Latest / NFL Now / Deshaun Watson Returns, TJ Hockenson Joins the show, & Dolphins - 49ers Matchup for Wee 13

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Deshaun Watson Returns, TJ Hockenson Joins the show, & Dolphins - 49ers Matchup for Wee 13 · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio, NFL Now NFL Network on a
0:19
Speaker 1: Wednesday with a lot going on here had a week thirteen.
0:22
Speaker 1: Welcome to our studios in Los Angeles. My name is
0:25
Speaker 1: Andrew Ceciliano. Coming up shortly, we'll hear from Kevin Stefanski
0:28
Speaker 1: on DeShawn Watson's return to the practice field. JK. Dobbins
0:31
Speaker 1: also on the practice field in Baltimore, plus Vikings tight
0:35
Speaker 1: end t J. Hockenson will join us ahead of their
0:39
Speaker 1: game against the Jets. We opened with the game of
0:41
Speaker 1: the NFC North, though, and the status of Bears quarterback
0:44
Speaker 1: Justin Fields, who against the Jets was not on the
0:48
Speaker 1: field this past Sunday. Will he be on the field
0:53
Speaker 1: this week when they take on the Bears? Do the
0:56
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers? Mike, what's the latest out of Chicago?
1:01
Speaker 1: Justin Fields saying he feels better, Andrew than he did
1:04
Speaker 1: at this point last week. But the the Chicago Bears
1:09
Speaker 1: and Matt eber Fleus still gonna take it day by day. Uh.
1:13
Speaker 1: They did add Tim Boyle off the Lions practice squad.
1:17
Speaker 1: So a guy who has spent a chunk of his
1:20
Speaker 1: career in the NFC North between the Packers and the Lions. Remember,
1:26
Speaker 1: he was, I believe a restricted free agent. He went
1:28
Speaker 1: from green Bay to Detroit, so he knows green Bay well,
1:31
Speaker 1: so that might come in handy as well. So we'll
1:34
Speaker 1: see about Justin Fields. I never got the sense that
1:37
Speaker 1: he was really close at all last week to playing.
1:40
Speaker 1: He's gonna get some reps this week, so let's see
1:43
Speaker 1: if he can stack some days and get himself in
1:45
Speaker 1: a position to play this weekend. Okay, And the man
1:47
Speaker 1: who did start last week, Trevor Simeon, is not practicing today.
1:51
Speaker 1: Ebrew flu says he has that oblique injury that he
1:54
Speaker 1: fought through despite all that. You know, Mike, you were there.
1:57
Speaker 1: Is he gonna play? Is he's not gonna play? The
1:59
Speaker 1: Bears could have played three different quarterbacks this past week.
2:01
Speaker 1: We found out it was eventually Trevor Simeon. All right, meantime,
2:04
Speaker 1: it's either playing the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers
2:08
Speaker 1: is not going to practice today. However, Uh, Matt Lafleur
2:12
Speaker 1: is still optimistic. Yeah, there's been optimism all over this thing.
2:18
Speaker 1: Going back to Aaron Rodgers appearance on the Pat McAfee
2:20
Speaker 1: show yesterday where he said he expects to be able
2:22
Speaker 1: to play, got good news on his skins. And this
2:24
Speaker 1: is really the thought going in Andrew was that Aaron
2:27
Speaker 1: Rodgers probably not feeling so great Sunday, probably not are
2:30
Speaker 1: probably not feeling so great Monday. But by the time
2:32
Speaker 1: he got the test out, the results probably was gonna
2:35
Speaker 1: be okay. Didn't seem to be too too, too big
2:37
Speaker 1: of a deal. And then Matt Lafleur is saying today
2:40
Speaker 1: that he does, in fact expect Aaron Rodgers to play
2:43
Speaker 1: and be out there, which is good news. Packers gotta
2:45
Speaker 1: buy coming up after this, and he's got the thumb,
2:47
Speaker 1: he's got the ribs. We can just somehow get through
2:50
Speaker 1: this game, get a win, stay alive, maybe make a
2:54
Speaker 1: little run at it on the other side of the buying.
2:56
Speaker 1: All right, it's about saying alive for the postseason here, Mike.
2:59
Speaker 1: The Falcons are still very much alive. They are despite
3:01
Speaker 1: the record, right behind the Buccaneers in the nf you South.
3:05
Speaker 1: But it is official today they're not gonna get Kyle
3:08
Speaker 1: Pitts back even if they make the postseason. Yeah, Kyle
3:13
Speaker 1: Pitts lost for the season with surgery to repair an
3:16
Speaker 1: m c O injury suffered a couple of weeks ago.
3:19
Speaker 1: The thousand yard tight end. There you go. He posted
3:21
Speaker 1: that one, uh, saying day one, day one of rehab.
