NFL Season Preview: Key Updates and Insider Insights

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00:00Of course, it's always great to have our SportsGrid NFL insider, Adam Kaplan, with us, and we

00:08are almost there.

00:11One week from tonight, the NFL season will kick off in Kansas City between the Ravens

00:17and the Chiefs.

00:18This is the last, as Adam just said, the last dead week before we really get things cooking.

00:24But the beginning of this week, Adam, is very busy.

00:27I know that going into Labor Day weekend, it's not, unless, of course, you're probably

00:31John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.

00:36But you had plenty of activity with everybody getting their rosters cut down to 53 and filling

00:41up those practice squads earlier this week.

00:43Yeah, look, Tuesday and Wednesday, the cut down of 53 was at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

00:49Practice squads on Wednesday, there rarely are shockers or real surprises.

00:55What happens is a lot of teams who know they're not going to keep certain veterans, they try

00:59to trade them.

01:00For instance, the Broncos were shopping Tim Patrick, veteran receiver, who's a pretty

01:03good player, by the way.

01:05But unfortunately, he's had two major lower body injuries, and he wound up being released.

01:09He signed with the Lions practice squad.

01:12Allen Robinson, I kind of knew this, he was going to make it with the Giants.

01:16He moved on, I believe, to the Lions practice squad.

01:18In fact, I talked to Allen.

01:19I ran into him at the radio row at the Combine, and Allen said he's going to go into broadcasting.

01:26He actually did some work for us at Sirius XM, NFL Radio.

01:29But the bottom line is, Mike, as you know, at this time of year, it's just kind of like

01:34failed draft picks, veteran players.

01:38And then what happens is, though, these guys who get cut, sometimes they go into better

01:41situations.

01:42Like Noah Brown, right?

01:43Noah Brown, a veteran receiver, you might remember from Dallas, a former 7th round pick.

01:48He really did a good job for the Texans.

01:50They re-signed him on a one-year deal.

01:52He gets cut, so he goes to Washington's practice squad.

01:55They have like no definite receiver.

01:57He should be called up fairly soon.

01:58He might be able to get in the rotation very quickly.

02:01And your guy Robert Woods, the former Bills receiver, who was a pretty good player earlier

02:05in his career, he was drafted by the Bills.

02:07He actually made the Texas roster.

02:08I thought he might be the guy who would go.

02:10But not a lot of shockers.

02:12And as you mentioned, practice squads fill up with a lot of veterans.

02:15I thought that, by the way, we should mention this.

02:18And I know people will criticize some players in the Bills practice squad, but if you look

02:21at the former high-round draft picks, veteran-proven players who are kind of on their way down,

02:27I like what the Bills did.

02:28They have guys who are clearly going to be on their active roster at some point.

02:32And I think that that's why, for a team like them, who, as we discussed last week, Adam,

02:36is in kind of a transition right now.

02:39They're not, you know, rebuilding.

02:41They're transitioning into a next stage of Josh Allen.

02:45Having some veteran guys on your practice squad is very helpful because you're trying

02:50to build up young guys on your actual roster.

02:53So if things aren't going well, you at least have some depth there on the practice squad

02:58that you can go to.

03:00There was also some trades of note that did take place earlier this week, including, and

03:06you thought that the Tennessee Titans were going to have to move one of their quarterbacks

03:12out, and it ends up being Malik Willis.

03:13Yeah, and look, what I find interesting is, and it's going to be fascinating, the Titans,

03:18yes, they moved Malik Willis.

03:20He had no chance to make it.

03:21I was with the Titans two weeks ago.

03:23It was already a fait accompli that Mason Rudolph was going to be the number two quarterback.

03:27The only question would be is, could they find a home for Malik Willis?

03:30They did.

03:31They got a seventh-round pick to the Packers.

03:33Now, the Packers, what they did is they cleared out two quarterbacks, Sean Clifford, who was

03:38a Penn State quarterback.

03:39I met Sean at the Super Bowl, a radio row where you're set up at SportsGrid, and Sean

03:44is going to, he cleared waivers.

03:45He's going to be in the practice squad.

03:47Now, you have to remember, Malik Willis is kind of in a new offense here.

03:52Yes, Tennessee ran a Wesco scheme, so did the Packers, but he's got to learn it the

03:57way that they do it, and if the Packers are grooming Malik Willis to be their number two

04:03quarterback, this is going to take some time.

04:05He's got a lot of skill, though.

04:07He could run.

04:08He's got a lot of arms.

04:09He's kind of a smaller quarterback, not very accurate, but this is kind of a new look for

04:12their backup quarterback position there in Green Bay.

04:15That was kind of one of the interesting trades, and then Ernest Jones, this is kind of a big

04:19deal this week.

04:20Ernest Jones made it clear he wanted an extension.

