Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're always feeling the urgency. I'm Greg Rosenthal, and beyond excited to be joined today by Jane Slater of NFL Network. You will recognize her from the NFL Network polo she's always wearing this time of year up in Oxnard, but she's now back in the Dallas area, but you're not just a Dallas Cowboys reporter. You can talk NFL, Jane Slater. So we're going to do some news before we get to Cowboys Talk.

Yeah, I'm just as excited about the football season as a lot of the fans are. I'm obviously following it very, very closely. And some of the things that have happened in the last couple of weeks. I don't know about you, Greg, but I am a huge fan of the Real Housewise franchise. They've got nothing on the reality that seems to be some of these story lines that have peaked in the last couple of weeks.

Well, I feel like they could do a Real Housewise I was maybe the real single ladies of Dallas and have Slater on. I almost feel like you've been trying out for that quietly for years. Like, your life is a reality show.

It feels like it sometimes.

All right, so we're going to do some news, like I said, and then we're going to talk Deep dive into the Cowboys. We'll try to talk some of the stuff on the field because we've hit the contract so hard, but I'm more interested in what this team is actually going to look like this season. And then we're going to wrap up the show with Pete Sweeney from Arrowhead Pride. So talking Cowboys, talking Chiefs today. But first, we will do some news. News. Yeah, bummer, Jane, that we're starting with a quarterback injury that didn't see coming. Nick Shook and I spent the top of our show on Monday morning, just so excited about how good JJ McCarthy looked, and he apparently hurt his knee in that game, came into the building Monday morning after not saying a word about it on Sunday, and he told him he had some knee soreness, and it turns out he needs surgery for a torn MCL. At this point, we are waiting to find out what surgery he's going to get, whether it's going to be a full repair or if it's just going to be a trim. The full repair would potentially knock him out for the entire season.

The trim would be 4-6 weeks. I think we might have got a little bit of a hint from Kevin O'Know of what's more likely in this situation when he spoke to the media on Tuesday.

What's what's best for the long term health of JJ McCarthy will be the priority. And I don't, like I said, have that answer and really won't be a part of determining that answer is the best thing I can tell you because I have total, complete trust in our medical staff and also the people that will be performing the procedure.

Yeah, Jay, when he starts that saying the long term health of a player is going to be the priority, that That makes me worried that we might not see JJ McCarthy this entire season because that's going to be the best for him long term.

And why would you, right, Greg? I mean, they went out and they got him with the number 10 overall pick. I mean, you lose Kirk Cousins, the Atlanta Falcons. Thankfully, they went out and got Sam Arnold, who was a huge offseason acquisition. I think we all thought that JJ McCarthy would take a little bit, obviously, to get onto the field. But why rush this first round pick for you? I know that you had mentioned it. They got to wait till they get in there. They do the Are they going to clip them in this case? Is it going to sideline him for the full year? But why rush him back? I mean, if I'm the Minnesota Vikings, I'm protecting this pick. I'm protecting him in the sense that when he's rested up, he can come be around the sidelines. But I don't know that I'm trying to push that out in the field. But I mean, I think probably the most disheartening part about it is, to your point, he came in on Monday and hadn't really had any issues with it. And then, lo and behold, now the Minnesota Vikings fan base that was so excited about JJ McCarthy and moving forward now has to wait and see when they're going to actually see him on the field.

Yeah. You feel for McCarthy, first of all, you feel for Vikings fans because you have the excitement level. You think about how well Kerr Cousins was playing before that injury. You think about the history of the quarterback position over the years in Minnesota and Teddy Bridgewater and just everyone else that they've tried over the last bit, Christian Ponder, Bradford. And this kid, he looked so exciting to a 21 years old. You mentioned that the doctors are going to make this decision ultimately. If they think they could just do the lighter surgery and he could come back, that would be exciting. But we will see something else that crossed my mind on this is just Quese Adopha Mensa and Kevin O'Kunal are both up for extensions. That makes that decision a little trickier. And yet I feel like Sam Bradford has an awesome situation, as did JJ McCarthy. It's a really good offensive It's a great receiver group, especially when T. J. Hawkinson gets back. Flora has coached up that defense pretty good. There's actually a narrative here, and I know the Sam Darnold vive is out dancing on poor JJ McCarthy's injury here. They're excited to see their guy finally do something.

I'm not as much, but I'm actually not ruling out this team from being very competitive, whether Sam Darnold is great or not. I think there's a lot of good things around them.

Well, and like I said, you just got to be happy that they went out there and they've got at least some depth as a result of these injuries. I mean, look, I'm certainly no stranger to covering injuries at the quarterback position here in Dallas, and sometimes there is a silver lining. And so Sam Darnold, I don't think Sam Darnold excites a lot of Minnesota fans. I don't know if you know many. I actually do. This was devastating news to a lot of Vikings fans today. But I would just say, pump the brakes. At least you've got a vet that at least knows his way around live-action in the game. He looked in the preseason. He's looked good at camp. And so you've got a viable option there. But certainly, take the air out of the room for fans that were already losing Kerko, now having to deal with this situation. And then to bring up Teddy Bridgewater. It feels like this franchise has been snakebitten a little bit at times.

It has. And yet it is good to keep this in perspective. He's a 21-year-old. He'll still get to be around the team throughout the course of the season, even if he is out. We'll see. We don't need to write that story. Maybe it'll all turn out better. What would turn out better for me with Brandon Ayuk is if this thing just ended. We got no slight to our insiders, but we got another non-update update. And there was a little moving forward of the situation, which Ian Rappaport was first to report our guy, the insider, saying that the Steelers have been waiting C-mode, that they actually believe that a deal from their side has been agreed to in terms of trade terms, that Ayuk was also happy with their contract terms. But it's in the 49ers/Ayuk's corner because the 49ers sent out a new offer to IUK. And I was trying to parse, what does this all mean? It almost felt like this was the 49ers saying, We've done everything we can do, and now it's up to IUK. That was my takeaway. I don't know if you had a takeaway on this.

