After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Does that whet your appetite for what's to come? Week 2 kicking off in mere hours on Amazon Prime from the AFC West. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. Still to come, Serena Williams talking about playing tennis again. Wait a minute. And Donovan Mitchell, his first public comment as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Though he did say he was very close to becoming a New York Knick. We've also got your Wednesday night slash Thursday morning edition. We'll call it pre-week 2 edition of QB News, but we clear the deck for Hall of Famers.

You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, always glad to have you. And if you miss anything on the show, we've got the link to the podcast on Twitter and Facebook, plus our website After Hours, AmyLawrence.com. I would say one of the surprises of the opening weekend, the Packers looking like they're allergic to season openers. And this time in an NFC North battle in Minneapolis against the Vikings, the Packers were overwhelmed. Minnesota shut out Green Bay in three of the four quarters. Justin Jefferson torched the Packers for 158 yards in the first half alone, which was a record nearly had 100 or nearly had 200 yards total, 126 yards rushing for the Vikings. Meanwhile, Aaron Jones only had five carries for the Packers. Aaron Rogers got sacked four times and threw a pick.

It was a disaster, right? Aaron, like it's tough to win in this league and definitely tough to win when you get in your own way too many times. So felt like, you know, we did some good things. We maybe, you know, got to get some more touches for Jonesy and Dylan. Uh, made a lot of mistakes in the perimeter, miss some throws.

Um, so there's a lot of, a lot to clean up all the way around. Aaron Rogers assessment following that season opening loss inside the division. And even as we welcome Hall of Fame and longtime Packer defensive back, Leroy Butler have to start with a story from last year's embarrassing start to the season for the Green Bay Packers.

Leroy, at the time I spoke to my Grammy Helen who was just shy of 100 years old and I asked her if she watched the Packers against the Saints. So this was last year to start the season and she said to me, I don't think they were trying very hard. So another game on the road this time it's the season opener against the Vikings. Leroy, what's your assessment of what we saw from the Packers? Well, I'll tell you this, when David Botteri and Jenkins weren't going to play, I think a lot of people know the protection may be an issue, but they were hoping for better things. But if you go all the way back to what Aaron Rogers has said when they drafted, you know, Romeo 87 and, uh, Watson, the first pick in the, you know, their first pick in the second round, which was their first pick, then there's going to be some struggle. The offense is going to struggle. And I think people kind of discounted it in a way because you're a Packer fan, you just kind of always hope for the best. So ultimately you weren't very surprised by what you Amy, what they really were surprised that the defense didn't stand up to what people expected. So offensive wise, you knew it was going to be a struggle, but defense, I think that caught a lot of people by surprise. Hello, how long will it take this new group of receivers and the offensive line to get into a rhythm and groove? Also keeping in mind that Allen Lazar didn't play either on Sunday.

Yeah, absolutely. And that's a great observation where Allen Lazar, he's your number one guy gets stepped on. He can't play is that it was that before the game. So now it's, it's so go all the way back from the first plate. They put Christian Watson in a position on Patrick Peterson was one of my best friends, a straight go route and he drops the ball. Come back. Now you got to understand you got two running backs that are very capable out there. AJ Dylan had a great game. You got to figure out now what we're good at and what are we're going to do?

Because for the most part, it is what it is at this point. I know it's been some rumors out there about OBJ. He can't help you until two months from now. These guys have got to grow up. It's on the job training. And that's why, you know, Aaron Rogers kind of went off on these guys and say, listen, we don't have time, but it's we're trying to get to a Superbowl.

So the growth part in may take the week seven, but his office is still like, they're at a, in a groove. And I don't want to hear Amy from the people say, Oh, you didn't play a preseason. Listen, no veteran wants to play in the preseason.

We're going to have a hub set, but for the most part, how you lose and who you lose to is very important. That moment with Christian Watson, the rookie could have been a 75 yard grab likely would have been a touchdown. That has to be for rookies. The welcome to the NFL moment, because it's not quite as easy as you might think. No question about it.

And that's what we were hoping for him to replace NVS deep threat, you know, but even NVS had some drops, but he cleaned that up, you know, even Devontae Adam as a young guy had to drop. So it's part of the game. And what was surprising that the Packers never went back to that. And I think these guys got to understand this is the big lead. Now take advantage of your opportunities.

