James Cook sits out practice, Jerry Jones on Micah Parsons trade: “Don’t lose sleep” | The Insiders

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one of the NFL
The countdown is on to preseason
openers for 30 NFL teams. We’ve got training camps covered coast
to coast these next 60 minutes.
Geno Smith and the Raiders in Las Vegas. Michael Penix Jr and
the Falcons in rainy Flowery
Branch. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on the field. And well,
whoever ends up being the Browns
quarterback we go for deep two. Welcome inside with the insiders
alongside Ian Rapoport who is in
Las Vegas. Judy Battista, Mike Garafolo who is in Los Angeles.
I’m Tom Pelissero here with the
Falcons. We are just days away from the preseason openers for
most teams. The first full
weekend of preseason games. One month from tonight, we’ve got
the regular season kickoff. It
is the Eagles and the Cowboys. And the biggest storyline
clearly between now and then,
will Micah Parsons be on the field for that game? That is
where we begin in Oxnard,
California where Micah Parsons three days ago, in a lengthy
social media post, requested a
trade from the Dallas Cowboys, saying he no longer wants to be
there, no longer wants to be
held to negotiations that occurred without his agent
present. As for the Cowboys,
they’re saying not so fast. We’re still planning on moving
Mike around and putting him in
all the spots that we see him and using our fronts the way we
want to see it. And no, we just,
you know, we go about our business every day. We live in
the moment. We focus in the
moment. And again, like I said, I talked to you guys the other
day. I’m not going to get a lot
into it. But, you know, I expect Micah to be here. I love these
guys. Frankly, I could be any
place in the world and I want to be right here. I want to be
right here with camp. I enjoy
these players. I enjoy Micah, but as always, in any
relationships are different
moods at different times of your relationship. That’s what it is.
Don’t lose any sleep over it.
That’s the one thing I would say to our fans, don’t lose any
sleep over. In a way, I would
say this was almost an inevitable point in this saga.
Was it not Micah Parsons who,
whether it’s in a podcast or social media, everything that he
wants to say is going to come
out eventually. Inevitably, you get multiple people from the
Cowboys organization coming out
and having to respond to it. The real question now here, Ian,
where Micah says, I want out the
Cowboys say you’re not getting out. What is the next pressure
point here as this thing moves
forward? Yeah, it’s been fascinating to listen to the
football people like Brian
Schottenheimer, Jerry Jones, we know what he’s going to talk
about. He’s going to talk about
the business. Schottenheimer is going to talk about the
football. And that is really in
that building in Oxnard right now. What they want is to see
Micah Parsons, the football
player, one of the very best in the NFL who is great at being
moved around the defense, who
who does create pressure basically everywhere he’s been
and is certainly one of the best
players, regardless of position in the NFL. They want him to be
playing for their team. That now
remains an open question. As you mentioned, Micah Parsons has
requested a trade. The Cowboys
have said, yeah, we’ll see about that. The next pressure point to
answer your question is when do
the Cowboys say to Micah Parsons, you need to start
practicing. He is now doing what
is called a hold in, which has become very popular around the
NFL over the last couple of
years. It’s not a holdout. He’s not getting fined. He’s not
losing any of his guaranteed
money. He is there. He is present. They can see him every
day on the sideline. Sometimes
he has been close on the sidelines to Jerry Jones or
Stephen Jones. Sometimes he has
talked to them, but he has not been participating. What if the
Cowboys say, you know what, you
need to start practicing? What happens then? Where does it go?
Is there disciplinary action? Or
do they say, you know what, let’s just ride it out because
this is a guy we want with us
for the next ten years. Only time will tell which way all
sides react to that. Jerry Jones
and his latest comments now to USA today. At this point,
talking about the fact that
Micah Parsons, like a lot of players, wants an extension with
a contract that he is currently
in the middle of. Jerry seems very adamant now about, well,
this is what the contract, this
is the length of the contract. He did it with his head coach,
Mike McCarthy, last year, and it
resulted in negotiations after the season. Didn’t add anything
on. Teams are usually not
willing to let a coach coach out his entire contract. Jerry now
talking about it in regards to
the players and saying, well, they should they’re trying to
get these negotiations done in
the middle of a contract instead of playing it out. And I know, I
know, I hear you every coach or
excuse me, every agent and every player right now is in my ear, I
got you don’t worry, because
they’ll say, well, what about the last couple of years of the
deal when the team basically
rips it up by saying, those are non-guaranteed years? Guess
what? We’re cutting you right
now. Bye bye. This is the player’s chance to do the
opposite and say, yeah, I know,
I’ve got a couple of years left on this contract franchise tags
after that, but this is the
point at which I’m taking my stance, and this is the point at
which I want my extension,
because I’m putting my body on the line. And that’s what
Parsons has said in this case.
So that’s his his right, right now to put the pressure on the
team and see if he can get an
extension out of this. There’s been no further communication.
