00:00Mickey Spagnola, good morning, sir.
00:03Good morning, gentlemen.
00:04Did you able to stay up to watch the end of that game last night?
00:08Indeed, only to have our heart broken,
00:11but what a heck of a comeback by the Mavs,
00:14showing that they can be in the mix with one of the best teams in the NBA.
00:19How do you let one person score 52 points,
00:23and you got the ball with 11 seconds to go to chance to win the game?
00:28It's unbelievable.
00:29It was a historic performance, and at one point,
00:31I think you were losing by, I don't know, like 17 points,
00:34and it looked like it was going to end up being a 20-point loss.
00:37I appreciate that the second-half defense was just top-freaking-notch,
00:42but you were also facing a generational player,
00:46and it just didn't go your way.
00:48That guy's pretty darn good, isn't he?
00:50He's just freaking gigantic.
00:55And he's so big,
00:57but they protect him with all those fouls, they call.
01:00I did see that was agitating a lot of folks yesterday.
01:04Mickey, in the game, you've watched a lot of football.
01:07In the game of football,
01:09have you ever seen somebody so uniquely different and gifted like that,
01:13that they could dominate the way that he does?
01:16Yeah, no, because he can basically do that on his own, right?
01:20If you dominate in football,
01:23there's probably 10 other guys on the field with you that are helping out, right?
01:27You don't just take over a game by yourself like,
01:31okay, give me the ball and I'll do the rest, right?
01:33But the one last night when they flipped it to him
01:38and he was off balance, falling down,
01:41and it still went in as he was getting fouled,
01:45was unbelievable.
01:47Yeah, it kind of was kind of gross, too,
01:49because he wasn't on my team.
01:51If he was on my team, I'd be like, unbelievable.
01:55Yeah, when he was doing this stuff to the Knicks,
01:57we were excited about it.
01:58But right now, Mickey, it just hurts.
02:00It hurts our souls.
02:00I just don't know how you guard him.
02:02I have no idea.
02:03Neither does anybody else, so.
02:05I wonder if Derek Lively,
02:06we watched him and Derek Lively early in his career,
02:09and those were fun battles.
02:10But we've got to get a healthy Derek Lively on the court.
02:13Indeed, and I still think, unfortunately,
02:15we're a little bit of a ways away from that.
02:17Now, Mickey, I know a lot of people were caught up with this
02:20either yesterday or the day before.
02:22Do you think it's a big deal whatsoever
02:23that Joe Milton is going to be starting for the Eagles?
02:26Well, think about this.
02:28The Cowboys inadvertently helped three guys
02:32get starting jobs, right?
02:35Jacoby Bursette?
02:36By knocking Jacoby Bursette out of the game,
02:40or playing, I mean, he had to get benched, right?
02:44So now Minshew's a starter,
02:48because the Ravens are so desperate for a quarterback.
02:52Bursette, they were going to be,
02:54he was going to be the third quarterback in line in Arizona.
02:58So they were able to,
03:00now I don't know if they've officially pulled off the trade yet or not,
03:05but I'm assuming if they're trading for him,
03:08he's going to get a starting job there.
03:10And because the Cowboys put Milton on the practice squad,
03:14which allowed him to be available for anybody
03:18that wanted to sign him to the 53 for at least three weeks,
03:23he gets signed,
03:24and now he's going to start for the Eagles.
03:28So three quarterbacks got starting jobs inadvertently,
03:32thanks to the Cowboys.
03:34Do you think it's the end of the world
03:35if the Cowboys end up losing to the Eagles
03:38with Joe Milton as their starter?
03:41Well, what's the betting line
03:43that he'll still be the starter by the time they play him again?
03:46Good question.
03:49See, but here's the deal.
03:52His raw talent seduces everybody.
03:56Right?
03:57Oh, for sure.
03:58Because they haven't seen him play.
04:01They've seen some bits and pieces in preseason games,
04:06but he hasn't started.
04:08He hasn't started.
04:09I think I looked it up.
04:10He hasn't started a game since the end of November in 2023,
04:16his last game at Tennessee.
04:19That's the last time he started a regular season football game.
04:23Wow.
04:24So how do you feel about that?
04:27It means that what other coaches had seen,
04:30even in practices,
04:32wasn't enough to show that he should be a starter.
04:34Yeah, and even when they kind of gave him an opportunity,
04:37it was kind of always mop-up or second half,
04:42things like that.
04:43Or preseason.
04:43You know what?
04:44I give him credit for swallowing his pride
04:47and coming back to the Cowboys
04:49and being willing to go on the practice squad, right?
04:53I thought that was a really smart move on his part
04:56instead of being butt hurt
04:59and go sign somewhere else on somebody else's practice squad.
05:04And so, you know, I kind of pull for the guy.
05:10He wasn't a bad guy.
05:11I thought he was a good teammate.
05:13And so let's see what happens.
05:16You get your shot.
05:18Mickey, we talked a little bit about Shamar James yesterday
05:21and how much we felt like he played another pretty good game
05:26and we're happy with what we're getting from him.
05:29What do you think the ceiling of that player is?
05:31Yeah, I think that you've got to realize he's only 22 years old
05:38and he only played three years at Florida before he came out.
05:44So I think there's a lot of growth there that still can take place,
05:50but I think he's a pretty sharp guy if you talk to him.
