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Mac & Bone Show - Joe Person Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Somebody that everybody loves here in Carolina because he gives
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: you some amazing freaking Carolina Panther coverage on the regular.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Read him and the whole great team of writers for
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: all sports at The Athletic, theathletic.com. He is The Athletic's
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Panther beat writer, Joe Person. He's nice enough to spend
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a few minutes with us today. What's up, Joe? How
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: you doing, man?
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I'm old enough to remember when Florio was a regular
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: guest of your fine award-winning show. So I'm thinking the
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: two of you guys can offer a peace pipe, have
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: a fireside chat, do something. Do something to bridge this gap.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: You're right. We could probably play a role.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: In this, Bo.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: We can't have this dividing not only— here but America
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: we need to solve this Joe it's a crisis it's
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a crisis Joe I need to ask you you're a
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Pennsylvania dude like I am originally I'm very proud to
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: be a Carolinian now for two decades plus but we're
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: both from that neck of the woods and then I
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: know like you've probably spent your fair amount of time
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: going to Philly and stuff you're a big Phillies fan
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that when you go back to Philly
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: do you always have to get a cheese steak and
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: if so do you have a specific place you go to.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: You know, it's funny. I was not able to get
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: one this time. I kind of had a quick up
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: and back. I sadly had to go to a funeral.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So I did not get a cheesesteak. I liked to
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: go to the Reading Market, which I wasn't able to do.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: But my favorite, and I'll make it quick, my favorite
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: story involving this was the Panthers were going up there
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: for a Monday night game, and I asked Philly Browns.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: I said, Philly, where do I need to go for, like,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: where's your go-to cheese steak place? And he wouldn't tell me.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I don't think he thought he would be putting me
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: in harm's way. I don't think he, I didn't have
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: much street cred with Philly. I'll still run into Philly
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: sometimes in Charlotte. I'll remind him of that story. He
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: was a good, he was a good dude to cover.
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: Joe, next time you run into Willie P, I urge you,
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: don't talk about cheesesteaks. Just avoid that subject.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Don't do it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: It's very passionate. You'll lose an hour of your life.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: He's got cheese rankings. I urge you, Joe, just step
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: away from Willie. Okay.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Joe, do you think, like, let's try your best to work,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: to put a ranking on it. Like, I understand this
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: is only for five games for Bryce, six games for
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: other quarterbacks, but we were going through the list and
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I honestly believe he's playing and it might be number five,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: but I honestly think he's playing right now at a
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: top five QB level. Do you agree with that? Do
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: you think it's that good? Would you say top seven,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: top 10? How would you, how would you put it?
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I really can't argue it. I was thinking that this
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: morning that it's pretty incredible that, And I know we
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: started seeing it at the end of last year, like
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the second half of last season. But even so, to
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: do what he's doing after the struggles we saw those
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: first few years is just remarkable. And I know we
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: talk about it, we write about it, and hear the
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Brad Itzik effect in it. It's just so many different
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: things that I think are at work. And, you know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: getting more pieces around him and his confidence in himself.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And it's unbelievable, guys. And, again, you're right. I mean,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: it's five games, but it doesn't feel like a mirage.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: It just does not feel fluky. There will be better
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: defenses that they'll face. But guess what? That one Sunday
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: wasn't bad. the Eagles linebackers aren't great, but, but they're,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: but they're front four, especially in those interior guys, Jordan Davis,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Jalen Carr, like they're really good. And, and they're, and
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: the Eagles secondary is pretty good. And, and, and Bryce said,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: you know, you've talked about like it wasn't his best day.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: And he's still look at the stats at the end
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: of the day. And he's over a 90 passer rating,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: 280 yards, two touchdowns, and he protected the ball. So,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: It's it's been fun to watch him just take this huge,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: huge step in year four. And it's going to be
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: it's going to be kind of cool to see what
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: he does with these, you know, like. The Green Bay
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: defense is good. Obviously, the Denver defense is good. Those
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: are going to be fun chess matches, and I'm excited
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: to cover them.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: What do you think the job that Brad Idzik has
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: done so far, not just with Bryce, but overall in
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: how he's calling these games?
