Bengals rookie Shemar Stewart ends holdout, Tyrann Mathieu joins the show | The Insiders

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Training camps rolling on across
the NFL. Travis Hunter in
Jacksonville playing wide receiver. He’s going to dabble
in cornerback. You might have
heard a few things about that. The Cowboys continuing to
practice out there in Oxnard,
California. We got the Seahawks on the field. We got the
Patriots on the field. And we on
this show are all over the place. Welcome inside with the
insiders alongside Mike Garafolo
Judy Battista. That is Ian Rapoport in Jacksonville I’m Tom
Pelissero in a small room right
now in Allen Park Michigan the home of the Detroit Lions. Why
are we beginning to go all over
the country. Why are we mostly in NFL network gear right now?
Because tomorrow we get 12 hours
of live back together. Saturday coverage hitting all 32 teams
across the NFL. You know who’s
back together or more accurately, together for the
first time, Shemar Stewart and
the Bengals. Finally, after months of speculation of back
and forth of varying public
comments that may or may not have gone over all that great,
the sides finally have agreed to
terms this evening on a fully guaranteed four year contract.
Ian. It took us a while to get
here, but in the end both sides gave a little to get Stewart
finally on the field. That’s
right, both sides have been dug in for months and months,
standing by what they thought
was the best way to go about this. Cincinnati Bengals wanted
their new default language in
the contract they did not have for their first rounder last
year, but something teams all
around them have, essentially protecting the organization.
What Shemar Stewart and his
agent Zach Miller, wanted was something for that. If they were
going to agree to different
language than previous first round picks wanted, they want a
little bit of sweetener. Both
sides were dug in for literally ever the world’s longest and
certainly most ridiculous
holdout has now finally been, has now finally done. Because
both sides did give a little.
Here’s what they got. Bengals got the language. Shemar Stewart
got $500,000 of his ten plus
million dollar signing bonus. Moved from December to right
now. So he gets a little more
upfront money. And probably the best thing is we are now done
talking about Shemar Stewart’s
holdouts. We are now focusing in on Shemar Stewart, the actual
player who joins a defense that
should be really good and a role that he should be really good
at. We now get to see him as a
player. We can put this all behind us after you two talk
about it right now. I’m actually
going to talk about a much more normal holdout. And that is Trey
Hendrickson, which now the
Cincinnati Bengals can fully turn their attention to trying
to get Trey Hendrickson in the
building as well. Remember owner Mike Brown on the day before
training camp opened? He sounded
optimistic that something could get done with Trey Hendrickson.
And then the next day, Trey
Hendrickson posted a picture of Florida, which is where he is
waiting this entire thing out.
So that didn’t sound all that optimistic. But again, he is
holding out. He has said he will
not play on his existing contract. Mike Brown said he
deserves a raise. He’s a great
guy. We need him. We want him. They certainly need him. This is
a team that not only needs to
improve their defensive play, and he was the leading sacker in
the NFL last year, but this is a
team that needs to get off to a much faster start than they have
the last few years. And part of
the reason they have gotten off to slow starts is they have had
contract distractions each and
every year. They need to get this one done. Now they can
finally focus all their
attention on Hendrickson’s deal. Yeah, Shemar Stewart one is key
because he didn’t get any time
in the spring. Remember, there was the issue with the language
in the protection agreement and
hasn’t gotten any at this point either. So to get him in, to get
him to start working on his
craft, to get him to start doing what he needs to do to be
successful at the NFL level,
that now finally starts. Now be nice. If he could be learning
some stuff from Trey Hendrickson
along the way. Judy, but they are working on that to see if
they can get that done. If they
get him in camp relatively soon, I think people are going to feel
a lot better about a side of the
ball that has been questioned coming into this season, after
the way the defense looked last
year, the change coordinators, I understand that, but a lot of
folks thinking there’s not
enough talent on that side of the ball got to get the most
talented guy in in Trey
Hendrickson. Still business being done across the NFL. This
is a logical checkpoint because
this weekend we start to get into the padded practices for a
lot of teams. This is when they
look at okay, we did the walkthroughs. We did the
acclimation period. Now this is
the real football. We need guys out there participating in
practice. One guy who is not out
there today in Minnesota, Vikings wide receiver Justin
Jefferson. The superstar
according to coach Kevin O’Connell, has. I’m going to
quote O’Connell a very mild
hamstring strain. He’s going to be held out of practice. Will be
reevaluated next week. It’s on
the opposite leg that Jefferson had his significant hamstring
problem a couple of years ago
here. Certainly a situation worth monitoring. J.J. McCarthy
needs all the help that he can
get on the field. Meanwhile, in injury news that seemed like the
end, at least. If you read Jets
Twitter yesterday, Justin Fields already back out there jogging
around in uniform one day after
he suffered what ended up being a dislocated toe when somebody
stepped on him during a drill.