Your opportunities is a difference between being nine and eight, 11 and six, or 12 and five or 13 and three. As you point out, Aaron Rodgers is the two time defending MVP. So you would expect him and the Packers to rebound. Coming up in week number two, we are so excited to spend a few minutes with Hall of Famer Leroy Butler haven't spoken to him since his weekend in Canton. So we'll have to get his story but he's joining us from Wisconsin. After week number one.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So Leroy, I have been to a preseason game at Lambeau and I was impressed by the buzz even then for an affair in August. I've never been to a regular season game, let alone a night game against the rival bears.

I will be there on Sunday. I know you will to what am I in for? I'll tell you what, when you get 80,000 people who are very upset because they lost to the Vikings, who's a border, a borderline state. Now you got another one with Illinois, with Chicago, the number one overall in all of sports are the oldest rivalry. Okay. This is a big deal.

Not to mention. Okay. You got another new coach that you're playing. It's a lot of storylines with this group, but these people expect nothing more than a blowout victory.

Okay. That's the only way they're going to feel good because most pack of fans think they're going to go 19 in the old Super Bowl. But realistically you're thinking you got two divisional games. Is this a must game with you stay in the nine, two old, the two six two area code, by the way, they are expecting a big victory on Sunday night. I've actually been invited to a couple of Packers tailgates.

So they're on the property. I was told that people would be out at Lambeau around seven o'clock in the morning. So literally 12 hours before kickoff, is it crazy there for a game like this? Well, you have only football there. Exactly. That's it. You got to go to Milwaukee for baseball and for basketball only in this town. That's why they call it title town. It's everything to the economy where the Green Bay Packers play.

Okay. So tailgating, if the game is at seven o'clock Central Time, oh, they'll be tailgating. Oh, noon. And they'll be out there barbecuing, playing bag, you know, volleyball. I mean everything is just a great time to tailgate. Oh, I'm looking forward to it. I know you will be there too because it's a big weekend for former Packers.

Yes. And that's the one thing we think about is Hall of Fame. Players come back, the alumni people come back. Any tackle played 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, we all get together on the first home game. That's a big deal.

And you know what the thing about Amy, the active players, they know it too. They see all these guys and these alumni in town. Okay, this is a game we must win.

Well, I'm really excited to meet you and take some photos in person. It'll be fun after all of our radio conversations. Leroy Butler is with us from Wisconsin. Get a chance to see him and other former Packers on Sunday night before the football game against the Bears. It's after hours on CBS Forge Radio. I've seen photos of you in your gold jacket everywhere.

I've seen the bust. What was it like to be in Canton finally, Leroy, for that special weekend? It was truly amazing, Amy. And even our conversations we've had when I was one of the finalists, I just knew the process is difficult.

It's only 362 guys in the Hall of Fame. So being patient, you know, it makes you feel good because in is in. I was happy for my wife, my family, you know, all of my teachers. I mean, it was just so amazing to just step back and talk about my teammates. So I've never been on that platform before. So it was new to me as well. But I really enjoyed it.

And it's something I'll never forget. And you think about it that this is a team that you can't get cut. You can renegotiate your deal. You can't. I mean, they can't trade you.

This is one is permanent. And I'm just so honored to be a part of it. What are a couple of moments that you'll remember from that weekend in the festivities? Maybe a couple people that you cross paths with. Thank you for asking.

Amazing question. I saw Tony Dorsett. It almost fainted. I was the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan in the world. Two years ago, I got a chance to be riding a stall bike when I was a finalist. I thought Tony Dorsett who looks like he can still play. I said to myself, God, this is football heaven. If you hear my speech at the beginning, I reference that when you're a Green Bay Packer, a lot of doors open up for you. When you win a Super Bowl, all the doors open up for you.

But when you're in the Hall of Fame, you and football heaven opens up for you. Seeing people like that. Richard Dent and, you know, John Randall. I mean, these kind of guys, you sit next to them. I'm out there next to Bobby Bell yesterday at a golf tournament.