3:25
Speaker 1: Toward the three season, all indications are he should be
3:29
Speaker 1: plenty fine and good to go for the start of
3:31
Speaker 1: his third season. Now, his second season, statistically, the numbers
3:34
Speaker 1: came way down as opposed to year one when he
3:37
Speaker 1: had a thousand yards, became only the second tight end
3:40
Speaker 1: in league history to do so. This year twenty eight catches,
3:43
Speaker 1: fifty six yards and two touchdowns in ten games. But
3:46
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith trying to stay positive, saying some of the
3:49
Speaker 1: other things we asked him to do, which I assume
3:51
Speaker 1: means blocking and some other things. Uh, he made strides
3:54
Speaker 1: in those areas. So let's see if Kyle Pitts can
3:56
Speaker 1: put it all together in his third season and maybe
3:59
Speaker 1: get those stats back to where they were in his
4:01
Speaker 1: rookie season. I like what you say. Keeping it positive
4:04
Speaker 1: at times felt like Arthur Smith wanted to fight people
4:07
Speaker 1: who dared question Kyle Pitt's usage during the games or
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Speaker 1: his stats. Doesn't care much about fantasy and I get it, uh.
4:14
Speaker 1: Meantime in Jacksonville, no Ian Travis Ati and how he is,
4:18
Speaker 1: how how is he doing bad? Rather speaking of people
4:23
Speaker 1: who a lot of people have in fantasy, Travis e
4:24
Speaker 1: t and the Jacksonville Jaguars running back who is now
4:27
Speaker 1: their main running back with the James Washington trade is
4:30
Speaker 1: obviously come on this year in many many ways, had
4:33
Speaker 1: a foot injury last week. It seemed to be a
4:35
Speaker 1: major one described by Doug Peterson. Is optimistic that he'll
4:39
Speaker 1: be able to get out there on Sunday. Uh doesn't
4:42
Speaker 1: sound like he's gonna do very much in the week.
4:43
Speaker 1: I know this as a player. They're gonna take very cautiously.
4:46
Speaker 1: They'll kind of see day to day how much he
4:48
Speaker 1: can actually do. But the main thing here is they
4:50
Speaker 1: do believe that he'll be able to get out in
4:52
Speaker 1: the field, which is important in real football. That was
4:55
Speaker 1: a really nice win the Jaguars had last week, also
4:57
Speaker 1: important in fantasy football, which I don't have Travis ey
5:00
Speaker 1: Tana wish I did, otherwise this would be a much
5:02
Speaker 1: different discussion. Do you have to Michael Hasti, who played
5:05
Speaker 1: well in his place last week? Uh? No, I don't.
5:10
Speaker 1: I have Zeke Elliott, who has been an awesome touchdown vulture.
5:14
Speaker 1: I got Ken Walker, who has been a baller despite
5:17
Speaker 1: having a little bit of a down last couple of weeks.
5:18
Speaker 1: I had a pretty good squad engine. Because you need
5:20
Speaker 1: your whole line. I'm just asking about the other guy.
5:22
Speaker 1: Thank you, Ian Rappaport. My careful Yeah, eleven and one.
5:29
Speaker 1: Jock's gonna keeping himself hitting for the score and take
5:32
Speaker 1: that home with you have. We gotta go da hit
5:37
Speaker 1: the guy much down New England. Stevenson walks in touchdown.
5:43
Speaker 1: I can call your mama and then he goes, kiss
5:45
Speaker 1: him goodbye and it and as I do it, they
5:48
Speaker 1: are rolling him. Now I'm him yo. I told you,
5:55
Speaker 1: I told you not tell you're weird and let my
5:57
Speaker 1: party begin. I told you that both these teams are
6:02
Speaker 1: pretty good. As we get ready for the kickoff on
6:05
Speaker 1: week thirteen and tannap with the six and five Patriots
6:09
Speaker 1: the eighth seed right now, they wouldn't make it if
6:11
Speaker 1: the playoffs were to start to day against the Buffalo
6:15
Speaker 1: Bills come in to town at eight and three, the
6:18
Speaker 1: five seed here, Mike Giardi a wild card team right now,
6:23
Speaker 1: amazingly behind the Dolphins. Talk about Mac Jones. I know
6:27
Speaker 1: we it's been an interesting ride here with the new
6:29
Speaker 1: offensive system and new coordinators, co coordinators, who's call and
6:33
Speaker 1: played whatever. There's the Bailey's Appy thing. How is mac
6:36
Speaker 1: Jones heading into week thirteen as a leader there with
6:39
Speaker 1: this offense? That Hey a lot of praise from his
6:41
Speaker 1: teammates Andrew for the way he's conducted his business, which
6:44
Speaker 1: is to say that he hasn't really changed through all
6:46
Speaker 1: the ups and downs that he's gone through this year.
6:48
Speaker 1: Jacobe Myers was talking to us and he said, look,
6:51
Speaker 1: he said he hit a tough patch and he said
6:53
Speaker 1: people doubted him, maybe not inside the building so much
6:56
Speaker 1: as outside the building where it became a bit of
6:58
Speaker 1: a controversy between he and Bailey's Appy. And he said
7:02
Speaker 1: he never changed. He came in, he put in the
7:04
Speaker 1: work every day, he had the same way. And he
7:06
Speaker 1: said that allowed our faith in him to grow even more.
