Welcome to NFL Daily, where we never skip Arm Day. I'm Greg Rosenthal. At least that's true for one of the two of us. Nick Shook in the building for the final time on a preseason Sunday night taping. Getting it to your ears on a Monday morning. This It was fun these three weeks together, nick, but I'm ready for the real stuff.

Yeah, it's always great to spend time talking football with you, Greg, of course, but I think we're both ready for the games to count and the games to matter and for us to not have to dig down to the bottom third of the roster to glean some insights from these games.

Yeah, it's not a hot take. Our boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's, boss, Roger Goodell, agrees with us. I mean, he's been trying to get rid of this third preseason game. A broadcaster I was talking to, texting with this week and said, Yeah, there is There's literally no lower form of sports entertainment than I think the live third preseason game for most teams. I say most, nick, because not all. We just watched the Patriots and the Washington Commanders play on Sunday Night Football, and Washington didn't even play their backups. They were going straight to the third string. But we did get some spicy, Drake May, Jacobi Praset, quarterback battle. I'm not just leading with this because I grew in Massachusetts.

Are you sure? Because I feel like there's a little bit of Patriot's background here. I'm just messing with you.

First of all, it just happened. We've been leading with the games that just happened. But come on, this was the most relevant, I think, game result, anything that really happened in this preseason week because I've been banging this drum that the more the coaches talk, the more the practice reports come out, the more I think Drake may have a chance to start week one. Then he comes out after Jacobi Braset gets a shoulder injury. Brisset was only going to play one or two series anyways, but he gets pile drive because of an offensive lineman mishap, and I'll get to that in a bit. Drake May comes out there and he makes about three to four plays on a shutdown drive immediately that make you think, wow, this is a kid that maybe needs to play right away. Let's listen to his shutdown. It's got to win football games.

This is a throw football.

Pressure against. Fires, trying to get an attack with Kevin Harris to the end And in for the countdown. Kevin Harris made a man miss. And the third-year man at South Carolina takes it to the end zone in a very nice drive, executed by Drake Med. That's That's right, Shuki. 11 plays, 88 yards, and that countdown throw might have looked simple. It relatively was simple. But the arm strength gets that ball there before the defender who was all over it, and he showed great arm strength, Jake May, throughout this game. That drive in particular, I want to point out the scramble he has on third and 14 to start the drive. It's just not a play that any Patriots quarterback has been able to make for a long time, and Jacobi Perset would not make that play. It took great athleticism. Then two really nice crossers, one to Jalen Polk, one to DeMario Douglas, both which showed really good pocket feel, really beautiful passes that were next-level passes. That combined with the TD and the two-minute drive he ends up having at the end of the half And Gerard Mayo's comments not only during the week, but also on the sideline to Melissa Stark, where he said, All right, Drake came in there and showed me something.

He said, This is a competition. Now, Jacobi Brisset isn't 100%. I think he has a It's a chance here, and we'll see in the next couple of days what Gerard Mayo does.

Yeah, it's a bit of a twist because we heard Alex Van Pelt talk about Jacobi Brisset as basically the starter earlier this week. And obviously, that's not the decision that falls on his shoulders. That falls on the head coach more than anything. But then, Drake comes out and produces. This is why you draft a young quarterback. It's not just because your franchise has no hope, but because you want the young horse in the stable who's capable of doing these things. This is the modern quarterback, the athletic quarterback that can extend plays, that has the arm strength to squeeze it into a tight window, and then let the guy do the rest like he did in that breakdown. It's all coming up for them, but it is also against third stringers. It's like, yeah, a grain of salt. But, Greg, I will say, I know people have worried about this receiving core in New England for years. I like this top three. I like this group a little bit, and call me crazy, but Jalen Polk, I think, is going to surprise people. I like the idea of Kendrick Bourne being in the mix at some point.

I like DeMario Douglas, and Taekwan Thornton is the speedster that they never really used. If Drek May really has that arm that you think he has, then maybe you're able to capitalize on that. Maybe this is the start of a new era for the Patriots.

Well, he has it, whether he can make the right decisions and be accurate enough. Look, he went 13 for 20 in this game, 126 yards in a shutdown, had a long shutdown on a broken play at the end of the half taken away. That was in the two-minute drive. But that two-minute drive is where he made another couple of nice throws to the outside where he really showed off his arm strength. Polk ends up with two catches, 33 yards. You mentioned Taekwan Thornton. He surprisingly earned a starting job, so I did not expect that. It's going to be Thornton, Polk, and Douglas, I believe, to start the season. Polk and KJ Osborne are maybe sharing some snaps.

Osborne is the savvy one, I think, in my opinion, because he was a guy who was underappreciated in past. I think it's actually a good fit in that core because it's going to be a committee group. There's not going to be... Maybe Polk ends up being that guy because he was just such a dog in college. But it's going to be a committee group where they're all going to rely on each other's strengths. You're not going to have to just target one guy. It's just like, All right, let's throw it to this guy. Here. He can do this. Let's do that. I like that idea with the Drake May because it's just a young group that's figuring it out together. That's good for a team like this.

Yeah. Javan Baker had a couple of targets in this game. Love him, too. Don't forget, too, I know people, if they happen to watch the game, are thinking You want to mention the punt, punt, punt right in the middle of it? Well, yeah, Drake may have a couple of bad throws there, too, but this offensive line could not have played any worse. It makes you worried if you're a Patriots fan or if you just like seeing decent football, about whether this offense is going to be operable at all. Here's some numbers for you. Eight penalties in the first half by the offensive line. That did not include the play where Jacobi Brisset got steam rolled because one offensive lineman pulled and ran into another offensive lineman on that play, and the puller didn't get to the edge. I don't know if he would have gotten there anyways. It didn't look cohesive, and he got Jacobi Brisset hurt. It also didn't include the play we're going to listen to now, which, again, was an offensive lineman error.

There goes the shoot, kick it off. No big deal. But Let's just go ahead and throw this ball for a first down. What the heck, man? He's on a roll right now. Nobody wake him up.

That was starting guard City So stepping on Drake May's shoot, which flew off before May went three quarters and got a nice first down. Nice play by him. Then to top it all off, nick Got hurt late in the first half. The offensive line, it was a totally different group in terms of where they lined up. Everyone moved around. Suddenly, Owenu was at right tackle. Ocorafor is back at left tackle. They're moving things around. Whatever they tried out tonight, I do not think that's going to be the offensive line they tried out week one, but that just shows you. They're trying all sorts of new combinations at this point. It's a bit of a disaster.

Yeah, that's a bad sign when you're trying combinations that frequently in the preseason when you're on the cusp of the regular season. You want those guys established and you're starting five set. Maybe some of those guys don't play in week three. Meanwhile, the Patriots are just shuffling guys around trying them out like it's a scrimage, and it's July, and you're playing high school football or something.

I get it. They needed reps, and they wanted to try out this rookie lady Robinson who supposedly looked good. Then you put Owen, who at right tackle is not his strongest position. Part of it is they were missing their left tackle who is now going to be verdaderian low. I think that'll settle it if they get him back. But man, I both think Jake May should start, and I both think it's going to be a bit of a fiasco for whichever quarterback is out there. But give me the May chaos versus whatever the Jacobi chaos.

