9-7-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started, I would have my nightly panic attacks, but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations. Like, I just really started looking at, okay, so chest is, you know, I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. Chronic stress is trauma. Join us for Odyssey's I'm Listening to Our National Mental Health Conversation, Wednesday, September 21st at 6pm. Talk saves lives. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I hope that you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend. I hope that you took some time off because it really is kind of the last big holiday weekend until we get into the late stages of 2022, which kind of blows me away. You know what else blows me away? On Sunday, went to church with mom and then we went to, oh for those of you who are Texas residents or you are familiar with Texas, Buc-ee's. We stopped by my favorite Texas institution, Buc-ee's. There were only 500 and something people in this, oh it's a humongous Buc-ee's. I was trying to explain it to producer Jay and I told him there have to be 30 gas pumps at this Buc-ee's and he said, oh yeah it's like a gas station right?

Oh no, it's got gas pumps but it's not a gas station. And so anyway, we stopped at Buc-ee's with bazillions of other people and we were going through the bolt candy section, which is my favorite, and walking around and I was thinking about it. This time next week and the week after that and the week after that and the week after that and the infinite weeks after that.

They're not technically infinite because I do know there's a number of them but no more free Sundays until mid-February. What? See this is, this is why I no longer look ahead as much as I used to. I used to be one of those people that always looked ahead. I can't do that anymore because it's overwhelming to look ahead and to think about the fact that football season is just about to start and my life is just about to change in such a drastic way.

No, I'm not sad about it. I love football. It's one of the reasons why I don't change time slots because I don't want to give up Sunday nights. There's a lot of other people, producers who come and go.

I think Jay's the ninth producer I've had on this show since I started working here at CBS Sports Radio. It's the reason why I stay because I don't want to give up Sunday nights and I really don't want to work Friday nights either. We don't have time for that. So here we are in the cusp of another football season and it dawned on me Sunday as I'm walking around Bucky's leisurely enjoying the afternoon. Oh there are no more of these. Literally no more of these until February.

No. Not even Christmas this year because Christmas is a Sunday and while I may not be working the show that night, you can't just take off in the later stages, the last few weekends of the NFL season because stuff happens and you either watch it or you have to go back and watch it so you might as well pay attention to it while it's taking place. So I'm not upset about it. It's my favorite time of the year. But as I said to my mom, it's go time. This was my last bit of before it gets cray. It's time to have some fun.

Oh yeah, we're going to do that. But there's also going to be some long nights, some long hours and people ask me all the time, you know, how are you? What's going on with you?

Blah, blah. If they ask me anytime between Thursday to Tuesday, well I just tell them it's football weekend. It's the football weekend. Nobody gets that, but the football weekend runs Thursday to Tuesday. So we're glad you're with us. I hope that you are strapped in and ready to go come Thursday because it's Bills and it's Rams and then week one Sunday is right on the heels of that very first game. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. I've already seen a post on Facebook asking me where the selfies are with me and mom. So okay. It's not like I'm doing a show here, but I promise to get those to you as soon as possible. I've also got a bunch of other stuff to record behind the scenes. There's just a lot happening here, but we did fix Survivor Island, so please check that out on our show Twitter after our CBS or on our Facebook page. And while you're there, you can send your questions for ask Amy anything. Our phone number 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. So tomorrow night we'll do a fun football question to kind of kick off the season, but right now just doing my best to catch up and to make sure I take an opportunity to talk about some of the big storylines over the past five days. And of course you would have to have been hiding under a rock. Even me taking vacation and doing absolutely nothing over the course of five days. Even me. I couldn't avoid and didn't want to avoid seeing Serena Williams' final US Open appearance.

And in case you're wondering, it was me and you and millions of our closest friends. The most watched tennis broadcast in ESPN's 40 plus year history. And we're talking about Grand Slam finals. We're talking about Roger and Rafa. We're talking about Serena and her sister. There have been other farewells. There have been American men who have bid farewell at these majors. Serena Williams and her, we think, swan song.

She thinks swan song at the US Open. The most watched tennis broadcast in ESPN's 43 year history. Her loss last Friday, so it was Friday.

I forgot which day it was. 4.6 million viewers. And if you're watching until the end, even though that third set got away from her pretty quickly.

