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00:00For our guest's time, Marcel Louis-Jacques from ESPN on the West.
00:04Does he?
00:04I have no idea.
00:05Has this been annoying, Marcel?
00:07Are you still there?
00:09I actually forgot that I was a guest.
00:13I thought I was just listening to the radio.
00:15If I'm being blunt.
00:16That's high praise.
00:18When you said Marcel, I was like, oh, that's me.
00:20Okay.
00:21They're taking my call.
00:22That's right.
00:24About to turn on a TV show and get back into Breaking Bad.
00:27All right.
00:29Well, let's dig into it.
00:31So, I mean, you've been around NFL teams for many years.
00:34What's this one like with all the changes around Miami?
00:38It's clean house, new everything.
00:41What's that been like for you?
00:43It's kind of funny.
00:45You know, it's been essentially the same core in Miami for the past, I mean, let's say since I got
00:52here in 2021.
00:54And so, it just feels like it feels brand new.
00:57I was actually, I was talking to somebody with the team after Mike was fired, and they said, you know,
01:02it's almost kind of exciting because of the unknown aspect of it.
01:06Like, there's always, the road untraveled is always fascinating.
01:09So, this is kind of where we are right now.
01:12From a talent perspective and, like, an on-field performance, it feels like a new world out here.
01:19Because, you know, with Tyreek and Tua and Waddle, you are going to see, like, a 50-yard completion every
01:26day.
01:26At least one.
01:28Guaranteed.
01:28But now, not really.
01:32This seems more like an offense willing to just take what it gets, to play ball control, to just maul
01:39its way downfield.
01:40It's really not the same kind of aerial assault that we've been used to.
01:44But I will say this, too, about the players on the team.
01:48It is a collection of just good dudes, man.
01:51Like, there's good guys on this team.
01:53There's nobody that comes to the podium, and you're just kind of like, all right, here we go.
01:57Like, are they moody today?
01:59Like, are they going to big-time us?
02:01Are they, like, we haven't been, there's nobody like, okay, we've asked him for three weeks to get them to
02:06the podium.
02:07Like, it's none of that.
02:08So, I think, I talk about this a lot just with people around the organization.
02:13Like, the ego has been stripped from the Miami Dolphins.
02:17This is a sans ego, a post-ego team right now.
02:22It's a lot of guys on one-year deals just trying to make a team.
02:26I mean, we're not even, we haven't even seen fights at training camp, man.
02:30Like, they haven't had a single fight.
02:31Maybe a dressed-up or two yesterday, which is their 10th practice, I believe.
02:39But no actual fights because the rule is you throw a punch, you're kicked out of practice,
02:45and nobody can afford to get kicked out of practice.
02:47They're trying to make the team.
02:48So, it's just a really different experience.
02:51I don't know that it's going to translate to wins in 2026.
02:55As a matter of fact, I would probably bet the under on wins in 2026.
03:00But I stand firm that it is more a product of the schedule that they're going to face
03:07rather than the accumulation of talent on the actual roster.
03:11They're going to compete.
03:12It's just, I don't know.
03:14I don't know, man.
03:15You're playing Super Bowl contenders week in and week out.
03:17It's going to be a little tough.
03:18Yeah.
03:19Marcel, do you have a feel for where ownership is on all this?
03:24Like, obviously, you know, Stephen Ross cleaned house.
03:28Does that mean he's ready to, like, donate a year to the landfill here
03:33and give these people that he just brought in some time to sort of, you know,
03:38get their gospel across to everyone?
03:41Because he has a reputation for being, I guess, a little impatient, I think.
03:45I mean, a lot of owners do.
03:46Well, this is a patience play.
03:48Because, again, he's been known for taking, let's say, half measures over the past,
03:55and let's call it 10 years, because it has been 10 years.
03:58You know, it went from, you know, a few years of Adam Gates
04:02and then three years of Brian Flores and then four years of Mike McDaniel.