Something’s got to give at some
point here, Ian, whether it’s get back on the field or get
this deal done. Well, I do
wonder at what point something gives and what is going to cause
it to give. Like what’s going to
happen here? Is the team finally going to call the agent? Is the
agent finally going to call the
team? Are they going to insist that Micah get on the field and
then we have some sort of
breaking point? I don’t know what’s going to get this off the
point where it is now, which is
basically nowhere. And as we get closer and closer to the season,
obviously they want their best
player on the field practicing. But but why should he get on the
field and practice if there
hasn’t been a new contract? And bigger picture here, I just
don’t understand the benefit
that is accruing to the team. By doing it this way. They are
angering the best player on the
team and you have. We’ve watched as other players have sort of
lined up with Micah here on
Micah’s side. I don’t understand what the Cowboys are getting out
of this, except that we all talk
about it every day. That’s not going to get them to win a Super
Bowl, though. They need Micah
Parsons on the field if they have any chance to do that. I
will also issue my annual
reminder here that a hold in is not a real thing. That’s not in
the collective bargaining
agreement. It didn’t exist even ten years ago. If you don’t
practice, just because you’re
there doesn’t get you out of the fines. If you don’t practice,
you can be fined. You can be
suspended and have a game check taken away for conduct
detrimental. If you leave camp,
the team can put you on the left squad list and take you out for
the entire season. We’re not
there yet, but the point is, at a time, we’ve got several of
these hold ins taking place.
There are actions the team can take. It’s a sign of good faith
if they have not taken those
yet. Another one of those holdings right now, Ian playing
out in Buffalo. Yeah. Let’s talk
about the latest hold in for James Cook the member of the
Buffalo Bills. One of the key
parts of their offense. One of the best running backs in the
NFL. Just not quite paid like
one yet. He is standing on business, to quote him. As he
told local reporters showed up
at camp on time, in great shape. Practice. Well, now, not so
much. Officially launching his
hold in. So Brandon Beane had to now react to this, which he did
recently. That’s not something
we were fully aware of until, you know, shortly before
practice. And so it you know, I
get it. I understand it’s the it’s the world we’re in, I
guess, of how players want to
respond and things like that, you know love James. And you
know, at the end of the day, you
know we want all our guys practicing. We know that I mean
we’re we got some guys out, you
know due to injuries or soft tissue and stuff like that. So
we’re we’re trying to get as
many guys on the practice field as we can and start preparing
for this first preseason game,
and hopefully we’ll get him back out there soon. Yeah. When I was
in Buffalo, there was a lot of
public and private plays for James Cook, who showed up in
great shape practicing well
despite wanting a new contract. Everything was all good. They
just wanted to try to get
somehow some way closer to a deal. And all of a sudden he
says, you know what? Nope. I’m
just not practicing. He stands on business. The bills are where
they are. And look, I understand
and honestly, from James Cook’s standpoint, they’ve gotten a lot
of deals done with a lot of
really good young players, most notably their stars on their
defense. And of course, Josh
Allen gets a new deal as well. On offense. James Cook wants a
lot of money, wants to be one of
the highest paid running backs in the NFL. He has been
productive enough, no doubt
about it. But from the bills standpoint, I get it too. They
have a lot of mouths to feed.
This is a championship caliber team that they want to keep
together. So basically where it
stands is the bills made an offer. It is obviously not
something that cook and his
agent, Zach Hiller, have accepted, but in their minds,
it’s like we want to lock you up
to a deal. This is where we could go, and Hiller and Cook
are more like, yeah, we deserve
more. And that’s basically the standstill. Remains to be seen
how it will be broken, or if at
some point the bills say, James, you need to get back on the
field. Obviously more on this in
the coming days. Garafolo. Thank you. Rapoport I was in
Washington the other day. Josh
Harris and Terry McLaurin had a little dap up hug situation,
which frankly I sort of
explained back then Terry McLaurin has been about as
professional about this trade
request hold in situation. As you could expect. He is a team
leader. So they did expect that
from him. They always expect professional behavior from him
and they’re getting it in this
case. I mean what do you expect. He was going to kick Josh Harris
in the shins. Of course he’s
going to give the guy a hug. This is all business that is
going on right now with
McLaurin. I did not get the sense that since his trade
request, teams have been burning
up the phone lines, ready to give up a ton of draft pick
compensation. Number one to
Washington, because they still value him and they’re still
going to want a lot for him. And
number two, then the money on the back end. This is a tough
time of year for a general
manager to go to his owner and say, hey, we need $30 million
per year to pay a guy. So this
situation is going to take a while to resolve. Buddy Baker,
Terry Mclaurin’s agent, had been
at practice pretty much on the regular. I said the other day, I
don’t expect him anywhere near
there in the near future, so I think there’s still some time
for this one to develop between
McLaurin and the commanders. He doesn’t want to play out the
last year of the deal at $15
million and change. The commanders have tried to get a
deal done at a lower number. But
McLaurin and Baker are saying not not nearly good enough for
us, so don’t know which side is
going to buckle on this one or how it’s going to be resolved.
Maybe some money added to this
year and a bit of an extension, maybe not at the number that
McLaurin and Baker had in mind.