7:09
Speaker 1: And I think there are a lot of guys on
7:10
Speaker 1: that team, Mars included, who had great respect for him
7:13
Speaker 1: prior to all this, but now how he's handled the
7:15
Speaker 1: injury and the controversy, it's really grown for them. And
7:18
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry said he can see now he's a little
7:20
Speaker 1: bit more vocal, not that he wasn't last year, but
7:22
Speaker 1: he said, you have to earn your level of respect
7:24
Speaker 1: as a rookie, he said, and as he played last year,
7:27
Speaker 1: he started to get more and more confident. We got
7:29
Speaker 1: confident in him, and that has just carried over into
7:31
Speaker 1: this year and again even in the downtimes, he remained positive,
7:34
Speaker 1: continue to push his teammates, and he said a good
7:36
Speaker 1: part about that too, is the discussions that they have
7:38
Speaker 1: to give and take between the receivers other guys on
7:40
Speaker 1: the offense. He said, it's really important as we go
7:42
Speaker 1: along on the course of a game to find out
7:44
Speaker 1: what's working, what's not, What does he want from us,
7:47
Speaker 1: what do we want from him. That's been a big
7:49
Speaker 1: thing for them now the Patriots for the first three
7:51
Speaker 1: quarters of their game on Thursday night and Thanksgiving, that's
7:54
Speaker 1: the best the offense has looked all year under Mac Jones,
7:56
Speaker 1: really moving the ball, hit some explosive plays, did it
7:59
Speaker 1: mostly through the year as the run game sort of
8:01
Speaker 1: ground to a halt. For mondre Stevens, it was a
8:03
Speaker 1: nice outlet. I believe he had nine catches in that game.
8:06
Speaker 1: But the fourth quarter is what they're harping on this
8:08
Speaker 1: week because in the fourth quarter, they had a chance
8:10
Speaker 1: to win the football game. There are a couple three
8:12
Speaker 1: and out, a couple of mistakes. The details, the details,
8:15
Speaker 1: And I encourage all of you people who watched Kurt
8:17
Speaker 1: Warner's YouTube channel where he breaks down the Patriots offense
8:21
Speaker 1: for an hour and you'll learn a ton of stuff
8:23
Speaker 1: about this offense. And one of the things you learn
8:25
Speaker 1: is they're still lacking on the details. And that's a
8:28
Speaker 1: problem when you get into close games. You need to
8:30
Speaker 1: make plays. The other team tightened up a little bit.
8:32
Speaker 1: Patriots offense tightened up as well, and instead of being
8:34
Speaker 1: seven and four, their six and five. And to your point,
8:37
Speaker 1: even though the playoffs don't start today, if they did, Andrew,
8:40
Speaker 1: they would not be in there. And good teach there
8:42
Speaker 1: with Kurt, our Hall of famer is going to join
8:44
Speaker 1: us coming up a little bit later here, and we
8:45
Speaker 1: know that you need the details this week to keep
8:48
Speaker 1: up with Josh Allen, because when these two teams met
8:50
Speaker 1: last year in the playoffs, the Bills didn't punt, they
8:53
Speaker 1: didn't attempt the field goal, they didn't turn the ball over.
8:56
Speaker 1: All they did was score touchdowns. First team that had
9:00
Speaker 1: done that in any game since at least nineteen fifty.
9:04
Speaker 1: As far as we can figure year out. Thank you,
9:06
Speaker 1: Mike GARDI was gonna be there tomorrow night for the startup.
9:08
Speaker 1: Week thirteen, there's another really good game in Santa Clara.
9:13
Speaker 1: Week thirteen, Christian McCaffrey might be the last healthy running
9:16
Speaker 1: back standing. Funny how that works against familiar foe and
9:21
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel at the Dolphins. That one is in the
9:23
Speaker 1: spotlight coming up, back rolling in the palace. But team
9:27
Speaker 1: for the South, all right. Deshaun Watson's back of the
9:32
Speaker 1: practice field today for the Cleveland Browns, and he will
9:34
Speaker 1: be back in a game for the first time in
9:38
Speaker 1: two years this Sunday when the Browns go to Houston
9:41
Speaker 1: to face his old team, the Texans. We did not
9:44
Speaker 1: hear from Watson today, but we did hear from his
9:46
Speaker 1: head coach, Kevin Stefanski for this football team, for DeShawn,
9:51
Speaker 1: for for the offense. In particular to your question, they
9:54
Speaker 1: need to focus on playing good football this week. The
9:56
Speaker 1: big picture of what that means and that type of thing.
10:00
Speaker 1: I don't think our guys are worried about that. We
10:02
Speaker 1: gotta worry about our preparation this week. Make sure that
10:04
Speaker 1: we a good plan for Houston. We're excited that the
10:07
Speaker 1: Shawn is able to play for us. I mean, we're
10:09
Speaker 1: excited that he's back out there. The guys have enjoyed
10:12
Speaker 1: having him, like we mentioned, back in the room the
10:14
Speaker 1: last few weeks. So I think having him out on
10:17
Speaker 1: the field will bring an element to our offense that
10:20
Speaker 1: is different. But how different I think remains to be seen.
10:24
Speaker 1: Let's go to the quarterback room now with our Hall
10:26
Speaker 1: of Famer Kurt Warner and Kurt understanding that there are
10:30
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways we can go with the
10:32
Speaker 1: DeShawn Watson conversation. I want to try to keep it
10:34
Speaker 1: to the field because it is seven hundred days here.
10:38
Speaker 1: It's been a full two years. When we saw Deshaun
10:42
Speaker 1: Watson on the field in the preseason, it didn't look good.
10:45
Speaker 1: I mean to be blunt, what's that like coming back?