Well, I think he's also got to ask himself, Is this a better situation for him than what he's I currently got with the 49ers? I mean, you've got Russell Wilson, which a big question mark with him, the stealers. I think you feel good about Mike Tomlin. He's always got you in there. But to your point, the whole back and forth, the showing up at camp, how awkward that has to be. I was actually talking to Steve Weiss, who covers the 49ers quite a bit, and doing an interview with nick Bosa recently, he talked about how hard it is when you're holding out. In this situation, a lot of holdout guys, they're not at the facility, they're not around things. Ayoke has been there. He's watching practice. He's just not an active participant. I would imagine it's uncomfortable for everyone. But I think that the storyline that I've at least been entertained by is there seems to be this new culture of punking insiders. And the reason why there's always new information out there, Greg, is as somebody who covers a team that is always out there in the news. When I once covered the Rangers, there was a player that told his daughter that he was going to go play for the Cleveland Indians.

And she told her preschool teacher who told a local reporter that my dad's going to be an Indian. And that's how we knew that Murphy was moving on. And so these days, you never know who these players are talking to. A lot of times, they love to give them to former teammates that are in the media. So that's why you've constantly got to stay on top of it. You've got to see every twist and turn when the story is still out there and developing. But yeah, I find it really interesting, some of the aggregators, these blogger insiders versus the insiders these days. It's the story within the story on my timeline.

Right. Well, Let's be real. No one's covered themselves in glory with this story. It's no one's fault. But you're not allowed to take credit. I've seen this one reporter. You're not allowed to take credit for saying you were right if he ends up going to the stealers when you said the deal was done last Friday. It's not even done. I got a bone to pick even with some of the wording on these headlines. There's a headline Niners dealers have deal agreed upon for what? Ayuk, I guess I get what they're saying that the deal Well, that part of the deal is in place, but it's not agreed upon. If he's not going there, it's not agreed upon. If the 49ers haven't made the decision or Ayuk hasn't made the decision, just let it end. And hopefully, we don't have to retape this.

It's a little misleading, right? I always get frustrated with that, too. I'm always like, Until the deal is done, and we've seen the twist and turns. I mean, again, bringing it back to Eric Kenter. So remember, he was headed to the 49ers, and then at the last minute, changed his mind and came to Dallas. And so to me, me until the ink has dried. You got to be very, very careful about how you word these things. But personally, I'm like you, my Twitter timeline. At first, I honestly, I don't know, I had to do some deep diving. I'm like, What am I missing with all of this? It's fascinating. If you have missed it, go I'm going to do a deep dive on X, formerly Twitter. I just will never get used to comfortably saying X. But it is fascinating to watch this and far more interesting than some of the trade talks that we've had around here.

It's fine. I'm never going to stop calling it Twitter I'm never going to even mention or apologize for that. Elon Musk, supposedly in that space that he had the other night, called it Twitter himself. So even he calls it Twitter. Let's go to the other weird hanging holdout right now. There's a few. Jamal Chase quietly wasn't at Bingo's practice today, by the way, for the first time, which is interesting. He's been holding in. And there's Trent Williams. But the one I wanted to just talk about quickly was Hassan Redik, who requested a trade, and then the Jets immediately released a statement, We're not going to you. And it's just back to where it was, which is they won't consider giving him money unless he shows up. He won't consider showing up unless they give him money. And at some point, I do think it's fair to criticize Joe Douglas in this front office for even getting themselves into this mess.

I mean, I think going back to the Real Housewives analogy, the messiest Housewives season or franchise this year has been New Jersey. We're talking, they couldn't even sit down at the final dinner together. They were pointing fingers. They were There's been a lot of stuff that's been leaked to the media, and it feels very much like the Jets who, right there, New Jersey. There's been a lot of leaks out of that building. I feel like some of the business has been really messy as it relates to players. I mean, even your starting quarterback, there's been drama around him. Then when I was talking to a couple of GMs and agents, because I'm nosy, I'm just curious, what am I missing with this Hassan reddit deal? Is it Is it the player who's making 14.5 million right now? Final year of your deal, you understand that you want some security and safety. It's always been my impression, Greg, that a lot of this stuff before you even trade, you know that you're trading for a pick. In this case, it was what? A third round conditional pick in 2026. But you also know you're going to have to pay the player what his market value is.

And with the 50 and a half sacks, he's looking at 25 to 28 million. You are under the impression that's already going to happen. So a lot of the GMs that I talk to and agents, I won't even say what some of them have said to me, but they absolutely are pointing the finger at the Jets. This should have been done.

Because other teams knew the situation with Reddick going into it. And yes, I know he did an opening press conference, but even in that press conference, he said he wanted to get paid. I thought, assumed he was. I'm working on the top 50 free agents, by the way, of 2025. And yeah, Hassan Reddick, at least for now, is on that list. A couple of other just quick items I'm going to run through, and then we're going to take a break and talk about the Cowboys There was an article on ESPN that said, teams have inquired about Matthew Judon, which to me just was a sign of maybe it was Judon's camp trying to scare up some offers or just getting that out there. That's interesting. He was at joint practice today, and one Patriots reporter said maybe he was motivated by it because he had his best practice of camp, and supposedly, it was awesome going up against the Eagles. Amarius Mims, the left tackle for the Bengals, unfortunately, or right tackle, left tackle. They were trying them at both, but probably going to be the right tackle. Got to miss a couple of weeks, so That's disappointing for him.

They really wanted him to be ready for the season to protect him. And then Jalen Phillips, good news for the Dolphins, off the PUP list, and a bunch of injuries for the Lions, including Jamir Gibbs with a ham string injury, which is something to watch. Anything strike you there? I'm a little worried that we're counting on an injured first-round pick. And Trent Brown, who's just coming off the PUP and is very inconsistent, to protect Joe Burrow potentially in week two. Is matchup, I think, against the Ravens.