Yeah, it's a departure from what the Patriots were before. I mean, the Patriots were a team that would take an offensive lineman that people would scratch their heads and think, Why did you take that guy? And then they would develop him into a stud, and they're just not that team anymore. And if you look at the construction of their top five, Vaderian Lo, City Sal, Chuksa Kora IV, who did not have a good time in Pittsburgh before. These are guys that are not proven at best. And the Cole Strange pick in the past, everybody laughed at it, including the Rams. And then I was like, Well, trust them. They developed lineman. And He was on PUP and everything, but that also hasn't panned out either. It's like, this is not a good situation to put a rookie player back behind. That's what I worry about. No, they haven't invested much.

They didn't spend anything on the offensive line this afternoon. That was a mistake. All right, let's move on. We're going to go through all 32 teams. Most of the teams will be quicker because look, Preseason week 3, there weren't a lot of big takeaways from the games themselves. We're going to mix in some game talk, but mostly just little notes. Some teams aren't going to have much, but we just wanted to get everyone a little bit of news to start your week, just where these teams are at. I'm going to go to the Start with the bills. Looks like Ray Davis, Tyron Johnson might be 2A to be at running back. We've talked about their wide receiver group. They might need a quarterback in the next few days. Mitchell Trubisky got hurt in their preseason game, and so they got to feel a little dicey going into week one, maybe looking for a backup for Josh out.

Yeah, it's not good when you sign Anthony Brown and immediately toss him into a preseason game. I mean, just days after signing him. That's when you're grasping at straws.

I always feel bad for those quarterbacks. That does happen more often than you think. Matt Moural is another one. You just get signed and you just put him right out there. It really shows the second half of these games don't matter much. Dolphins, I think it's under the radar. All of their top four receivers are hurt right now. Tyree Kael has got a thumb injury. I don't think it's going to be an issue for week one, but he hasn't been practicing. Jalen Waddle has been out for a little while now. River Krejkopf got hurt. Obeja, still, every week I mentioned, still hasn't practiced. Mike McDaniel is uncommitted to that. They did decide, though, on a backup quarterback, Skyler Thompson is that guy. Mike White was cut on Sunday, Shuki.

Yeah, they only have two quarterbacks in the depth chart now. That speaks of the chargers of about 10 years ago. Is that okay, Greg? Is that enough for this team, considering two of his injury history? I know he played all the games last year, but a little concerning.

You'll get a third to put on the practice squad. In their world, maybe it would be Mike White. Now, he has a big salary, so I don't know how that works. I don't even know if he's eligible. The rules are strange these days for practice squad, but they'll have to find a developmental guy to have. But Skyler Thompson outplayed him. Keep an eye on the running backs, I think in the next couple of days, I'm going to be doing a Cutdown Day show with Evan Silva. They're a team that maybe they could raid one of their running backs. They have so many, maybe a Jeff Wilson, if anyone wanted to give up. Then one thing I just noticed, just tracking the team. This team just hasn't been on the field that much. Their starters have not been on the field that much on either side of the ball very often. Their defensive line, offensive line, different players in the secondary just haven't been on the field. That would make me a little anxious about. I was a Dolphins fan.

I mean a little bit, but they're also speaking super lofty about their goals of getting to the Super Bowl. Maybe they're just comfortable with what they have. I would feel uncertain about the receiving core because they just are all banged up. That's a concern going into week one. But again, we know what this offense is. We know what this team is. Defensively, I would like to see a little bit more cohesion with the starters and everything, considering you have a new DC and Anthony Weaver, but we'll let it play out.

Yeah, we'll see what happens. Jets had a joint practice this week with the Giants. I think they got a lot of confidence out of that, Shook. They just beating up on the Giants. Aaron Rodgers has had a quiet preseason, just media-wise, which that's not a refreshing change. But by all accounts, he's dropping bombs. He's looking sharp and I was really looking for that in this last five, six weeks, what reports, and he's passed all those tests.

Yeah. In fact, I saw somebody write a piece, I can't remember who it was about how Robert Saul learned to accept Aaron Rodgers for who he is. It's all rainbows and sunshine right now, and as long as he stays healthy, they should be a good team. Again, this is a team that I don't need to see much from the preseason. Just stay healthy, get to the regular season.

Yeah, they're counting on Mike Williams and Alan Lazard, really, to be factors here. That's something to keep an eye on. Tak McKinley might be a nice story here. I love that pickup. Falcons' first-round pick had a nice preseason game, and I think he's going to make this team by all accounts. Let's go to the NFC North. The Steelers all but confirm Russ Wilson as their starter, I think, because he barely played in their second preseason game. He went two for two, and they also sent him out to do the coin toss all by himself.

See, this is what you get.

Put that captain's patch in your chest. They're not going to send him for the coin test by himself. He's got to be the starter, right, nick?

I would hope so, unless it's one of those teams that just designates a random captain every week, and sometimes it's the long snapper. But no, I think he is. The thing is, is with that game, Justin Fields, again, there were times where you're like, Oh, okay, maybe. But ultimately, the greater picture didn't give me any reason to believe that he would actually challenge him.

Yeah, I think he had a chance to win the job by playing better this month. We've talked about the offensive line issues that they've had in terms of injuries that got in the way, but fields just didn't He didn't take that chance. Ques-wawkins was playing deep into the fourth quarter. That's probably a sign he's not going to be around. Cordero Patterson, still around. I mean, that's why Russell Wilson only threw two passes. Threw one nice deep crosser to Pickens. He had one other throw. I think it was also to Pickens. And then CPAT goes for 31. He's still a legit player in the NFL. Let's do it.

Right up the gut in classic Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcon's fashion. It looked like he came right out of that team right through the middle untouched for a countdown.

I mean, he might be the second best wide receiver on their roster, Corderelle Patterson. I contend this is the worst wide receiver 2-6 in the NFL. I don't even know if Steelers would disagree. Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson, who hasn't been healthy, whoever else, forget it. Nick Herbick is a beast, by the way.

He's had such a good preseason. Oh, my God. He's been just a problem-causer on the defensive side of the ball.

He could be as good as Alex Highsmith soon, and that could already be the best pass rushing trio in the league if herbert delivers. Let's go to some big news from the Bengals on Sunday, Jamar Chase practice. The Holden, I don't know what it accomplished. We'll find out. There was no No one talked on Sunday, but he's out there practicing. This is that week. Remember, I think I made the over-under of Trent Williams reporting, I think today, Sunday or Monday. That is pretty much the time I would expect players to end these holdouts, and the hold in is over. That's good news for the bangles.

Yeah, I would imagine Monday when you start your game prep, even though you're a week ahead of the actual game prep week, you're in the dead week right now, but it's a good week to get acclimated before you start the work. That makes sense for him. I mean, they've basically already said they're going to handle it. It's just a matter of him showing up, and he will before long.

Eric Roberts tells me, I said 36 hours was my over-under for after Trent Williams would show up in terms when their game ended. We are approaching 24 hours, so I need this thing to happen Monday afternoon or else. I'm going to be wrong. The Bingo is also... They were running Chase Brown with the starters more than Moss, according to Paul Dane or the athletic. I thought that was interesting. Dax Hill, the converted first round safety, has won the starting cornerback job. Again, according to Paul Dainer, that's a pretty nice camp for him over DJ Turner. Miles Murphy, their first round pick a year ago who really hasn't done anything since he's been drafted, he's going to miss a month. Let's go to your Browns, nick Shuck. I thought it was interesting. Andrew Berry said, He sounded hopeful Dedrick Wills and Jack Conklin will be available for week one. Both of those guys coming off really serious injuries have not touched the field yet. Again, we're now less than two weeks away from the first kickoff.

