Latest / NFL Now / Christian McCaffrey Traded to 49ers, Insider Injury News, & Steelers vs. Dolphins Matchup
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
- 0:08Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. DeAndre Hopkins in his debut. That
- 0:14Speaker 1: is all right there, man, It's good to see here.
- 0:18Speaker 1: Dalton first down fires over the middle. The ball is
- 0:21Speaker 1: tipped into the air and picked off at the thirty
- 0:23Speaker 1: yards line. Marco Wilson bi step and then he got
- 0:26Speaker 1: to flip into the end over the touckdown Barko will
- 0:29Speaker 1: give a pick six. Dalton straight drop throws over the
- 0:33Speaker 1: middle and is on Tildy interception by his as Simmison.
- 0:36Speaker 1: De deal at Simmons stack to tack interception returns for
- 0:40Speaker 1: toutdown parton Cardinals left the end of the hand NFC
- 0:52Speaker 1: West looking a little different than it did after Week six.
- 0:55Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins is back and now Christian McCaffrey is a
- 0:59Speaker 1: member of the San Francisco forty Niners. Were breaking down
- 1:02Speaker 1: Thursday Night football and that trade between the four Niners
- 1:05Speaker 1: and Carolina Panthers coming up in just a little bit.
- 1:07Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to NFL Now. I'm mom Our recent
- 1:10Speaker 1: the NFL Network news room. Also still to come, We're
- 1:13Speaker 1: gonna have the latest on the injury front to get
- 1:15Speaker 1: you ready for week seven action and Jim Naggy, the
- 1:18Speaker 1: executive director of the Senior Bowl. We'll let us know
- 1:21Speaker 1: which quarterbacks in college to look out for in the
- 1:25Speaker 1: NFL draft, but we start with that blockbuster trade last night.
- 1:28Speaker 1: After six parts of six seasons, Carolina Panthers superstar Christian
- 1:33Speaker 1: McCaffrey is on the move. The number eight overall pick
- 1:37Speaker 1: of the seventeen draft is on his way to San
- 1:40Speaker 1: Francisco to become a member of Kyle Shanahan's forty Niners.
- 1:44Speaker 1: Of course, that made him happy, reunites the Shanahan's and McCaffrey's.
- 1:48Speaker 1: Here was Kyle's reaction a little earlier today, HU get No,
- 1:57Speaker 1: it was more a big smile and then like, all right,
- 1:59Speaker 1: I gotta go back and redo third downs everything. And
- 2:04Speaker 1: then it was like, wait a second, he's still got
- 2:05Speaker 1: to come and past the physical. He's not gonna be
- 2:07Speaker 1: a practice. And then it's so I'm still up in
- 2:09Speaker 1: there on whether we're gonna be able to get him
- 2:11Speaker 1: here for Sunday or not. But that's kind of what
- 2:13Speaker 1: I'm just kind of a wait and see approach right now. Um,
- 2:15Speaker 1: I'm sure Christians in the air right now, and hopefully
- 2:18Speaker 1: that physical will go all right, and um, then I'm
- 2:20Speaker 1: sure I'll see him after practice and we'll just see
- 2:22Speaker 1: where he's at and go from there. And so this
- 2:24Speaker 1: is late last night, um, almost sailor, So let's just
- 2:30Speaker 1: go in. Give me your best offer. They gave me
- 2:33Speaker 1: the best offer. Um, the you know, the other team
- 2:38Speaker 1: could up it a little bit by where their pick was.
- 2:41Speaker 1: They did that, and so we took that. That was
- 2:44Speaker 1: That was kind of like the best and final on
- 2:45Speaker 1: both as it was close, but San Francisco one out
- 2:50Speaker 1: from More on the details of this blockbuster trade, we
- 2:54Speaker 1: welcome in Ian Rappaport, Taylor Bashotti, who was at the
- 2:57Speaker 1: forty nine ers facility, and Mark Ross, former executive in
- 3:00Speaker 1: the National Football League. And Ian, we'll start with you.
- 3:03Speaker 1: We heard General Manager Scott fit describe how everything went
- 3:06Speaker 1: down last night, But tell us about the lead up
- 3:09Speaker 1: to what made this happen to come to Fruition last night. Yeah,
- 3:13Speaker 1: this really started when Matt Rule was fired as Carolina
- 3:15Speaker 1: Panthers head coach. Really led teams to call the Panthers
- 3:18Speaker 1: and called GM Scott Fitter and say who could we
- 3:21Speaker 1: trade for? And we've actually already seen two trades the
- 3:23Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers and made one Robby Anderson, who we saw
- 3:26Speaker 1: last night and now Christian McCaffrey, and he talked about
- 3:29Speaker 1: the two finalists. My understanding was it was the Rams
- 3:32Speaker 1: and the forty Niners, and what the Panthers wanted was
- 3:36Speaker 1: essentially a first round pick. That was the value. That
- 3:38Speaker 1: was what they believed it would take to trade Christian McCaffrey.
- 3:42Speaker 1: Neither of the two teams who were finalists had a
- 3:44Speaker 1: first round pick, so they had to make up for
- 3:45Speaker 1: it in other ways. So what you saw was the
- 3:48Speaker 1: San Francisco offer, which was a hall It was a
- 3:51Speaker 1: two or three or four and a future five. If
- 3:54Speaker 1: you look at that, you analyze it, it looks around
- 3:57Speaker 1: to be a late first round pick. That is the ballpark.