Well, I thought Amaris Mims, this was one of my... Probably, I don't know if I've ever heard an entry described this way, but extremely minor setback. That's got to make you feel right. Extremely minor setback. So good for Mims. And then the one that's standing out to me is the Giants and what they're going to do with the running back position. I mean, I realized that Tyrone Tracy wasn't going to be your starter, but you're already going into the season without Saquon Barkley. You need Daniel Jones to do less, not more. And so I would imagine handing the ball off is part of that. You've got Singletary there, Eric gray. So it's going to be interesting to see how they navigate through this thing just in terms of depth and how they run the ball up there.

Yes, I'm glad you mentioned that Tyron Tracy had an air cast put him on as he left practice. It does seem like they avoided the worst, though, and so we'll see how long he's out for there. That was the extreme. Yeah, it's not going to be season ending. So that is good news there. All right, it's good news. We get to continue to talk to Jane, and we're going to talk about her favorite reality show on Earth, The Dallas Cowboys, right after this break. We are back on NFL Daily. Yeah, one of the world's biggest Real Housewives fans, Jane Slater. I'm more of a Terrace House guy. Have you ever watched Terrace House? It's more peaceful. Not much happens. They're very nice to each other. The relationships move slowly. It's on Netflix. It's set in Japan. It's great.

I'll have to tune that in. I'm always looking for Netflix suggestions. Octopus Murders is another great one if you're looking for one.

Yeah. I'm very... That is very you. You and Mark love to bond over a conspiracy.

I love reaching out to Mark Sesler over our Conspiracy Theories.

Yeah. No, I'm three years behind the zeitgeist. Everyone was in the Terrace house during the pandemic, and I'm catching up to it late. But there's 50 episodes per season. So it'll take your mind off things if you're looking for mindless entertainment. The Cowboys, they're great at mindless entertainment. They've been doing it forever. I was at the... I was at a used Bookstore a couple of weeks ago, and I saw that Skip Bayliss book about the Cowboys, where Troy Akeman, the book starts with him telling Skip Bayliss, I'm not gay, which was this rumor back then, and then absolutely ripping his coach after they won the Super Bowl to shreds in print. They don't do it like that anymore, Jane. This team has been drama forever. And there's so much drama that I don't even report.

That's the craziest part about it. It's too TMZ. It's too tawdry. The whole Skip Bayliss, Troy Eatman thing is so fascinating about the backstory on that working in Dallas as to who Skit Bayliss's source was and how he decided the source. It was like a game of phone.

It was Switzerland's camp. It was Switzerland's camp, at least according to this, but you could tell it was Switzerland's camp versus Troy's camp, and they were putting all this stuff out there. And to be fair to Skit Bayliss, He never said that Troy Akemen was gay, but Troy Akemen knew that people were saying that about him, and he wanted to set the record straight. I heard a difference. And he did it while burying his head coach after they won the Super Bowl on the record saying, I don't even know what that guy does here. And he was still the coach. That's great.

Well, and I've always appreciated, Troy suffers no fools. I've done a couple of events with him, and I will tell you this, I show up ready to work when it's Troy Akemen. I know the material. Typically, I'm on time, but I'm on Lombardi's time when it's Troy Akemen. If you talk to some of his former teammates, they'll tell you there was a little bit of a disconnect during his time in Dallas because he required so much of others. But in his defense, he was used to the way that Jimmy coached, and Barry was just completely different. I mean, he was like the fun stepdad.

Yeah, I got a better sense. I started this book, and I thought that it'd be interesting. I read another your Bayliss book, and you get a different view of Akemen. He definitely... He seemed like a complicated guy, but not who you think. Not a life of the party guy, a very serious guy who's always thinking about everything over and over and over. Not too smart for his own good because I think that intelligence got him to where he is. And very different, I think, than the current Dallas Cowboys' head coach, I mean, quarterback, Dak Prescott, in his situation. Not as much drama there. I wanted to get off the Dak contract and the contract because we'll talk about that on this show.

It's exhausting. It's exhausting, Greg.

It's fine. It'll get done, or it won't. I actually don't think the Dak thing will, but we'll talk about that plenty. Let's talk about what's on the field because to me, this team is fascinating. They've been so good the last couple of years. It's the only division in the NFC to me where it's really a two-team race. So you start the year already knowing, all right, you got a 50 % chance here to make the playoffs. That's great. You're going to have a bunch of games against Washington and the Giants. That's great. You have a game against Carolina and the NFC South. But it's a stars and scrubs type of team where there's really great players, and then there's some questionable spots. I'm going to start this way, Jane. I'm going to give you problem areas as I see it for this team, and you can choose what you think the biggest concern is and just go from there. I'll give you four options, which it's telling there's four options. Wide receiver depth. Let's assume CeeD gets back, but basically beyond CeeDee. The running back position. I'm going to call it defensive line bulk, defensive tackle, edge, that type of thing, not Parsons, but stopping the run, or the offensive line.

Those are all issues I think could come up. What would you be most worried about and close to that?

With wide receiver, I think that they're good in the sense that they've got Brandon Cooke there. People seemingly keep forgetting about Brandon Cooke. When they opened this offensive last year, if you guys will remember, there was so much discussion about Dak Prescott in the interceptions leading into last season. Then I think he had... I think he only had 11 versus 22. Don't quote me on that. One of the reasons why they were doing... It felt like dink and dunk to start the season was he almost felt like the coaching staff didn't trust Dak with the ball security, or maybe they were trying to build up his confidence. I don't know. But we found ourselves multiple times during the game, go throw the ball to Brandon Cooke. If CeeDee Lamb is getting double-teamed, get the ball to Brandon Cooke, and things happened. And so people forget about him. But obviously, you got Brandon Cooke here. Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks, the two Jalans, have really stepped up. And Jalen Tolbert is an interesting story because they went out and got Jalen Tolbert in the draft two years ago, they'll tell you that maybe they put a little bit too much on his plate in that first year, and maybe some of the terminology and the schemes, they weren't clicking with him.