In the absence of information, now we tend to make up our own
stories. Aaron Glenn got a
little bit more information and had some things to say on the
whole situation. Justin, he’s
going to be day to day. He has this toe that was dislocated. So
the huge storm that was created
really made no sense. And I think that’s a lesson for all of
us of guys. Let’s just wait till
we get the diagnosis. I will not be s you all right? I will tell
you exactly what it is and we’ll
move on. So that shouldn’t happen again. Situation for the
Jets. We now know for sure what
is the case for the Las Vegas Raiders. There are still plenty
of questions from this stunning
news that happened during this very show last night. Christian
Wilkins, the prize of the free
agent class last year, signing a more than $100 million deal, has
been officially released by the
Las Vegas Raiders. And this is really only the start of things.
Pete Carroll saying, basically,
because of Christian Wilkins refusal to get surgery, the team
want him to get surgery. Several
doctors wanted him to get surgery. They said there was no
path forward to getting him on
the field again. That’s not the end of this because Christian
Wilkins has already earned
almost $50 million in fully guaranteed money. The Raiders
are coming after the rest of it.
They are trying to void the guarantees $35.25 million in
remaining guarantees for
Christian Wilkins, including $8 million this year. The grievance
has been filed on Christian
Wilkins behalf to fight that. And now we will see probably in
a couple of years which way this
goes. But the Raiders are, in fact, moving on from Christian
Wilkins. Out there in Oxnard,
California. It is a spunky camp, some fisticuffs on back to back
days between the Cowboys offense
and defense. Brian Schottenheimer says, hey, we’ve
got to relax on that part of it.
We’re working together. But you know what? Some coaches and some
players sometimes like that
little competitiveness. It’s all part of training camp.
Everybody’s going to be fined
and they might be fined, as in money taken away. But in the
meantime they’re getting good
work in in between those scuffles. Dak Prescott talking
about camp. It’s about trusting
the rehab process which I have. But then as I said now being
healthy it’s about how can I get
better. I can’t say okay the ham is good and I don’t need to run
anymore. Well no I need to
continue to be pushing, running. I need to continue to do things
that has gotten me to this
point, gotten my health to this point, because it’s only going
to get me healthier, and it’s
only going to allow me to do the things that I want to do during
the season, throughout the
season, and obviously limit any risk of anything else or
reinjuring anything. So it’s
about working and honestly working without that injury in
my mind. Great doctor, great
obviously Luke and great team with Brett and the guys that
have me to where I am, is just
continue to trust the process and continuing to improve not
only on my game, but just in the
health and understanding everything that goes into it,
whether it be the sleep, the
nutrition, the all the recovery mobilities. I can’t take a day
off. And you know, I don’t. And
I’m thankful that, you know, I have all those resources and
have the means to do everything
that I that I can and to make sure that I’m feeling well and
feeling as good as I am now.
That was Dak talking about coming back from his hamstring
injury, not training camp. As
for training camp, Dak and the Cowboys getting used to what
that guy Brian Schottenheimer
wants to do offensively a little bit more. Well, dancing during
warm ups there right there.
That’s a pretty good moves right there and moves before the snap
pre-snap motion. There were
times where people said Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys didn’t
do enough of that last year.
Schottenheimer wants to do that. Prescott saying, yeah, that’s
going to be a big part of what
we do, but we can’t be locked in to doing that all the time.
Sometimes you get up there,
boom, snap the ball. So that’s some of the stuff that they are
working on and installing out
there in Oxnard. Judy. Pre-snap motion. The best and biggest
quarterback. I don’t know if
it’s the best, frankly. It’s certainly the biggest
quarterback competition going on
in Cleveland. It rolls along today. The rookies Shedeur
Sanders and Dylan Gabriel both
met with the media. Remember, this is a four way quarterback
competition to veterans Joe
Flacco and Kenny Pickett and Dylan Gabriel, both rookies. The
rookies talked about what it’s
like to get so very few reps when you’re in such a big
competition. Here they are every
day. Of course, I’m learning different things because I know
the opportunity will come and
whenever it comes, I want to be able to know the ins and outs
and know the full everything. So
I don’t want to really make too many mistakes when it’s my time.
There’s a bunch of reps to go
around in terms of mentally, physically, physically. You
know, the combination. But
pressing, you know, I don’t believe in that. I’m a true
believer in just being
consistent, being right where your feet are and maximizing the
reps you do got. You know, the
moment you’re thinking about the reps you don’t have, you’re not
focused on the reps you do have.
Very good philosophy, you know, general manager Andrew Berry
said yesterday he would be
comfortable keeping all four quarterbacks on the 53 man
roster. He feels like there’s
enough roster flexibility with the way the rules are now that
you could carry four, but let’s
be clear the competition to be the starter is going to be
between Joe Flacco, who of
course, had success with the Browns in a previous life with
the Browns and Kenny Pickett.
