00:00We got to hear from Kevin Stefanski, a lot of the coaching staff, to the quarterback competition we know is
00:06front and center.
00:07But we did get some insight from Kevin Stefanski, including a health update on Michael Penix.
00:12Mike is not cleared for team periods yet. He'll continue to do what he's doing, which is individual drills, seven
00:18on seven.
00:19And I think that's an important thing for all of us.
00:23You know, each player is in a different stage of where they are, Mike included,
00:27where, you know, the number one thing I've told you guys all along is to get healthy.
00:31You know, this. So what Mike's able to do right now in terms of individual and the seven on sevens
00:36is outstanding, you know,
00:37and just shows you how hard he's working at it. But when appropriate, then we'll move him into team drills.
00:43First thing I thought of when I heard that was this goes right into what we talked about about a
00:47week ago,
00:48where he almost made me cringe a little bit. He came out and said, you know, as long as my
00:51falls into my leg, I'm good.
00:53Yeah. And that's exactly what you're hearing. Come out of Coach Stefanski.
00:56He's not going to do 11 on 11 work because that's a little bit too risky.
01:00Don't want anybody around the lower leg area for him.
01:02He's going to stay in the drills where nobody's running at him, that everybody's running away from him,
01:06which is seven on seven and the individual drills.
01:09But in the videos I've seen, he looks, you know, it looks like he can drive on the ball.
01:14Looks like he's throwing it well and, you know, looks like there's a lot of upside there.
01:20I don't take anything out of this, though, as in like, oh, see, he won't be ready for the competition
01:26come two months from now.
01:28I just think it's a normal timeline and they're not rushing it.
01:31And there's no reason for him to be doing the 11 on 11 necessarily out there at the moment.
01:37To me, I just don't think too much should be made of that comment about his health, right?
01:46Like, it's kind of a normal timeline.
01:49You know, there's images of Daniel Jones out there who tore his Achilles, if I'm not mistaken,
01:54after Penix tore his knee.
01:56And he's doing similar things that Penix is doing right now.
02:01So I just think it's a normal timeline and that it, I'm not really sure what,
02:09why people would make a big deal out of he's not clear for 11 on 11 in May.
02:13Well, I think it goes back to one of the conversations we've had the entire time that we've been talking
02:18about this injury
02:19is that it's, he needs development, right?
02:21He needs reps.
02:22There's no doubt about that.
02:23Like, he's not a finished product.
02:24Neither is Tua Tonga Bailoa.
02:26But I would, you know, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think he needed the team reps, you
02:30know,
02:30in one way or another.
02:31And I'm sure that he is getting them mentally.
02:34I would guess that it's not like Tua is getting those reps.
02:38I would say that Trevor Simeon is probably getting those reps and Michael is, you know,
02:42able to stand behind him and get those mental reps and get in the film room and watch all of
02:46them.
02:46But I don't think it's nothing.
02:49I think that he definitely needs all the reps he can get at this point in the year
02:52when you're talking about installing a new system.
02:54Yeah, well, look, he's still doing the seven-on-seven stuff.
02:59I just don't believe that it means he won't be ready to go for training camp.
03:03I agree with you on that.
03:04For sure.
03:04I don't think he has any – for him not being cleared right now doesn't mean he won't be cleared
03:08in two months
03:09is the main statement I'm saying.
03:12One of the biggest things that, to me, Penix needs to be – and that we've talked about,
03:17Penix needs to be working on is getting back to a place where he feels comfortable with his footwork
03:23and his mechanics, not only off the injury but off of some of the bad habits he formed last year.
03:28I would say I was a little caught off guard by the comment just because we have seen so much
03:32footage of him looking healthy.
03:34So I was a little surprised that he wasn't cleared for 11-on-11s at this point in time.
03:38But if he needs a little bit more time, fine.
03:41Kevin Stefanski did talk about how he has been impressed with Michael Penix so far.
03:46You have to be careful not to forget that when evaluating any player, where they are in the stage of
03:52a rehab, for instance.
03:53And Mike, in this case, you understand that he's not 100 percent, not to say what – hard to put
04:00a number on it,
04:00but knowing that his rehab is what takes precedent, everything he does, you take that in mind.
