00:00Usually she joins us at 3.20 today because of the interviews and everything going on.
00:04She joins us at 5.20 right now.
00:06It is AshleyBastock, Cleveland.com, joining us here on The Fan.
00:08Hello, Ashley.
00:10Hey, guys. How's it going?
00:11It's good. We'll ask you about Taylor and that big news coming up in a little bit, okay?
00:16I'm a little devastated. I imagine you are as well. We'll get to that.
00:20But you were the one that asked Deshaun Watson what I believe to be the most important answer from today.
00:24You asked him the question that started this whole thing about basically whether or not he feels like he's going
00:31to play again.
00:32He said he had no doubt he'd play again. And why? And he got that from internal conversations.
00:36What was your read on that answer from Deshaun?
00:39Yeah, I mean, I thought it was really interesting to hear that because, you know, at that point we had
00:44already asked him,
00:46did he feel like there was ever any doubt if he was going to play football again, period, after he
00:51ruptured his Achilles the second time?
00:54And he said, no, never any doubt there.
00:57But, yeah, I wondered if there was doubt if he would do it again in Cleveland because I know from
01:02the outside looking in,
01:04it certainly felt doubtful to us.
01:07But he, of course, said no.
01:09He said due to internal conversations, he always felt like he would have another chance here.
01:15So, yeah, I mean, I certainly think it's interesting in the context of obviously past things Jimmy Haslam had said
01:22with the swing and a miss comment.
01:24But really it just sounds like they never were telling him, oh, your time here is done.
01:31And obviously we know that for sure now.
01:34And he is out there competing for the starting job.
01:37But, you know, it's interesting.
01:39I think it's something that fans are going to be debating how much of it was faith in him versus,
01:45hey, they owe him all this money and you're not going to be able to get it off your book.
01:50So you have to try to make the situation, make the best of the situation that you can for all
01:56parties involved.
01:57I mean, I certainly think that's a part of it.
01:59But, you know, I do wonder hearing him talk today and talking about how he really wasn't healthy from week
02:06three in 2023 on,
02:08how much that played in terms of those internal conversations with the organization and how much his health was a
02:15factor in him being given this chance again, too.
02:19I think we have sort of this kind of debate because you wonder what those internal conversations end up being.
02:24Is it, to read, obviously it's a complete guess at this point.
02:27We don't know and probably will never know what those conversations are.
02:30But is it we signed you to a contract, you're our guy, you're going to end up being our starter
02:34again at some point?
02:35Or no matter what happens in the time while you're down, you'll have an opportunity to still compete for that
02:41job no matter who played before you?
02:43Yeah, I feel like it's the latter, Jake.
02:46Like, it feels like that second one more to me would be the most likely just kind of knowing all
02:52parties involved.
02:53Like, I'm not sure that a starting job would be able to be promised just because, like, you don't know
03:00what the future is.
03:01But, I mean, I could easily see a world in which Andrew Barry, Jimmy Haslam, whether it was Kevin Stefanski
03:07at the time, Todd Munkin now,
03:09sort of promised him, like, you're going to have the chance to compete.
03:12And I think if you're Deshaun Watson, that's really all you would want to hear at that point.
03:17I mean, especially given his time in Houston, like, that was a very different situation for many reasons.
03:23But he obviously knew his time there was done either way.
03:27It was just a matter of where was he going to get traded to?
03:30Where was he going to sign off on that trade happening?
03:33So it certainly feels like it never divulged to that point here.
03:37And, I mean, hearing him today, I believe that that was probably the nature of those discussions more than anything
03:44of,
03:44hey, you're going to get a chance to compete for this starting job here again.
03:48Ashley, another takeaway that I had out of this was, you know, Shador spoke, and obviously Deshaun spoke,
03:54and they just, no part of it seemed hostile or weird.
03:56They seemed genuinely supportive of each other.
03:59You know, Deshaun talking about how much he roots for Shador,
04:01and now he just wants good things to happen for him.
04:03And I felt like Shador was basically taking the same lines as well.
04:06And it's just the idea that it's not what Minnesota is right now with J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray.
04:13I was just going to say that.
04:14Yes.
04:15I was just going to bring that up, JP.
04:18Like, I mean, everyone, I'm sure, if you follow the NFL, has seen those sort of viral clips going around.
04:24And this feels like the exact opposite of that.
04:27You know, Shador Sanders got up there today and talked about how, from the outside, people talk about it in
04:34terms of the competition,
04:35but that's not really how most players view it.
04:38I think we heard guys say things along those lines last year as well.
04:43At the time, obviously, more so him and Dylan Gabriel, that it's really about their own development
04:49and doing the best that they can to try to win that job, not necessarily about beating your own teammate
04:55out,
04:55because at the end of the day, you are teammates.
04:57And as you alluded to, Deshaun Watson, you know, talked at length about having these relationships with the Sanders family
05:04and Deion Sanders Jr.
