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Jeff Legwold joins Kreckman and Lindahl 8-11-25 · Jeff Legwold ESPN Broncos Reports

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, Broncos want to know in the preseason a
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: dominant victory over the San Francisco forty nine ers, But
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: if you want to get granular about it, they were
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  Speaker 1: trailing nine to three when the starters exited. Jeff Legwald
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of ESPN joins us on a Monday afternoon. Leggy, let's
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  Speaker 1: start with the performance of one Beauregard Knicks. He was
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  Speaker 1: six of eleven throwing the football in that game, thirty
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  Speaker 1: one yards, no tuddies, no picks. He did have a safety.
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  Speaker 1: It was not the most sterling performance out of bone Knicks.
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  Speaker 1: What jumped off the page or the screen at you
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  Speaker 1: as the issues in both performance?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Nate, I just.
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  Speaker 3: Think, you know, he looked unsettled against backup players, and
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  Speaker 3: that you know, probably a lot of reasons for that.
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  Speaker 3: It's the preseason. Guys are pretty especially quarterbacks. You're gonna
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  Speaker 3: have a mental fatigue there. That's why some coaches don't
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  Speaker 3: play the starting quarterback in these games. You got defenders
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  Speaker 3: who are pretty jacked up about their chance to play
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  Speaker 3: sort of in a starting role, even though it's a
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  Speaker 3: preseason game. But I thought, you know, he looked at ted, unsettled.
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  Speaker 3: A couple underthrows on throws he routinely makes you know
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  Speaker 3: that our strengths of his those are you know, especially
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  Speaker 3: those two routes are you know, the ones he likes
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  Speaker 3: the most. So, uh, you know, if it happens again,
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  Speaker 3: then you have to sort of look at Okay, what
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  Speaker 3: is he tired?
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  Speaker 2: Is he? You know?
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  Speaker 3: Are they installing the day before the game? I mean,
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  Speaker 3: what's going on? But just for an opening preseason game
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  Speaker 3: against the number two defense, you know, they should have
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  Speaker 3: moved the ball better. And I think that's why Sean
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  Speaker 3: Payton was in the mood he was in after the game.
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  Speaker 1: I'll ask you the question that I asked Andy and
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  Speaker 1: Mike Sandford, and now number one, has bone Knicks done
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  Speaker 1: enough showed us enough as an NFL quarterback that a
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  Speaker 1: subpar preseason performance is a non event.
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  Speaker 2: I think this game is a non event.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, if you're gonna have the granular concern as
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  Speaker 3: it is, it's just that it was against backups. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: that's that's the real issue that you know, a starting
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  Speaker 3: offense with everybody starting. I mean they did put everybody
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  Speaker 3: out there, you know, should move the ball against the
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  Speaker 3: backup defense, and they they moved the ball against the
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  Speaker 3: forty nine ers starters on Thursday. So if Thursday had
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  Speaker 3: been bad and Saturday looked the way it did, I'd say, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: that's an issue. But Thursday, other than Bosa wrecking everything
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  Speaker 3: when you had the chance, they did pretty well against
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  Speaker 3: the forty nine ers starters on Thursday. So I think
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  Speaker 3: it was just one of those preseason uh. Mentally, the
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  Speaker 3: Broncos starters didn't appear to be as sharp as the
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  Speaker 3: Niners backups. And you know, to be honest, if I'm
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  Speaker 3: a backup player and they're starting me in a preseason game,
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  Speaker 3: to the rest of the world, yeah, that's a preseason game.
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  Speaker 3: But if I'm the player, I'm pretty jacked up. And
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  Speaker 3: they played like that. Those guys played like they were
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  Speaker 3: excited to start a game.
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  Speaker 4: Right, Jeff, who helped the cause?
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  Speaker 2: Their cause the most?
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  Speaker 4: In your mind during the during this this first preseason game,
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  Speaker 4: was there a guy, maybe a backup that you thought
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  Speaker 4: made a little statement for themselves.
