00:00Anyway, so yesterday was another Jared Burst day.
00:03Now, I got to be honest.
00:04I did say last week, I think maybe Jared Burst needs a couple of weeks,
00:09maybe a month, maybe a year away from the microphone.
00:11Yeah.
00:11The way the game is going.
00:12But he was brought in, and I think they signed off on him being a vocal leader.
00:18Now, let's get everybody up to speed on the Jared Burst experience this year.
00:23He is bottom of the barrel in terms of defensive linemen,
00:28passing pass rushers in the NFL in almost every number.
00:32The pass rush win rate, the pressures, we know where he is sack-wise.
00:36If you want to update us on the total, Ant, I think you have the same number of sacks this
00:40year.
00:40Zero.
00:41You have zero sacks, which, hey, sacks will not define me as a pass rusher
00:47in the analytical world, but it is pretty telling and matching the tape, is it not?
00:54The concerning part is that the fact that we brought him here,
00:58and one of the big things when he came here was that he was one of the league leaders
01:02in pressuring the quarterback, right?
01:04Maybe the story around him was, hey, he was living around the quarterback,
01:07and the next step for him was getting the quarterback to the ground.
01:10We're like, okay, you can build off of that.
01:12That doesn't even exist in our game right now.
01:14And the concerning part is that he's becoming like a rotational pass rusher.
01:19He played 50% of the snaps on Sunday, which is not great.
01:23And then when he's out there, too, they're not using it.
01:25And again, it's really hard to compare him to Myles Garrett,
01:29but also to not compare him to Myles Garrett, where Myles could put his hand in the ground,
01:33and you knew he was going at the quarterback.
01:34When you watch Jared, if you spend a quarter watching just Jared versus on defense,
01:39they're using him to pick.
01:40They're using him to twist.
01:41They're using him as a piece of the puzzle, which we knew he was going to be,
01:45but it's generated like nothing.
01:47And also, the other part of it is the defensive line.
01:51And this is a major problem with the Browns, like a bigger issue.
01:53The defensive line is banged up, and last week not having Malik Collins, I think, was massive.
01:57But still, this has to be a guy that is a game changer for you.
02:02Not even in the Myles Garrett situation, they view him as a first-round talent
02:05and a first-round player.
02:06He's got to start playing like that type of player.
02:08Yeah, you mentioned the run game was supposed to be a big thing.
02:12Now, has he at least done that?
02:14No.
02:14Has he come through?
02:15Bruce, so right, it's just something is not clicking.
02:18And this came up yesterday when Jared Verse was holding court for the press conference.
02:24Why has he had such an unproductive season?
02:27I think it was just a mental aspect of the game.
02:30We could be here all day, and I could talk to you about each key play that we played all
02:33season long,
02:33but I think that would be a waste of all of our time.
02:35It's just simple to say, you know, I think the Browns fans are upset about it.
02:37I'm upset about it.
02:38I think we all have a reason to be upset.
02:39I just haven't done enough, and I think I've taken the time to figure out what the issue was.
02:43I've attacked it, and I think I'm ready for this week.
02:46Yeah, he went on, though.
02:48He had more about that, about what he's done to attack the mental issues.
02:52Mary Kay didn't really pressure him, but just wanted to get more into what that was.
02:58This is Mary Kay with Jared and kind of going on exactly what he's done to help get through those
03:03mental hurdles.
03:04I would more so prefer to keep that to myself.
03:06I'm excited for it, but I took a lot of time to self-growth, and I met with Dr. P
03:11for a little bit,
03:12and I figured out what my issue was.
03:13Okay, and then who is this doctor?
03:16It's our team, psychiatrists.
03:18Was it something like blocking you, you know, more mentally?
03:22I think it was definitely a mental block.
03:24I've trained my body every day to push myself to the limits of what I'm physically capable of doing,
03:27so I don't think it was any issue with my body,
03:29but I think I've taken the steps to figure out what it was after meeting with a couple people and
03:33everything like that,
03:34but to keep it from getting further than that, I'm just going to leave it at that.
03:36So kudos to Jared Verse for his honesty, for being a big macho football player that admits,
03:44like Tony Soprano, yeah, I have to see somebody.
03:46I have to see somebody to try to get a handle on what's going on with my career here,
03:51and who knows, maybe it expands past that, but we'll limit it to just the football stuff.