Those two are competing for the starting job and then the two
rookies they want to see, of
course, what they’ve gotten them. Kevin Stefanski, the head
coach, has said he wants to make
a decision sooner rather than later. The rookies are not even
getting reps with the first
team, so let’s set them aside. Flacco and Pickett have been
getting the reps with the first
team. They have joint practices coming up before their first two
preseason games against the
Eagles and the Panthers, respectively, so there will be
plenty of live reps to get for
Flacco and Pickett to make a decision earlier, as Kevin
Stefanski hopes. Ian. Plenty of
live reps here in Jacksonville. Watch practice earlier today.
And I’m just going to be real. A
lot of guys on the field, that’s the guy I was watching. Travis
Hunter should have been a white
jersey today. That means defense after playing offense the first
two days it was all defense
today, which was just as fun as maybe watching him do offense.
It has been a fascinating
situation for Jacksonville and for Hunter himself who talked to
reporters earlier today in the
meeting room. Yes, it’s definitely a flip. It’s a switch
that you got to flip because the
terms are different and there’s different plays, but, you know,
different formations that the
defense call it a different thing from what the offense
called it. So in the meeting
room, yes. But when I hit the field it’s all the same to me. I
just go to work. I need to be
able to progress everything fast, quick. If the offense
change on defense, when I’m on
the defensive side, the offense change the strength. I got to
know what I’m doing right away.
And if the offense, if we change the play, I got to know what I’m
doing right away. So I like
that. We started off slow, getting me adjusted, making sure
I know where I need to be on one
side of the ball each day, and then it all come together when
they try to criticize it. It’s
like I’m already doing all this extra work. You going to keep
telling me I can’t do the same
thing that I’ve been doing and showing you? So it’s just that a
lot of people just keep
downplaying it. But I’m gonna just be quiet and just go to
work. For sure. A unprecedented
situation, at least to the extent that Travis Hunter is
doing. Let’s welcome in our good
friend Cam Wolf. We’ll stick on this topic. Cam I’m here in
Jacksonville. Watch Jags
practice talk to plenty of people. And it’s really been
interesting to hear how they are
doing it. First of all started off on offense the first couple
practices. Defense today we’ll
see what it ends up being tomorrow. But even when let’s
say today he’s playing defense
at practice, even during the special teams drills and some of
the other breaks, he goes over
and does a little offense the way that Liam Coen has set up
his schedule. He’s got a little
offense, a little defense. He can go to meetings of both every
day. They know he’s got a
mountain to climb. They know it is something that everyone else
in the world thinks it is
literally impossible to do. But he’s got the work ethic, he’s
got the mind. They’re making
sure, schedule wise, that he could do everything he sets out
to do. And I would just say from
talking to the people here in Jacksonville, the talent that
they thought they were getting.
Cam with the number two overall pick after they traded up to him
is very, very real and very,
very spectacular. And it sounds like Travis Hunter is getting
fuel from all the people that
tell him he can’t. People forget he won the Heisman at Colorado.
He played both sides. He
practiced every single day on the offensive and defensive side
of the ball. Played 111 snaps
per game in college, and I talked to one of the Jaguars
players to get a scouting report
on how he’s doing. He said. Guy does not get tired. Full of
energy, nonstop. Go. He said
he’s still learning. I haven’t seen a lot of those splash plays
yet, but with two playbooks,
it’s going to come. It’s just going to come with time. I
thought it was very interesting
hearing their defensive coordinator, Anthony Campanelli,
talk about how they have his
plan down to the second they are going to take care of this guy,
they’re not going to let him
move on too fast. You mentioned earlier offense one day, defense
another day. Eventually, they
want to get to the point where he can flip flop both sides, but
he is going to do something no
other player is going to do. And being a full time, full time two
way player is just about when.
And I can’t wait to see him in action because he’s got the
personality, he’s got the energy
and he’s infectious. For Duval to bring something different
down there. I can’t wait to see
it either. We’d like to stick around here, but instead I got
to go to Nashville tomorrow to
see some Titans. Cam, you don’t go anywhere. More from you
coming up, Pelissero. Take it
away. Jaguars have rebuilt the roster. They’re trying to
rebuild the roster and the
culture, just like the Lions have done up here in Detroit,
where the expectations remain
sky high. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson practicing in full
here in training camp. Coming
off that gruesome broken leg that he suffered last season.
And that leg has already gotten
put to the test. I got kicked, stepped on. You think about
everything under the sun, on, on
this, on this leg. And after practice, I got up and I was
like, all right, you know, we’re
we’re good. And I think it takes those, those, those physical
things to happen to you to
mentally kind of solidify where you’re at and the confidence and
moving moving past it. You know,
I’ve had my best seasons coming back from something. And this is
the last one by the way. So
that’s I’m going to get that out there. But yeah, we’re going to
be shooting for that same trend.