A little bit lower, but maybe something to finally gets it
done. Either way, Judy, I think
it’s still going to take some time. Thank you. Mike, we have
been telling everybody to keep
an eye on Matthew Stafford’s health ever since the Rams told
us right before training camp
that he has back soreness and would not practice when training
camp started. Well, he still
isn’t practicing. And Sean McVay gave an update that was maybe a
little bit concerning over the
weekend. He labeled the situation now week to week. He
talked about wanting to ease him
back into football and these were his words in the near
future. He talked about where
Matthew Stafford is in his rehab work. He talked about unloading,
walking and running on a
treadmill, light cardio. So certainly doesn’t sound like he
is anywhere near full on
football activities. He has visited a back specialist
multiple times. The Rams have a
joint practice with the Cowboys tomorrow. He’s obviously not
going to be participating in
that. Probably not in the one next week with the Chargers. He
wouldn’t be playing in preseason
games anyway, but certainly this is a cause for concern as we
push further into August and
Matthew Stafford is not on the field. Tom, the Browns have had
their own share of quarterback
issues through the course of camp. Kenny Pickett still
limited right now because of a
hamstring. Dylan Gabriel popped up today with some hamstring
tightness and did not practice
chowder. Sanders had arm soreness recently, but he was
back on the practice field today
and did not sound too concerned. Yeah. In college? Yeah. In
college it was often it was just
adjusting to starting and stopping. Honestly, that’s all.
That’s all it truly is, is, you
know, sometimes you go in hot, then you’ll wait for a second,
then you’ll get cold, then get
back hot, then get cold. And, you know, I’m just I want my arm
and body wasn’t used to that,
you know? So it’s just an adjustment. Catch every NFL
preseason game right here on NFL
network, including 21 of them live all three Browns preseason
games. You guessed it will be
right here on NFL network. In no small part because of that four
way quarterback competition in
which Sanders is in line to make his debut. And perhaps an early
statement Thursday night against
the Panthers. Mark, can you help level set and give some context
around the four headed
competition at quarterback here for the Cleveland Browns?
Definitely a unique situation.
As we’ve talked about all offseason with the Browns
quarterback situation. Now you
see it firsthand. I’ve seen it firsthand today. And look Joe
Flacco doesn’t need any reps. So
that’s number one. He can come off the couch. He can come off
the recliner and go start games
in the NFL. And Kevin Stefanski completely trusts him. Kenny
Pickett has been slowed by
injury here with a hamstring injury. Started out hot but I
think with him you want to see
the emergence, the growth with him because he gives you that
dual threat that Joe Flacco does
not have, so he’s got to get healthy in order to do that. And
he has Super Bowl experience.
Former first round pick was with the Steelers. So he won’t be
fazed by the big game situation.
The two young guys Dillon Gabriel the third round pick for
Sanders, the fifth round pick.
You just want them to learn and grow each day and take baby
steps. Can they master the
offense? Can they master the playbook? Are the teammates
looking at them saying you’re
making the right checks. So a little bit more of a we just
want to wait and develop with
those guys, not expecting them to jump out there and start week
one. What do you think are the
key factors in these guys differentiating themselves?
Obviously you were a scout.
You’ve been in personnel for a long time with multiple
organizations. What are the key
factors that they’re assessing between these four guys? Well,
number one, especially the young
guys, it’s how they’re handling the film room, how they’re
handling the playbook. That’s
number one. Before anything happens out there, they have to
master that because then they
can think fast, then they can make checks, then they can make
all the assignments and changes
and protection changes. And then the team can look at them and
say, oh wow. Yes, we have
belief. We have faith in these guys that we can go with them.
Joe Flacco, they’re not looking
for anything from him. We know what’s going on with Joe. Again,
the wild card is Kenny Pickett
where he still has I mean he’s still young. He’s only been in
the league three years and been
through a lot in that short time. Has the highest of highs
of being a Super Bowl champ, the
lowest of lows of being a not successful first round pick. So
I think there’s still a lot of
untapped potential that Kevin Stefanski thinks that he can get
out of Pickett, but he’s got to
get on the field and get healthy now. General manager Andrew
Berry has teased potentially and
said there’s a scenario in which we keep all five quarterbacks.
You’ve worked in the front
office. The likelihood of that happening? Yeah, look I trust
Andrew. Fantastic. Today stop by
and said hi. As the coach Stefanski the nicest duo head
coach GM duo in the NFL. But you
know that would be a rare occurrence I don’t think that
has ever happened. This
competition is rare. But now to say we’re going to keep these
four on the 53, your special
teams coaches, your tight end coach, your O-line coach, like
whoa, wait a minute now, we need
some of these bodies for us. So I would think he has to talk
about that now. But when it
comes down to cut down day, you won’t see all four of these
quarterbacks on the roster. Well
the Cleveland Browns they finished their practice behind
us. They’re going to head off to
Carolina tomorrow ahead of a joint practice versus the
Panthers on Wednesday thanks to
Timmy Checks and Marc Ross in Berea Cameron Wolfe out here
today with me in Flowery Branch
where we got an up close look at that man. Michael Penix Jr
throws a beautiful ball even in
the rain. Well he hit the ground running in 2025. We’ll discuss
it next on the insiders. The
insiders is brought to you by Pacifico. Find your own way.
