00:00Mickey Spagnuolo, good morning, sir.
00:03Great morning. How are you guys?
00:05Now, Mickey, is it great because of the Cowboys or because your beloved White Sox are but one win from
00:14the ALCS?
00:16Couldn't be any better, right?
00:19Absolutely.
00:22Although, then you go into fan mode and you fear the worst.
00:26Well, this probably isn't going to help this. I'll talk more about this in Baseball Nuggets tomorrow.
00:32Do you know when the last time was that the White Sox clinched a playoff series on their home field?
00:39I saw that, 1906.
00:421906 against the Northsiders, so it feels like he got this, Mickey.
00:48But the rest of that is how many times have they had an opportunity to clinch a series at home?
00:54Right. Well...
00:55I mean, look, I think this is a different team because you guys lost 8,000 games in the last
01:02three years and here you are.
01:04So I think you got this.
01:06Well, after surviving yesterday, maybe so, after falling behind like they did and then needing leaping catches at the wall
01:15to hang in there for a one-run win.
01:18That is the playoffs, though.
01:20That is the margin for error is so much thinner and there's just so much more opportunities that could sway
01:27things.
01:28We know how the big games go.
01:29Indeed.
01:30And probably since 1906, they haven't had a Pope on their side, right?
01:34That's a good point.
01:35That is a very good point.
01:39Now, I know you haven't been saying this, we haven't been saying this, but I want to go back.
01:45Now, the most games with 150 yards receiving in Cowboys history, CeeDee Lamb is tied with Bullet Bob Hayes for
01:53second, behind only Michael Irvin.
01:56Do you think that all the folks who said for years that CeeDee Lamb isn't a true No. 1 wide
02:03receiver should feel quite foolish?
02:05They should resign from having an opinion.
02:10Agreed.
02:11Yeah.
02:11I mean, do they watch?
02:13Do they see?
02:16This was no mistake, right?
02:19I mean, last year, look what he did and he missed, what, four, five games?
02:23Right.
02:24From the injury situation?
02:26And he still had 1,000 yards of receiving.
02:29So, it still went to the Pro Bowl, by the way.
02:33I think the people that count understand just how good he is when you can miss that many games and
02:42still get it voted into the Pro Bowl.
02:46So, yeah, I think that Schottenheimer should, what he said after the game should establish a nickname for CeeDee Lamb.
02:59Dino-mite.
03:00Yeah.
03:01Right?
03:01Yeah.
03:02I like it.
03:05And it's like, yeah, that's what he is.
03:08He just explodes like dynamite in games.
03:15And, you know, and I know Houston had, you know, supreme trust in their corners, and they are very good.
03:25But when you're getting whipped like that, wouldn't you think maybe after 16 catches, 12 yards from the end zone,
03:33you might double-team him?
03:35Yeah, he might think about it.
03:36And not let him have a free release off the line of scrimmage to catch the game-winning touchdown pass?
03:42I would think that.
03:44You know, I think sometimes with teams, and I learned this a long time ago, probably from Jimmy Johnson, self
03:52-evaluation is one of the most important analytics you can have.
03:57You've got to be honest about your own talent, your own self, your own capabilities before you worry about what
04:05everybody else does.
04:06I think one of the things, Mickey, that's always kind of been argued from that side about him being a
04:13really good No. 2 receiver is that he moves around so much.
04:17They put him in the slot.
04:18They put him outside.
04:19They put him all over the place.
04:21And the idea, which I think is kind of an old thinking now at this point with the NFL, is
04:27that the best No. 1s are guys that just line up on the outside, and you send them.
04:33But I think that's what you do with CD.
04:36And that's what they did with him in college, was he was one of those guys that could be anywhere
04:40on the field.
04:41Once you found a mismatch, you exposed it.
04:43And I think that's an old way of thinking that the No. 1 just has to be on the outside.
04:48Yeah, no, absolutely.
04:50And he can play right.
04:51He can play left.
04:52He can play inside.
04:54He can go in motion.
04:56You can line him up in the backfield.
04:58And he can still go out for a pass.
05:00You have to be able to respect his speed and maybe more than anything his ability to run routes.
05:10I think it's phenomenal, his route running.
05:14And I think we saw it in this game.