And I feel like I’m in a great spot. Body feels good and just a
matter of time now. We’ve seen a
lot of top pass rushers get paid in this offseason Myles Garrett
of course checking in at 40
million a year. T.J. Watt at 41. Micah Parsons is going to beat
them. Aidan Hutchinson just can
kick back right now. Keep getting healthier, get back on
the field. His big payday is
coming. There’s also a bunch of other Young Lions stars. Over
the next couple of years, we’ll
be up for big contracts as well. It’s a great problem to have,
frankly, one they didn’t have
for a long time here in Detroit, but full focus right now,
getting back to the playoffs
again and showing up a lot better than they did back in
January. We got a ton more to
come on this edition of the insiders going around the NFL
and also talking about one guy
who decided this year training camp is no longer for him, a
surprise retirement for Tyrann
Mathieu. Why did he walk away now? And what does he think
about the Saints team that he’s
leaving behind? Honey Badger himself joins us right after
this on the insiders. Play a
quarter of football. See what they can make of it. Start here
into double coverage. And it’s a
pick. Tyrann Mathieu gets him an interception. He’s been making
those plays since he came into
the league. Tried to force the ball to lamb a bit. Tyrann
Mathieu knows exactly where he’s
at and comes down with a back to back turnover. Tonight in your
spacious La Quinta suite you can
be the agent of destruction. We looks like to accept help.
Number 32. And. Go. Let’s put
that on the line right now for dog. All out deep lock on three.
One. Two. Three. Four strong.
And Mike Evans not in the game I’m coming down. Remember he
going to set the edge for you.
So don’t try. Don’t overrun it. You know what I’m saying. That’s
why people like Tom Brady they
always throw the ball at the feet. Right. Because if you
throw it over there you ain’t
throwing nobody or run it back right here. Throw that back this
week. Saints bring some pressure
but he fires it across the middle and nearly picked off.
Nearly picked off by Lonnie
Johnson Jr. Go get the next. With that personal foul roughing
the passer defense number 93.
Was it a real roughing the passer. Does he know this
league. Well that gave you a
little indication of how very important Tyrann Mathieu was to
his teams. He retired this week
after 12 seasons a Super Bowl championship, three All-Pro
seasons and a beloved guy at
every one of his stops along the way, which you can see from all
of these great messages that
were posted after he announced his retirement again after 12
seasons in the NFL. Tyrann
Mathieu retired this week, and now he’s got some extra time on
his hands. So he’s joining the
insiders Ian Rapoport I’m Judy Battista Tyrann welcome.
Congratulations. How are you
feeling a few days after retiring. Well how are you guys
doing I’m doing good actually.
Honestly it’s probably going to take some getting used to you
know. You know so I’ve been just
you know on Instagram and Twitter and you know, everybody
reaching out to me. So it’s been
a lot of great support for sure. So Tyron take us through how
this decision was made.
Obviously you you go through the spring, you have the contract
adjustment. You get right up
until training camp, make the decision to retire. How long
have you been thinking of this
and what led you ultimately to decide to hang it up? Yeah, I
mean, you know, honestly, man,
ultimately, you know, it’s about my family and just being present
for them. You know, I probably
say, you know, this decision. I think as you get older, you
know, every every year, you ask
yourself, man, do I want to do it? Do I want to do it? And, you
know, obviously I made it
through the spring this this year after I signed my
extension. But, you know, after
a summer with the kids, man, and, you know, basketball camps
and baseball tournaments, like
like I felt like that. That’s what my heart was ultimately at.
And, you know, I think that’s
really what led to the decision, you know, right before training
camp. I don’t know how much time
you’ve already spent reflecting on your career, but you had,
like a remarkable arc in your
career from the way it started, from the way your college career
ended, not not so great. You
came into the league and then you blossomed, not just into a
great player and a championship
player, but a really beloved and respected member of every team
and every community you were in.
Can you just put into words when you think about your career,
what you think about? I think
really honestly, Judy, it’s you know, I feel like I was so
blessed and fortunate, you know,
when I first came into the league and, you know, you kind
of mentioned, you know, what I
went through at LSU and, you know, that wasn’t really a
exciting time for me. And, you
know, so I was able to get a chance you know, in the NFL you
know really thanks to Bruce
Arians and his staff and you know really just believing in me
and really pulling that trigger.
You know in the third round back in 2013. But aside from that
man, I think what really sticks
out to me and the thing I’m most proud of is the guys that, you
know, really impacted my
journey. And I think that started, you know, early on in
Arizona with, you know, Larry
Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson and, you know, just two great
players that that I can really
follow and mold myself after not not just as a good football
player, but also, you know, as a
guy in the community that that that’s respected, that that’s
professional. And so I give a
lot of credit to those two guys, man, for, for really just
allowing me to kind of be a
sponge up under them, you know, my first couple of years in the
league, because I do feel like
those guys in particular really set me up to really have a
pretty good, you know, career.
