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NFL insider Mike Jones joins the show to discuss all the latest headlines in the league.
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00:00Mr. Mike Jones from The Athletic, joining us via the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:04Jonesy, what's up, buddy? How are you?
00:06How are you guys doing today?
00:08We're good, man.
00:09We're good, man. We're in Ashburn, BigBear.ai Performance Center.
00:14Boys are out on the field. We are holding it down in the Annex, a place you know all too
00:18well, Jonesy.
00:19Yes, sir. It's been a while, but hey.
00:23Those are fun days, though.
00:26Yes, for sure. For sure.
00:27I want to try to do something here, and perhaps this won't work.
00:34I want to talk to you about what's going on in the NFL that isn't about Brandon Ayuk.
00:39What stories are you keeping the closest eye on?
00:42He got the quarterback battle in Cleveland.
00:46He got Pat Mahomes coming back, and he also has Jacoby Brissett.
00:50I'm in on all those. Let's talk about anything that's not Brandon Ayuk.
00:54Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot going on, you know, and, you know, we got, I think it's
01:0017 teams that are in OTAs this week.
01:03Only the 49ers canceled because they supposedly had 100% attendance in their OTAs, so they canceled, but there's a
01:13lot of action going on.
01:14Guys are fighting for jobs. Guys are working their way back from injury.
01:17Guys are trying to learn playbooks, and guys are trying to get paid, so there's a lot of stuff going
01:24on this week.
01:25So let's start in Cleveland. I've been seeing the Deshaun Watson clips. How realistic is it that Deshaun Watson starts
01:34week one?
01:36I think it's pretty realistic. I feel like, you know, look, if you look at his salary and what is
01:42owed to him,
01:43they still are handcuffed to this guy, and they're hoping that they can squeeze just something out of him,
01:52and it feels like this might be his last shot.
01:55Let's try to do everything we can to see if maybe, just maybe, another head coach, another offense coordinator can,
02:02you know,
02:03tap into something so that way this $230 million deal, which was the worst in the history of pro sports,
02:10does not wind up being a total loss, and so I think that we probably will wind up seeing him
02:16start.
02:18Now, who's to say how long he'll last as that starter, if he can get his groove back?
02:24He's had a lot of injuries. You know, I think it was something like in the last three seasons that
02:32he played there in Cleveland,
02:33he might have played like a total of 19 games or something like that out of 51 possible games, you
02:38know,
02:39and so I think they are going to try to get something out of him and hope that maybe they
02:45can salvage his thing,
02:46but that's a big if.
02:48They say a certain salary will make you always get a chance, and he has been getting a chance of
02:53a chance.
02:54Well, that's all guaranteed.
02:55Yeah, yeah.
02:56That's got to be ownership-driven up there, I assume.
02:59There's no way that's what Munkin wants to do as he starts a rebuild and they just traded away the
03:03best player.
03:04Well, I mean, I think what does he have to work with, you know?
03:09Yeah.
03:10Is Sanders the guy?
03:13It doesn't seem like it if they are even considering the Deshaun Watson, you know, deal.
03:21Tyler, I mean, Dylan Gabriel, he didn't really look like the guy last year either.
03:27So, you know, when they say, y'all, when you've got three quarterbacks, you've got no quarterbacks,
03:32and so you're Munkin, you're trying to set a tone, you're trying to, you know, make a, you know,
03:37kind of a little bit of a splash in your first year,
03:41and maybe the veteran is a guy that can help you guys get off on the right foot.
03:47That's not to say, again, that he's going to last there,
03:50but at least he's seen a number of systems.
03:54He's played at a high level before, even though it's been a while,
03:58and so I can understand why they would give him a shot,
04:01even though he has not had a lot to show for the last, you know, three, four years.
04:07All right, and Kansas City, Pat gets hurt last year.
04:12He's going to be trying to come back.
04:14What's the timeline on that?
04:17He's shooting for week one.
04:18We'll see if that happens.
04:20We've seen him on the field during OTAs.
04:22He's got a big old brace, you know, on there,
04:25but he seems to be moving pretty well.
04:28Looks like he's got good zip on his passes.
04:30Now, it's on seven-on-seven action.