If you're watching, you know that afterwards it was mere seconds before the tears were flowing and. She wanted to express her gratitude to the people that helped her get to this point and put together a career that may never be topped. Oh my God, thank you so much. You guys were amazing today. I tried, but I was so proud of you. You guys were amazing today.

I tried, but I just played a little bit better. Thank you, Daddy. I know you're watching. Thanks, Mom. Oh my God. I just thank everyone that's here. That's been on my side so many years, decades.

Oh my gosh, literally decades. But it all started with my parents and they deserve everything. So I'm really grateful for them.

Oh my God, these are happy tears, I guess. And I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be Serena if it wasn't Venus. So thank you, Venus. Oh, that's when I lost it.

I totally lost it. I started crying when she was talking about her mom because my mom has done the same for my career and she was a single mom for a good portion of my time growing up. But then when she mentions Venus and she starts crying and Venus of course is, she's much more stoic than Serena is but she also had tears and she was in the family box and just, it was one of those moments that I'm so glad I got to see live because it just would not have been the same if I hadn't.

And she mentions Ayla. Ayla Tomjanovich is the opponent that beat her and that's bittersweet, right? If I remember correctly, it's the first time that this young woman had played Serena Williams. It was a dream come true for her and yet she recognized that everyone in that entire building except for her box wanted her to lose. Probably the most conflict I've ever felt after a win because during the match I was so eager to win. I mean I wanted to win as much as the next person because I didn't look at her like, oh Serena, her last, you know, tournament. But then when it ended it felt, you know, it just almost didn't feel right like and when she started talking about her family and everything I just, yeah, I got emotional because I can relate to having a strong bond with your family and not when she said that, you know, she wouldn't be there if it wasn't for them.

I relate to that a lot. So, yeah, just the whole moment after was just tough to handle a little bit. I appreciate her maturity and I appreciate her recognition that the moment wasn't about her. She was going to have another moment. She was going to be out there on the court again. This was about Serena. It was about the Williams family and it was perfect. She handled it so perfectly even though she's the one that could have been crowing. She's the one that could have been pounding her chest, so to speak, proverbially. Probably was a career highlight for her and yet at the same time she had the presence and the understanding that this moment wasn't about her and she would have hers somewhere down the road.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. The ratings for this match between Isla and Serena peaked, get this, just under 7 million viewers. That is more than NBA playoff games. I mean, that's astronomical. That's a number that's unheard of for tennis and that's just one way to measure the impact and the draw and the popularity and the realization of what Serena has meant to not just the sports world, women's sports, but tennis.

It'll never be the same. No doubt there were tons of people who enjoyed seeing Tiger Woods in her box for the second round match in which she rallied and won in three sets. And how about Russell Wilson and Ciara? They were also in her box at one point. It might have been that Friday match.

They all blend together now. But because of Serena, the U.S. Open was the most viewed in the first five days that it's ever been on ESPN networks. I'm excited for her because she's obviously got plans. She's obviously got an entire life outside of tennis that maybe we didn't see as much of early in her life, though we would see her parents and we would see her sister, right, because Venus was always around. But she is a woman with a ton of other interests. Not only is she a mama, which I think is phenomenal, but she's a wife and she's big into fashion, both she and Venus are, and any other thing that she wants to do, right? She has got so many other ways that she can diversify into entertainment.

So I'm excited for her, though I can imagine she's exhausted coming off this last month. I'm ready to like be a mom and explore a different version of Serena. And technically in the world, I'm still super young. So I want to like have a little bit of a life while I'm still walking.

I love that. Technically in the world, I'm still super young. It's a perspective that we don't often hear from athletes, and yet it's so true, right? Tom Brady is another example of this. Sue Bird is an example of this. She's 41.

Brady's 87. No, I'm not. I'm just kidding. I'm 45 years old, man.

There's a lot going on. He's in his mid 40s. Honestly, he's got half his life still ahead of him, even if he only lives to 80.

And I'm using my air quotations only. I feel like this guy's gonna live to 115 because he's maniacal about his fitness and his nutrition, not to mention his wife. Same situation. They might set a new Guinness Book of World Records record for the oldest living couple on the planet Earth.