Yeah. They've been in a bit of an offensive line crisis this preseason. They had multiple tackles lost in a game. I think they learned their vulnerability of the position already. Maybe this is them saying, Hey, look, these are guys that we know what they can do. They're coming back from injury. We're just going to give them the entire preseason in camp and everything else to get ready and then just slide. I just get a little nervous when guys don't practice at all, and then suddenly they're just going to play. That's not the only guy in this roster that says he's going to do that. The same thing is true with Dalvin Tomlinson, who has not practiced but has assured everyone he's going to be ready for week one. How do you just get ready? It wouldn't be me. I don't know.

Greg Newsom is another one, really good cornerback. Nick Chubb is not going to be one. He's expected to be put on the PUP. There's also the in-season IR list where now you can put them on the in-season IR list on the day of cutting down, and it won't count towards the total amount. You can put two guys on it and you can just carry them into the season so they could do that with him if they wanted as well. Then some buzz that DTR, Dorian Thompson-Robinson could be dealt. I figured Tyler Hunt would be the odd man out, but they are the one a team that has too many quarterbacks. Dtr and Tyler Huntley would upgrade at least five backup situations. They would be better. They could be a two in a bunch of places.

It's very interesting how they've used them because Jameis rolls out with the presumed starters, even though it's not the actual starters. Then it's been either Tyler Huntley or DTR, depending on the week. This week, it was DTR first, then Tyler Huntley. But I think that's an audition. You know what, Greg? We already talked about this team, but I'm just going through my head real quick. Where would he be a fit? Throw him to Miami. Why not? Throw him on that depth chart. They only got two quarterbacks. Throw him over there.

Miami could be one for Tyler Hunt. Yeah, I think there's a couple out there that it's just the backup quarterback situation. Jakey, I think Baltimore is one of them. Let's go to them. They have Josh Johnson as their backup, which that's the full plan. I don't know. Owen Wright was going to make the team as a third running back. He broke his foot in the preseason finale, so that's tough. I just look at their roster. They're quite thin at running back behind Justice Hill and Derrick Henry, and quite thin at receiver. They're a team to just watch, see what Eric Dacosta does in the next few days. I think they're not done picking up some veterans. Doesn't that annoy you as a Browns fan? They always pick up someone like this week that'll end up making the key play.

They've been doing it for years. They've been doing it for years. They did it with a Clowny a few years ago. They do it every year. They get somebody and add it to that group, usually on the defensive But the downside is Keaton Mitchell being on PUP because he was a guy that really popped last year that I thought that could really fill out that room. If he's not going to be available, then, yeah, suddenly you're looking down the list and thinking, All right, we got to find somebody here. We'll see what happens with them.

I am excited. They are playing a football game in 10 days. You're listening to this on Monday. That's a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, before we take a break, some sad news from the Ravens. Rest in peace to their offensive line coach, Joe D. Alessandrish. He's been their offensive line coach since 2017. He was with them in training camp, still coaching. He left the team a few weeks ago now with what John Harbaugh said was an acute illness, and the news came out that he passed away. Rest in peace to him. Just really well-respected guy. Had been with the team for eight years, had a long career before that, but loved by his offensive lineman. Yeah, that's tough for the Ravens. And we're just going to take a quick break. Rest in peace to Joe D. L. Sanders. Back on NFL Daily, hit notes for every team. And look, it's the third preseason week. Some notes are better than others. I see on our shared doc, nick, you wrote the note, Could Tim Boyle beat out Kase Keenan? How about that?

Yeah. And the reason is, I saw the first Texans' preseason game in person. That in Canada, the Hall of Fan Game. And Kees Keenum did not look good. And every Texans game I've seen since then, he does not look very good. He looks old. He looks like somebody who can't do it anymore. Not to say that Tim Boyle is better, but Tim Boyle has looked a little bit better this preseason. And if they're going to trim that room down, if it was me going off this tape, not a lot of tape, but this tape, I'm taking Tim Boyle over Kees Keenum.

Hey, that's a hot take. Yeah, sometimes I'm listening to the other team podcast around the NFL, and they'll be a couple of them that have needed quarterbacks to be like, Couldn't we just get Kees Keenum in here and have him be our backup or trade a seventh for Kees Keenum? Because they recognize the name, and I'm just thinking like, he is 36 years old. These guys don't stay the exact same forever. There's a reason why he's fallen down a little bit. But a beautiful career for Kees Keenum if for some reason he didn't make that team, as Chris Westland would often say on the Around the NFL podcast, Let your free Kase Keenum flag fly. Let's go. This team has too many wide receivers. Who goes? Noah Brown, Robert Woods, John Mechie, Xavier Hutchinson is a good young player. I think one of those guys, maybe the veterans, although Brown isn't 100%, gets a sixth or seventh round conditional pick or a pick swap just because there's too many. I think one of those guys, Noah Brown or Robert Woods, could help out a different team.

Yeah, they have 11 receivers in the run. Quintez Ceefas is on this roster.

And actually made some plays. They're good. Honestly, Mechis look good in the preseason. Hutchinson, I think it's pretty good. Like I said, those two guys would be wide receiver two and three on the stealers.

I think that if I had to I'm down. Ben's Kharonic's gone. Steven Sims can go back to Pittsburgh.

I get it. There's some at the very end that aren't great. Cam Akers looked really good. He's going to make the team. So shout out to him after those injuries. Let's go to the Colts. I don't have a ton on the Colts because we talked about them on Thursday night. I did talk going into the precinct, who's going to play cornerback for this team. It looks like it's going to be Juju Brent and Jalen Jones as the outside cornerback. On Sunday, they had a relative surprise early cut. Roni Harrison, who's played a lot of football. I believe he was with the Browns. Writers with the Colts were pretty surprised about that because he's gotten a lot of snaps. But otherwise, don't have a lot to see.

Yeah, they've taken an interesting strategy at safety. Nick Cross came out of nowhere to the free safety last year. Seeing Roni Harrison go. Roni's bounced around since he's been with the Browns. So not super surprising to me in the grand scheme of things, but with this team, it is a surprise.

Yeah. They got relatively good news that their backup running back, Trace Sermon could be back for week one. I'm really interested in watching this team. That Colts Texans game is in my number one position for week one, but we'll get to that in our preview show in just a week and a half. Jags. Okay, so they did the thing that the the Patriots did on Sunday night but looked better doing it. I love this when this happens, starters versus backups or starters versus third string. There's just something cool about that. It's like, Hey, let's just see what happens. You're supposed to look great. And they did. Trevor had some absolute dimes to Evan Ingram in the end zone. Brian Thomas Jr. Had another big play. Travon Walker is just lighting up the Falcon's backups like he's back in college. It was fun. I like seeing when the starters come look like starters. The Patriot starters, they got a lead, but it wasn't nearly as convincing.

No, it's fun to see the superiority of a starting NFL player versus a bottom of the roster in camp NFL player because the difference is just pretty significant. But I'm also like, let's not do this to an extreme degree because then fans are going to be like, look how good they were in week three of the preseason. We're winning the Super Bowl.

Although in fairness, yeah, you're absolutely right. The couple of throws Trevor had were just into small windows, and it was like, those are pretty throws. John Shippley, if you didn't listen on Friday, got me more excited about this Jaguar's team, including a little hype on their rookie kicker. This rookie kicker, Kam Little, that they drafted has just been piping field goals, and he did it in the preseason game, too. Let's go to the Titans who played on Sunday. Will Levis. They had the thing going to starters versus the Saints backups, and their first-teamers rolled. I felt like most of their offense was screen passes to Pollard and Spears, and they just kept working over and over. So it was relatively light work for Levis, but he was efficient, got them into the end zone. Mason Rudolf has definitely won that second quarterback job. I think Malik Willis might be done in Tennessee.