05:06And, like, those connections go back years.
05:09And maybe even prior to when Deshaun Watson was with the Browns, it sounded like.
05:14And it sounds like there's a lot of respect there.
05:16So, yeah, I certainly don't think this is a hostile competition.
05:20I think both guys are competitive and obviously want to win, but they certainly respect one another
05:26and are trying to, I think, telegraph that to the public.
05:30And, I mean, to your point, it was a takeaway for you.
05:33I think it worked for sure today.
05:36If we just look at Deshaun as a whole, the way he answered questions today, I thought,
05:40was a much more positive mindset than he had been in previously.
05:43And he talked about the swing and a miss comments as well as the booing and say that, you know,
05:47it might have bothered him initially, but he's moved past it.
05:50Did you, in person, get that same feeling that Deshaun is in a better mindset than maybe he was in
05:55previously here?
05:57I did.
05:57I mean, quite honestly, we're not that far removed from it.
06:00But I do think this was maybe the best press conference he's had here, especially in terms of his demeanor.
06:07Now, I think a big part of that is because all of the off-the-field allegations and lawsuits that
06:14he was dealing with are no more.
06:16So for the first time in forever since he's been here, we're not asking or needing to ask him questions
06:23about that off-the-field stuff
06:26and how the impact of that is going to be and what his role in that stuff was.
06:31So I definitely believe him when he says he's in a different mindset.
06:36I think sometimes with guys like that, whether it's that stuff or injuries, you can just get the sense when
06:43they are in front of you and speaking.
06:45And I think there's a different confidence to him, which I find interesting as, you know, we're heading into this
06:52four- to six-week down period here
06:54where it sounds like, for all intents and purposes, we are not going to have an answer on who this
06:59team's starting quarterback is.
07:01But I don't think Deshaun seems phased by that, and I didn't think, you know, Shador seemed phased by that
07:06prospect either.
07:07Give me your own assessment of how you feel like Deshaun has looked in the past couple open practices,
07:11the ones we've seen, obviously, on Tuesday and then today as well.
07:15Yeah, you know, Tuesday was tough.
07:17And I believe for him it was tough in particular because, as we know, Shador Sanders took all of those
07:24first-team reps.
07:24That was really the first time we saw Shador do that, and we did see it flip today.
07:29I think they continued to do some flipping around with the O-line a little bit and mixing and matching,
07:34which Todd Munkin said yesterday they were going to do.
07:37But for the most part, it was all Deshaun Watson today with the ones.
07:40I think not necessarily many standout plays today.
07:45I can think of a pass he made to Taylon Green, who just max vertical, jumped up there and got
07:51it.
07:52I think he's having a nice spring.
07:54But there wasn't that necessarily sort of downfield explosive stuff that I think we saw from him earlier in the
08:01spring.
08:01Now, what the reasons are for that today, I don't know.
08:04It was obviously very, very, very hot outside.
08:07I believe practice got cut a little bit short today as well.
08:11So I don't know if that played much of an impact.
08:14But I do think you have watched this competition, having watched it going back through last month,
08:22it's just obvious to me that it's a lot closer than maybe it was initially and maybe what we were
08:28seeing initially.
08:29So I think we got to see him with the ones today.
08:33Kind of hard for me to pick a standout sitting here right now.
08:36But again, very hot out there today.
08:38So I'm kind of covering myself there with that one, too.
08:41You said Taylon Green.
08:42Was it just a misspeak or is he receiving passes?
08:47Wait, I'm sorry.
08:48I'm missing.
08:48Okay, you misspoke.
08:50I got very confused for a second.
08:51I was like, wait, are they throwing passes to Taylon Green?
08:54I got excited.
08:54I misspoke because we're talking about the quarterback.
08:57No, there was another receiver.
08:58I'm so sorry.
08:59Taylon Wallace is who I met, not Taylon Green.
09:02All right, no worries.
09:02Didn't mean to get you excited there, Jason.
09:04I did.
09:05I was just thinking.
09:06I'm like, they promised us all sorts of gadget plays with him, everything.
09:09I'm like, this is great news.
09:11Okay.
09:12Yeah, no, that did not come to fruition.
09:14Just too much quarterback talk going on in my brain right now.
09:17So my apologies.
09:19Understandable.
09:20The Ronnie Hickman interception, though, the one that was...
09:23I mean, that was...
09:24That's the negative highlight of the day, for sure.
09:26I mean, Ashley, I don't know how you make that bad of a throw.
09:29Yeah.
09:29I mean, it's tough when you see those turnovers like that, especially in the sense of, hey,
09:35we know what these practices are, and you're not getting hit.
09:39You're not in pads.
09:41So you never want to see any turnovers.
09:43Now, mistakes are going to happen, but I think they're concerning when you're a veteran and
09:47they're happening, and you're throwing that kind of ball that is getting picked off.