And Steve Largent. You just you just don't you just try not to say nothing weird. Why is this folk it in? I want you to know that not only did I hear your speech, but I replayed that snippet about football heaven multiple times on my show because it gave me chills.

It was perfect. You are right. This is football immortality. And who cares the road it took to get there? Leroy, you're there now. Yes.

And that's that's a celebration part of it for my family as well. And then here's something for you. When I first wrote my autograph, I forgot to write H.O.F. And it was a young man.

He was in the ninth grade. He was like, sir, you forgot something. I said, oh, I forgot to say I'd take a picture. No, H.O.F. I said, oh, I've never wrote it before. And we both laughed about it. It took a selfie with the pin that I wrote my first H.O.F.

2022. So it's still kind of new to me. So I'm riding high. Oh, that's amazing. Well, for a fun peek behind the curtain, how much effort did you put into the speech? How much time did it take you to write it?

That's a great question. Me and my mom put my speech together 2009, 2010. Oh, she passed away in 2016. And she wanted me to be prepared and she wanted me to thank people in groups. Mostly think that, you know, one thing I a lot of people don't know, but I'm very proud of playing for one team is something that you never hardly see the plan for the Packers for 12 years. And thank you my family, my wife, teammates, Bob Harlan and the Packers, my teachers, people. My first shirt was from the Salvation Army.

My first book that I got was from a police officer from Officer Friendly. These are the stories I can now tell that are very important in my life. LaRoy, how much did it mean to you to share those words that you and your mom wrote together? Well, I tell you what, my mom always told me this.

Anytime you think you're going to cry, put your hand over your mouth and it calms you, calms your anxiety. So she said to me, and this was funny. She said, I want you to have, and I agree with her, the shortest speech in NFL history. She said, get up there and get out, keep it tight. And we laughed about it, but she was right.

I wanted to be really short because I wanted people to want more, want more. We didn't get enough. So now you can learn about LaRoy Butler. I'm so happy for that. Oh, that's amazing. LaRoy Butler is now a hall of fame defensive back, a long time packer, only a packer, and joins us from Wisconsin here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. You're name dropping here about a golf tournament.

What's the atmosphere been like since? Well, I tell you what, my assistant has an assistant now. I've always wanted to do a podcast, but I said to my wife, you know, maybe I'll wait till one day I'm in a hall of fame that I launched the Leap 36 podcast. So I'm developing that.

I'm doing a cookbook with my six daughters and my son. So I'm really excited for some of the things I've always wanted to do, but now I can have people work on other stuff and I can kind of get back to some of the things that really, like my Butler versus Bullying campaign. And the biggest thing, Amy, I want to do that. Now I have to do is develop my story. I really want to get with a nice production company and write my story. How the African American and the project growing up single family home, going through bullying, poverty, and to make it into the hall of fame. That is a special story that a lot of young men and women, I think they will really value that. And I'm so excited to be a part of putting that together.

Not to mention the physical disability and limitations that you had early. I mean, it's the stuff that movie scripts are made of. Yeah. So Disney, if you're listening, PBS, if you're listening, holler at your boy, let's make magic and put together a great story. And we can even have Amy voice over it.

Amazing. I'm doing my best, Amy. I don't know if they're listening, but it was fun saying who would play you in a movie about your life. Leroy, Jamie Foxx. I love Jamie Foxx. He's the only guy in America that God has ever created that can sing, dance, act, and normally just a funny guy.

Not to mention he's very handsome. So you mentioned a podcast and I can only imagine the stories because I know every time we talk, you tell great stories. What will be the focus of your new podcast? Well, the thing about it, it'll be more circle around sports, but it's going to be three days a week. But on Wednesdays, I'm going to be talking about relationships and families when you're in NFL. So I'm going to have guests on to talk about that. But sometimes we don't bring up our families. I mean, look at what Tom Brady is going through him and his wife.

You know, it's difficult when your family gives a chance to, you know, they come to the games, but sometimes when you're 11 years old, you want your daddy at home. So we're going to cover that on Wednesdays. The other days will be mostly around sports to Packers, hopefully winning Packer games, but it'll be one person that wants to listen to something for 30, 45 minutes and say, you know, I never knew that about Leroy Butler or about what's going on in NFL and sports behind the scenes.