04:07And having said that, just very impressed with everything he's doing on the field and in the meeting room as
04:13well.
04:14If I was interviewing Michael Penix and we brought him on the show,
04:18I think one of the first things I would ask him is how often does he think about the knee?
04:22Because I think that sometimes when you're going through a situation like this,
04:26and Kevin Stefanski highlights this a little bit, it's like you're doing everything.
04:30How often are you changing your mechanics, right?
04:33Or if there's a slight feel of weakness in any sort of way.
04:39I doubt that there is from the videos I've seen, but I would love to know that answer from him
04:42of saying,
04:43is there any times that you look down and think, okay, well, I had to put more arm into that
04:47where my hips didn't rotate, and I've got to make sure my mechanics are still good.
04:49Because I think that's the biggest fight when you come back from an injury,
04:52and I've obviously been in those shoes.
04:53It's, okay, that doesn't feel the same as it used to.
04:57I need to try to make up for that in other places and make sure I'm still getting my job
05:00done.
05:00And I think that's a danger of the spot he's in.
05:03I think that's, to their credit, that's one of the reasons you don't rush him back
05:06into situations he might not be comfortable with at this point.
05:09Well, to that point, I think, for me, that's why the 7-on-7 is so important,
05:18because he's still getting those reps physically, dropping back, setting, throwing.
05:25Because, like, that's how you get, the more you do it, the more comfortable you are going to be.
05:31All that said, as soon as you go into 11-on-11, I think it changes your mental a little
05:35bit,
05:37because now you're thinking about, basically, it being more like a,
05:43it's never going to be that close with the way it is, but it's more of a live rep, right?
05:49Like, more of a real rep that you would take in game.
05:51But I think that's one of the reasons, though, why I think him just driving back and throwing is good.
05:57You're building that, those repetitions.
05:59Like, you know, you change something, and I always relate back to something that I think most people can relate,
06:06like your golf swing.
06:07If you change your grip, it feels so weird.
06:13And it's something, and it could be a slight grip change, just a slight one,
06:16and then everything feels weird, and it will feel weird for, like, the next 500 swings.
06:22And then it'll finally start to feel a little bit.
06:25So if he changed anything, not just based on the knee, but just, like, the mechanic-wise,
06:29like footwork, or maybe, you know, his arm slot or whatever,
06:34like, that'll make it feel weird for a while, too.
06:38So that's why just doing the 7-on-7 stuff and just throwing, like Mike said, is so important.
06:42And just a quick little tidbit out of OTAs.
06:45Michael Jarrell was playing right tackle.
06:47Was that surprising to you guys at all?
06:49Yeah.
06:49I know that Juwan Taylor and Stormont were both there, both watching, though, it sounds like,
06:54and Michael Jarrell was getting a lot of those reps.
06:56There was a point in time last year where Michael Jarrell was definitely your swing tackle,
07:00and then all of a sudden, like, he wasn't dressing.
07:02He actually played the last half of the game where Jake had to leave at halftime.
07:06I can't remember which game it was.
07:07Yeah, I think that might have been Seattle.
07:10Could have been.
07:11Could have been.
07:12Which sounds too ironic because he came from Seattle.
07:14Yeah, I know.
07:14But there's some reason why that's the game, I think.
07:16You might be right about that one.
07:18No, but I think, you know, having that depth, that spot, which you think you have in Michael
07:23Jarrell, is a big thing.
07:24But it felt like at times they tried to hand him the swing tackle role, and it just never
07:29worked out for whatever reason.
07:30But it's a different staff.
07:31It's a different system.
07:32Maybe there's something he feels in place.
07:35But, you know, he wasn't the only one.
07:36And I think he'll slide in just fine if needed.
07:39Well, and Kevin Stefanski did have some strong takeaways about Tua.
07:43We'll play that audio for you at 7.
07:45But it's been the Wild West in college football.
07:48Could some limitations be coming soon?
07:50We're going to get into that.
07:51Plus, we've got a life of squid.
07:55Dodgers farm system suffered an injury, and it's a rough, rough one.
07:59We'll talk about it next on the Morning Chef Sports Radio, 9829 The Game, and the Odyssey
08:03app.
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