The Ringer NFL Show - Big Ben Is Back, Rookie Life in the NFL and Week 1 Likes | The Ringer NFL Show

Episode Date: September 15, 2020

Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright kick off their new Tuesday edition of 'The Ringer NFL Show' with reactions to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's return (05:17). The duo also discuss why Tom Brady struggled in his Bucs debut, (16:58) and then dish out their Week 1 Likes (28:33). Then, they review rookie performances and Ryan tells stories from his very first NFL game (51:53). Hosts: Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And you can pick up a pack or have it delivered today. And as always, remember, please drink responsibly. Hey, come on, come all. You know what time it is, or maybe you really don't, seeing that this is episode one. This is the Ringer NFL show, and you can be anywhere in the world, but you're here with us, and we appreciate that. When I say us and I say we, of course, I'm referring to my.

myself, I'm Cole Wright with my partner in crime, Ryan Shazier. And this is the Tuesday throwdown here on the Ringer NFL show. And oh, by the way, it's also the season premiere, as we told you. We're kicking things off. And for those of you have been living under a rock, Ryan Shazir, that's my running buddy today. An OSU Buckeye legend, a Pittsburgh Steeler, great, a two-time pro bowler and all-around, great dude. And Ryan, you announced your retirement just last week. And now you're a member of the media, man.

Welcome to the team. Man, I'm glad to be here, man. I'm glad to be here. You know, me and my family, you know, as of now, we're enjoying retirement. You know, it's only been less than a week, but it's really been a great experience, you know. And I definitely excited to join the media. I decided to talk about football and then decided to be here with you on the Ringer NFL show. Absolutely glad to have you here, man.

And for those who don't know me, well, I've been at a few different stops. You may know me from my days at NFL Network. You know, I used to chop things up on game day highlights. I had to watch on Sunday and watch my guy Chris Rose do it solo. I feel like he was throwing references out there, and I wasn't there to help him, you know, finish it up like Dwayne Wade to LeBron James running on the end of the floor. But either way, I've also, you know, dabbled in a little serious XM radio when it comes to the NFL side. So being able to be here, Ryan, with you, you know, it's a dream come true.

So I'm ready to get after it this season. We're going to have tons of fun, man, no doubt about that. So here's what we're going to do on a weekly basis. Now, every Tuesday, we're going to hit you with the biggest storylines. Plus, give you the real deal from the players point of view, plus a little story time as well, Ryan, I know you have plenty of stories in your back pocket that you're ready to unload on everybody. And we're always going to get things rolling with our depth chart.

What's that you ask? Well, that's a spin around the spiciest headlines in the league from the week that currently was. And we're also going to chop things up this week on Monday night football because, Ryan, didn't your Pittsburgh Steelers, they played this weekend, right? On a Monday night, too, huh? Yeah, Ben was looking pretty good. And I, me last night. looking pretty good. So I'm excited to talk about that.

Absolutely. He looks slim and trim in that post-game press conference, too, had that European cut suit down. We'll talk about the Steelers and how they got down. We'll also talk about Tom Brady on the road. He was looking a little bit like Willie Mays in a Mets uniform, maybe like Michael Jordan over there in a Wizards uni. But I don't know how things are going to shake out down there in Tampa, but it's clearly a whole different scene than things were in New England, Ryan. Yeah, I think, you know, that first game, I think it was a little rough. You know, we didn't have any preseason.

So I look forward to talking about it. You know, Tom, they had a rough time, but I think they're going to put things together. All right. We also can't forget the man who took out a mascot down in Orlando at the Pro Bowl, Jamal Adams. He was balling in week one. Plenty of other stars, they also put that best foot forward. We're going to highlight those guys, too.

And you know what? We're going to give them some likes because that's what all the kids do these days on Instagram, on Twitter, on Snapchat, on what is Bill Belichie? call it, what's it called it? Not Facebook. Obviously, that's what it is, but he calls it what? My face. My face.

Yeah, yeah. That's what Bill B calls it. You know, he's pretty much in a playbook or a lacrosse magazine whenever he's not out there on the field. So, and then after that, you know, we're going to move to our playbook. And that's where we dig deep when it comes to the week's big picture. And this week, it's all about rookie life in the National Football League. Ryan, you're going to have us covered every single step of the way. And then we're going to wrap up the show and what we call Mike Check.

That's where I'm going to. tell you all about that in just a little bit. You know what? We're going to have to wait to get to that because I don't want to give things away. I want people to stick around here and enjoy what we're bringing to the table here on the Ringer NFL show. Now, first up, let's roll with our headlines because Ryan, we talked about it, Monday night football, Pittsburgh Steelers, 26 to 16 over Big Blue and Big Ben, man, I mean, he looks solid out there. You know, we saw him get loose on a nice little run and he was tracked down from behind. It could have been a late hit, but I think a lot of people forgot that Big Ben had that in his bag of tricks.

Yeah, that's one of the things that Ben definitely came into league with. You know, he's an improviser. He definitely moves around. He definitely breaks out of a lot of sacks. And, you know, Ben had more restaurant harass than Sequin last night. I'm not throwing any shots at Sequin because I think he's one of the best running backs in the league. But, man, that tells you how the defense was playing.

But to me, Ben coming out with three touchdowns, you know, his first one since 2018. man, he just looked like he was comfortable out there. He was having fun. You know, the first half of the game, you know, he got hit. You know, he haven't got hit in a while. So it was a little rough. But once he started getting in the groove, him and Juju, and the other guys were looking real good out there.

Yeah, you talk about that first hit. And that's really what a player needs once they get back out there. It's almost like you get, you know, a bucket full of smell and salts. And that's what we saw with Ben, you know, being away from the game, you know. Sometimes I think that that, you know, that, that well, back to the league moment. It's more times than not what players really want. Yeah, because in practice, you're not about a hit Ben.

He's making too much money, but not even he's making too much money. He's the franchise. Most quarterbacks are the franchise, and you're not about to hurt your starting quarterback. So being his first hit since, you know, beginning of last season was last night. So a lot of guys, he looked good out there. You know, he got hit the first time. It was a little rough, but after that, you know, he started dicing them up, and he looked like the old Ben to me, you know, he's getting everybody involved. He's spreading the ball around.

And I thought I thought Ben looked it really good. And you said that you saw Ben, it looked like he was really out there having fun. And in years past, we know that Ben, sometimes fun and football didn't always go hand in hand, you know, after a rough game, he would say, you know, it's on me. It's my fault. Everything, you can put it all on the blame when it comes to me. I'm the one who's going to take the brunt of it. And it almost seemed as if he was throwing that retirement out there, you know, more times than not. If something went wrong, we'd hear Ben, you know, make mention of hanging up the spikes and running off into the sunset. But right now, he looks to be a new, improved Ben Rolfesberger. And like we said, he was wearing

that European cut suit during the postgame press conference. And he sounded like he was singing a whole different tune, right? Yeah, I remember when I was at a Pro Bowl and was, you know, just having fun before the game. And someone was like, hey, man, Ben just announced he's about to retire. And I was like, What do you mean he's about to retire? You know, this was about four years ago. So, but now, you know, Ben looked at, he looked at happy out there. He looked at healthy. He was spreading the ball around.

He had everybody involved. You know, Benny was getting the ball a lot, Juju, Deonté, you know, Ebron. He was spreading the ball around. I don't think he had to focus on getting it to a specific person. You know, Juju's not a guy that's demanding the ball. Obviously, he's the leading receiver. he's not demanding the ball.

Levion, he used to demand the ball. Also, as a runner-back, you know, you have to give him a lot of touches. But they was able to spread the ball around. They was able to get whoever was open the ball. So when you're a quarterback and you just literally can throw it to whoever you want, that adds less stress to you. But also, now everything's truly on you. You know, you can't be like, hey, I had to give this guy the ball and it was a force pick.