05:54So that helps if you're going to be in the middle of the defense,
05:58especially if you're wearing the green dot, and he's very athletic.
06:04You know, he'll only get stronger.
06:09And so I think he's got a pretty good career ahead of him to play that position
06:17where, you know, these days when everybody's in such change-up defenses
06:23because of three wide receivers, he's a guy that, you know,
06:27can stay on the field for all downs.
06:30He doesn't have to come off the field because he's just this run thumper, right?
06:34So, yeah, I kind of like his ability.
06:39And remember, he finished second on the team last year with tackles as a rookie
06:43at 21 years old.
06:45So I think there's a growth factor there that the Cowboys need to continue to tap into.
06:50Would you like to see more?
06:52Because I know we have started to see somewhat more in different packages
06:56of Broderick Jones.
07:01I think he's probably about where he needs to be.
07:05Okay.
07:06And, you know, it's not bad because at least they feel like if we're going, you know,
07:14before it was three tight ends and he could be the third, right,
07:17because you're in there to block.
07:19Well, now they started with the injuries as the second tight end.
07:23And a lot of times when they brought them in, they haven't had them tight to the line.
07:28They've had them outside the offensive tackle.
07:31Not that I don't think he's a threat to throw the ball to.
07:35I'm sure he probably thinks so.
07:37So, you know, if he can earn his way that way blocking, yeah,
07:43I think maybe there's some growth there.
07:45But we're talking a veteran guy.
07:46He's been around the block a time or two.
07:48So, not replacing Terrence Steele with him at this point.
07:53Yeah.
07:54I mean, everybody wants to replace Terrence Steele.
07:56They all didn't play very well this past game, right?
07:59True.
08:00It wasn't just one guy.
08:02It was a pretty good team effort on how they played on the offensive line.
08:07Mickey, the one word that is percolating throughout the Dallas Cowboys facility is execution.
08:14God almighty, if I would have heard that one more time yesterday,
08:20I was going to try to count them because I thought Quinnen Williams must have used it 20 times.
08:28And that's a low estimate, right?
08:30Even a couple of times he doubled down, execute, execute, right?
08:35He's been listening to Steven.
08:36And then it went on with Kenny Clark.
08:43And then even Cooper Beebe used it for the offensive line needed to execute better, right?
08:50Which brought up the old John McKay line.
08:54You guys are familiar with that, right?
08:56Oh, it's one of my favorite quotes ever.
08:58What do you think about the team's execution?
09:00I'd be in favor of it.
09:02That was, he's coaching an 0-14 rookie franchise Tampa Bay team, right?
09:10They're going to go 0-14 eventually that year.
09:12And that was his response, right?
09:14It was priceless.
09:16And it made me think of that yesterday when everybody kept talking about execution.
09:21So when it comes to that, though, like that sounds like the coaches,
09:24they've done everything they need to do.
09:26It's just now on the players at this point.
09:28Well, I mean, I believe Shoddy started it, right, with what he said in the press conferences after the game
09:38and then on Wednesday.
09:41And so, you know, it does mean something.
09:47If you're there and you're not in the hole where you're supposed to be, then you didn't execute, right?
09:53Or you didn't fill in the gap that you were supposed to, or you weren't, you didn't cover the guy
10:01that ended up being wide open with a name like Trey McBride and you just didn't go with him.
10:08You know, someone made a mistake there, right?
10:11Right.
10:11So, yeah, I think there is something.
10:15And I don't think they're trying to pass off responsibility.
10:19I think that that's probably what they talked about in the team meeting, about being better in executing plays and
10:28being where you're supposed to be.
10:30You know, and it's a way of buffering from saying, well, we don't have much talent there.
10:37So at least you say you've got to execute, right?
10:40And, you know, maybe if you don't have as much talent but you do what you're supposed to do, at
10:46least you get a half a chance, right?
10:48Yeah.
10:49Yeah.
10:49No, I understand that.
10:52I want to, a question about the Colts, because I know they have struggled mightily, but by sticking with Daniel
10:59Jones,
11:00is your biggest concern about him, like, we have seen him run and run very effectively against the Cowboys in
11:07the past?
11:08Yeah, I worry about every quarterback running against the Cowboys.
11:12That's fair.
11:14They don't be able to deal with that very well.
11:16But you're right.
11:17You know, this is just a weird turn of events for that franchise, because if you think about probably preseason,
11:27you know, before the season started,
11:29you know, they were everybody's pick in that division, right?
11:33They're improving.
11:34Here they come.
11:36And then they get off to the slow start, and it sort of just snowballed on them.
11:43And I was looking at it the other day where they, you know, they lost to Kansas City in overtime,
11:51right?
11:52So they lost their first two games, won the next two games, and then went on this losing streak of
11:58four straight.
11:59So, yeah, everybody thought that Daniel Jones, they thought he was, right?
12:04The answer.
12:06Yeah.
12:06And with Taylor at running back, and they just felt like they had something there.
12:11And, yeah, they just haven't won.
12:14But, again, they only got one less win than the Cowboys.
12:20Yeah, that is a pretty sobering thought.
12:22Thank you very much for the time.
12:24As always, good sir.
12:25We'll catch you again tomorrow.
12:26With that note, let's go.
12:28Yeah, give me positive news tomorrow.
12:31Or just the news.
12:32Yeah, it could be tough to find positive news.