I'm very excited about developing it. Yes, I always tell former professional athletes or even coaches when they ask me for advice about broadcasting, I tell them to highlight what is different about you and the rest of the population. You're not just someone who can analyze the game. You can tell us what it was like to be in the game, which sets you apart.

Not to mention, as you point out, what is it? 362 Hall of Famers. That's it.

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. And I think because I was telling Kellen Winslow and Randall McDaniel, I said, God, I'll be very honest with you. If somebody would have said to me, how many guys do you think is in all of that before I got in?

I would have said a couple of thousand, but no, it's only 362. And when you hear that my number is three, five, seven, it does make you feel a type of a way like this is unbelievable. And I just want guys to know this. Oh, I mean, it's very important for the guys who are finalists and who wants to get in, you will get in.

So that's the kind of my frame I had. I never dispersed anybody. I never just started with John Lynch or Steve. I want to know because eventually they're going to be on the same team I'm going to be on. So I was happy for those guys.

So trust me, if you're a finalist, you will get in. Oh, Leroy Butler. It makes it even better when you are gracious about it.

And when you're a guy who can appreciate it because the journey wasn't so easy, it wasn't handed to you. And that's why we always love talking to Leroy. So he's a 2022 Hall of Fame defensive back. He's got the gold jacket, the bust in Canton. He's a longtime iconic Packer starting a new podcast. And I am sure that Grant is permanently imprinted on his face. Leroy, I can hear I can hear you smiling. Yeah. Trust me.

They did my boss Blair, the young man who did it. He got scoured the Internet. I can only find five pictures of you not smiling. I'm a happy guy.

I'm a happy guy. Oh, fantastic on Twitter at leap 36. And of course, there'll be some info about his podcast there too. I cannot wait to take a photo or do a tick tock or something in person on Sunday night. Leroy, I will see you very soon.

Thank you. Well, you got to find me because I got your autograph signed Hall of Fame jersey in my hand. So if you don't show up, it's going to your producer. Oh, Jay would love that. No, no, no, no, that's all mine. All right, I will talk to you soon. Thank you so much.

Thank you look forward to seeing you. What do you love that Jay? He cackles to Jay would love that. So you're gonna claim it or what? Of course. Of course, if you really nice to me, I might actually let you touch it. But I don't know about that. Just gonna be one of those pieces. You know, because you're that crazy with your hats. People are not allowed to touch your hat. So if Leroy Butler gives me a Hall of Fame, well, he's a Hall of Famer gives me a signed jersey and it says HOF on it, which he has to practice now.

I don't know. I don't know if you're gonna get anywhere near it. Yeah, that's quite your grubby hands. My grubby hands teasing like you're a fourth grader or a four year old who's been playing in the dirt something along those get a nice case for that one of those Jersey displays. Should I hang it on my Star Wars wall? You've never even seen the Star Wars wall, so you don't know what I'm talking about.

Secret, but it sounds like a nice compliment to the Star Wars. Yeah, I do have one room in my house where I do display sports memorabilia from some of my favorite athletes and iconic moments in my sports path. So we'll see. But I am gonna meet him regardless of what happened.

So yet another reason to be in Wisconsin this coming weekend. You can find me on Twitter. A law radio also on our Facebook page. Another former athlete who is smiling these days, maybe feeling a lot less pressure and less emotion over a big moment. Serena Williams making an appearance on Good Morning America. What did you have to say about retirement? It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. I don't have anything to prove. I don't have anything to win.

I have absolutely nothing to lose. And honestly, I never get to play like this since 98. Really, literally, I've had an X on my back since 99. So it's kind of fun, and I really enjoy just coming out and enjoying it.

And it's been a long time since I've been able to do that. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Serena's last ride at the U. S. Open shattered viewing records, viewership numbers for tennis. Her second round match. Well, her first round match that was a win. Her second round match that was also a win in three sets as she had to rally in front of the raucous crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium court. And then her third round match, which did in fact go three sets and turned into a marathon. That was potentially the last time we'll see her in competitive tennis. The emotions that poured out of her, the joy for sure, but the relief in some ways of having it be done, but also the sadness as you bid farewell to a part of your life really that's been so prominent and so public, but also has taken so much out of you.