It's also, you didn't have to get that guy to ball, and you can get the ball to whoever you want and let your playmakers, place. Absolutely. Now, when you were at the Pro Bowl, that was the one that was in Orlando, correct? Both times, you're a two-time Pro Bowl or so, both of your visits were to Orlando and the Magic Kingdom and where they have the NBA bubble currently at? Yeah, so how about, this is, this is something that's, I'm not going to say I was upset about this, but I was kind of upset. So I make the Pro Bowl for my first time, and there's like, yeah, we're moving it back to Orlando. So if everybody doesn't know, I'm from Florida. So I've been to

Orlando too many times in my lifetime. And I was so hoping to go to Hawaii. But at the day, yeah, it was in Orlando. It's the home in the NBA bubble, you know, and I had a great time. And then my second time, I wasn't able to go because, you know, I had got hurt that season. But it's definitely, yeah, it was in the, it was in the Magic Kingdom. Yeah, yeah, I've been down there and covered that. I mean, it's a sprawling, you know, pretty much the real estate down there, it's unbelievable. You know, they have all these field houses and all these extra fields and everything set up. And even if you're, you're, practicing out there with your team, you could be, who knows, you could be about two par fives

away from your squad. So when you heard the news that Big Ben said he was retiring, I mean, did you go to try to track Big Ben down? Did you try to follow with Mike Tomlin? What was your scenario right there? You know, I did the first thing that everybody does. I grab my phone. I try to look up the article. And then I just thought about it. And I was like, man, I'm just going to let Ben have time. It's the offseason. You know, we had a rough season. And we lost a really tough game that we didn't think we was going to lose. We lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship that year. And it was just real tough.

So I think he was just banged up from that game. You know, Levion had got hurt in that game. A, B, was hurt before that game. So it was, it was kind of a tough, it was a tough game for him. And I was just like, yeah, Ben just probably needs some time to himself. And we'll see before the season starts. And, you know, he came back. And we had a really solid year the next year.

We went 13 and 3. You guys didn't go shopping at the outlet malls there in Orlando, huh? Because I know there is a fantastic outlet mall, right? A stone's throw away from the Sheraton Vistana Resort, if you're not familiar with that. I didn't do too much. I didn't do too much outlet shopping, man. You know, like I said, I've been in Orlando too many times in my life. So when I went to Orlando, I was just like, man, I'm by just chilling the hotel and enjoy this nice five-star resort that they had us at.

And, you know, play a little golf, chilling in a hot tub and spend time with the family. you know, because all my family is literally an hour away. Absolutely. You know, the last time I was down there at the Pro Bowl, I bumped into Juju, obviously, all week long on the field. And then I was actually on the plane back from Orlando to Los Angeles. And, you know, he just flies under the radar. He's one of those guys.

He's very unassuming, even though he fills up the room when he's out there. You know, the one thing that jumped out to me was, I didn't even, like I said, I didn't even notice who he was, but I was looking at his shoes. I'm like, man, the man's got some real fresh kicks on. And then when we got in the carousel to go pick up our luggage, I'm like, oh, it's juju, look at it. him. And, you know, I said hello, gave him a debt. But, I mean, how about the game he had last night? I mean, he's already 66% of the way to his touchdown total from a season ago. I know he was

a little banged up last year, but two touchdowns on Monday night football, three touchdowns in all of 2019. And I think this is going to be the season where we really see Juju Smith-Schuster eat, Ryan. Yeah, I think Juju's going to have a comeback year. You know, last year he was banged up. And the year before that, everybody used to say Juju isn't Juju because of who he had as a running mate. And I think Juju's going to have a great year. You know, Deontes is another guy that's going to have people focusing on him also. So it's going to allow Juju to have some freedom also.

So I think Juju's going to come back with a strong year. He looked at healthy. And then when Juju's having fun and playing around, that's when he's at his best. We used to say all the time in the locker room, like, man, Juju's like a huge kid, you know, because at a day, Juju is probably five pounds lighter than I am at receiver. You know, he's 6-2, 200, you know, I mean, 220. And I was, at the time when I was playing, I was like 2.30, 225.

So he's a big, he's literally a linebacker out there playing receiver. But I think when he's having fun, you know, looking at a pylon can, celebrated with a pylon cam. I know you like that last night. When he's doing that, that's when Juju's at his best. Now, for you to sit back and watch this game as a fan, you know, obviously announcing your retirement last week. but what was it like for you to watch and say, hey, you know,

I can sit here and I can watch this game objectively, and I know that Big Ben's out there playing well, juju looks nice, but if the Steelers, if there's any missteps along the way, I know you're going to take them to task, though, right? Yeah, I know, I definitely am. You know, it was definitely moments in the game. And I'm like, man, like, man, you can't do this.

Man, you can't do, especially the defense because I know what they're running. Obviously, I don't know what plays they're running at a specific time, but I can just look at the plays and kind of tell what they're doing. But it's definitely moments in the game. I'm like, man, how you do this, how you do that? But last night, man, it made me feel good just to see my guys out there playing and balling out and just looking fresh out there, man. I was really excited to just see that they're running smooth. The defense looked amazing out there, man.

And it hurts not to be able to play the game no more. But I'm not going to lie, but it felt refreshing to just see them go out there, have a great game. And I remember I was talking to my mom. And I was like, man, they actually watch football. and just not even like worry about who I'm playing next or anything. It feels good. But I was like, man, mom, I was like, I know I used to hit people pretty hard. But I'm like, man, guys be out there hitting, man.

You can hear everything on TV now. And she was like, she's like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I never really paid attention to it like that. I'm like, God's really be hitting out here. And she's like, yeah, yeah. She's like, you used to be one of them. Yeah. And that's funny because, you know, we used to sit and watch our Monday night football games

and, you know, NFL network with all the guys. And that's what your boy, Ike Taylor. that's what he would always say. He's like, ooh, man, they're hitting out there. And that's, that's true. And especially, you know, MJD would sit back and like, I can't believe I actually played this game, watching these guys, you know, run through all these cats. And, I mean, it's unbelievable to see, you know, how things actually unfold, especially when you're not out there in the huddle or on the sideline anymore. Yeah, you definitely get a different perspective. You know, when you're playing this game in your whole life, you're just used to it.

You used to be able to hit people. You used to be able to just have fun, try to avoid people. you know, because playing football is a simple game. It's get the ball and try to score, but avoid the other guys. You know, on the other side of the ball, you just tackle the guy with the ball and try to score the other way. You know, so it's really a simple game, but at the end of the day, you know, they add so many rules nowadays. But it was just always fun to us.

Going out there to be able to hit guys, it was a fun time, you know, and just to actually look back and just see how hard guys are getting hit and actually hitting guys, that changes things up. And you're like, oh, man, these guys, these guys are hitting at a different level out here. Yeah, well, now you have to watch the game from a media perspective. You have to sit there and you have to take notes and you have to, you know, and you have to critique.

As you watch the game, you have to say, okay, here's what I would have done. Here's how things should be done a little differently, not just from the defensive side of the ball, but offensively as well because if there's anybody that knows offense, it's a defensive player, especially a Mike linebacker. Yeah, 100%. 100%. You know, we definitely got to pay attention to the offense

what they're doing and just always be on the piece and keep. You always got to see what they like to do. What are things that they like to focus on? Who are guys they like to focus to give the ball to? And, you know, that was one thing that we just wanted to make sure that we took away. And that's something that was crazy to me when you go back and look at some of the guys this weekend that you expect to have big games that didn't. You know, and that's just a defense focusing in on those guys. Yeah, you know, one thing you said that you talk about focusing in on certain guys, on certain teams,

on the opposite side of the ball. And I know you had to be focused on Tom Brady. Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they just didn't look as crispy as a lot of people would have thought. But a lot of that may have stemmed from the fact that, of course, they took on the New Orleans Saints and the Saints. They may be at least, if not the best team in the National Football League. They're at least in the top three or the top five.

