00:00Now, Michael Penix hasn't been cleared, but could this be a sign that he's just a little bit behind?
00:06It could. It could be nothing because I think the only reason, and I heard that this was apparently a
00:13topic over the weekend.
00:15I think we tend to overreact with anything that happens and then we don't hear anything.
00:22And the reason why Patrick Mahomes has announced that he's been cleared, other than the fact that he is healthy,
00:30is the fact that they have reported already.
00:32And he's standing at a podium, at the facility, at a press conference that is held because they have started
00:41camp.
00:41They have reported.
00:42Penix won't report until, I believe, tomorrow, and maybe today, because the rookies have already reported for the Falcons.
00:52And maybe we'll get news today or tomorrow then.
00:54Like, right? I mean, I just don't think...
00:56Like, they're just not going to randomly say,
00:59Oh, and by the way, Penix is clear.
01:01They're going to wait until the day that he reports and the day he speaks, probably.
01:07Right?
01:07And normally he might speak when he reports.
01:10So I don't know.
01:11But that's, to me, I'm not overly concerned about it until we get to Wednesday
01:15and you know that Kevin Stefanski tells us when we're there, because we're going to have him on Wednesday,
01:23Hey, he's cleared to go, he's ready to go, because we're going to get him first.
01:26And so that's, like, the thing for me.
01:28Yeah.
01:28No, I'm completely with you.
01:30And look, questions and answers will breed questions and answers.
01:35Like, the next thing that will come from that is, you know, first of all,
01:38what are we looking for and who's winning the quarterback battle?
01:40And then you know as well as I do, the question that will follow that is
01:44if either one of them will play in game one of the preseason.
01:47And if so, who will take the first snaps out of the gate?
01:50And will that flip for game number two?
01:51And who will take the majority in game number three?
01:53And that's all just trying to decide if they're even playing in the preseason.
01:56You know, because we haven't had that in years past in some of these quarterback battles.
02:00I hope they both play.
02:02I think there's a lot of reason that you would want both of them to both play.
02:05And continue to compete.
02:06And that's what Kevin Stefanski's message really has been.
02:09And we talked to Arch about it on Friday when he was like,
02:11Ian Cunningham and company have made it very clear, you know,
02:13we're going to have some of these position battles and have guys grind it out.
02:17And I think if you really do want that,
02:19then that needs to come to the forefront in some of these preseason games
02:21and figure out who exactly is the best one.
02:24Are you a – I believe, especially at the quarterback position,
02:30that I'm not a huge – like, I'm used to hear people say all the time,
02:32I'll bring somebody in, a veteran in when Matt was here.
02:36Bring a veteran in just to push Matt.
02:38And I'm like, dude, that's – we ain't in that situation.
02:41Like, Matt, that does nothing for Matt Ryan.
02:43You're just taking reps away if you try to do that.
02:46Because Matt never did anything to me where you're like, oh, should bench him.
02:50Like, I mean, yeah, he had ups and downs, but, I mean, he was a franchise quarterback.
02:56However, when you've had two years of what Mike has been, which is, you know, he's played.
03:02When he's played, it's been a little inconsistent at times, and then the injury.
03:05And then Tua trying to reset his career.
03:09I actually think you put two alphas going head-to-head.
03:14I think it's great.
03:15And you'll realize very quickly if they're both alphas.
03:18You're perceived to be because they're in the quarterback position.
03:20And then normally the quarterback position is an alpha because you have to be a leader.
03:24You have to be the leader because you're the highest paid, the most important position.
03:30I mean, stop me when you think I'm saying anything wrong, Mike.
03:33And that's kind of like where it's at for me.
03:36So I think it's going to be a good thing, actually.
03:38I thought Art kind of touched on it Friday when he joined us from Rise Coffee and Tea.
03:44Like, I thought he nailed it, Allie, with that whole point about, hey, you know,
03:48this is going to be a good thing for Mike because he hasn't really gone through this.
03:53Yeah, so I'm curious because the rookies got in on Friday.
03:58Vets don't get there until tomorrow.
04:00So what have the rookies been up to over the last couple days?
04:03Relearning the playbook.
04:04Point blank, relearning the playbook.
04:06And not only that, but learning how the practices happen.
04:10And this will be a big thing, too, for the veterans because it is year one under coaching staff.
