Joe Burrow?

because they really, he can't be so, so, like he needs to be last year's MVP Joe Burrow right when he gets back into the game on Sunday, and can their offensive line protect him? We'll see. What do you think about that whole situation? Yeah, I think any time, I mean, I'm just a fan of, you know, growing up as a kid in Southwest, Ohio, a fan of the Bengals, but I'm a fan of Joe Burrow. I'm a fan of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. I'm a fan of these great quarterbacks and watching them be healthy and watching them play

like you guys and like all NFL fans. So nobody can get into the mind of Joe Burrow. This guy's dealt with so many injuries and very unusual injuries for a quarterback to deal with. You go back to that calf that he had. Of course, he had an ACL in his first year with Cincinnati. Now he's got a turf toe that required surgery. I mean, you know, I think for me, I never experienced turf toe. I've talked to Joey Galloway.

Pat, I don't know if you ever had it. When you talk to people that had it to the level that Joe's had it, that's a serious injury and to be able to put himself back there I think speaks about the competitive spirit that he has I mean a team is sitting there at three and seven they're easy for people to be like

what's the point season's over Joe's probably looking at like man if I get back we can end up winning out and we can finish 10 and 7 we can maybe get a shot as a wildcard I guarantee you that's how his mind thinks so just his presence

just like again you put any of these Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, the presence of Joe Burrow being in that uniform if he's able to go out there and play not only impacts the offense and their execution, it impacts the defense, it impacts the

guy selling the popcorn, it impacts the state, I mean, everybody is impacted when you bring back a guy like Joe Burrow, and we'll see. I'm shocked. I really didn't know if it was going to be after Thanksgiving. Is he going to wait to see if they're in contention, but

not surprising to hear he's full go and he's ready to roll. That dude is as competitive. That's probably his greatest trait is how competitive he is. I found it very fascinating because there is, in theory, an argument, because just like everything seemingly has an argument, which is why it's so hard to get everybody to agree on things these days. It feels like there is an argument like three and seven, teams not going to win.

We all know they can't win. Defense's not good enough. Put him back out there. He either re-injured something or gets hurt again. then you miss next year and the off season, which is more important. And I get that, in theory, if careers were able to just last forever, you know, and like games were pick and choosable on whether or not you wanted to play them, which is not how professional athletes view anything, let alone like Joe Burrow.

But it's like ownership definitely wants Joe Burrow out there. How much we pay in this guy? Yeah, we would like him out there. Fans definitely want Joe Burrow out there, right? Bengals fans that are going to game at least would like Joey Burrow to be there. It's like, it's an interesting dynamic. Whenever you're the pillar, highest paid guy, most important guy, and you've been out, but you can come back. It's an interesting convo for the long-term shit.

I totally get that, but I think for him, and I don't want to speak for him, but I've known him, watched him from 2019 on when he, to me, engineered the best college offense that I've ever seen. But that, dude, just like Tom Brady, like I think if Tom Brady were in this situation, I don't think it's about how much money I'm making or the potential of being hurt. It's just the elite guys. It's just the competitive. I need to get out there. I need to do what I do.

Not because I owe it to the franchise. I owe it. If I feel healthy, this is, I think, how his brain works. If I feel healthy, give me the ball. Let's go play. I think that's how he is. That's kind of like the mindset. His dad was a defensive coordinator at the college level.

It's kind of how he was raised. Do you ever hear him? He gets his ass hammered, and people are like, wait, why don't you get? He's like, I'm a football player. Like, he's a linebacker playing quarterback. That's how he plays the position. And so I haven't really been following how healthy he is or not healthy.

But if he's full go and practice, number nine is going to play. Like, you can't keep him out of the lineup. Nine. Welcome back. We're happy for that. I want to let you know. I know there's an argument by people who think they're smarter

than the franchise and Joe and everybody saying, hey we need to think about offseason next year as opposed to right now let's mail it in but I also understand that like the reason why Joey Burrow is Joey Burrow is because if Joey Burrow could play football he's going to play football like that What if he came back and they won seven in a row

and went to the wild card And we had those sweet shots of him going in warmups Is Joe playing defense? And he's doing one of these He's so cool There's a chance dad defense coordinator He probably plays like a linebacker He actually told us

that whenever we talked to him, whenever he was a young lad, we had a chance to interview and we were very pumped about it because we obviously watched that season as well alongside everything that was happening in 2019. And like just my first thing, just like I told Mahomes the other day, whenever we were down there at Texas Tech, I think you heard me as soon as I see him. Hey, need you stop taking these hits. Okay, need you. For the good of football. For the good of football, brother. We need you to stop taking these hits. Everybody else can kind of take these hits. We need you to stop taking these hits. We told Joey Burrow that I think I was a part of at least more than a few of those with Andrew Luck.

They all have the same response. It's like, first of all, I'm giving the hit and also it's football. Like, hey, this is what football is. And it's like Joey B, Ohio football guy. Can't wait to see him back out there. Maybe since he does go on a run. All right, last question here about the game tonight. I know you have stuff going on all day.

Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Harvey, we know the championship fight tonight is Josh Allen versus the Texans defense. But I wanted to ask you about Davis Mills and what you've seen from him the last two weeks. because we've loved him forever whenever he was getting his starts with Coach Dave Cully and carrying that Texans team. How do you think he does tonight? Because, I mean, he is a big, strong, athletic, great-armed quarterback. It's just that he's sitting behind C.J. Stroud.

How do you feel about the Texans' offense and Davis Mills tonight going against the bills? It's interesting. I'm with you, man. You know, there's so many teams I was talking to a friend of mine this morning about this, the health of these NFL rosters and the teams that end up making it, teams typically that are able to stay healthy, and a lot of times, if you're starting quarterback goes down, I mean, we just were talking about Joe Burrow. Think about, they, they were searching. I mean, Jake Browning tried to come in and didn't work out. They had to go on the street. They found Flacco, fortunately, to at least give them something. But your franchise quarterback goes

down like C.J. Stroud, what are you going to do? And they're fortunate to have Davis Mills. You know, this will be his, as you guys know, this will be his 29th start. And it's not just like some guy that's back there, I feel like he's almost a guy, and when he looks at himself, he sees a starting quarterback in the NFL, and he's been able to, this is a team that was losing, losing close games, a lot of one possession games. He started the last couple of weeks why CJ's been down with this concussion. He'll start his third game tonight. They've won two in a row with him under center, but you're right. The story, really the match up with Josh Allen against the best defense right now in the NFL

is going to be a great story. But I'll tell you what, I don't know if you guys have really been watching Buffalo. Teams are running the ball down their throats and they had all of her injuries really hurt them. Taylor Rapack and safetys really hurt them. So as much as we're going to be looking

at Mills, how will he do? If I'm Houston, I'm testing the interior of that Buffalo defense. I'm running the football. I'm possessing the ball. I'm keeping number 17 and 4 on the sideline. as much as I can to try to possess it. And you've got to try to set up Davis Mills on some play action.

Nico Collins, by the way, as you guys, again, know one of the better receivers in the NFL. They will try to, if they can get their run game going tonight, they'll try to get Nico Collins isolated one-on-one against these corners from Buffalo to try to hit some big plays. So I don't know. I like Davis Mills. I think he's a talented guy. And I think Houston's very fortunate with CJ down third week with a concussion. Maybe if it was a Sunday game, maybe he'd be okay, but hopefully he'll be all right the following week.

But I think Davis Mills will play within the structure of the offense and play well. Yeah, we love Dougie Davis Mills. We're a big fan of his. We've been following him closely. Called him the wrong name, okay? So whenever he first got his start, however long ago was, called him Doug Mills. Okay, I did, me. How'd you go, how did you go, dug on it?

I saw Dee Mills. And I was like, you're just like, hell with it. I'm going Doug. Dougie Mills. Yeah, that was back whenever we were on just on the internet, you know? So obviously a little bit more wild. And, yeah, I was like Doug Mills getting a start here for the Texans. He said he was good with it, though.

So, yes, this is how this all came about. So I am very, it becomes pretty big clip, obviously because I'm Colts, they're Texans. And, you know, I kicked it on. I kicked myself against them in their building on a Thursday night. It was awesome. But I respect their fan base. The loudest building I've ever been in whenever I played. I didn't get a chance to go to Seattle and play there,

but, like, Houston, yearly was the loudest place we were at. It was real. I had a lot of respect for what they were doing down there. So whenever I dropped the Dougie Mills out there, the Houston Texans fans, and he did well, they absolutely attacked me. And then the Texans reached out, and they're like, would you like to talk to Davis, Mills?

I'm like, sure. Some people call him David Mills. I've never heard Dougie, Doug. That's another level. his friends call him. Yeah, only his closest enemies, I guess, at this point. So he comes on the show.

We have a full convo with me and him calling him Dougie. And then... Big brain. Huge. Huge. Huge brain. And can, yeah. And can spin it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He is... He's a big son of him. Huge. Yeah.

We have followed... So we have followed him since that moment. So, like, I feel like we have an advanced level of information on Dougie Davis Mills. Because literally from day one, we have had a relationship with him. So anytime he pops up, we're like, Dougie Mills is a lot. We talk about Dougie a lot.

You said 29 starts or 25 starts. I forget what number is? 29 tonight. I'm going to say, when I see him on the field tonight, I'm going to be like, Dougie, what's up, kid? He will know. He will know where that is from. And he said he was cool with it. It's certainly not cooler than Davis, but Dougie Davis Mills has been a big part of our show.

So, like, we are a massive fan. And he was getting six points. he was getting six points with that number one defense in the league on a Thursday night Josh Allen 8-0 on Thursday nights I know you know that Josh Allen 0 in 3

at NRG Stadium worst game of his career last year against this defense he was like what was he 9 of 30 for 131 yards last year against this defense

so you know he's fired up to go up against them Houston they've won two in a row They want, they were, oh, what? Only 23% of the money is on, only 23% of the bets are on, on Houston right now. But we love the bills, too. But what did, were you about to say? There was another stack of just, please. No, I'm just saying that I get so excited about the aisle.

You got to keep it down. Yeah, we're trying to do that with this one here. So please. Okay. Have you figured out Oregon, USC yet? A given Oregon? It's a given at home. Oregon, right? Last time I was up there,

shh, last time I was up there, I picked Indiana right in their face, and I've never been more. Oh, that's right. And it turned out, you're right. It's tough. But it's tough stuff. Are you going in Meditroy? I don't know. You're not going to go Mediterranean, are you? I think you know me pretty good. I think you know me pretty good. I think you probably know what they're pretty good. Yeah, yeah, certainly. Southern California

for sure, yeah, that's probably, uh... That's not your call. That's probably the way. But on that note, I've yet to dive in completely to the film. I will be doing that on our 14-hour pilgrimage to Eugene, Oregon. I'll be watching the film of USC's offense, who obviously I've seen games them play throughout the season. I've followed the highlights.

I've seen their stats. I haven't watched them for like entire year games. Obviously, Lincoln Riley's a super talent. The offense is outrageous. And maybe, you know, they hang, they can really do some stuff here all of a sudden. Maybe, but if this Oregon fan, what up, Peter, who do you like, Peter? Who's Peter like? Who's Peter?

What up, dude? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, he doesn't care. Peter, he's relaxing. He's got his tongue in his mouth. What's going on? I know. I think he just woke, I just woke him up from a nap. How about the little, he's got a little wound underneath that left eye.

What happened? To get into it? No, bow and him scrap. day, and I think he got a canine underneath his left eye. Bo's the youngest, right? Yeah, 10 months. It was a good scrap. Coming for that top spot?

He is. I think he is. We're going to have a little war here in a couple months. I got my money on the big fella. Hey, Peter. I'm pulling for you. Love you, Pete. That's raising your cop dog, Pete.

Like the dims on Boe, though. Except if Pete's sleeping and sat in cheats these days, he's getting a little too comfortable, Kirk. Oh, that's what Bo is saying. I think he is. I think that's valid. Peter's who we think he is. Yeah.

To be 100% transparent. When I first meet Peter, I love Peter, the dog, but I think, wow, Peter's, Peter's kind of doing whatever the hell Peter wants to do right now. Is this who Peter is? Then Peter, over the next few weeks, months.

He loves you. Dude, he is an unbelievable dog. He's an unbelievable dog. I think you know that. He sleeps underneath you in the meeting every week. Unbelievable dog, though. Like, I think you know that. And rest in peace, Ben, we fucking, hey, rest in peace, Ben.

The reason why Ben was so awesome is because Ben, like, knew what was happening. Majestic. Yeah. Just chill. And knew what was happening. Like, hey, we're in a meeting. So Ben would just kind of like, sit down. All right, I'm just going to chill.

We're in a meeting right now. Peter was still young. Wanted to go see what everybody was doing in meeting. It was like, ah, Peter, just, I don't know if you can do this forever, you know? I don't know if this is going to, I don't know if this is going to be a thing. And then watching him become, like, the dog that you and Bo and Mitch and the crew, have kind of, he's a great, you should be very proud of what Peter has become. I mean, he is a awesome dog.

He's a good boy. He's a good boy. He's getting more chill. He's more comfortable. He's not big on the crowds this year. He's decided to take a little bit of a rain check from the crowd. Which, by the way, we respect that. Yeah.

We respect that out of Peter. Peter, go, I'm bot on with these people. Yeah. I respect that. But on that note, I can't wait to see him and you. Over there, and Eugene, should be an awesome scene on Saturday morning. It would be awesome. I can't wait to see what you're up to this week.

It's going to be fun. We were just, it's very early. Yeah, yeah. Oregon crowd is always insane, right? Like, that is the- Oregon crowd is undefeated. We've been there in the past. You know, before the 12-team playoff, it was a 14-team playoff.

We would go to, you know, Oregon often, like twice. You know, when Chip Kelly was there and even previous years, we'd go there twice a year a lot. You know, and I know this year we've been kind of avoiding the repeat school visit. But I would be shocked if it's not the same, if not a better atmosphere. Oregon, Eugene Oregon is absurd when the show goes out there. And again, my live hit is 5.30 a.m. local for Sports Center. And then we're live at six local. They are awesome, dude.

It is, that is a, it has been a special place, which is why I didn't like that I just knew Indiana was going to win that particular game because I grew, I'm in Indianapolis, so like I'm watching the Hoosier games. Like I'm being forced to watch Fernando Mendoza. And I just kind of knew that at that time, at that time for both those teams, Indiana was the better team. Like in my eyes, whenever I'm making a pick, which is always what I do.

Now, is there some places that certainly sway me into believing the other? If I think it's a coin flip, I will be swayed. But I'm trying to get winners, bro. Yeah, you're doing great job of it. By the way, did you see Sabin and Reese? I always wanted to ask you this. Do you like when they hold the chair? Because that chair's wobbly.

