Latest / AFR Saints / Jon Stinchcomb Breaks Down the Saints’ 53-Man Roster | Biggest Takeaways From Preseason

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Jon Stinchcomb Breaks Down the Saints’ 53-Man Roster | Biggest Takeaways From Preseason · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 1: won a preseason game for what feels like the first
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  Speaker 1: time since, well, since John Stinchcombe was actually playing. It
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  Speaker 1: was great to see, actually, the Saints play much better
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  Speaker 1: on Friday than they did a week ago against the Rams.
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  Speaker 1: That's before they set their initial 53. John's good enough
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  Speaker 1: to hang out with us here. Thanks, as always, for
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  Speaker 1: the time, man. We appreciate you making yourself available. How
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  Speaker 1: are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
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  Speaker 1: I would imagine.
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  Speaker 2: Good to watch the Saints actually win one. Yeah, man.
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  Speaker 1: Like, is it? John, it was such an uninspired effort
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  Speaker 1: against the Rams, the 34-0 pasting. You know, Is that, like,
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  Speaker 1: is the performance, because it was an about-face against the Cowboys,
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  Speaker 1: it was very, it was sharp, it was clean, it
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  Speaker 1: was all those things. Is that rooted, like, in some
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  Speaker 1: just professional pride? Does that exist in preseason?
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  Speaker 2: I think so. I think a lot of it has
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  Speaker 2: to do with having, obviously, we didn't see the Olave's
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  Speaker 2: and the Shucks and the Chase Young's of the world
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  Speaker 2: out there. And it was a long week in California, and,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we kind of discussed that of how a
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  Speaker 2: couple of joint practices, and all those things. With that said,
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  Speaker 2: if you're putting on an NFL uniform and you're taking
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  Speaker 2: the field, the expectation is you're ready to go. You're
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  Speaker 2: going to rock and roll when you get out there.
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  Speaker 2: The game against the Rams was not that. It was lackluster.
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  Speaker 2: To see the response with virtually the same players, I
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  Speaker 2: think was a very positive sign. With that said, we're
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  Speaker 2: on the other side of the 53-man cutdown. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a number of those guys are, you know, handed their
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  Speaker 2: walking papers, and hopefully some of them are back on
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  Speaker 2: practice squad. But that's kind of the nature of the
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  Speaker 2: beast of how these preseason games are going across the board,
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  Speaker 2: not just with New Orleans, but all the teams.
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  Speaker 1: John, what is cut day like in the NFL? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it was different. There were multiple when you played. Now
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  Speaker 1: it's just the one. But what's that day like?
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  Speaker 2: It's the worst for a number of reasons, even when
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  Speaker 2: you make the team. you've formed relationships with guys and
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  Speaker 2: some of them are, are vets who've been on the
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  Speaker 2: team for a few years. And, uh, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: hard on a personal level just because of the friendships
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  Speaker 2: that you've formed, but also the respect and understanding for
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  Speaker 2: the guys that are shown the door that they've invested
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  Speaker 2: so much. Um, and yet you make it to this
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  Speaker 2: point and, your services are no longer needed. So it's hard.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard for everyone. I know it's not easy on
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  Speaker 2: the coaches and the brass that make the decisions, but
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  Speaker 2: as a player, even when you make it, it's still
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  Speaker 2: the worst day in football.
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  Speaker 1: John Stinchcomb is our guest on the call for the
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  Speaker 1: Saints' three preseason games. I'm sure you've been able to
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  Speaker 1: scan that initial 53. After watching the team in preseason,
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  Speaker 1: were there any surprises or.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's always a couple where you're just going, huh,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't see that coming. We didn't see much of
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  Speaker 2: Chris Rumpf and his injury and not really knowing what
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  Speaker 2: that's about. Same thing with Ridgway. There's been so little
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  Speaker 2: exposure there that you wouldn't have penciled him in, either
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  Speaker 2: one of them, based on availability. But there's familiarity there
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  Speaker 2: for both players. You know, a guy like Samir White,
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  Speaker 2: you trade for. I thought he played well in that
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  Speaker 2: final preseason game. Others like Terrell Burgess on the back end.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's a couple that were, you know, at
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  Speaker 2: the back end, and you could see go a couple ways.
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  Speaker 2: I think when you look at the number of injuries
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  Speaker 2: and guys on IR, Jalen Ford being one of them,
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  Speaker 2: it has provided some opportunities to make those changes and
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  Speaker 2: And I read today that the Saints picked up a
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  Speaker 2: couple on the waiver wire, so there's still more shuffling
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  Speaker 2: to be done.
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  Speaker 1: What about if I focus on the offensive line, two
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  Speaker 1: guys that I know have drawn a lot of rave reviews.
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  Speaker 1: One is Torselli Simpkins, who played a lot for the
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  Speaker 1: Saints a year ago. And then Easton Kilty is another
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  Speaker 1: young guy that a lot of people are high on.
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  Speaker 1: Have you thought on what they were thinking with those
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  Speaker 1: two decisions?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Kilty was really the more surprising of the two
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  Speaker 2: for me. I thought he had a good camp, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm assuming they're going to try to sneak him back
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  Speaker 2: onto the practice squad because he seems to have a
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  Speaker 2: lot of upside. You know, he picked up the tackle
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  Speaker 2: on the waiver wire today, so there's opportunities that still exist.