04:32He's not played 11-on-11, but position drill, seven-on-seven, you know,
04:38he's working his way back, continuing to strengthen that thing.
04:41Now, they did get Justin Fields as an insurance policy, you know,
04:46and they've got to be smart with this thing.
04:47You don't want to set back.
04:49But they've worked hard to kind of upgrade their offensive line,
04:54upgrade their defense.
04:56I still wonder if they're a piece away offensively as far as pass catchers go.
05:01But if Patrick Mahomes is back and healthy and playing at his level,
05:06it's a huge boost for them.
05:08If, you know, he's not ready to start the season, it could be a little rocky,
05:12and we'll see what kind of hole they slip into.
05:16But they're hoping for the best as far as Mahomes goes.
05:20Yeah, it's crazy to think the Chiefs now, with the question of Mahomes,
05:29I mean, the Broncos won that division last year,
05:31first time the Chiefs hadn't won it in forever.
05:34Chargers are likely ahead of them.
05:36Like, how competitive is that AFC West?
05:39Yeah, it's very competitive because you've got, you know,
05:42Denver who, you know, made the deep playoff run,
05:46and you expect that they're going to build on that.
05:50And, you know, the Chargers are, you know, kind of a question mark.
05:54They've got pieces.
05:56Is Mike McDaniel the guy to help Justin Herbert elevate to another level
06:02and help that offense kick to another level?
06:05We saw some good things out of them, but we also saw some inconsistencies as well.
06:10Obviously, the Raiders are far away from being able to contend.
06:15But those three should make it interesting, you know,
06:19if Kansas City is back at full force,
06:23do they jump back ahead of Denver?
06:27I think it could be a neck-and-neck thing going back and forth with them
06:30because Denver's got youth and they've got a lot of talented pieces.
06:34But we'll see.
06:35It's definitely one of the most intriguing divisions,
06:38and it should be pretty hotly contested.
06:40All right, looking at the – in Arizona, they let Kyler Murray go.
06:45Jacoby Brissett has been basically holding out, not going there,
06:48because he's the backup quarterback, and he's paid like a backup.
06:51He wants to be paid like a starter.
06:53He says he's a starter.
06:54What do you think happens there?
06:57Well, I mean, as I was asking around the league, I was like,
07:00okay, so they got Jacoby Brissett, and then you got Gardner Minshew,
07:03and you got Carson Beck.
07:05Obviously, Carson Beck's going to be a project, third-round guy.
07:08But is there a big difference between Brissett and Gardner Minshew?
07:13And a lot of people said – you know, one guy said to me,
07:15talent evaluator from a different team said they're in the same bucket.
07:20Maybe another guy said, hey, Brissett's probably got the stronger arm,
07:23a little bit bigger physical guy, but there's a little bit more boom or bust from Gardner Minshew,
07:29who's kind of a gamer.
07:30There's not a huge difference there.
07:32They're both going to be bridge guys.
07:34Brissett, I know, I understand he wants to get paid,
07:37but he doesn't have a whole lot of leverage.
07:39He was 1-11 as a starter, and it was a different coaching staff.
07:43These guys don't know him.
07:44So they're kind of, you know, like, well, I mean, dude, you got to do something.
07:48You got to show something.
07:50And so, you know, the plan was for him to – even though he wasn't OTAs,
07:54he was coming for the mandatory minicamp, which is a smart move because, look,
07:59you got to show something.
08:01And although you tried, you know, you can't blame him for trying to get a bump up,
08:05but you don't really have a whole lot of leverage because it's not like things to get that much worse
08:12if he's not playing because, again, they were 1-11 as a starter.
08:16It's funny, though.
08:17He played well.
08:18Like, I picked him up at fantasy down the stretch because they were just chucking it around over there.
08:22But you're right.
08:24I like Jacoby a lot.
08:25I hope it works.
08:26I mean, maybe they just convert some guaranteed money for him or something.
08:31But they're clearly at the beginning of what is likely a long road out there.
08:35So, if they're bad again, especially knowing these quarterbacks that we expect in next year's draft,
08:41I don't think – you know, like I think LaFleur took that job looking three years down the road,
08:46not necessarily week four or wherever they're playing.
08:49I hope you make it to three years down the road.
08:51Yeah, that's true.