You’ve earned this. So hold it
up high. This isn’t just a You might look at the weather
report and say 62 and raining
isn’t the best day for a training camp practice. If
you’re us. Definitely true if
you’re the players. Everyone I talked to said this was the day
to be in Flowery Branch. A
little break from the heat and a great chance for us to take a
look at Michael Penix Jr. And
yes, that is Kirk Cousins still in Atlanta as the highest paid
backup quarterback right now in
NFL history. Welcome back to the insiders. Tom Pelissero Cameron
Wolfe here in Flowery Branch.
Tell me right now, cam, your initial reactions about Michael
Penix Jr. You got to talk to
Raheem Morris. What is the vibe around the first time full time
starter in Atlanta? Tom I don’t
know if it was us, but Michael Penix put on a show today. He
knew that the rain was not going
to stop that fiery arm coming out. And I talked to his
offensive coordinator, Zac
Robinson, right after practice and he said, did you see Michael
Penix today? Yes, Zach, we saw
Michael Penix today. He had a great day. One of the highlights
was throwing a deep pass into
the end zone to Kyle Pitts. Perfect touchdown placement. And
he’s talked this offseason about
how there’s going to be more of those throws to Kyle Pitts
throughout the season. Look, I’m
not trying to sell you, but if there is a hint of a Kyle Pitts
revival, we got it today. And
look, Michael Penix has a level of intelligence that his coaches
rave about. Robinson, the
offensive coordinator, told me he was with Matthew Stafford
with the Rams and said the way
he studies and processes and handles the amount of plays they
give him is similar to what they
had in Stafford in LA. And that rose my eyes quite a bit. And
you talked about Raheem Morris.
He talked about Michael Penix into year two. We forget he came
in in December last year. He
hadn’t practiced with the starting offense at all. Now he
gets a full offseason with the
starters and we’re starting to see his aura, his bond with
teammates. I know they had
Michael Vick and Matt Ryan spent some time with him this
offseason to help him. This is
his team. No matter what, Kirk Cousins is there, he’s helping
him, but he is the clear backup.
Michael Penix is the guy you mentioned the connection with
Kyle Pitts. That’s a connection
that has been brewing for quite some time and talking to people
here. Michael Penix Jr and Kyle
Pitts are very close. Pitts went through some things physically
through the course of the off
season. Obviously the last couple of years, ever since he
had the MCL tear, haven’t been
the best. But he looks great physically. Penix and Pitts golf
together, spend a lot of time
together off the field. You never want to get ahead of it
here. When you’re talking about
a player who, at least if you’re a fantasy football owner, may
have underwhelmed in recent
years. But it seems like if Pitts is going to make himself
some money and he’s got a chance
to, this could be the year. Yeah, and talking to people
here, it sounds like Kyle Pitts
is indeed healthy. He caught that touchdown pass we talked
about today. And I talked to
some people about the trade rumors we heard all offseason
about Kyle Pitts. From what I
understand they never were shopping Kyle Pitts. They said
that yes we got some calls but
nothing enough for us to pull the trigger. We anticipate him
being a big part of our offense.
Along with Drake, London, along with Bijan Robinson and this
Falcons team is excited about
the potential there. And when you look at this Falcons team,
they haven’t made the playoffs
in 2017. They have a certain hunger. We talked to Jesse
Bates. We talked to AJ Terrell.
And they’re like we got to get over the hump. Got a new
defensive coordinator Jeff
Ulbrich. They feel they have clear communication. And there’s
a certain buzz that comes from
their rookie pass rushers James Pierce Junior and Jalen Walker.
And I’ll tell you what Pierce
has got an edge. He got in a little scuffle today. And it
wasn’t the first one he’s had in
camp. But that’s that’s what they want. They want a little
bit of an edge a little bit of
that energy. He’s been a force off the edge with his speed. And
now he’s being able to
contribute. And they expect him and Jalen Walker to both be huge
impact players. In year one.
Jalen Walker got out on the field in team drills for the
first time, was nursing a very
minor hamstring injury. Nothing to be concerned about. AJ
Terrell sat down with Brian
Baldinger and I asked him about what was it like seeing those
guys drafted him and Jesse Bates
were together at the Falcons draft party, Terrell said. He
was just lighting up with a big
smile. They were excited. A couple of guys rushing the
passer who can make their jobs
easier. Cam Wolf, thank you very much. I’ll see you tomorrow.
I’ll see you on TV in like 14
hours on Good Morning Football in Charlotte with NFL plus. Keep
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NFL.com terms and conditions apply. Much more to come here on
the insiders, including a look
in at Ravens training camp, where Lamar Jackson does a whole
lot more than signing autographs
here. What are the expectations not just for that talented
offense, but a defense that was
up and down in 2024? It might be the key in 2025. We’ll dig into
it next on the insiders. Hey,
it’s Ryan Reynolds here for Mint chase something. Ravens had a
red zone drill during practice
yesterday at Bank Stadium. And imagine the defense. You’re
stacking the box because you’re
expecting this guy Derrick Henry, to come downhill at you.