Blood, sweat, tears, time and effort and heart and soul for decades. All of those emotions that we got to see on display with Serena Williams. And she did indicate that what she really wanted to do after that was just sleep. And so there was a photo, I think it was on Instagram, of her sleeping with her Moana blanket and just conked out in the wake of just the most physical and emotional effort. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. That was Serena toward the end of her iconic tennis career, if it in fact is the end. But they smiling and rejuvenated Serena on Good Morning America on Wednesday, as she talks about maybe it wasn't quite the end. I mean, you never know. I always say I just been saying that, you know, I think Tom Brady started a really cool trend, retire and retire again. And the way he did it. It's interesting that she said Tom Brady started the trend because of course there have been so many athletes over the course of history who have retired and unretired and retired and unretired.

I get what she's saying. He retired for 40 days. He's in his 40s.

And so if he can do it, so can she. But I instantly thought of the promo that the NFL used for its first game, its kickoff, when it was Michael Jordan, who was saying I was the gay away from the game for two years. Tom Brady didn't even last two months. And so yes, there is a nod to Tom Brady because he's the most recent to do this retire, unretire. But gosh, athletes for ever have been second guessing their decisions to walk away from the game.

So it wouldn't be a surprise if she also did. Why? Well, because her entire life for 40 years has been tennis. I feel like tennis has given me so much. And I feel like there's no way that I don't want to be involved in tennis somehow in the future.

I don't know what that involvement is yet. But I do know that I, I love the sport so much. I love the game.

I love, I love everything about it. It's neat to hear her and you can hear the joy in her voice. So there's not the emotional exhaustion, right, that all these emotions and everything that you're carrying around. And the fact that it wasn't just another tennis match where she could focus on winning. And she did say she's got nothing to lose, but everything she was carrying with her and the amount of attention and the demands on her time and trying to balance all of that. We heard something similar, not quite the same scale, but something similar from Adam Wainwright, who's not even sure he's retiring. But as he and Yadier Molina become the first ever in Major League Baseball to pitch and catch together 325 times, 325 appearances in baseball history, he even said that he was tearing up on the mound as the fans were reacting in St. Louis. And as he was considering the magnitude of the situation and as he was trying to keep his emotions at bay, he was having a really hard time. And so the, the older you get, as I say, old dudes, and in the case of Serena, she qualifies as an old dude, the old dudes rock in sports because they recognize that this is not going to last forever. And the magnitude of the moment can sometimes be overwhelming, and she was carrying all of that. But you hear the peace, you hear the joy, you hear the happiness, and in some cases, the relief and the release in her voice on Good Morning America.

All right, you can find me on Twitter, A Law Radio. We've been talking about milestones in Major League Baseball and some milestones elsewhere. And I'm actually writing my CBS Sports Minute on kind of these two bookends from baseball history on Wednesday night.

But there was another, we'll get to at the top of next hour, another really cool moment for a second generation baseball player, even as we gauge the pennant races and the wildcard races. But between now and then, the AFC is first to kick off week two in the NFL. We are on the cusp of week two.

It's gonna start to go faster and faster and faster. Patrick Mahomes and Brandon Staley on Patrick Mahomes. And outside of the AFC West, Lamar Jackson is trying to be respectful, but zip it is essentially what he's saying about his contract that's coming up.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. It's time for QB news on After Hours. Whoa, can you believe week two is nearly upon us?

We're just about to kick off the Amazon Prime era for Thursday Night Football. And that means a little Chargers, a little Chiefs in Kansas City, the opener at Arrowhead Stadium. And if you didn't see what the Chiefs did on the road in Arizona last week, well, it was just a reminder to the rest of the NFL that the demise of Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes offense has been greatly exaggerated.

Although that Chargers defense is nothing to sneeze that and Mahomes knows that well after watching the Chargers against the Raiders in the opener. We have great quarterbacks in this division in general. So you saw everybody in this division get pass rushers and so they can go out there and get after the quarterback and make it hard on us.

But Khalil's a great player. I mean, obviously they have both already with a lot of other guys that go out there and can rush the passer and then they have a good defense everywhere. I mean, they have Derwin at safety. I know J.C., I don't know if he's playing or not, but he's a great corner and they have other corners that can play as well in linebackers.