What do you think about them trying to help you out there? Do you want them not to help you out? Because that thing's teetering. appreciate what they're doing. I understand what they're doing. And I, obviously, the goat and many would say potentially the goat on the other side as well when it's all said and done, you know, so two goats there. My biggest fear is, and I don't know how to tell them this, I have told Reese because if I go down, it's going to be to Reese's side. Okay. So if I fall and Reese is like kind of signing up for it, not only am I the, the big ass that hurt myself,

now I take out Reese and the goat too. Like that, that's kind of my only worry is like, Saban puts his arm out there it's like I'm like 255 right now 260 you're gonna lose your arm if I'm coming down that's not like a good spot you wait a second you're not you're 255 I think I'm like 250 right now yeah

what do you like 7% body fat there's no way you're 255 I don't know shout to the folks at Affinity we're you know we are we are working we got a morning routine we got some science brewing hey I went down to Paris Island last summer and I watched how like these DIs operate

trying to learn about them as much as possible as I was going to try to do the impossible task of acting like one, especially in the World War II era, which is the greatest generation, and then it's drill instructors who are like the most badass humans of all time. These men and women are operating

on like three and a half, four hours of sleep at maximum operation. And it's like, what all is possible with the human body? I'm watching me. And I'm like, you know what? I need to maybe kind of walk in, a little bit because I get exhausted you know throughout football season great jobs easy jobs but we're doing a lot we're doing a lot and I get like tired and I'm like man maybe I'm not cut out for this I go down to Paris Island watching these DIs and I'm like oh I need to rearrange what I'm doing here like these they're up early we're working out we're eating we're doing this like we're taking care of ourselves here so like I've tried my best after that to like kind of lock in and I am reaping the benefits I am reaping the benefits of it right now but boy thanksgivings just Nick

What would you do if it's Thanksgiving? Are you allowed to have normal portions? Are you going to only have a little bit? I know you don't eat mashed potatoes, which is a total waste. Total waste of time. I don't even know how you have Thanksgiving. Stuffing. Stuffing, thank you.

Yeah, I'll put the mashed potatoes on a, okay. I'll put it on there. And then I'll put all the stuff that tastes good on top of it too. You've been making your taters, man. Whoever's been butter and your biscuits has been doing it wrong. We might blame Sal, my mom, I love her. My mom's sweet. Our work, and she was not a big, hey, I'm a cook stuff person, though.

Okay, that was our thing. So I do believe there is a chance I have that. My wife, okay, she does make phenomenal mashed potatoes. But there's cheese in there, there's like flavor. It's like the stuff that tastes good in. You know, there's butter, the amount of butter that's a mashed potatoes. That's part of mashed potatoes, though. That's part of mashed potatoes.

You don't just mash potatoes with water. I mean, you've got to throw in all kinds of stuff. would, though, from my understanding, is you No, no, no, no, no, no, you need stuff. It's like butter. You got to sauce on them. Exactly. Yeah, but raw. Hey, naked, I'll eat those too. I've never had a mashed potato without

salt and pepper and butter and like you've got to make them taste good. You don't just match it mashed potatoes. Okay, you're right. We'll agree on that particular one. You've got to make them taste good. I agree completely. Stuffing just pops right out there. Just right out. It's just ready to go. Cannot wait for all the other fixings.

you know the things that come along with the apple pie the fixings yeah fixings oh it's just next week is it on yeah it's next week from today from today ham the ham oh my god oh my god oh it's no time pumpkin are you allowed are you allowed to eat with your 7% body fat i'm not 7% you allowed to you allowed to eat yes i'm eating at this point it's just like um got to do all the other stuff you know can't just like not do this stuff and do this stuff. If you do that, then all of a sudden, you know, you start becoming a tired person all the time in a little bit. Besides the

195 sauna for 30, are you doing any cardio? Walking. We're doing a little walking. I mean, okay. The you ball. You ball's good. Playing U ball for 10 straight games, because me and Foxy can't be beat. It's a tie and Tone and Connor and the whole crew, they

doing this with you? You ball? Yeah, we play U ball, but it's crazy, Kirk. I want to actually get your opinion on this. If you're playing a two-on-two sport and the two best shooters of that sport are on the same team. What do you think the chances are that they lose back-to-back games?

Impossible. Okay. Thank you. Herbie, you knew where that question was coming from. And on that note, me and Foxy started shooting the same shots as everybody else at the exact same time. You're a professional athlete. Foxy's an athlete. Hold on, Kirk. You're a professional athlete and Foxy is actually the only one

that played high school basketball. So yeah, holy shit. The basketball game. Hold on you guys. It's not. It's a state fair game it's a little ball i bowl i don't even shoot every game's a state fair game who who's the best athlete on the squad me by far yeah herbie yeah i'm going foxy besides pat i'd say foxy no hey everybody has different strengths no there's different strengths i think if we hit a baseball who do you think we'd hit the baseball the best for sure tie or tone yeah we that we play I, tone.

Oh, fuck you, Kirk. All right, Craig, have a good game. You're the best, ladies gentlemen, Kirk. What a dickhead. Fuck that guy. I'm done with Kirk forever. I am.

I'm sorry that we're going to be muted. That pissed me off. Fuck you, Kirk. Ruined Iowa season. And that was so condescending. You're a fucking asshole. We're back on the other side. Goodbye.

Football is the greatest. We're so lucky we get a chance to chat about tonight. Week 12 of the NFL season kicks off as the Buffalo Beals traveled down to Houston to take on the Texans. A number one defense in the league from the Houston Texans battles against the reigning MVP, fresh off a historic Sunday where he scored three on the ground and three through the sky. Buffalo Beals looking to win a Super Bowl. Texans, where are they? We find out tonight.

I know Dougie Davis-Mill, the quarterback. For the Houston Texans is a backup, and he's playing three games now with C.J. Stroud and a concussion protocol since that nasty hit where he got hit by shoulder pad in the head and also field by head. It was kind of a double whammy. We hope he is okay. He misses his third game. Dougie Davis Mills. Tonight will be his 29th start. We just learned from Kirk Herb Street, who will be on the call? Very experienced. Will they cover the six points that they are getting on a Thursday night football battle? The toxic tables here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP Tonis here. Last hour was 77% of the bets, I believe, were on the Buffalo Beals favored by six on ESPN sportsbook, five and a half other places. Yeah, 77 is still that number, but six is not, six has disappeared.

I'm now seeing five and a half across the board. Well, I would like to say, I was pretty obvious about what I wanted. You did, you said before the show. Shout out there. I like it now. Yep. Lock it in now. And AJ, ladies and gentlemen, a man who's a college football national champion, the Super Bowl champion, Rotter Cup winner, and the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Hawke.

A.J. didn't get to hear it, but I locked it in at six earlier if I was to take to Houston, Texans. I don't know what you did. Oh. So what can I get the bills at then? Five and a half. Five and a half. Or six. Yeah, or if you were in minus six. Yeah. No, I'll take the, I'll take the good one. I don't know who I'm picking yet, though. I don't know. Do you know, you already made your pick? No, I'm just saying earlier today, I said, hey, if I was to pick the Texans. We locked it in.

I would like it plus six if I was to. I kind of feel like this. I don't know. I don't know. But you were pretty step back about how you thought. Nobody knows what's going to happen. Well, don't you think you kind of know? Don't you feel?

You don't feel? I have a good. Yeah, I have a feeling one way for sure right now. Maybe one of the most that you've had all season. Are you seeing this the same way I have? maybe a little bit but I don't know going off of what you have said

I don't know if we're on the same page here so you feel a complete opposite maybe the way that I feel like I woke up this morning saying Houston Texans are getting six points at home on a Thursday night with Dougie Davis Mills against a team that is very good

obviously a very good Buffalo Bill's team but like I don't think any of us from watching them are like hey this is the team that's going to win the Super Bowl so six points feels like a lot of points and then on a flip side Josh Allen's on their team. You know, like, I woke up thinking

Texans plus six easiest bet most I've felt about a pick all year, other than the Indiana one. This is the most that I've ever had conviction about it. Indiana one hits. So maybe that gives me a little bit of a false hope here, you know what I mean? Which hope is something that you certainly need. I wrote an entire post about it this

morning because Lane Kiffin asked me to send a daily message of motivation. It has become part of a routine. Don't look for it to last long. Okay, that one. All right. So things are getting loud down there. what's that that whole whole situation yeah so reading a daily message he did put out his daily message uh as well um but just it's getting hot down what do you mean it's getting hot down i mean obviously he's gone we know that what who said that i mean i'm just saying he nobody

said that but in my humble opinion he's out of there see you all right we'll put it on the ticker we'll put it on the ticket i mean come on now like when he when you had him on he was great he was really good. I love him. I love everything about him. That's why he's being recruited by all these great schools. So what? I think all three plays are getting real tired of wait. Yeah, a lot of shit or get off the pot. Yeah, you taught you a couple of Ole

Miss fans, and they are damn near at the point where, sure, if he comes back, whatever, we're still going to hate him now. What? That's just, that is just the, um, the Ole Miss Reddit Mills, if you will, the Rebel Reddit. The message boards. Yeah, the message boards. They're still throwing their fastball, it sounds like that.

Oh, yeah. I like, I haven't been able believe it or not, to look at college football message boards since the year 2008. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so I have not, I've tried not to ever, you know, even have, I don't want my Algo to think yes ever to that, just because, boy, I've been on receiving an end, and I assume they are pretty talented. They are not a happy bunch either, and they are very passionate, you know. So I'm happy to hear that those are still throwing 100 on the paint and everything like that.

He came on a show to clear up that there's been no ultimatum. He was doing Yugg as 6 a.m. with the athletic director. Oh, yeah, yeah. And the fans don't give a shit whether there's an ultimatum or not. They have a little. No, I think they just see the riding on the wall. You see all these openings, you know, you see all these different coaches, these universities, what do they do? One of these coaches doing?

They're signing massive new contracts to stay at their school, so they're not lured away to the Penn States, the Florida's, the LSUs of the world. Lane Kiff is just, hey, I'm bide my time. I'm going to buy my time, which typically means we're going to have a great season. That season's going to end. and then I'm going to go somewhere else. And when on my way out, I'm going to fucking ransack the pantry and take a bunch of players with me.

So I think old miss fans are starting to see the rally off. I don't know if that's necessarily Oh yeah. I saw old miss fans worried because they think this is going to happen that the college football committee is going to drop them into standing because they're not going to have a coach for the playoff. Did you see one of the things that they put up? Who?

The college football playoff committee. No. They have stipulations. underneath this. Look this up. Look up the college football playoff committee stipulations. I think there's like four of them. They have different things. The fourth one or the last one, maybe it's the third one. It basically says like, can

judge a team depending upon who would be absent from the players and also from the coaching staff if the playoffs were to happen? Can judge or dock a team for that? It's in there. And I think that's in there because of Jordan, right? A couple of years back with Florida State, that'll be in there forever.

It should be in there. It should be in there. I agree. they also give themselves like, hey, if we want other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team's performance during this season or likely will affect its postseason performance. Great work there, Bruce. Way to find that. There's a lot of words. That was in there.

I saw that this week. So when it came out, I try to be as well read on everything as possible. You know, I try my best to stay up to date on absolutely everything. It's not necessarily the easiest to dive into all the Watchma College, but for the college football playoff committee with my entire thought, like, hey, you guys have said that, like, good losses are better than, like, any of the good wins. Like, basically what you have said is that is kind of how you guys are viewing this. So then I wanted to, like, find out what are the stipulation?

Like, what are, is that a stipulation? So then I saw that one, I was like, wait a minute. This seems like a pretty important little, little stipulation. to this entire thing that does give them an out if a coach is to be poached potentially to another job. But you're going to another job, what, to win? Right? You're going to win a national championship?

So you're going to potentially knock it into the college football playoff with the team that you have currently to go try and win a national championship somewhere. I don't fully understand why everybody just thinks he's leaving. Genuinely. I genuinely. Because of, I guess, how college football has gone forever.

And I was at West Virginia when Richer I'd want to Michigan. Okay. And we're hopefully going to be in a national championship the next year. So I understand that, like, this has been the thing, this has been the thing. But you watch that doc with Lane. Okay, you watch that doc with Lane. He is a unique character. I think we can all say that whenever it comes to being a college football coach

and how he does things, there is a chance that he is enjoying the hell out of what he has at Ole Miss. And if they have money, which I don't know if they do, they might not have like Oregon and like Penn State, Ohio State. Texas, Texas Tech, like, I don't know if they have, like, the highest money, but I think if the money is all kind of comp comparable at all these places, not saying they are, I don't know what everybody's fine. And nobody's really come out and said, right?

I've been pressing. I have tried my best saying, who has the fucking money? Has an extension even been offered to him? Exactly, that's what I want to know. Ask Elaine, if they have offered him an extension, then we can kind of gain some info, I bet. We agree a thousand percent with everything you're saying. All I'm saying is the family. bases are in a frenzy

right now. All of them. And completely understand that too because sure maybe an extension wasn't offered which would make absolutely zero sense because to what Ty said like every single coach that was getting thrown out for Penn State for all these other jobs, they got extensions

and they signed them. And so maybe Ole Miss is like, hey, you know what? We're not going to do that. We're going to go the opposite way actually and make this as tough and miserable as possible for not just us, but for Lane. in the entire university's alumni and fan base. But it feels as though an extension might have been offered.

And instead of signing it... That's what everybody is, like, kind of reacting to. And that's how it feels. That's how people are acting. Got it. Yeah. Wild situation. And there's not like just a bunch of coaches.

Yeah. So a lot of people are saying that the fans are obviously at these schools would like some answers sooner than later because there's a lot on the line here. Ole Miss still very much... Oh, yeah. I mean, they're going to try to win national champions. So it's like, would you leave, what are you leaving for? Well, I'm leaving to go win a national championship and also maybe better resources.

It's like, okay, who has, that's a good conversation. I hope somebody will tell us the answers to that at some point. Feels like we have been asking for a few weeks now, like Florida, LSU, Penn State. We know what Penn State's doing. I think we've been very open with what Penn State's doing. Have I heard the same from Florida LSU? I hear they're invested. Yeah, they're in.