So there's no shame in fall in Game 1 to the Saints, even though the Saints in Week 1s haven't been a huge success over the past few years. If I'm not mistaken, I think the Saints have dropped their last six week one openers. But that's here nor there because we're talking about Tom Brady. And we know what happened after the game. Bruce Ariens, you know, he came out and he did something that Bill Belichick would never do. Bill Belichick would never say that Tom Brady looked great in practice, but did not carry that over to Sunday. And that's exactly what Bruce Ariens did.

But when it comes to Tom, I mean, it's not going to be easy. Everyone says how good this team is on paper. But, Ryan, as you know, man, the only difference is you don't play football games on paper. you play him on the grass. And you're, and you're scooting up against a guy like Drew Breeze on that fast turf at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, if you're not ready to go,

it's going to be a problem. Yeah, you don't play games on paper, man. And like I was saying before, man, defense are focusing on guys. Like, the defense for the Saints, man, they're a good group of guys, man, they're one of the top defense in the league,

especially their offense. You know, they're truly an all-around team. But like I was saying, focusing in on guys, they focused in on Mike Evans because I think he had, what, one catch? and that's not what you need to be having if you're Tom Brady right now. Tom Brady needs to be leading that team to victory and playing the Saints for week

one when you have no preseason games, they have no games to really test out your offense. That's a hard test to ask. You know, the Saints have a lot of chemistry, a lot of chemistry. They won a lot of big games and lost a lot of big games together with a core group of guys that they have right now. And who are the core group of guys for Tampa right now? They have a whole new set of guys there. You know, so they haven't had any games together.

This is their first one. And then, hey, first game of the year, Tom Brady, you get the best team in the NFL. You know, man, they're still trying to work things out. He's used to normally first game of the year. Yeah, we're about to play the Dolphins. We got us a little preseason game, you know? So, no, they was like, no, we're jumping out.

You're getting, you're getting Drew. And Drew and his guys that's been, that should have won a championship two or three years ago or two or three years straight. You know, so no, you're getting these guys and here you go, you don't have a preseason also.

So, you know, it was really tough for him, man. They put him in a really tough position. But when it comes to Bruce, I'm not mad at Bruce because him and Tom, they talk a lot. They talk a lot. Coach Tomlin and Ben talk a lot. And I'm guessing any other quarterback

in their head coach talks a lot. And to me, when it comes to coaching, especially good coaches. I consider Bruce Erie is a good coach. They understand who they have on their teams. And I feel that Bruce understands that Tom can handle that situation. Obviously, Bill never used to do it, but I feel that Bruce understands that Tom can handle that situation.

I feel he wouldn't call him out if he didn't feel like he can handle it. To me, I remember when I was playing, sometimes Coach Tomlin would call me out in front of the team. He never called me out in front of the team. He never called me out in front of the media, but if you call me out in front of the media, I just feel like, hey, he's pretty much telling me, Ryan, you got to do better. You have to make change because we're not liking how you're playing right now. So I feel like Tom is the same way.

Tom, everybody I hear from, he loves to take criticism. He loves to learn how to continue to get better. And I feel that Bruce was basically saying, hey, Tom, we didn't do what we plan on doing. I need you to go out there and win us a championship. You know, so he's going to call him out and pretty much say, hey, Mike needs to get the ball. We need to figure things out. And, you know, him, because at the end day, after he called him out, everybody's going to see it on the way to the plane. Everybody's going to see it in the locker room.

So the first thing that Tom is going to do is like, all right, hey, Bruce, I noticed what you said. All right, let's figure out how to do better. You know, because at the day, it's not like those two are going to avoid each other for the rest of the season. It's inevitable. They're going to talk. Yeah. And you said no preseason. usually, you know, Tom Brady would be laced him up week one versus Miami.

And that's almost like a preseason game, at least for Tom and the Patriots. But this year, not so much. You know, he was thrown right in the fire with Drew Breeze and New Orleans Saints. But do you think that that was maybe the reason for some of that rust, that lack of continuity, is because they didn't have those preseason games for them to shake off some of the rust that they accumulated over the offseason? A hundred percent. Like, this is a problem example. like Ben, he was knocking off rest from the previous season, you know,

but he was able to get the ball back to guys that were familiar to him, you know, in familiar situations. Every guy that was on the field pretty much he played with before. Tom, he didn't have a preseason, but he was knocking off rest from last year, but everybody he threw to last year is a totally different person, like totally different person. And New Orleans Saints DBs aren't Tampa Bay's DBs. I'm sorry, Tampa Bay has some good young talent,

but they're not Lattimore. You know, they're not Malcolm Jenkins. They're not Marcus Williams. You know, so, and then they have a good pass rush, but they, he still, he still doesn't have Cameron Jordan coming after him. You know, so it was, it was a totally different scenario. And then now Tom is getting used to handing the ball off to Fournette where he used to be, like, able to just dump it off to James White, you know, so I feel like he's, the only

person he's really familiar with is Grom. And to me, Grunk's a great player, but Grunk is an older guy now. He's not what he used to be. You know, and they still have to figure out their way in that office. You know, they're still trying to figure out how to get their playmakers to ball. They have a lot of playmakers on paper. But like you said, we don't play on paper.

We play on the field. So the Saints was like, man, we're just going to take away your playmakers. And Tom, win us this game. You're not throwing it. You're not throwing into Mike. Throw it to, I think his name is Scooby. I think he had more, he had more targets than Mike. Evans, too. That can't happen if you're trying to win games. Yeah, it's almost like the Saints

took a page out of Tom Brady's book that he used to read, the Patriots playbook, and they took away everything that you're good at, and they made that your weakness. And when you do that, especially when there's a team with a lack of team cohesiveness, that continuity like we touched on, makes it a little bit easier to go out there and get that win. And that's exactly what we saw from Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Now, you know, when it comes to Tom Brady and this team being able to manufacture wins. Tom's getting older, Bronx's getting older. So do these guys, do they develop maybe like a mid-range jumper like we see guys in the NBA do? When they're not able to take it to the cup like they used to, I mean, I know we said that Tom Brady looks a little bit like

Michael Jordan in a wizard's uniform or Willie Mays with the Mets. So are we going to see Tom maybe to develop that fade away? I mean, that little piece of the puzzle that they always get a little bit later in their careers because if Tom wants to do something with this Tampa Bay team, he's going to have to reinvent himself, so to speak. Honestly, Tom's not really going to have to reinvent himself. Tom has to do what he's been doing his whole career. Okay. Dig and dunk people and run the ball.

That's how they, when they won a championship with Corey Dillon, they were running the ball. When, you know, last year everybody was like, man, Tom Brady is not as good, but they started the season off amazing. Obviously, their defense was playing out of their mind at the beginning of the last season. but they were running the ball effectively. Sonny Michelle was running the ball. I'm surprised that Fournette wasn't getting the ball as much as I expected. Obviously, Jones is good.

Jones is good. I'm not, me personally, I don't think he's better than Fournette. But Fornett's still trying to figure things out. But I think that they need to run the ball. Dig and Dunk. Obviously, Mike Evans, he keep, he's not a crossing route type of dude. He's more of a deep route type of dude. But you're going to have to pin him in situations where you can get him the ball and he can run.

And are you got to just get him. give him, you know, routes that he can body people and just give him the ball early and just beat up dbs. But Tom Brady's not the type of guy that's throwing it down the field 20 or 30 times. He's going to throw it a down to field about 10 times, but his down to field throws are going to be super accurate, super efficient, and knows that that's going to be an effective play against a coverage that he wants. Everybody wants Tom to be somebody out here that's Patrick Mahon, just slinging it all. across the field because he has all these weapons. Just because you have all these weapons don't mean you have to play how everybody wants you to play.