05:16And once he gets off the line of scrimmage, and you're one-on-one, good luck.
05:22Mickey, also, I talked to Steven about this just a little bit.
05:26And I know during the offseason, Shottie had talked about evolution with the offense.
05:31And they have to be more dynamic and more capable.
05:34But we talked with Steven about lining up Seedy and George Pickens on the same side and seeing more of
05:41that on Sunday.
05:42And Steven was like, hey, look, that's something the coaches have talked about with us is we can't just do
05:48the same thing over and over.
05:49That was a pretty interesting look.
05:51And I was kind of wondering how effective it was from you.
05:54Yeah.
05:55And you know what?
05:56You might have just seen it, but they've been doing that quite a bit.
06:00And not just two guys together on one side.
06:05They've been having a lot of formations.
06:07Keep an eye out for it with all three guys lining up to one side or the other, which eliminates
06:16teams from man coverage, right?
06:20Because if you're in man and you've got three guys crisscrossing, somebody's going to get picked off, right?
06:26So I think that's been effective.
06:28I think the other thing's been effective when they put all three guys on the same side is one guy
06:34goes in motion.
06:36And now you have no idea what's happening.
06:40You know, are they going to hand it to the guy in motion?
06:42Are they going to throw him a swing pass to the weak side?
06:46And then what happens with the other two guys on the other side?
06:49So I think they're trying to do a lot of things to alleviate just having one guy on one side
06:57and a safety hovering over the top in cloud coverage to allow these guys to get in one more man
07:04-to-man matchups.
07:06And you're right.
07:07It's something that, you know, maybe they're doing it more this year, but it's not something totally new.
07:13I think the thing when they talked about evolving on offense, the one thing that he certainly wanted to do
07:21was be able to perform better in the red zone.
07:26And that was one of the problems last year.
07:29And, you know, it was a fault in the loss to Baltimore when they kicked field goals instead of scoring
07:37touchdowns.
07:38But for the most part, their red zone scoring has been pretty darn good in the other three games.
07:46So that was an improvement over last year.
07:49Al, I know we have to just kind of wait and see, especially with the nature of the short week.
07:55But while Shottie said Kobe Durant likely won't play on Thursday, it sure does kind of feel like Tyler Smith
08:02is going to play, doesn't it?
08:04Yeah, it sure does.
08:06They started his practice period to come off of injured return, IR return, I mean.
08:15And so this was funny.
08:17After everybody got done talking with him yesterday, and he was talking about what he has to do,
08:23what he needs to do to be able to play, that they can put a glove on it and all
08:27this.
08:28And I said, so can you grab?
08:32And he grabbed my left arm and said, how's that feel?
08:36And I go, okay, you're good.
08:38It was terrifying.
08:39And I think that should be the medical standard going forward.
08:44Don't you?
08:45Yeah.
08:45They have to grab Mickey's arm.
08:47I'd be like, he's good to go, fellas.
08:50I can tell you that.
08:52He crushed what little bicep I have left, right?
08:57Now, this has been part of a broader league trend, and I appreciate that this is working out for the
09:05Cowboys in their favor.
09:07But since the start of last season, CeeDee Lamb leads the league in 16 pass interference penalties drawn.
09:14George Pickens is fourth on that list at 10.
09:17And I appreciate that that works out for the Cowboys.
09:20But that being said, especially this season, do you need the officials to kind of, like, give it a rest?
09:27Well, depends on the quality of the pass interference, right?
09:33Because a lot of times it's stealing receptions from those guys.
09:38A lot of times it's stealing touchdowns from those guys.
09:44If you look at the impact it had in the game when you sit there and go, well, George Pickens
09:50only did this or he only did that.
09:53But he had two really important PIs against him, right?
09:57Or for him, however you want to say it.
10:00And I think there should be a stat in there with targets, catches, interference, calls, you know, against.
10:12Because those are huge plays, and those are plays those guys can make.
10:17And I thought the two in that game that he drew were significant in their ability to continue moving the
10:26football.
10:27Mickey, do we have any update on Overshown right now?
10:31Well, I initially heard that he was probably not going to make it just because it was a short week.
10:39And then it looked like, well, maybe he's got a chance.
10:44So I think that will be determined after today because this will be really their only kind of semi-real
10:52practice of the week.