10:48
Speaker 1: Can we expect him to be any good Sunday? I
10:53
Speaker 1: don't really know what to expect, Andrew Uh, you know,
10:57
Speaker 1: going back to Houston and some of the emotions that
11:00
Speaker 1: are going to play in there. As you said, just
11:02
Speaker 1: keeping it to the field. How long it's been. I
11:04
Speaker 1: mean I remember when I would go into every off
11:06
Speaker 1: season and when I would come back to the for
11:09
Speaker 1: the following season. I remember thinking, in my mind, Okay,
11:12
Speaker 1: will I be able to do the things that I
11:14
Speaker 1: did the year before? Will I be able to recognize pressure?
11:17
Speaker 1: Will I be able to move and uh, you know,
11:19
Speaker 1: and feel the game like I did the previous year?
11:23
Speaker 1: And it would take you some time in preseason to
11:25
Speaker 1: get back to the point where you're like, oh, yes, okay,
11:27
Speaker 1: I'm the same guy. I can't imagine what that's like
11:29
Speaker 1: when you haven't played in over a year and now
11:32
Speaker 1: you're back in there. How long is it going to
11:35
Speaker 1: take for him to have that feel, to get to
11:36
Speaker 1: that place where it's like, oh, okay, I can still
11:40
Speaker 1: do this. All the things that I did, you know,
11:41
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago are still a part of
11:44
Speaker 1: my game. I think it's going to take some time.
11:47
Speaker 1: And is that time more towards him being a playmaker
11:51
Speaker 1: or is that time more towards him being able to
11:54
Speaker 1: see get acclimated with the speed of the game and
11:57
Speaker 1: just make the routine plays. I'm fascinated to see what
12:00
Speaker 1: this is going to look like on Sunday and you
12:02
Speaker 1: and I have this conversation with full understanding and sensitive
12:05
Speaker 1: of it. About the bigger picture here, knowing you guys
12:07
Speaker 1: will have that conversation. I have no doubt coming up
12:09
Speaker 1: on game day morning, nine a m. Eastern on Sunday.
12:12
Speaker 1: Ahead of that game, the Packers get the Bears this
12:15
Speaker 1: coming Sunday, Jordan's love looked pretty good. You know, only
12:18
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter there this past Sunday night. The Packers
12:21
Speaker 1: Kurt good enough? All right, there are four win team, right,
12:24
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers says he's gonna play. At what point do
12:27
Speaker 1: we say we need to see Jordan's love? I mean,
12:33
Speaker 1: who's we? I think the organization question. Do they owe
12:37
Speaker 1: it to to the organization? I don't think so. I
12:42
Speaker 1: think you owe it to Aaron Rodgers to let him
12:44
Speaker 1: decide what he wants to do down the stretch. And
12:47
Speaker 1: I have to believe, as Aaron kind of talked about
12:50
Speaker 1: a little bit this week, is that he's a competitor.
12:52
Speaker 1: You you want to be out there with your guys,
12:54
Speaker 1: especially if you were going to keep playing. If if
12:57
Speaker 1: this was it for Aaron and he knew this was
12:59
Speaker 1: the end of the road, then maybe, hey, you know,
13:01
Speaker 1: I don't really need to play these last four games.
13:04
Speaker 1: Not gonna really do an thing for me? And I
13:05
Speaker 1: right off into the sunset. If Aaron Rodgers is going
13:08
Speaker 1: to keep playing moving forward, I'm using these games to
13:11
Speaker 1: continue to grow with my team, to continue to lead
13:15
Speaker 1: my team, to continue to build rapport with these young
13:17
Speaker 1: guys that I've got around me, believing that if we
13:20
Speaker 1: can get these guys in the place we want them
13:23
Speaker 1: for next year, if we can grow over these last
13:24
Speaker 1: four or five games, that we have a chance to
13:27
Speaker 1: compete again next year, which is what Aaron Rodgers is
13:29
Speaker 1: all about. So I know a lot of people are
13:31
Speaker 1: talking about all these things in the big picture, this
13:34
Speaker 1: to me is about if Aaron Rodgers is going to
13:36
Speaker 1: be your quarterback moving forward. Aaron Rodgers should say, hey,
13:39
Speaker 1: if I want, if I'm gonna play, if I want
13:41
Speaker 1: to play, then I'm gonna play this thing out and
13:43
Speaker 1: we're not gonna, you know, experiment with our backup. I
13:46
Speaker 1: Am going to continue to try to grow with this team,
13:48
Speaker 1: to to salvage what we can this year, hopefully end
13:51
Speaker 1: on a high note, and carry that into next year
13:54
Speaker 1: where we believe we can turn things around and make
13:56
Speaker 1: a run. Rogers did not practice today, but it is
13:59
Speaker 1: still expected to play Sunday against the team that last
14:01
Speaker 1: year he claimed he owned the Bears all right, Mike
14:04
Speaker 1: White ker he said they should have gone with Zach
14:06
Speaker 1: Wilson last week understanding big picture here with the conversation,
14:09
Speaker 1: he looked good against those Bears. Do you want to
14:13
Speaker 1: see more now? Can he do it again when they
14:15
Speaker 1: go up in weight class against the Vikings this week? Yeah?
14:20
Speaker 1: I think we all want to see, you know, we
14:22
Speaker 1: want to to to figure out, you know, Mike White,
14:25
Speaker 1: could he possibly be the future of this team or
14:28
Speaker 1: another team. We've seen some extreme highs and some extreme
14:31
Speaker 1: lows from Mike White in his career, and he doesn't
14:34
Speaker 1: have a big sample size, but obviously we all liked
14:37
Speaker 1: what we saw last week and how it looks so
14:39
Speaker 1: much different than what we had seen the week before
14:41
Speaker 1: with Zack Wilson, and so yeah, I want to see more.