Yeah, he just has not looked good. I know he has two touch downs to his name in this game, but he has not looked comfortable or like he's taken any steps forward since he ended the league. When it comes down to cut down day and you got to make room on the roster, sometimes guys like that end up on the chopping block.

Okay. I I've been mentioning to you guys. We're putting all these shows up on YouTube. We're working on improving that experience, too. I want you to be able to watch the All 22 of my guy, Thomas Otecoyia, from the Netherlands, part of the international player pathway program with one of the greatest hustle plays I've ever seen in NFL history. I don't care that it happened in the preseason. Let's take a look. He's going to be circled in the video that you see, but also talk over it because I know some of you aren't watching. This was a field goal that came up short late in the first half. If you're watching, Oda Kouya is circled, a tight end. Samson Nakuha, Puka's brother, catches it, weaves his way about 70 yards back and forth down the field, and Oda Kouya somehow runs him down. He ran over the field. It was the very last play of the first half, so he saved seven points. I mean, that's just getting it done at least. I know they don't They need to use a roster spot if they put them on the practice squad. But come on, just put them on the active roster just for that.

Nicolas Petit-Ferrere, his teammate, a starting tackle in this team. Watch his body language in this video because this tells you everything you need to know about football players who appreciate the hustle and effort of their teammates. He was fired up. They just returned this all the way down to the two-yard line, but he's so fired up that his teammate kept him from a shutdown, gives him a big hug, slaps him on the helmet. That is the camaraderie that you don't get in any other sport.

Now, that said, I was disappointed because Walker, my son, was watching this thing live, and he starts screaming. I'm in the other room putting together these notes and everything. He just starts screaming because that would have been the play of the preseason easily. Hukunokuwa's brother traveling on the final play on a kick six, and he was robbed by a great effort. All right, let's go to the AFC West. The Broncos, they didn't even play Bo Nicks in this game after naming him the starting quarterback. Zack Wilson had a very Zack Wilson game where he was protected. It was like he was back in college, and so he had some big numbers. Jarrett Stittam spoke afterwards that he was pretty upset that he knows he's a starting quarterback in this league. Sean Payton said that he's keeping all three quarterbacks, but not always the most reliable narrative It wouldn't shock me if Stidham was dealt for a late round pick swap or something either.

Talked his way out of Denver because he was upset that he didn't find a job. No, I don't think that's what he said.

Just because, do they want to keep all three? Maybe they do. That's what Sean Payton said, that they'll keep all three.

I have to caution just a little bit here, and you already said it, but I'm just going to double down. The whole Zack Wilson when he's protected, he looks like he's back in college. I got a text from an esteemed Broncos fan that you and I know that said that they have to keep him on the roster. They have to find a way to keep him. Let's just be a little careful because we know the good and bad of Zack Wilson.

They're going to keep him because as Jordan Rodriegue said on the show that we do, Sean Payton wants to show, I can fix him. He's the hot guy that I I can fix. He's going to try to do it. Probably as a backup. You know who fixed a tough situation? Justin Herbert. What a weird story that popped up with the Chargers that Justin Herbert, Dan Founce's wife, Dan Founce's son, and some other Chargers players that Dan Founce did not reveal, but he did reveal the rest of this story on the Chargers preseason broadcast, were all trapped in an elevator together in Dallas The fire department had to come and get them out through the top and go over to another elevator. Sounds pretty crazy. But according to Dian Fouts, Justin Herbert showed great leadership in that elevator. Was very calm, cool, and collected, and took charge. I love that. And oh, by the way, he's fully recovered and looking good at practice, that matter.

Yeah, he's good at practice because he's obviously not playing the preseason. But wow, you know what? That is what you look for in a franchise quarterback. It's not the plays in the field. It's whether you're trapped in an elevator and he can lead everyone to safety with the assistance of the fire department. Good job. Good on you.

Okay, so here are some of the team that could go get one of these quarterbacks that we're talking about that could be available from Cleveland. Easton Stick, he completed 45% of his passes this preseason. Yeah, not good. Did not look any better in the third week against the backup to the backups against Dallas. The Raiders, Tyreek McAllister. If the Samson Nakuha play wasn't the highlight of the weekend. It was Tyreek McAllister going ham on a couple of long touch of. I never heard of Tyreek McAllister before. A receiver return man, but he's on my roster now. He had a couple of nice plays for the Raiders.

Yeah, and that's how you earn a job sometimes. Back in the day, Victor Cruz did the same thing with the Giants. But I do want to go back to the Chargers real quick because Greg, a name that everybody knows, but everybody thought was done for a year ago because he was a scouting intern with the Ravens. Tony Jefferson is back on the football field, and he had the best game I've ever seen from a player in the preseason. 14 tackles, forced fumble, two interceptions, and a sack against the Cowboys. Not single-handedly change the game, but prove to me that in a game in which you're playing against a bunch of backups or alongside a bunch of backups, you can still hack it. I think he earned himself a roster spot with this game.

Yeah, he's got to be in his 30s there. Had some great-I think he's 32. Years with the Cardinals, had some moments with the Ravens, and yeah, now he's back. He could have made that team. One thing I noticed with the Ravens, the Raiders, they're counting on a couple of offensive linemen, like the Browns that are coming off an injury. Colton Miller just got off pop, but they do think he'll be ready for week one. Jackson powers Johnson, their rookie. May not start this season because he's coming off of an injury, but he is back on the practice field. Finally, in the AFC, the Chiefs. I just feel like it's every week right now that we're talking about their fullback, Carson Steel. The latest projection at the Athletic for their roster had them only keeping two runningbacks, and then Carson Steel being the third runningback as a fullback. I feel like they could use a veteran there. They could maybe use a veteran at cornerback, too, where Andy Reid publicly said, No one really stepped up in that CB2 spot, and it might just be a little bit of a rotation, which isn't the end of the world.

These guys have some experience, but I think they were hoping for a different outcome.

They also drafted ahead of time to plan for these situations. We've seen this before. They let talent leave, and then they have to committee it until one guy emerges, so I'm not surprised. But, Greg, you are telling me, though, That the guy that I spent hours of my life writing about, LRZ himself, Luis Ries-Zamit, is not going to make the team?

From what I've read, I don't think he's been that close route to making the team, but he'll definitely be on the practice squad. They made an investment to him. He's just playing football for the first time in his life, and this might be a multi-year project. I think they're all in on going I don't think he's going to get picked up by another team or something. He's still with the right organization, but I don't think he was quite ready. They gave him chances as a returner on offense, but it didn't happen for him. Look, it's hard to make the Chief's roster. Kaderius Tony helped win them a Super Bowl and as a former first-round pick, I don't think he's making their roster either. All right, let's go to the NFC. Let's start with the Eagles. Big news out of Philly. I think it was the last day of camp. Might have the second to last day of camp, nick Jalen Hertz has finally thrown an interception. He made it that far into training camp without throwing an interception. Pretty remarkable because the reporters there have said he's thrown deep plenty. It's not that he's been totally unaggressive.

He's just been rock solid and keeping the ball out of harm's way. I like that.

Maybe it's the first sign that this team is going to figure out what they couldn't figure out last year and actually get back on track. I mean, it's just camp. It's just practice. But that's where you look for the initial signs of how things might go. I've been to camps where things have been pretty disheveled and then watched that team struggle. That was the 2019 Brown. So it's better that they're on the positive side.