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  Speaker 3: I thought a lot of the backup down the depth
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  Speaker 3: chart defenders, I mean, the secondary guys were were tremendous.
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  Speaker 2: And Chris Abrams Drain, they have to find a way
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  Speaker 2: to keep him. I mean, I think he you know,
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  Speaker 2: we talked on Friday. I think he is the last
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  Speaker 2: corner if they keep five.
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  Speaker 3: Uh, but he's that's an NFL corner who who gives
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  Speaker 3: them the kind of depth you know, few if any
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  Speaker 3: teams have.
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  Speaker 2: I thought he had a great.
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  Speaker 3: Game, but I thought that the backup secondary people were
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  Speaker 3: just on it the whole game. A great technique, great positioning,
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  Speaker 3: great plays on the ball, aggression, you know, the all
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  Speaker 3: of it. They just had a really nice night and
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  Speaker 3: that just shows you the strength of that group and
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  Speaker 3: a lot of guys who the Broncos are gonna have
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  Speaker 3: tough choices about.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Legwild with us here on a Monday afternoon breaking
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  Speaker 1: down preseason game number one. Jeff Legwald brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW Local sixty eight.
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  Speaker 1: You start with a job and you end with a career. Leggy,
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  Speaker 1: let's talk about the careers of the guys in the
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  Speaker 1: Broncos running backs room right now. What is your view
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  Speaker 1: on pecking order? After what you saw in the joint
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  Speaker 1: practice against the Niners, what you saw in preseason game
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  Speaker 1: number one, it appears as though the depth is good,
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  Speaker 1: but who could maybe be on the outside looking in.
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  Speaker 2: That that's a tough one right now.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think they know, you know, if if he
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  Speaker 3: got three guys you know, estimate Watson, Uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: and today competing for one spot and okay, that's that's
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  Speaker 3: a tight squeeze.
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  Speaker 2: Uh.
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  Speaker 3: You know, four running backs plus the fullback is what
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  Speaker 3: they kept last year, and that's kind of you know,
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  Speaker 3: what there's room for on the roster.
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  Speaker 2: You know, they may have a spot or two available.
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  Speaker 2: They did. You know, they kept three quarterbacks last year.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe they don't do that this time around, you know,
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  Speaker 3: so they can fudge things, but you know, will there
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  Speaker 3: be a sixth receiver or or a seventh receiver even
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  Speaker 3: or a fifth running back?
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  Speaker 2: I think those are tough calls.
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  Speaker 3: But it looks to me like they've stuck with the
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  Speaker 3: practice rotation, which was the rookie.
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  Speaker 2: Harvey on a lot of the early down.
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  Speaker 3: Situations, you know, the traditional rundowns as it were, and
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  Speaker 3: the minute it was a third down or a longer
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  Speaker 3: passing situation, Dobbins was in there because of the the
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  Speaker 3: you know, the running backs got to make the decision
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  Speaker 3: do I stay in protection or do I get into
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  Speaker 3: the route, And to do that he has to understand
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  Speaker 3: what's coming at him and if if there will be
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  Speaker 3: a late blitzer or not. If you leave too early
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  Speaker 3: to get in the route, you've made a horrific mistake.
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  Speaker 3: And they obviously trust Dobbins to not make those mistakes
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  Speaker 3: right now. And I still think McLoughlin to me, in
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  Speaker 3: practice and in the game the other night looks like
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  Speaker 3: number three. And you know, beyond that, I think everybody
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  Speaker 3: had moments and the opportunities they were given. I think
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  Speaker 3: McLoughlin had a big one called back with a penalty,
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  Speaker 3: but I think they all had their moments to make
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  Speaker 3: their case against the forty nine ers, you know, twos
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  Speaker 3: and threes.