But then the answer is always like local recruiting is just so much easier, basically, at Florida in LSU than at Old Miss. LSU, the statement is five stars fall off trees in Louisiana. And a lot of guys down in Louisiana take a lot of pride and be in LSU. Like LSU is like their school. So they think like the natural recruiting

and the talent of recruiting that you have much greater access to than the rest of the country is warranted enough of a national championship by itself. So then when you talk about all the other resources, it's like that's just kind of like added on top. It's like interesting because are we in the world now where the other resources

meet anymore? And then you hear from people that are like, no, if you can sign a five star four two guy because he grew up four feet away from the university, that is much that is much better than having to transfer portal

guess if person is happy there. So there's so much going on in flux. I assume it's not an easy decision, obviously, for anybody to have. But for Lane, it's like, I think he's trying to win and I think he wants to win a national championship. He's focused on, yeah. So all this external noise is loud. He says he's doing yoga at 6 a.m.

with the athletic director. He's saying there's no ultimatum given to me, and everything he's talking about is trying to win. I don't know, man. It's a, I don't know when that answer comes, and I don't know what the right answer is at this point. Especially with the college football playoffs now. Like, how do you do, like, I know we played,

Mark De Antonio took the Cincinnati job. He was our defensive coordinator at Ohio State, but he coached us, he agreed to take the job, like at the beginning of bowl practice, I believe. And he was with us all through a bowl practice, but he had already accepted that job at Cincinnati. So he coached us through all that.

He coached us in the bull game, and then he's hugging us and crying on the field afterwards knowing he's leaving. And he's sitting there on the bus trying to put his staff together, trying to bring recruits in. Like it's a thing, but you can't be doing that through a college football playoffs, right? No, especially where the transfer portal window is too. Think about where the transfer portal window is.

So, like, the other places are certainly thinking to themselves. You need to be in here by, too up there. And it looks like you want to climb a mountain. These are guys you call. Now, what are we doing here? Do you know what they're doing in there? Are we getting in that trailer that Matthew Stafford got in? Do you remember Matthew Stafford was in? The Immortal Chamber. Yeah, the Immortal Chamber that he was in during the offseason. I don't know if you know that. Are you getting into any trailers to live forever with the optimized to extreme boys? No, I haven't done that. Actually, I had a chance to work with those guys

when I was with the Cowboys and just keep in touch with them. They do a lot of work, you know, with federal agencies, public service. Did some really, you know, excellent work for the Dallas Cowboys in their time. But they're just, you know, former Navy SEALs, all special forces throughout their, throughout their ranks. They're just a really neat, unique group of people. So really enjoy those guys. Hell yeah, hey, optimism, extremely appreciate you.

Let's go. I like that. love them, Pat, right up your alley. Yes, I mean, as you were talking there, I was like, y' y'all, y' bossing that. What are we talking about? Yeah, they have a great website, optimizing our nation's heroes. Here, we just check this out. I thought you were going to give a full breakdown.

You said, there you go. Yeah, no, yeah, you said, I've said enough to mechanics of TV. Yeah, yeah, I guess you're the best. Coach Michael McCarthy, optimized to the X. We appreciate the hell out of what you do for the United States of America. Let's talk about tonight, coach. Six points was the line and is the line at one of the sports books. You can get it at five and a half.

Texans have the number one defense in the league. Josh Allen is an absolute alien. That's obviously what everybody is kind of putting on the marquee. What are your thoughts as we look at this game? And I don't want you to give a pick yet as you are continuing, you know, to be able to win inside things. But what is your thoughts on how they should both be looking at this game if you were the coach of both these teams?

I think it's a great matchup, and especially where we are in the season. You know, obviously that, you know, you talk about Houston, you know, with the quarterback situation, but Davis is, remember him coming out of Stanford. I mean, he's, you know, he's got the, he's a prototype quarterback, you know, great size can really spin it. I think, you know, you're really able to stay in tune with how you want to play on offense with Davis.

So I think that that is something that he's proved the last couple weeks. But I just think, you know, the things that you look at, you've got great defense. I love, you know, I love using defense. They got great, you know, excellent, you know, studs on all three levels. That's something that's the first thing I always look at. And, you know, and they're what, year three in their, in their program down there, their defense. So, you know, the ability to take the ball away into noise. I think this is going to be a really tough outing for, for Buffalo. I think it's going to be tougher than, then we all, you know, we all think. I mean, Josh, it's hard to pick against him. I know personally, because I, you know,

I've always leaned towards a quarterback when you get into tight, tight games. You get into November, December, championship playoff type games. You always tilt towards a quarterback. But I'll tell you, I think the ability to run at Buffalo's defense, which, you know, I think since I lose an Oliver, that is something I'm sure to be focused on. And I think this is really going to come down cleanly to who takes care of the ball. And, you know, Texans do a great job.

They're running, hit defense, swarming a football. You know, they got the noise in their favorite. I mean, I think Houston's a place that's louder than people think. His knees, they said. His knees might not be good. It's like he's 311 pounds running around. Yeah, his knees might hurt. I mean, that is just like a part of it.

A body that big, AJ, not supposed to move the way that he does. And it feels like he's only getting better and they're using him even more, AJ. Yeah, we're finding him all the time. Think about like how many different ways you can use him. You can line him up on the end of the line of scrimmage. Like he actually is a tackle, have a block, block, and that he's releasing out to the flat. And then say you throw the ball to him, like, a lot of defense just have a five-yard, no cover zone, where they're not going to jump down anything under five yards.

Say you're six, seven yards deep, you're dropping in coverage, and they dump the ball to him in the flat, and you have 10 yards in between, and he has a full head of steam coming at you. Like, what do you do? Like, you have to find a way to get all 11 dudes to tackle this guy. Because I think it's true, like, the more and more he gets the ball,

like the more confident he is, and the more we're going to continue to see stuff like this. The play you're describing did happen against the Bengals this weekend. It went exactly how you thought it would go. And whenever you talk about getting more and more confident, it's like him looking like he's Derek Henry in high school to these dudes it does have to feel good to become like

I don't want to say a focal point because Friamuth obviously great tight end as well he's playing more snaps than all of them Mount Washington's becoming a focal point because of his ability to just be a tackle and by be a tackle he literally is 311 pounds 6 foot 7 or whatever I mean he could be a tackle if he wanted to right now and he acts as such

and then it's like you have a slip every single time if you want it and he's able to do whatever he wants. It's almost like an X-factor that I don't even know how you stop. He's got you know, he's very, I don't want to say it. A gronk was massive. Okay, his catch radius was gigantic and gronk was impossible to tackle. And I don't want

to put Darno, Washington in Gronk's role, because gronk is faster, I do believe, than Darno Washington is. But there's a lot of similar qualities of being just dominating on a football field, and he has certainly become that. Yeah, he has. And obviously that play happened, but there was also one where AJ was talking about where literally, it was,

I think it was third and 17 or third and 11. I can't remember, but they dumped it down probably like seven yards. And then he went and got the first down there too. And he's awesome. Aaron and Mason have been going to him more on third down now because he's so big and it's so hard to cover him. But I know there's a lot of people, Daniel Jeremiah was the first person I saw state. Compared him to Jason Peters, he was a tight end in college who moved to left tackle.

Pretty soon, like when his, say his athleticism diminishes a little bit, he could go straight from 80, straight right to 79 and just probably be a proble left tackle because he's so, like when he is at that position, he is so good at blocking run and pass. He definitely has a future as an offensive line if he wants to as well. And there's going to be a reporting eligible forever, basically, for him. Here's him from high school age,

and we found his, this is Darnell Mount Washington's overtime footage. That's him at wide receiver. Could you imagine? Yeah, right. Junior high, I believe it said in the tweet. Junior high? Yeah. I think they said eighth grade.

Yeah, playing under the lights in eighth grade. That makes sense with Darnell Mount Washington at wide receiver. excited that the Pittsburgh Steelers are using him, and I'm excited that maybe that becomes a new position. Maybe some 300 plus pound tight ends just start becoming a very normal, because if you can protect your quarterback, that's a huge deal. If you can run the ball, it's a huge deal. And if you can make it look like you're about to do both those things and be untackable, that sounds unstoppable. Joining us now is a man who will love to call play with that type of guy. Ladies and gentlemen, optimized to the extreme, coach Mike McCarthy.

Coach. Good to be back. What the hell's going on? What the hell's going on? I mean, things started spinning. I think we went to the internet to 1 o'clock. I think you got the world on the internet now, Coach. Don't worry about the fine.

You disappeared on us. You know that. I know. Yeah, I don't know what happened. We don't know what happened. We were worried. I gave you the pick and everything. So I guess it's an automatic win.

No, we didn't hear it. We missed that. We'll get back to that at the end. We're talking about darn. I'm taking a winning team. No, no. Well, we'll make sure you clarify that later. We'll make sure you clarify that later.

We were talking about Darnell Mount Washington over there in Pittsburgh. And obviously, you know him coming out of Georgia. I assume you guys scouted and did the entire thing through the draft. National champion there, very successful there behind Brock Bowers. He's starting to become like a focal point for the Steelers' offense because I think they can disguise him as a protection guy. And then he can leak out at any given moment. And when he has the ball in his hands, he's untacklable.

Big man with the ball who can move. sound like a treat for a play caller or a play designer, I would assume, coach? No, absolutely. I thought you, I was sitting here listening to talk about them before, and you asked the question. I thought you made some great points, particularly even in pass protection, that to have a, you know, a Y on the line, you know, tight end that big that, you know, also can chip from that position, also fully remove, you know, a great pass russter

to a wider gap, a wider alignment. I think there's so many little things that you can, you know, utilized too. And the Steelers have history. If you go back, was it to the 70s, the Larry Brown moved from tight end to left tackle and had a great career there in Pittsburgh. But it's, you know, he was definitely a unique talent coming out of Georgia. I think that, you know, the medical was was the only question you had on them, but it's great to see him having the success because, you know, the on the line, why tight ends that can play, you know, at that position and be dominant as a run blocker. I mean, that's something that it really solves a lot of schematic challenges, too,

because you're always, you know, you're always trying to move tight ends, more movement tight ends and put them in position to block a defense event. So when you have a tight end that can block a defense event on the line of scrimmage, I've always felt that's a huge advantage because, you know, the first thing you talk about in your run game meetings is how do you win the C gap? You know, you got the C gap is where the front is connected to the second level of the defense. So that C gap blocking area is a very important. an important area to target in the power you're going to, whether expand it in a zone scheme, you know, you know, knock it down or, you know, cut the defense in the pattern scheme.

And when you've got a guy, you know, that can do it right there on the line of scrimmage at 3-11 or three, you know, whatever he is, that that's a huge advantage in the run game. Also, the pass protection because of the chipping and helping on these great pass rushes, which seems like everybody has three of them. And then obviously what he's doing in the past game, like AJ said, no one wants to tackle him. So, no, I think he's a huge weapon, and I think, I think Tone said they're using, you know, a lot more, and rightfully so. Yeah, hey, I like that. Listen to your recall there real quick.

I was picking up some stats. You guys are dropping that I didn't necessarily have, but I think you're saying he's playing more. Nobody wants to tackle him. Yeah, I think that is all accurate. I agree with your assessment. If you were to get back into coaching, which sports books are obviously putting you as a favorite at some different places. So congratulations. Oh, yeah, coach.

If you want to get back into coaching, people. People are saying, hey, looks like this guy could do it, you know, which is good news. And we would certainly echo that particular sentiment. Are you looking for a 300-plus pounder that can catch the ball and move a little bit, maybe for your next offense? No, absolutely. No, no doubt. I just think, you know, you look at the trends in the league. It's something I've always, you know, paid attention to.

You know, when I arrived in Dallas, you know, it was, you know, an offense that was entrenched in more of 11 personnel as a starting point. I've always believed the game starts, you know, with a two tight end, 12 and 21 and, you know, migrate, you know, to the 13 personnel and in the 11, obviously, you know, with the three wide receiver sex. I just think there's such value in being a multiple personnel offense because, you know, with that, with the injury challenges that you have and, you know, as a coach, when you're, you know, you're playing your fourth, fifth, maybe six, you know, receiver over your second or third tight end that, you know, you know, you're not utilizing your weapons as. as well as you can, too. So, yeah, definitely. I think it's a big man's game. It always has been, always will be, and to have that type of player on the line of scrimmage,

it gives you the ability to get in and out of one-back, two-back concepts very easily. All right, I'll start eating. Go ahead, AJ. Yeah, coach, obviously next week's Thanksgiving, we know like this is when the season truly starts, I think. A lot of the great teams, this is when they really come alive and start playing their best ball.

I guess as a coach, what do you do when it comes to this point in the season? We know with padded practices, you could have one a week, and now I think you might not even, at some point, you can't have any more padded practices really towards the end of the season. What do you do to keep your team ready, I guess, to actually make them, help them ramp up to where these games actually matter? And this is we can go try to win a Super Bowl. Yeah, I think every year as a head coach, you know, sets out that, you know,

the schedule for the season, you know, you try to project as best you can through all, you know, all 18 weeks. And with that, you know, thing I have the first thing I always looked at the schedule is because it's people are always so caught up and you know who you play it's really not who you play it's when you play them but I think the most important component of scheduling and regulating your football team is when you get in how many seven seven day runs do you have as a football team how many seven day day sequences you have because that's where the continuity the regularity the efficiency

the connection really happens I'm a big believer in the pad of practices on Thursday not only just to get the players ready to play in the game at Sunday but you're always developing the younger part of your football team. You know, some people don't believe in nine on seven drills and things like that. I think they're a must not only, you know, once again, not for the older guys, more as much so for the younger guys. So especially with the state of the league with the offensive line, you know, how do you continue to develop offensive line, you know, into the season?

And you got to approach it coming out of the gate that way because, you know, ideally you like your younger players not to play till potentially, you know, November or December, because, you know, definitely my history. I believe that they're definitely ready to play and contribute by them because they're able to get into that, you know, the regulation of a normal, a normal season. So, and that's tough. You know, when you're a popular team, I mean, if you, you play for the Packers,

you play for the Cowboys, you've got a lot of Sunday night. You've got a lot of late night games and so forth. So the rest and recovery becomes a challenge. But that's seven, those seven-day windows are important. And the reason why I'm making a big deal of it, because now I always felt, you know, when you get to Thanksgiving, that's when, now you're going into a different shift. And, you know, AJ and our time together, the winter schedule.

So, you know, you come into a winter schedule. And I used to try to take 60 minutes off the day on Wednesday and Thursdays, especially living up here in Green Bay. I mean, you go to work at Stark and, you know, and the players come out to, you know, get to go home in the Stark. So how do you, those are all things you think about, you know, part of the recovery and so forth. You get into this winter schedule. And then you got to, it was a 13 padded practices. So you got to filter them in on a short week and, you know, because they're vital.