Yeah. Our guy, Bo Wolf, who was on the show earlier in his PHLY podcast for the Eagles. He said The defense actually picked it up there the last week and a half, gave a lot of trouble to Jalen Hertz, but he was still playing well. That was more about the offensive line. Now they have a new wide receiver, of course, in Jahaan Datsun. The most notable thing in their preseason game, Cooper Djean out there playing a lot, blitzing a ton. Could work his way into having a role early for the Eagles, so nice that he did get off the mat here. Maybe they'll work them in slowly, but they almost have too many cornerbacks, which, considering where they were last year, is a great problem to have. Not as great, I think, at Edge, where Nolan Smith was out there deep into the game in preseason week three. That's a first-round pick for Howie. One of those that people like me are like, He did it again, Howie. But those Georgia defenders haven't really come through in general. Jalen Carter, that's an exception. But the rest of them, not just for the Eagles, I just mean around the league, haven't really totally come through.

I think you'll see a step forward from Jordan Davis, too. But I would agree in that. It's also funny because we're obviously not talking about them yet, but they'll be up soon. It's a very great comparison between two teams that are either too deep a corner or not deep enough. The Eagles and the Cowboys, division rivals.Let's go.The Cowboys.

Let's go, Cowboys.

They lose to Daron Bland, right? To a foot injury. And Jerry Jones goes on record as saying, We feel great about where we are at corner. We're fine. And I'm looking at this depth chart and I'm thinking, Are you sure? Because you're not Eagles fine when it comes to cornerback. I'm a little concerned about that. I know I've talked about Andrew Booth, and he had another nice preseason game to wrap it up. But if you're relying on guys like that-No, he did not, Chucky.

He got torched on a 78-yarder. I don't know what he did the rest of the game, frankly, and I wasn't paying close attention, but he gave up that bomb.

That was the one One explosive play that Easton Stick had in the game where the charges were like, We're opening up and throwing it deep.

Yeah, there's a lot to keep track of. They liked this kid, Kaylyn Carson. He was a third-round pick, and they This is why I'm glad sometimes you're reading these reports. I'm listening to Jane Slater. They really liked him first week, second week, third week of training camp, just saying they really think they have something here. They've started some young cornerbacks done well with it. Anthony Brown was a sixth rounder who started out of nowhere. He's the guy. Booth will be depth. I think that's why Jerry Jones said that. Then again, Jerry Jones, like Sean Payton, not always the most reliable narrator of his own team. If they picked up a cornerback. But good call getting that bland news out there. I mean, that's huge. A pro bowler getting foot surgery. I think it's been a rough camp for the Cowboys in general, just everything going on. Here's one sign that it was rough, not just that Trey Lance threw five interceptions in that game. They've added three defensive linemen in the last week or two that will make their team, I think. Linval Joseph, Jordan Phillips, they traded for. Then Carl Lawson, I guess I don't know if he's going to make their team, but I would guess.

It's just a sign that things aren't going as planned when you're signing three guys who are going to have roles for you in mid to late August.

Well, we know I know that they had a quiet offseason and let some talent leave, and they didn't really replace it. It's almost as if they're like, Well, let's see what we have. Then if we don't like what we have, we'll just go get some veterans at the last minute. Because that's exactly what Linval Joseph was. That's what he was for the Eagles last year. It's the same thing. It's just like, Hey, we need some depth. We lost some guys. We need some help. Let's go sign this guy.

Now, in fairness, that can work. I just pointed out how the Ravens make it work. I'll give the Cowboys the benefit of doubt. They have been excellent at drafting and spotting cornerbacks and offensive linemen. But in this case, it's Carson as a cornerback that, yeah, he's going to play a big role. We'll be watching him week one with Tom braided as the announcement against the Browns. I think this kid is starting. Another player that should be starting, Giants, their center, John Michael Smith. He got hurt in their final preseason game. The offensive line for the Giants has not played together one single time in training camp or the preseason. That seems bad. Evan Neill, who was their top 10 pick, who I do not think would make this team necessarily, if he wasn't a top 10 pick, was playing a bunch in this game and then got hurt. Again, he's a backup now, but it's just a bummer. I've been hoping this offensive line can just produce decent offense. I think it is going to be better, but they haven't been totally healthy.

Yeah. To quote Pete Campbell from the great series Mad Men. Not great, Bob. Not great with this team right now on the offensive line. Look, anytime, and this is no shout at him directly or intentionally, but anytime Jermaine Illuminaur is your starting right tackle and your first-round pick can't beat them out. That's a concerning sign.

Oh, I will take offense here. First of all, another great international pathway program story. You may think I'm just a fan of the IPP players. I am. It's cool. Like our friend Henry Hodgson runs this program. I shouldn't say he runs this program, but he assists this program, and they're finding these guys from all over the... He's had a good career. He was a very useful player for the Patriots, and he was playing his best football of his career last year for the Raiders. That's an upgrade. He's like a starter. He's a big time... He's a starter.

He's a starter that I don't feel great about, at least in the time that I've paid attention to him playing. That's what I have to say.

He's a starter that's an upgrade for the Giants, and he's probably better than the average starter. It's a low bar. A long time. How dare you. You're in some life-changing money. Be happy for him. Names you may know that probably aren't making the Giants. Allen Robinson is on the Giants, but I don't think for long. And Isaiah Hudgens, who It's like their wide receiver, too, a couple of years ago. I think the team is deeper, at least that wide receiver. But that did not help them necessarily in the joint practice against the Jets. It was a lot of thinking and dunking, not a lot of big plays from Daniel Jones. Here was Soss Garner after that joint practice asked about Daniel Jones. What was your opinion or takeaway on Daniel Jones? He's a good quarterback. You feel me? I thought I was about to pick him off today. I had a little cloud rep. He had looked at the last minute to try to throw the check down to Wendell. I thought I had to pick, but he kept it. I mean, Man. The competitive periods, it was very competitive, man. It was great. I had fun out there today.

I don't really know what to say. You got to see the facial expression of him look off to the PR guy at the end.

Get me out of here.

You could just hear whatever he was going to say going through his head, and then he laughs, and he's like, Oh, I shouldn't say that, but I should say something. I love Soss Garner because he keeps it real, But he has learned a thing or two. I think actually two years ago, that might have gone differently.

Yeah, he probably would have buried Daniel Jones. It has not been a fun preseason for him, a fun camp for him. He's coming off of injury, and I try to give him a ton of grace, but he's also got a lot of pressure because of the contract, and it just doesn't look good right now. For Sauce, a guy who would capitalize on Daniel Jones struggles, what is he going to say? He looked great. He really challenged me. No, it was competitive. It was a good way. Good job, Sauce.

Finally, the commanders, the team that in front of me is cementing, and this could end up looking bad, a victory over the Patriots. Stopped Joe Milton on a key fourth down. The preseason is nearly over as we're taping this. It's exciting what's happening in Commanders. You want to know how bad an owner Dan Snyder is? That even the thing that he did to try to curry favor and to try to do the right thing for once, which was honors Sean Taylor. He, Dan Snyder, did such a bad job at that, that the statue, if you want to call it a statue of Sean Taylor that he made, the remembrance that they had of him that they put up feels so subpar that the new ownership run by Josh Harris, Josh Harris, is actually replacing that statue. I've never heard of such a thing. They're replacing the Sean Taylor statue that went up only two years ago. It's going to be one of the most popular things Josh Harris has ever done in his life, coming in, I guess, a distant second to just buying this team and taking it away from Dan Snyider, which made not only the Commanders fans happy, but anyone involved with the NFL happy.

