After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

I'm Listening reminds you that you are not alone, and that talk saves lives. There's a new national hotline for mental health-related distress, 988. When you call or text 988 from any phone, you will be connected directly with trained counselors in over 200 crisis centers nationwide. They can get you the help you need anytime, anywhere. 988, the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Talk saves lives, and with 988, talking is only three digits away.

Find out more at imlistening.org. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial, and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. Producer Jay is brilliant.

Brilliant, I tell you. Is there any way we can hear it again? I know we already started the hour, but just for fun, because that was amazing. So to give you a glimpse behind the curtain, producer Jay is a whiz when it comes to the technical side of things, and he puts together a lot of our production. Now, Isaac was as well. We still have a ton of production from Isaac.

But when I say production, we're referring to the montages that you hear with highlights, with Mike Tomlin quips, and the music behind them. And Jay surprised me. We've been talking about putting together a very special Mike Tomlin-centric open for an hour, and he told me he'd been working on it. In fact, he hasn't slept well this week.

I'm sure it's because he was working around the clock. And so he said to me, are you ready for this? Because he knows Mike Tomlin's my favorite person to listen to. Right now, if I could interview anybody on the show, anybody at all from the football world, Jay, I would have a hard time choosing between Von Miller and Mike Tomlin. I don't know that I could choose. I mean, I'd have to cut my heart in half. But who would you rather have Mike Tomlin or Von Miller? That's a really hard choice.

That's not fair! I would have to say Tomlin. But I mean, again, if Von Miller, I would love to have Von Miller on. But Tomlin's just Mike Tomlin. But do you think we would?

Well, we might, because these are all press conferences where we get this juicy, delicious running commentary from Mike Tomlin. So we never do this. But just for fun, could I hear it again, please?

Because it was so great. Crank it up. Don't blink.

If you blink or cut your eyelids off, you know, this is not going to be for the faint of heart. Even if you didn't hear him say it, maybe you just saw the words on a piece of paper and didn't know which coach was saying them. You would know it was Tomlin. It's put up and shut up time.

I don't fear such death. We have an entire library of Mike Tomlin quits. Fantastic.

They moved their units. It's going to take a ridiculous effort. We make no excuses. We seek no comfort. I just appreciate his vocabulary.

It's so unique. Never say never, but never. Boy, you better knuckle up. He didn't urinate down his leg.

That's a great place to begin. I'm not asking you to go out there and be Tom Brady on your first day. I'm just asking you to not pee on yourself. That's all we need from you.

And you're ahead of the game. The cut and paste component was the cut and paste component. It's a football feeding frenzy after hours with Amy Lawrence. It gives you that tingle.

I don't even know which ones are my favorites, but that's a compilation that will never be matched. They moved their units. He didn't urinate down his leg. I'll say that. Oh, Oh my gosh. There's no one else in the world.

There's no one on earth like Mike Tomlin. Just that's fantastic. So yes, almost like a reboot there.

A redux so we could hear it more than once. Producer J, that was absolutely brilliant. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Amy Lawrence and Mike Tomlin. 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 alone solutions that fit your life, it can. So Producer J, as the official lead producer on this edition, well, this edition, every edition of After Hours, but this particular sports radio show, I kind of feel like it falls on you to get Mike Tomlin on the show. I definitely can give it a shot. Can't hurt, right? It can't hurt. No, it can't. Well, it might hurt.

It might hurt a lot if it turns out to be a terrible interview, but that wouldn't be the case. That's kind of your job. It's your job.

Yes, it is. Can't we reach out to the Bills and ask for Von Miller? Looks like I'm sending a couple emails to Steelers and Bills PR. Yeah, it's really difficult to get a coach. Have I already told you the one time I've had an NFL head coach on this show? An active coach at the time?

Oh, not just active, but in his locker room. Oh wow, yeah. Oh my gosh, I almost couldn't speak.

I started to stutter. So it was a week 17. Oh gosh, I was doing the show from Houston, I believe, so it would have been maybe going back five, six years and it was the last week before they stretched the season out to 18 weeks, 17 games and it was week 17 and the Seahawks had won a big game in week 17 and we had a stringer and for those of you who don't know that term, we had a reporter on site who was offering updates and was in the locker room following the game and was, you know, supposed to be talking to players and potentially grab a player for us to have on the air and just kind of hand him the phone and say, here, it's, it's Amy Lawrence of CBS Sports Radio and the player would then stand there and speak for a couple of minutes, answer a couple of questions and when we were done with them, he would give the phone back to the stringer, back to the reporter. The stringer says to me, I have Pete Carroll.

Oh no, wait, no, he said this. Oh, actually the reporter was talking and said, I'm standing here with Pete Carroll. Pete grabs the phone. He's like, Hey, the reporter's like, Hey, it's Pete Carroll. I'm talking to Pete Carroll and he hands the phone to Pete and he's like, here he is. Something like that.