Really good career, actually. God, it’s amazing to think back
of your draft cycle where it
started and now where it’s been. It’s been truly unbelievable.
And of course, as you know,
you’re you’re one of my favorites. It has been
fascinating to see you leave the
Saints now. And if interesting, time for them. Obviously Derek
Carr steps away as well,
potentially starting a rookie quarterback. First of all, did
the Derek Carr situation affect
your retirement at all. And then what kind of season do you think
the Saints are getting ready to
have? Well, I mean I got to be honest with you, Ian. I feel
like if we would have been
coming off, you know, a couple playoff victories, it probably
would have been a little harder,
you know, for me to, to walk away. You know, obviously I
think with the news with Derek
early in this offseason, I think it just really puts the Saints,
you know, in a position to kind
of think forward and think long term. And, you know, obviously,
you know, even with my
announcement of retiring, you know, the same day or the very
next day, they go get a really
good 26 year old safety. So I’m happy for them that they were
able to kind of find a guy to,
you know, possibly, you know, replace me and make plays
because I do think Blackmon is a
pretty good football player. But you know, I think the Saints
will be all right. They’re a
young team. They got some older guys. But I think in those key
positions you know quarterback
receiver you know even a defensive backfield I think they
got some good young players that
can really kind of carry that team and help them kind of
shape, you know, their team, you
know, for the long run and the future. Give us your favorite
memory from your career. As we
said you won a Super Bowl three all pro seasons. But what is
your very favorite moment from
your career? Well, I mean, honestly, Judy, I probably say
it’s the Super Bowl, you know,
just winning the championship. I think, you know, as players,
man, we put so much into it. We
sacrificed so much just to be on that stage and to, you know, to
be able to do it with the
Chiefs, you know, after they had kind of had that 50 year drought
and like, like so like that was
that was really, really special. But if I could point out one
thing that, that I really
remember and I’m proud of is actually my first NFL game
against the Saint Louis Rams.
And because I hadn’t played football in like a year and a
half and, you know, everybody
was still kind of asking themselves these questions of
can Tyron play, you know, with
the big boys. And I remember my first game in Saint Louis man I
probably made like one of my
best plays of my entire career in that game. And I just
remember coming to the sideline
and like, you know, Larry Fitzgerald and Bruce Arians,
like everybody was just so happy
for me. And you know, I mean to have that support and that
encouragement. You know, in my
very first game like that, that that right there like gave me
all the confidence I needed
going forward. So now that we know you are retiring and
stepping away, and we appreciate
this discussion of kind of everything that’s going through
your mind, what is next for
Tyrann Mathieu? Well, I think the very next thing is to, you
know, really just catch up with
the kids, man. Just catch up with the family and just spend
as much time, you know, with
them as possible. And you know, obviously I’ll probably be doing
like some TV gigs here and
there. I won’t be coaching this fall. I won’t be coaching this
fall. You know, I know a lot of
people out there on social media. Everybody want me to go
coach like tomorrow. And I’m
like, just give me a couple days, like, right? Like, let me
settle in, you know what I mean?
But but I did I did talk to Coach Reid. I talked to a bunch
of my old coaches and all those
guys are, you know, really just kind of opening the door for me
to kind of come in and sit
through coaching meetings and staff meetings. And I think if
I’m able to kind of get that
taste this fall, you know, whether that’s LSU or the NFL, I
want to be able to kind of sit
in a room with those coaches and just hear it out, feel it out,
because I want to make the best
choice and I want to be happy, you know, doing what I’m doing
in the future. So I don’t know
if that’s coaching, but we’ll find out real soon. Well, we
also hope you’re maybe leaving
the door open just a little bit to reconsider this decision and
come back. Tyrann Mathieu, thank
you so much. Congratulations. Go spend a lot of time with your
family. We’re going to miss you
though. Thank you. Thank you I appreciate it guys. Thank you.
Thanks man. All right. Coming up
next a double dose of the a f c East. The Dolphins and the
Patriots. We are going to get
the latest with our Cam Wolfe next on the insiders. But you
want to do is save hundreds.
When Liberty Mutual customizes this is for you. Good morning
football Monday at eight on NFL
network. Saint Joseph, Missouri site of Kansas City Chiefs
training camp. And maybe just a
little less Travis Kelce than we’ve seen in the past. Not in
terms of targets. He will still
get plenty of those. But in terms of his physique well let’s
let Andy Reid explain it. He’s
felt right now he looks like he’s 20. He’s doing a good job.
He he’s in great shape and I’m
not sure he didn’t come in first on the whole conditioning thing.
He was right up right up front.