But he and Dak have worked together a lot this all season. Dak took, I think it was 11 guys to the Nike facility in Portland. Seedy, interestingly enough, was not there, but those guys were all there, and he's just been getting a ton of reps. And I think Jalen Tolbert is going to be interesting for them to step up in that role that they wanted Michael Gallup to, but didn't, of course, Michael left and then announced his retirement this all season. So I think wide receiver, I'm good with. I'm going down the list here, running back. I just don't know. I want to believe that Zeke Even though they keep saying it's going to be a running back by committee, anytime Dallas has done by committee, it's never really worked for them. Now, it's worked when you've got a bruiser running back, like you had Zeke, and then you had a change of back guy, a little bit of a joystick in Tony Pollard. Now, Tony Pollard didn't do so well in Dallas, I think, because you didn't have that bruiser type of back, you were having issues with your offensive line. And a lot of people, this was underreported last year, but the running backs coach was new to the position and stepped away from the facility for personal reasons.

I think it was quite a few games last year. And I know for a fact that that was an issue for some of the running backs that were looking for some direction. They had Skip Pete there before, who had been two stops in Dallas LA Rams, played the position. This coach hadn't even played the position. Now, I don't want to take that away. That's like someone saying, Well, you didn't play the game of football, James, so you can't cover it. I get that. But I do believe that there were some issues with the running game last year as a result of all that. So I think Zekin is big because he's always been known to have a high football IQ. Sometimes not the best off the field IQ. That's gotten better.

I don't want him in there to be my running back coach, though. If he's the third guy, I think at running back, they might not have their... They could have a week one starter that's not even on their roster. I look at Denver and Miami, both got a lot of running backs. I could see someone come in.

I don't see Malik Davis. I guess, Rico Doudal has shown you some flashes. That's fine. Then you've got Deuce Vawn. But I think what I'm more interested with Deuce Vawn is they were working him in the slot, more of that receiver role like Cole Beazley. I think that's going to be really interesting to watch. That's another one. Even when I was talking about wide receivers, they've also got Kavante Turban. So you got two small, really fast guys that you can throw in the slot. And I think that that could get real interesting for Dallas. And then we've even seen Micah Parsons finally getting some snaps at running back. I mean, He's been hounding the table for that for years. So I think offensively, Schotenheimer- Wait, say that again, getting snaps at running back?

Why are we spending time giving Micah Parsons snaps at running back? Is that a real thing that could happen, or is that just because he's Micah Parsons, and they want to make him happy in practice.

I think it's more like goal-line situations, right? I think they use him in more of a fullback role. I don't think it's the smartest, especially with him coming up on a contract here. But Micah loves to eat, and I know that he wants it. And I think a lot of people probably would have laughed at him if it wasn't for Dan Quinn when he came to him and said, I want to play. I want to rush off the edge. I want to be a defensive end. They're like, No, we drafted you as a linebacker. And so, yeah, I think they could get creative in certain situations. And so I think they came up with this Texas Coast offense last year. It took a little time for them to get it going. A lot of times, the terminology they were using wasn't meshing up with a West Coast offense. And I think it found its rhythm. So I'm not as worried about that. The offensive line is still something I'm like, Another entry. You had Chuma Adoga get injured in the preseason game. I think we really like what we saw from Tyler Gaiton. I mean, that guy was like bullying dudes out of the stadium the other night.

That's their first round pick who's now going to be their starter. You mentioned Adoga is probably out for a month or something like that. Yeah.

Tyler Gaiton, what was so impressive about him is I talked to his offensive line coach, Duke Maniweather, and he told me it was Thursday he got drafted, and on Saturday, He decided to stay in Frisco, forego his summer, and worked out with Duke Maniweather five, sometimes six days a week. And I think you're seeing some of that on the field. What's going to be interesting to watch is what are they going to do with the center position? I thought Brock Hoffman was their guy, and now I'm hearing they're splitting some reps there. I think they like what they're seeing from Cooper Beebe, the rookie that they got. So I think the offensive line, I think they're still trying to find their best starting five. So that's an area. And if you don't have Chuma, you've got TJ Bass, you got a couple of these other guys, but offensive depth was a problem last year. So maybe they don't quite have that figured out. Defensive line, I think Marshawn Neelen has done a nice job stepping in for Sam Williams. So a lot of these rookies are getting asked to do a lot. I think the area I think that I'm probably most excited about right now is linebackers.

I mean, this is something Mike Zimmer is so good at. He's got a very specific vision for what he wants to do there. You've got Eric Kendrick wearing the green dot, and you've got these young guys that are really stepping up, not just your corners, but some of your safeties that we saw really getting after the ball in the preseason. It was even some of the players talking after the game. Dan Quinn coached up in the booth, and they said Mike Zimmer at times wasn't even looking at his call sheet. It was just instinctive. They're just getting this wealth of information with Mike Zimmerman, who is very, very different from Dan Quinn. He admitted to me at camp that he's had to work on developing relationships with players, like very old school in the sense it's like separation of church and state. But it seems like the guys, at least one guy put it after the game. He said, This defense feels like it's going to work. So I think that's an area maybe to get excited about.

Yes. I think that I had a list of things to spin a positive that you'd be excited about. And Jake Ferguson being a real deal tight-end. And Tolbert, you mentioned having a big camp. But Zimmer is it. He's got a lot to work with, a lot of talent in the secondary. People forget, Travon Diggs is coming back. Theron Bland off that great season. Jordan Lewis is a good player. You have a lot of safeties. They were so bad at linebacker, and Zimmer is good at coaching up. I'm not sure if I'm buying your Eric Kendrix pop-up. And just because he's been an issue for his last couple of teams, so it's hard to ignore that. And even Brandon Cooke, I'm a little worried about the older guys, but if they can have the young guys come up, then they'll be fine. To answer my own question, I'm with you. I would probably be most concerned about the O-line because that's what this team used to be all about. If you don't have great talent in the backfield, you need that to make up for it. You mentioned Parsons playing running back. I actually have a quote from him today, which is just crazy.

