00:00ravens game on friday night it's probably one of the five worst assignments of my career
00:06it just just but i get that 41 guys didn't dress i do think there's a reason for concern that
00:16if you're down the roster players get your doors blown off by um the guys up the road which by
00:23the
00:23way it was for the second straight year that happened in the last pre-season game which i
00:27think and i wrote this in my column this morning like is that the biggest deal getting blown out
00:3241 to 3 and 30 to 3 against the ravens in the last pre-season game of course not but
00:37it does show you
00:38that baltimore has built a sturdier roster that has more talented players from say bots 40 through 53
00:49or as the commanders like to say 40 through 70 because they consider the practice squad guys
00:55part of the team like that's somewhat meaningful now we don't have a ton of data points on
01:02the best players on the commanders jayden had a great camp like he only played three snaps in a game
01:09and obviously the offense struggled in that uh in that joint practice in baltimore when they were
01:15trying some things on the line and sam cosme was sick but daily like his focus his accuracy his
01:23command his leadership really seemed like on point and i think if he's healthy that lifts the floor
01:31for the whole operation um in some ways what adam peters and dan quinn say on august 31st pales in
01:40comparison to the major question the major issue for the year is like does the quarterback stay upright
01:46and how many wins can he deliver with his extreme talent yeah barry despite the swirling negativity
01:52around the team over the last i don't know week to 10 days i'm looking back at your article that
01:58you've published on august 7th about watching six practices of jayden and you're looking through it
02:04through burgundy and gold colored glasses you you pose that question but that's the reason why i'm
02:09willing to still say that i think that this team despite the challenges despite a tough schedule can
02:14still win 10 or 11 games if jayden daniels is back to his rookie form like that's that's their pathway
02:21yes it's totally their pathway and i think it's you know dan quinn talks about complementary football
02:26like i think it's like if he is a version of his 2025 self and the defense is not 31st
02:36but 15th 17th
02:3820th pick something that's not just god awful like jayden could help lift the the defense in a way
02:45by keeping them off the field by sustaining drives by using i really do think digs is like the perfect
02:51addition to that room because all of a sudden like when they're coming to cut down day with the
02:55receivers it's like oh wait they're actually going to cut a guy that you probably was in the mix to
03:02be
03:02you know the fourth or fifth guy earlier and everybody kind of fell down a notch but jayden is the
03:07thing jayden is the most important person in the building you have to imagine that so many of the
03:13conversations with david blau in the design of this offense are how does this keep him safe how do we
03:20keep him out of harm's way they're not going to call runs for him you're not going to see rpos
03:27is he
03:27going to get hit is he going to have to use his his legs um absolutely like that's part of
03:32as quinn would
03:33say you know one of his superpowers but just keeping him there's not going to be a situation
03:38like the seattle game where they're down at the goal line in a blowout game and uh and he's put
03:44in a
03:44position that is going to cost him several weeks if he if he plays 15 to 17 games i'm with
03:50you cakes
03:51like i just don't think he can play that much and the bottom falls out on the season they have
03:58like
03:58six wins what's going to be uh the conversation amongst fans and certainly you guys if they
04:06really struggle up front against philadelphia in week one and dallas in week two both have
04:12really really good defensive lines especially philadelphia you know what's going to be
04:17yeah well i mean my colleague nikki jabala tried to ask it yesterday you know going back to get to
04:24the
04:24origin story of how did we get here at center where if allegretti goes down it's just an abject
04:29disaster which is the question about like why did they cut tyler biotish in the in the first place
04:34and and adam peters was like well i don't i'm not going to go back over something right um that
04:39happened six months ago but it is an interesting question because you know it's i think we're not
04:46having this discussion if allegretti went through camp um you know just normally instead of just
04:51practicing two two days he was back at practice yesterday so maybe this a month from now all seems
04:57like a lot of smoke that was kind of unnecessary um but to your point jason if it does go
05:03badly against
05:04you know uh a defensive front that is very very scary from the eagles um i'll go back to my
05:12original
05:12point like you guys made these decisions you asked for trust in those decisions if it goes wrong
05:20it's it's on you i mean that's just basically the equation of the whole season i think
05:25so i'm a diehard fan um i always want them to win but i do try to be realistic sometimes
05:31i get over my
05:32skis of course um i think at one point i thought maybe they could win nine or ten games and
05:37then even
05:38though we already knew the opponents when the schedule came out it just it devastated me the first