04:07But the common denominator was always general manager Chris Greer.
04:10He didn't completely clean house.
04:13They didn't completely reset the roster, you know, except for the 2019.
04:17That was it.
04:18But beyond that, it's just been kind of Band-Aid after Band-Aid and quick fix after quick fix
04:22after get-rich-quick scheme.
04:24And that doesn't work, man.
04:27It just simply doesn't work.
04:28So this was a full reset.
04:29I mean, all the way up to the front office.
04:33Like, not only Chris Greer, obviously, fired midway through last season,
04:37but Tom Garfinkel, the team president and, you know, president of Football Ops,
04:42he stepped down last week.
04:44And they've got Daniel Tillman, who is Steve Ross's son-in-law.
04:48But, you know, he does have a history being around sports.
04:52He was heavily involved.
04:54Matter of fact, he orchestrated, he spearheaded the head coach and GM search.
05:00So these are his guys, Hapton and Sullivan are his guys.
05:03Like, they are all in on this new branch, this new path.
05:07And I think everybody in the organization kind of expects to eat their vegetables in 2026.
05:14And they're hoping that with a lot of salary cap space and a developed rookie class,
05:19that things will kind of get back on track there in 2027.
05:22I happen to be married to a woman who would take exception to eat your vegetables.
05:26I hear that a lot.
05:27And she's only someone who eats vegetables.
05:29She's like, you know, if you grill everything, bait some olive oil, right?
05:33That's not so bad.
05:35Balsamic on there.
05:36Balsamic.
05:36You know, you could do that.
05:38You could do worse.
05:39Hey, man, if you fire up a grill and you're only putting vegetables on it,
05:42don't invite me over.
05:44Okay.
05:45Well, let me write that down.
05:45Don't do that.
05:46I'll cross off my plans for that invitation after your comment.
05:50I want a steak, man.
05:52That's what a grill is made for.
05:53I want a steak.
05:54I want some, you know, some kebabs even.
05:57Me too.
05:57I'll meet you halfway.
05:58That's a good mix of veggies and protein, yeah?
06:01I'm all the way in on that as well.
06:03Marcel Louis-Jacques from ESPN.
06:05So much to ask you with the Dolphins.
06:07What are the vibes on the new coach?
06:10Like, for me, coaches are always middle managers.
06:12And, you know, if it doesn't work out overall, you see coaches fired all the time.
06:17And history might be quite different if certain coaches, better or worse,
06:21fell into different environments.
06:22Halfway in Miami, coaches are often, hires are often, like,
06:27we're looking for basically the opposite of the last guy.
06:30And did the Dolphins sort of accomplish that with him?
06:33What are you sort of getting from him so far?
06:36I think that's probably why I expected him to be kind of a, let's say, militaristic.
06:43I expected him to be, like, a really kind of a hard-ass there.
06:47But, like, he's not.
06:49I'm not going to say he's a player's coach per se.
06:52But, like, he is a guy.
06:53He's very personable.
06:55He's very approachable.
06:56But, like, he is unrelenting in his standard.
07:00And that's kind of, like, what he's – that's the message he's been putting across.
07:03It's just, like, yeah, the standard is the standard.
07:06You're either going to hit it or you don't.
07:07Like, I'm not going to give you – there's no wiggle room.
07:09There's no this or that.
07:10Like, I'm not going to toy around with you.
07:12You know what I expect.
07:12And I expect you to do it.
07:16I don't want to go so far as to say, like, this is going to work.
07:20I guarantee it's going to work because I have not seen him coaching games yet.
07:24I've not seen them in a truly competitive environment yet.
07:28But I do – I feel – it feels like a different atmosphere so far.
07:33But some of that could just be, to borrow a soccer term, like the new manager bounce.
07:38Like I said earlier in the program, like, it's the excitement and the unknown and the new.
07:44But, like, it's going to wear off eventually.
07:46And then we've got to see where we're at post – you know, where they're at post-honeymoon phase.