14:44
Speaker 1: I want to see if he can be that guy.
14:45
Speaker 1: Is this even a competition, um, you know, between him
14:49
Speaker 1: and Zach Wilson moving forward, or is this simply just hey,
14:52
Speaker 1: keep the seat warm for a couple of weeks. We
14:54
Speaker 1: need that reset with Zack, and then Zach's gonna go
14:56
Speaker 1: back in because we believe ultimately he's going to be
15:00
Speaker 1: the guy that can take us to the next level.
15:02
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think we all want to see more
15:03
Speaker 1: and see if this is the Mike White we can
15:06
Speaker 1: can expect consistently weekend in week out. I phrased that wrong.
15:11
Speaker 1: We all want to see more. It's questions, can't you
15:12
Speaker 1: do it now? It's the Vikings and the Bills. I mean,
15:15
Speaker 1: he did it against the Bears in the rain and
15:17
Speaker 1: Trevor sime and I get it as the other quarterback,
15:19
Speaker 1: and it's a big move up in weight class here
15:22
Speaker 1: to face these two teams to see if he can
15:24
Speaker 1: keep it going and the Jets can keep it going
15:26
Speaker 1: as well. Hey, Kurt, want to talk about NFL three
15:28
Speaker 1: sixty tonight the show. Melissa Stark host It's back this evening.
15:31
Speaker 1: Have a great story with you and the California School
15:34
Speaker 1: for the Deaf here in southern California in Riverside. They
15:37
Speaker 1: have a football team. They have a very good football team,
15:40
Speaker 1: one that I know has a special place in your heart.
15:43
Speaker 1: Let's roll that tape. The reason that I'm here is
15:46
Speaker 1: because all of you are inspiring me, and they're inspiring
15:51
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of people to see life differently than
15:55
Speaker 1: they see it before. I've got a son that has disabilities,
15:59
Speaker 1: and I know that everybody that looks at my son,
16:01
Speaker 1: the first thing they see is the disabilities. I watched
16:04
Speaker 1: you just played football tonight. I didn't think one thing
16:08
Speaker 1: about any disability that anybody had. All I saw was
16:11
Speaker 1: your abilities. All I saw was your talents. You guys
16:17
Speaker 1: are showing the world to look at everybody, regardless of
16:21
Speaker 1: how we're different, by the abilities that they have. They
16:25
Speaker 1: have abilities, curt the pieces called unfinished business. Uh. That
16:29
Speaker 1: team had a parade Monday in Riverside as they won.
16:33
Speaker 1: Pretty cool. Yeah, it was. It was really cool. And
16:39
Speaker 1: you know when when I when I became a part
16:41
Speaker 1: of the story and I went down to Riverside and
16:44
Speaker 1: were was a part of of watching their first game
16:47
Speaker 1: this season. I didn't really know what to expect. And
16:50
Speaker 1: you know, as I said there in the speech after
16:52
Speaker 1: that first game, that was the most impressive thing for
16:56
Speaker 1: me is that as I work, uh you know, for
16:59
Speaker 1: those as an advocate for those with disabilities, what we're
17:01
Speaker 1: always trying to do is get people to see their
17:05
Speaker 1: gifts and their talent, to see beyond the things that
17:09
Speaker 1: may look a little bit different are the ways that
17:10
Speaker 1: they're a little bit different than us and see what
17:13
Speaker 1: they bring to the table, because there's such a vital
17:15
Speaker 1: part of our community. And that is what I saw
17:19
Speaker 1: in that game. I forgot about everything else and I
17:21
Speaker 1: saw a team coming together and playing great football. I
17:26
Speaker 1: saw a community coming together despite their differences because of
17:30
Speaker 1: this football team. And so it was such a fun,
17:33
Speaker 1: you know, piece to be a part of, such a
17:35
Speaker 1: fun story to be a part of, but such an
17:37
Speaker 1: important story that we need so much of this in
17:40
Speaker 1: our country right now, is not to just look at
17:42
Speaker 1: the differences or see someone based on their disabilities, but
17:46
Speaker 1: to recognize the gifts and talents that each and every
17:49
Speaker 1: person bring to the table and how vital they are
17:52
Speaker 1: for our communities and for our country to be what
17:54
Speaker 1: we can be. Honestly, what got me there was the
17:57
Speaker 1: cheer from that team, and obviously they had the interpreter
18:00
Speaker 1: of their signing the cheer when you said what you said, Like,
18:04
Speaker 1: how much it meant to those kids, right? I mean,
18:09
Speaker 1: I think their entire lives, that's what they've been seeing
18:12
Speaker 1: at you know, they're they're seen as the deaf football team,
18:15
Speaker 1: and what they're trying to do is just see us
18:17
Speaker 1: as a football team. Just see us as a bunch
18:19
Speaker 1: of young men that are trying to achieve our dreams
18:21
Speaker 1: like every other young man playing high school football. And that,
18:24
Speaker 1: to me is is what they achieved. Is that, Yes,
18:28
Speaker 1: the story becomes bigger because it's the California School of
18:31
Speaker 1: the Deaf, but when you get to know the individuals,
18:34
Speaker 1: you come to realize how similar that football team is,
18:38
Speaker 1: that community, that environment is to every other high school
18:41
Speaker 1: football team. And I believe that's what's going to endear
18:44
Speaker 1: this team to the entire country that watches it. One
18:47
Speaker 1: NFL three sixty tonight. Unfinished business. They finished that business
18:51
Speaker 1: that team did in Riverside at the c i F
18:53
Speaker 1: eight player State Championship this past week, and they got
18:57
Speaker 1: a parade. Kurt Warner always great to have you, Thank you, sir.