Just give them the ball and make them make plays. Don't try to be the hero every time you have the ball. Yeah, maybe Tom needs to go to Cam Brade or to Grunk or to OJ Howard or turn around to hang it off to Leonard Fournette as opposed to going to Scott Miller as much because I don't know if Scooby's going to be able to get it done this season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We'll see. I don't know. Scooby and Shaggy might be on the sidelines eating some of them.

with those scoobie snacks, you know, it's late in the fourth quarter. So we'll see how that works out. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fanduel. Now, this year, we're teaming up with Fanduel again, but we've got something new this time around. All season long, you can play the free Ringer mega contest on Fanduel. Here's how it works. Just pick five NFL games against the spread,

including one double-down pick. Now, you get one point for every correct pick and two if you hit your double-down pick. Now, Fandul will add up your score every single week, just finishing the top 100-down. the season-long leaderboard to make the playoffs that compete for a share of $25,000. It's that simple. This week, I'll tell you, I know I'm from Chicago, but I like the Chicago Bears over the New York Giants. I'm going with them to get the 21 to 13 win.

As for my lock this week, well, I had to go with the Steelers. I see the Steelers absolutely taking out the Denver Broncos in a big time, W, 34 to 17, and a game that I'm going to just stay away from. Let's go with Thursday Night Football, a game that wouldn't even be on anyone's radar unless it was on Thursday night football. That's Browns and Bengals. Don't touch that game with a 10-foot pole. And remember, all you listeners out there, you can still get in. Even if you missed week one, it's not too late.

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Let's make the move to our stars of the week. Some of the guys that are getting some likes from us out there. And, you know, one thing that jumped off the page to me was, you know, I looked at the quarterbacks and they looked a little different. They looked, Ryan, they looked like you and I, you know, to see Patrick Mahomes out there and Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray and the list goes on, there were 10 African American quarterbacks this week. And, you know, as a former baseball player and a guy who always fancied himself

as a quarterback, I said, you know, if I were taking my game to the next level, that's what I would have done. And then I see these guys getting smashed by cats like you coming off the edge. And I think, well, maybe I wouldn't be a quarterback. But to see. all these young African-American quarterbacks out there thriving and getting wins. And, you know, for the most part, the ones that didn't win, it's because they went up against each other. I mean, that's a good thing to see a lot of positivity in the National Football League. Yeah, I'm really excited to see that, man. You know, the leads come a long way. And to see some, to see a lot of teams having black quarterbacks leading away and just

leading the charge, I'm really excited about that, man. Pretty much all of them could have got the win or, like you said, went against another African-American quarterback. but it's just exciting to see that the league's changing. And it just overall changed as a whole. You know, quarterbacks in the beginning, they used to just be, you know, I forgot what somebody used to call them pocket statues. They're just standing in the pocket and you can't,

they can't go anywhere. But, you know, they're fishing when they're throwing it. But now quarterbacks are able to get all over the place, move all around the field, but still be really accurate with the ball. So I was just, I was really excited to see that. that there's an NFL record. Obviously, I'm really excited just to see that the NFL is making a lot of change

with the social justice. And it's kind of cool that that was an NFL record in this day and time. You ever play quarterback back in the day? You ever try to play quarterback? Do you ever forced into duty under center? I mean, you're an athletic cat. I mean, I know you could probably sling it a little bit. How about the quarterback position?

Did you ever play back in your younger years? Hey, Cole. I learned about quarterback at a very early age. and it's called Madden. If I can't stop myself from throwing three or four picks on Madden, what makes you tell me I can't throw three or four picks in the NFL at a young age? If I can't keep the ball to myself in Madden, I'm not about to be a turnover machine in the NFL.

I'll leave that to, I'll leave that to Collier and Lamar and those guys. Okay, well, one guy who's working on minimizing all those turnovers, and let me tell you, his passing game, it looked unbelievable. Like you just said, Lamar Jackson, I mean, 38 to 6. The Baltimore Ravens were out there yesterday throwing hot grits on the Cleveland Browns. I mean, let's just be honest. I mean, they woke up out of sleep. Like, no disrespect to Al Green, but we know the hot grits story with Al Green.

That's who the Cleveland Browns were on Sunday. 38 to 6. I mean, Lamar Jackson, what more can we say about this cat? I mean, the more times he's out there on the field, the better he gets each and every single time, right? I'm going to hit you with the, I'm going to hit you with the Marvin Gaye on this one. Baker, what's going on? Oh. Hey, man.

Because Lamar, Lamar looked amazing out there, man. You know, to me, I thought the weakness that he had was just sitting in the parking and throwing the ball. And he looked at really good out there, man. He controlled the offense that he was really, he almost had a perfect pass-of-riding on them. And I don't know if that's the Brown's defense or Lamar, his offense,

is just figuring things out. But I thought that he looked in the amazing out there. But the Browns, they're going to have problems. Each year, the quarterback. quarterback in the team should look different. And you should get better each year, especially if you're a young quarterback. To me, Collar got better. You know, Lamar got better.

Mahomes got better his second year. Baker looked at exactly the same as he did last year. And it's going to be a problem if you can't get OBJ the ball. Man, they have just as many weapons on their team as the Buccaneers or the Saints or any other team that you say on paper. but six points, that's not acceptable. That's not acceptable. I can go out there and kick two field goals and get six points right now.

Yeah. Me and my son can go out there and get six points. I can't. I can't kick field goals, so I'm going to let you roll with that one because that'd be a sad sight. I'd be looking like Stephen Gaskowski, the first three and a half quarters of a football game.

No disrespect to Stephen Gascowski, because we know he went out there and won the game. But yeah, kicking field goals, it's tough to do, but six points from Cleveland, that's not what you want to see. No, that's not what you just want to see at all. You know, they have Austin Hooper and Joku, I know Joku's hurt,

but then they have Kareem Hunt. Then they have Nick Chubbs, OBJ, then you have Jarvis Landry. Like, this is way too many weapons. This is, like, give these weapons to Lamar. Give these weapons to somebody else. Like, do you know, get these weapons back to Daniel Jones. You know how much Daniel Jones.

Jones will be happy if he had some of those guys on his team. Obviously, yeah, Sequan, but come on, man. You know, but I think Baker has to do better. You know, every year, you see, not every year, every day we see Baker over here covering up seats on commercials or he looking like the guy from Hulu. I think that's the guy who played. Baker must still be at home because the way he played, it didn't look good to me. Yeah, it's almost like, you know, we got Baker's head on not Baker's body playing in

that game versus Baltimore. And it's almost like we got Seekwon Barkley's head on not Sequin Barclay's body playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I don't know who was actually running the ball for the New York Giants. Was it Seekwan or was it members of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Because I saw those cats in the backfield so much of the game that I thought that maybe they'd be helping Daniel Jones try to, you know, move the ball up field. Yeah, I told my dad last night when we were watching the game, I was like, man, it's crazy.

Literally, Sequine touches the ball and starts jukeying. The moment he touches the ball. It's like, he touched the ball. B button, X button, Y button. He's like, man, he's like, man, I need some help. He needs some milk, man. He's like, I don't know what to do. Yeah, that wasn't good.

Anytime that you're looking for an alternate route, as soon as you touch the ball, you know you're in for a long day, and that's exactly what we saw with Sequan Barkley. But, you know, I'm going to hand out another like to Dwayne Haskins, because for Dwayne Haskins to go out there and help that Washington football team get a win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

I mean, they were down 17 to nothing. I mean, they looked as if they were dead in the water. And for them to rattle off 27 unanswered after Haskins went in the locker room and told his guys, hey, this is our game. This is our game to take. I mean, our head coach is there. He's getting cancer treatment, you know, during this game. So let's go out there and let's get this win.

And that's the real mark of a true champion of a true leader. When faced with adversity, how do you manage those troops? And that's exactly what he did. He went out there and managed him and got that win. And I mean, I've been almost a hater on the Washington football team. I mean, how lazy is that when it comes to naming a name, like, okay, we're just going to call ourselves the football team. That's what it is. But, I mean, they went out there and they played like an ironclad football team, old school helmets, numbers on the side, putting up 27 unanswered.