Because why not? That’s what you
would do in the tight red zone. And the next thing you know, he
runs a wheel route to the right
sideline and catches a ball over a defender. You can’t. Are you
going to plan for both of those
things? That’s what the Ravens were working on yesterday during
this practice here at met Bank
Stadium. Judy Battista, as I bring you in with me, Mike
Garafolo to talk Ravens. It’s
just I say it every year. I talk to Ravens fans. When I’m at
camp, they ask me, oh, how do
you think our team’s going to do? That’s one of the camps
where you can say, I think your
team is going to have a good season and you’re not going to
look like an idiot because they
are competitive year in and year out. One of the teams that
around the league people look at
and are so impressed with their ability to keep that talent
level right where it needs to
be. Judy. From the veterans all the way down to the rookies,
Malachi Starks apparently has
been a revelation so far since he’s been there, going to be a
big part of what they do, and
then they add to the mix by going out and signing Jaire
Alexander, who had a couple of
picks on Saturday. They’re loaded again, Judy. They are
loaded again. They were loaded
last season. They have come so, so close. I mean, just right,
the Mark Andrews I don’t want to
just call him out, but right. If he doesn’t drop that, we might
be talking about an entirely
different thing. They’re loaded. They are one of the teams that
you really look at and say they
could be the Super Bowl champions. Lamar just had an out
of this world. When you go back
and look at his numbers from last year, they’re staggering.
They added DeAndre Hopkins,
who’s not going to be the number one receiver. But he still has
something they’ve been trying to
get him to the Ravens for years. They added so much on the
defense and I we don’t talk
about kickers on this show ever. I want to shout out the kicker.
Rookie Tyler Loop. In that
practice at M.A. He made all 11 of his field goal attempts,
including a 60 yarder. He’s the
only kicker on the roster. They’re, of course, replacing
Justin Tucker, who they moved on
from in the off season, but who is a Hall of Fame caliber
kicker. Certainly last year he
struggled. They lost some games because of Justin Tucker last
year, which is not something you
would have ever said before in his career. So Tyler Loop is in
there theoretically competing
for the job, but certainly no other kicker on the roster. And
with that kind of leg that he’s
showing off in practice, certainly seems like he’s going
to be the guy. This team is set
really at every position. They really you just feel like they
just need a break to go their
way at the right moment and they’ll get over the hump. Yeah.
On loop. And that was one of the
biggest ovations of the day yesterday. That 60 yarder that
he hit. I don’t want to make too
much of it right. It’s a practice. But the first time in
front of the fans, they put a
little pressure on him to see if he can hit it from 60 and he
absolutely nailed it. He’s been
hitting the ball extremely well, so just a little bit of pressure
that he responded to. That’s a
great sign because when you’re filling in for Justin Tucker and
I understand that Tucker
struggled mightily last year. But when you’re filling in for a
guy who’s potentially a future
Hall of Famer, or at least was from that standpoint for most of
his career, yeah, you want to be
able to perform that way. You want to be able to perform that
way. Well, by the way, you saw
it on the bottom of the screen. Lamar Jackson didn’t practice
today. Again, this is footage
from yesterday but did not practice today. An excused
absence. No reason for any
concern out there in Owings Mills apparently so yeah. Ravens
loaded once again Ian looking to
get over that postseason hump. I’m not sure the Raiders are
quite ready to talk about
postseason yet, but maybe because there is a new sort of
respectability I would say to
the Las Vegas Raiders they got Pete Carroll joined us today on
Inside training Camp Live. And
they got that guy right there Geno Smith. Instant credibility
for this Raiders offense. And
really the kind of thing if this team is going to turn it around
like so many in this building
want to and believe they can. Part of it’s going to be because
of him. Talk to Geno Smith
earlier in the day, me and my good buddy Omar Ruiz asked Geno
how close is this team right
here to winning. You know I’m always the guy who like I
believe that the game gets
settled between the white lines on game day. But you know, from
my vantage point, we got a
really, really good team. And I think we’re going to I don’t
know if we’ll shock anyone
inside of this building, but maybe shock some outsiders. And
so, you know, but it’s good.
Like, let them sleep. I don’t want them to see us coming, man.
We’re just working. We’re just
working, you know, in the shadows right now, you know,
getting our game right. And when
it’s time to go into those bright lights, I think we’ll be
ready. I don’t know if people
are really sleeping on the Raiders, Omar Ruiz, but, you
know, because they do feel like
kind of the fun sleeper team for everyone. New coach, new
quarterback, a lot of buzz, some
new weapons, including which we’ll get to in a second. You’ve
been here with me all day.
You’ve gotten the landscape of things we’ve watched practice
very intently. How real do you
feel like the Raiders are? They have a chance. I think the story
for their season will probably
be what sort of support Max Crosby gets defensively, how
that group can come together
with the weapons around Crosby, Patrick Graham, the continuity
that he brings as defensive
coordinator. You talk about Max Crosby. He is the player that
Pete Carroll identified. That is
the leader of this team that he comes in to work early. First
one here, last one to leave.