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's been really good. It's been, you know,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I know the first couple of games were like, Whoa,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: really kind of top heavy, uh, you know, on, on
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: the past game, when's the run game going to kind
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: of get come into play. And now we've seen the
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: last two games that that's exactly what's happened with, especially
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: in the second half of these games, you know, kind of,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: you know, uh, but putting these games away on the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: back of Cuba Hubbard and the offensive line when, when
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: you've got a lead, but, um, yeah, he's, that's another
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: guy that I don't feel like, you know, you, you
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: can really overstate his impact. And I just, he's, you know,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: I talking to Izzik and talking to Bryce, like there's
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: a connection there. Like, and it's not to say Bryce
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: didn't have one with canalysis, but let's be honest that
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: that relationship was strained from, you know, dating back to
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: the benching and, and, You know, I give Canales credit. Like,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: he really took strides to, you know, to, I mean,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: he said, like, repair the relationship. He'd go to Bryce's
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: summer camp, the youth camps every summer that Bryce would
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: hold here and still does that. But I just, there's
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: a real connection with Bryce and Idzik and, you know,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: and listen, A connection alone isn't going to move the
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: ball down the field. Brad Itzik's a smart, creative dude.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: And he's, shoot, we might be talking about him in
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: another month or so being on the radar. when teams
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: are looking for head coaches. No doubt.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: He has that look of the offensive whiz kid type,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: you know, that the league absolutely loves.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: We're talking with Joe Person.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Get his great Panthers coverage at theathletic.com. Joe, what do
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: you think about this defense? Because the first game was
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: so freaking horrendous in terms of 291 on the ground
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and in terms of 59 points given up that in
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: some of the statistical categories, they are still like, they're
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: going to be working all season, right. To get some
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of those numbers back down. But like I brought up,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I've been following this the last couple of weeks since then,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: their EPA is third in the league, you know, per
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: play and total EPA. What do you think of the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: way the defense has played? Albeit to the last two
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: weeks without the starting corners. What do you think about
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: that unit?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I was going to say. I mean,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: you're talking about doing it the last two weeks while J.C.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Horn and Mike Jackson are recovering from injuries. And this
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: was arguably one of the top three cornerback duos last
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: year in the league. So, yeah, I really think the linebackers,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, Derek Brown's been terrific. They've gotten some good
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: play out of young guys up front like Lee Hunter
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: and Even Aaron Hall undrafted from Duke. But I look
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: first at those linebackers because that was a real problem
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: area for this defense the last couple of years, especially
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: last year when Josie Jewell is ruled out pretty much
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: or retires at the beginning of the season. And, you know,
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: you're kind of forced to throw Rosa Boom in there.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: And you've got Trevin Wallace, who we know was sort
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: of kind of mid. But, boy, Devin Lloyd and even
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Bobby Okereke. Like, I remember when they signed him late,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: obviously in August, talking to some folks around the Giants.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: and they were like, yeah, he's okay. You know, he's,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: you know, he's kind of lost a step and I
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: don't know. He's, he's, he's found something here because he
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: shows up around the ball too. And just Lloyd. And
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: I think the two of them in the middle of
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: that defense have been a real, you know, I think
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: that's kind of one of the, probably the key to
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: this improved run defense and, and they're making plays in
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: the backfield too. Like, you know, Okereke getting after and
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: good on Agero sending the Blitz to start that game
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Sunday against a quarterback who never really had a real
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: NFL start. I know he'd done Week 18 mop-up, but...
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: That was just a tone setter right from the jump
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: and I think was a big play in that game.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Big time.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Joe, I'll tell you this, Bobby Okerekebone and Joe Person,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: two people who have found the fountain of youth here
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: in Charlotte.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: I want you to know that.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: Joe, real quick, I saw at Joseph Person on Twitter,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: your link to the athletic.com article you have up right
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: now about the offensive line. How do you think it
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: plays out on the left side with Walker and Freeling
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: once he gets healthy?
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: I think they're going to have Freeling be the swing
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: tackle initially. I remember all along when they drafted him,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: it was like, well, this guy might need a year.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: That's not the worst thing. Taylor Moten got a year
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: when he was drafted to sit behind Darryl Williams. But
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: that's kind of where I think it's heading, but they
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: like Freeland. I know he had some ups and downs
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: those first four weeks, but listen, that's going to happen
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: with a rookie tackle in this league. And I think
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: he still has the look of the longtime future pillar
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: at left tackle for this organization. And I don't think
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: we've seen the last of them this year either, but
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I think initially he'll probably be that swing tackle guy
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: backing up both Walker and Moten.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we agree with you on that, and
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: I hope that's kind of the way they play it.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: We got a good question here from Steve Carolina Cat
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: on the text line.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Not his government name, Joe. You don't think Carolina Cat's
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: the last name? I don't think so.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: So he brings up some I brought up earlier. Now,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I kind of always want to preface this because I'm
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a big Mike Jackson fan, but you know how it works, Joe.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: You can't pay everybody, and if you can find a
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: young player— You know what I mean? To be more economical,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: that can ball. So you can see where this is headed.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Steve is asking, is Will Lee kind of the guy
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: that could allow you to save some money by not
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: giving Mike Jack an extension? Do you kind of feel
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: that way or should we chill out a little bit
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: because it's early?
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: No, I think that's very legitimate, and I think Will
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: Lee was drafted with that in mind. I mean, they
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: had every opportunity to re-sign Mike Jackson. It doesn't mean
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: they don't like him. It just means they've got a
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: lot of money already tied up at that position in J.C. Horn,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: and it also means they're going to have to start
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: looking for ways to save money at some certain positions
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: because they're about to give Bryce Young a whole lot
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: of money. And you're going to have to mix in
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: these guys on rookie deals like a Will Lee, like
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: a Lee Hunter, when you pay a quarterback $ 50 million
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: a year or whatever it's going to be. And certainly, look,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: I think that week we're starting to see where that's headed, too,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: with the Bryce contract, right?
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a great point by your caller.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: And Will Lee is kind of like Freeling. He's going
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to have... some rookie mistakes, but you see, you step
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: back and see the big picture. And there's a lot
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: to like with how he's a player, man.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Wheatley too. There's some good, there's some talented rookies, man.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Dan Morgan's doing it. Dan Morgan's doing it. And so
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: is Joe person, ladies and gentlemen, the athletic.com read his, uh,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: a recent article, read all of them, but read the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: recent article at the athletic.com about the old tackle situation.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: Joe, you rock, man. Appreciate you, brother. Be good.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you guys. Have a great week.