Like I said, I mean, Dwayne Haskins, I'm hitting the star. I'm smashing the star button on this guy right here. He was unbelievable. Yeah, no, he looked at amazing. man, he controlled the ball, you know, he didn't turn the ball over. He looked a really good out there, man. And they go out there and give a halftime speech, especially when your coaches and, you know, he's busy getting cancer treatment.

I think that's big. That really shows that he's a leader of the team, that a team is really behind them, and that what he said spoke numbers to the rest of the team. Because pretty much what he told his defense was, I need you to step up. Because if you guys slowed them down, we're going to pay points on the board.

And that's exactly what his defense did. They got him back to ball in good situations for them to score. And they came out there and played great football. You know, so I'm excited about what this team has. And like I said earlier, Duane got better, the Baker. You know, and it's just, to me, I just don't understand, you know. But I'm really excited. I'm really excited about what this team has in the future.

I'm still mad about their name. I think that's the laziest thing I ever heard. but I think they're going to be a solid team, but it also makes me feel, are the Eagles as good as everybody think? Because like we said before, we don't play this game on paper. That's true.

And I mean, I still think that the Eagles could win the division. I think that they will win the division. But, you know, like you said, are they as good as we think they are? Will Carson Wentz? Will he be the starting quarterback by the end of the season?

Who knows? But, you know, we talked about Dwayne Haskin's speech. Anyone on the Steelers back in the day, were they? you know, an A-plus speech giver, anyone ever rallied the troops up? And you're like, okay, let's go. Let's go out here and get after this because he just had me all fired up. So the thing is with me, when it comes to speeches, it's more of a moment thing.

It's not a guy. Like, some guys are great speeches. Coach Tomlin, he gives amazing speeches. I feel when he talks a lot of time, especially to me, when he says something, especially when it comes to relaying the football, I was like, man, I'm going to follow this guy. He's a great leader. But it's definitely been times where, a guy might be in there in the locker room and just like, hey, like, it's just a moment to give a speech.

I remember we were down. I think it was 17 to the Bengals one year. It might have been 20, but we were down. And I gave a speech. But it wasn't like, hey, guys, we need to go out there and do this, do that, da, da, da, da. No, but the speech I had was pretty much, hey, everybody, shut up. Like, stop talking. Stop making excuses.

Let's go out there and play football. We're looking trash out here. We need to go out here and show them who we really are. The bangers are running up and down our throat, and we need to go out here and make some change. We came back and won the game by seven. So you didn't hit him with the spice at them, all the different dudes in the locker room tweet.

It was like, come on, guys, we got to go out here and win this game. You weren't on that one, right? No, it was none of that. It was literally because one of the things I used to do is I used to throw some headphones on during halftime, and I always had it low so I could hear. like what's going on. But like to me,

music helped me like reset my mind. You know, so I used to like throw headsets on and just be out of here listening. I hear everything coach is there saying. But then I just hear everybody's like, man,

we need to do this. We need to do that. We need to do this. You just hear all, everybody trying to make adjustments and this. I'm like, man, stop all this, man.

Like, we don't need to adjust all this shit. Like, go out here and play football. Like, we're a better team. Like, stop playing around and everybody do your job and let's win. And we went out there, everybody was like, you're right. And like, that's kind of what we needed in this moment.

So you were that dude who laughed in the dojo but cried on the battlefield or cried in the dojo but laughed on the battlefield once you actually got after it as we reflect on our guy, Spice Adams. But, you know, one guy who was out there on the battlefield, he was just laughing his way to a quality afternoon, Jamal Adams. I mean, Jamal Adams with the Seattle Seahawks team and, you know, Russell Wilson, that's a whole different topic. for a whole other day because that cat was out there getting after it. I mean, 38 to 25, Atlanta didn't stand a chance from the very onset of that game. But Jamal Adams, I mean, Seattle, they continue to roll on defense. And I think he's going to be one of the key cogs this season for those cats in the Emerald City. Jamal is definitely one of my likes.

And all the fans on here, the true football fans, you guys are going to be mad at me because I wasn't really big on Jamal at first. You know, I didn't know. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't all about. the hype. And I'm going to tell you the truth, though, you know, being with another team and actually being, like, focused on a team the whole time, you just hear, you just hear a lot. You just hear a lot. You don't get to watch a lot of football because you're so focused on your games. You know, if you have a 12 o'clock game, you're not worried about what's happening in 16 other stadiums. You heard about what's happening in your stadium. You know, so I always heard about

Jamal, always heard about what he's doing. I see he was all pro. And I'm like, man, this got really that good. I actually got the time to sit down and watch him versus Atlanta, I mean, versus Atlanta. And yeah, he's a problem. He's a problem. He's all over the field. He's getting tackles for losses. He's forcing turnovers.

He's the guy that you want to your team. He's a disruptor. He's a guy that you want to your team. He's definitely a playmaker. He's an all pro. And, and, Jamal, I'm going to give you all the respect you do. Man, you're really a baller out there. And I just want to see if he can keep it up.

And I feel like he's in a perfect system because they have him in that Cam Chancellor role. Cam Chancellor was all over the field. And I think that's the type of role that they have Jamal doing, but he's going to be doing a little bit more blessing. Well, you know that Jamal Adams went to the school that produces all the best defensive players in the National Football League. He went to LSU, right? Of course. You know that, right? You know that. Don't you? I thought you meant to say Ohio State. Obviously, obviously he didn't go there, but when you said it produced the best football players.

That's what I mean, that's, of course, right? You know that. I'm sorry, I'm sorry everybody that's watching it right now, but coal must have been drinking a little early this morning. Well, you know, I mean, I used to work in Baton Rouge. I mean, I did cover a national championship of LSU. Who'd they beat? Who'd they beat that year down in the Mercedes-Benz-Ben super-do?

Oh, the Ohio State Buckeyes. But I'm sitting there talking like I was a member of that team. I was just sitting on the sideline. And you know what? I was holding my breath there for a second. Beanie Wales ripped off, I think a 64 or 68-yard run. And I had my buddies texting me like, oh, this game is over with. But that's here and or there because we're moving along. We're giving some more likes out this week, Ryan. I'm sure as, you know, as our podcast unfolds, I'm sure we're going to have a lot of LSU and Ohio State banter back and forth. My wife, she's from Baton Rouge. I used to work down there in Baton Rouge. Oh, you know, bias. Exactly. That's all it is. That's all that is. I wasn't smart enough to get into LSU and play ball back in the day. So I just try to. to hang my hat on the fact that I used to live there once upon a time. But, you know, how about that Jamie Collins flop? You know, I have to give that, I don't know who I give my like to.

Do I give it to him for trying to show the, you know, the referee that, okay, this is how the play went down, but you can't make contact with the referee, man. I mean, I feel like it was, it was almost like he was playing soccer or in the NBA. I mean, that, it just, it was a little much. But, you know, I like where it was at, though. No, like, I totally understand what Jamie was doing, but Jamie knows the rules. He's been in the league too long. He knows the risk.

You can't touch the ref. But at the day, that ref, come on, man. Like, really, you're going to throw him out of the game because he was trying to show you what somebody else was doing. It's like he wasn't just doing it to, you know, oh, I'm about to hit you with my head. Like, you know, sometimes guys just understand how much power they have and then they just feel disrespected.

So he was just like, man, you're not allowed to touch me, so I'm going to throw you out. I just, I feel like the ref is just, He was just doing the most, but Jamie, he's older than me. He's been a league longer than me. He knows, like, you can't touch referees. Yeah. Well, one guy who was hard to touch is Kyler Murray.