07:50But I think that so far he has really aced this part of it.
07:56You know, the speaking to the media, the firing up his players, the setting the tone at practice.
08:01Like, it's – this part is good so far.
08:04But, again, that's only going to take you so far, man.
08:07And nobody cares how cool you are, how nice you are, how funny you are,
08:10if your team's winning three or four games every season.
08:15So, like, the true test is coming in about a month.
08:17Really, the true test is coming in about, let's call it, 15 hours, 16 hours or so.
08:23And they've got a joint practice against a commander's team that's in year three under Dan Quinn
08:30that's got a good quarterback that, you know, has some excitement to it.
08:33Like, that's going to be a real benchmark for Jeff Athlete and his team.
08:40Is that in Miami tomorrow?
08:42It is not.
08:43It is in the DMV.
08:45I don't know where do they – they're practicing in Virginia, right?
08:49Somewhere.
08:50They're practicing in Virginia.
08:51They play in Maryland.
08:52They're named after Washington.
08:54Like, yeah.
08:55But avoid the heat if you can do it.
08:57I don't want to be wrong, but I also don't want to look it up because I would be cheating.
09:01You're a Chelsea guy?
09:03That's it.
09:03All right, good.
09:04Did you get to any World Cup, Marcel?
09:07Yeah, actually.
09:08My wife and I went to Argentina-Jordan in Dallas, and that was cool.
09:14Got to see Messi score off a free kick.
09:17It was, you know, keep that video forever.
09:19And then we saw what I personally think, in my unbiased opinion, we saw the best game,
09:26most entertaining game of the entire tournament, which was England-France.
09:31England-France, okay.
09:33England-France, 6-4.
09:35Oh, the third place game.
09:37Yeah, right.
09:38Yeah, I mean, it was like tailor-made for the American audience.
09:41There was non-stop scoring there.
09:43I thought that was fun.
09:44In Miami?
09:45Yeah, in a vacuum, I think that was the most entertaining game of the tournament.
09:50Overall, it was probably Cabo Verde-Argentina.
09:54Okay.
09:55But, you know, context-adjusted, I think that's probably – that was more exciting.
09:59I thought you might go England.
10:01England-Norway there in Miami when it, you know, still mattered.
10:05The quarters, I guess that was, that went to Extra Time and Bellingham.
10:10But a lot of good choices in that tournament.
10:13It was a fun tournament, man.
10:15Like, this was such a special thing.
10:16I'm just grateful that we were able to get out there for a couple of these.
10:20You know, I'm loaded up on World Cup here.
10:22I got a World Cup T-shirt on right now that I paid a shameful amount of money for.
10:26But I'm telling myself, my kid's going to wear it one day,
10:29and he's going to say, wow, this is this cool vintage shirt.
10:33And that's – we're just going to have to live with that for the next –
10:38Chelsea new manager.
10:39At least, since he's not born yet.
10:41Right.
10:41Chelsea new manager, Bulldog.
10:43Liverpool, City, Chelsea, six others, I think.
10:47I think there are nine.
10:48Not yours.
10:49Not Bulldogs United.
10:50Michael Carrick, we're the picture of stability now.
10:52Everton.
10:53Look out for them.
10:54So am I.
10:55Back to the Dolphins here, Marcel.
10:57Have you had a chance to spend any time either, like, in the room with all the reporters at a
11:02podium
11:03or just one-on-one with Bobby Slowick?
11:05Like, he was such a hot commodity there for a minute.
11:10Stroud's rookie year.
11:11And then it just kind of unraveled.
11:13I'm just wondering, like, where he's at.
11:16Like, has he – he seemed like a guy that was shooting up the charts, going to be a head
11:21coach any minute,
11:22and maybe it's been a little bit humbling here.
11:25Yeah, I think – and what I think is going to be different a little bit here in Miami is,
11:30like,
11:30there's more of a run game to fall back on.