10:54Yesterday was basically a glorified walkthrough.
10:58What do they call it?
10:59Like a mega walkthrough or something like that?
11:01They call it a mock game.
11:03Okay, a mock game.
11:04But there's no helmets.
11:06There's no, you know, physical activity.
11:09Because they know they've got to get these guys' legs back underneath them.
11:13So today's practice, I think, will be telling because by tomorrow you've got to have your final injury report for
11:22the game.
11:23So I think they want to see what he can do.
11:27But at least he was doing more than just working on the cords yesterday, from my understanding.
11:34So that's a good sign.
11:36But, again, he hadn't done anything in a month.
11:39So we've got to be careful that, you know, you don't re-injure something that maybe is totally healthy.
11:48So I think how he returned after yesterday and what he's able to do today might determine if he plays
11:57or not.
11:58But think about this.
11:59If he plays, where's he playing?
12:02What's he doing?
12:02That is a great question because I would think as a backup.
12:08Well, I mean, run downs, Barham's got to be on the field, right?
12:15And, you know, and I never thought that he was a true, Overshawn was a true middle linebacker.
12:24He's more of the edge guy.
12:26You want him on the run.
12:27You want him to not have to, you know, thump it up in the middle like that.
12:32And so maybe he's a nickel linebacker.
12:36I don't know.
12:37Maybe he's out there and Dee Winters is a nickel linebacker.
12:41I think somehow it ends up being a three-man rotation.
12:46And, you know, in a little bit with his absence, they've been using Shamar James a little bit more than
12:52normal.
12:53So they've got somewhat of a rotation going there.
12:57But all I know, if it's first and ten, I want Barham on the field.
13:03All right.
13:04Now, you kind of touched on something that we've thrown out there.
13:07I realize the size problem.
13:10But do you not want to see Overshawn just kind of cut loose to make a run at the quarterback
13:16a few times a game?
13:18Oh, yeah.
13:19Yeah, I think that's his game.
13:22And, you know, if you're playing maybe the weak side linebacker, then you've probably got more of an angle to
13:30do that than being in the middle trying to, you know, run right up the middle.
13:36Yeah, and I could see them using him in that situation.
13:43Absolutely.
13:44But, again, you know, I don't know that you want him to do it right up the middle as the
13:50run-stopping middle linebacker, even if you're in your 3-4, you know.
13:55And that's not a bad idea.
13:57I just want him to be able to use his athleticism and his speed because he's more of a versatile
14:07player than what you picture as a run-stopping linebacker.
14:11Yeah, put him on that outside and let him go.
14:14I like this idea.
14:15We have talked about that for a while, Mickey.
14:17We're with you on that.
14:19Well, I'll go down the hallway here.
14:21I won't say I did it.
14:22I'll give you guys credit.
14:23Yeah, yeah.
14:24Just blame us.
14:25That's for sure.
14:26Jerry likes that when we do it.
14:28What is the workload like for Porter this week?
14:35It may be all systems go.
14:38I mean, they only had, if I remember correctly, I think they only had to play 53 defensive snaps, and
14:46he nearly played half of them at 25.
14:48That's right, yeah.
14:49So, I could see them cutting him loose.
14:53You know, he got a little bit banged up.
14:55He had a little bit of an ankle or a hip or something, but nothing that was going to keep
15:01him out of practice, right?
15:03Probably normal aches and pains when you played your first tackle football game since last December.
15:11So, I think a lot of it will have to do with how he's feeling totally, recovering on a short
15:18week after you played for the first time in ages.
15:22But, yeah, I think he's out there, right?
15:25Yeah.
15:25He's out there, and now you've got to figure out what do you want to do in the slot.
15:31And it sounds like Savon Revel should be more available than he was in the previous game.
15:39And I think some of that was not necessarily physical.
15:42It was just trusting himself that he was good to go.
15:46So, they should have a much better rotation there at cornerback.
15:53And then, if they can get Kobe Durant back after the 10-day break before the next game, then it
16:03looks a lot different, right, than it has the previous couple games.
16:08With their cornerbacks in coverage.
16:12Excellent stuff, as always, good sir.
16:14We'll catch up with you again tomorrow.
16:16Okay, see you guys.