Mike McCarthy questioned his reads. I think he was joking around, and Parsons was joking back, and he said, Has Mike ever played running back in his life? Someone who has never played the position can't question somebody's reads. You just got to let me be a football player.

I'll tell you this, covering Micah.

He's a little crazy, Micah Parsons. Just based off seeing him on his YouTube with C. J. Stroud, and they tape this thing where they went to Japan. I watched a little bit. Like, Michael Parsons is a little different.

He's a different cat. And honestly, look, I'll be honest, some of the stuff you heard last year that came out and people were bashing some of the reporters. I heard the same stuff. I mean, he can rub some of his teammates the wrong way and then wanting to be a leader and not showing up for, and It was voluntary, and he made a point of bringing that up. But saying things like, I mean, this was on the record. He said this to me and Calvin Watkins, when we were standing at his locker during OTAs, he said, They don't pay me enough to be here. I'm like, They pay you enough, your rookie contract. And by the way, you're looking to get your next deal. And so I was a little shocked by that, but I also appreciated that Micah will put his name to it. Some of these guys will float it out there, unnamed sources. He says everything with his chest. And it reminds me so much of when I watched football back in the '90s, guys said it with their chest. I think a lot of guys have gotten a little bit more savvy over the years, but I can't knock him for it.

I mean, there was a couple of years ago, I think he It was, not to get too political, but it was during the Black Lives Matters, and it was police. And he went on there and had something to say about a police officer. And I remember saying something to him like, It's your rookie year. You might want to be careful. He literally, once again, was like, No, this is how I feel about things. The way he talks in the media is the way he talks to his coaches. I thought it was really interesting before we even got to Cant. He said him and Mike Zimmerman had very limited interaction because he hadn't been there. And he said, Mike's going to want to do things his way. I'm going to want to do things my way. And he goes, We're going to have a compromising relationship. I think what he meant is it's going to be a relationship of compromise. But I'm like, It is going to be compromised if you don't fall in line with Mike. But I did learn from him at camp that him and Mike are now doing morning breakfasts, which is what Dan Quinn used to do.

And Micah started bringing Trayvon Dixon. And so what I've learned with Micah is Micah, and I've been described this way from a mentor, they're like, You're a golden retriever, Jane. You constantly need a pat on your head. It says you've done a good job. Like your tinkerbell, you die without applause. That's Micah. I think as long as you understand the psychology of Micah, and I've learned this new coaching staff has tried to really tap into that, like going to his training camps this offseason and getting to know him, I think that you can have a very good relationship as long as you can tap into that psychology and that mentality of understanding what makes Micah tick.

Yeah, and you can get away with annoying your teammates a little bit or taking stances or talking like that. When you're one of the greatest defensive players I've ever seen enter the league, that's the thing is I think people get it twisted a little bit. I wouldn't say he's underrated, but I've been doing this since '04, and the list of defensive players that have entered the league that have put up the first three years that Micah Parsons has put up is probably a list of J. J. Watt, certainly, Darrell Reeves, not quite as fast as start, but basically. That's the area Aaron Aaron Donald, he was a little slower out the gates, a little slower. But Aaron Donald, certainly, it's like, those are the types of players we're talking about. And so when you're that good, you can get away with it. I'm fascinated by it because- But you also have to ask Greg, bringing up point.

I'm like, you also have to ask yourself, if I'm Micah Parsons, why do I want to continue to put some of these unnecessary trends on my tires? When we talk about the running back position, even if it's a goal line standard mixing it up or playing out of position, I guess you could argue what is his more natural position these days. But I felt like at times, and this is not just my observation, he would disappear at the end of the seasons. And that was some of a knock that he was getting internally in the building is like, Where are you going? I think he was sometimes getting worn out at that position. And so what's going to be intriguing to me is, how does Mike manage it? It's almost like a child that's hyperactive, right? You love the energy, you want to support that, but you also don't want them to burn out about whatever their passion is. I don't know if that's a thing for Micah, but sometimes I just wonder if you're trying to do too much. It's like, what is it? Jack of all trades, master of none. If you truly want to be great at something, should he be dispersing so much energy?

I mean, we've seen him line up at safety at times.

He's been an off-ball linebacker. That seems like it's really going to be a thing this year there. And I wasn't expecting to go this deep on Parsons, but I find him fascinating and the way they're possibly using him. That's another story that I think is going to get a lot of attention once people see it in the regular season, that they really are planning to use him as an off-ball linebacker again, which I thought was in the past. And I'm not necessarily saying it's the wrong thing to do. I want to see it first. But that could be... I don't know if that's adding, pounding. We'll see. I trust Mike Zimmer to use him creatively. But that's a sea-change from really where he's been the last couple of years, which is, to me, the best pure just edge rusher in the NFL.

Well, and I think the other thing is last year, we saw that there were other guys that can get to the quarterback. The one area that they really struggled with last year, and they seem to do in the NFC just in general, is stopping the run. And so I think that's been the biggest challenge for Mike Zimmer is, what is my best lineup, my best mix of players on defense that's going to help us stop the run? Because that has truly been an Achilles heel. And when you look right now with the Eagles getting Saquon Barkley, I don't think you have too much to worry about with the Giants. I mean, knock on wood. I just don't feel like they've got a lot of depth there. Washington. But again, it's the 49ers every year. I mean, Christian McAfree, how are you going to slow him down? And so when I look around the league and some of the games that really trip the Cowboys up, it was that. That is an area, and they'll tell you that. That's an area they have to shore up. I'm just wondering if they're trying to figure out ways that you could better utilize Micah.

If you've got other guys getting to the quarterback, can he help you stop the run better?