You can see he’s been working out. You saw him yesterday on
the long one where he had the
burst. And so he’s doing a nice job. He’s worked hard to get to
this spot here. So frustrating
season in a lot of ways for Travis Kelce. Obviously a very
frustrating Super Bowl which
tends to happen when you’re used to you know just always winning
the Super Bowl. Here’s one thing
to remember about the Chiefs last year. They had so many
moving parts in terms of the
receiving group around Patrick Mahomes because of injuries,
including to that guy, Hollywood
Brown, who missed almost the entire season. They’re likely
going to lose Rashee Rice for at
least the start of the season. But for the first time, they
actually know what their
receiver group is going to look like. Here could be something
that gets them just a little bit
ahead of the game. Coming out of Mike, what is always one of the
NFL’s most challenging training
camps, no doubt about it. And Mike Vrabel going to challenge
the New England Patriots this
year. You know that that is going to be the case. And that’s
what’s happening up there in
Foxborough. Expectations suddenly high in New England an
influx of talent and Vrabel
coming in as well. We shall see if they capitalize on that and
meet those expectations as we
get into the season. Cameron Wolff is here to talk about the
expectations for the leap in
year two for Drake Maye cam, because joining the party is
Stefon Diggs. I’ve seen some
Cutups I’m going to be there next week with Ian Rapoport.
I’ll get to see it in person.
But I’ve seen some cutups on social media and otherwise Diggs
looks spry so this should help.
Drake Maye for a guy even though he is coming off an ACL that can
produce. Yeah this year is all
about Drake Maye year two taking him to the next level. And I
talked to a Patriots person this
week. And he said Drake Maye is having a good start to camp. We
want to see it when the pads
come on. But the big thing for him is he’s increased that
processing speed a little bit
more. We all know the Patriots have had some struggles with
their offensive line, and that’s
still a question mark going into this season. They want to see
them in the pads. But Drake Maye
has to be able to make those reads quicker. And that’s
something that he’s improved on
this offseason. They worked on third downs today and he had a
really good day throwing the
ball to top targets Stefon Diggs and Pop Douglas, and he’s really
trying to come into his own in
Josh McDaniels system. Also Stefon Diggs that top target has
really started to get a little
chemistry with him. We saw a little bit of the clip earlier.
Stefon Diggs is already leading
some huddles being vocal out there on the field. And eight
months removed from that torn
ACL from what I’m told doesn’t look limited at all. Looks like
Stefon Diggs. And so they’re
going to look at next week when they get the pads on to see how
good this offense is against
that good pass rush they have on the other side. But the hope is
they take a step from where they
were last year, where Drake Maye was essentially running for his
life almost every play. Yep. Got
him some protection. Morgan Moses the veteran right tackle.
One of the additions to help
with that offensive line this offseason. Elsewhere in the AFC
East, a team that you are
familiar with down there in South Florida, the Miami
Dolphins. And we spent a lot of
time talking about Tua and Tyreek Hill. Obviously the
offensive side of the ball. More
flash but but you’ve seen from this front seven some potential
there. Yeah Mike I’ve been at
Dolphins practice every day of training camp so far. And what
stood out to me is this front
seven. Everyone’s talking about the dolphins. Is this window
closed. If the Dolphins are
going to shock some people and end this playoff drought that
they’ve had 25 years without a
playoff win, it’s going to be their front seven. That makes a
difference. This is a strength
of their defense. They’ve got three edge rushers and Jaelan
Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Chop
Robinson that can really get after the passer. And Jaelan
Phillips rose my eyebrows a
little bit when he said about Chop Robinson. He has Defensive
player of the year potential.
He’s going to be one of the better players in the league
here soon. That’s about one of
his fellow edge rushers. Also Phillips and Chubb both coming
off of serious injuries. I saw
them racing each other on the sideline in between plays.
They’re ready to get amped up.
They’ve got an inexperienced secondary after trading Jalen
Ramsey a lot of question marks
there. They’re going to need that front to get pressure. And
they got inside. Zach Sieler one
of their best players who wants a new contract but is still
there in camp. And their first
round pick Kenneth Grant, who also really showed up so far. So
they’re hoping that defensive
front, along with those fast moving linebackers can help them
in this drought. Yeah, I know
with Mike McDaniel it’s always a lot about the offense. But this
defense that’s the key to
success for Miami this upcoming season. Cameron Wolfe, thank you
very much, pal. Always
appreciate your contributions when it comes to what you’re
seeing at training camp. He’s
got a scout’s eye that Cam Wolfe coming up. The Seahawks. They
play in the NFC West. We’re
going to run down all four teams. And what we are seeing
from that division out there
should be a hotly contested division this season. That is
next on the insiders. NFL red
zone is where the action oh my NFL plus the NFL in reach MVP.
Arizona Cardinals got after it
today right into our kitchen. That right there Marvin Harrison
Jr I think they expect a lot of
those this year as they do of the entire offense. Listen to
Jonathan Gannon talk about the
offense and specifically his quarterback Kyler Murray a
little more vocal. I would say
when things aren’t right, he’ll speak up. So the dominant trait
in his personality, he has it.