05:4311 weeks i see maybe two or three potential reprieves everything's going to be you know sorry for saying
05:49the word war but you know what i mean everything's going to be just a battle just going to be
05:52intense
05:53super difficult we're going to be dogs so and that was that was before tonsil went out that was before
05:59all these injuries hit and then also deep down barry if you gave me true serum i would bet that
06:08jayden
06:09does not get through the season i just don't have it the faith i saw him break down so many
06:14times last
06:14year and he's built like a twig i say that facetiously if i gave you truth serum so i think
06:20they're going to really struggle this year and it pains me to say it because i want them to win
06:23it all
06:23i want them to win every game it makes my job better it makes my life better it makes everything
06:27better if i gave you truth serum barry do you think deep down that jayden can get through a full
06:33season
06:34again i kind of do i mean do i think he can the answer is yes do i think he
06:41will i think i kind of
06:43shrug my shoulders like we we have to see he certainly did in in 2025 and i think he put
06:49himself
06:49at more risk during that season than he will during this season i mean you know he only played
06:57three plays against detroit but one of those plays was like he was pressured and just chucked the ball
07:02out of bounds like i think that shows where his head is like i'm not trying to keep an unnecessary
07:08play
07:09alive um i have a long-term view of it and maybe you know going back to cakes talking about
07:16my piece
07:16from a while ago like maybe that is through burgundy and gold colored glasses like this is i drive to
07:22ashburn you know most days i'm driving out there right now this is what i see um so maybe there's
07:28an
07:28over familiarity um bias i i just know that like he's really put everything into this and he knows
07:37that last season was i kind of don't want to say unacceptable because injuries are are you know
07:44you shouldn't really put blame on people for injuries but like he can't play just seven times
07:50this year it's just not how this whole operation is supposed to work um so i don't know maybe that's
07:57overly optimistic but i i i'm with you my life is better if they are playing relevant football in
08:05december and i do think eric like yes the schedule is brutal um are they going to be underdogs in
08:13most
08:13of those games including at home against seattle at home against the rams like it you know at home
08:18against the eagles like all of them yeah they they they probably are um but this league has a funny
08:25way of evening out and like if they can win one of the first three and then go to london
08:31and get to
08:32two and two by beating the colts if they can do um some things that are a little bit unexpected
08:39um
08:39then i think there's a chance in the latter half of the season to go on a real a real
08:45one i also think
08:46guys that it's very very important even if they go oh and three at philly at dallas home to seattle
08:54that the style that they play with the style they compete with is so much different than
09:00some of those games the home game against seattle last year like the dallas game you know the games
09:05that were just non-competitive that can't happen because that then everybody's um neck is on the line
09:11in in that building if it's if they go to philly in week one and they lose 27 24 and
09:17they're like
09:17right in it and you know there's okay they create a turnover on defense that works show some explosion
09:22like that's okay yeah um yeah because that's going to happen it's just it's there's so much unknown in
09:28terms of health and competitiveness and style i just think i'm kind of excited for to see how it
09:35plays out and it just seems like so long between now and september 13th talking to barry's verluga
09:42from the athletic and look at your most recent column which you wrote with nikki javala you talk
09:46about sunny styles playing with some hesitation will we see flashes of sunny styles looking like a star
09:51this season i think flashes is the right way to think of it jp like he's just too athletic and
09:58fast
09:59to not flash at times like i i would expect it to be like you know there's a bubble screen
10:05out in the
10:06flat and like oh my gosh there's number 52 like he ran all the way from you know a middle
10:11linebacking
10:11position and is there like in an instance yes there are going to be hesitation moments because
10:18you know he reads things slowly like that's a rookie thing but i i just think the athleticism is too
10:25you know elite to not have some plays where um you're just like whoa i didn't i didn't think
10:33there's other guys bobby wagner with all due respect couldn't do that late late in his career
10:38um he's not going to be the like steadying force that wagner was but i also don't think you're looking
10:43at jamon davis right i think he's a he's a way higher level talent um and just the body is
10:50like
10:51he's one of those guys who walks by and you're like oh my god like how did that guy used
10:55to play
10:55safety right yeah i can't but i'd say flashes for sure yeah yeah yeah all right barry thank you
11:01appreciate the time uh we'll have you on again soon very soon thank you buddy guys yep yep
11:05that's barry's reluga columnist for the athletic we're the junks we'll be right back here on the fan