04:15But essentially, one of the upsides and the reason that you do it this way is so that the rookies
04:20don't have to get in the way of the veterans getting their reps.
04:24And these veterans, especially the defensive guys on the defensive side of the ball, they're going to know what they're
04:28doing.
04:29All right?
04:30You know, Divine Diablo is going to know some of the defensive calls.
04:33They've had Jeff Ulrich before.
04:34They know exactly kind of how this is going to go.
04:36They know what some of the drills look like.
04:38The last thing you want to do is mix in rookies who might be the 90th man on the roster
04:43that come in there and take reps away and, you know, trip all over themselves, run into the wrong drill
04:47and don't know what the calls are and things like that.
04:50So you give them those extra four days.
04:53You know, nothing to, you know, they're not breaking their back, but you go in there and get some work
04:57in and help them understand where they need to be during the play, between plays, between drills, between practices, whatever
05:03else it may be.
05:04So that everything, when the veterans show up and the real work starts, everything can run a lot smoother in
05:09the long run.
05:11Yeah, I took a step back here because I really wanted to hear what Mike had to say because I
05:16was curious of what it was like when Mike got there as a rookie showed up.
05:19I mean, your head's got to be on a swivel, right?
05:21I mean, you're just like, you're just trying to not misstep.
05:28That's exactly what it is.
05:29And the last thing, dude, let me tell you something.
05:31The last thing you wanted to do when I was a rookie and Harvey was there and Tyson and, you
05:39know, and Mudduck and Sam Baker and Blaylock, the last thing you wanted to do is misstep in a meeting
05:45or anything else.
05:46Like you wanted, you wanted to know the lay of the land.
05:48You, you felt way more comfortable getting in there and having four days with just rookies and attending special teams
05:55meetings and going through all those things.
05:56So that when the vets got there, you didn't have to like tuck tail and say, oh my God, where
06:01am I supposed to sit?
06:02What am I supposed to do?
06:02Where do I go?
06:03And they do it.
06:04They did always did a good job with us.
06:05I don't know if it's still like that, but you know, the old Georgia force locker room out there in
06:09the indoor, you would go in there and that would be the rookie locker room.
06:13And they would make sure that everything kind of separated until it didn't.
06:16And then they would kind of merge everything back in, but it's, yeah, your, your head is not just going
06:21to be spinning for four days or for training camp.
06:23It'll be spinning for the next six months until you figure things out.
06:26The funny thing is, is that offensive line you just named, the left side was the nice side.
06:30Yeah.
06:31Because once you got to Mudduck and look, Todd is a friend of the show and he is a really
06:36good dude and he, he is, uh, fun to talk to.
06:41But when he was on the, when he was a player, he was a little less fun to talk to.
06:46And interact with it.
06:47And I imagine as a incoming rookie, especially a guy that could play all over the line, you, everybody probably
06:53hated you when you walked in the door because they're like, oh yeah, you think you're going to take my
06:56job?
06:57No, I'm just here, man.
06:58But then you had Dahl and Claybo and Harvey Dahl, when he was playing might've been one of the meanest
07:04guys on a football field.
07:06And I say that as a compliment because when you play, there's this thing about, especially with offensive linemen, it's
07:14like play into the edge of the whistle.
07:16And to me, if you're an offensive lineman and you get the rep of playing to the edge of the
07:20whistle, it's one of the highest compliments you can ever get.
07:23Because for me, I think it's a badge of honor because people fear you and they know if you're on
07:30the field, they have to be looking out at all times.
07:34Because I watched Harvey, I watched Claybo, Mudduck, Joe, Hawley.
07:40I watched all those guys absolutely obliterate people literally as a play is ending.
07:45When I came on my visit to the Atlanta Falcons, my pre-draft visit, I went and watched film with
07:51Mike Malarkey, who was the offensive coordinator at the time.
07:53And he would simply just show me tape of those guys and say, do you think that you could play
07:57like this?
07:58This is what we're looking for.
07:59And it was like a highlight film of people that were looking around for them after the whistle.
08:05And Mike Smith is always famous for, we're not playing to the whistle, we're playing to the echo of the
08:08whistle.
08:08You know what I mean?
08:09We're going to put a couple toes over the line and make sure the guys know we're there.
08:12And yeah, that group was legendary for that, for sure.
08:15We're going to put a couple toes over the line.
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