It’s not a cliche. It’s what actually happens here with the
Las Vegas Raiders. And you just
see him out here with the pads relentlessly with his effort in
every drill that he does. And
it’s not just the production that he shows on Sundays and is
why he got the big blockbuster
extension in this offseason. It’s the way he leads. It’s the
way he elevates others around
him in leadership positions, and it reminds me of a conversation
I had with Max a couple of years
ago, when Tom Brady was first getting mentioned as a potential
minority owner for this
organization, and he talked about developing leaders around
him, he said that was an
important message that Tom Brady shared with Crosby. He has lived
that the last couple of years,
and if they can get production from outside of guys like Max
Crosby, I think that defense has
a chance. I was standing all the way. We’re we’re basically at
one end zone sitting here. The
other end zone is, you know, 100 yards away. I’m standing there
and I’m watching the defensive
linemen and linebackers do sprints and who is leading the
sprints. But Max Crosby I mean
he’s in his you know he’s deep into his veteran years and he is
still showing these young guys
how to do it. And you know if they are going to turn it
around, it’s going to take some
of that and it’s going to take some of Geno Smith. You know
when we talk to him, he
mentioned that he parrots the words of Pete Carroll to try to
show some of these young guys
how it’s done. If they’re going to win some of their super
talented young guys like Brock
Bowers and Ashton Gentry are going to have to really play and
contribute. I mean, he’s going
to have to be right off the bat really good. But from what we’ve
heard today, sounds like all
systems go for that. All reports indicate that Ashton Gentry is
every bit the running back that
they had hoped for him to be. When you talk about leading guys
in sprints, I thought it was
especially notable for Ashton Gentry when they would make the
plays through the line of
scrimmage and he would run all the way to the end zone,
emulating that he’s going to be
a big game, big play type of player from the get go. And it’s
not just how he plays on the
field. He does run with power and passion. It’s what he does
off the field, how he leads, how
he understands his teammates and does all the little things
right. Everybody has been
impressive with who he is as a person, just as much as who he
is as a player. So expectations,
just like they were with Brock Bowers and he lived up to it.
His rookie season expectations
sky high for Ashton Gentry as well. Yeah, there are several
lean draft years for this team.
Certainly got it right last year. Seems like early returns
are got it right this year. And
you know a lot of these guys are going to have to come in.
They’re going to have to play
because there’s just not there’s Max Crosby in the couple, but
not a ton, ton of veterans here
to really kind of bear that burden. So it is going to have
to be the young guys with their,
you know, let’s say slightly older but still unbelievably
energetic coach Pete Carroll
helping shape them certainly seems like the kind of place
that could turn it around a
little bit. And quickly. Omar, been fun hanging out with you
all day. I really have loved
that. Cheers. I wish this were I wish this were beers, but
they’re not. It’s microphones.
All right, you go catch your flight. We’re going to continue
here on the Insiders Kenny
Pickett right there with the Cleveland Browns. One of the
quarterbacks in contention to be
the starter. Talk today gave us a little insight. This Browns
quarterback situation continues
to confound the league and spark interest. We’ll get into it.
Coming up next on the insiders.
We’re going to do whatever we seen nothing like this. I love
y’all. The Browns quarterback
free for all continues in Berea, Ohio at training camp. Sanders
back on the field today after
dealing with arm soreness over the weekend. The guy in the
foreground. Number eight Kenny
Pickett also back out there, albeit in a limited fashion. He
caught up with our commissioner,
Mark Ross. We got to start with the hamstring. How are you
feeling? We know you’re throwing
over the weekend in just some individuals. How’s your health
today? Yeah, it’s getting better
each day. I can get into some do some seven on seven today. So
kind of progressing well, doing
the rehab treatments, all the stuff in the weight room to get
back as fast as possible. Have
you ever had a hamstring injury or injury that kind of puts you
behind in a competition like
this? No, this was a first. I was shocked that it happened. I
mean, I was running a lot and
training hard coming into camp. So I felt like I was I must have
been lacking somewhere to have a
soft tissue injury like this. So it’s a frustrating thing. But,
you know, like I said, I don’t
have experience with it. So listening to the trainers and
the doctors has been the most
important thing. I can’t have any setbacks. You know? I feel
like I’m progressing really
well. So just focus on a day at a time. Now, of course, a lot of
the national media conversation
around the Browns this training camp has been that for
quarterback competition.
Obviously, you know, you guys are all learning from each
other, but you’re all competing
for that number one job. You’ve been very vocal in saying you
want that starting spot. How do
you think you stand, obviously knowing you’ve had to be
sidelined for a little bit?
Yeah, it’s still early. You know, every guy in that room
wants the spot. You know, you
wouldn’t be in there. So I think it’s a great group to go to work
every day to compete with, with
where I’m at right now, I’m just trying to get back as fast as
possible, taking the mental
reps. When I’m not in there. I’m really happy that I’ll get some
seven on seven to get back to
going through reads and making throws on time. So it’s a good
step for me today. Let’s talk
about some good stuff. I think people forgot you’re a Super
Bowl champion. Yes. And of
course we saw the unveiling of the rings. And have you have you
broke yours out walking around
the facility showing it off or you kind of let that go. And
part two of that, what did you
learn from your experience in Philly in such a, you know,
world class organization? Yeah,
yeah, definitely. Definitely. Turn the page. My in-laws were
in town this week. They got to
see it. So that was pretty cool. But you know, as far as being
here now and looking back on
what I learned, I think seeing how a player driven team can
take you a really long way, the
habits that each guy had, the habits that each position group
had, that you saw after
practice, before practice, in the meeting rooms with the
quarterbacks, it goes a really
long way. So that’s just something that we’re trying to
build here. You know, player
driven make the system our system and, you know, go from
there. Have any of the guys
inside of this locker room come to you and asked about that
championship pedigree and try to
pick your brain on? Obviously you saw that success last season
in Philly. How you guys can
replicate that here in Cleveland. Yeah, absolutely. You
know, guys just wondering I
mean, there’s no secret really I can’t you know, there’s nothing
that we did. It’s just, you know
just work. You know that’s I guess that’s the secret. It’s
just the hard work the guys put
in. We had great players on that team, obviously defense and
offense. So you know you need
all three phases to go to go win it. So I think we have a lot of
great pieces here as well. What
are your impressions of Kevin Stefanski’s offense and how do
you think once you get back 100%
that you’re going to say, you know what, these are the skills.