09:52And I'll say, on top of not getting hit, really, you're still missing your better secondary
09:58defenders.
09:59You know, Denzel Ward wasn't out there in team period today.
10:02No Grant Delpit practicing.
10:04So these guys are kind of, to some extent, getting a little bit of a break in that regard.
10:10So yeah, I mean, that certainly was the negative highlight of the day for me, if I had to pick
10:16one there.
10:17Ashley, the read that I'm getting on it, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, is that
10:21Shador probably had a better day yesterday than Deshaun had today.
10:25How many more of those do we see before we start to talk about a conversation of maybe
10:30Shador being in the lead in this competition?
10:33You know, I do think, obviously, at this point, it's going to go into training camp.
10:38I think, really, I wouldn't be surprised at this point if it takes going through those
10:43joint practices with the Buffalo Bills.
10:45I don't know if that's going to be the case, but I would be shocked if Todd Munkin changes
10:52his tune and we know anything by tomorrow.
10:54I think Shador Sanders would have to keep stacking these good days through the early part of training
10:59camp for sure, you know, prior to that first preseason game before we get any kind of announcement.
11:06But I mean, I would be shocked still if it's before that first preseason game.
11:11And I mean, I would just kind of eye those joint practices whenever those are scheduled
11:16for as really a potential time for a starter to be named at this point.
11:21That would just be my guess.
11:22How excited can we get about Isaiah Bond?
11:25Tell me some of the true differences from last year to this year that is making him
11:29and I mean, basically, it's every other play.
11:31It feels like he's just doing something spectacular.
11:33It does.
11:34I mean, every day he is out there making I asked him about this and said it feels like
11:39you're good for at least one or two explosive catch 20 plus yards every single practice.
11:44And we're just seeing it.
11:46I think he looks so much more confident out there.
11:51And I mean, it's not surprising because he didn't get an offseason here.
11:55He wasn't signed until training camp was already going on.
11:59So that confidence, that just sort of knowledge of where he's supposed to be, I think, is allowing
12:04him to be so explosive.
12:06And you're seeing it out there on the field.
12:08Talk to me about a couple of the other receivers.
12:10I was initially coming into this high on Casey and a little bit more questionable on Denzel
12:15Boston, but it feels like every highlight that I'm watching almost from practice is Isaiah
12:20Bond, as we just mentioned, or a lot of Denzel Boston making great plays.
12:23I mean, I'll tell you what Denzel Boston catches everything around him, which I think it was
12:28why I was so intrigued by him throughout the draft process.
12:31I included him in multiple of my mock drafts that I did because his catch radius is so impressive
12:38and he's so impressive in those contested catches as well.
12:42So I think you're really seeing that out here.
12:45He's not dropping a lot of footballs.
12:47And I will say, like, Casey Concepcion has impressed me because he's not really either.
12:51And I think that was something people were worried about with him coming in because of
12:57his drop rate in college being at like 10% or whatever.
13:00But he has been, I think, really concentrating, working to fix those concentration drops.
13:09And I will say, Denzel Boston, he just is so big and so consistent so far that that's what's
13:16been really impressive about him.
13:18All right, Ashley, I got my Taylor Swift spin, as you are the Taylor Swift expert on the show.
13:23And you just sounded out with me for a second, OK?
13:25Just amused me.
13:26All right, so TMZ and Page Six are reporting that Taylor is going to be at the Knicks game
13:30tonight, game four at Madison Square Garden.
13:32We don't even know if it's true.
13:33It's Page Six.
13:34They might just be lying.
13:35But instead of taking the approach of, I can't believe she's not actually a Cavs fan to support
13:41Travis, I'm going to take the approach of, she just loves ball.
13:46But the development here is that Taylor Swift, and I guess Travis isn't even supposed to be
13:50there tonight.
13:50She just loves ball.
13:52And I got no problems with her being a hoop head.
13:55No, I have no problems with her wanting to go to the Knicks game.
13:59These finals have been so entertaining.
14:02And, you know, Travis Kelsey did say he would be probably supporting the Knicks the rest of
14:07the way after they bested the Cavs.
14:09I see that mentality.
14:10I know some people want nothing to do with the team that beats their team.
14:13Others say, I'm going to root for them because I at least want our loss to have been worthwhile.
14:18So maybe Taylor is supporting Travis in that way.
14:22Let's put the spin on it even further there.
14:25Girls night out at Madison Square Garden.
14:27Why not?
14:27It sounds like a fun time.
14:29All right, Ashley, we appreciate you as always.
14:30Great insight.
14:31We'll catch up with you later.
14:32Thanks, Ashley.
14:32All right.
14:33Thanks, guys.
14:34All right.
14:34Good stuff right there, Ashley Bastock.
14:35I'm the Wiseheart, right?
14:36We make it right.
14:37Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
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