It was something along those lines. Either Pete grabbed the phone or he said, here's Pete Carroll. And I had 0.2 seconds to prepare like 0 seconds. There was no warning. There was no nothing. There was, here's Pete Carroll. I mean, it was, Whoa. It was one of those moments where you like, Whoa, deer in the headlights. Get your act together.

Speak Amy speak. But it was great. I wonder where it is. It's gotta be in our archive somewhere. Anyway, we did like three, four minutes with Pete Carroll and he was like typical cheerleader Pete and in a great mood cause they just won the game and amazing. That's incredible. My only NFL head coaching interview in a one-on-one setting. I mean, I've done them obviously in group settings, you know, those like mass interviews before press conferences, but never one-on-one before.

And I had no time to prepare. That's so not me. No. Yeah.

If you know me, that's the kind of thing that freaks me out, but you know, it's live radio. So what are you going to do? You got Pete Carroll on the line. If someone hands you Pete Carroll, you talk to Pete Carroll. So it was kind of fun, but I would love to have Mike Tomlin. Could you just send just an email? That's all I'm asking. I'm officially on it. Steelers PR, Bills PR.

That's all I'm asking. Von Miller is a great talker. He does radio interviews. Now he generally does them with people like Jim Rome who are radio hall of famers, but you never know. Does he have a podcast? Von Miller or not?

Not yet. He definitely will. He doesn't by now.

Yeah. I was going to say, I mean, Von Miller is going to be on TV. If he wants to be, he's a phenomenal communicator and so much fun.

He tells incredible stories and wait till you hear what he has to say about Lamar Jackson. So you can find us on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. We're asking you to vote for the After Hours game of the week. So the poll is up. Last week we had a runaway. Just tell you last week it was super, super, what's the word I want to use?

It was super obvious which game we all agreed on. That was the Dolphins and the Bills. So this week it's the Bills and the Ravens, which is why Von Miller is talking about Lamar Jackson. So you can check that poll out on our social media and our phone number is 855-212-4227. Producer Jay is on the phone right now. I'm sure he's calling either the Steelers or the Bills immediately and leaving a voicemail. We are 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. Why are you making that weird face, Jay? What's going on behind the double pane glass? Nothing. Everything's good. Hmm. Nothing you want to share?

Nah. The funny thing about our setup here, one of these days I'll take a photo. It won't be a selfie obviously.

I'll take a photo of what I see and what's, what's staring at me the entire show. And of course I can't let Jay know I'm doing it because he'll be like my dog Penny when the second I pull the phone out, Penny turns her head. She knows. How do dogs know that you're about to take their photo? They do, right? They do.

Does Boost do that too? He does. He knows. She knows.

She turns her head away from me. So I always, the second I snap the photo, I get the side of her face. You gotta try to do like the noises and like the hand. Oh no, it's the treats.

The treats. Yeah, that does it every time. How I get Penny sitting pretty with her ears up is treats. Hold the treat above the phone. Works every time. I mean it would work for me too.

If someone wanted me to take a photo, just hold up like a piece of candy, I'd probably look at them and smile. Yeah, alright, I'll take that. That's good information to file away for some other time. So, although I actually knew that about Jay. So, I don't know why I was talking about that.

It was selfies, not selfies, photos. And someday I'll tell you and show you what it is that I'm looking at because Jay makes these faces when he's talking on the phone or when he's doing other things behind the double pane glass and I can read him like a book. So now I know I like to put him on the spot. He does love it when you put him on the spot. When a fill-in host is here on the show and Jay's in the middle of a firestorm behind the double pane glass and the host wants him to talk and he has no idea what the host is talking about because he's in the middle of doing a bazillion other things.

And so he's back there and all of a sudden he's supposed to be talking and has no idea what's going on like none. My favorite. It's his favorite.

Okay, yes. If nothing else, it's a good time. It's after hours.

For a good time, call. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Alright, so we're going to dive into week number four. There's some really good match-ups of course and it's crazy to think that we're already halfway through the show. But we got a couple of new features that we love called Defense Wins Championships where we give the same love, the same support, the same exposure to our defenses that we do to the quarterbacks. Okay, that's a lie. We probably never will actually do that. But the fact is that we've got some incredible defensive players and defensive performances already this season.

And so they are worth noting. Speaking of defenses, the Cleveland Browns had their star defensive end, Miles Garrett, back in the building even, what was it, two days after his car accident. And he's actually been given a ticket, I guess he was speeding according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the single car crash that happened on Monday when he swerved to avoid an animal. That's what the police report indicated. He did that but at the time he was speeding, going 65 and a 45 according to the authorities. And so when the car flipped over as they tried to avoid an animal, he had a shoulder sprain and a bicep strain.