I guess going back to the days of Methuselah. So they're gonna, I would not be surprised if either one of them lives until 90 plus. They've got half their lives ahead of them. Same thing with Serena.

Same thing with Sue Bird. And think about athletes that retire in their mid 20s or late 20s or early 30s. I know it can be jarring because so much of your life to that point has been associated with your sport and trying to be the best of the best at your sport. But there are a bazillion ways that athletes can pivot, diversify, expand their business interests, maybe even their business empire, depending on who we're talking about. LeBron James is a great example of that.

He's already doing it. So is Kevin Durant, though he's still got a pretty rich contract extension that he has to play out. The world is different for athletes now, and it's not just broadcasting, it's broadcasting, it's entertainment, it's business.

Many of them have diversified into the economic realm, trying to invest their money. So there's there's a whole new world out there. And I love the point that she makes. I'm still relatively young in normal life in normal society.

I'm just super tired because of everything that I've done. Her life has been a slave to the tennis schedule. It's been beholden to the tennis grind. Now, the older she's gotten and the better she's gotten at her craft and the higher she was in the rankings, and she spent a good chunk of her career at number one, of course she doesn't have to play nearly as many tournaments.

The same rules don't apply. And she said she should have started her comeback earlier. She'd only played what, six matches this year going into the U.S. Open? She would have been a lot, a lot farther along that kind of rehab and recovery process if she'd started earlier. But it's just not her number one focus anymore. Pretty amazing though what she was able to accomplish simply because of tenacity and determination and the power of the explosiveness. I still say that regardless of being 40 years old, she's about to turn 41, that on any given day she's got the most powerful groundstrokes in the game. She's still got that explosiveness and she's got that will, sheer will. She's got that will, sheer will.

But we also got the humor. Going back to her second round match, was it Mary Jo Fernandez who asked her on court, how did you do it? How did you come back against the number two player in the world? And she says, I mean, I'm a pretty good player myself.

I'm still super young. I love it. I absolutely love it. I will miss her and Sue Bird too. And who knows how much longer we have Tom Brady, though he did sort of address why he returned to football and what this means moving forward. So we're going to do a ramped up version of QB news. We'll do that in about 20 minutes.

Don't forget to send your questions for Ask Amy anything because that's coming up. And when are we doing this, producer J? You decide.

I've decided too many other things. When are we doing this? About 40 minutes. 40 minutes? Yes. Okay. So top of the hour is what you're saying.

All right. So 40 minutes away, top of the hour, an opportunity to dive back into it. And this is how I know I'm going to get immersed in the show and you just kind of have to rip off the bandaid. There's no jumping in slowly. Actually, that's how I get into the pool except for the morning that I ran in Houston when it was 91% humidity.

I didn't even check the humidity. It was in the seventies and I thought I better go now before it gets any warmer and I get about 40 minutes into my run. So about four miles, I was planning on going a full hour and all of a sudden I'm not feeling so well. I'm lightheaded.

I get kind of those cold flashes that you get when you're dehydrated and when you're flirting with some type of heat exhaustion, not a heat stroke. But I just realized, I mean, I was still moving. It wasn't like I wasn't running, but I just, it was not safe for me to keep running in that. Milk was a bad choice.

Milk is never a bad choice. So on that morning, I jumped into the pool. I put on my bathing suit and boom, didn't even have to stick my toe in first. Just went diving in to the 82 degree water. My mom refused to get in because it was only 82 degrees.

Every other time I got in the pool over the past week, it was slowly feet first, then up to my knees and then up to my waist. I even, the first day I read a book standing in the shallow end of the pool for a while so I could get acclimated. It was a really good book. So send your questions for Ask Amy Anything to our show, Twitter, After Hours, CBS, also to our Facebook page. While you're there, you can join us on Survivor Island. We've put up an extra link now so that even if you weren't with us last year, you could be with us this year.

Something funny, Producer J, that I saw on social media, and I do not remember who it is, so please don't ask me. It's not like I'm keeping this a secret. Somebody was crowing about the fact that he was going to have a survivor pool with 400 people and I thought, okay, yes, if 400 people is impressive, then we are off the charts here at After Hours because we generally triple that.