19:00
Speaker 1: We continue on NFL now on a Wednesday, getting ready
19:02
Speaker 1: for this a f C championship game. Remat this time
19:07
Speaker 1: those in Cincinnati where these two teams played, the Chiefs
19:10
Speaker 1: and the Bengals Week seventeen last year, and it's mutual
19:15
Speaker 1: admiration society from the quarterbacks. Is there a party that
19:20
Speaker 1: enjoys playing at quarterback? Like Patrick? Are you you know
19:23
Speaker 1: having that matchup between two of it's something that you
19:25
Speaker 1: know you gotta kick out. It's just fun to watch him. Um,
19:29
Speaker 1: whether it's on TV or on the sideline, he makes
19:32
Speaker 1: some incredible plays that, uh, it's just fun to watch,
19:36
Speaker 1: all right. Also fun to watch this guy all the time.
19:39
Speaker 1: Mike Renner, the co host of the It's Just Football
19:41
Speaker 1: PFF podcast, might great to have you here. Let's go
19:44
Speaker 1: a little bit deeper on what Joe Burrow. The Bengals
19:46
Speaker 1: have done without to Marchase, without Joe Mixon, they have
19:48
Speaker 1: won three games in a row. What do the numbers
19:51
Speaker 1: tell you about the way that offense is cooking right now? Yeah,
19:56
Speaker 1: you've seen them change up a lot of things from
20:00
Speaker 1: early and season. Now is Taylor, despite some of this
20:02
Speaker 1: clause maybe nodding offensive guru that's somewhere around the NFL
20:05
Speaker 1: one of the things that he does well, He's like
20:07
Speaker 1: he will change from early on till later on the season.
20:09
Speaker 1: He will change what the offense looks like. That's why
20:11
Speaker 1: they went on that run last year. And that's what
20:12
Speaker 1: you're seeing right now. Far less vertical go ball reliant
20:16
Speaker 1: than they had or were when they had Mr Chase,
20:18
Speaker 1: far fewer downfield shots and far more immediate throws. That's
20:21
Speaker 1: where Joe Burrow succeeds. That's why he's the fifth highest
20:24
Speaker 1: grade quarterback in the NFL this season, and it really
20:26
Speaker 1: places their personnel. Tee Higgins is much better at that
20:29
Speaker 1: area the field and you've seen him go off for
20:31
Speaker 1: back to back hundred yard games. So hopefully Jamar chases
20:33
Speaker 1: back for this one. But even if he's not, this
20:35
Speaker 1: offense can still move the ball because of that flexibility,
20:38
Speaker 1: and Chase said today he should be good to go,
20:40
Speaker 1: but we'll get it onto the practice field this week
20:42
Speaker 1: and see how that hip holds up. He said he
20:44
Speaker 1: was close last week but decided at the end that
20:48
Speaker 1: he needed to give it one more week. Meantime, as
20:50
Speaker 1: we see the Titans on the field, Mike, the Titans
20:52
Speaker 1: get the Eagles this week. Philadelphia is ten and one.
20:55
Speaker 1: What are the numbers tell you about this team as
20:58
Speaker 1: right now seemingly the prohibitive favor to the NFC. Yeah,
21:02
Speaker 1: they have to be, because come playoff time they're likely
21:05
Speaker 1: to be the number one seeds and you're gonna have
21:06
Speaker 1: to beat the Philadelphi Eagles because they don't beat themselves.
21:10
Speaker 1: They are plus thirteen and turnover differential this year. That's
21:13
Speaker 1: five better than the second best team in the NFL.
21:15
Speaker 1: Because Jalen hurts right there. He won't give the ball
21:17
Speaker 1: away if he's you know, if nothing's there, the thing's open,
21:20
Speaker 1: he's gonna scramble and still make a play with his legs.
21:22
Speaker 1: He has the third most rushing first downs of any
21:25
Speaker 1: player in the NFL that includes running backs, third most
21:27
Speaker 1: rushing first downs because he is so dynamic with his legs.
21:31
Speaker 1: So that's the thing is they're gonna get a lead earlier,
21:33
Speaker 1: they're gonna keep it close, and then they're gonna be
21:35
Speaker 1: able to run their entire offense. And again you're gonna
21:37
Speaker 1: have to come in and give them your best game
21:40
Speaker 1: to beat them, because they are not gonna go beat
21:42
Speaker 1: themselves with dumb mistakes, with dumb turnovers. That's just not
21:45
Speaker 1: been the philadelph Eagles way this season. And when you
21:47
Speaker 1: have as good office line as they do, top three
21:48
Speaker 1: OH line, top three D line, it's tough to beat.