He also had some cuts and bruises because the vehicle went off the side of the road and then flipped over. Complained of a little bit of pain in his right hand and that was from the body cam footage with the officers. So after taking a couple days to rest, he was back at the Browns facility on Thursday. Wasn't practicing on Thursday. At this point, there's been no official update on his status, whether or not he will be playing this weekend against the Falcons. But for Greg Newsome, for some of the other Browns, it was good to at least see his face. Just glad he's okay.

You know, take his time getting back and yeah, we're definitely happy to see him. Did you see what he was driving, Jay? I didn't see it. The Porsche, right? A 2021 Porsche. I don't know if it's been totaled, but he had a female passenger in the car. They went off the road, hit a ditch and then a fire hydrant. Oi, that can tear a hole through your vehicle. Obviously more important that he and his companion were okay, but the car flipped over a bunch. And so I don't know whether or not the car can be spared. It sounds like it was just bad all around.

Want to make sure I clarify no drugs, no alcohol. That's not suspected at all. And both Miles and his friend were wearing seatbelts. So that's important. Really important.

Potentially saved his life. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Speaking of injuries or status for game day coming up, I know that we hear this a lot, but I was actually hoping that it wouldn't happen in 2022 or that if it did happen in 2022, it wouldn't happen until much further down the road. But Christian McCaffrey did not practice on Thursday. He missed Wednesday's practice as well because of a quad injury. So right now his status for Sunday's game against the Cardinals is very much up in the air.

Don't have any idea. I'm sure that they're giving him treatment hoping that he can be ready for Sunday. But this, it sucks. And I do not mean for fantasy football owners. That's not what I'm talking about. It sucks for Christian himself and it sucks for the Panthers because they're a much different team when he is out there on the field.

Certainly Baker Mayfield and the Browns. Uh oh. Whoopsie. I can't open.

It just came out. It was like how many times I said Tom Brady and the Patriots after he joined the Buccaneers because it's just so jarring to think about Brady in a different uniform. Still sometimes. Anyway, sorry Baker. Sorry Browns.

I know that divorce has already, it's already been signed, sealed and delivered. Uh huh. So Christian McCaffrey makes for a much more efficient and I would say much more competent Baker Mayfield. And really Christian would do that for any quarterback. But when he assumes so much pressure, it takes a lot of that pressure off of the QBs. But Christian's missed all but 10 games the past two seasons.

Doesn't that suck? All but 10 games the past two seasons. You go back to 2020 and he missed the last four with a quad injury. He actually suffered that while he was rehabbing from another injury. So right now all we know is that this kind of goes back to their game against the Saints.

And remember the Panthers just snapped a nine game losing skid with that victory against the Saints on Sunday. And that's where the injury happened. But we don't know at this point if he'll be available to play in week number four.

So that stinks because again, fantastic player. A lot of people pick him first in fantasy football, although probably the injuries would dissuade some people. Anyway, I know in my league he was, I think he was taken in the top three, but he wasn't number one. If I remember correctly, Jonathan Taylor went first. I don't remember if he was the head of Derrick Henry.

I'd have to go back and look. But anyway, people are nervous about the injuries and he's a smaller guy. Obviously very tough and is so versatile and takes a pounding every game. But there's been a lot of concerns about whether or not he can be durable enough to last through an entire season. So this is not great news for him or for the Panthers. And you know how badly he wants to play too.

So that's kind of a bummer. All right, so we're going to dive into some of the matchups from week number four. Glad to have you with us. If you missed it, the latest update on Tua Tango Veloa after Thursday Night Football, according to Josh Moser, who joined us here on the show in the first hour, he saw Tua. He spoke to Tua. Tua was wearing scrubs after he was released from the hospital. He had a neck brace on. But according to Josh, who kind of snuck in a few exchanges with him, even though the team was trying to keep everybody away from Tua, Tua was with his parents.

He was joking. He was his jovial self. And he was able to fly back with the team on the team plane. And according to Josh, he was able to kiss his mom and his dad goodbye before he got on that flight. So his parents happened to be in Cincinnati for the game. So they were with Tua at the hospital, obviously. And then there he was in the stadium to take the bus back to the team plane and fly home to Miami. So that's amazing because the doctors would not have released him, would not have allowed him to fly, if they felt like there was any danger with the head and neck injuries that they might be compounded by him being in the air with that different air pressure and if they wanted to keep him under observation. I actually was assuming that they would keep, that's what happens when you assume, I was believing that they might keep him for observation.

But he was released and he went home with his teammates and no doubt that was a huge relief to the rest of the dolphins as well. What's up, everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen, as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports, interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities, and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13th and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. I'm Listening reminds you that you are not alone and that talk saves lives. There's a new national hotline for mental health related distress, 988. When you call or text 988 from any phone, you will be connected directly with trained counselors in over 200 crisis centers nationwide.