Yeah, our population is a little higher on our own. So we're excited about you joining us on Survivor Island. Again, that means it's on. I haven't yet done my fantasy draft. That's coming up on Wednesday evening.

I haven't joined either of the survivor pools yet. I am running out of time. I'm running out of time.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started, I would have my nightly panic attacks, but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations. I just really started looking at, okay, so chest is, you know, I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath.

It's just survival strategy. Chronic stress is trauma. Join us for Odyssey's I'm Listening to Our National Mental Health Conversation, Wednesday, September 21 at 6 p.m. Talk saves lives.

Get started and download the free Odyssey app today. How's your mental health? I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started, I would have my nightly panic attacks, but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations. I just really started looking at, okay, so chest is, you know, I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. Chronic stress is trauma.

Join us for Odyssey's I'm Listening to Our National Mental Health Conversation, Wednesday, September 21 at 6 p.m. Talk saves lives. Unbelievable. People jumping up and down here at Busch Stadium and he gets a big hug from Yadier Molina. You know he's going to get a curtain call. What a great moment here at Busch Stadium. True to the script, Albert Pujols, homers in his final game against the Chicago Cubs.

Donovan needs to step out. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Wow, even hearing it. I've heard it multiple times.

I've seen it a bunch of times. I showed mom home run number 695 from Albert Pujols, but hearing it again with John Rooney and company on Cardinals radio, I get chills. I am telling you, I am so proud of myself. It's not often I'm proud of myself when it comes to work, but I'm generally more critical of myself than anything. More critical than you will ever be, just so you know.

But I am so proud of myself that going back to spring training, going back to those days when Albert Pujols, and I know spring training was truncated, but going back to those days when Albert Pujols first got on the field with the Cardinals, resigned with them, got on the field with them. I was on this. I was on this and I was sure this is going to be the story of the summer and I'll be damned if I didn't get out in front of it.

It's a little bit like jumping on. I didn't have any insider trading knowledge. I just had a feeling and a hope. I think hope is not a strategy.

Not all the time, but in this case it definitely is. Hoping, praying, believing that this Albert Pujols would add to his hall of fame career, his hall of fame resume, his extensive, extensive accomplishments both as a team player and as an individual by getting to 700 home runs. And there were people who told me it wasn't going to happen.

It wasn't possible. What? It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It was a pinch hit home run, a two-run shot responsible for the only two runs in that game against the Cubs, his final game in that storied rivalry of St. Louis and Chicago. He went over one tonight, so I just want to make sure you know he did not have another home run on Tuesday night, but it's been pretty amazing to watch him hit the ball, to see him at work. It's not just, hey I got lucky and I happened to swing at the right time. This is one of the best hitters of our time and so he is putting all of his knowledge, all of his wisdom, all of his experience to work when he's at the plate.

And he may tell you numbers don't matter to him, but the man is locked in right now. He is doing what he does best. I actually was looking for a good pitch to hit and I just got it, you know, and I guess I put a best swing all the day. So pretty amazing, you know, I mean Miles did an unbelievable job once again to keep us in the game and, you know, I guess I just came out with the best swing, you know, to come up today like this, Q's and a big win, great weekend, you know, we're playing really well right now and I told you I think a few weeks ago this is the right time to play great baseball and that's what we've been doing. We talked about it after we won and I was still kind of thinking about that game as far as getting Albert in one last time against him at Wrigley. He's done a lot of damage against that team for a long time and it's good that he got one more at bat here, absolutely. The fact is you can't miss an Albert Pujols at bat right now, you just can't.

They're all worth watching. It is awesome to see this and the last time we watched it was when? Albert, Albert Pujols is about to catch the last guy who did this, Alex Rodriguez, but how much was A-Rod hated in the final stages of his career? He was. No one was rooting for him to get to 700 except for maybe the Yankees who thought they'd get few extra ticket sales out of it.

No, they didn't care. If you remember, Joe Girardi was the manager and wouldn't even talk about it when he was marching towards 700 and he fell short and a lot of people believe that was poetic justice because of his steroid usage and the fact that he cheated for so long and lied about it. And so no one was rooting for Alex Rodriguez. When Barry Bonds was chasing history, when he passed Hank Aaron, do you know who was rooting for Barry Bonds?