21:51
Speaker 1: We got Josh Jacob's best game swishing into the Raiders
21:53
Speaker 1: here Mike this past Sunday, the eighth best single game
21:58
Speaker 1: scrimmage performance of all time. He is tailor made for
22:04
Speaker 1: Josh Dale's offense. I cannot believe they didn't pick up
22:06
Speaker 1: his fifthyear option because of that. And then he was
22:07
Speaker 1: getting snaps in the early preseason because of just how
22:11
Speaker 1: good he fits this system. The short yardage back. He
22:15
Speaker 1: leads the league in first down sixty eight first downs
22:17
Speaker 1: running US thirteen more than any other running back in
22:20
Speaker 1: the NFL this season. Just so good in those tight
22:23
Speaker 1: spaces with his bigger body, always going to churn out
22:26
Speaker 1: those yards. And then oh yeah, when he gets a
22:28
Speaker 1: little crease, he has the home run type of speed
22:30
Speaker 1: that not a lot of bigger backs in the NFL. Half,
22:32
Speaker 1: so the versatility you're seeing on display there as a
22:35
Speaker 1: wide receiver as well. He set himself up, obviously not
22:38
Speaker 1: getting that fit ye option for a big, big payday
22:41
Speaker 1: this offseason. Yep. And he did that all on a
22:43
Speaker 1: calf injury where he was questionable to go and may
22:45
Speaker 1: not practice all this week ahead of the Raiders game
22:48
Speaker 1: against the Chargers. Mike Renner PFFD, it's just Football podcast here,
22:53
Speaker 1: download the app coming up next. How about that guy?
22:56
Speaker 1: How about the season that guy has had, not only
22:58
Speaker 1: in Detroit, foot in Minnesota as well. Live Vikings camp
23:01
Speaker 1: t J. Hockenson set to join us straight ahead. So
23:12
Speaker 1: it's not really the Pro Bowl this year, it's the
23:14
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl Games. But that doesn't mean you can't vote.
23:16
Speaker 1: We want you to vote and send your favorite players
23:20
Speaker 1: to Vegas the Pro Bowl Games. Vote presented my castro
23:25
Speaker 1: text the word vote v O T E v O
23:27
Speaker 1: T E to six three five six three five six
23:30
Speaker 1: three five six three five operators are currently standing five.
23:35
Speaker 1: Whether you're in Minneapolis or wherever you're watching this show,
23:39
Speaker 1: you know Kirk Cousins and the Vikings have a playoff
23:43
Speaker 1: clinching scenario this week. As a matter of fact, they
23:46
Speaker 1: can actually wrap up the NFC North this week if
23:50
Speaker 1: they win and the Lions lose to the Jaguars. Right now,
23:57
Speaker 1: the Vikings are sitting in nine and two. There the
24:00
Speaker 1: two seed in the NFC, and in week thirteen they
24:05
Speaker 1: can actually wrap up the North. Cousins on third down,
24:10
Speaker 1: back to pass, he'll fire room the mental clot and
24:13
Speaker 1: it's a first down. Welcome to Minnesota, t J. Hopkinson.
24:17
Speaker 1: He caught it center of the field at the forty
24:20
Speaker 1: five for a game of nineteen third and gold play action.
24:24
Speaker 1: Cousins looks weft close to the end zone touchdown Jackson
24:34
Speaker 1: and the prophecy pays off, and the Vikings have a
24:37
Speaker 1: stick keen hurting league, and the Vikings had themselves a
24:40
Speaker 1: fun tight end to watch every week. T J Hockenson
24:43
Speaker 1: joins us now live on Vikings Cam. T J. Great
24:46
Speaker 1: to have you on. How are you there? I'm doing great.
24:50
Speaker 1: Thanks for having hey, thanks for being here, and thanks
24:52
Speaker 1: for you know, giving us those great highlights to play here.
24:55
Speaker 1: By the way, you're number two in the Pro Bowl
24:57
Speaker 1: voting for those who are keeping score at home. And
24:59
Speaker 1: this week you guys can make it into the playoffs
25:01
Speaker 1: your new team. If you guys went in your old
25:04
Speaker 1: team loses smiling. They're kind of weird setup, isn't it.
25:10
Speaker 1: That's a weird scenario for sure. But uh, I mean
25:13
Speaker 1: we're gonna do everything we can to win on Sunday.
25:15
Speaker 1: And I think that's just control of controllables. You know,
25:18
Speaker 1: That's what we're talking about in the air every day.
25:20
Speaker 1: And so you know, we can just go out on
25:22
Speaker 1: Sunday and uh get a win and and that's all
25:25
Speaker 1: we can do. So what's life in Minnesota like for you?
25:29
Speaker 1: With thirty four targets? T J? In your first four games.