And it's, you know, you have to play the game in pads. And I think you need to definitely practice in pads once a week. So I just think the scheduling kind of shifts after this week. And this was a week that I, you know, I always targeted because I always felt this is probably the last week that I could really, you know, keep my foot on the gas as far as trying to push the players because you do really got to look at the wear and tear of your football team, you know, throughout the season. But this is where, you know, where it comes down to because you got to make that push in

November and make, you know, you want to be playing your best football in December. So I always felt this was a big week for teams as far as their overall development. And I think it tells you a lot about your team where you are when you get to this point. And I'm not talking about the guys that are lying up on Sunday. I'm talking about all 68 players, you know, all the way through your practice squad. Have you thought about this at all? It's just kind of, this is what I do, Pat. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you just gave so much good shit there. There are so many different things like for me to want to dive into more to learn about. one of them, though. You talk about needing to have pads. Thursday was your day. You got 13 of them. We got to slide them in. Is that full pads? Or are you a shells? Are you a shell guy? What was your... Full pads? I think it's full pads.

AJ used to try to get away and put the sweatpants over there. Put sweatpants. Yeah. Coach, they come knock on your legs. They're wearing sweatpants. It's negative 30 out. And people, I just want a sweatpants. He won't know if I don't want my pants on. Nope. They get you right away. Oh, you need to see the pants. You are a... Oh, yeah. The pants need to be on.

coach? It's the details, Pat. I just think of, you know. I would have those sweats on. I think you, you've got to practice your team the right way, and I don't think it's too much to ask your football team and we're all the bad on a Thursday. Go, Hawk.

It's true. I get, coach, hey, he did say one time, coach said, if I'll lose somebody with a thigh bruise on a Thursday, I'm going to lose it. I said, coach, if I sit out a game with a thigh bruise, you can cut me on the spot. I'm just letting you know But I did wear my pants

It is crazy though Because the pants are just like spanks these days You know they're like tights basically You're just kind of put it on Different mentality though There is like a different mentality or feel When you have your pants on It's just different

Everybody thinks it too It's not like Putting the shoulder pads on All right We're fucking strap it up Got it okay Even me like punter even like Let's do this whole thing obviously

Putting those pants on It's everybody in there It's like Yeah It's just stomping Let's put these things on, I guess. All right.

Sick. Let's go have a full pad practice today. And the coaches are like, yeah, you're a football player. Football seat. Put on your football pants. Chris Angel wears football pants whenever he's dangling from an NFL stadium. You can wear football pants. Whenever the hell you're doing football practice.

I love that, coach. We need more of that. Tone has a question for you about this weekend. Yeah, Coach, Kansas Chiefs have won 10 plus games in 10 straight seasons, which is insane. titles in a row. And now they are sitting five and five, which would be the nine seed right now for the playoffs. And they have a Colts team who is one of the best records in the NFL coming in off of a buy. Uh-oh. Is this, I hate saying this, I hate this term, but is this

a must win for the Chiefs this weekend to not go from five to six, potentially drop to the 10 seed in the AFC? Third best odds to win the Super Bowl still. Yes, they still have the third best odds to win the Super. What are your thoughts on the Chiefs overall in this game this weekend against the Colts? I'm a big believer that sustained success in the league is clearly the hardest thing to accomplish. And, you know, what the Chiefs and Andy Reed and that group has done is spectacular. So with that, I don't think you could ever count them out.

I think with, you know, you look at the, you know, the length of the season. This is a time of year they're very comfortable in. They, you know, their experience of playing in big games, must win type games, who has more experience to them? And that's where I just think, you know, going back to, we were talking about scheduling, you know, before is this is the time of year. You just got to keep your head down. And the old adage will just keep chopping wood. You know, when people are talking about winning a Super Bowl in week three, four, eight, nine, it's, to me, it's just you're wasting time and energy because, you know, that's a conversation for the preseason.

Everybody has their, you know, their time that you talk about the goals for the year. And, you know, I would hope all 32 teams are talking about winning the Super Bowl. But this time of year, and I, you know, point to AJ again, I used to just tell our guys, until we get to 10 wins, let's just keep her head down and keep working on who's in front of us. And, you know, you only have so much time and energy each week to prepare for your opponent. And I think Andy, whatever, you know, his formula of work and the way they grind and so forth speaks for itself. So I would not, I would not count those guys out. But, yeah, it's, you know, it's getting late. I mean, they have five losses, as you stated.

But, you know, I think they've, they obviously done a great job with their record of sustained success. They know how to just keep their head down and keep grinding. And, you know, because really, when you get to 10 wins, that's the only time you start, you know, looking around. I understand they may be the 10th seed, but, I mean, who's trying to win week 12? I mean, it's about being right where you need to be in the end. And, you know, the best mindset is just keep it about what's in front of you. And I think they've obviously done that as well as anybody's done it in the history of our game. I love that you said there.

They got five losses, of course. math, 17 minus 5 is what? They still have 12 wins and we all understand that they have Patrick Mahomes, 12 more than 10, which he was indicating a couple different times there about how he treated the building. Going to have to have 10 wins in most cases unless your division is completely

ass and you win your division somehow with less than 10. We're going to have to have 10 wins to make the playoffs just in the NFL. It was like that I think with 16 games, still like that with 17 games at the desired position. Is that accurate or no? Ten or 11 probably, Pat, right? Right? 10 or 11. Depending on the

year, I think, depending on how the top of the things doing. Yeah, I think four teams in the history of football have missed the playoffs with 11 wins. I only know that because Matt Castle in New England. But yeah, typically it's 11 or 10. 11 game, you know, just to have a chance, though, you've got to get to 10. So all

these teams, we were just talking to Kirk Herbst about Joey Burroughs mindset. He's like, we can still get to 10 wins here. So, like, there's a chance we still sneak in in an AFC that could have a lot of questions. Last year, there was one 10-win team that did not make the playoffs. That was the Seattle Seahawks at 10 and 7 last year. Was there any 10 wins that made it?

Yeah, there was a lot of 10 wins that made it. Or sorry, yeah, the Bucks won at 10 and 7, they won the division. The Rams won at 10 and 7, they won their division. Yeah, so you're trying to get the double-digit wins, which is what it sounded like for you. And AJ, obviously, you've been in there, Coach McCarthy's building. Hey, coach, whenever he put his head down, did you guys put one of those flags on whenever it's like the, you know, like the oversized load or whatever the hell it is, whenever A.J. puts that whole thing down. Put his guardian cap?

On top of the, yeah, the helmet, on top of the guardian cap, whenever he's, you know. put his head down and go to work. That thing's got to be. That's a two, three foot radius right there. What are we talking about? Did you work? Did we have guarding caps? AJ.

Yeah, AJ started it. Actually, Coach, did you know that? I tried to make it the hot cap. No. You didn't know that. What's that? Coach, you know, you know better than to believe what these guys are saying, Coach.

No, I was out of the league before the guardian cap became a thing. No, that's, you're a trailblazer in the pillow on top of the helmet. So I Atlanta cut them. Yeah. You're right. I was pushing for him. How do you feel about the Guardian Cap coach? It's a good question.

Now, you're still potentially going to get back into coaching, so obviously you have to say what you have to say here because of how the league is and where it's headed. But the Guardian Cap thing, A.J. Hawke and many others that may be tackled people for a living, still find it pretty tough that that is a thing, I think, right? AJ, I don't want to speak out of pocket for you. I don't, I mean, I'm not torn on it.

I understand. If it helps, and I have no issue with people wearing it. I think it's kind of weird seeing guys in games wearing them. Yes, practice, I don't think there's any issue. But he's talking strictly optically, if scientific, which they say 30... It feels like it'd be too heavy on my head. I don't think I have a strong enough neck to support that. It was a big change in football.

People were talking about the kickoff being a big change. Having these massive things over top of the helmets, I think, was also a pretty big change there for a bit for a lot of people to kind of take in. But I do think it helps from the stats that we're hearing from the guardian cap people. How have you managed that entire conversation with your team as it was taking place? well i mean the sports science i mean to me when it comes in under that under that realm i mean you have to give the players you know the options to do those things yeah i i mean i don't think anybody was you know was going wow these look great man i can't wait to put these on i don't think anybody

said that when they came out but i think the reasoning behind it in the science and the numbers it supports it so yeah i've never had a problem with it um but you know i think the way they integrated it was was smart. You know, they started with the lineman, and they worked the way through. And, you know, I just think like anything, I know in my time in the league, what does it, what does the day to tell you? You know, and you have to do those things in the real work environment. So as time has gone on, now that they have the data that supports, you know, supports, you know, this any piece of equipment, whether it's, you know, when they changed the shoes or even the helmets, I think, you know, some of the greatest changes they made was, you know, when they,

when they start outlawing, you know, helmets that just weren't. you know, to the performance level. What do you mean? You mean the ones that, like, guys were wearing for 15 years that got F report card, like grades? Like, hey, these things are not good. And then guys are like, I'm not changing it, though. If you change it, I'm going to go out there without a helmet

or I'm going to retire. And for a while, they were just youth. They were just legit, though. You're 100% right. There was a while where people were just going out there, knowing the helmet was basically a baseball hat, like basically knowing that, and just going out there.

And finally, the league was like, enough. We can't be doing this anymore. We've got to get better helmets. That was all during your coaching tenure. I completely forgot about that. Because there were some players that were very pissed about it. There were some players that were very pissed about it at the time, not now, obviously. No, definitely.

I mean, but I think just like anything, you know, if you can start these things, you know, in youth football, through, you know, through high school, through, you know, through college. I mean, then now, you know, now those situations are resolved. But, yeah, I just think equipment, you know, as a whole is just so much better. And I just remember when, you know, our two sons played football. and that's when they started upgrading the helmets and so forth. And I was very comfortable letting our kids, you know, play football. Because, you know, football was under attack, you know, big time for a good decade.

And so, you know, the numbers were going down and used sports. I mean, those things were real and understandable, you know, the why. So the fact that the league has got behind it and the research and development that's gone into the helmets and the other parts of shoes, I mean, when they start regulating, having guys wear the proper shoes, I thought was a big deal. You look at all the lower extremity injuries, you can tie a lot of those in the old days to not have a proper footwear and being in tune to which surface you play on. I mean, those are all very important factors that go into this.

I think the league has done an excellent job of moving that forward in making the game safer and educating the players. But at the end of it, you got to get it down into the U-sports and, you know, it works through. But I think like a guy like AJ that didn't have it coming through. AJ, you know, I mean, look at his head. He didn't, he didn't. Yeah, exactly. He did not, but.

He knocked the hell out of anybody. I think this is when you were coaching. I think the fact that it was starch. Yeah. Oh, there it is. I think, oh, wow. Coach, I think we all know this. Told you, coach.

Exactly. They were talking out of the game back then for wearing the stuff. Told you. Don't even. Is there really? The helmet. Yes, it is, Coach. It might be.

I might, I don't know. Maybe I got kicked up wearing that thing. I forgot. When they weren't the same colors as the helmet. Yeah. Yeah. That was Trailblazer. That's the prototype.

So thank you guys for your service to football, because to your point, there was a lot of things coming out that it felt like maybe our game was going to end up being kind of taken away from a lot of different people. And then the evolution and fighting back kind of by ball to remain is great. And now we're more popular. Football is more popular than ever. And that's a good thing for society, not a bad thing for society. And I'm happy we're doing it the right way.

Ty has a question for you about, you talked about the amount of practices you have in a full week cycle with the team before the holidays. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, Coach, there's been a lot of chatter about J.J. McCarthy and, you know, his alter ego, nine, and people basically saying, like, well, nine sucks. We need J.J. McCarthy. And there's also been people saying, hey, you don't really want your quarterback to have an alter ego. You kind of want that guy to maybe be the same person at all times. But in terms of development and all that kind of stuff, because we do have a lot of young QBs in the league. right now who are making starts under immense pressure, and it's kind of one of those things where you want to develop them, but at the same time, like, they need to win these games. You know, you got Caleb, J.J. McCarthy, they're not out of it yet.

Drake May with the Patriots, Bo Nix. Like a lot of these guys are still young quarterbacks, but as a coach, how do you go in knowing, like, hey, I still need to develop this guy at the same time, understanding that come Sunday, he's going to have a start under an immense amount of pressure in a game that we're going to have to win. yeah you know the first part there tie i don't really follow the viking is you know my fellow packer mate there you can understand that no yeah for sure i like shit not and no when he doesn't play good i i'm sorry i said i like shit not him when he doesn't play good though yeah it's rude

okay yeah so i don't know about the alter ego nine uh question but but the young quarterback definitely i think you know you make a lot of excellent points you know where these guys are and young quarterback, you know, that process starts the day that they arrive, you know, on campus, you know, at your organization. And I think just the biggest thing, you know, to play quarterback in this league, obviously everything is, you know, about, you know, ultimately running a game plan and going winning and then stacking success each and every week with that. So when I, when I look at developing the quarterback, and it's really, frankly, how I look at how to train a football team, you have to reverse engineering.

And what I mean by reverse engineer, if you look at the games in the National Football League, and I'm sure the guys can give us stats on this as we're talking about it. But, you know, in 17-game season, you know, on an average, nine of your games is going to come down to a two-minute drum. And if you look at the playoff football games, over 90% of those games are going to come down in the last series. So that's the reality of winning a championship in the National Football League.

So how do you train the most important position on the field with the quarterback? They have to be able to throw the ball from the pocket. And, you know, I could hear, you know, Paul Hackett and my old mentor, he'd always, you know, tell us as young coaches, you know, that we're working with the quarterbacks. You can't be spending so much time on a run game and the protection because these guys get paid to throw the football. At the end of the day, they've got to be able to pick the ball up

and go win the game at the end of the game. So the hardest thing for a young quarterback, in my opinion, is the dropback game. So, you know, you start with the run game. And the run game today is a lot harder than was in the 90s. I mean, these defenses today are, you know, they're giving you so much scheme in first and second down, you know, almost the way it was in third down in the old day. So you run the football, it creates more work as far as, you know, more check with me, his automatics and things of getting out of plays and that, what, that falls on a responsibility of quarterback. Then you have protection adjustments, you know, are you a hot team or you, you know, protection adjustment team?