San Francisco, that's it. Outside of San Francisco, there are a lot of people who still refuse to acknowledge that he is the home run king, that he has the most home runs in Major League Baseball history and is unlikely to ever be caught, at least not by anyone that I can see playing in Major League Baseball right now. Even 500 home runs is a major feat in today's game. It's not that we don't have powerful hitters. We've got guys like Mike Trout who, didn't he just hit 300? I could be wrong, don't quote me on that, but I feel like I just saw where he had hit his 300th career home run.

You've got guys like Juan Soto, right, who have power and have pop, but the consistency that's required and the longevity that's required to get to seven home runs, seven home runs, see what I mean? First night back, there's going to be these errors that you're just gonna have to laugh at me. It's pretty amazing when you think. What was that? What was that about? I had a JoJo already drop lined up and something happened there. It just flopped? It flopped or the computer messed up?

It's a lot of home runs. Who are you gonna blame it on, Jay? I'll take the blame on that one.

You will? It was you? Yeah, I'll take the blame on that one. Was it a false start or was it like you were trigger happy? Well, well, see, you can highlight that. It's the whole thing. I'll just take the blame and we'll move on from that one.

Okay, operator error is what he's saying. So again, my point is last time this happened was A-Rod. Before that, it was Barry Bonds. Before that, I guess you would go back to Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa when there was excitement. And yes, there was excitement then in 1998. But as we now know, it was a farce. It was a race that was built on PED fuel.

And so now again, people look back and I'm not sorry that I got to see it. It was a really exciting summer in baseball when every single at bat with Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa was televised live. There were networks that would break in, had permission from Major League Baseball to break in with the at bats. And it better damn well be that way with Albert Pujols because this is can't miss TV right now or can't miss radio.

I think the Cardinals radio network does an awesome job. So here he is at 42 years old in his 22nd season. Same number as Barry Bonds, by the way. Same number as Alex Rodriguez. Same number of seasons as Babe Ruth. And he is five away from baseball immortality. But every home run from this point on is humongous.

Think about it. The next one ties A-Rod for fourth all-time. And after that, he's in sole possession of fourth all-time with only three to go. If you weren't excited before, all you need to do is listen to the show because I think about it all the time. I'm constantly checking by scores and then listening to the radio network until I hear his next at bat. Not to mention the Cardinals are killing it right now. So there's a lot of excitement at Busch Stadium and with Cardinals Nation. A Redbird winner!

A Redbird winner! Have we not heard that a ton over the course of the last month? I think we have.

Sorry Brewers fans. You can find me on Twitter after our CBS. That's our show Twitter. We want you to send your questions for Ask Amy Anything and to join us on Survivor Island. I'm pretty sure J thumbs up that J put the selfies with mom up on our Facebook page as well.

So now you have selfies with mom. You have Ask Amy Anything and you have Survivor Island on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence coming up next. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. Chronic stress is trauma. Join us for Odyssey's I'm listening to our national mental health conversation Wednesday September 21st at 6 p.m. talk saves lives. How's your mental health?

I'm listening with Alanis Morissette. When it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath. It's just survival strategy. Chronic stress is trauma. Join us for Odyssey's I'm listening to our national mental health conversation Wednesday September 21st at 6 p.m. talk saves lives. We've got a surprise for you packaged up like QB news.

You are listening to the after hours podcast. Already back to throw and it is is it lost oh my goodness it's Andre Hopkins calling steps back throws the faith Cooper touchdown LA. Burrow back to throw looking firing deeper chase in the end zone. He's got it. Touchdown.

Joe Burrow in the bangles. The holmes fires for the end zone caught. Touchdown Kansas City. And off to Ekler again no Herbert keeps it end zone. Touchdown charges. Herbert with his second of the day. Here's the snap Josh gonna keep it himself and run it again inside the five into the end zone. Touchdown Buffalo Josh Allen nine yard touchdown run.

The bills respond and then some. It's time for QB news on after hours. Mike Tomlin's funny you know that right?