- 4:01Speaker 1: That's what they wanted. Uh. Fitters right came down to
- 4:04Speaker 1: it last night, and I would say the forty Niners
- 4:06Speaker 1: seemed to be really in the lead, probably the most
- 4:08Speaker 1: aggressive here, so it makes sense that they end up
- 4:11Speaker 1: with him. Until McCaffrey now um a member of the
- 4:15Speaker 1: San Francisco forty Niners. You know, we have seen a
- 4:17Speaker 1: carousel of running backs for the Forts through Kyle Shanahan's tenure.
- 4:22Speaker 1: Maybe now finally they have some stability with one of
- 4:25Speaker 1: the more talented players in the NFL. And it seems
- 4:27Speaker 1: like every year the NFC West has an arms race,
- 4:30Speaker 1: whether it was the Rams last year with O b
- 4:31Speaker 1: J and Von Miller, always seemed to up to any there.
- 4:34Speaker 1: Mark Ross, you saw the conditions of the trade, terms
- 4:37Speaker 1: of the agreement. What are your thoughts on this blockbuster
- 4:41Speaker 1: omar is interesting you mentioned the arms race. This is
- 4:43Speaker 1: that all in theory once again, or San Francisco thinks
- 4:46Speaker 1: that Christian McCaffrey is that one piece, that final piece
- 4:49Speaker 1: to get them to the super Bowl. And you talk
- 4:52Speaker 1: about the Rams and what they did with the difference.
- 4:54Speaker 1: When I look at it as the Rams went all
- 4:56Speaker 1: in sort of on premier players, premier positions, and that
- 5:00Speaker 1: was Von Miller, pass rusher, Oh b J. The exceptional
- 5:03Speaker 1: pass catching playmaker, pass catcher. But they had the quarterback
- 5:07Speaker 1: stability there with Matthew Stafford and even the year before
- 5:10Speaker 1: when the Bucks sort of started this all in and
- 5:13Speaker 1: with Tom Brady going and then bring in playmakers around
- 5:16Speaker 1: him and bringing his buddy Grant back even a b
- 5:19Speaker 1: and this really has to be the philosophy of your
- 5:21Speaker 1: whole organization to say, the owner, the head coach, the
- 5:24Speaker 1: general manager on the same page, like this is our philosophy,
- 5:27Speaker 1: this is what we're gonna do. We all have to
- 5:29Speaker 1: agree on this. And obviously that's what the forty Diners
- 5:32Speaker 1: have done. Is Christian McCaffrey and the running back position,
- 5:35Speaker 1: the same as those sort of playmaking positions I mentioned
- 5:38Speaker 1: with the Rams and the and the and the Bucks.
- 5:41Speaker 1: I don't know, remains to be seen, but they feel
- 5:45Speaker 1: as if Christian McCaffrey is just not a running back
- 5:47Speaker 1: but more of a receiver or a playmaker as we've
- 5:50Speaker 1: seen other pieces in their offense like Adebo Samuel. So
- 5:53Speaker 1: certainly he makes them a better team, especially on third
- 5:56Speaker 1: down and as a pass catcher, will he put them
- 5:59Speaker 1: over the top wide open to the NFC. So I
- 6:01Speaker 1: think they're right there to claim that the East Crown. Well,
- 6:05Speaker 1: since Christian McCaffrey entered the league in two thousand seventeen,
- 6:08Speaker 1: no running back has more scrimmage yards than Christian McCaffrey.
- 6:12Speaker 1: McCaffrey has landed in San Jose. He is going to
- 6:15Speaker 1: go to his physical Once he passes, they can finalize
- 6:18Speaker 1: the trade, and then he is expected to come to
- 6:20Speaker 1: the facility and be at practice. He's not going to practice,
- 6:23Speaker 1: but he is going to watch practice and hopefully George
- 6:26Speaker 1: Kittle can receive his present. The biggest gift. Christian McCaffrey,
- 6:31Speaker 1: of course, a former star at Stanford, so he returns
- 6:34Speaker 1: to the band. The forty nine is gearing up for
- 6:35Speaker 1: a huge showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs. Taylor will
- 6:38Speaker 1: see you back a little later to break down that one.
- 6:41Speaker 1: Ian Mark will also have you on a little bit later,
- 6:43Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I Meanwhile, in Dallas, they're getting
- 6:45Speaker 1: ready to welcome back Dak Prescott. He missed the last
- 6:48Speaker 1: five games because of that thumb injury. He said earlier
- 6:51Speaker 1: in the week that he is going to start against
- 6:53Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions on Sunday, and the teammates there you see,
- 6:58Speaker 1: more than happy to have him back. All smiles in
- 7:00Speaker 1: the locker room. For much more on this game coming
- 7:03Speaker 1: up between the Cowboys and the Lions. We welcome in
- 7:06Speaker 1: change Slater and Jane. What more can you tell us
- 7:08Speaker 1: about what the reception has been like with Doc and
- 7:10Speaker 1: his anticipated return to the starting lineup. As you can imagine,
- 7:14Speaker 1: the locker room was full of excitement this week, and
- 7:17Speaker 1: that's not to disrespect Cooper Rush who went four in
- 7:19Speaker 1: one in Deck Prescott's absence, but just having Deck even
- 7:23Speaker 1: on the sidelines this season when he had that injury,
- 7:26Speaker 1: he talked about that. He said, you know, when he
- 7:28Speaker 1: had the ankle injury, he wasn't necessarily able to do that.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Of course they didn't put him on I R. S
- 7:32Speaker 1: who was able to be fully involved and engaged throughout
- 7:36Speaker 1: this process, and during that time, he said he learned
- 7:40Speaker 1: a lot about the offense on the sidelines. Now, I
- 7:42Speaker 1: did ask him because I didn't notice that he was
- 7:44Speaker 1: wearing a brace during the limited portion that we saw.