We're talking about the quarterbacks off the top. But Kyler Murray, I mean, you know, I've said it, Ryan, you and I, we've talked before, you know, on a few different occasions. And I said, if Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson, if they had a baby, I said, it would be Kyler Murray. Because the way that cat gets loose, I mean, from year one to year two, we're seeing this guy take strides each and every single week and he's far from finished yet. His book, nowhere near to being written. No, Kyle's going to be a problem.

He's already a problem, but he's going to continue to be a problem. And then the fact that they handed him the one of the best receivers, if not, the best receiver in the NFL or his team, he was like, hey, so you're telling me, I already won Ricky the year last year. You guys thought I was a good player last year. Then you hand me the best receiver in the league to me now. hey man you just made my job that much easier so he's going to be a problem it's hard to tackle him

he's faster than mahomes and russell but he's just as accurate as these guys and and he's he's in his second year i won't be surprised if i'm gonna go out of l'em i'm gonna go out of l'em and this is going to be my like bizarre take right here i won't be surprised if calumary wins the indif you this year because I feel like it's been recently, we've been having second year MVP's. And I won't be surprised if Kyle Murray just comes out and just comes out like a storm and just like, hey, I got the best receiver.

And I'm feeling confident. I'm going to go out here. And I won't be surprised if he pissed up Lamar or Mahomes-like numbers. I'm not saying he's going to throw that many touchdowns, but I think that just might be so take credit. I mean, it's not crazy. Like you said, you've seen a lot of these second-year quarterback or guys when their second year as a starter in the league,

I mean, making some waves. We saw it with Patrick Mahomes. We saw it with Lamar Jackson. So it wouldn't be crazy to see Kyla Murray and Cliff Kingsbury put something special together down there in the desert. I mean, it makes a whole lot of sense. We'll see how things shake out. But let's make the move now.

Let's get to our playbook because that's the portion of the program that we told you we're going to get to where we talk about the big picture. And this week we're talking about rookie life in the National Football League. So let's get it popping. We know a few rookies. They were out there balling. We saw him on Thursday night football. And, oh, it goes back to LSU, Clyde Edwards Hilaire, out there balling.

We saw what he did for Patrick Moll. And Ryan, I see just shrug and looking like, man, what's this dude talking about? Why does he keep going back to that? But, I mean, we can't overlook what Clyde Edwards-Halear did. I mean, the guy was out there. And I'll turn it back around because your boy, Chase Young, he was out there balling to, right? Don't forget Dobbins. Oh, of course, of course.

But I was just staying in the same vein with that LSU Ohio State. conversation. So for every fighting tiger, we know there, there's a Buckeye who's going out there and putting in work. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Man, Clyde, man, he came out strong. You know, first game in the year, everybody's watching. To me, I love those prime time games. And Clyde, he just showed, hey, man, I'm a Ricky, but I'm coming in here and I'm letting everybody know that I'm not to be played with. And I'm on the best offense in the league. So what you're going to do? You're going to, you're going to turn the box and sit on me, or you're going to let Tyrake Hill go over the top?

You know, and so it's going to be hard for their team, teams to handle their offense. Because if Clyde just continue to run the ball like that, Damien Williams going to have a hard time getting the ball back. Absolutely. Your boy Chase Young, too. I mean, if, I mean, he looked as strong as they come to, I mean, a sack and a half, a forced fumble.

I mean, this is the guy that came into the league with so many expectations in game one and no preseason. Youngsters living up to. And the thing that's pretty cool about Chase, man. He's a real cool guy, real humble guy, real hard worker. And the fact that he did that verse the Eagles, which the Eagles do have one of the best old lines in the NFL. So it looked good out there, man.

Their team is stacked on the D-line. So it definitely helps them not be able to double-titting them as much. But I'm excited to see what Chase has to offer, man. And him and Clyde had two strong debuts for Rikis. And it really showed, hey, this rookie class is going to be a tough, tough cookie to crack. Man, I think they're going to cause a lot of problems in the NFL this year. Like you said, J.K. Dobbins, he was also out there balling, had a pair of rushing touchdowns. I mean, to get in the game like this, like we said, to make an impact week one,

I mean, a lot of rookies, they seem to spend their tires and try to get used to the situation and their surroundings in the National Football League. but for a rookie to go out there and put up numbers like that, you've got to feel good about it. Yeah, to me, what's kind of cool about these guys, man, I remember when I was a rookie. My first game, we played the Browns. And like JK, my game wasn't as good.

I had a pretty good game, but it wasn't as good as this. He had two touchdowns. But I had the preseason, and, you know, I was like, man, I'm gayed the things out. It's the preseason. I'm going to fill it out. You know, I'm going to get out after a few games and a few plays. This game,

These guys are like, hey, this game one. You don't get any filling out process. So once you get going, this is the speed of it. We're right to it. So I think, honestly, some of these guys as rookies, it kind of helps them that they don't have preseason. It's two things. I feel like it helps some rookies and it hurts some rookies.

These guys, I feel like it helps because all three of those guys are pretty much everybody that we're going to name all play big time ball. So pretty much everybody they played for week one is almost NFL caliber. And I think that's kind of cool for these guys because they're like, hey, man, it's just like college. We're going out here playing a proud time game, week one, and it's time to focus.

All right, Ryan, you know, a lot of rookies went out there and bawled. One rookie who wished they would have balled, who things could have gone a whole lot different for the Detroit Lions, DeAndre Swift, he had that ball and he had that win in his hands versus the Chicago Bears. But as a native Chicago win living here in the Chicagoland area, You know, my Chicagoness will not allow me to say that the Lions had an opportunity to win that game. I mean, the Bears, all they did was play Chicago Bear defense down the stretch.

It had nothing to do with DeAndre Swift dropping that ball, right? Nothing to do. Oh, man. You know, the Bears, they play good defense at the end. But, man, that's a hard one. That's a hard one. You know, for your rookie debut, DeAndre Swift was having a pretty solid game. And, you know, for that, for that last play, you know, you never, the thing that's so.

crazy is you never expect that one of your biggest plays of the year can happen in your first game. And that's the thing about the NFL. You always have to be ready no matter of the moment. And DeAndre, you know, he has great hands. And for him to drop that pass, I know he's he's eating this stuff inside right now. You know, he's probably so frustrated watching film. It just was like, man, I would never drop this in a million years, you know, and stop and putting on the money. But, you know, that's the woes of rookies. You know, you're going to have rookie mistakes. You're going to have ups and downs. Like, for instance, you know, like with Joe Burrow, man, he had a big Ricky mistake when

it was in the red zone. You know, he had that turnover. But then he come back and they had the nice rushing touchdown. You know, as a rookie, you know, you know, you're going to make mistakes. They're going to have funnels. They're going to have ups and downs. But, you know, I know that one's going to eat DeAndre until he makes another big time play and a play that he felt wins the game for the Lions.

Absolutely now. DeAndre Swift. he wishes he could have that moment back, as if he wasn't nervous enough already. No preseason games going into his debut in the National Football League and then a play like that happens. But anything ever happened before your first NFL game? Any butterflies, any jitters?

I mean, did you have a certain meal that you wanted to eat and go out there and say, hey, you know, this is my first game. I have to make my presence felt here and do it with authority. You know, I definitely had pregame jitters. You know, for me, it was actually good that I had the preseason because the preseason allowed me to just focus in on what's going on in the speed of the game. But before the game, you know, I just did things like I did before. I just went out there warmed up.

It was just hard for me to kind of get a routine. You know, the first game in the year, you don't really have a true routine because you just never know how things are going to go. You know, you have the preseason, but it's not technically how a real game is. You have a few fans in there, but you don't have the whole stadium rocking. So I had a few things that I did. I'll have like a nice little warm-up, and I'll have, you know, just things like that.