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  Speaker 2: Torricelli was, you know, you look at his flexibility, his
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  Speaker 2: ability to play guard and center. I think there's still
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  Speaker 2: value there. And, you know, potentially a guy who didn't
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  Speaker 2: get picked up on the waiver wire that you can
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  Speaker 2: have on your practice squad. And most teams were able
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  Speaker 2: to keep nine, some of them 10 offensive linemen, Saints
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  Speaker 2: opted for eight. So I'm assuming that they were hoping
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  Speaker 2: they could get both those players back on practice squad
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  Speaker 2: and keep them in house as they develop without having
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  Speaker 2: to use one of the 53 spaces to have them in-house.
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  Speaker 1: Mason Murphy is the other player that got picked up
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  Speaker 1: off waiver season. Offensive lineman from Southern Cal, then finished
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  Speaker 1: up at Auburn and was with the Bears and now
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  Speaker 1: is going to be with the New Orleans Saints. Interesting
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  Speaker 1: to watch how all of that goes. One more and
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  Speaker 1: then we'll kind of look ahead. Daniel Carlson wins the
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  Speaker 1: kicker job. Maybe that felt like a foregone conclusion. You
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  Speaker 1: think that was the right decision?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think Charlie Smith or Tanner won it. So
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  Speaker 2: the fact that they brought him in was a sign
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  Speaker 2: that there was still some discontent that it wasn't a
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  Speaker 2: resolved issue. You look at Carlson's body of work, his
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  Speaker 2: overall career, and it makes a lot of sense. He's
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  Speaker 2: got a huge upside. A little bit of a cautionary
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  Speaker 2: tale because last year was not his best, but C'est
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  Speaker 2: la vie in the world of kickers that consistency is king,
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  Speaker 2: and that's why it's so valued for the players that
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  Speaker 2: are able to sustain it.
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  Speaker 1: There was a report, multiple reports on Sunday, that teams
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  Speaker 1: were interested in trading for Spencer Rattler. How do you
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  Speaker 1: evaluate the quarterbacks after watching them in three preseason games,
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  Speaker 1: and if that makes sense, if you can get an
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  Speaker 1: asset for Rattler, would.
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  Speaker 2: You do it? Yeah, I don't know because Zach Wilson
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  Speaker 2: in game one, you saw his upside, but I didn't
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  Speaker 2: see the consistency from him that would make me feel
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  Speaker 2: comfortable in saying we can let Rattler go. If it
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  Speaker 2: was closer, if I thought that Zach had played better
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  Speaker 2: and With that said, let me throw this caveat out there.
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  Speaker 2: In preseason game number three, we're not comparing apples to apples.
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  Speaker 2: So if you looked at that between Spencer and Zach
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  Speaker 2: and say, well, Zach didn't have as good a day
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  Speaker 2: as Rattler, well, yeah, but he was also under duress
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  Speaker 2: a heck of a lot more. It was not the
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  Speaker 2: same game for him that was provided for Rattler. So
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  Speaker 2: with that said, I personally wouldn't be comfortable saying heading
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  Speaker 2: into the season with where Zach's at. So yes, I'd
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  Speaker 2: love to get some resources back in a trade, but
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that I would be super excited to
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  Speaker 2: see Rattler go and think that if something happened to
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  Speaker 2: Shuck that Zach's going to step right in and there
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't be a significant drop off.
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  Speaker 1: And John, before you go, and John Stinchcomb is our guest.
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  Speaker 1: So it's two weeks from yesterday's, the opener against the Lions.
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  Speaker 1: So obviously with the 17-game schedule and how they've done now,
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  Speaker 1: you get this, I guess, like a mini break, maybe
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  Speaker 1: a mini bye, if you want to call it that.
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  Speaker 1: Do you like that? What is this like for the
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  Speaker 1: players to have this sort of, from the end of
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  Speaker 1: the preseason camp now, to have this sort of extra
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  Speaker 1: week before you go into the season?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, like a week zero to kind of shift gears.
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  Speaker 2: You made it through camp, and now we're about to
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  Speaker 2: face the gauntlet of a 17-game season, starting off two
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  Speaker 2: games on the road against some high-quality opponents.
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  Speaker 1: I mean.
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  Speaker 2: on the road against Detroit, followed up by Baltimore. That's,
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  Speaker 2: that's a big ask for any team. And one that's,
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  Speaker 2: you know, as we're recovering and healing, I mean, geez, if,
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  Speaker 2: if nothing else, this training camp has been brutal on
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  Speaker 2: that roster. So guys that are dealing with some soft
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  Speaker 2: tissue stuff, an extra week of recovery is going to
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  Speaker 2: mean a lot, not only to them, but those that
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  Speaker 2: had to take the extra reps because they weren't available. So,
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  Speaker 2: I think it's great for players. Yeah, it makes for
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  Speaker 2: such a long season. And usually after a tough training camp,
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  Speaker 2: a little period of time where you can get your
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  Speaker 2: body back right and mentally prepared for this stretch, I
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  Speaker 2: think is a good thing.
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  Speaker 1: He is John Stinchcomb, former New Orleans State offensive lineman,
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl champion. You heard him on the call for
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  Speaker 1: all the preseason games. Good enough to hang out with
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  Speaker 1: us here. John, we appreciate the time as always, man.
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  Speaker 1: We'll bother you again somewhere down the line. Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: All right. Appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Yep. It's our pleasure.