Yeah. And you mentioned Marshawn Neill, and that was their, I believe, second round pick. He looks like he's probably going to start at Edge, and they drafted him to help stop the run. He got to Marcus Lawrence. I'm going to leave you with this, and I know this is tricky. You are the NFL Network reporter covering the Cowboys, but I have you in this role as an analyst. They won't hear this. You mentioned the 49ers. They play the 49ers in San Francisco. There's a couple of primetime games. I think that's week eight. They have a couple of tricky primetime games. They also have a Monday night football game against the Texans, who I know Jerry would hate to lose to in a big spot.

Texas hole.

Yes, sneaky rivalry. Their schedule is actually quite easy down the stretch. That's where they have a lot of those Giants and Commanders and Panthers game. But Before that, it's pretty challenging. And so in either of those games, they come out of it like 500 or worse. Like the season is not going well, and you lose in a big spot to the 49ers, or you lose in a big spot, this is, I think, week 11 to the Texans. Mike McCarthy obviously brought back this year, but uncertain about his contractual future. What are the odds this something could happen here with Mike McCarthy, do you think? If things aren't going well during the season?

I'm trying to think the only time they made a switch, what midseason would have been... It would have been Jason Garrett taking over for Was it Campo?

I think so, but I'm stressed.

No, it was... Oh, what's his face?

Wade Phillips?

Wade Phillips. Yeah. That was the only time they made a switch midseason. I know Jerry's not a huge fan of that. So even when Mike Nolan in that defense was really struggling Mike McCarthy's year, the reason why I was told the Cowboys got so mad at me for putting that report out was that they were considering making a switch to George Edwards, and then ultimately they didn't. That was the only time they've actually even gotten rid of a coach after one year. I think Jerry will play it out regardless. I don't see them making that switch. They know what they're getting out of Mike Zimmer. You've seen him as a head coach, you've seen him as your defensive coordinator. I would be shocked if they did that.

Okay, that's fair. It's an easy, like I said, the end of the schedule is easy.

But I think it's fair to say that Mike McCarthy in his final year of his contract, you continue to lose to the 49ers, especially with how they've overcome. I still think a lot of people want to knock Mike McCarthy. I still argue that despite injuries and some of the setbacks over the years, you still got what, 2-13 win seasons, and you've made it to the playoffs. It's just how they lose in the playoff that you find yourself going, Well, how much longer are we going to waste some of the talent on this roster? And you're already seeing some of the roosters coming home that you've got to figure out to pay because they're getting long in the tooth. And so, God, I'm sorry, I'm like Jerry Jones there with some of myisms there. But yeah, I truly think that Mike's going to have to get from the 49ers here. And it's just, man, that is just not... That he has just not done well against them or the packers for that matter. Remember, his first game back was with the packers and then collapses to the packers. And young Jordan love to go home this year.

Yeah, they just need someone else to take out the 49ers for them. But I just looked at that schedule. I was like, Oh, these primetime games are in very interesting spots. It's a fascinating season. I know fans who think the Cowboys get a little too much shine on ESPN and Network. This isn't a good season for you because McCarthy in the final year of his contract, Dak in the final year of his contract. It's a real thing. Dak might be the most highly sought after free agent quarterback ever in a year from now. I wouldn't bet against it. I also wouldn't bet against Jane Slater leading the reporters in coverage as she's covering all this from around the Texas area. I know they have you on other teams, too. It was a pleasure, Jane, having you on. Always a pleasure. Nfl Daily. We will have to do it again. Welcome back to NFL Daily. Very excited to welcome my next guest. He does a great job over there at Arrowhead Pride. It is Pete Sweeney, one of the best Chiefs, reporters, writers, analysts in the business. And he's coming to us live from Chiefs Training Camp.

Welcome, Pete.

Yeah. Thanks, Greg. Loved the old show for a long time. Excited about the new show. I like that you're everyday now, right? I'm sure the workload is interesting, but I've enjoyed it coming back and forth from Saint Joe, about an hour north of Kansas City, so I'm going to make them that commute.

Yeah, that's tricky. Yeah, daily, it's different, but you know what? It gives us a little extra breathing room some days to dive into teams I feel like have been underserved on the podcast. It's crazy, but I think the Chiefs have not been talked about that much. I don't know if it's just nationally, whether we're sick of them or it's just like, Okay, here they come again. I remember this as a Patriots fan. There were certainly fatigue in certain years. I feel like the Chiefs, they're always different, and yet this is the year, they're slipping under the radar a little bit. So I wanted to talk to you. The first thing I wanted to ask you because you have the privilege to just watch Patrick Mahomes every day of his career, which is just crazy, especially in this training camp, said him, What's different? What do you see about Patrick Mahomes 2024, maybe that you haven't seen before?

Yeah, it's wild covering him now since 2018, how normal some plays you see at practice have become in an odd way. I started in 14, so I got to cover Alex Smith, and it obviously was very different. But now you go to practice and you see him curl a sidearm around a tackle, and it isn't something that you're like, Well, what a play. It's like a normal thing. That's just a product of the situation and one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen. One of the things that you try to always ask, especially with this coaching staff, is how do you coach that? How do you challenge him to get better? It's funny. We had a chance to talk to offensive coordinator Matt Naguih today. I remember earlier in the offseason, you asked, what is he working on this year? It's always for him, a little bit of the footwork staying in structure, because I think he always has that natural tendency to get out of structure. One of the points for him this year was a depth of drop back, right? And especially when now you're dealing with a rookie left tackle, that's going to be more important, especially at the beginning of the season now than ever, in a sense.

And so it's something where it is interesting because I think a lot of us realize where you are and across the nation and in Kansas City, quite obviously, this is one of the greatest athletes of all time. But what makes him consistently great is he is always trying to ask these coaches what he can work on. And so that's been a point of emphasis for him. A little bit tougher to see that aspect when you're going against your own team and it's the practice designed for you. And so we'll learn more of that, I think, as the season goes along. But even still, even if he's bad at that, you're still probably looking at three touch downs and 280 yards in a bad game. And so it's crazy. It's become the norm. I think he looks for anything to be motivated by. It's something where I can't believe the Raiders did the thing with the puppet that ended up going viral.