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  Speaker 4: Basically, yeah, it was pretty impressive. By the way, where
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  Speaker 4: did forty seven come from? I'm already forgetting his name,
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  Speaker 4: but he was the one that at the pick. He's
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  Speaker 4: made a couple of tackles. They're really deep at linebackers.
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  Speaker 4: Red's right.
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  Speaker 2: I can't even pronoun he's one of the undrafted guy.
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  Speaker 2: I mean as a Utah guy.
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  Speaker 3: Two interceptions from undrafted guys, I mean, they they are
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  Speaker 3: they are scouting right now. I mean we can all
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  Speaker 3: you know, what, what are.
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  Speaker 2: They going to do this season.
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  Speaker 3: You know that story will be told that they are
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  Speaker 3: finding players who fit what they do and perform, and
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  Speaker 3: we've seen it in practice. I mean that when you know,
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  Speaker 3: I always look at groupings and when when twos on
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  Speaker 3: two's are competitive and threes on threes, you've done a
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  Speaker 3: very good job of putting together a ninety player you know,
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  Speaker 3: training camp roster to get a good look at everybody.
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  Speaker 4: All right, I'm curious about this legy, do you think so?
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  Speaker 2: Bo?
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  Speaker 4: I guess in postgame kind of made mention and maybe
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  Speaker 4: there was a little bit of maybe Robert Salah got
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  Speaker 4: a little little fancy with the blitzes you don't expect
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  Speaker 4: in press.
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  Speaker 2: That's what I was trying to say.
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  Speaker 3: Earlier, you had a bunch of guys on the Niners
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  Speaker 3: who were getting the start a game, and after Thursday,
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  Speaker 3: Thursday was not good for the forty nine ers, it
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  Speaker 3: was not good. So you're trying to get that good feeling.
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  Speaker 3: And we've seen the Bronco coaches do it. And in
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  Speaker 3: Sean Payton's first year, they called preseason games a lot
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  Speaker 3: more closely to the regular season than he is right
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  Speaker 3: now in year three. So yeah, that's done.
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  Speaker 2: You're right, Did the Broncos do it back?
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  Speaker 4: Because I saw the Kyle and you know on TV
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  Speaker 4: we got to see the Kyle and vance Joseph Van shaken.
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  Speaker 4: It went from smiles to straight faces pretty quickly. Did
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  Speaker 4: the Broncos give a little taste of their own medicine
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  Speaker 4: towards the end of the game?
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  Speaker 2: Do you know?
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  Speaker 3: I'm sure they did. That's how you you know you're
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  Speaker 3: gonna answer. I mean, and look, Kyle's not gonna be
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  Speaker 3: happy that the first drive is pretty good, you know,
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  Speaker 3: one big play. Look, I'm not sure Ja Kwan McMillan
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  Speaker 3: can defend any better on the play. I mean, it
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  Speaker 3: just didn't get the ball. But the Diners had one
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  Speaker 3: hundred and thirty two yards of offense after that first drive,
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  Speaker 3: one thirty two and they had seventy what seventy seven
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  Speaker 3: yards passing after that first after the one big pass play,
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  Speaker 3: they had seventy seven yards passing the rest of the game.
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  Speaker 3: So Kyle was probably not happy, And I'm certain the
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  Speaker 3: Broncos answered, because that's what coaches do. You want to
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  Speaker 3: turn your defense up, I'll turn mine up. And you
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  Speaker 3: know I once saw the Titans in the Rams. Mike
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  Speaker 3: Martz and Jeff Fisher turn a preseason game into the
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  Speaker 3: super Bowl because they were so mad at each other
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  Speaker 3: and they blitzed every down uh through deep on every chance.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, it happens.
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  Speaker 1: A couple of guys specifically that don't want to ask
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  Speaker 1: you about before we wrap this up. First off, Nick Benito,
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  Speaker 1: just the man, Just say Enroyd another serie. There doesn't
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  Speaker 1: seem to be much question if there's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a dip in performance or anything else like that. Where
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  Speaker 1: are we at in the Nick Benito discussions right now?