You know, I've always believed you ought to be both. So there's, there's more work, too, in the development of quarterback. And then the action game in the quarterback movement stuff, it's really a one-two run type decision, you know, so they have to be able to do that. And every quarterback that plays in the sleep can do, can do those things in this, you know, I think in his sleep. But I think that just comes into training. But the dropback part of it, I always felt that, you know, when a guy was playing in his first year and Aaron's really the first one, the last one I've had as a starter. And if you go back and look at these young guys, we'd always ask them and say, you know, what are your top seven? past concepts and then really, you know, buy into those, you know, and, you know, two of them

were usually a three step or some form of a four vertical. You had to give them a runaway, but you kept their decision making really clean, you know, either there are pure progressions where you just one, two, three, four, where the ball goes or a pure progression to the field with, you know, an opportunity to throw the ball to a one on one match. So making it real clean because you wanted those quarterbacks at a young age to be able to play in, seven concepts that they could just close their eyes and play. And what I found is, you know, throughout their whole career of working with them, those concepts were the ones you'd always lean towards, in a big, big opportunity in the game

or if they're struggling and things like that because, you know, the dropback game, you know, the timing, the footwork and all the work that goes into that, that's the hardest thing for young footballbacks to have success. And then there you go. how's this drop back coach what is Steve Young remember this shit like remember what he used to do that one

right there remember Steve Young used to do that drop back what is the best drop back three step five step seven step and what are we looking are we flipping the hips and running backwards like this while staying square

what does a good drop back look like coach? Shah! It's on you to the coach what's good drop back what's good drop back look like? What's good drop back

look like it's on you coach call it oh okay he wants good you mean do i want a three or five or seven yeah how do you do it how's he start if you're training in a court if you're training the quarterback you always started with the five step and you talked about how you get away from center you punch reach all right so punch with your left foot reach with your right you left here ready right yeah yeah punch and then reach with your right foot right across the midline A little more open that hip up Can you turn the foot a little bit Keep your chin on your shoulder

Looking down field No I mean you got a little You could get your helmet straight Yeah I don't know if my helmet's gonna be able to get there coach We just threw you out of the quarterback room No no Whoa There you go

Punch reach crossover Here you go Hiltow A fire at some bitch They're gonna have four steps there you go that's good ball where you go

now we got something to work with yeah yeah we can spend a little bit the drop back though is so fascinating because everybody does it differently but it's all expected to be same and then you hear the talk about like one hitch no hitch hey that ball needs to be out right now

hey this is a three like we listened to AQ Shipley talk about it yesterday he's like hey this is a five step this is a five step in out play you need to get that the hell out of there but if you can't do a drop back there's no timing on anything is what you are kind of referring to

and a lot of these college I'm not saying JJ wasn't able So he was on her center given the entire thing. But working on all this stuff is very pivotal to the timing of offenses and everything. Is that all so accurate to say? Oh, definitely. That's where all it works at. And that's where I go back to him.

How much time you spend on the run game? How much time you spend on protection? You got to invest a lot of time into the footwork of the quarterback. You know, and the thing about the old days in the off-season program, you know, we had a thing called quarterback school. Quarterback school started like March 15th. And you'd get four weeks just working clearly with the quarterbacks before the off-season started in the middle of April.

So that was the only time, really, the quarterback that you could really hone in, you know, four days a week and hone in on all the little things that they got to do. Plus, you can do the introduction to all the installs and the new wrinkles that you were wanting to put in with the offense and said then when the rest of the team came in the middle of April, those guys already been through the installs once, but you had a whole month of working the feet. And so then you're able to go through a normal off, what I would call a normal offseason program through April, May, you know, in the first week or two and in the June.

So with that, and it's just a product of how you visualize, how you want to train the position. So how do you do that now in this season? You've got to find the moments. And I think that really most quarterbacks that I've worked with in a modern area, these last 10 years and 15 years since 2011, they do a hell of a job with their personal quarterback coaches. You know, you have to have relationship with those guys because, you know,

you want to be on the same page. You want to, you know, when you're talking about a five-step drop, you know, this is how we do it in Green Bay or this is how we do it in Dallas and, you know, and make sure the training is all the same. I think that Krescott has a great support group around him as far as how he trains with his personal PT and as a quarterback coach. But it's all lined, you know, it's all aligned because there's so much it goes into that position.

And if you're not putting a time in the footwork and winning in the dropback game, that's the most important time. of the game. When the game is on the line, the quarterback has to drop back in the pocket, throw the ball to win. And he's got to be able to come out of the pocket and make scramble throws and win. If he's got to throw it away, most situations, that's a positive play. So, I mean, the training for all that, it's just, it's a big time commitment. And how you find time to do that, today's game is just a little bit more of a challenge than it was in the old days. Fundamentals, baby, win ball games. That's what it is.

I'm already into punch and reach. While you were talking there, giving your answer, I just want to let you know. Quarterback School, four weeks of me working on this. Yeah, right, bro. I'm coming out of that thing. Look, like Peyton May and a quarterback. Hey, hey! Here we go!

That was kind of your guys' thing, right? You and Dak. Here we go. That was one of the greatest cadences of all time. Did you come up with that? How did that become the... No, that was a group effort. We were having some things we wanted overcome,

and the communication in the room was, you know, the alignment felt that, you know, they needed a little bigger indicator, you know, so... And that's what we came up with. How big do you need? Do you need three words? Let you guys. Here we go.

Hey, it's coming. About to snap it. That's awesome. It's the best. Coach, you're the man. We appreciate you so much for joining us every single week. Sorry, you lost the connection there in the middle of it all. Feels like you like the...

Shoot. I'm going to go against a grain. I'm going to take the points. Houston Texans plus six. Go ahead. Boom. Coach McCarthy, if he was picking games, he'd be seven and three. The guy sees it. I'm kind of on that crowd noise in Houston.

I think that's going to be, I think it's going to be lit up. And if Houston takes care of the football, I do think they'll get some takeaways. Because they got to keep the point total down on Buffalo. I mean, if Buffalo gets that thing north of 25, I think, you know, that's going to be hard for Houston. So they're point over. And run the game, run the football, action pass, run at them. So I think, I think it's going to be a hell of a game. That's the Buffalo Bill is ever under right there.

is 25, actually, what you just said. So the books are seeing it the same exact way you are. And I appreciate everything you've done for our show. Today, you were awesome. We'll see you again next week, ladies and gentlemen. Yins are legend coach, Mike McCarthy. Yeah, coach. All good stuff.

Good stuff. Get that chin right in your shoulder. Looks so natural. Thank you. It's going to be uncomfortable for me. I think with a helmet on too. I don't end shoulder pads. That's going to be Yeah. It's Drew Brees. Yeah. Because that's what they were telling them to do

To look out the bottom That's like Aaron, what didn't Aaron used to When he first came in league Yeah That's such a big deal if you think about it Like hey we need your drop To be the same as Justin Jefferson's route So let's go ahead and make that happen

All right we'll make our picks on the other side We'll see you again tomorrow Goodbye from your Oregon tomorrow Oh Just remember that it's Thursday Yeah Thursday That's Thursday right Wow

One thing leads to I kind of forgot until Kirk was talking about old pack 12 robbery oh yeah big one big one USC Oregon I just I that's a we're putting a lot on these students hey yeah it's a big school yeah but they show up their crowds are awesome like always awesome like historically great crowds Oregon and it's like we put them back like three weeks back to back basically it's like I mean till I you though like that was the conversation Their fan base is rampant.

They love this shit. They have one of the best home field advantages in all of college football. I think they're doing a Animal House Toga. Okay. Big rival, too, classic rival. I mean, going back to Pac-10 even. And then also, based on the rankings, like, Oregon can't afford to lose another game. Like, every week is kind of their Super Bowl from here on out.

So I think they'll be juiced up and ready to go. And still very much in it. Yeah, exactly. UFC's awesome, too, to tie the point. It's going to be a great game because Oregon needs to win and USC still has the belief. Yeah, we got everything in front of us and they got NFL dudes. That graphic was at 10 and a half, line also at 9 and a half.

Here's some Hembo stats. Lincoln Riley against the spread with more than a field goal underdog. At USC, 7 and 2 at Oklahoma, he's 2-1-1. You do those numbers together, 9-3-1, that's 75%. Is that good or not? And if we were to combine stats here, because Hembo does this, remember from a few weeks ago when they traveled with Notre Dame

where the whole entire thing was yeah when they travel over a thousand miles that is against the spread is terrible this is not over a thousand miles so if you were to kind of do that with that stat I wonder how many of those against the spreads that he lost were over a thousand miles of travel. Interesting

Notre Dame Mr. I believe they didn't cover no yeah they did not cover because I rode with that fucking asshole stats hey let's go USC what? Who's that? stats. Or I'm thinking of the opposite. I faded the stats of the over a thousand

years. I thought it was a real stat. You thought it was a fake step. I was like, fuck this. I used it on game day. That's how much I like that stat. I'm like, hey, this is a problem. They have yet to figure out. I don't know if it's the way they're feeding them. I don't know if it's the way they're traveling. I don't know what it is. But these dudes are not good whenever they got to travel a long way. I think that's a trend. They broke it. Yeah. Congratulations. Yeah. Huge way, Illinois. Oh, no, they lost on the last second. and field goal, but I think they covered. Ooh.

They traveled. No, they lost the only. They traveled somewhere really far away, though, and won this year. They, Northwestern. Or no, that was at home. At Nebraska. There it is. Nebraska, Nebraska, Nebraska.

Oh, yeah. Coach ruled. Can't wait to catch up with him again next week. You don't wait for that. We also had a chance to talk to an absolute legend. And a man who has an opportunity to be an absolute goat. And what he's doing down in Miami is obviously spectacular, especially because how I think are, I'm sorry, spectacular,

especially with, is that right? I believe you nailed it, yes. He's the best. McCarthy is the best. Yes. Like, how could you not watch? Sure, figure out the mechanics of this TV thing. Yeah, I'm getting to it.

You know, I'm learning. And then him dropping out, just starts spinning, on. It's probably weren't all the internet until two. Think about him going, oh, no. The hell's going on here. I got to do this one time. Now I've got to do it two times. This is the worst part of my days figuring out how to connect this shit.

Worst part of my week is trying to connect this call. Now I've got to do it twice in one show. He's the best. But it was spectacular to catch up with a man who has a chant for him down in the Dolphins' locker room currently. How's that chant go, Gumpy? Jack Jones. Jack Jones. Jack Jones.

We caught up with Jack Jones. A stud from Arizona State, a man who has the capability to take over any game whenever. The last two weeks for the Miami Dolphins, this man has become a pillar for a success story that seemingly was impossible for this Dolphins family in this current season. Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Jones. Yay!

I appreciate it. How are you, Jack? I'm good. How you doing? Good, man. Okay, so let's talk about, obviously, game-winning interception is past way. Hey, let's go. Yeah. Let's go. Yeah.

Especially, Ola, you're saying, Ola, in Spain, obviously. What was the mindset with the international game and where you guys are at right now as you took on the commanders? The international game was actually, it was kind of tough to start off the week because Spain is six hours ahead. And it's like nine hours ahead from Cali where I'm from. So it was kind of tough. But once I got used to it, then. And, you know, you love the city. You know, Spain took care of us, showed us, you know, great hospitality.

And the fans was lit in the stadium. So, I mean, I don't know. The atmosphere was crazy. Okay, Jack, every international game seemingly crazy. I think one of my favorite stories from any international game this season comes from you. Allegedly, you know, before, you know, the interception against Marks Marietta, you told the team, boys, stop the run. Okay, you just stop the run.

This guy's going to throw me a ball. That is just how this is going to work. Did you know that was that a sense from film study, from the game, or why in that moment? And are you a chirpy guy? Are you one of the leaders of this team now, especially with where the dolphins are trying to head to? Yeah, I would like to say I'm one of the leaders on the team, you know, being one of the older guys who've been in the league and been around a little bit. So, yeah, I would like to say that. But I think it was more sort of game as the floor the game was going.

I felt like I had an opportunity at two other picks. I should have left the game with about three picks, but, you know, he threw one of them over my. my head, and that was the coverage against Deboe. They caught a bad P.I. call. And then there was one on the sideline where they called the Uncatchable, and they tried to call it. I won't PI, too, but Mike McDaniels went crazy on the

sideline and made the rest wave off the flag. But if I were to turn my head around and found the ball, I could have left the game with three picks. So I just was feeling. I'm like, man, then he going to throw me one, man. And I felt like, O.T., I was like, they're going to try to run the ball. So I got to talk to to the tackling leader in the NFL, let him

go stop that run, and that boy going to throw me to rock and we're going to light it up and it's playing. And it ended up working out exactly how you thought it would, which is spectacular. And I think, you know, we're going to highlight this today in a good D segment. So D-butt will have a question for you about this play, I believe, here

in a matter of moments. But let's talk about what you just said there about Mike McDaniel going crazy on the sideline for them to pick up a flag. Obviously, I didn't play for a team that he coached. I've never really been around him. Outside looking in, seems like a unique fellow. It seems like a very unique man. They fire

Greer, obviously General Mandraub, been there for a long time, which basically kind of says like, hey, McDaniel, this is kind of your team right now, kind of what you want to do. How has the building been rallying around him? And what is he like as a coach as a player for him? Because I don't think any of us truly can talk about that much. I think he's actually a great person, and he actually cared for his players. He's not one of those like where he's not understanding. He's understanding with all the players, and he give players, you know, opportunities.

And I think that's one of the reasons that I'm here, you know, he give players. opportunities, and I think Mike is a good coach, and I'm actually glad that they kept Mike, you know, and I appreciate Greer for giving me the opportunity, but I'm glad they kept Mike. Yeah, it feels like players love them. We enjoy whenever he talks because it's entertaining. You know, I mean, he's an entertaining fellow. He sounds like nobody else that is a coach in the NFL. And on that note, you know, Miami's like nowhere else in the NFL, I think, as well. Obviously, you're in Las Vegas for a little bit. Sin City has its own thing. New York City, obviously massive. Los Angeles, massive.

You know, Foxborough and Boston, obviously vastly different than all those other places, but still big city. Miami feels like a lot of distractions for me. Now, if I would have been drafted to Miami, and I'm only know this because the conversations I had with Vante, rest in peace to Vante, fucking love that dude. But Vante was drafted to Miami Dolphins. Me and Vante pretty similar type humans

with how we wanted to live our lives. So when he gets the Indianapolis Colts, and I start talking to him and hearing stories, I'm like, if I would have got drafted to Miami Dolphins, I'd be fucking dead right now. I don't even know what it would be. Feels like there's a lot of distractions down there. So I've always kind of had the thought, like,

are the dolphins even capable of fielding? 53 are professional athlete-age guys to stay focused and try to win down there with all the distractions Miami has. What has it been like being a dolphin? And do you think that you guys are able to be a team that can go on a real run with everything that happens outside down there? It is a lot that goes on around around. Miami, but I honestly think that, you know, you just got to lock in.