11:34They didn't quite have that in Houston, I think,
11:38for either of C.J. Stroud's first two years under – or two years under Bobby.
11:43But here they're going to force-feed – they're going to force-feed Devon H.
11:47And I'm going to give him as much work as he can – as he can handle.
11:50But he does – he sounds humbled by the experience.
11:53He did have that year last year as, I believe, the passing game coordinator,
11:57passing game specialist.
11:59Dolphins passing game wasn't great, but I do not think that that is –
12:03I don't think that's a reflection on Bobby Slowick.
12:06I think that is a reflection on just the complete lack of faith in Tua
12:11and Tua's lack of faith in his coaches.
12:15It just – everything just kind of fell apart for Miami's offense last season.
12:19But, you know, there's not a lot to work with in terms of receivers.
12:24There's a big unknown quarterback in Malik Willis.
12:28But I think that's – I think we're going to see something exciting out of the rookies.
12:35Like, if I'm Bobby Slowick, that's where I'm – that's where I'm steering my attention to.
12:40Caleb Douglas was named a – you know, listed as a starter on the first unofficial depth start today.
12:48Chris Bell has been – has not returned to practice yet.
12:51I think they're praying he's back sometime this preseason, but I will say he's working out before practice
12:57with no knee sleeve, no knee brace, and the size and speed combination there,
13:02I think is going to be – has an opportunity to be special.
13:05So, like, this is going to be just one of those seasons where Bobby, similar to –
13:11I mean, damn near everybody else on this team,
13:13is not necessarily going to be judged and graded on results, but by the process itself.
13:20So, I think that's – that's what you got to look at for Bobby.
13:23Is this offense continuing to get better?
13:25Is he developing players?
13:26Is he developing these rookies?
13:28It's not going to be so much like, oh, man, is this the new C.J. Stroud?
13:33Is this – are they the new Texans?
13:34Are they lighting the world on fire?
13:36Because they're probably not going to.
13:37But there's just kind of a different rubric down here for this season.
13:40Yeah.
13:41You mentioned Willis.
13:43And, you know, he's not a complete unknown.
13:45He's played a little in Green Bay.
13:49So, not a complete stranger.
13:51But, you know, what's that look like?
13:53Like, do you see, like, moments where, like, man, there's a lot of talent in there.
13:58There's a lot of athleticism in there.
14:00Can he put it all together?
14:02Just where are you at on him?
14:05Yeah.
14:05He had this throw yesterday or maybe the day before.
14:10It had to be yesterday because they're off Sunday.
14:12Where he rolls out of the pocket and I believe Jacob Rodriguez is in his face.
14:17Somebody's in his face.
14:18And he sprints to his right, elevates, and fires just a laser over the middle to Caleb Douglas.
14:25And Douglas, you know, carouser for the first down.
14:27And it's just, you know, little plays like that that just display the athleticism and the arm talent.
14:32Like, I think arm talent is kind of like a widely used phrase.
14:36But, like, I see it as the ability to make all kinds of throws off platform.
14:40And he checks the hell out of that box, man.
14:46And the crazy thing is here, like, so nothing he's done is really, like, there hasn't been a day where
14:51I would say he just lit the defense up.
14:55Where it was just touchdown after touchdown after bomb after bomb.
14:57But it has been consistent and steady up until the right improvement for him over the course of the summer.
15:04And even dating back to the spring.
15:06But we do have to remember, he's not running.
15:09Like, they want him making plays in the pocket this summer.
15:13Because it doesn't really do much good to a defense or an offense for the quarterback to just take off
15:19and run at the first sign of struggle.
15:21So, like, that is an element that we haven't seen that you're going to have to account for from the
15:26regular season.
15:26And, you know, he's plenty fast, though.
15:29Like, I didn't know just how strong his arm was before really getting to see him up close.
15:34Like, I just didn't have a full appreciation of it.
15:37And it is strong as hell.
15:41But the speed is exactly what I expected out of him.
15:43And he is a little bigger, too.