- 7:46Speaker 1: Remember yesterday we didn't get to see a whole lot
- 7:48Speaker 1: of practice as we were expecting to see him throw.
- 7:51Speaker 1: He said he has not anticipate wearing a brace on Sunday.
- 7:54Speaker 1: He says he doesn't feel limited there. He might wear
- 7:56Speaker 1: a little KT tape, you know, just a rehabilitation tape
- 7:59Speaker 1: that helps with inflammation. But other than that, he's good
- 8:01Speaker 1: to go. No trips back to Dr Cooper who did
- 8:04Speaker 1: the surgery. He'll just sort of stay in touch with them.
- 8:06Speaker 1: But talking to a lot of these players, man, they
- 8:08Speaker 1: say the ball's got a lot of zip and he
- 8:10Speaker 1: looks like Dak Yeah. Dack of course miss the last
- 8:13Speaker 1: five games. Cooper Rush four and one in his stead.
- 8:16Speaker 1: So now they welcome in the Detroit Lions, who have
- 8:19Speaker 1: been a tale of two teams. Jane, are we going
- 8:21Speaker 1: to see the one that we saw the first few
- 8:23Speaker 1: weeks of the season where they led the league in
- 8:24Speaker 1: offense or the one that got shut out against New England?
- 8:27Speaker 1: Great question. I actually do a podcast for the Cowboys.
- 8:30Speaker 1: During the weekend, we had Danny Rodgers the Detroit Lions,
- 8:32Speaker 1: and I sort of asked her about that yesterday and
- 8:34Speaker 1: she said, Dan Campbell in this group have been doing
- 8:37Speaker 1: what they can to sort of motivate this team, and
- 8:39Speaker 1: that's benching players. They've had healthy scratches, and to your point,
- 8:43Speaker 1: this is an offense that's proven that they can put
- 8:45Speaker 1: up the points despite that shut out to the Patriots
- 8:48Speaker 1: ahead of the bye week. Now, two players that were
- 8:50Speaker 1: really keeping an eye on ahead of Sunday as of course,
- 8:52Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift and d J. Chark. Swift said he was
- 8:55Speaker 1: trending in that direction, that was his hope to play
- 8:57Speaker 1: on Sunday. D J Chark he was in a walking boot.
- 9:00Speaker 1: So it doesn't seem as optimistic, but defensively, this team
- 9:05Speaker 1: is really struggling. They are last in a number of
- 9:07Speaker 1: categories and then add in a host of injuries and
- 9:10Speaker 1: this could be a tough one for them on Sunday.
- 9:13Speaker 1: But we talked to the Cowboys about this. Don't look
- 9:15Speaker 1: at this as a trap game. It is an uncommon opponent,
- 9:18Speaker 1: an opponent the Cowboys haven't seen since twenty nineteen, so
- 9:21Speaker 1: they spent a little extra time on the tape this
- 9:23Speaker 1: week to make sure that they are in fact prepared.
- 9:25Speaker 1: Jared Goff playing well as well, fifth in the league
- 9:28Speaker 1: and touchdown passes despite having a bye already, so look
- 9:31Speaker 1: forward to him continue to play well against that challenging
- 9:35Speaker 1: Cowboys defense. James Slater, thank you very much. Meanwhile, injury
- 9:39Speaker 1: news to report here heading into Week seven. Ian Rappaport
- 9:42Speaker 1: back with us now. The Baltimore Ravens dealing with a
- 9:45Speaker 1: host of injuries. What more can you tell us about them?
- 9:49Speaker 1: First of all, Mark Andrews mised a couple of days
- 9:51Speaker 1: of practice this week and something that really had to
- 9:53Speaker 1: convince him and do hates missing practice for dealing with
- 9:55Speaker 1: a little bit of a knee injury. He was back
- 9:58Speaker 1: at practice today talked to reporters right afterward and express confidence,
- 10:02Speaker 1: a lot of confidence that he will be able to
- 10:04Speaker 1: be out there, described his body as being ready. That
- 10:07Speaker 1: is a good sign that one of the best tight
- 10:08Speaker 1: ends in the NFL will be out there. Meanwhile, j
- 10:11Speaker 1: K Dobbins felt his knee tighten up just a little bit,
- 10:15Speaker 1: uh and after their last game. Has not been a
- 10:18Speaker 1: practice yet this week. Not a good sign for his availability.
- 10:21Speaker 1: We'll see. I think that Gus Edwards back. The timing
- 10:23Speaker 1: might be right there, We'll see, But just does not
- 10:26Speaker 1: sound optimistic about j K. Dobbins being able to get
- 10:29Speaker 1: out in the field Sunday. Yeah, certainly would be good
- 10:31Speaker 1: news they can get Gus the bus back, one of
- 10:32Speaker 1: more enjoyable players I enjoy watching. Meanwhile, it is go
- 10:36Speaker 1: time for the Raiders one and four coming off there by.