I can't sit here and say that the distractions don't mess up the players because, you know, you got players coming from college. They just got paid and, you know, they living in Miami, probably never been in Miami before. So I can't say that, but you just got to find a group of guys who care about football more than partying, you know what I'm saying? So if you got guys that care about football more than partying, then you're not going to ever let the party and mess up your football, you know what I'm saying? But I think we got a team this year, you know, even though we are a new team, you know, rookies and guys just got signed in the offseason during training camp, I think we're a pretty good team.

And the way we're starting to jail together late in the season is showing everybody, you know, what type of team we can't be if we just keep it going and keep stacking bricks. Well, congratulations on finding a group of guys that were able to do that because 20, I was drafted on as 21. if 21-year-old me was dropped into Miami All I knew was Wayne saying Live on Sunday, King of Diamond's Monday It's like I'm going to Miami I got to at least go check these places out And then from what I've heard

Once you check these places out Wow, these do live up to the height Pretty sweet Yeah, it is It's pretty sweet, it is Great hospitality So yeah, a lot of hospitality You have a lot of opportunity down there

From what I've been told So it's like I think finding a team or fielding a team down there, especially with the type of humans that are in football versus maybe other sports. Now, the heat obviously able to do it. So it is certainly something,

but I think that is an added distraction that doesn't get talked about enough. Now, let's talk about you guys going to Spain and getting a big time win. Go ahead, D. Butt. Yeah, we talked about that interception. You've had some of my favorite interception that I've seen in the NFL period.

Just great instincts on the field. You talked about being one of the older guys in the locker room now. How is your, like, game prep change? You know, watching film, getting ready for the game, and kind of getting in a moment and letting your instincts take over. One of the plays, I think it was maybe last year, the year before, that picked six, like, you don't see shit like this, you know, rarely do you see a play like this.

So how is your game prep kind of evolved throughout the evolution of your career? Now, can we break down this play? Because I kind of felt like this play blew up, but it didn't really blow up how I'm supposed to, like, really think about this play. This is a screenplay behind the backfield. I am a cornerback going behind the backfield catching it one hand taking it to the end zone

that's ridiculous I agree Hey guess you shit I like that Oh my listen We're on the Raiders Not a lot of people talking a lot of good things But let's talk about I had to commit

I didn't know this was happening And if I miss this This shit's out the gate the other way Yeah it's out the gate You just want to make sure we all understand What took place there Okay got it Got it, got it. But on that note, you're an incredible ballhawk.

I mean, it feels like your feel, right? Yeah, because you can't just go out there and just, like you got to anticipate that. Was it four by one or maybe you saw the back down the distance? So like I said, like going into these games, like what's kind of your, how do you get ready for Sundays or Thursdays, Mondays, whenever you're playing? I think it's film study, man. Definitely film study and the coaches. One thing that I changed, you know, that I didn't really do it do when I was coming up, you know, like college, maybe like. A little bit of my first year when I was with the Patriots is I never I didn't really listen to the coaches like I listened to the coaches, but I was listening to the coaches as far as like what plays we had to run.

So when they was talking about the other team, it was just like it'd go blank for me because it was a point in time in college where I honestly stopped watching film. Like I was a film junkie. We used to have like film days. Me and my boy, we'll go just watch film together after practice. And I remember it was one week in college, man. They told me, he was like, he was like, man, we're going to have you guard this receiver. You know what I'm saying? You following him wherever he go around the field.

So I'm like, for sure, you know, that made me watch film crazy. Like, I watched film the most I ever watched that week. So then when I was watching film, I noticed that every time the quarterback does a rollout to the right, the ex-receiver, he does a comeback. So it just so happened, that play comes up in the game, and I jumped it. And I jumped it. And I jumped it so crazy, I guess he changed his route, and he ran a streak. And so I kind of just blamed film on that.

I was like, I'm way too instinctual just to go out there guessing plays. You know what I'm saying? I kind of feel like film, at one point, this was at one point. Film was hurting me by I would look at a play and I would try to guess that play. But it's like it's three different plays out of that formation. So I can't just guess that play. I have to anticipate that play. And I think that's what the coach has taught me, you know, how to watch film and how to anticipate versus guessing.

And then I also think that the coaches, like, they're more correct than I am, you know what I'm saying? They sit there and watch the film for millions of hours versus me, you know what I'm saying, versus my 5,000 hours or whatever it may be, you know what I'm saying? So I listen to the coaches and then go out there and let my instincts play. I love the fact. This is like when fat people have, like, a salad for the first time, and they shit their pants, you know, because the saline they go. See, this isn't good for me. This is why I don't eat salad. That's why I don't do it.

I shit my pants. You watching film. They got me one-on-one with a guy. I'm going to know everything about this guy because I'm going to beat this dude's ass. And then it happens like, oh, I fucking know what we're doing right here. And then touchdown, never watching film again.

I don't even know why. I'm happy you got back on board with you guys. Because it's a big difference. It is a big difference between guessing, especially the DB, guessing plays and anticipating plays. And like kind of like, you see a split. You see a release. And it's like, okay, lining up, it's three options.

And then as you get into that down, it's like, okay, now I know. And then you put that foot to ground because the quarterbacks, It's too good. You can't just be out there reacting to trying to guard the whole route tree. So learning that difference. Sometimes it's a coach. Sometimes it's players like, oh, geez, who teach you, okay, this system, this coaching tree, this, this, this, that.

So I love to hear that from you and probably a lot of other players in the league as well. Hell, yo. Most deaf. Most deaf. That's a fact. How long have you had the grill? The grill is awesome. It's got to be one of the best in the league.

You froze up here. But how long have you had that grill? Justin Jefferson has a great one Justin Jefferson has a great one Yeah I got a funny story about the grill But I had the grill about a year now It's been about a year I had it I really don't wear the grill like that

So I decided to wear the grill like I was like man I'm just wear the grill Like why not you know swag it out So I wore the grill and I had a pretty good game So everybody coming to the locker room Everybody on the team like Yo Jack when we go to Spain Don't pack no clothes just bring the grill

It seems to be working I love that you are very much like Hey, it's working right now Let's just keep it going Yeah, grill works Yeah, let's keep it going Yeah absolutely And it looks so nice

As South Florida, Miami, DB Making the place that you're making I think grill is a necessity at that point Let's continue to chat about you The Human. Go ahead, Con man Yeah, Jack, as a Patriots fan

You know, it's been awesome following your career You still got a lot of love in New England I know a lot of Patriots fans who are big fans of yours. And that kind of all started your rookie year. And you didn't have really a welcome to the NFL moment. But you had a pick six on one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of football,

Aaron Rogers, in Lambo. And that was something I think everybody was like, okay, this is an absolute dude. When stuff like that happened, your rookie year, did you kind of realize, okay, I can dominate at this level? Was that something, you know, that when you make a play like that on a Hall of Fame quarterback like Aaron Rogers, it just gave you kind of a bunch more. confidence than you already had? You got to be delusional with this, man.

You got to be sick in the head, like, absolutely gone. Like, you have to, I never lose. Like, I was in high school thinking I could go up to the highest level and win. So it wasn't, it wasn't like I got to the NFL and I found that confidence. I've been confident. I've been one of them. Like, you know what I'm saying? It's just about me going out there showing that.

That's all it is. What sports? What other sports? I ain't playing no other sport I tried basketball but I ain't no basketball player man I like to hear people you're the greatest jack

All right last question here comes from Ty yeah Jack you know a couple weeks ago at the trade deadline and I don't think definitely not the case in you guys is building but the media you know we're talking about hey the dolphins are going to be sellers we see Jalen Phillips get traded and a bunch of other guys' names

kind of get floated out there and kind of the narrative is okay the dolphins are packing it in they're starting to look ahead towards next year but then after that big win on Sunday in the last couple weeks, you know, and then what you guys have ahead of you, does it feel like, hey, okay, we weather the storm, we're all the way back right now, and we still have everything we want to achieve in front of us?

Absolutely. I mean, we know that it's going to take a couple moving pieces to give it to where we want to go, and also us, you know, playing dominant football, you know, so we understand that. We just got to keep going, man, play it week by week. You know, we got the Saints coming up next week, so go out there, attack that, victorious that week and then move on from it. But we've got to win games and peace has got to be moved around and for us to make the playoffs and we know that.

But we believe in our head that it can happen. So, you know, it can happen. Yeah, delusional, man, got to be. I mean, that's literally half of it. Yes, yes, you do. AQ has a question for you about all the messaging here. Yeah, on that note, what is coach's messaging been like as you dug yourself a hole early as you just touched on?

Now you're climbing your way out of it. What is his messaging been? Do we have a motto or a mantra? Any of that shit? Yeah, be convicted. I mean, I think he says that all the time in the media, you know, be convicted. You know what I'm saying? You know, trust the team, trust the process.

It's pretty simple, man. We all know, like, you can fill it in a building, like, where it was like, damn, we're a really good team, but something is not clicking, but like, what is it? And for some reason, just from what I got from the team, I didn't really seem, it didn't really seemed like a big question to where like guys started to change their formula and change their everyday, their everyday routine. They, they, they just kept going and put it in one foot in front of another, trusting the coaches. And, you know, it's starting to look the way it should. And I think that's the way it should be just keep trusting the coaches, putting one foot in

front of another, because this is a tough league, man. And, you know, every coach, every player go out there and train as hard as they can to get that dove on Sunday. All right. Well, good luck out there down the stretch. We can't wait. to watch. We're on Bye Week right now. Is that right? Yes, sir. Okay, how's it going? We got any plans? Obviously, we've taken care of business through it all, but what do you have going on?

Nothing, man. I just honestly came back home, seen my babies, and I'm going to go back out to Miami and start training. I'm not taking the whole week off. You know, it's still work to be done. Tell the babies we said hello. We appreciate you joining us. You're the man. Keep killing it. And it's been fun to watch your entire story, dude. You know, a lot

of people. I appreciate that. A lot of people. I appreciate that. A lot of people not perfect, you know, myself included. I have one of the worst mug shots of all time. But watching you kind of go through everything here and continue to battle and continue to show up and then watching your locker room fall in love with you down there in Miami is sick. You should know that us all watching, big fans, dude. Keep going.

I appreciate that, man. I appreciate it for real. Hell yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Jones. Yay, Jack. Football. He's magical. That's A.J. Hawk.

The toxic table is here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP Ton is here. Tone, I think it's almost time for us to make artificial pick. Okay. Here we go. Coach McCartney, so I'm going to go gunscray.

Okay, and that is what his hat maybe look like on top of his head as well. Chevy riding high boy. I appreciate you doing that. And obviously, you and him had a great moment. about the Minnesota Vikings and how we don't really pay attention to them as Packers fans. And then you and Kirk had a great moment earlier today as well

that is seemingly captivating the internet where you got really... You did get upset. You got pretty hostile with Kirk Kirk Kirby there. You know, the internet has responded in a manner in which... No, expected, I think. Yeah, I kind of expected.

That's going big. I think was one of your best outbursts I've seen it sometime. Well, and I should have cut... Because I love her. I do. You know, that was just a moment. I may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, you know, and I was kind of just waiting for someone to just give me an opportunity. And he did. And he did. And Herbie did. But I should have thought that a lot of people who he maybe picks against their teams on

Saturdays were going to co-sign me like, thank you. Fuck this dude. This guy sucks. That certainly wasn't the angle I was coming from. But, hey, you know, sometimes things just happen. Yeah, a lot of people saying that, a lot of people going, Thank you, Ty. I've always wanted to say that. I didn't realize that'd be the internet reaction so quickly. But, yeah, I guess there's a lot. If you pick a get, if Kirk's picks, get your team,

they hate them for life probably, right? Yes. Somebody that will speak for experience. Yes, that is a tough show, you know, interaction-wise. That, yeah, I mean, they're actually watching that, the picks, and they're paying attention to who you're picking, how you're picking them, why you're picking them. You know, a couple of teams, I've seen some students or alumni or whatever,

do the percentage of times I picked their team versus picking against their team. Why have I picked their, like full break? This guy hates us. We need to stop being nice to this guy whenever he comes to town. You know, there's, they really, yeah, it's a spot when you're picking against an entire cult, which there's a lot of them. There's a lot of cults out there. You know that.

Ohio State's work. So it makes it great. So it makes sports great. Exactly. And you're picking against one of these cults for sure. And at least four times. You've got to pick against the course. vote each Saturday.

And it's like, all right. Got to take that personal. You know, I've kind of mailed it in on a few this year. Saban said something. Yep, I kind of. He said it. Yeah, he said it. Go ahead and get there, you know, because at the end,

I'm going to very much get something. Yeah, you're going to bury something, buddy. The loudest, yeah. That's been fun, kind of figuring that out as the year has gone on, I must say. I really, because going back to Oregon, I'm like, how is it going to be there? Like, legitimate.

see they lost though like you were on the right side of that so i think like when that happens like you're justified now if you do that whole you know spiel song and dance and then organ goes out and they win by like four touchdowns then yeah like you're going to get heat but you pick the right team coach dan landing will be joining the program tomorrow from mountair in eugene i can't wait to catch up with him you know he obviously he understands what's going on you know he gets it. He was not throwed. I don't think about me picking Indiana at Oregon, you know, because he might love it. How I feel. Them losing to Indiana, he might love. That might have been something that would have been very good for his team, you know, throughout the entire process. But what

he did for game, he took his shirt off out there. Yeah, that's it. I mean, he's like such a good for us. He drives from all, travel as far as he does in a morning, hops in a sprinter van drives from airport all the Thunderdum for us. His SID, not happy about it at all. Dan Lanning does like, we love Dan Lanning. I love Dan Lanning. I love Dan Lanning football. I love everything about it. Their fans are insane. I mean, those game day sets are, those shots are just magnificent with how early it is and everything.

And Dan Lanning taking his shirt off. I mean, this is what, 6.30 a.m. or whatever. Yeah. Local time. And he got Dan Lanning out there with the students just going crazy in the middle of it. It's a special place they have out there. Far. It's far.

It's out there. That's why they appreciate it so much. Also, Dan Lane is a lefty, how he threw it. how he did his little hand. It looks like he's a lefty. I didn't know that. Oh, running back. I don't know. Normally I can tell if somebody's a lefty or not. Is it a fist pump or is it a shirt thing? What is it? It's like a just a one-handed like finger. Yeah.

Yeah. In a second. Where he gets his shirt off? You'll see. Okay. A lot of hip-hip-hip parade, is it? Yeah. Oh, interesting. I think you do that with your dominant hand, usually. Yeah, I think you would do that. But also, shirt came off on right hand, so maybe he wanted finger. Possible.

Because it could have been audible real much. Look natural lefty, though, right? Is what you're saying? Yeah. Would you natural, would you ever do that normal? Go back to that. Run that again. I don't think I ever have.