Yeah, I think the bar was so low that anybody with just a grip on reality is going to come in and go, All right, I'll do this. I'll fix this. I'll fix this. I'll fix the Sean Taylor statue. I'll be the most loved guy in town. Second worst statue I think I've seen made outside of, what is it, the Ronaldo statue? That one was just horrible. It was just like a bust. I don't even think it was a full statue. The Sean Taylor one was also very bad.

I pointed out, I don't like that the Peyton Manning statue says the Sheriff on it outside Lucas Oilfield. I was like, No one called him the Sheriff until John Gruden called him the Sheriff and had Monday Night Football make graphics about it. Like 10, 12 years into his career, and no one called him that much nationally after that, and you're going to make that the statue?

That's a product of our social media age, Greg.

We're way off topic. Commanders, look, they didn't play anyone in this game. I think people thought when they traded Jahaan Datsun, Oh, they got this third round pick, Luke McAfree. He'd be the third receiver. But the reports there are he has not really been in the mix, was a little injured, hasn't made much of a big impact. So they could be looking for different wide receivers, but it's Diamy Brown and a load of... How do you say it?

Zakeas.

Alameda Zakeas, yeah. Alameda Zadea Zakeas.

There you go. There you go.

I like the presence of Jaden Daniels on the sideline just doing the interview with Melissa Stark. I was just like, I'm going to enjoy this guy's presence for the next 15 minutes.

Yeah, I hope his career goes that long because he's off to a hot start, and he's just a fun guy to watch, and I can't wait to see him grow into that role with the team. I mean, it seems like he's already pretty built for it after coming off of a Heisman Trophy winning season, but obviously, the NFL is the next level up. Let's make these games count and really start to test him because I'm excited to see what he can do.

Yeah, Commanders, their first game, I think it's against the Bucks. They're one of the teams I want to see the most in week one just because I just want to see what this all looks like. I really have no idea. On both sides of the ball, it'll be interesting. All right, we're going to take one more break, and we will wrap up notes on all 32 teams with the last three divisions. Done with the preseason.

Yes.

Back on NFL Daily. I wish we had a quarterback battle in Minnesota. That would have been more fun to talk about, but we don't.

The football gods, they took it from us.

Yeah, we do have A wide receiver injury to talk about? That's not exciting. Purple Daily is a podcast I listen to. Judd Zogh does a great job on that. He said something which surprised me, which is that it was unclear if Jordan Addison would be ready for week one. He's been out here for a little bit, and they're going to be careful with him coming back. We'll see. A lot of these injuries, they don't have to put a report. You don't really know, but it's just something to keep an eye. I think they're deeper at receiver than people realize. I think Jalen Naylor is going to be a decent player. Tristan Jackson is at a great camp. But that ties into another thing he said, just summarizing all of camp that he saw so far and even these last couple of weeks without JJ McCarthy there, that Darnold in practice has just been very unpredictable, like a roller coaster. It depends on the day. Sometimes it can look really great. Sometimes, especially when there's pressure in his face, you're just not sure the decision-making process. That's his career. Yeah, that's Sam. I don't think you can expect that to change.

I was going to say, Color me surprised because I'm not. That's Sam's career in a nutshell, so that's a bummer. But that's what they got, so here we go.

But I think the good could be really good. I think the team around him being really good could be enough in a different Jacobi Brisset in Cleveland way. Maybe he's not even at that level, but if the team around him is even better, it can lift him up. I think that's possible. Keep an eye on them possibly making a couple of trades here. Lewis Seane is a high draft pick. They just traded Andrew Booth. Seane is another guy, first-round pick from that same draft. It was Quessie's first draft. He could be done there. Caleb Evans might be a guy who's played for them that could get traded. There's a couple of there. The Lions, nick, you were thrilled to watch Jake Bates go through the motions on a kick for the first time.

Yeah. We've talked at length about how his NFL career has propelled him to the NFL, and he's hitting bombs. He had a field goal attempt in this game where you could tell he was like, This is routine. I'm going to hit it. And he just didn't strike it well. And it just went wide right. And he immediately just went up to his teammates. He's like, I screwed that one up. I'm sorry, guys. I was just like, Oh, he is human. All right.

I don't want to hear that because I've got a lot of stock in on Jake Bates. We don't even know for sure if they don't pick... I mean, they could still pick up another veteran kicker. I don't think so. I think it's going to be Jake Bates. I do think they're going to pick up a wide receiver. Right now, Colton Pounty on the athletic wrote, Wide receiver 4 for them might be Isiah Williams, who's an undrafted rookie free agent. So just rather thin there, even at the wide receiver 3 position. It's not great. Let's go to the bears. The bears traded a couple of 6th-round picks. One was a pick swap, one was a straight six. The straight six goes to the Seahawks for Edge Darryl Taylor, and the Browns send them defensive tackle Chris Williams. Any thoughts on just them being so active here trading sixth-round picks before the start of the season?

I think they're trying to bolster the back end, at least of the defensive tackle group, by going a team that has this super deep defensive tackle and needed to move a player. The Darryl Taylor thing, I think I liked more just because I think he'll be in a better position to make an impact. But again, it's a rotational depth, and I think that's what Ivermectus is going to want to do with this defense. So why not stock it up with some players that they like?

Yeah, it just tells me how big this year is. I know it's not that aggressive. There's six-round pics or even just a pick swap, but hard knocks. You do think about that this is Ibril Fluce's third year here in They need, Ryan Paul is their GM, they need some proof of concept. These are the types of moves I think you make in a year three that we're ready to win now. We don't feel comfortable with the depth they had. Chris Williams was a guy I believe they had some familiarity with from a previous stop, Eberflus did in Indianapolis, so he knows the player. Green Bay is looking for a backup quarterback. That's another team that could look for One of these veterans that are out there. As much as I love me some Michael Pratt, I don't know if they could feel that comfortable with him or Sean Clifford week one. They need a veteran.

Yeah, and I think if they choose between the two, it's Clifford. And bummer for us, Pratt fans and everything, but I think they choose Clifford, and they'll probably be in the market. You can't go into a season with high expectations without some semi-reliable backup. I don't think either of those guys is right now.

Well, I mean, look, they did it the whole seat. They did it last year with Clifford, so I guess they could do it again. It's possible, but he really struggled. Maybe they only carry one quarterback, I think it's possible, and to see if both those guys slip through waivers. They also don't have a kicker. It's Anders Carlson versus Greg Joseph, and everyone's been losing, apparently. And Marshawn Lloyd and A. J. Dylan, their backup runbacks, have both been out for at least a week, two weeks in Marshawn Lloyd's case. So they might need some help in terms of just some runningback depth if they don't get back. Let's talk something Let's move to the NFC South about Bryce Young. Did you get a chance, nick, to see any Bryce Young highlights? Because Bryce Young played a football game this week, and he looked pretty good at it.

I see what you wrote in the notes. You described it, stick play, rolling left, improv to Deontay Johnson. Hey, man, look, this is why he got drafted where he did. I mean, he's a playmaker. He's a shorter guy, but he's a playmaker. You get him out of the pocket, that's probably where he's going to thrive. They were so lost last year that any improvement is going to make me excited about them. Not from a team perspective, but just I want to see Bryce make some strides because you don't want to see the number one overall pick wasted, especially when it was a pick that they acquired by trading a pick that ended up being Caleb Williams. That could be massive egg on their face if this doesn't work out. All right, Bryce, let's figure it out. Let's do some things like this. I want to see highlights.