15:44Like, I think he can handle the, like, I think he'll be pretty durable and be able to absorb contact.
15:50But they got a plan for him.
15:52And I saw him run a little read option at one point.
15:55I'm not going to say what area of the field.
15:56But it's possible.
15:57And it's something that I think defensive coordinators are not learning for the first time on this here radio program.
16:02But it'll be exciting.
16:03It's just an element we have not seen in the Dolphins' offense over the past.
16:07We don't want to get you in trouble.
16:08You don't want to say what happened exactly.
16:11But, yes.
16:13I love how excited you got when you were able to pinpoint what day at practice that was that he
16:18made that throw.
16:18Because I do that, too.
16:19Like, a lot of the days blend together.
16:21You're covering practice.
16:22You're talking.
16:23You're like, what day was that?
16:24Like, oh, no, it had to be this day.
16:26Like, there was a little jolt of excitement there, Marcel.
16:28I respect that.
16:29Oh, yeah, man.
16:30It's your little things, bro.
16:31It was Monday.
16:32You've got to find it.
16:33My brain works.
16:33It was Monday.
16:36I mean, I love the point about why have a – we had this with different Bills quarterbacks in the
16:41last, well, 20 years, but not in a while since Allen.
16:44Like, why have them run in camp?
16:45What's the point?
16:46It's just a broken plate.
16:48You know, people would – I'm sorry how old I sound for this, but like J.P. Lossman.
16:51And, oh, you've got to see the guy run.
16:53Like, I don't want to see the guy run.
16:55I want to see him.
16:55And so do the Bills.
16:57Got his leg broke.
16:58Well, that happened, too.
16:59Running in practice.
17:00Because guys got sick of it.
17:02They want – well, right.
17:03I mean, with – maybe they had a point.
17:04Yeah.
17:05From a team standpoint, you don't want to see your quarterback, you know, gym class heroing on scrambles in camp
17:10because that's not a good result.
17:12You're making us look bad.
17:13We can't hit you.
17:14So, someone hit him and he broke his leg.
17:16There's no point in running.
17:17But I'm excited to see Willis, Marcel.
17:20All it takes is one, you know, like one frustrated play, one – like the perfect combination, perfect storm of
17:27frustration and exhaustion.
17:30And you get a cheap shot on a quarterback and all of a sudden the season's different.
17:34Yeah.
17:34So, it's not worth it.
17:36You know he can run.
17:37Then the team has to make up a story like the Bills did in 2004 for like what actually happened
17:41on that play.
17:42Hey, Marcel, so I'm in lots of fantasy leagues.
17:46HN is – we know how good he is.
17:48I mean, the eye test, the stats, they all speak to it.
17:53He goes end of the first round.
17:54James Cook, Gentee, I guess Hampton, although that sounds like a committee right now.
18:00Chase Brown, even Barkley.
18:03And HN for me has been a do-not-draft guy because I just worry that Miami season, as good
18:08as he is, will get to a point where, I don't know, they're like 2-9 or something like that.
18:13And then he just – they've already paid him.
18:15Like, they just sort of, yeah, you know what, take it easy for a while.
18:18I don't want to have to worry about that in my leagues later on in the season.
18:22Would you push back against that?
18:24I know today there's some report about like the heavy workload for HN, who's not a big guy, but he's,
18:29you know, super good.
18:31What kind of bet would you make on him numbers-wise maybe is the question.
18:36I mean, so he went 1350 and eight touchdowns, I want to say, last year, but the catches are consistent.
18:44And I think that is, especially if you're in a – especially if you're in a PPR, like that's usually
18:51what is going to tip the scale.
18:54If I'm choosing like between him and Ashton Gentee, like why – I don't want Ashton – I don't want
18:59any part of that Raiders run game right now.
19:01No way.
19:02Give me the guy who has proven to produce on a good team and proven to produce on a bad
19:08team with a clearly defined role
19:09and a coach who's willing to publicly say we're going to give him 40 to 45 touches sometimes.