03:56I say kudos to him, but I also know how this will be used against him,
03:59because in this sport, the fan bases don't want to hear.
04:04Even in 2026, where we try to have empathy for our athletes,
04:09we try to better understand them, we follow them on social media,
04:13we take into account their lives, because we know so much more about these guys than ever before,
04:19but it's football, and it is go after the quarterback, kill the quarterback,
04:24take the quarterback down, do whatever it takes to sabotage the other team's offense.
04:31When that player, in a vulnerable moment, admits that he's seen somebody
04:37to try to help him with, quote, a mental block, or whatever it is,
04:42Anthony, you played the game of football.
04:44You play a violent sport.
04:45Yes.
04:46Whether it's D3, D2, D1, NFL, whether it's the Arena League,
04:51you know that this is a sport where it's more than just productivity.
04:58It's your health.
04:59It's your future.
05:01What did this mean to you when you heard him talking about seeing a sports psychologist?
05:04Yeah, I mean, it could be, and I've been there, right?
05:06I've been in slumps.
05:08I've had tough games, tough stretches.
05:10Certainly not to the extent that he's having at the level that he's having,
05:14but one, I love that he's doing it, right?
05:16I uncover every rock, turn over every stone, try to find whatever the issue might be.
05:21And also, too, it could be just, hey, I had a conversation with a sports psychologist,
05:27an old coach, my high school coach, one of my best friends from home.
05:29I need a little confidence.
05:31Like, I need, hey, remember how good you are.
05:33Hey, cut on some of that Rams tape when you were getting after the quarterback.
05:35Like, it could be stuff like that where it's like, dude, I know you're in a slump right now,
05:39but just remind yourself that you're a damn good football player.
05:42And, you know, it hasn't worked for the first nine weeks, but, and I'll tell you what, Anthony,
05:46all of this goes away, all of this goes away when, on Sunday, he has a strip sack of C
05:52.J. Stroud,
05:53they recover the football score, touchdown, and then nobody cares about any of the first nine weeks.
05:57They all care about what's going forward.
05:59So, I appreciate the fact that he's trying to figure it out.
06:02I don't know that I would have, like, said it, but, like, hey, I'm glad that he did.
06:07I'm glad that he's doing it and trying to figure out whatever the hell is going on
06:10because I would love to see him start to turn his game around a little bit.
06:13You know, I hearken back to my old days of watching football,
06:17and it was a little bit of a different version.
06:20Used to be able to crush wide receivers when they came across.
06:23Used to be able to go low and high at the same time on quarterbacks.
06:26Some of those hits, man.
06:27And not get penalized, and then, you know, the ESPN guys would cheer it.
06:32Boom!
06:32Yeah, they would be going nuts.
06:34You got jacked up!
06:35Right, that's exactly right.
06:36My buddies still say it to this day.
06:37Hey, Bill Romanowski, Charles Haley, just crazy people that were playing the sport.
06:43Here you have somebody who's educated, who is taking everything into consideration
06:50and is speaking from a true moment of weakness,
06:53sharing that with the fans that have been crushing him all year.
06:58We are having a responsible conversation about it.
07:01How will that translate to Browns fans?
07:04Because I do think they'll use it against him.
07:06If he has another bad game this week, Owen, am I off base here?
07:10Well, I just, I do wonder, and, you know, it can come off as insensitive,
07:15but the mental block is that what is keeping him from looking like he's half-assing it through plays.
07:21He played 57% of the snaps last week, and the snaps he was on the field,
07:26it did not look like you were getting his top motor effort in those pass rush things.
07:31And, you know, we've talked about, like, he has one move and he bull rushes and all that,
07:36and he seemed to, he was doing things where he was, like, jab-stepping outside
07:39and trying to cross the face of the tackle.
07:41Miles Garrett stuff?
07:42Yes.
07:43And it wasn't, it really did nothing other than kind of take him out of the play.
07:48Right.
07:49And it was because of the speed in which he was going at those things.
07:53And, Owen, I would even say that, yes, I do believe that, you know, you see some of those loaves
07:57and some of the ball got down the field, and you're just, after nine weeks of,
08:02I can't get through to the quarterback, this is not working.