- 10:38Speaker 1: If they're gonna make a move and save the season,
- 10:41Speaker 1: now is the time. But they're dealing with a couple
- 10:42Speaker 1: of major injuries, and what more can you tell us
- 10:44Speaker 1: about that. We'll start with Hunter Renfro there, go to
- 10:49Speaker 1: receiver who miss practice yesterday with a hip injury. But
- 10:53Speaker 1: it seems like it's hit in the right direction. With
- 10:54Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels, the head coach, tone reporters that he does
- 10:57Speaker 1: expect Hunter Renfrow to be out there, and he express
- 11:00Speaker 1: optimism that he will be able to play. We'll see
- 11:03Speaker 1: a little bit about Darren Wah, you's been dealing in
- 11:05Speaker 1: the hamstring injury the last couple of weeks really through
- 11:08Speaker 1: the by and and you know, mcdanos I would say,
- 11:11Speaker 1: was optimistic, expressed some optimism there, but not as sure
- 11:15Speaker 1: with Hunter Renfroll. We'll wait and see where Waller is,
- 11:18Speaker 1: if he practices, and how he handles things the next
- 11:20Speaker 1: twenty four hours before we know for sure where they'll
- 11:22Speaker 1: be out in the field. Yeah, certainly the Raiders looking
- 11:25Speaker 1: to get things back on track against the Houston Texans
- 11:27Speaker 1: this weekend in Las Vegas and Rappaport, Thank you very much.
- 11:32Speaker 1: We do know for sure that the Dolphins are getting
- 11:34Speaker 1: to a tongue of Viola back what kind of impact
- 11:37Speaker 1: he'll make against the Steelers as Sunday Night football returns
- 11:41Speaker 1: to Miami. That's next on NFL Now to a tongue
- 11:51Speaker 1: of Viola set to return to the Dolphins starting quarterback
- 11:55Speaker 1: position this Sunday night when the Dolphins hosts this Steelers
- 11:59Speaker 1: of course, since he suffered the concussion Week four against
- 12:02Speaker 1: the Bengals on Thursday Night Football, the Dolphins have been
- 12:05Speaker 1: oh and three after that three and O starts, We're
- 12:08Speaker 1: looking to get back on track Sunday night, Sunday Night
- 12:11Speaker 1: football in Miami for the first time since seventeen. That
- 12:14Speaker 1: is where we'll find our cam wolf. And when you
- 12:17Speaker 1: talk about this offense, cam obviously to a tongue of
- 12:20Speaker 1: iolo are gonna be there under center. But Tyreek Hill
- 12:23Speaker 1: and Jalen Waddle what kind of pressure do they put
- 12:25Speaker 1: on that Steelers defense? Who Steelers defensive coordinator Tarrell Austin
- 12:31Speaker 1: summed up our our thoughts when he said, I've got
- 12:33Speaker 1: to put my guys in a car or a motorcycle
- 12:36Speaker 1: to get them prepared for Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle speed.
- 12:39Speaker 1: And look, they won't have that opportunity as far as that.
- 12:42Speaker 1: But not only are Tyreek and Jalen the fastest duo
- 12:45Speaker 1: in the league, they've also been the most productive both
- 12:47Speaker 1: in the top five and receiving. And when you break
- 12:50Speaker 1: them up individually, Tyreek is actually on pace to break
- 12:53Speaker 1: Calvin Johnson's single season receiving record. Even with all the
- 12:56Speaker 1: Dolphins flux at quarterback and Waddle he leased NFL and
- 13:00Speaker 1: yards per reception. So this is a group that has
- 13:02Speaker 1: made big plays consistently. Now the Steeler, this is a
- 13:05Speaker 1: group that has struggled to get home with the pass Russ.
- 13:08Speaker 1: That's one thing they'll have to be better at. This
- 13:10Speaker 1: isn't the Blitzberg defenses of the old days, but we
- 13:13Speaker 1: saw last week when they manned up as an underman
- 13:16Speaker 1: group and stop Tom Brady and the Bucks help them
- 13:18Speaker 1: and check. That's one thing to see. Mike Tomlin always
- 13:21Speaker 1: has his guys ready. What do they have planned for
- 13:24Speaker 1: Wattle and Tyreek. Mike McDaniel loves to move those guys emotions,
- 13:28Speaker 1: so communication will be key. But that matchup how they
- 13:31Speaker 1: handle those guys and particularly Minca Fitzpatrick, their ball hawk
- 13:34Speaker 1: on the back end. How he contains them will be
- 13:37Speaker 1: the key to this game. Yeah, Hill and Wattle more
- 13:40Speaker 1: receiving yards through six games. That is the most through
- 13:42Speaker 1: six games since the greatest show on turf teams of
- 13:45Speaker 1: the Rams, and they had a Hall of Fame quarterback,
- 13:47Speaker 1: our own Kurt Warner. So equally impressive the fact that
- 13:50Speaker 1: the Dolphins are doing it with multiple quarterbacks Meanwhile, the Steelers,
- 13:54Speaker 1: Kenny pick It cleared from the concussion protocol in his
- 13:57Speaker 1: own right, he's expected to start. What are you looking
- 13:59Speaker 1: to see from that Steeler's offense camp? Yeah, oh, Mark Kenney.