That was a fan. He was set up to fail. A fan brought him in and he gave him the puppet.

Like the NFL Top 100. A lot of people I'll respect Pat now as the best in the game, but you can tell that he's always like, when he's asked about these things, he's checking them because it's any motivation for him.

You've watched this offense evolve. It really changes year by year. This is a team that tends to address things all at once in bulk, whether it's the offensive line or at one point, their pass rush. And now the emphasis this offseason has been, apparently, on the deep ball. It's been there at practice. It certainly was there with the personnel acquisitions. We know Marquise Hollywood-Brown might not be ready for week one, but have you seen difference in how the offense is running things in practice?

Well, what has been interesting about that is the grand story of the Chiefs coming into the preseason in training camp was this idea that they were going to throw the ball down the field more. And asking Andy Reid, What are you guys working on that's different? And his point was, when they're not working on the Ravens, which you I can tell they are sometimes doing that, especially when they have the defense out there and the quarterback is scrambling and not throwing as much. But when they are working on the offense, Andy Reid has said, We have similar stuff that we've always had, but now Mahomes is seeing that his targets are getting separation. I think stemming from that, we're seeing them throw the ball down the field more. There certainly has been an emphasis on the 11 personnel with the three wide receivers before Brown got hurt. That's what's the new buzz story right now in Kansas City is just this idea that it was going to be so exciting. You saw it in the preseason game where by design, it was going to be Rice and Brown and worthy. Now you're taking a back seat to that.

In practice today with Brown out of the mix, it was Justin Watson. We saw in the game that it was Sky more. These are fine players, but not the speed that we were looking for the Chiefs to lean back into. They were more so in the 2018 season So I think it's trying to make sure you have two really tough opponents to start the year, get by, grid out those wins without this speed, this return to the quote unquote Legion of Zoom that they were looking for. And then maybe you see that with the timeline in week three, week four.

I hadn't heard Legion of Zoom yet. Yeah, that's good. I mean, that's the thing. When Hollywood Brown is back out there, if they are healthy, the closer we get to the season, the less I'm expecting a Rashi Rice suspension. I just think if it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. Yeah, this group ranks like with any weapons group that he's had. If you're getting a good year out of Kelsey in that three receiver group, that is more than enough weapons. I feel like there's almost not any tangible reasons. There's not many to not I do not believe in the Chiefs. But if I was looking for intangibles reasons, and I think intangibles matter because they won the Super Bowl on some level off intangibles. They weren't the best team in the NFL last year. They certainly weren't the best offense in the NFL and not the best offense Mahomes has had. And yet they went through one of the toughest gauntlets any playoff team has literally ever had. So that was intangibles. And so the intangibles I looked to, and tell me which one you think is a bigger concern to you.

Number one would just be It's a three-peat, the weight of it all. There's a reason why it's never happened before, and teams usually haven't even gotten that close. Or just the defense regressing a little to the mean, as great as Steve Spagnolo is, and they're always peaking late. Their year-end rankings in efficiency haven't been outstanding every year. Last year was the year that came out of nowhere, and the personnel looks good. But which would you be more worried about? Just the weight of it all, the 3P, and not having fun, maybe doing that, or the defense, maybe coming back to Earth?

Yeah, I think I would say the latter more so than the former, the defense. The defense was so damn good last year. I mean, it really was. Now you have an injury to Charles Menehu, who was a big part of that, especially when he was able to get back from suspension and compile all those sacs as the ACL in the AFC title. I think he's going to be a big player that the Chiefs are missing. You trade away LeJarrius Sneed. I think we all knew it was you either got to keep LeJarrius Sneed or Chris Jones. You're going to have to make that choice, staying Chris Jones. You understand why. You say it all the time. There's not as many dominant defensive tackles in the NFL. That's such a luxury tackle to have. I think the Chiefs realized that. They've been very good at drafting corners, certainly in the first round with first-team all pro-Trent McDuffie. But even on the day three picks, like Sneed was a day three pick, they just got this kid, Jaden Hicks, who has looked really good in training camp. But I think when you think about replacing Lejarius Sneed, who was very, very, very good, and you look at these younger players, this has been an underrated storyline that not a lot of people would realize.

They've been looking for, when Sneed was here, a third cornerback to step up for a while now. It's between these two, again, day three guys, Joshua Williams and Jalen Watson. Over the years, no one has really been able to claim it. It's been more of a rotation thing. Dave Merritt, the defensive backs coach, has been forward and saying, We've been waiting for one of these guys to step up. Now, Sneed's gone. Now, you have to have one of these guys step up. Trent McDuffy, it seems like he's all-world, slam dunk, first-round pick. But which of these guys is going to do it? I tend to I think they are not confident in either one of those guys. I actually think they're most confident in seventh rounder, Naazie Johnson, but he's had trouble staying on the field. Last year, he was going to Trump both Williams and Watson for that final cornerback position. And it was a rainy day here in St. Joe. The Chiefs had to go indoor on the turf, turf the enemy of all football players. And Nassi Johnson tears his ACL, and he's out of the mix. He misses the entire season.

But when he's been out here, and he had a little bit of a ham string issue a couple of weeks ago. He's been very, very good. And it's tough to be good in this camp because we know about the prolific offense. And so when he's staying with these receivers who are some of the better speedier receivers in the NFL, You're seeing, okay, maybe they're going to be okay without a legerious need. But it's been tough for him to stay on the field. I just want to make a comment about the former and the motivation thing. I think you're right. And again, I know this is a podcast that all NFL my friends listen to, so I'll keep the Mahomes love at a minimum. But man, 10 minutes after they won the Super Bowl, he was on the stage with Chris Jones. He was miced up because NFL Films does such a good job with that stuff. And the first thing he says is, I want the three-peat dog. This was no joke. Less than 15 minutes after they'd won it. I just think he's trying to make sure that everyone is motivated and knows this is a real shot at history.