25:35
Speaker 1: It's been incredible. Um, you know, I just these guys,
25:38
Speaker 1: this organization, uh, this city. Um, you know, to be
25:41
Speaker 1: able to play in front of our fans for the
25:44
Speaker 1: last two weeks, it's been incredible. So I've just enjoyed
25:48
Speaker 1: every second of it, trying to make the most of
25:50
Speaker 1: this opportunity and um, you know, really just enjoying these
25:53
Speaker 1: guys and enjoying these people. Listen, I want to make
25:56
Speaker 1: something clear here. We're not bagging on the Lions, but
25:59
Speaker 1: it must be refreshing t J to go to work
26:03
Speaker 1: every Sunday or third day knowing that you are going
26:07
Speaker 1: to be such a huge part of this offense. Yeah,
26:12
Speaker 1: I mean it's been awesome. Um. You know, Detruit gave
26:15
Speaker 1: me an opportunity and uh, you know, I can't say
26:18
Speaker 1: enough thank you to them for for that. But um,
26:21
Speaker 1: just to be here and be a part of this
26:22
Speaker 1: organization so close to where I grew up and so
26:26
Speaker 1: close to home. Um, it's it's been awesome. It's been
26:28
Speaker 1: a great opportunity and really just these guys. To be
26:32
Speaker 1: around such a great leadership, great guys. UM in this
26:35
Speaker 1: locker room has been incredible. You know, you just go
26:38
Speaker 1: on Sunday, and you have this sense of confidence and
26:41
Speaker 1: you have a sense of poise. You know that. Uh,
26:43
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't happen everywhere. Have you thought what
26:45
Speaker 1: it would be like? You never played in a playoff
26:47
Speaker 1: game in Detroit And we're getting ahead of ourselves, but look,
26:49
Speaker 1: you guys can clinch week thirteen. What it would be
26:52
Speaker 1: like to actually play meaningful games in January? Yeah, I
26:57
Speaker 1: mean that hasn't really crossed my mind yet, but you know,
27:00
Speaker 1: just it would be another opportunity, uh, you know, for
27:04
Speaker 1: us to take it manage, you know. I mean I've
27:06
Speaker 1: never said I've never played in the playoff game, never
27:09
Speaker 1: really been in the hut. So it's, uh, it's truly
27:12
Speaker 1: an honor to be here. Great opportunity and they listen,
27:16
Speaker 1: it happens day by day and week by week. So
27:19
Speaker 1: you know, we got the Jets this week and then
27:21
Speaker 1: we're gonna keep moving from there. And I think that's
27:23
Speaker 1: how winning programs and winning establishments do it. So t
27:27
Speaker 1: J was talking about your quarterback, Kirk Kirk Cousins went
27:31
Speaker 1: viral a couple of times, obviously with the shirtless playing
27:33
Speaker 1: rides in the ice and all that um and then
27:35
Speaker 1: after the victory on Thanksgiving when you guys were eating
27:39
Speaker 1: turkey he threw out there. Then maybe he gets the grills,
27:43
Speaker 1: you know, like Justin Jefferson, UM, check this out. Justin
27:48
Speaker 1: had his grill in that was preventing him from being
27:50
Speaker 1: able to eat his turkey legs. So I said, maybe
27:52
Speaker 1: that's the next step. And I said, I'll have to
27:54
Speaker 1: call my dentists. So there were many dentists who actually
27:56
Speaker 1: reached out to my agent and made themselves available to
27:59
Speaker 1: make drills for me. And then my personal dentist in
28:02
Speaker 1: West Michigan and Holland emailed me and said, I've got
28:04
Speaker 1: a Christmas present coming your way. Assume you start Kirk today.
28:09
Speaker 1: Any update? Does he have the grills yet? I don't
28:12
Speaker 1: think i've seen him in yet, but we're working on that.
28:14
Speaker 1: I know everybody in that locker room call a hint
28:17
Speaker 1: of it. So I think I think that'll be showing
28:19
Speaker 1: up here soon. Maybe you're not kidding. Do you think
28:22
Speaker 1: he's actually gonna get him? I hope, so, I really do.
28:26
Speaker 1: I think we need to we need to start making
28:28
Speaker 1: some shirts, start pressing them a little bit, but I
28:31
Speaker 1: think it'll come. What what would the shirts say, because
28:34
Speaker 1: I'm all for this. Yeah. No, we just gotta have
28:37
Speaker 1: a picture of Justin's teeth on there, you know, and
28:39
Speaker 1: then his face and it will be perfect. I think
28:42
Speaker 1: we can get that downe all right. That's significant. Also
28:44
Speaker 1: significant this week obviously the return of My Cause, My Cleats.
28:49
Speaker 1: T J. Tell me about your cleats and who you're
28:53
Speaker 1: supporting this coming weekend. Yeah, I'm supporting Warriors Rising. Um.
28:58
Speaker 1: It's a it's a foundation that I've been working with
29:01
Speaker 1: for since I was in college, you know, and just
29:05
Speaker 1: the amount of you know, raising that they do and
29:09
Speaker 1: how they help veterans when they come home and uh,
29:13
Speaker 1: you know, they really talk about it's a hand out,
29:15
Speaker 1: not a hand out, you know, they talk about, um,
29:19
Speaker 1: you know, being able to give veterans an opportunity to
29:22
Speaker 1: start their own business and then hire veterans on top
29:26
Speaker 1: of that. So just a really great organization and somebody
29:29
Speaker 1: that I'm super proud of to be able to represent
29:32
Speaker 1: on my cleats. It's great. We had um salute to
29:35
Speaker 1: service and transitions perfectly to your Cause from My Cause
29:40
Speaker 1: My Cleats. As the Vikings get back on the field
29:42
Speaker 1: trying to wrap up the NFC North this week against
29:45
Speaker 1: the Jets. T J. Hockenson, congratulations on the success, continued success,
29:49
Speaker 1: looking forward to Senior in January. NFL Now is a
29:54
Speaker 1: production of the NFL in partnership with my Heart Radio.
29:57
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i
30:00
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.