And it’s showed up more to me in the last couple years, last year
or so. He leads by example. He
does everything right. And I and I would say I’ve seen him take a
step with not just being
connected with the offense, but with the entire team, which is
cool. The Jonathan Gannon sums
it up well, because this is the kind of year where they really
do want that connection.
Everything they’ve been building year three for Jonathan Gannon,
they want this all to come
together in a winning season. That kind of season where they
could show, look, we’ve been
building, but the reason we’ve been building is to win and go
to the playoffs. They have
plenty of weapons. We mentioned Marvin Harrison earlier. They
have Trey McBride. They have
Kyler Murray, who is fully healthy taking on a leadership
role, really ready to ramp that
offense up. Couple good running backs, some good young
receivers. The time is now for
the Arizona Cardinals. If you hear some of that extra urgency,
that is why now send it to my
good friend Mike Garafolo. I get to catch a flight. Goodbye.
Speaking of flights, I don’t
have one. Currently booked to Seattle to get to Renton,
Washington at one of the better
training camp sites that you could be at this time of year,
right on the lake. Sometimes
they have that military show with all the planes and the
boats and all that stuff. It’s
just a great, great place. I got to fix that. We got to amend my
schedule anyway. Here’s Sam
Darnold talking about running the football. First and foremost
I think we’re going to be able
to run the football. You know Clint’s offense this system that
we have the coaches that we have
to be able to teach run game is you know are some of the best in
the in the NFL in my opinion.
And so we’re going to do that and then we’re going to play
action. And when we get an
opportunity to drop back and throw the throw the rock a
little bit, you know on on
second and you know, medium second and long and then third
down situations obviously we’re
going to push the ball down the field. Sam Darnold’s first year
with the Seahawks. Mike
McDonald’s second. And it’s not like, you know, a lot of times a
new coach comes in with a new
general manager. It’s a new regime. That wasn’t the case.
John Schneider was there had
been there for a long time. So that first year was like a
feeling out process between
those two. And Mike McDonald and John Schneider are really
starting to figure out each
other’s rhythms, and McDonald has more of a grip on the
building from my understanding.
So there’s a lot of confidence that this Seahawks team is going
to take off in year two with
Mike McDonald. Tom, I don’t have a flight to catch. I’m driving
to Philly tomorrow. You got it.
Seahawks open up the regular season at home against the 40
Niners, who are coming off just
an absolute mess of a season. They are healthier now including
that guy Christian McCaffrey and
Trent Williams. Also certainly sounds optimistic about the
first round draft pick that he’s
been going up against in practice. Tell the huge dude,
man, I generally don’t see guys
that size on the edge. So I mean, it sucks having a, you
know, base block guys with arms,
you know, as long as your legs. But I mean, I think he has a
chance to be a really good a
really good player in this NFL. I think he he has a chance to be
dominant. He has the best coach
in the league pushing him. Get to learn from some of the best
guys to learn from obviously
Nick. So I’m happy to see how he turned out. You know, I think he
got all the tools to be an all
pro. So to recap, last season in San Francisco, Christian
McCaffrey, their best player,
barely saw the field. Brandon Aiyuk blew out his knee, Ricky
Pearsall got shot, not even
mentioning all the injuries they had on defense. We know what
this team is capable of when
they’re healthy. They got one of the best play callers in the
league in Kyle Shanahan, last
place in that NFC West division last season. They got to chase
down everybody, including Judy,
those remodeled Rams. That’s right. One of the biggest moves
of the offseason of course was
Davante Adams going to the Rams to pair up with Puka Nacua who
earlier this week showed so much
respect for Davante that he asked him to lead the position
drills so that Puka Nacua could
learn from him. Here’s Sean McVay on the impact Adams has
already had. He’s got just such
a big picture understanding you know and a lot of instances
reminds you of Cooper’s football
acumen where these guys look at the game through the lens of a
quarterback. They understand
coverage contours. They understand timing, rhythm, route
distribution, and there’s a lot
of experience. And then there’s an understanding of the craft in
and of itself with how you work
edges, how you separate his ability to communicate, his
understanding of how to
communicate in a clear way that guys can digest it and
understand and then ultimately
translate it. It’s some special stuff. I’m glad he doesn’t want
to coach because he take our
jobs. In the spring. We saw Adams and Matthew Stafford
working together, getting that
chemistry going. They have not had the opportunity to work
together yet in training camp.
That is because Stafford has been on the side. He has not
been in practices yet. Sore back
that cropped up right before training camp opened when they
set him to the side, Sean McVay
said it would just be a five day window. Well, we’re still in
that five day window, but it is
coming to an end very soon. If it holds up, Stafford should be
on the field next week. We’ve
got no indication one way or the other if that timeline is still
in place. Obviously they’re
going to be very careful with this because this team was way
ahead of schedule last season.
They’ve got a lot of young up and coming players, and of
course they have added a veteran
talent like Davante Adams to pair with Matthew Stafford. This
team has very real Super Bowl
hopes, so they are going to be very careful with Matthew
Stafford’s back this summer.