So, I mean, this is a great defense, a great challenge for us early in the season. I'm just sad Khalil came back, man. I thought he was out of the AFC West and now he's back getting sacks again. So Khalil Mack had three sacks of Derek Carr in the opener for the Chargers. Justin Herbert had three touchdown passes, all three to new teammates. And so the AFC West, as Patrick Mahomes points out, has done a lot of upgrading.

They've done a lot of spring cleaning and they've done a lot of upgrading and replacing with new talent. But in case you didn't see, the Chiefs were essentially perfect. Nearly 500 yards of offense. They were six for six in the red zone. They did have one lost fumble, but only three penalties.

And they scored 44 points against a team that is supposed to be a playoff contender. And so that's the challenge now for Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. And really he's honed in on what the Chiefs can do once they get inside the red zone. They're definitely a good red zone team because you have to defend all five people and the quarterback.

So anytime all five people are a legitimate threat to do something with the football down there and you have to account for the quarterback, you're maximizing your chances of being an outstanding red zone team. It's funny because I was told that without Tyreek Hill, this team wouldn't be nearly as dangerous, but that's not what we saw in week number one. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The Denver Broncos are still hearing it. Certainly Nathaniel Hackett, the rookie head coach, is still hearing it about the decisions in Seattle to kick a 64-yard field goal instead of go for a fourth and five. Russell Wilson with the huge contract and yet they took the ball out of his hands. Now initially Russ said, whatever Hackett says, whatever the head coach says goes, I'm happy with it.

Well, okay. He wasn't psyched about giving up the football, at least he'll admit that. I was at the line of scrimmage ready to go for it too. I was calling a play and we were ready to go, but that's what we decided and we went with it. We missed by, I don't know, yard maybe, maybe half a yard.

So it was close. Anytime you get the chance to try to win the game and solidify it and try to make a play, I always believe in having the ball and everything else, but also we got a great kicker. We're going to believe in our kicker again.

So I always trust his decisions and everything else, but I'm also always ready to go try to do it if we need to. Russell Wilson admits he had the ball in his hands. He thought they were going for it. And he believed that that was the play until Nathaniel Hackett asked Brandon McManus to line up. And I appreciate that Russ is supportive of his kicker.

We believe in him. It was really close, blah, blah, blah. Still though, it's good that Hackett has admitted we should have gone for it. And Russ is now saying, yeah, I was out there ready to go. I had the play. I was ready to call it at the line of scrimmage.

I guess we'll finally put it to bed now. And of course the Broncos have a quick turnaround, need to focus on the Houston Texans. This is Denver's home opener with the Texans in town and Davis Mills, the second year quarterback. All right, he's locked in on week number two, because this is when the magic happens. Week one, you're back to live football, flying bullets again. And then week two, you're able to kind of settle in there.

You know what it's like already. Aren't you able to kick things off and get rolling again? So I'm excited to see the jump we're going to make as an offense and as a full team. Yeah, it's been kind of quiet coming out of Houston, nothing like the furor of going back to the last preseason in training camp. And a lot of that revolved around Deshaun Watson. But for the Texans, they went into overtime against the Colts who, this blows me away, had 517 yards of offense and still played to a 20-20 tie. But there were a lot of turnovers. They led to Texans points and ultimately Texans held on. And actually they held on for a tie despite giving up 161 rushing yards to Jonathan Taylor. So I guess you could say he and the Texans were dodging those flying bullets as they played to a tie.

Now they're on the road in Denver for week number two. After hours on CBS Sports Radio, Lamar Jackson had said, he told us, that once they got to the Friday before week one, he was done with any negotiations, done with any talks about his contract with the Ravens. And now he's done talking about it, period. No, respectfully, I'm really done talking about it. I told you guys before, I was going to be done with it. Week one, week one's over with. We're done talking about it. I'm focused on the golfing now.

Are you able to explain why the guaranteed money was so important to you? Might give you some popcorn because that question was over with. You might have to get the shape and it was off limits. No, but like I said, I'm done talking about that respectfully. Dolphin time.