Yeah. So he only played one drive. It was a shutdown drive. He was very clean on it. It was against the Bill's backup. So it's another one of those situations. But again, rolling left, improvising, showing a little bit of creativity and arm strength, actually getting it to Deontay Johnson. Chuba Hubbard started that game. And the thing that really got me is I'm watching this drive and I'm like, Wait, Jordan Matthews just caught a pass? Wait, Jordan Matthews just got another pass and it's a touch down? Like that, Jordan Matthews? And yes, Jordan Matthews is converted to tight end, and he caught some passes for the Pan. He was playing first string because they've got so many injuries there. They had two tight ends out there.

Okay, I like it. They have You converted tight ends on that team, Greg. They also have Philippe Franks on that roster.

Okay.

That's the home of converted tight ends.

I don't think he's making it. This team is thin in a few places. Insanely thin at edge after Jedevi and Clowny. It's crazy. I think their defense could be a bit of a mess. Harris Marshall is getting shopped per Joseph person of the athletic, so that's a wide receiver that could be available. They did the thing where they tried to showcase him in the preseason, and it worked because he had a a bunch of plays in the preseason, so I bet someone will give up something for a second-round pick from a few years ago, but not much. Whenever you're trading these guys, it's like cutting them. You're going to get a day three pick at best. For the Bucks, let's go to Tampa. Jalen McMillan had a crazy highlight from Baker Mayfield. That was just awesome. He looks like the wide receiver three for this team over Trey Palmer.

That's crazy because they were pretty high on Trey Palmer last year. If anything, I like the depth of this group. I don't know how it's going to play out without Dave Canales calling the plays. We'll see. But Godwin, McMillan, Evans, Palmer, Sterling Sheppard's on this roster. I like this group. If you get that type of production from a rookie, good on you.

I don't know if it's the contrarian in me. Dan, Dan Hanses, of course, my friend, always would call me a contrarian, and I'd push back against that. You're in a tough spot because if you're saying you're not a contrarian, You're a contrarian. I think the part of me that's looking for stories people aren't talking about, let's put it that way, with the Bucks, is like, I've gotten excited about this Bucks team. I think they could be frisky. I'm into that week one game against the Commander just because I'm like, What are these teams going to look like? Everyone's a mystery going into week one. That especially includes the Falcons who didn't play any of their starters at all in the preseason. So not a lot to talk about there. Kevin King, we talked about a nice story after being away from football for a couple of years. It looks like he's really going to make this team. Ray McLeod is probably their third-wide receiver, and I didn't realize he had solidified that, but that seems to be the case. Taylor Heineke, another quarterback that could be traded. I would think he'd be high on the list of these quarterbacks for teams that are looking for just someone to step in.

Taylor Heineke in a Matt Lafleur offense? Sure. Why not? Let's put him in Green Bay.

I don't know, man. He's a little too wild, I think, for a Matt Lafleur offense. Might drive Matt insane on the sidelines, but he'll get a look somewhere because of his experience, not because of the way he's played this preseason.

Chargers. He was a little better after that first game, Heineke. But we've seen him play a lot at the NFL level. We know who he is. He can be a backup, at least better than some of these backups out there. The Saints played on Sunday. There was a report, I believe, from si. Com, John Hendrix. I hope I'm getting that right, that they're looking for tackles. Not a He's a surprise. They should have been looking for them all offseason. In related news, Trevor Penning struggled on Sunday. His coach said that he's slightly ahead in a competition for the starting job. Felice Fuaga was playing in this game. I don't know what you want to say about the Saints. Tell me something.

I don't really have a lot to say that's very positive because of what you just described. I mean, you got Eric McCoy at center, you got Cesar Ruiz as a guard, and then Patrick Lucas came over from I don't know, man. If the offensive line... Look, you know me, football purist, traditionalist, it starts in the trenches. If you're worried about tackles in week three of the preseason, you're headed toward an ugly year, at least somewhat ugly. I don't know if there's not going to be a magic bullet that's just going to fix this. Trevor Penning has struggled since he entered the league. That's disconcerting for me because I was really hoping that this would be the year that he would actually start to figure it out because they need him. If he's not doing well, it just doesn't bode well for what your offense is going to look like, especially an offense that love to just lean on Alvin Kamara until he was no longer available last year. Do you know that? Or Derek Carr just throwing down the sideline to A. T. Perry all game.

Right. And A. T. Perry had a ton of drops. I don't think A. T. Perry actually is in the top four receivers for this team based on him playing late into this game. Cedric Wilson is the three there. They're thin. Rasheed Shahid hasn't been that healthy and on the field. I do have some fun stuff for them. One, Juan Johnson was back. He had a serious injury. He had a surgery that he was coming back from, and he's healthy enough to play so that's a good sign for him. Number two, don't cut Charlie Smith, Saint. If you don't know who Charlie Smith is, he's another IPP guy. He's from Ireland. He had never kicked a freaking football in his life until, I believe, a couple of years ago. Maybe it was only a year ago. It's insane. And there's video of him hitting a 65-yarder at practice. You better not cut him because some other team might actually pick up Charlie Smith, and you don't want to lose him. He's going to be a hero in Ireland. I love it. He won't be as big a folk hero, though, as Spencer freaking Rattler, who came in.

Here we go. And he was pushing the agenda on Sunday. Let's watch one of his dimes. Jacobson, tight end, setting up on the far side. Pockets good for Rattler. A corner of the end zone. Touchdown. Held on that time. Saint-brown with the score.

And a perfect throw in the corner.

Fantastic ball It's a little bit of a switch route from a slot receiver, and Rattler puts it right on it. So great route, route by St. Brown, great ball by Rattler. Good connection for the Saints ending in a touch down.

I love a good slot fade that's put on target. It gets me going.

I mean, there was no window there. He came in, he sparked this offense. He played the second and fourth quarters of this game. Jay Kander played the first and third, and Rattler just looked better. And you You did it, Dennis Allen. You let Rattler have some moments in front of the home crowd. That was enough. That was enough for me for him to be the backup. If he's not the backup, it doesn't even matter. He's the guy that fans are going to be calling for if things go south because he is not a normal fifth-round pick. He is talented, and I know he had a bad second week of the preseason, but he had a great third week. That's what we're focused on. We've got the agenda to keep in mind. I like this kid. I mean, I don't need to see him start that many games, but maybe by week 15, if they're not in the playoff picture, week 16, something like that.

I'm envisioning that scenario and what it means for the future of the Saints, which is like a coaching change in the end of the Derek Carr era. Oh, God.

He's a talented young player, so it was nice to see it because there was a couple of really good plays in there and in this preseason. All right, let's wrap up with the NFC West. A couple just tough items for the Cardinals. Zay Jones suspended five games for violating the personal conduct policy. Then Darius Robinson, their first-round pick, who was playing a position that was already thin, already a little injured on the edge for the Cardinals, could be hitting IR to start the year after suffering an injury. Desmond Ritter also suffered a concussion in their preseason game. I don't know if he's going to even make the team. That injury, unfortunately, is lesser than to two other guys who are going to play big roles for them.

Yeah, Yeah. This is a team that because they didn't have Kyla last year, I'm just already thinking, Well, they should be better this year. You're two are Jonathan Gannon, but not a couple of good news items for them going into the dead week before the regular season starts. Luckily, it's a 53-man roster. You'll find ways to try to replace some of those things, but it's not good. It's a bit of a bummer.