When we come back on the insiders still more
quarterbacks. We’re going to
talk about the competition in Indianapolis between Daniel
Jones and Anthony Richardson.
That’s up next. The first time you try bounce it hits you. Your
laundry feels way fresher,
softer. So you start to wonder the scan.org. The Indianapolis
Colts have a quarterback
competition going on in camp, and the good news is that
Anthony Richardson is healthy
enough to be a part of it. After being shut down in the spring
with shoulder discomfort that
set him back a few weeks, gave Daniel Jones the early edge, at
least in getting work in in the
offense. But Richardson, fortunately, is healthy and is
full go and is participating in
training camp. So the competition is on. Let’s bring
back our cam Wolf cam, give us
the latest on the competition. Who’s got the edge right now.
Judy I spoke with someone in the
Colts building today who said Anthony Richardson had his best
day of training camp so far.
Best of all, the quarterbacks. He made quick reads. He was
efficient. He took care of the
ball and ultimately showed why he could be the quarterback of
the future. But is a true
quarterback competition here with him and Daniel Jones.
Richardson started slow in camp.
He had a bad interception and he and Daniel Jones have both been
up and down. But this day kind
of showed the spark, the hope of why Anthony Richardson was the
guy they drafted in the top five
some years ago, and they’re splitting it every day. Daniel
Jones took the first first team
reps today. It was Anthony Richardson yesterday. And
they’ll flip flop throughout
camp to give these guys equal reps. And a key thing to note is
that that shoulder soreness that
Richardson had when he started camp, it was his first time
throwing full speed to receivers
since he took that time off. And so you’ll need some time to ramp
up. But obviously a key focus
for Richardson staying healthy all season. That has been his
Achilles heel. They believe he’s
doing the right thing. He’s down to 240 pounds, 10 pounds less
and they’re ready to try to win
this quarterback competition. But of course Daniel Jones won’t
go down without a fight. Well,
right before this training camp opened, owner Charlie Gordon
said that Anthony Richardson
still had time to prove it. So there is certainly still hope in
that building that the player
they drafted in the first round is going to be the quarterback
of the future. Cam Wolf, thank
you very much. And when we return, we’re going to talk
about something that frankly
sounds absolutely awful to me. Aaron Donald’s workout a current
player did it with him. It is
not something any of the rest of us should try when we return.
Don’t you hate that dirty old
hose? It stinks, splits and it We have to make this city proud.
Resilient, tough. That is
buffalo to a core baby. Football is back. Celebrate as teams
across the league take the field
for Back Together weekend presented by YouTube TV with two
full days of practices, player
interviews and behind the scenes access, it’s a can’t miss NFL
reunion this weekend. Go to
NFL.com together weekend for more information. We’ll be with
the Rams and the other 31 teams
coming up this weekend. Jared verse. The young LA superstar
recently worked out with NFL
legend Aaron Donald. And it went about as you’d think. Everything
he does is like a soaking. We do
four workouts. It’s all cardio versus a climb bike. Was it
lunges and core four rounds
each. You do all that like you’re already tired. You’re
kind of like, oh my god,
whatever. Then you do four sets of core, two different workouts.
So it’s like eight different
workouts, four sets each. You do all that for four sets. You go
through these like, are you
ready for the workout? I’m like, I’ve been here for 45 minutes.
What are you talking about? We
go to the weight room. It’s all arms. That’s why he’s big as
hell. We go to the weight room.
It’s like eight different circuits, all arms, four sets
each. I’m there for an hour and
a half. His wife came in laughing at me. I told her to
call the police. I’m like, I’m
not even joking. I’m dead serious. I told him to call the
police. She wouldn’t do it. I
tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let
her in. He told me to give my
keys to his like. Like his management or his assistant or
something. They would go let my
mom in. So I wasn’t leaving fans to work out. I’m like, dead
tired. I’m exhausted. I had a
plan to like, you know, go do jump in the sauna afterwards.
Didn’t happen. Had plans to
watch film, didn’t happen, went home and I didn’t work out for
like, another like day and a
half because I couldn’t move my body. Mike, you’re in pretty
good shape. You got a personal
trainer. How far into that workout do you anticipate you
could get? I barely could make
it through the explanation, to be honest with you. I was
getting tired just listening to
that right there, so. Doesn’t sound like my kind of deal. I’ll
get a good solid hour in, but
that was about an hour and a half just of him explaining it
there. Judy. Oh, there we go.
There I am. Yeah, this was me earlier. Yeah. That’s that
that’s chalk lines right there
is what that is. That man almost died today. Nice. Judy your best
advice to Jared verse if that
workout happens again I mean I would never agree to do that.
That just sounded terrible to
me. Why would you ever agree to work out with Aaron Donald? Just
look at him. Yeah, that’s that’s
actually a lot like my workout. All