08:05Yes, that does, I would say that does factor into kind of that effort stuff that you see that,
08:10damn it, I couldn't get to the quarterback again, the ball got out to the flat,
08:13and had he been full speed, he could have recovered and made a big hit, whatever.
08:17But I do believe all that stuff factors in.
08:19Now, Anthony, to your question, I hope Browns fans take it all right.
08:24Like, I hope that they do, but I don't know that they will.
08:26And I'm to the point, too, I tend to try to, I give a lot of grace,
08:31I tend to try to see it more so optimistically, right, in all of the football scenarios.
08:37This is still a young man, 26-year-old young man, who had to move across the country
08:41from a team that's the Super Bowl contender to getting to the Cleveland Browns, right?
08:45We know what it is, we love the Browns.
08:47There's a perception of the Browns in the league circles,
08:49and he got traded for Miles Garrett, all that stuff.
08:51And seemed thrilled.
08:52Seemed thrilled and handled it perfectly, right?
08:54And came in, I'm going to be the culture guy, the leader, all of that stuff.
08:59That is, even for me, that's run its course, where it's like, okay, great, you did it all well,
09:04I know it's hard, but we are into November now, we got to go.
09:08And this team, if this team was 2-8, okay, I would have a different conversation.
09:13They are in it, they are absolutely in it, and he is a piece that if it turns, for him
09:19specifically, that can take the Browns from the level they're at right now, I'm not going
09:23to say to the Super Bowl tier, but that can take them up to that next notch of being a
09:27playoff team, and it all kind of goes through him, with all things considered.
09:31Yeah, ironically, they have the same record right now as the Rams, as they get ready for
09:35this game.
09:37Do you think if the Browns could take it all back right now, Andrew Barry probably
09:41specifically, they wouldn't have put so much on how important he was to the trade of Myles
09:47Garrett, and how, well, really, we didn't need picks, because we got a guy like Jared
09:51Verse, and he's going to come in, and he's going to offset the Hall of Famer and the best
09:55pass rusher in the league.
09:56Oh, and I think it's a really good point, but I don't think, you go back in time and you
09:59make this trade, he had to sell all of Cleveland, the fact that we got a guy who had, I
10:03think
10:03he had eight sacks last year, I believe, we have to sell that he is on the same level
10:07and tier of Myles Garrett, who you traded the best pass rusher of all time for, so I
10:12think he, if you go hindsight here, he has to do that, but it's like, damn, you know,
10:17that's a, it's a tough, put himself and Jared in kind of a little bit of a fuss.
10:20Well, I'll give back those words if we could get a pass rusher that's not so far in his
10:26own head that he can't, you know, affect the quarterback right now, because it's not
10:30happening and it's, and I feel for him, you know, personally that, that, that those
10:34things are happening, but the bottom line is we need a guy right now when we just spent
10:39the first segment talking about how this is a make or break game, we need that guy this
10:43week more than ever to step up and be the guy that's putting the pressures and maybe
10:48actually, you know, touching the quarterback when he's throwing it and not letting guys
10:51go when they're in the grass, like he did with Tyler Shook last.
10:53Big picture, like little picture this year, right?
10:56He takes you from a eight seed to a seven seed in the playoffs long-term.
11:01He takes you the, the idea here, right?
11:03Is in two, three years, the Browns are competing for the AFC championship and they're competing
11:06for the Superbowl.
11:07That is a key player that Jared versus a key player in that whole picture.
11:11And he's in a contract year right now.
11:13And so he's got to start to like put this stuff together because they're formulating a
11:17future.
11:17And he, if he wants to be a part of it, it's got to start turning here.
11:20It reminds me a lot of the quarterback.
11:22We're going to be talking about next segment here, Deshaun Watson.
11:25Uh, I saw that guy in college and the early years in Houston was one of the most confident
11:31dudes in the league.
11:32We know what happened off the football field.
11:34And it was pretty clear that that also going from hero to scoundrel to one of the, one of
11:43the bad guys in the league kind of messed with his psyche.
11:46And I think he finally got over that in Cleveland's finally playing with a smile and you've seen
11:50the results of it.
11:51It's still not great quarterback play, but I think that mental side of it did make a
11:55difference for Deshaun Watson.
11:56Speaking of that quarterback, he's going to be the starter on Sunday, but is it week
12:01to week?
12:01We'll have a discussion about next here on sports radio, 92, three, the fan.