04:23The Rams could not reach a deal, and I just, I got the feeling that they didn't think that

04:27it was going to work out for him there, and so they traded to the Titans who, they lost

04:32a rookie inside linebacker, Chance Campbell, for the season to an ACL, and talking to the

04:38Titans, man, when I was there at training camp, they loved this kid, but he blew out

04:41his knee, and he won't be able to play this season, and they were really light at inside

04:45backer, so they got Ernest Jones, who should wind up starting, or at least pushing for

04:49a starting job, so that helps them, and quite frankly, Mike, this Titans team, I'm not saying

04:55they're going to be like the Texans of last year, or the Jaguars of two years ago, where

04:59they came out of nowhere to make the playoffs, but Rand Carthon, you might remember his dad,

05:04Rand Carthon, a former fullback for the Giants and Patriots, Carthon's done a phenomenal

05:10job in terms of addressing every possible need he could.

05:13You can't get every need done in one off-season, but he addressed as many as he could, and

05:19this Titans roster is mentally upgraded.

05:21The roster was terrible last season, much better.

05:24They're a team that I like to go over their total.

05:27Their win total's six and a half, Mike, I actually like that, they're going to be better

05:30than people think.

05:32Lots of injuries, of course, Adam, as usual, as we get close to the start of the year.

05:37The Steelers are dealing with several of them, along with, of course, yesterday, Tomlin naming

05:42Russell Wilson as their starter for week one.

05:45Yeah, let's get started before we get to injuries with Russell Wilson.

05:48I can just tell from being there, I mentioned Pharrell here on Coast to Coast, been with

05:53them for two days, you just see the difference and the calming influence that Russell Wilson

05:59has around the football team.

06:01He's willing to make tough throws where Justin Fields doesn't really process all that well.

06:05Really good athlete, and what you're going to see with Justin Fields is they're going

06:08to use him potentially in a third down and short, sort of a change-up quarterback, maybe

06:13run certain formations, this will give the defense something else to think about.

06:19We've seen this before with Arthur Smith, with Marcus Mariota, when Mariota and Smith

06:24worked together in Atlanta, but bottom line is Russell Wilson's going to be the starter

06:27week one and probably going for it for a while.

06:30Now, at some point, if Russell Wilson isn't playing well or they're eliminated from the

06:33playoffs late in the season, that's certainly when you can see Justin Fields take over.

06:37But updating some injury situations, let's get to their offensive line, which Mike, when

06:41they face those Falcons in week one in Atlanta, a week from this Sunday, they've got a lot

06:45of injuries.

06:46Fitanu, their first-round pick-right tackle, he's got an MCL sprain, he started working

06:50this week, they're pretty hopeful he'll be able to play, but you don't like that a rookie

06:53misses part of training camp.

06:55That worries me a little bit.

06:57If you look at the interior of their offensive line, this is a problem.

07:02They just lost one of the guards due to a pectoral strain.

07:07That worries me.

07:08Nate Herbig, his brother Nick, who's on defense, Nate's out for the season with that torn rotator

07:15cuff.

07:16So that worries me.

07:17Isaac Sayamala, who I was talking about, former Eagles offensive lineman, who was the highest-graded

07:21offensive lineman, I'm told, from last season, he's the guy who's got the pectoral strain.

07:25So they're down and deaf, certainly on the offensive line.

07:28Broderick Jones didn't play well, their first-round pick from last season, so they've got to get

07:32that going, I'm told, with Rowan Wilson.

07:34So that lingering ankle injury, I'm told, we could update this, this is actually a high-ankle

07:37sprain.

07:38That's why he's not back yet.

07:40He's working very limited this week.

07:43It's going to be touch-and-go whether he could be available for week one against Atlanta,

07:47but look for Van Jefferson, another former Atlanta Falcon, and a former second-round

07:53pick for the Rams some years ago.

07:55He should be able to start week one.

07:56He had a great training camp, that's why he made it.

07:58I'm told they love his veteran influence.

08:00He almost certainly will start week one, and they'll work Rowan Wilson in when he's ready

08:04to go, but they're really bagged up.

08:06That does worry me for week one.

08:09You're in Atlanta where it's going to be loud.

08:11That worries me with communication with the offensive line, and let's not forget, Mike,

08:15Russell Wilson is the new starting quarterback with these guys.

08:17That does worry me for that week one matchup.

08:20It should.

08:21I got under a minute, Adam.

08:23I saw a clip of John Lynch before from yesterday.

08:24I heard that.

08:25I think the word that you could say is he looks finished with this entire thing and

08:30just wants it to be over and wants Aiyuk to make a decision.

08:33He does, and what you have to understand is Ricky Pierce held a first-round receiver.

08:38You might remember he had a hamstring injury in the offseason.

08:41I'm told that's fine.

08:42The shoulder problem's lingering.

08:44He can't take contact in that shoulder.

08:46They're very light receiver right now with that Aiyuk.

08:48Even if he starts practicing next week, Mike, he hasn't practiced in months.

08:53You don't know kind of game shape he's in.

08:55They know what kind of shape he's in, physical shape, because he's in their building, but

08:59he's not practicing, Mike, where they're indicating he might practice this week.

09:03That's not good.

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