You could see it. Shirt off goes to right hand. Right dominant maybe. Shirt goes to right hand. Yeah. You're right, though. Because the shirt is still over his wrist, so you can't really. Can't do the finger thing.

Yeah. You would have flipped it to your left and done right hand, woo, if you did. You think, but he might have felt like in a moment, need one right now, like right now's right time. We'll get to the bottom of it tomorrow. Any chance you remember to ask him that tomorrow or no? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

We got it. Yeah, you certainly remember stuff. Yeah, you certainly don't just go. I say remember. I say remember. Don't say, don't, hey, remind, don't let me forget. No, absolutely not. I will remember.

Let me tell my, boom, it's in there. I do that sometimes, though. I do that as well where I go, hey, I want to remember this, want to remember this, to remember this, want to remember this, looking around, looking around, looking around. this is awesome this is awesome like right now i just went back to a situation i was in i was like you kind of take like a scan almost with your brain remember remember and it does feel like it does lock it in a little bit now you i think you say that like for a lot of things and then you just live moment to moment you know you're right i do live in the moment but i do try to remember

things when i want to something it's a tough balance right what's that it's a tough balance it really is to live in the moment, but also remember what you have coming up in the near future. Yeah, it's hard. That's chess players. That's how those chess players get after it, you know. You may be the most in the moment guy I've ever encountered. I like to be where my feet be, but boy, you just the amount of, I didn't know that, the amount of like those types of things and then all in at the moment, you might be the most positive all in in the moment guy that I've ever encountered, even though brain very toxic at all times

trying to potentially win the war. Just like 9 and JJ. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't know. I do not know. I don't get it. I don't know. That's exactly what I'm talking about. That's AJ and 50. Yeah, let's talk about 9 and Jage. What is your take on it? Obviously

we've all kind of had our conversation about it. I think he has a chance to get better and it'll be a good story long term. They say J.J. McCarthy's awesome. Everybody likes everything about J.J. McCarthy. is Moxie's leadership. The way he goes about hanging with the boys, everything about him. They're like nine on the field, obviously going through some shit right now with the Minnesota

Vikings' offense with what the expectation of the offense is, what we've seen the offense be and what his performance is. Now, granted, he has some dog in him for sure, and in big moments he makes some plays, but there isn't a consistency. So now it's like he needs to develop, he needs to develop. I think everything we know about JJ will tell me that nine will develop, is what I think. Do you feel the same way? And is that good for the Minnesota Vikings or bad?

because the thought of, I think Sherm said it to Kirk Herb Street, if Kirk Herb Street was remembering the story well, Matt Jones, think about him. That's starting to get steam. Everything he does. Everything he does. It's like if you could get Kevin O'Connell with Brock Purdy, would you? Yeah.

What if you can get a taller Brock Party that we just saw kind of the last few weeks out of? He played a bunch of games. Isn't that, who has a lot of football under his belt? He's seen a lot of defenses. Into the playoffs. Yeah, he has kind of been there, which is with this mid-season or mid-career resurgence thing that's happening, it's like, do they, they're going to have to stay committed to the development of JJ, and maybe they reap the benefits from it, obviously, but then there's going to be the constant, hey, you had dimes, you had Darnold, Aaron wanted it, Mac was available, like all that shit gets real loud, especially when your team's ready to go. I don't know what the right answer is, honestly. I think developing a guy who's going to be a guy is obviously the right play, but like, what does that mean for? for today, and that's tough, especially when we live in a moment, you know? How many games they have left?

Do we know how many games left this year? Week 12 is coming up. Have they already had their five? Seven. Four and six. Yeah, he just said he's got a show like improvement and growth when it comes to like his footwork and accuracy. We know accuracy is a thing. It's tough. I know we've talked about over the years on the show. Can you

get much better at your, if you came in and you were an errant passer of the ball, we had a strong arm in college, how do you like hone in on your accuracy? Now, I think Josh Allen has changed that for a lot of like he was not nearly as accurate as he is now when he first came into the league so you can get better um but yeah it's all those little things like listen to any great quarterback talk about like it's all like footwork fundamentals all like the boring stuff that people don't get that guys like tom brady aaron all these great quarterbacks every single day their whole life they've been doing like all the tiny little footwork and all the little things that add up to become big things that give you a chance to be accurate when it truly matters you can be good sometimes which is raw town you know But the fundamentals are called fundamentals for a reason. Like, this is what you're going to have to be great at if you want to be great.

All the grades are good at this. I think you go through any sport. The greats are great at the fundamentals. Whatever the basic shit is that you have to be able to do, all the people that are great at all the things they can do them. Now, does it come easier to some people than other people, potentially? Are some of them, though, just workaholics and workhorses and don't get bored, being bored working on the things that are boring to work on?

You know, that is a big piece of being great. That's a competitive stamina. And I think that's all JJ was saying. I think JJ was saying, hey, listen, I'm out and bye, I'm trying to guess that. He's not getting bored at all. He's trying to expedite the entire process, and the development could be very real. But what if you do all this and I never, you know, because you talked about accuracy. Accuracy used to be something you either had or you didn't.

And then you brought up Josh Allen was like a great development. That's right. I mean, he allegedly put lasers on his body. And he obviously had incredible arm talent. Like, I think everybody knew he could throw that thing like this. He could throw that thing like this. to get through that thing like this but they're like

if you get this thing actually locked in fundamentally sound guess what you'll be a lot more accurate you know why everybody who's accurate throws the same way

because that's the most accurate way to throw a fucking football so you need to do that he wants to work his ass off on that and to your point age I think that he changed how we all view it

like like I didn't think you could develop that skill I thought you either had it or you didn't have it because I thought it was more of a mental thing but then whenever they're like

no whenever everybody's like I think I think they were saying about Drake May, too. Yes. They were saying about Drake May, how Drake May's footwork and his feet just weren't good. And you could see it with younger guys, Anthony Richardson we saw with. He had incredible talent, but like whenever you're standing square to your target. Marry your feet.

Remember, didn't Aaron you said you got to marry your feet to your arm and your upper body. Like they have to be in sync. You have to be together to give you a chance, I think, to make a play with it's third and seven and you got a tight window to fit that thing into. And maybe you make one of those because you're so talented. Like maybe you're able to stand square and, like, jump. and make a throw and it's like yeah that's awesome okay now we got another play right now bro okay and we need a similar throw are you going to be able to feel your way through that again oh

maybe you are okay good good good let's get now to a third down in the red zone where everything gets a lot smaller and you do the same thing and it's just a little bit off and then bang they snatch it it's like hey if you would have fucking just done get your feet right and actually through the ball like how you're supposed to since you're a kid they've deemed this the most the best way to throw a football is this way. You were in the NFL, throw the fucking football like this. That is basically the conversation that happens with these young guys. A lot of them, especially as the more and more athletic quarterbacks come through the NFL,

Josh Allen was one of them, Drake is another one. J.J., I don't think we view him as one of those like super high-end freak athletes, right? I don't, in my mind. He's got a super strong arm, and he is very athletic, but you're right. Like, we don't, I guess we haven't seen him use it as much. He has the mentality that, like, that's what I do love is his mentality, the whole nine thing, you get caught up in that, but you, the what's tough is when guys, he's thinking, hey, can this guy develop or not? And you kind of question whether how much he cares. Like, I don't question how much old Jage cares.

Like, Jage loves ball. We know that. So he's, if he's going to develop and become more accurate, like, he's going to do whatever it takes to try to become that guy. Now, we'll see if it happens, I guess. I agree on that. I think we all believe that J.J. McCarthy is going to get better at something if he puts his mind to it. Yeah, I think the biggest issue. issue and you hit the nail on the head is he hasn't had very many starts so like he he does need to

develop obviously but like you said like this team was one win away from getting the number one overall seed last year like and everyone said going into the season hey if they get average quarterback play this team should be in the nfc championship like when you look at josh allen the development like no one was expecting those bill the bill those bills teams they weren't on the precipice of like going to a super bowl right before that it's like hey if if if we can develop this guy, we'll be where we want to be in three to four years when he actually get down the road. Exactly.

That's not the case with the Vikings. Like, they had Sam Darnold, and I understand the playoffs went how they went, but they were there. They were knocking on the door. And the idea was, hey, if we get this guy, we'll kick that door in. So it's like, it's one of those things where I don't, it's not fair to blame all this on JJ because situation. Yeah, he's young. He needs to develop.

But that was kind of what was thrust upon him is, hey, when you get it. in here. You need to pick up the ball and run with it because this team is ready to win a Super Bowl. Look at their defense. They're by no means young. They've paid a lot of guys. They were ready to go right now so they don't really have the luxury of hey, it's okay. It'll

take this guy a little time to develop. They are not in that position. And to Ty's point too, like paid offensive linemen and free agency, two of them, Ryan Kelly and Will Fries from Indianapolis, paid defensive lineman. Now they lost like a Cam Bynum and some other players. But

for the most part they were spenders this offseason because they thought they were going to be that good. I will say though, hearing the press conferences and kind of understanding a little bit more what's going on, definitely do believe in J.J. McCarthy as a quarterback in Minnesota. It's just there has to be, like Josh Allen, there has to be some sort of improvement that like you can legitimately see. And it can't just be the, hey, most important time of the game, he's playing great. Because a lot of the times, those teams that, you know, you're hanging around with and that you do, you know, edge out in the end,

those teams aren't going to be there in the end. Like, those are the teams also that are kind of squeaking by and then get exposed by the best of the best teams, like the Rams or Seattle or the Colts or the Broncos. Philly. Bingo. I mean, I won't say Lions because right now, but the Lions are getting a bunch of guys back on defense. That'll be really cool to see.

But still, all of those top teams. Who's calling plays up there? I don't know. There's calling plays up here. week is MCDC. But you're right, though. You're 100% right, though. Whenever, you know, as... Like, him saying that stuff makes me think, like, okay,

maybe we, he's not just exactly what he was in college. I mean, we know he's a hockey player. He's a fucking hard worker and the team loves him. But a lot of shit is going on behind the scenes with him changing how he plays quarterback that I, at least, was not aware of until he said... He's just being very transparent as well.

I think there's a lot of development happening to a lot of young players, especially if they have to come into a new system, new scheme, new game. so they're working on stuff all the time like I'm punner so I can only speak from personal experience it's like I change my drop completely which is obviously like a scary thing for a punter to do their drop is kind of the entirety of the punt how you're what you go from where'd you go from but where's you what's the next thing so I had to tilt it in I had it tilt it in like this because I used to watch other people do it and they always murdered the ball it looked like

and uh turns out with the tilt in if that thing was to move at all anymore you're uh that thing is With my leg swing, that thing's going like... I did that a few times in high school, yeah. I put it into the stands. Yes, exactly. I had a couple of those. I'm like, oh, this ain't good. Yeah, I'm going to get fired.

I'm not going to have a job anymore. So I straighten the drop out a little bit more. And then even into like my second third year, I think even into my fourth year, I was changing when I was dropping it during the season because there was like stuff that I was working on. Even day of game, I would like adjust something. I'm like, oh, actually I'm going to hang on to this a little bit longer.

So that's the most... I think there's always like an evolution or development happening. especially at a younger age at every single position I saw him there's shit that you had to work on as well I assume

always yeah always something new footwork here you know for work here hands hands a big thing Luke fickle taught me in college like taught me to use my hands like that changes everything so he's being very transparent

I think as opposed to maybe what other people would be doing joining us now he's a man who's very transparent on every thought that he's ever had you're going to hear it

ladies and gentlemen Dan Rolovsky oh good light wow nice sucks good you look really cool right now just won't let you know

know that. You look really really cool. Oh, I don't like this with the car's zooming by. Yeah, I mean, exactly. What's this guy doing? This is a cold call. He answered. We appreciate him doing that. But we will live with constant anxiety that somebody in your rear view there will just not, you know, stop and just come right into our cameras. I'm more, I'm, I'm further off the road than it looks. I'm a good 10 feet off. Well, it's in the mirror closer than they appear too. So, I mean, there's a lot of different. Have flashers on. Yeah. Okay, sounds good. Very adult. Maybe stick your head out the roof. Is your jeep still bright in the

Flares out back? Yeah, maybe put flares. You're right. Maybe just let people know that it's happening. Dan, thanks for the Hidden Yardage tweet. That was fun. Hidden Yardage, obviously. Gabe Williams, Conce,

most of my hidden yorges in the history. Hidden Yardage is his special teams, brother. Okay? So don't be giving me some quarterback stat about hidden yardage. I don't need to hear it, okay? Maybe bonus yardage, if you want to call it, or like, super duper after being tackled. stat, yardage, shit.

Okay, don't be taking hidden yardage. Okay, that's our game. I like bonus yardage. I can alter that. I can, I can appreciate that, sure. Okay, I'm happy, okay. Or stamp it, Dan-o yards. Call him Dan Yards.

Yeah. Dan and Parcells. I think Big Tuna was a big fan of the bonus yardage that you're referring to there with Caleb, who should be sacked, but instead his EPA goes up because he's Caleb and he's able to do Caleb's stuff. So he's got super duper bonus yards. It's actually hidden within his.

statbook because if he was to be sacked, that yard's not going to hit stat book. That's a bonus yard, right? Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself. You're going to be able to say something better than we could ever say because you're a quarterback and had to develop. J.J. McCarthy being as transparent as he is about what is happening behind the scenes and the development of him being a quarterback, good thing, bad thing, and what is your kind of takeaway of how it's all going

out there for Minnesota with all the other quarterback options that we know they had at the time with the team that they had? Yeah, I can always appreciate transparency. I think that I don't know if you guys have heard Kevin O'Connell's comments on them yesterday as well. I believe it was yesterday or sometime this week about kind of what they're trying to get figured out and some of the mechanical stuff that they're working through. I thought Kevin O'Connell's like vantage point of it was fascinating. You know, it's, JJ's been really interesting this year because there's so many throws on tape that you sit there and say, That is perfect. It looks perfect. And then there's a throw that would happen, you know, five passes later that it blows your mind how bad of a miss it is. And so I live in the world. I don't find that to be your inaccurate. I find it to be you're having some very egregious misses. And don't get me wrong. The misses are awful. And it makes no sense as to why. And so when you try to figure out, okay, what's going on with them, I think you find out the mechanical inefficiency. and the mechanical differences. You know, like, I've heard Aaron talk about this, that accuracy starts from the ground up. You know, McCarthy overstriads.

He's not a big dude. So when he overstriads, I think the first thing that you see is, like, he is a front or back to front thrower. He's a back, instead of a rotational person. So when you're back to front, I think it's always going to vary when the ball comes out of your hands.