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  Speaker 3: That you know this isn't all on the Broncos. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: I think everyone seems to want to frame this as
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  Speaker 3: the Broncos dragging their feet, but and Sean Payton alluded
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  Speaker 3: to this, you know about a week ago. If you're
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: Benito or his agent, you want Micah Parsons thing to
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  Speaker 3: get figured out because that's where the bar is.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: That's where the bar will be.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: On edge defender contracts in the current moment if you're
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: Nick Benito, unless the Broncos are going to give you
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  Speaker 3: the number that is so obviously you know up there
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  Speaker 3: you're gonna wait and see what the Parsons thing is,
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: and you know, there's there's probably his representatives that's probably
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  Speaker 3: thought about, what if he does bet on himself and
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: he has an eighteen SAX season. Yeah, I mean that's
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: that's a lot of money. You know, you're you know that.
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  Speaker 3: The only reason Nick Bonito and his reps would want
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  Speaker 3: to sign now is the same reason uh Certan did
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  Speaker 3: and Zach Allen did was you know, you got those
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: years in the bank of an extension. You know, four
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  Speaker 3: more seasons plus this one. You know, you know your future.
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  Speaker 3: And the guaranteed money was a very good number in
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  Speaker 3: that moment. If the two sides come to that there's
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: a deal, but they both want a deal done, it's
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: just it's always the total guaranteed money and the total.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Like you we got about a minute here, Will Trent
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  Speaker 1: Sherfield set a career high for receptions this season for
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  Speaker 1: the Broncos.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Well, he'd only need what thirty thirty one something like that. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: he's gonna get snaps. And you see why. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: here's a guy they brought in. You know, I have
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  Speaker 3: to be honest, and I said this to a GM
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  Speaker 3: earlier this offseason. I watch him practice and I wonder
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  Speaker 3: why people, why the hell didn't people throwing the ball
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  Speaker 3: more than three catches a year, two catches a year.
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  Speaker 3: The guy's a ballplayer, and I don't know what you
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: do with them or how he fits in a crowded room,
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: but you got to get him on the field and
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  Speaker 3: the catch the other night.
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  Speaker 2: That's as good as you can that's as good as
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  Speaker 2: you can construct.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: So you picked jalil vele estimate and DeAndre Tillman for Nate?
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  Speaker 2: How did he do?
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: How did Jeff's fantasy team do for his Illinois alum
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: friend three?
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  Speaker 2: You suck? Terrible, terrible look he's coming up with. I
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: see the brain craken. Come on, let's have it.
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  Speaker 3: I had warned you in advance this exercise would be bad, Leggy.
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  Speaker 4: None of us drafted Sherfield.
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  Speaker 2: I don't see. I don't want you off of this now.
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  Speaker 2: I want competitive Leggy coming back.
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  Speaker 4: How did none of us draft Shirtfield?
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  Speaker 1: I would have taken him number one my training camboo
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  Speaker 1: all year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I was looking for snaps for Nate. That's that
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  Speaker 2: was my goal. I was trying to find snap.
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  Speaker 1: That's a problem, Leggy. You don't get points for snaps.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, I gotta gotta have snaps to make
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  Speaker 3: good things happen.
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  Speaker 1: It was solid reasoning, leg.
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  Speaker 2: It really was all your guys.
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  Speaker 3: Played a time when the McLoughlin plague got called back,
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: I knew I was in deep trouble.
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  Speaker 4: See how you felt a little that say that fantasy
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  Speaker 4: anger that just unnecessarily pops up.
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  Speaker 1: It was not a points per snap league, unfortunately, Uh
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  Speaker 1: Jeff leg walld everybody. By the way, the LINI twelfth
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  Speaker 1: and both the AP and the coaches preseason polls. So
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: look out for my guy b Lama Leggy, good stuff man,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks Bellows. We'll see you.