But the biggest thing that I can remember from my Ricky debut is Joe Thomas. The biggest thing I can remember. Man, I remember it was a few running plays. that the Browns ran, they ran like a stretch. And one of my D-Liaman, you know, he got like triple reach. So if anybody that doesn't know what that means is, if they do a play, like they're zoning to the sidelines, like the runner-back running to the sideline that he cuts up the field,

then that means that he zones and finds a hole into, and then he runs up the field. So pretty much they did a zone play. But if a lineman gets reached, that means that two or three linemen pass him. to get to the linebackers. And, man, like, a guy got reached and he got passed up by two linemen,

so that means I have two linemen right in my face. So I avoid one guy, but the next guy that was right in front of me was Joe Thomas. And I'm like, and I was like, all right, let me try to get off this block. Man, having Joe block you is like, like you're a little kid. he's like man like he grabbed me and I was like man get off me get off me it's like my hand I could not move

like I could not get off the block at all and I was like man this is the strongest guy I ever met in my life and that was my Ricky game I was like man this guy is so strong and I was like man I can see why he's a he's a hall of favor man this guy is so strong and obviously you know I end up going against guys that are struggling to Joe but when it came to blocking Joe was probably one of the best guys I ever went against. And it was my Ricky debut.

So I was like, man, it really tells you, like, guys in the NFL are totally different in college. Like, in college, it would be guys by now I can get up this spot. This isn't nothing. Joe, every single time I ran across him that game, it was like, the moment you met Joe, you and Joe were going to sit down, have Starbucks together, because you're not going anywhere.

You're his little brother for that play. Yeah. And that's exactly how I felt. I mean, if anyone who hasn't seen Joe Thomas lately, I mean, he went from a dude whose neck was bigger than his chest back in his playing days to now he looks like he should be on the cover of men's health magazine taking a bite out of an apple, shirtless. I mean, this guy, he cooks Tomahawk steaks with a blowtorch out in the backyard. I mean, he drinks nothing but pints of black coffee. I mean, Joe Thomas, yeah, he's a different animal. I can only imagine what it was like going up against that Iron Man back in the day.

I mean, that sounds like it could have been the worst rookie experience, but is there anything that really jumps out when you're like, oh, man, I'm glad that rookie season was over with because when that went down, I didn't know when it was going to come to an end. There's a few times about rookie season, man, when we're being like goal line defense. And it'll be, it's kind of hard to explain,

but I have like the, you know, like on goal line plays, you always see the tight ends catching like a seven route in the end zone. It's like every team runs this route. Every team runs this route. It's part of every team's playbook on goal line. And it always happened. And I was always,

and it was a few times that season, I let the guy score. And that was one of the most frustrated things. And another thing that I dealt with a lot is my rookie year, since I had got hurt, my third game. And I felt that third game, we played Carolina. I was like, oh man, I'm having a great game.

I started up. I had like eight tackles. It was half time. And then I ended up getting hurt. And so I started, I was hurt for like nine games. But once I got back in, it was like a rotation of me and the linebackers. It was at a point that we couldn't make any mistakes called. Like any.

Like if I made a mistake, I knew we learned the playbook and known our role so good. if I made a mistake call, I literally ran out the game. I didn't even look at the coach and me like, hey, Ryan, you're out. That we was on a three-man rotation. He's like, if you make one mistake goal, one mistake, it was like, oh, damn,

I went underneath that block, just run to the sideline. You know the other guys running in. It's not even like, we all, like, it was like, damn, I missed the tackle. Well, Vince is running into the game. It was me, Vince and Sean Spencer. We always joke right about it now.

Like, we always joke about it. It's like, like, you barely make a mistake. And it's like, all you is, damn it, like, because our coach ain't really cussed. So all you do is, you run out, you run it off to the sideline.

All you see is another guy coming in. Like, you made the smallest mistake called the other guy's running in. You know, like, and I was like, yeah,

I can't wait till this is over because I understand, like, these guys are good, but I know that, like, once I start focusing in and I can actually get some reps in,

I'm going to be good to go. And after that rookie year, you know, I became the full-time start. and then things started getting smoother for me. I started to be able to play like myself. And if you make a mistake, then you can correct it. If you made a mistake, then the only time you create it is when the next guy made the mistake.

Because that's what you come back to. It's almost like, you know, when you get into the media side of things and, you know, for myself, you know, first job on TV, you make all those mistakes and you make all those errors and you think to yourself, oh, my God, they're going to get me on the first thing out of here. They're going to find someone else to take this job. And that's exactly what you think. But you learn from your mistakes. You build, you grow. And that's what we saw from you. And that's what we're seeing from a lot of these guys right now in the national football.

Real quick, before we move things along, best experience as a rookie, is there one thing that you reflect on where you're like, man, that was pretty cool? My best experience as a rookie, we played in a wild card game. And we played Baltimore and Ravens in a wildcard game. And it was a really tight game, real, real tight. and I made like a huge play, the force of fumble, and to help us go down and score a touchdown that I thought was going to win the game. They came back down and Justin Tucker hit like an 80-yard field goal.

He can't kick it. Yeah, so it was extremely like I made it, you know, I forced to fumble, and then they came, we came, then the offense scored, and then literally, like, they just crossed the 50, like, barely like. It was like on a 49 or a 40-yard line. And Justin Tucker bombed it. They hit us with the guitar.

And then I was like, damn. But it was a great rookie experience just because, you know, the year of 40, they never made it to the playoffs. They had to be in the playoffs and just experience that atmosphere. It was just like, man, like the stadium is really rocking. It was really a exciting time. And it definitely sucked that we got a guitar on us. But it was pretty cool, just to force and form.

and may have been a cause for us to win a game. Yeah, Justin Tucker hit you with that slash in front of the chapel, that Guns and Roses style, man. He was out there when we know what he would do when it came to his celebration once he put one through the uprights, and that's never what you want to see, especially as a member of the same division as that, man. This football season, it'll be different.

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All right, rookie life, we're putting that one to bed. Now it is time. I told you about our mic check segment on the show here. I didn't give a full description. So here's what it is. This is going to be the part of the show where, Ryan, where you're going to play the mic linebacker as you've done so well in the past. And you're going to use your field vision to let us know what you should.

see out there on the field that we don't necessarily see. And for myself, well, I'm going to step up to the mic because it's what we do here. And I'm going to address something that had me kind of raising my eyebrows or maybe shrugging my shoulders and just plain and simple saying, what? And that's going to lead us to gangrene, the New York Jets. And this isn't the first time I scratched my head and say what when it comes to this organization. But, you know, Adam Gase, there's been so many question mark type scenarios for that cat. We saw Levyon Bell, came up a little gimpy early in the Jets game, and then after half, he went back out there.

And Adam Gase, he said he's really kicking himself. You know, my explanation doesn't do it justice. Let's hear the word straight from the mouth of Adam Gase and how he felt about putting Lev Bell back in that game. I'm mad at myself that I let him go back in there in the second half. That play looked bad because I'm watching them, and I thought it was going to be a touchdown. And then he got grabbed.

And then just kind of the way he kind of planted and torched, it looked really bad. Wow, looked really bad. And he's talking about Levi-on-Bel out there twerking? I mean, what are we doing here? I mean, to put your bell cow running back back out there on the field, I mean, this guy is one of the toughest customers in all the national football league.

And we know how his off-season regiment treated him. He said he was putting himself through hell each and every single day. of the week out there and to see him get injured in game one and, I mean, almost the sheer negligence of his head coach to put him back in the game knowing that, I mean, but judging by the score, 27 to 17, I mean, this Jets team, they're not going to be in a whole lot of game. So what you're going to need is a fully healthy Levi-on-Bel. And for Adam Gase not to protect his bell cow back, I mean, that guy that is going to get you to the promised land, if that's even a possibility, it's just unbelievable. Was there ever any scenarios where Mike Tomlin was like, okay, Ryan,

And you know what? You're not feeling well. This is not what we want right now. Yeah, man. This is the difference between, you know, to me, good coaches and, I'm not going to say bad coaches, but good coaches. Good coaches and coaches that are not good. I mean, you can let Adam Gase's record speak for that.