And so that's why you see some of those egregious misses. I think the second thing is you see almost like watching a pitcher on a baseball mound. His right leg flies all the way through. If you guys put up video of like Joe Burrow at practice yesterday, if you guys could pull up that video, watch Joe's right leg. It very rarely leaves the ground. It's just same with Josh Allen. It stays on the ground instead of almost like the old school pitcher off the pitcher's mound. So I think he becomes so on his front leg, the weight follows through.

the other thing is his shoulders are constantly flat no matter if he's throwing a ball five yards or 25 yards you got to have a little bit of a tilt with your front shoulder and then you see his left shoulder constantly fly open uh i think that keeps him completely exposed on the front side instead of like tom brady was like the guy that i think first of like kick that left shoulder tucked keep that left shoulder so i think he's just got some really fixable but extreme you know mechanical things they got to figure out. Dan, what do you know about putting your jaw on shore during a dropback? Yeah, I don't know a ton about that. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I don't know if I see a ton of guys do it. Whoa. Oh, you smart. Mike McCarthy. That's crazy.

Holy fuck. I didn't say that. Yeah, you did. Yeah, he did. You said it without saying it. I want a punch and pull. I want to punch and pull. I want punch and pull, yeah. Oh, you agree with that, huh? Is that okay? That is okay? I didn't disagree with that. I didn't disagree with that I it. I don't know it. Punch and pull. Let's go ahead and flip his hips here. Let's go chin on shoulder looking down field. Thank you. Let's go ahead and rip that thing.

Rip it. J.J. is going to be good? Yeah, dude, I think he's so still very talented. I guess I think he's, yes, I think he's going to be a good player. Probably undervalued all the time missed. You know, he was so, I thought mechanically that was a strength of his coming out of And so the injury last year, and then the injury this year, he's just, I think he's missed time. I also think he's developed really poor habits.

And they just got to work through them. I don't think it's going to get fixed this season. I don't believe it's something you can fix in season. It's going to be an off-season fix. Good luck, nine. Cool, good, man. Cool, and now. Last quarterback question, obviously, it's a big one.

Go ahead, Tom. Yeah, Dan, two quarterbacks played in Pittsburgh. One played the first half, one played the second half. Which half did the Steelers' offense look better last week? look better in the second half one ball went down the field more what's your problem you know I think there was a little bit more

of a willingness to hang in the pocket and make a throw when you got a body or a hit so I think if Aaron doesn't play I think they'll be okay as a one off or two off with Mason Rudolph Aaron's gonna play I mean I don't even know what we're talking about here I don't even know what we're talking about

he made a comment about I don't know if it was AJ or Aaron somebody made a comment basically who's like his non-throwing arm has something wrong with it I don't know if you're going to miss a game because of that or whatever and then I think Aaron said the same thing Aaron wanted to go back in there

Aaron old school guy and let alone it being the Chicago Bears now we have learned some things through a press conference of Aaron Rogers you know he grew up with WGM being one of the six channels he's actually a fan of uh he's actually a fan of

Chicago believe it or not for you for the opponent this week There's an incentive for every opponent, but I have enjoyed many a Sunday and Monday and Thursdays in that city. It's a great sports town, phenomenal sports fans, and a great place to play. Do you sort of thrive off of being the villain there a little bit? You sort of enjoy that? I'd rather not be.

I mean, I'm not in Green Bay anymore. I feel like we can let bygones be bygones, maybe. can I guess. It's been, it's a great rivalry. I mean, in the history of all sports, you talk about the Lakers and the Celtics and the Red Sox and the Yankees. You got to talk about the Packers and the Bears. And there's been some great memories there. When I first got to Green Bay, the Bears had the All-Time series lead. When I left, Packers did. Since Jay Love is taken over, it's even gotten better. But I hope those fans can put that

behind them. I'm sure they can't. Don't expect them to, but I really enjoy the city. They've got great sportsmen. I grew up watching WGN on my five channel TV back in the day. So I was a Cubs fan and a Bulls fan. How can I be a Bulls fan unless you don't like

Michael Jordan? I did. I love them. So it was a lot of fun memories over the years playing there. Yeah, so he's playing, Dan. And they're cheering for him whenever he's jogging out on the field, too. You better understand that. So what do they, what should they be looking for with the Aaron Rogers led Pittsburgh Steelers' offense against his Chicago Bears defense? Dano. Yeah, first of all, Pittsburgh should run the football against them. Chicago's not a very good run defense. And obviously

some of the tight ends and the way that they run the football is a really big deal. The Bears defense is predicated of 100% off giveaways. If you don't give them the ball, you can move the ball up and down the field on them. It's not shut you down defense in part because there's whole secondary feels like it's been hurt for the majority of this season. But as long as Aaron's smart with the football, gets it out of his hands, yards after they catch a dope. It's fine. Obviously you've got to go sporting the Redso, but it's not a

defense. It's not a defense. Oh, here it got. It's like shaking the car. Be careful. Be careful. Hey. Hey, we appreciate you, Dano. All right, so we look for the Steelers to run the ball.

Arnail, Mount Washington, and Aaron Rogers will do their thing. Do you have any more TV later? You're done. No, I'm going to do NFL live now. All right, 4 o'clock. I thought that was a 3 o'clocker. No, of course we know it's 4 o'clock. We watch every day.

Every day. We watch every day. Yeah. Thank you. You do a great fudging job. Yeah. And why don't you just, hey, damn, real quick. Just stick to Drake May, brother.

Don't be running your mouth about the Patriot Defense, okay? Darius Butler said it to me. I didn't even want to have to respond. Stick to Drake May, Daniel. but you got a okay Debutt's got my number if he needs to share some things with me

yeah okay just letting you know well he's saying if you want to share things that are maybe uh certainly not going to be favored Patriots fans were not happy with my thought on the Patriots which which was unwarranted but I just want

it's not unwarranted when we do a segment on what could be getting team beat and the team is a pretty impressive team you're trying to find out okay, what is something that you could do against this team to gain an advantage to beat them?

My thought was, well, New England, while the best run defense in football, is in nickel. If I'm a team going against New England, and I let them play nickel all game long and don't run it on them successfully, that's my fault. Connor was on your side. I do appreciate you getting a chance to speak to

the Patriots fans there, though, who I assume because they're great shit talkers, which kind of leads to it's not great that the Patriots are all the way back, that they're back, just because a very good group of shit-talking human beings now has a lot of reason to shit-talk. So, Dan, yeah, you decided to live in the paint. Patriots fans are going to go ahead and duck on you.

They don't care about you anymore, Dan, so you don't have to worry about the Patriots fans. Yeah. Sweet. Oh, yeah, I got another question. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Dan Orlovsky. Thank you, Dan. Oh, stay safe out there.

There's a truck coming, Dan. There's a truck coming, Dad. There's a truck coming, Dad. Yeah Can I get out? Can I get out? No, no, no, no, no. They connected, yes, they connected what you murder.

For it. I can't watch it. I can't watch it. Dan, you focus on your driving, Jesus Christ. Oh, no, we're good. Three, two. We're out of here, we're out here, we're out. Get them off my screen.

I want to see it. You see him. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. Get him out of here, please. I don't want to be a part of that. I don't like watching that stuff. That's my least favorite thing. Yes.

Side of the road. Kirk Herb Street, legendary. find the bottom of the hill around a bend. I'm going to stand outside, too, so we get a better view of this thing. Dan, get away from me, Dan. I don't want to see it. Dan, focus on driving, Dan. Yeah, what the hell?

Hang up on Dan. Someone pull this guy over. You know, a lot of her. Australia, they do not fuck around with the phone thing. They got cameras everywhere. And it's just like, well, you know, people would say that's not great either. But they, you know, certainly argument, I guess, both ways for all these things. More cameras are better.

Keep the roads safe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they have cameras. So if you pull your phone out, it's an immediate, and they get everybody's license. Obviously, boom, bang, pals are not doing any of that.

But there are some people who are extraordinarily bad at being on their phone while driving. And if you're stuck in a car with those people, you would like there to be a jail sentence, maybe, for people getting on their phone while driving. Also, a motorcycle rider. You know, I enjoy riding.

riding my bike with my wife. It's a good hobby. Now, Indiana is a whole it's tough to ride in because, you know, we got potholes like actual the moon, like a lunar type. Yeah, craters.

Craters out here. So it's not necessarily as enjoyable of a ride because you turn a corner all of a sudden and you're... Yeah. But on a bike, you would like everybody to not have their phones out

because it's really hard to pay attention. But on that note, I'm not going to act like, you know, I try to wait for stop signs, red lights. Bingo, sure. Because I would like to not be asshole driver

strictly, but boy, whenever there's people sitting at the bottom of a hill around a bend and you got 18 withers coming down and your face-time it feels like every time they're dying. Kind of start to get that feeling with Dan there. More

cars started coming on that. All we do is swirr a little bit off the road, bam. And on the internet, we've seen enough of those. Yeah? Just, yeah, because all you know, somebody on there. Just at the right, I'm okay. I'm on the far right side. There's no on-ramp anywhere. No way, Dano's here.

Danor-Lovsky? Where? Patriots fans. Which was unwarrant. I mean, the things he was saying were all valid. He was just, oh, Dan Arloffi, the quarterback guy wants to talk about defense. And he just picked the Patriots defense, so Patriots people are as loud as possible. But what he was saying was all good football information?

Yeah, Dan Rolovsky is going to be well studied. He's also not going to say no to a producer telling him to say something about something. No. You think maybe this will get clipped and I'll get murdered for this? Never has come out of Dan Rolovsky's mouth. Nope. Darylowski says, you need a what, about what? How many different determiners are there?

Are you everybody going to know that this is the case? Sure. Give me this stuff. That's what I thought. I got you. I could do it. The context of the situation was, nobody heard it, Dan. Nobody heard it, Dan.

But we appreciate Dan. Dan's shins are very calloused, and he steps right back in there every single time. All right, let's make some picks for the night age. This has been an interesting one for me because of how much I love one particular team and how good they've been to us with the Buffalo Bills. And then I guess Texans have been great to us as well.

So I like that the Bills are playing great. I like that the Bills are winning. I don't love that they're six-point favorites down there in Houston against the number one defense in the league. So I will take the Houston Texans plus six tonight on Amazon Prime. And I do

believe this is a Bills win. Like I think in end, Josh Allen will win this game. But I think we're in for one, and I think there's a little bit of a game. There's a chance. Josh Allen wins by 30. There's a chance. I've already walked through it enough times because I've been so confident about Houston plus six since the moment I woke up this morning.

And I've certainly had to fade myself in there going, yeah, right, why are you so confident in this sports books are going to get you? Then you look, and it's like 77 percent of looking the other way. I'm a shop all of a sudden. Maybe I woke up a shop. Pats a shop, do, do, do, do, do you, maybe a shop to do, do, do you, maybe a shop. 22%. So I felt like okay about it. And then I started seeing the other side. I'm like, well, why would I not? And it's like, well, they got Josh Allen. Okay. James Cook's a fucking monster

too. Let's not even get it twisted. Now, they potentially without Kincaid, right? No Kincaid, no Curtis Samuel. Yeah, here it is. No, Gabe Davis, though. What's that? Gabe Davis, back. I love that. Look for Gabe Davis to get his feet in the paint tonight, I would assume. That's going to be something that they're going to look to do. I love the Gabe Davis Buffalo Bills time. But yeah, a lot of guys out to your point. And then obviously for the Texans, CJ Stroud out, so you got Dougie Davis Mills, which is kind of the entire storyline. It's like you got a guy

that not a lot of people really know about playing quarterback for a team that doesn't look like they have the best record. So now you've got the Buffalo Bills coming down. Is that why 77% of the bets are on the Buffalo Bills or they just think that the Texans aren't that good? Yeah, it's probably because they just think the Texans aren't that good. Bad record. Yes, bad. record and they watched them, they had to kick a last second field goal last week against the Titans to win 16, 13, so

the offense did, the offense has been pretty bad all season long. The defense has carried them, and I assume they just see what the bills did to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week in a big prime time game that everybody was watching. So it's probably a lot of recency buys as well. Just one touchdown way is

sick, so. Just win by Sam. Am I going to Buffalo? Who do you like? I am going Buffalo Bills and I can get them at minus five and a half, right? That is correct. Oh, man. Am I fading myself right now?

You called Seattle versus the Rams perfectly this past weekend. I felt very good about it. I need to remember that. You had Seattle plus three and a half and you had the Rams with it. Texans wearing all reds tonight, too, look out. Pretty cool. That's, man. Look out.

Part of it. Like the pants, too? All reds. Hmm. Those look sweet. What are you humming? Okay. We saw what you guys.

try it out of this shit. I didn't love that either. Are they red pants? Are we sure? You think it's going to be blue or black? I feel like we've done the blue because the same color as the numbers. I feel like they've done before. All red. All red. All red. We've been told. Yeah. Wow.

These look pretty cool. Is JJ leading them out? Oh, is that true? I don't know. Can we call JJ? See if he's Who is? Is someone like ringing the bell or what do they do to start the game? They don't do that. They play football. They should. They shoot a bowl. Is speed doing it? No. I need Speeds in Cincinnati on Sunday.

Speed is the ruler at the jungle for the Bengals. Joey Burroughs return potentially. Yeah. It's speed ruling the jungle. Could he get a little scatback action on Sunday? They should maybe put him out there at slot. Just the thing about putting him at slot.

Because Jamar's sped, he spit on a guy right in his face. It was disgusting. Yeah, a lot of people said that was the case. Here's the next rule of the jungle I show you. He should play wide off with Bengals. Keep living, speed. Keep living speed. I hope he has to give a speech. Maybe let him give a speech. Yes, please.

Him calling out his chat while giving a speech the rule to the entire jungle would be sick. There's no answer from Judge, so we'll move on. I like the Texans plus six tonight. You like the bills minus five and a half? Correct. All Reds change anything for you? A little bit, but I'm going to stick with it.

I'm a Josh Allen guy. You know that. Oh. Oh. What was that going to be four? You know what? but what i wasn't doing is i wasn't fucking i ain't right there talking that chin that's hard to throw that was like that was a front to back not a twist that's hard to throw

like uh i don't know how you're supposed that's i don't know if i'd be good at the uh quarterback camp you sure in you sure down it yeah taxing Plus six. Take the breath. Be your friend. Telling something nice and might change your life or in this thing together.

I'll be in Eugene Oregon tomorrow. Can't wait. AJ, safe travel is over here. I appreciate the hell out of you. Let's enjoy this one tonight. Week 12 of the NFL season's kicking off. Hey, here we go. We're here.

Here we go. Life is good. Team on me, team on three. One, two, three, team. Goodbye.