Yeah, Robinson, a tweener, but should have been a good run stopper at the very least. They're just missing talent. Then they've lost a couple of big players, B. J. O. Jalari and then Darius Robinson. That's the thing. You never know which teams are going to get the injury bug, but sometimes it's the really bad teams. It just makes the bad teams worse, which is a bummer if you're the Cardinals. The most surprising news I think I saw on Sunday was about the Rams and Ernest Jones. I want to use the wording of our colleague, Jordan Rodriegue, who had this from a source, the Ernest situation when it first came out. She wrote, They've let their starting inside linebacker and team captain, Ernest Jones, know they are open to trading him per source. Jones has started since his rookie year, but now enters his fourth season without a contract extension. I saw it said in one place is that Ernest Jones can seek a trade. That almost makes it sound like Ernest Jones asked to seek a trade. And Jordan, and she followed up later in the day, said there's a difference between a team making it known they're open to the possibility of trading him or the player or camp asking.

Ernest Jones came out after. It's like, I didn't ask to seek We could trade. And so I don't know anything about what's going on here. I didn't ask Jordan, specifically, if she knew anything. They got to tell me if it's confidential anyways. But you only do this if you're about to bench the guy, which is surprising because he's a team captain, played a big role for them, but they must love this kid, Omar Spates. I didn't know who Omar Spates It wasn't until a week ago, but Les Sneed talked him up as he's definitely making the team. The only thing that makes any sense is they're trying to trade him because they don't want to bench their team captain. Because if you're not benching him, why would you go through all this and annoy everyone? I'm sure that some members of the team are going to be annoyed by this, not just James.

I think it would be a combination of spates rising and proving that, Hey, maybe I'm the better option, and also a change of defensive coordinator. Rahim Morse is not there anymore. Sometimes some guys are just not their guys. They were the previous coordinator's guys, and that just might be what it is. It just doesn't fit as well. We don't know. Right now, we don't know, but it's probably a combination of the two. I think you're right with, We're going to trade them because we don't want to bench team captain.

Right. Shula has been there, but you're right, it is different. He's in charge, and he was just a position coach before, and he wasn't Ernest Jones' position coach. A lot of weird stuff with the Rams. I don't think they're entering the season the way they would want to with Nekua missing so much time. Alark Jackson, their starting left tackle, has been suspended two games. That came out since we last talked. They have a lot of injury concerns. Their right tackle, Rob Havenstein, their left guard, Jackson. That's three-fifths, potentially, of your offensive line that could be missing week one. The Alaric Jackson news, I don't know if they knew that was coming, but he's going to be a free agent, too. They've just had a lot. That was a personal conduct violation by Alaric Jackson.

We had a number of suspensions on Friday, one, including the rare time serve. You're suspended, but you already served it because you were on the exempt list last year. But as it pertains to this one, specifically, and you add in the whole Matt Stafford, we were concerned about his health as of a week ago. Not moving with the most momentum into the regular season.

At least he looked better in practice. He seems to be okay. All right, final two teams here. 49ers. Just wanted to note Ricky Pearsall. Where is he? He showed up for four or five practices, then left. Right now, if you're going to play a game, Jacob Cowing has got to be ahead of Pearsall in the mix. A lot of Jacob Cowing hype.

A lot of buzz.

Rooky undrafted free agent who keep making plays of practice in the preseason. Who knows? But yeah, Pearsall hasn't stepped up. I was watching their preseason game a little bit, and the hops George Kittle showed on a catch over the middle because they played their starters. Purdy was out there. I mean, that looked awesome. I remember the George Kittle from two years ago when he looked broken. He was playing hurt for two straight seasons, and then he looked better last year, and he looks even better now. So that's just something to watch. What do you say?

He lost He's like 30 pounds this offseason because of the injury. He was a core muscle injury or whatever it was, and he lost a ton of weight. Maybe he just feels more lighter on his feet.

Well, I think he added most of it back or all of it back because he wanted to be able to block everything. But yeah, he seems healthy and In that game, Leonard Floyd and Yeter Gross-Mato's left with injuries. It's unclear how serious they are, but they're both key players at a pretty thin position. They have a third-round rookie, Dominic Puni, who's going to start at guard, and the tape heads, like Brandon Thorne out there who are watching.

He looks good. I don't know if you saw that cut up that I think Thorne put out, where he essentially gets beat off the first initial step and then is able to reset and swivel and reengage. His defensive linemen want to get the offensive line his hands off. We're not going to get too deep in the weeds here, but he gets his hands knocked off and is able to reset at an angle, reengage, and completely shield the guy off to where the quarterback never even had to worry about. Usually, that's a blow by, and that's a sack or a pressure. Not with him, though. He looks good.

That's awesome. They could use an upgrade in talent in terms of their offensive line. They get by, but they actually might have two new starting guards this year. Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs, it's the battle for the backup quarterback. It's actually unclear who's going to win it. I think they're going to keep both. They've been burned before by not having a bunch of quarterbacks, but it's not clear that Josh Dobbs is the backup over Allen. They both have had moments. Hufunga might start the season. Noah Hufunga on the PUP list, and he has not practiced yet, so that's just something to watch for the 49ers. And then finally, the Seahawks, they had an injury in their final preseason game. Dino Smith played one drive and had three incredible dimes on the drive to Jackson Smith and Jigba and Dike Metcaf. So all the hype that he got in the training camp was seen by myself in this offense. That was exciting. And they also traded a cornerback, Michael Jackson, for a seventh-round linebacker from the Titans, Michael Barrett. I only point that out because their off-ball linebacker positions banged up and reportedly hasn't looked great in camp.

So That shows a little bit of desperation that they're trying to add to that position.

Yeah, there's not a lot of depth there. If you just look at the chart right now, you let Jordan Brooks go, and it just seems like, Yeah, let's add some depth here. Let's We had another body in here that we think is a decent player.

Right. They brought in Tyrell Dodson from Buffalo, who's barely played in his career. Then who was the other linebacker that they brought in? Jerome Baker, who's rarely healthy and hasn't been healthy there.

That's a key position. That's their starters. Right now, that's their starter.

That's a key position in Mike McDonald's defense, too, if you think about, obviously, his track record. That's probably keeping him up at night. I have to admit that I had It was part of my dream. I wouldn't say it kept me up at night, but it was part of the dream that the Seahawks offensive line was just awful. They couldn't protect Genos.

Even in your dreams, you're worried about Genos Smith's future.

I guess so. A lot of things happen in my dream. Sometimes there's just a huge wave from the ocean. It's coming at me, and it's going to crash at some point.

And you can't run.

No, you're just there. You're just waiting for it, and you're just prepping. You're just getting ready. It's like a tsunami. Tommy, you're not going to get out of the way of it. What does that wave stand for? I don't know.

We should analyze the dreams here on NFL Daily. Have a whole show.

Yeah, you could let me know at nfldailypodcast@gmail. Com. I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, I had a dream the other night that I was playing high school football and we're in the state championship, but I couldn't get my equipment or get to the bus on time. It was a long dream, and it was very stressful, and I woke up very upset.

I'll tell you what that wave is not. It's the 2024 our NFL season. I am fired up that we are getting close to getting it started this final week before our regular week one schedule is going to be fun, I will be in the studio on our next show with Patrick Claibon. Since regular season. A couple of nights a fun week of shows starting to preview an AFC preview, NFC preview coming up later in the week with all of our predictions. Special guest, nick, this has been fun during the preseason, my man.

It's been a good primer for what we're going to do in the ready for it. It's coming.

I can't wait. Next time, it's real. We'll see you.