19:15And in terms of his durability, like he's not a big guy, but he's only missed one game over the
19:21past two years.
19:22And I want to say it was the end of last season when, you know, everything was – there was
19:28no point in playing anymore.
19:29So it's like, all right, you banged up a little bit.
19:32Let's go ahead and let you rest.
19:34And lo and behold, like he did have off-season shoulder surgery, so it proved to be necessary.
19:40But he is good.
19:42Mike McDaniel told me once that what he stood out to Devon – about Devon A. Chan when he was
19:47in college,
19:48it was his ability to contort his body essentially to avoid the worst of contact.
19:53Even when he runs inside, like he's usually really good at just absorbing contact in exactly the right place where
20:00you need to.
20:01You know, letting his pads do talking there and not getting himself twisted and turned and beat down.
20:07And I think that, you know, A. Chan's kind of proven that.
20:10It was tough – a tough first year, I'll give him that.
20:12Like the knee injury that held him out for like a month, that's a tough start.
20:16But if he's healthy, man, and this offense is going to need him to produce, so like that's a no
20:23-brainer end of the first round to me.
20:25That turnaround pick, if he's still there, bang, bang.
20:29All right.
20:29There's a lot of receivers you can get.
20:30There's not a lot of running backs.
20:32Good point.
20:33He had more rushing yards alone last year than Gentey had total.
20:36Gentey had maybe an underappreciated season because the Raiders were so bad.
20:40He had 13-21 total from scrimmage, but Gentey came in well above that.
20:44And he has eight touchdowns already in three years against Buffalo.
20:47So we've seen our share of each – like a quarter of his touchdowns career against the Bills.
20:52Memorable plays.
20:54All right, Marcel.
20:55Well, it's always a treat to talk – call us any time if you, you know, want to talk soccer
20:59or get bored or something because we love to chat.
21:02So thanks for visiting with us today.
21:05Absolutely, man.
21:06And honestly, I can't wait to – I've seen the discourse, obviously.
21:10I can't wait to get up to Buffalo and really see the inside of the stadium for myself because it
21:16does feel like – I can't tell, man.
21:19It's just the negative voices seem to always be the loudest.
21:23Yeah.
21:23So I'm sure it's not as bad as people are really making it out to be.
21:27We do our best, if I may say.
21:29Like yesterday was one where – and this is – I don't think this is to be scoffed at.
21:33A number of fans were disgruntled about having seats where their views were obstructed or just little glitches maybe in
21:39the whole thing.
21:40First night of the place ever.
21:42And I think that somewhat is to be expected.
21:44But we tried to say over and over, like overwhelmingly positive reviews.
21:48What a thing to have in Buffalo, this new facility.
21:52So when is Miami here, late or in the middle?
21:56I think it's November.
21:57Okay.
21:58Then they go to – the Bills go to Miami, like second to last game of the season.
22:02That's what that is, January 3rd.
22:03Very good.
22:04Yeah, ever since the – ever since Sungate.
22:07Yes.
22:08I feel like that's kind of how the schedule's been playing out, man.
22:13That was pretty funny.
22:15We're not going to Miami in September, and the Commanders are definitely not going down there in August.
22:19So that'll be in Washington this week, the joint practice.
22:22Thanks again for your time.
22:24Yep.
22:24Anytime, guys.
22:25Thanks for having me.
22:26Okay, you're welcome.
22:26Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN.
22:29Yes, it is week 11.
22:30The Dolphins are here, November 22nd.
22:33Jets and Dolphins.
22:35Dolphins and Jets.
22:36Probably.
22:37Certainly by the point spread.
22:40The four softest games on the Bills' schedule, and they are back-to-backers both times.
22:4510 and 11, and then 17 and 18.
22:48Better win them all.
22:50I've got more to say about that with you after the update.
22:54803-0550 for your calls.
22:56What a –
22:56I've got more to say about that with you after the update.
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