He is a hoot. In fact if I could interview any coach in the NFL right now it would be Mike Tomlin simply because I would love to have a conversation with him in which we got him in what is all always mid-season form. When is the man not so authentically Mike Tomlin? I don't know I've never heard it but he's the best and I am psyched that football is back because we get to hear more of Mike Tomlin.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio. Even after we saw the depth chart it took Tomlin a couple of days before he would confirm his starting quarterback for week one. Mr. Biscay is our starting quarterback and our captain. Man we're just really comfortable with what Mitch has shown us. He's a guy that came to us with with franchise quarterback experience if you will.

He's comfortable in those shoes. He's been the focal point of a football team in the organization before. Now I missed the hullabaloo over the initial depth chart that was released.

I'm so sorry I missed the sports world freaking out over this. Trubisky listed as QB one. Mason Rudolph listed as QB two and the rookie Kenny Pickett bringing up the rear the caboose so to speak as the third quarterback on the depth chart. What happened there coach? It was a clerical error you know that's how the depth chart was listed at the start of training camp so the cut and paste component was the cut and paste component.

I know you were hoping for a little bit more colorful explanation but it is what it is that's what happened. My mother cuts and pastes her lesson plans and every now and then she cuts and pastes the wrong lesson plan into the the wrong box. With the cut and paste component. I will tell you this there are times when I cut and paste emails that I'm writing in mass to various different contacts in the business with all the same question and I gotta be careful I don't leave the wrong name in there.