- 14:03Speaker 1: Pick It actually just spoke to report orders a few
- 14:05Speaker 1: minutes ago and said he feels comfortable with playing. He
- 14:08Speaker 1: said he remembers everything from that game. But this is
- 14:10Speaker 1: gonna be quite a challenge for Kenny Pickett coming in
- 14:13Speaker 1: at Sunday Night Football. Look, this Dolphins defense has been
- 14:16Speaker 1: looking at Kenny pickett struggles against zone defense. This is
- 14:20Speaker 1: a group the Dolphins that love to play man. They
- 14:22Speaker 1: love the blitz, but don't be surprised, they play a
- 14:24Speaker 1: lot more zone coverage to see if Kenny make Kenny
- 14:27Speaker 1: Pickett can make some of those rookie mistakes. They've watched
- 14:29Speaker 1: a lot of tape and noticed some of the things
- 14:31Speaker 1: that he does on film, and so for him, he
- 14:34Speaker 1: has an opportunity to try to take advantage of some
- 14:36Speaker 1: of the Dolphins weaknesses, which is a Dolphins defense that
- 14:39Speaker 1: has really struggled to stay healthy in the secondary. Outside
- 14:42Speaker 1: of Xavian Howard, they've had a lot of guys on
- 14:45Speaker 1: that back end that have been hurt Byron Jones has
- 14:47Speaker 1: really struggled to come back on the field. He had
- 14:49Speaker 1: an achilles injury. He's also dealt with some other injuries
- 14:52Speaker 1: and he has not played this year. And so with
- 14:54Speaker 1: Clay's Chase Claypool with George Pickens, Deante Johnson, Kenny Pickett
- 14:58Speaker 1: has a potential opportunity to go against a Dolphins defense
- 15:01Speaker 1: has really struggled against the past and maybe it's a
- 15:03Speaker 1: get right game. Whoever wins that battle on that side
- 15:06Speaker 1: of the field could define this game. Of course, that
- 15:08Speaker 1: Sunday night football game a rematch of the nineteen seventy
- 15:11Speaker 1: two a f C Championship game when the seventy two
- 15:15Speaker 1: perfect season Dolphins were marching on their way to the
- 15:18Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and they'll be celebrated this week, so that
- 15:20Speaker 1: should be a fun environment, fun atmosphere, Cam Wolf enjoy
- 15:24Speaker 1: that game. Thank you very much for that report on
- 15:26Speaker 1: the Steelers and Dolphins. Meanwhile, the Packers are getting ready
- 15:29Speaker 1: to get over to the nation's capital and take on
- 15:31Speaker 1: the Commander's team. Looking to get back on track after
- 15:33Speaker 1: losing a couple of games in a row. They're now
- 15:36Speaker 1: three and three and looking up in the NFC North
- 15:39Speaker 1: at the Minnesota Vikings from more on this game, we
- 15:42Speaker 1: welcome in our Stacy Dale's and the Commanders with Carson
- 15:46Speaker 1: Wentz Hurt have a new quarterback with Taylor Heineke. What
- 15:48Speaker 1: are you looking to see from that Washington offense, Stacy, Well,
- 15:52Speaker 1: I'm looking to see an energized group because if you've
- 15:54Speaker 1: been around Taylor Heineke, you know that he has a
- 15:57Speaker 1: galvanizing factor. Omar, you know that seven and eight last
- 16:02Speaker 1: season as the starter for the Washington Commanders after a
- 16:04Speaker 1: couple of juries there with the quarterbacks, and uh, he
- 16:07Speaker 1: really used his moment to really gain experience, and that
- 16:11Speaker 1: was the thing you talked about Heineck. He did this
- 16:13Speaker 1: week and just the confidence derived from that experience last year.
- 16:17Speaker 1: He essentially said, I learned how to be good in
- 16:19Speaker 1: certain moments, and then I learned what I can't do
- 16:21Speaker 1: in the NFL. And guess what that is? Turned the
- 16:23Speaker 1: football over. He threw fifteen picks. He said this week
- 16:26Speaker 1: it was unacceptable, but there's no question. I talked to
- 16:29Speaker 1: wide receiver Terry McLaurin yesterday as I get ready to
- 16:31Speaker 1: travel to d c for this game against the Packers
- 16:34Speaker 1: and the Commanders on Sunday, and and he told me
- 16:37Speaker 1: when at all costs, that is who Taylor Heinek is.
- 16:40Speaker 1: And again that energizing, galvanizing factor. He has all the
- 16:45Speaker 1: intangibles that you want, and he had some good success
- 16:47Speaker 1: against the Packers. They're gonna have their hands full because
- 16:50Speaker 1: last year Omar he ran for yards at lambeau Field
- 16:54Speaker 1: against them on ten rushes. Yeah, and speaking of that
- 16:57Speaker 1: Packers defense their fifth in the league right now overall,
- 17:00Speaker 1: but hasn't translated to wins last couple of weeks obviously,
- 17:03Speaker 1: how do they get back on track and getting the
- 17:05Speaker 1: wind column, Well, they're gonna have to get back on
- 17:08Speaker 1: track by stopping the run first, as I just alluded
- 17:10Speaker 1: to right there seven In terms of stopping the run. Now,
- 17:13Speaker 1: they've got a lot of talent. I think they're still
- 17:14Speaker 1: trying to figure some things out, but they're gonna have
- 17:17Speaker 1: to prepare for this quarterback that I just talked about
- 17:20Speaker 1: in Taylor Heineke. If you go back two weeks to
- 17:22Speaker 1: Daniel Jones, who in that London game, remember had the
- 17:25Speaker 1: ankle injury. We were all going through that first half
- 17:28Speaker 1: picking is he gonna run while he ran ten rush
- 17:31Speaker 1: attempts for thirty seven yards. So when you think about
- 17:33Speaker 1: what Daniel Jones did, now you get a guy who's
- 17:36Speaker 1: even more adept on the outside in terms of using
- 17:39Speaker 1: his legs. In Taylor Heineke and Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator,
- 17:42Speaker 1: talked yesterday. He said, I have a ton of respect
- 17:45Speaker 1: for this young man, Taylor Heineke. He said, the guy
- 17:48Speaker 1: just makes place. What an incredible competitor, and he always
- 17:53Speaker 1: takes advantage of his opportunities. Again, Heineke. Last year at Lambeau, Okay,
- 17:57Speaker 1: it was a loss omar, but he threw for two
- 18:00Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight yards and he ran ten times
- 18:04Speaker 1: for those yet five rush yards, he had a pick,
- 18:07Speaker 1: he had a touchdown. But there's no question that the
- 18:10Speaker 1: Packers are going to have to account for his legs.