These are the talents that I can
bring, that I deserve to be the starting quarterback here. Yeah,
I think it’s a really
quarterback friendly system to play to play in. You know, we’re
going to run the ball well.
We’re going to have play actions off of it. We’re going to move
the pocket. You know I can
extend and do things with my legs, which I feel like is a
strength of my game. So there’s
a lot of things that I think fit in what I do well, obviously
when I’m healthy, I can show
that more like I did in the first the first week. But now,
you know, with the injury, I
think I can play from the pocket and really be more diligent
through reads and progressions
and finding checkdowns. So just another aspect of my game that I
can try to improve on. Can you
also speak to your relationship with your new offensive
coordinator and Tommy Rees?
Obviously, he was with this organization last season as the
tight ends coach, but two of you
kind of coming in together, right. Can you can you speak to
that relationship? I was a fan
of Tommy’s when he was at Notre Dame playing. You know, I grew
up a big Notre Dame fan. So I
knew Tommy a long time ago. The fact that, you know, now I’m
playing for him is pretty cool,
full, full circle moment. But he’s awesome. Like, it’s great
to have a guy in the room that
played the position that understands what we’re seeing
and what we’re going through,
you know, down by down, play to play. So having that insight on
top of what he already knows,
X’s and O’s wise from being a coach I think is really awesome.
So he does a great job of
prepping us every day and making sure we’re as prepared as we can
be. Each practice, that’s great.
Following up on relationships, let’s talk about your off the
field relationship. I’m a
Princeton grad. Kenny’s wife is a Princeton grad. Stand up.
Product placement, if you
noticed. So just talk about how you’ve had to step your game up,
not just on the field, but off
the field and dealing with a Princeton alum. Yeah, I’m big on
the reunions. Every year. We go
back every year and see all her friends and you know, it’s
awesome. And she played soccer
there. So having someone in your life that you know had the same
goals and drive as you, and now
she’s doing private equity with a company still based out of
Pittsburgh. So it’s great to,
you know, have someone like minded like you in a
relationship where you’re going
through life together, you know, through the trials and
tribulations that always has
your back. So, you know, shout out to Amy, love you. I’m like,
how do I follow up on a football
question after after we get after we get a wife shout out
there. But but last one for you
here, Kenny, you know, your career since 2022 when you were
drafted, right? You’ve now seen
three organizations. What’s next for you in cementing your name
in the NFL and really wanting to
be in an advantageous position not only as a quarterback, but a
leader of a franchise? Yeah, I
think it just starts with where I’m at today. You know, winning
a job that’s really, you know,
the only thing I’m focused on and that just goes day by day.
You know, I understand I had the
injury and all that, but it doesn’t really bother me. I just
show up every day and work as
hard as I can be to be the best player, you know? We’ll see
where the chips fall. Thank you
so much for joining us. The NFL preseason kicks off with eight
games live on NFL network in
Week one. That’s this week. Big names, putting new cities on
their backs, a new class putting
their names on the map. Your team is back in action. It’s
time for football week one of
the NFL preseason live on NFL network. Blackout restrictions
apply. Also streaming with NFL
plus subscription required for NFL plus, the Chiefs like to
play their players in the
preseason. We’ll see how much Patrick Mahomes is on the field.
He’s got some new challenges,
and they feel like old challenges with a rotating cast
at the wide receiver position.
Let’s talk Chiefs and some other news around the AFC right after
this on the insiders. Did you
know nationwide is so much more leave the car, always stop.