Not to say that you just throw away the fatigue and all that, but I think when you have him as a leader, that's why I would say, if there's any questions, it's the defense certainly taking a step back from, I believe they were number two.

Yeah, I like that they've embraced it, that they haven't been like the Patriots who are like, We're not defending everything. Everything's starting over because it's just going to be so hard. You hear it at the end. You hear it at the end of the Nuggets defense of their Championship this year. Just like, Yeah, we didn't tell you all. Put me in that weight on us. I've seen it with the Patriots. We've seen it in NFL history with the Cowboys back in the day, certainly the 49ers. It's different. And can you get the buy-in and everyone to just want it that bad? If any team could do it, this is it. Because I tried to come up with, What's the thing that's going to get in their way the most. And the cornerback battle is interesting. And yet Two of those guys have been playing significant snaps in the Super Bowl, and they've won the Super Bowl off their defense last year, certainly off their offense the year before. They have a new left tackle. We don't need to go into it too much. He's a second-round pick, though. Kingsley, Suah, Mateo. So that's a question mark, but that's one offensive lineman out of five, and the other four are good.

I like the pass rush. I love this linebacker group with Drew Tranquil and nick Bolton and Leo Chanel. The roster is about as good, I think, on balance as it's been in the Chief's era. I'm not even going to go logical in terms of things that would get in the way. I want you to tell me something you've been excited about. What's something that you You're there every single day. You're driving an hour. They're old school. They're still like, you're doing this from what college is it exactly?

Missouri Western State University. This was a funny anecdote. Early on in camp, Travis Kelsey was brought to the pony. One of the things that he said really struck me because I've been covering him about the same time. He's like, Yeah, this is year 12 for me. That means I spent an entire year in a college dorm in my 20th century. Andy Lee loves it. You know what? It's hard to argue with three Super Bowl in five years. I think what he really likes about it more than anything is the players eat right downstairs, all their meals, all three meals. You hang out. There's no distractions for the older guys who might have kids at home, where you're able to focus on football. I think they leave a little bit closer. I know that it's becoming less and less popular, but Andy Reid seems to believe in it.

Yeah, and they have longer practices in general. They've always been a hard practicing team. It's working now. What's something there? Carson Steele is this fullback who got noticed, but nationally over the first preseason week for some great runs, it sounds like he's going to make that team. Xavier worthy has obviously had a Good first training camp sounds like he's stepped right into that role. Maybe just something that you've been there day to day that surprised you, impressed you the most.

In recent days, Carson Steele, undrafted free agent at a UCLA, has really, I think, been the greatest riser of training camp. I just got out of practice a couple of hours ago. And in this particular look, he was taking all of the second snaps after Isiah Pacheco. We had seen that from Daron Eric Prince earlier on in training camp. And Clyt Edwards-Hilaire has been in and out with illness. It's a serious matter. He revealed that he's been dealing with some PTSD stemming from a situation in college. And you wish him the best. But the is on the football field. It's opened the door for other guys to get more opportunities. So then Eric Prince is trying to win a position. You can tell he's got a little bit better in the pass protection. But Carson Steele, I think he really wasn't going to make the team when he entered camp. I thought Practice Squad was probably his best hope. He was able to capture the attention. You watch all the preseason games, you saw that play where he was bouncing off the defenders, and Andy Reid really likes him as a runner. What I'm starting to think is now that he's starting to get these second reps, is maybe Maybe like a spellback/fullback, could it open up the door for the Chiefs to keep three running backs?

I sat here today and I did another 53, and one of the things I wrote was, I'm more sure right now that Carson Steel is going to make the roster than I am Prince or Clyde. I think they'll keep a Pacheco, obviously. I think Steele will be on the roster. Do they need both Prince and Clyde? If you're keeping those guys, then they have a They have seven receivers they can keep. They're probably thinking about nine or 10 offensive linemen. And so, roster construction, you got to make these tough decisions. I just think Steele has been such a surprise out of the woodwork, and he's a really likable guy. Andy Reid seems to really love him, and now it's a matter of how does that impact the final 53, and it's going to be an interesting August 27th.

That's wild. Carson Steele could be getting drafted in your deeper fantasy league. Listen to this, man. That's awesome. This team is crazy. I'd love to see some new blood, but I also would love to see... I still just know that the Chiefs are going to be there at the end, and the NFL is better when the best player that I've ever seen is there at the end, and it's going to take a great effort to knock this team off. And yeah, the season starts tough with the Ravens and the Bengals, but overall, this is one of the softest divisions in the NFL other than the Chiefs, especially if Justin doesn't get healthy. So I feel like people are That's what Tom braided and Patrick Mahomes can agree on, right?

They were able to have these divisions where you're looking at five, six wins off the back until these guys get quarterbacks.

See, I always push back, though, because everyone's like, Eh. And I was like, You know what? They had a better winning percentage out of the division in that whole run than ever in it. Just like the Chiefs, they beat everyone.

Or Rex, Ryan. He had his year.

Yeah, Rex had his moments. The Dolphins always gave Belichick trouble, no matter who was the coach for whatever reason. Appreciate you, Pete. We're going to fly up, by the way, a graphic. We're wrapping up this show, but we just hit two more teams, Cowboys and the Chiefs. And yeah, we're trying to do a deep dive on every team. We're getting through them. We've highlighted them, and we are now through eight teams. And so we did the Chiefs and the Cowboys today, and we will still keep cranking. Tell us who you want to hear from, except for your own team. Everyone always to hear about their own team. I appreciate you, Pete, and we'll hopefully talk to you again down the line. Check out his coverage, the great daily recap that you have on Twitter, but obviously everything at Aerohead Nation podcast, everything is going on. We will be back. I'm really excited about Thursday's show. Colleen Wolf back in the studio. Patrick Klabon also there. That's going to be a fun one. Until next time on NFL Daily.