- 18:13Speaker 1: In addition to uh that trio of running backs led
- 18:16Speaker 1: by Robinson here on Sunday, you always think back to
- 18:19Speaker 1: that playoff game a couple of years ago against the
- 18:21Speaker 1: Buccaneers where he took him to the brinks. Taylor Heineke.
- 18:23Speaker 1: He showed up, you know, several times throughout the course
- 18:26Speaker 1: of his career and looks to do it again against
- 18:28Speaker 1: the Packers on Sunday Stacy Dale's safe travels. Enjoy that game,
- 18:31Speaker 1: thank you very much. Meanwhile, the Raiders one in four
- 18:34Speaker 1: coming off there by, Davante Adams and company look to
- 18:37Speaker 1: get back on track week seven against the Houston Texans.
- 18:40Speaker 1: They'll be at home at Allegiance Stadium. For much more
- 18:43Speaker 1: on the Raiders and the rest of their season, we
- 18:46Speaker 1: welcome in our Jim Trotter, and Jim, it seems like
- 18:49Speaker 1: it's now we're never for the Raiders. If they're gonna
- 18:51Speaker 1: make a move and save this season, what more can
- 18:53Speaker 1: you tell us about what their future a few weeks
- 18:55Speaker 1: looks like. Yeah, Omar, after they've lost to Kansas City,
- 18:59Speaker 1: I tweeted out minutes later that I thought they were
- 19:02Speaker 1: prepared to go on a six game win Street and
- 19:04Speaker 1: my editor Ali Bampori texted me and said, Hey, do
- 19:07Speaker 1: you want to write about that? And I said, sure.
- 19:09Speaker 1: Here are the five reasons that I believe that they
- 19:11Speaker 1: are going to go on a run. Number one is character.
- 19:14Speaker 1: They have it in that locker room. When you look
- 19:16Speaker 1: at what went on last year in terms of that
- 19:18Speaker 1: tough thirty days stress that they had, where Gruden resigned,
- 19:22Speaker 1: where Rugs was released, Where are Nett was released, and
- 19:26Speaker 1: yet they were able to come out of that and
- 19:28Speaker 1: win their final four games and get to the playoffs.
- 19:30Speaker 1: That said something about the makeup of the character of
- 19:32Speaker 1: those players. Number Two competitiveness. Their four losses this year
- 19:37Speaker 1: have been by one, two, four, and five points. Now
- 19:40Speaker 1: we can say that last year seven of their ten
- 19:43Speaker 1: victories were by one possession or were in one possession games,
- 19:47Speaker 1: but that fails to take into account what my third
- 19:50Speaker 1: point is in that circumstance, they were in the third
- 19:53Speaker 1: year under Gruden last year when they were able to
- 19:56Speaker 1: make that that run or to win those close games.
- 19:59Speaker 1: This year, you've got a completely different coaching staff, and
- 20:02Speaker 1: therefore it takes time to adjust to each other, not
- 20:04Speaker 1: only for players to learn what McDaniels want, but also
- 20:07Speaker 1: for him to learn what he has in his players.
- 20:10Speaker 1: Fourth reason schedule um. Three of their losses this year
- 20:14Speaker 1: have been the teams that are either in first place
- 20:16Speaker 1: or tied for first place, and therefore now they're about
- 20:20Speaker 1: to get into the part of the schedule where only
- 20:22Speaker 1: one of their next six opponents has a winning record,
- 20:24Speaker 1: and that's Indianapolis, which has been kind of hot cold.
- 20:28Speaker 1: But my last point here is McDaniels himself when he
- 20:32Speaker 1: had that disastrous coaching stand in Denver. Part of the
- 20:34Speaker 1: reason was he did not treat his coaches and players
- 20:37Speaker 1: as human beings. He basically viewed them as chess pieces.
- 20:41Speaker 1: This year, or what he has learned over the last
- 20:43Speaker 1: fifteen years, he told me, is the importance of building
- 20:45Speaker 1: relationships with people. He said he didn't do that earlier. So,
- 20:49Speaker 1: for instance, what do I mean by that Max Crosby
- 20:52Speaker 1: and his fiance delivered their first child last week. Josh
- 20:55Speaker 1: told me he felt like he was in the delivery room.
- 20:58Speaker 1: He was texting with Max Crosby so often during that period.
- 21:03Speaker 1: And then he talked about during the week his relationship
- 21:05Speaker 1: with Denzel Perriman and getting to know him as a
- 21:08Speaker 1: person and not just a player. So when you put
- 21:11Speaker 1: all that together, Palmar to me, it says they are
- 21:15Speaker 1: prepared to go on a run. And in fact, they
- 21:18Speaker 1: told me Max Crosby and Josh Jacobs told me they
- 21:21Speaker 1: believe the same thing. So we'll see what happens. Yeah,
- 21:24Speaker 1: certainly they have the tools in the locker room, and
- 21:26Speaker 1: the schedule plays out nicely for them. Got to get
- 21:28Speaker 1: this first one against the Texans on Sunday, Jim Trotter,
- 21:31Speaker 1: thank you very much. For more on that article, go
- 21:33Speaker 1: to NFL dot com slash Trotter, Jalen Hurts, Daniel Jones,
- 21:38Speaker 1: Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott. They're all NFC East quarterbacks. What
- 21:43Speaker 1: else do they have in common? We'll give you a hint.