Look, lock. Welcome back to the
insiders. Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport, Judy Battista and Mike
Garafolo. Ian, you spent the day
out there with the Raiders who like everybody else in the AFC
West, the AFC as a whole for
that matter, are chasing those Kansas City Chiefs. They sure
are. And you talk to so many
people around the league, as we’ve all done for the last two
weeks. Really just talked to
everyone about football and what every other team is doing. We’ve
heard about the Kansas City
Chiefs is kind of like, and I’m not saying here not at the
Raiders, but a lot of other
places I’ve been. Well, yeah, the Chiefs offense has been a
little pedestrian the last
couple a little bit. Having watched their practice, having
talked to their people there and
gotten a look at Rashee Rice, who we know he’s probably going
to be suspended to start the
season but looks excellent. You see the slimmed down version of
Travis Kelce and some of the
other receivers that they have. They seem to be at a point,
guys, where they are probably
primed to get back to where they have been offensively. That’s
been like my biggest takeaway
from the Chiefs, from watching them practice, from talking to
their people and talking to
other people around the league. This is a team that, you know,
took a little break from being
the high powered team and now is ready to get back there. Patrick
Mahomes, when I saw him, looked
about as good at playing the position quarterback as you
possibly can during training
camp. It is, in the words of one staffer there, the best receiver
room they have had. I know it’s
been kind of odd for the Chiefs have. They’ve rebuilt their
defense and kind of won some how
some way. Those times to me feel like they are over. And the
Kansas City Chiefs seem to be
ready to roll on offense. Well, here’s another team that hopes
to challenge the Chiefs the
Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, when Tom and I were in Latrobe
at Steelers camp last week,
Aaron Rodgers brought this up. How much he likes offensive
coordinator Arthur Smith’s
flexibility. He’s it he’s not rigid in what he’s doing. He’s
trying to tailor the scheme to
the personnel they have. They’re still in the process of figuring
out what everybody does well and
what they want, and how they’re going to put that offense
together. Today, Arthur Smith
told our buddies at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he
has had to adapt his offense. He
actually credits his his dad, who was the founder of Fedex,
for being adaptable. Just
remember that when he was in Tennessee with the Titans, it
was a pretty run heavy offense.
And then when he went to Atlanta, the offense never
really got going. Last year when
he was in Pittsburgh with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, the
offense just wasn’t explosive
enough. That was a problem. Now he’s got a 41 year old
quarterback, lots of weapons.
Jonnu Smith, who he had in Tennessee as well. Pat
Freiermuth, DK Metcalf. Going to
be interesting to see how they put this together. Again, still
a work in progress because they
got a little bit of a late start because Aaron Rodgers signed so
late. Mike, Judy, I am in studio
in Inglewood, California today because I was at the Chargers
camp earlier today. Man, I tell
you what, I remember being there a year ago and seeing a lot of
holes in the roster like wide
receiver. They needed to rebuild that room. They have done so
much work over the last year,
and they feel so good about where they are from a roster
standpoint, and they could still
add. Speaking of wide receivers, Keenan Allen, their old friend,
worked out for them the other
day, Jim Harbaugh telling the media that it was a good
workout. Still, Joe Hortiz, the
general manager working with Allen’s representation. See if
they can come to an agreement on
a signing. Would not be surprised if that happened at
some point in the near future,
but we’ll see. As for Najee Harris, Harbaugh saying that he
is doing some laps walking
around the field. No timeline yet for his recovery. Remember,
his agent called it a
superficial injury to his eye. That fireworks injury. That was
the understatement of the year.
Clearly a serious injury here to Najee Harris. Again, no timeline
yet for his return to the field.
And then Denzel Perryman. This is good news for the Chargers.
He was released from custody.
Harbaugh said he went and visited Perryman, who was
arrested on a weapons charge
after two rifles were found in his trunk after he was stopped.
He was released from custody
today, with TMZ reporting that he won’t be charged for that
incident. So that is good news
for the Chargers getting Denzel Perryman back a key part of a
roster that again, they feel
incredibly good about this time of year. Just like any team
though. Just got to stay
healthy. Tom Saints camp heads to California. In a couple of
days. They’ll have a joint
practice against the Chargers. Still looking for a quarterback.
I was there yesterday with Baldy
and Rhett Lewis. We saw Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shuck rotating
the early portion of practice.
Jake Henry got a lot of work later. The sense I get is the
Saints are in no rush to figure
out who the number one guy is going to be. If you had to guess
right now going into the
preseason, you’d say it’s probably shuck the second round
draft pick. He just looks the
part. You can see him processing, but as one person
put it to me, it is still very
early. He’s got a lot to learn, a lot to suss out here through
the course of the preseason.
2025 NFL season is almost here, and single game tickets are on
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tickets. Coming up on the insiders at NFL legend turned
100 years old. That’s right,
Marv Levy, who probably could get out there and coach a game
right now if he really needed
to. Celebrating a big milestone. We’ll celebrate him. Get to some
other items right after this on
the insiders. A wing with no it? Get NFL RedZone now. Happy
100th birthday. Marv Levy, the
former bills coach hitting that big milestone. Yesterday, I
found myself in a car to a
charity golf tournament a couple of months ago with Cornelius
Bennett, who told me he and a
bunch of the old bills players all flew out to Chicago to spend
time with Marv last year, for
his 99th birthday. Marv still in a partying mood. I know you
talked to him not that long ago
as well. I did, I talked to him last season for a story. Sounded
just as great as ever. The
adoration of his players that they have for Marv Levy really
says a whole lot about the man
he was. World War Two veteran, earned a master’s degree from
Harvard in English history, and
then went on to be a spectacular NFL coach, took the Buffalo
Bills to four Super Bowls, which
they did not win nonetheless. Marv Levy, awesome coach. Happy
birthday Ian. If you make it to
100, what do you envision you’re doing at that point? What do you
what do you see in your life at
that point? At that time? Just golf. I just want to be playing
golf. If I’m shooting my age at
100, then I’ve done something right. You know? I mean, that’s
is there anything any anyone can
ask besides that? If I’m shooting like 98 at 100,
probably playing from those old
man tees really up front, then that’s a big win. Is that too
much to ask? The good news is
you already swing like you’re 100 old man
The countdown is on