00:00Cap, let's move over to Minnesota, where today Carson Wentz will go up against a fellow backup in Jake Browning.
00:07Donnie and I talking a little bit around, you know, Wentz's outlook here in Minnesota.
00:12J.J. McCarthy, seven of eight quarters, has been unplayable for the Vikings at quarterback here.
00:18What are you hearing around this situation?
00:22Look, the high ankle is definitely legitimate.
00:25It's not like they're making it up.
00:26Now, you and I talked about this on Game Time Decisions, and I'm glad we could expand on this.
00:30And I did hear your conversation with Donnie before I came on.
00:33So here's the reality of it.
00:35He's got an injury.
00:36He's a young player that needs reps.
00:38Carson Wentz just signed there on August 25th for a one-year veteran minimum deal.
00:41I took a look at the contract this morning.
00:44So there's not much in terms of expectations other than hold the fort down.
00:49Donnie's ready to talk about Jordan Mason with Aaron Jones on injury reserve.
00:53Mason can handle volume carries.
00:54They're not going to ask Wentz to throw the ball a lot, unless, of course, they're down by a lot.
00:58But their plan is going to be to keep it simple for Wentz, who has not played high-level football guys since 2021 when he's with the Colts.
01:07But let me address, Kevin, the point that you made with us on Friday and also with Donnie before I came on here.
01:14So what I could tell you is McCarthy came on last summer before he had the meniscus surgery.
01:21He looked really great in that Raider game.
01:23I know it's the first preseason game, but he actually got pressured.
01:27This summer was solid, not great.
01:29Remember, he missed a chunk of their offseason program.
01:31But one thing you should know, no matter what a club will say publicly or privately, because they don't want McCarthy to have to think about it, and this is what you're talking about.
01:39If by the time he comes back, they're 5-1 and Wentz plays lights out for four games, they could say whatever they want.
01:46They're going to say McCarthy is their starting quarterback.
01:48Yeah, he's their quarterback of the future.
01:49Again, to be clear, I'm not saying they will do this for sure, but I know from covering this, this is for over two decades.
01:57What clubs say publicly and trying to keep winning is different.
02:01You've got McCarthy, this is his second-year-old, his four-year rookie deal, plus a fifth-year option, plus two franchise tax.
02:07If they love him, he's not going anywhere.
02:08It's about trying to win.
02:10But let's, Kevin, let's let Wentz play lights out before we address this again, though.
02:14But I do want to address it.
02:16Adam, let me sneak in a quick one with you here.
02:17The Chicago Bears, bright lights, big city, Ben Johnson, you know, sort of had his pick of franchises he wanted to go to.
02:24Are we seeing some cracks in the foundation already where he's upset about his team just in their practice habits?
02:28What are you hearing out of Chicago so far early in this tenure?
02:31All right, Donnie, someone who worked with Johnson over the years with the Lions told me it would take less than six months to know if this is going to work between Johnson and his players and the franchise.
02:42And, look, he's combustible.
02:43He coaches his players hard and his coaches hard.
02:46They need a discipline.
02:47I could tell you, Donnie, last season, this is an undisciplined football team.
02:51Matty Ruflus, the former head coach, last year before he got fired, he had to let two coaches go during the season.
02:58That's never good.
02:59It was just, it was not well run.
03:02And Johnson knew this.
03:03He brought in a lot of discipline.
03:04It's going to take time.
03:06Yeah, it's been interesting.
03:08And, by the way, last week, did you see how the Lions ran up the score late where they kept the starters in?
03:13That was pretty interesting.
03:14That was pretty interesting.
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