So I cut and paste but I go back and I edit to be sure. So yes Mike Tomlin naming his starting quarterback it's Mitch Trubisky the depth chart pay no attention to what you see on paper that was all sleight of hand and and a cut and paste error. He didn't say who it was though I highly doubt it was Tomlin himself. Ben Roethlisberger remember him? Out of sight out of mind no not so fast because he joins the ranks of the 8,422,000 people who have podcasts. It's a brand new one called footballing and he weighed in on the Steelers quarterback situation in the wake of his retirement. In my opinion it's um it should be Mitch's job for you know the time being and and if if if Mitch plays well keep him keep him in there you know and even if even if Mitch has a bad game or something it doesn't mean just yanking like you know people were gonna and people were so excited for Kenny which they should be I mean he's a Pitt kid right you know played at Pitt and so the they're super excited for him but I just don't I just hope the fans don't like the first time that Mitch you know doesn't play well they don't start like booing or yanking or do something like that because listen it's gonna happen get the get the guy a chance to keep going or whatever that's a touchdown. So it'll be interesting to see but I do in my opinion feel that it's Mitch's job he hasn't done anything to lose the job he's played well enough as well to to keep you know as the starter but ultimately it's going to be Coach T's decision right I think the other the hard thing that people don't think about is that it's really hard to go back and forth if you put Kenny in there and he starts to struggle and you put Mitch in you can't really go back to go back and forth like that is really hard you want to keep one guy in there as long as you can and and and just go from there so we'll see but but I think Kenny's had a great and I've heard some great things about practices training camp things like that so I think um you know I think he's really coming along fast. Interesting that he talks about making a switch leave him in there as long as you can as if a change is inevitable maybe it's just me maybe I'm reading too much into things I tend to do that but the fact that he's even talking about a switch think that's spoken from the mind of a quarterback who played nearly 20 years where you recognize that the majority of NFL teams have to use multiple quarterbacks to get through a season I keep a running tally every year I will keep the list again this year generally what happens more than two-thirds of teams in the NFL use multiple quarterbacks because of injuries or ineptitude I cannot believe we're on the verge of starting another season wowzers I'm excited and then I'm whoa overwhelmed all at once it comes in waves it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio no new contract from Lamar Jackson unless somehow I missed something while I was buried and boring in Houston I don't have any updates on that there's nothing that I'm aware of it's been football football football for for players and coaches and that's kind of where we're at my interactions with Lamar have been all football and he's been focused and locked in on that 100 from a football standpoint so that's kind of where we're at and just really I don't personally have anything to add that I know of I have nothing to add to the situation we did hear from Lamar that when they kicked off in week number one that would be the end of negotiating so there is the chance that he could be slapped with a franchise tag to give them more time but dear lord is this starting to feel a lot like the Dak Prescott contract negotiations where if the Cowboys and Dak and really it was more about the Cowboys taking steps toward compromise if they had just taken the steps that Dak asked for going back before this became a thing we wouldn't have had to hear about it for two years they wouldn't have had to hear about it for two years and they might have saved themselves some money actually so for now Lamar Jackson goes into the season without a contract and remember he reps himself and there are people who are worried that he's going to get hurt yada yada yada you cannot play football that way you can't play sports that way if you're worried about getting hurt more likely you're closer to being hurt than the the athletes who go in and do what they're trained to do and what comes naturally to them without having that fear you cannot play sports with fear it just doesn't you don't play it your best that way been a billionaire and been a champion that's what he wants to do and he is I wouldn't say well on his way but he's closer than he was five years ago Tom Brady and his wife are reportedly having marital stress please make me roll my eyes have you seen those headlines I cannot believe that that's what people are talking about right now oh my gosh the man went on a vacation that he had pre-planned with his family during training camp what is the big deal he's back by the way on his let's go podcast with Jim Gray Larry Fitzgerald and still people want to hear about why he decided to end his retirement after 40 days I just felt like I had a little left and I want to give it a shot and I owed it to my teammates and our great coaches and our whole organization we built something pretty special here in Tampa the last few years and you know we were pretty close last year at the end of last year we lost to the Super Bowl champ you know they made a few more plays than we did in that game you know the competitive fire still burns huh is that making anyone nervous in the NFC south I don't know I'm not sure about the NFC south and how this division might play out I certainly know there's a lot of attention on Baker Mayfield and we will hear from his head coach coming up but I'll tell you one guy who's not nervous that Brady's back or thinks the division is a foregone conclusion the Bucks are going to win it that would be one Cam Jordan who was a guest on CBS Sports HQ at the end of the day they're just Tampa just Tampa you know they're analysts everybody else in the world is going to pump up whatever team that they feel that we but for the Saints for the new for for the team that we are for the team that we want to be we have to go into each and every game mentally prepared physically ready and get a get a win each and every every game we don't ever go in thinking about oh they're a vaunted team we could care less well I hope not we may think that way we think about trap games we think about matchups we think about implications we think about this quarter actually most of you think about quarterback versus quarterback which is not how it goes certainly Cam Jordan is not thinking that way as a Dean Lineman nah nah now we have to think about it as athletes right we got to be in their minds and recognize that they believe they can be anyone at any time all right so Matt rule Baker Mayfield your week one starter hype isn't around Baker here I mean hype's around Christian McCaffrey and Shaq Thompson and Dante Jackson and all those guys Baker's you know one of 53 but he is our quarterback you know we are certainly going to rally around him and you know I want Baker to be Baker and I don't want to be I don't want to be anything else other than what he is but you know this this is a game of 11 guys executing together and we want to be connected as a team so to us this is about offense defense and special teams this is about you know a rookie left tackle having to go out and play against one of the premier players in the game this is about our defense facing two of the you know preeminent running backs in the game um there's a lot of storylines in this one did Matt rule just coach Blaine to us how Baker Mayfield facing the Cleveland Browns is not even remotely interesting or shouldn't be I think he just tried that did it work of course it didn't work all right though on that note I hope that whet your appetite just a little bit some brand new highlights as part of our QB news production we appreciate production director Doug and I appreciate producer Jay for giving him those highlights we're dressing it up we're ready for a brand new season I hope you're ready for a new Ask Amy Anything get your last minute questions in it's next here on CBS Sports Radio how's your mental health I'm listening with Alanis Morissette when it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath it's just survival strategy chronic stress is trauma join us for odysseys I'm listening to our national mental health conversation Wednesday September 21st at 6 p.m talk saves lives how's your mental health I'm listening with Alanis Morissette when it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath it's just survival strategy chronic stress is trauma join us for odysseys I'm listening to our national mental health conversation Wednesday September 21st at 6 p.m talk saves lives how's your mental health I'm listening with Alanis Morissette when it first started I would have my nightly panic attacks but then I started getting really curious about all the sensations like I just really started looking at okay so chest is you know I got really kind of granular and observing the details of what was really going on with the breath it's just survival strategy chronic stress is trauma join us for odysseys I'm listening to our national mental health conversation Wednesday September 21st at 6 p.m talk saves lives