- 21:46Speaker 1: It's Senior Bowl related. Jim Naggy, Executive Director, joins us
- 21:49Speaker 1: next here on NFL Now. No, Jalen Hurts has his
- 21:59Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles the lone undefeated team remaining in the NFL.
- 22:04Speaker 1: He's been an early season m VP candidate, and he
- 22:08Speaker 1: was the star of Senior Bowl. In fact, all the
- 22:12Speaker 1: NFC East quarterbacks the best division in football right now
- 22:16Speaker 1: when you total the amount of wins per division are
- 22:20Speaker 1: led by four ner Senior Bowl alumnus, Dak Prescott, Daniel Jones,
- 22:26Speaker 1: Jalen Hursts and Carson One. So much more on the
- 22:29Speaker 1: Senior Bowl and it's impact in the NFL. We welcome
- 22:31Speaker 1: in Executive Director Jim Naggy, and we'll start with this
- 22:35Speaker 1: NFC East discussion from top to bottom. And Jalen Hurts,
- 22:38Speaker 1: what you saw from him in that you're seeing now
- 22:41Speaker 1: here in the NFL. Yeah, Omar. I can't believe it
- 22:46Speaker 1: was three short years ago we're talking about Jalen Hurts
- 22:49Speaker 1: and people were asking me if we're bringing him here
- 22:51Speaker 1: as a running back or at quarterback? Here he now here,
- 22:55Speaker 1: he is looking like a franchise guy. But I guess
- 22:58Speaker 1: that what that shows is you can never put a
- 23:00Speaker 1: ceiling on a guy that has the work ethic and
- 23:02Speaker 1: the competitiveness that Jalen Hurts does. And credit Nick Sirianni,
- 23:06Speaker 1: who put a lot of faith behind jail and going
- 23:08Speaker 1: into this year, they had some draft capital will to
- 23:11Speaker 1: do something in the draft last year, and they gave
- 23:13Speaker 1: Jalen another year and he's come out and he's looked
- 23:16Speaker 1: like a true franchise player. Uh you know, and look
- 23:19Speaker 1: forward to this offseason, they're they're probably gonna have to
- 23:21Speaker 1: pay the man. So just really happy for Jalen. He
- 23:23Speaker 1: came down here and competed and uh you know, he's
- 23:25Speaker 1: gotten better every year since that freshman year at Alabama,
- 23:28Speaker 1: through his time in Oklahoma now to the Eagles. So
- 23:31Speaker 1: it's been really fun watching his progression. Yeah, one of
- 23:33Speaker 1: his coaches there at Alabama, Brian day Ball, who's now
- 23:36Speaker 1: the head coach of the new York Giants, and he
- 23:39Speaker 1: seemed to him locked something in Daniel Jones. What are
- 23:42Speaker 1: you seeing from him? Yeah, he sure has. And you
- 23:45Speaker 1: go back and look at Daniel's time here in Mobile.
- 23:47Speaker 1: It was rocky the first day. The first day, they're
- 23:50Speaker 1: they're they're trying to spit out burbage in Jon Gruden's
- 23:53Speaker 1: offense and the huddle and Daniels struggling with that, and
- 23:56Speaker 1: and coach Gruden was all over him. Uh. And then
- 23:58Speaker 1: he comes out the second day of practice and throws
- 24:00Speaker 1: two interceptions in the first period and I'm thinking, oh,
- 24:03Speaker 1: oh no, um, but he put it together and and
- 24:06Speaker 1: then you know, he wins, goes out, wins MVP on Saturday.
- 24:09Speaker 1: And and famously Dave Gettleman, the former GM said that
- 24:12Speaker 1: he fell in love with Daniel so um and that's
- 24:14Speaker 1: why they drafted him. So it's great that that Brian
- 24:17Speaker 1: Dables there getting the most out of him. Uh. You know, again,
- 24:20Speaker 1: a healthy sa Kwan Barkley helps. But I think what
- 24:23Speaker 1: this year is showing with Daniel Jones is that that
- 24:25Speaker 1: coaching truly matters. Yeah, fighting through adversity their Senior Bowl
- 24:29Speaker 1: week and fighting through adversity in the NFL career now
- 24:32Speaker 1: seeing some success as the Giants or five and one. Meanwhile,
- 24:36Speaker 1: you have Dak Prescott returning for the Dallas Cowboys. He's
- 24:40Speaker 1: been one of the great leaders in the NFL since
- 24:42Speaker 1: he's first stormed onto the scene in ten. What can
- 24:45Speaker 1: you tell us about him? Yeah, I think when you
- 24:48Speaker 1: you bring up Dac and you you just said the
- 24:50Speaker 1: word leadership. Um. I remember I was with the Seahawks
- 24:53Speaker 1: at the time when Dad played in the game, and
- 24:55Speaker 1: I think the thought was Dad could be a really
- 24:57Speaker 1: good backup in the NFL because of the leadership component.
- 25:01Speaker 1: But I don't think anyone saw Dak as a starter.