No disrespect. But, I mean, your record in the back of your football card tells us all we need to know. Yeah, I'm about saying good coaches and not so good coaches. Yeah, I remember we played Miami one year, man. And I think I missed like two games before. And it was my, I think it was my hamstrings also. And we were coming down to Miami. Everybody don't know.

I'm from Florida. That's 15 minutes away from Miami, the Miami Dolphin Stadium. And we were coming down to Miami and I was like, man, like, I was trying my best. I'm like, I'm doing extra rehab. I'm working super hard. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to be ready this week. I'm telling everybody. I'm playing this week.

I'm playing this week. I'm telling out of my family. I'm playing this week. I'm playing this week. The week come. Coach Thomas was like, hey, Ryan, I'm just going to let you know at the beginning the week. I know you're excited about playing, but you're not.

I'm like, what you mean? He's like, I'm not about allowing you to hurt yourself. And I see you've been doing good in rehab, but I'm not about you to go out there and make your injury worse. So I'm just going to let you know right now on Monday and we play Sunday that you're not playing this week. I'm like, I was just in shock. I was like, are you serious?

He was like, I'm not going to allow you to hurt yourself more than you already. hurt. And then, you know, we had a big game, the next game, too. So we had the Patriots the next game also. So they're pretty much, you're just like, man, Ryan, obviously, we should have won that game. We ended up losing it. Jay and Jai, you just went

absolute bonkers on us that game. But at end day, Coach Tommy, he's like, I'm making the decision for the whole group. And it's better for you to miss one game, then you'd miss four or five more. So Gates, if you just

said that it looks terrible and that you start running back that you pay 50, 60, 70 million dollars. If you have him out here and he has a bummed hamstring, obviously I know, I know Livia, he's like me. Man, I'm all right, coach. I'm going to be good, man. You're trying to ball. Everybody, everybody already said that you know, you're overrated. You should not went to the jazz, died out of this and that. Madden didn't treat you with respect. And I told him, I told him. understand livi y'all he's like man i'm going out there and show everybody man i'm i'm the best runner back in the league but it's a point when the coach has to protect your guys it's about the long haul it's not about right now and i i think gays that gase is just absolutely ridiculous for that yeah as cliche as it sounds it is a

marathon not a sprint and so uh you know hopefully the jets will be able to sprint to at least a few more wins and uh hopefully they'll be able to do that with a healthy levi on bell all right ryan time for you to put that sticker on your helmet man i want the mic check from you What jumped off the page to you this week, man? What are you really seeing that we're not seeing? I got two mic checks, man. I might have make an audible. I got two of them.

One of them was Office of PIs. I'm actually excited to see that the referees are actually throwing flags on the offensive guys. I think that's a point of emphasis that's pretty cool. You know, they really don't throw a lot of them on the officer guys. So I'm excited about that. And then the defenseless receivers, that is something that absolutely, frustrates me. If anybody watched the Chargers

versus Bengals game, I know that probably wasn't necessarily televised everywhere. The Charges the Charges versus Bengals game, man, it was a hit on Mike Williams. But I think it was by it was a hit on Mike Williams. I forgot exactly who was hit by.

I think it was by Jesse Bates. And Jesse hit him in the shoulder with his shoulder without his helmet at all. Clean hit. The commentary. to say, yeah, I think I know why they threw that flag. They threw that flag because it seemed to be a really aggressive hit that could look like it could have been helmet to helmet, but it wasn't.

We're not throwing flags off assumptions. You need to have the right calls out here. That's one thing that frustrates me. And then the J-Len Ramsey, P.I. Honestly, I don't think that was a P.I. But I'm excited to see that they're actually calling things on offense. because there's too many offensive players that get away with pushing off on people.

And it's a lot of guys playing great defense out here and getting punished because they don't want to call any calls on the offense. So I'm really excited. Those are the two big takes I have for this week because it's exciting to see that the game is actually trying to make it a little fair. But I take a class about PIs.

And I'm going to talk to y'all a little bit about that down the road. But I promise you that they're not going to be calling for long, but I was excited about for week one. Real quick, before we bounce on out of here, do you guys get scouting reports on the officials as well? I mean, that's one thing that you would think. Okay, got to watch for that guy. He calls this.

Got to watch for this guy. He calls that. And you can get away with a little more if this guy's on the call. Is that something that you discuss as players before game? No. So the thing is, Coach Talman, it depends who the officials are. Like, Coach Tyler would be like, hey, we're playing a crew. They have the most flags in the NFL.

Like, they throw the most flags. So just got, just know if you guys do anything silly, they're throwing a flat. You know, so I just want to, like, he'll give you heads. I mean, if this a guy, if this is a, a crew that has, like, they're, they're really trigger-happy. Coach Thomas is going to let you know before the meeting. The other other, other, other revs, he don't really talk about it much, but he would say, there are some, some revs that, that do throw flags. But one thing, one thing that I knew that worked well for me, this is what a lot of guys,

to realize. Refs are people too. And every before every game, I used to go to the head official or their crew. It's like, hey, you guys, you know, I just want to, because they know who I am. It's just like, nice to meet you guys. I'm trying to make sure we have a clean game out here. I want everything to be smooth. If anything get out of hand, you know, I'm going to talk to my guys. I'm going to try to make sure they all the reps. And then every time we have a water break, I'm giving them extra water or anything like that. So if it's a questionable call, there are people.

questionable call. If he's Ryan, man, Ryan's a good dude. I'm not calling that. I'm not calling that. Because they're people. You know,

they're making reactions. If you're being, if you're being a cool guy to somebody, not just because you're trying to get anything out of it, but just being a cool guy, most likely they're going to give you the benefit of a doubt. But if you're somebody like,

Ralph, man, what the fuck are you doing? Why are you throwing this effie flag with me? That's not a PI. Flag. Flag. Flag. Flag.

Flag. Like, in the same day is they're people. If somebody teach you like a butthole, Cole, you'll be like, man, I'm not,

I'm not messing with this guy, you know? Yeah. So, but it's the same thing with reps. Like, any day,

you're not supposed to have any type of, like, animosity or any type of feelings for that, but you got to think about it. They're people. They're going to,

they're going to think about things that happen throughout the game. So whenever I, I could, I would do my best to just try to, you know,

make them, feel as comfortable as possible while they're while a referee. Yeah, it's almost like if I was a referee in the National Football League, of course, you know, I'd give all the calls to guys that went to LSU as opposed to cats that went to Ohio State. That's just how it is. I mean, no matter how they greeted me or addressed me before the game, I would just assume

that all the nice guys went to school down there in Baton Rouge. Not Columbus, Ohio, right, right? No, so they do know, like, they do know, hey, if you're like a LSU fan, like, you probably wouldn't be coaching any, like, New Orleans games or things like that. They try to focus on like, but obviously if there's certain players, you can't do nothing to buy it.

But if you're biased to like a certain city, they don't really let you rough that city. Like I know there's some reps that are from Pittsburgh and they don't let them rip in Pittsburgh. So, yeah, like you, you probably want to be refting anywhere close to any New Orleans games or any Chicago games because you have a lot of bias. Uh-huh. Yeah, that's exactly how it is. And as the season unfolds, I'm sure our.

biases, they will certainly come to the forefront. But, well, it's good news and bad news because this is going to put a wrap on this maiden voyage of this Tuesday edition here on the Ringer NFL show. He's Ryan Shazir. I'm Cole Wright. And we are part of the Ringer podcast network. And you can follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast for that matter. We're hitting you with new episodes every Tuesday. But coming up next this week on the Ringer NFL show, it's Warren Sharp and Chris Vernon. They're going to give you all the football gambling advice and analytics that you need that you want. They're going to help put a few extra greenbacks in your pocket. So until next time, Ryan Chazier, I'm Cole Wright. Good football, y'all. Peace.