08:51Yeah, that's the question.
08:54Mike Jones from The Athletic.
08:57You can read all of his work in The Athletic.
08:59Give him a follow at by Mike Jones.
09:01Let's kick it to the NFC East.
09:04But Philly, with A.J. Brown gone, does that – it doesn't help them on the field,
09:10but does it help them overall?
09:14I mean, I think it just eliminates the distraction.
09:17Obviously, you would like to have him and his skill set.
09:23But the thing that is kind of mind-boggling is that Sirianni is supposedly an offensive coach,
09:32and he's never really been able to get the most out of that team,
09:35except for the year that Kellen Moore was his offense coordinator.
09:39And he's had other offensive coordinators, and there's always a scapegoat.
09:42This last year with Kevin Petula, you know, now they've got Sean Mannion,
09:47who is a Matt LaFleur disciple, and he's never called plays before.
09:52Is he going to be able to help them get more out of what they have?
09:56We'll see.
09:57It does sound like they're going to be under center some more
10:00and really lean into the run game, so maybe that'll help them.
10:03I still think they're going to be one of the best teams in the NFC.
10:08I think they have a chance to win the NFC East.
10:12You know, they have a talented, talented back in Saquon Barkley.
10:16They've got Devontae Smith.
10:18Lemon should be a talented rookie out of USC.
10:22We'll see, you know, what happens with Jalen Hurts
10:26and if this offense can really kind of help accentuate what he does well
10:31and mask deficiencies, that's what you're hoping for.
10:34But, you know, the Eagles aren't going to be pushovers.
10:37They've got a talented defense.
10:38They've got a good offensive line, and so if you can lean into those two things
10:42and have balance, they'll be okay.
10:45But, you know, there's still plenty of questions,
10:48but I don't think there's going to be a huge drop-off having lost A.J. Brown
10:52just because, you know, they had him, and it wasn't like, you know,
10:57he would still be here if he was happy with how he was featured,
11:00and they kind of felt like, you know, we might as well just cut our losses
11:03and remove the distraction and have, you know, a better singular focus.
11:07Well, he proved he was a distraction.
11:09Yesterday he admitted that he was the source of the leaks coming out last year.
11:15So if you're getting rid of a guy that's leaking everything
11:18and having people worry about everything that's going on outside,
11:22like the information inside the locker room is getting outside the locker room,
11:25that's got to help your locker room out right there.
11:29Yeah, I would think so.
11:31And, you know, they can just focus on business.
11:33I mean, there were times that I've been to a number of games last year
11:37where they would lose, and he'd have ten catches, and he was smiling.
11:43They'd win, he'd have two catches, and he was sitting in his locker like, you know,
11:46they just lost the Super Bowl.
11:48So, you know, you get that kind of mindset out of there.
11:51That just kind of helps with your focus and your unity, and, you know, we'll see.
11:56I think that Jalen Hurts is a quality quarterback.
11:59He takes what his defense gives to him.
12:01He doesn't force things.
12:02He's not worried about stats.
12:03He just tries to get the job done.
12:04And Devontae Smith is very much that same mindset.
12:08Saquon Barkley, that same mindset.
12:10So when you have that kind of focus,
12:12it probably should help that offense be a little more effective.
12:16Last one, Mike.
12:17How much did Dallas actually improve their defense?
12:22I mean, I think it's improved.
12:26It'll never be like what it would have been if you had Micah Parsons there,
12:31but they probably are better across the board.
12:34You know, there's still some questions.
12:36We'll see how guys, you know, grow into roles and things like that.
12:39But I don't know that Dallas is better than Philly.
12:43I mean, their defense isn't better than Philly.
12:45I mean, you know, we'll see what happens.
12:47I think that Washington has a chance to bounce back,
12:50and maybe the two of them are battling for that second spot there in the NFC East.
12:56So we'll see.
12:58We will certainly see.
12:59It's going to be fun.
13:00Thank you for the time, dude.
13:02Enjoy a little downtime before the season really starts in a month.
13:06All right.
13:06Appreciate you guys.
13:07Thanks for having me.
13:08All right, bro.
13:08Take care, man.
13:09That is our friend, Mr. Mike Jones.
13:13Read all of his work in the athleticism.
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