- 25:04Speaker 1: If they did, he wouldn't have lasted, you know, all
- 25:05Speaker 1: the way to the to the fourth round when Dallas
- 25:08Speaker 1: picked him. So again Cooper Rosh credit him. He got
- 25:11Speaker 1: Dallas too, you know, went four and one. Uh, and
- 25:13Speaker 1: now he's handed it back to Doc. This is Dak's team,
- 25:16Speaker 1: we heard, uh, we heard Mike and Parson say it
- 25:19Speaker 1: that this is Dak's the heart of this football team.
- 25:21Speaker 1: So they've got a stretch here, They've got they've got
- 25:23Speaker 1: this next month. They've got the NFC North um, who's
- 25:26Speaker 1: eleven and twelve over this first stretch of the year. Um,
- 25:30Speaker 1: so they're welcoming dak back at a good time. Deck
- 25:32Speaker 1: can get his legs under him against a pretty winnable division.
- 25:36Speaker 1: Also a part of that twenties sixteen game. Carson Wentz,
- 25:38Speaker 1: who eventually went number two overall to the Philadelphia Eagles,
- 25:43Speaker 1: has a little broken finger right now working his way back.
- 25:46Speaker 1: But what can you tell us about what you've seen
- 25:47Speaker 1: from him so far? Yeah, again, just going back to
- 25:50Speaker 1: my time in Seattle, what we would do with the
- 25:52Speaker 1: players is, uh, we would have a suite on the
- 25:55Speaker 1: tenth floor of the hotel and we would just text
- 25:57Speaker 1: those guys and come up and I'll say this, what
- 25:59Speaker 1: stood out about Carson was when he came up to
- 26:01Speaker 1: that room, there were no other players in the suite.
- 26:03Speaker 1: It was about ten scouts and just Carson Wentz, and
- 26:07Speaker 1: the confidence that he had a kid from North Dakota
- 26:09Speaker 1: State really won the room over. By the time he
- 26:12Speaker 1: walked out of the room, we were all we had
- 26:14Speaker 1: Russell Wilson at the time, but we're like, that's gonna
- 26:16Speaker 1: be a guy. That's gonna be a guy in the league. So,
- 26:18Speaker 1: you know, you go back a few years ago in Philly,
- 26:21Speaker 1: he was an m VP candidate, and again, I think
- 26:23Speaker 1: that's what Carson has lost. He's lost that natural confidence
- 26:26Speaker 1: that he had when we met him here in Mobile. UM,
- 26:29Speaker 1: and I really was hoping he would get it back
- 26:31Speaker 1: here in Washington. And now he's injured. UM. It's unfortunate,
- 26:34Speaker 1: but he was on such a good trajectory there before
- 26:37Speaker 1: the injury sit in Philly. But looking back on his
- 26:39Speaker 1: time here in Mobile, that's the thing that stood out
- 26:42Speaker 1: was really just the confidence. Well he shown flashes this year.
- 26:44Speaker 1: If he can get that back consistently, Washington could be
- 26:48Speaker 1: in good shape, not only this year but in the future.
- 26:50Speaker 1: And speaking of the future, we are looking forward to
- 26:53Speaker 1: airing the Senior Bowl once again right here on NFL
- 26:56Speaker 1: Network like we've been doing so since two thousand and seven.
- 26:59Speaker 1: We have the seventy fourth Senior Bowl coming up in
- 27:02Speaker 1: three and when he take a look at the potential
- 27:04Speaker 1: quarterback you might be inviting to this year's game. Here
- 27:07Speaker 1: is the Senior Bowl watch list DTR Dorian Thompson Robinson
- 27:12Speaker 1: going against bow Knicks this weekend. What more can you
- 27:15Speaker 1: tell us about the quarterbacks you guys are keeping an
- 27:16Speaker 1: eye on so far this season? Jim, Yeah, it's a
- 27:19Speaker 1: statu class. It's kind of a money class. A lot
- 27:22Speaker 1: of Day three grades going into the season. Um. You know,
- 27:25Speaker 1: we really like Will Levis from Kentucky. He's been our
- 27:27Speaker 1: top guy going back to last spring. But a couple
- 27:29Speaker 1: of guys that have elevated themselves that were on that list.
- 27:32Speaker 1: Tennant Hooker from Tennessee. Uh, you know, just continues to
- 27:35Speaker 1: play really efficient football. That game last week against Alabama
- 27:39Speaker 1: was was very impressive. And then Bow Knicks. I think
- 27:42Speaker 1: the big thing with bow is the consistency element. Um.
- 27:45Speaker 1: You throw off that Georgia game and start the season. Um,
- 27:48Speaker 1: and what he's been able to do with that Oregon
- 27:49Speaker 1: football team. He was always a little up and down
- 27:52Speaker 1: when he was at Auburn, um and he's really leveled
- 27:54Speaker 1: off and played at a high level all year for Oregon.
- 27:56Speaker 1: So that's gonna be a great shown this week against
- 27:58Speaker 1: U c l A. Yeah, they certainly bounced back since
- 28:00Speaker 1: then number nine versus number ten. Good to see the
- 28:03Speaker 1: West Coast get some national here upcoming in that game
- 28:07Speaker 1: this weekend. Jim Naggie, it's always a pleasure to speak
- 28:09Speaker 1: with you. We can't wait for that game. February four,
- 28:14Speaker 1: senior both. Thank you very much, Jim. NFL Now is
- 28:17Speaker 1: a production of the NFL in partnership with my Heart Radio.
- 28:21Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i
- 28:24Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.