My apologies if it's also another dumb question, but was the NFLPA input that you got meaningful to you? Oh my God, you apologized already. You did apologize, but we're talking about the dolphin today. He gets a question about guaranteed money and says, you're going to need your popcorn for that answer, but respectfully I'm done. I'm about the dolphins. And then the same reporter follows up by saying, what about the input from the NFLPA, the players association?

Oh my God, you already apologized. So I'm about the dolphins today. He cracks me up the way that he responds to reporters, but yeah, he says he's done. Lamar Jackson is a load. Now it wasn't the stiffest challenge to start the season, but the Ravens took care of business. Really impressive plays on offense for Lamar Jackson and his group, young receivers, but it was against the jets. What can they do against the dolphins now? And Mike McDaniel, who's also a hoot, who is playing Lamar Jackson on the practice squad as you prepare this week?

Who plays Lamar Jackson at practice today? I do. Again, that's part of the delegation process. You try to use a couple of different people, but the bottom line is you're not going to replicate it. That's part of the shock and awe on game day. Regardless of who it is, I'm not going to put pressure on one person and put them on blast in the media, but we'll just say it's a collection of individuals because it takes a collection of individuals to stop them. I like that part of the answer. The other part of the answer is kind of goofy, but that's who Mike McDaniel is. We're finding out. So there's a coach who's playing Lamar Jackson on the field, but there are also others who are stepping in to kind of simulate what Lamar does. Really, nobody can simulate what Lamar does and therein he says is the shock and awe. So that's a big game. Of course, Ravens hosting the Dolphins potentially to AFC playoff teams. In fact, everyone is potentially a playoff team right now, though some started off on a higher note than others. The New England Patriots say, Mac Jones has indicated that he's feeling much better. The back injury that required x-rays is not going to be an issue that Pittsburgh defense might be, though, but they will not have T.J. Watt for this game against the Patriots. They got Mitch Trubisky. They've got the offense that they hope will find a rhythm in week number two.

We played them three times, actually, so I saw them a lot last year. Can you stop it? Because I need to set that up better. That's my fault. Sorry, Mitch.

I set you up and you weren't even answering your question really that I set up. So the year that Mitch Trubisky spent with Buffalo is preparing him to face the New England Patriots. There we go. We played them three times, actually, so I saw them a lot last year and we broke down every single game. We studied them a lot, so I think that definitely helps going into this week and I'm just seeing what type of things that I saw last year that could help carry into this year. I was thinking about another Mitch Trubisky cut that I heard on Wednesday because he was asked about how the Steelers offense only managed 17 points off five turnovers that the defense grabbed from the Cincinnati Bengals. And so Trubisky was saying that he and the offense need to be more aggressive. You can't expect the defense to do everything, right? They're giving you the takeaways. They're sacking Joe Burrow and instead of using those for short fields and offensive opportunities, you squander them. And so he's saying the offense has got to do its part. He didn't urinate down his leg, man. That's a great place to begin. Right.

Well, good for you. So we've got Mitch Trubisky, but there is no T.J. Watt. There is Najee Harris, but we know there'll be pieces missing from the defense. Even more pressure on the Steelers offense. As for the New York Jets, they're not going to make a change at quarterback.

No, they are in fact sticking with the man named Joe Flacco on the road at Cleveland where they've got a path rush. When you look back at the game, when he had a clean pocket, he's very, very efficient. Part of the clean pocket is the offensive line's responsibility to give it to him and for him to just just deliver the ball where it needs to and get off of certain reads.

And, you know, so it was a bunch of different things. I thought he handled the the huddle well. The procedure was good.

Everything was fine. Well, duh, he's a veteran quarterback with over a decade of experience. I hope that he handles procedure fine. But in terms of having a clean pocket, you don't you don't guarantee that, especially not when you're talking about a Myles Garrett and others on the other side for the Browns. And so it could be another rough day for Joe Flacco. He's got cinder blocks for feet.

The man is not running around. So, yeah, if you give him a clean pocket, you give any quarterback a clean pocket, they're going to be able to pick apart a defense. But that's just not reality in the NFL. Joe Flacco threw 59 passes in the season opener against the Ravens. That cannot happen either. So they've got to get some kind of production from their run game too. One hour to go. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.