They can get you the help you need anytime, anywhere. 988, the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Talk saves lives.

And with 988, talking is only three digits away. Find out more at I'm listening.org. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Excuse me, I'm blessed. I'm an extremely blessed man. I look at my family. What a lucky man. Play a game that I love so much for 20 years to have all the wonderful things happen. What a blessing.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Right now, hearing the voice of Brett Favre makes my skin crawl. That is Brett from his Hall of Fame speech.

He has a gold jacket. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton as one of the game's great quarterbacks. That was a few years ago and his playing career is further and further in the rearview mirror and honestly, who even thinks about Brett Favre in the football field in light of the allegations and the accusations that have come out over the last few weeks and months.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Every time I think it can't get worse, something else is uncovered or reported. So you, by this time, may know that he is accused or at least implicated. There have been no criminal charges filed.

He's a free man. He's part of a civil lawsuit in this public fraud case that involves Mississippi State welfare funds, but he's not been charged with any crimes. The former governor has been charged. There are former employees with this welfare fund that have been charged, but he's not been charged with anything. The case, as has been reported, centers around the misappropriation of welfare funds. And in Mississippi, where he's always made his home, Brett Favre received over a million dollars in speaking fees for appearances he allegedly never made.

And that's according to a state audit. Now, Brett at the time claimed he didn't know where the funds came from. He didn't know that they came from Mississippi's welfare fund. And that when he found out, he paid the money back.

Although I guess the state's still looking for him to pay back a bunch of money in interest, a couple hundred thousand dollars in interest that he says Brett Favre still owes them. Even though he says he had no idea where the money was coming from, there are now text message chains that seem to clearly indicate not only did he know the money was coming from Mississippi State welfare funds, but he was also concerned about being implicated. He was also concerned about being found out. He was concerned about the media being able to track the source of the money. Again, there are text messages that have been attributed to Brett in which he's skittish about people, namely the media finding out where this money was coming from.

Why? Because he was putting pressure on then Governor Phil Bryant to allow him to use the money or to direct the money, this welfare funding, to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation so they could build a brand new volleyball stadium, a brand new volleyball facility. Not only is that Brett's alma mater, but his daughter was a student at Southern Miss playing volleyball.

Okay, so that's the basis of the case. Even though Brett Favre's attorney and Brett have claimed he had no idea that the money was coming from the welfare funds, the text messages seem to indicate that he very much knew and was actually putting pressure on state officials to get him the funding for this new volleyball facility. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

The latest is this. Not only is he accused of taking the welfare money from the state's poorest, those who would desperately need it over the past few years and using it for some stupid sports facility, but his own foundation, Favre for Hope, his number four from his playing career, Favre for Hope donated more than $130,000 to Southern Miss and its athletic foundation over the course of three years, from 2018 to 2020, and that's according to tax records. This was first reported in the athletic, and then there was more investigative reporting done by ESPN. So his own foundation, whose mission statement is this, to provide support for disadvantaged and disabled children and breast cancer patients. Remember his wife, Deanna. Was it Deanna or Deanna?

It might be Deanna. His wife, Deanna, battled breast cancer and is a survivor. And Brett was always very public about it. He was very emotional about it. And when she was going through the treatment, he was still playing football. And he talked about her being his inspiration and wanting to help her through this and everything else.

That was part of his career. So his foundation, Favre for Hope, is supposed to provide support for disadvantaged and disabled children and breast cancer patients. And of course, as a 501c3, as his nonprofit, it receives donations from people. So think about the last time you made a charitable donation.

Usually it's to a cause that you care about, right? I work with an organization that supports the friends and the family, the church that I visited in Cuba multiple times. I send money to this organization so they could provide food and supplies for this group that I know personally in Cuba. I have a child that I sponsor.

This one is in Uganda. I had a couple of children that were in the Philippines, but a child that I sponsor now in Uganda through Compassion Organization. I give money to various organizations over the last couple of years that are providing food to people in New Jersey who have been hurt so badly by the pandemic and the downturn in the economy. These are all organizations. And actually, the Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, I almost always contribute to usually the American Cancer Society trying to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

So these are all charities and organizations that I believe in and that I want to contribute to because I want to help. No doubt, because of Brett Favre's name, his stature, his Hall of Fame playing career, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of people who have given donations to his charity, Favre for Hope, because they also believe in helping disadvantaged and disabled children and supporting breast cancer patients. But come to find out, over the course of three years, Favre was taking some of that money. His organization was taking some of that money.

Now, I guess I don't know for sure that he knew where all the money was going, but I just, that obviously is the tie there. It's your organization. It's your charity.

So you better know where the money's going. But the tax records show that every year it's the Southern Miss Athletic Foundation that's getting the bulk of the money. $60,000 in 2018, whereas every other organization that his charity supports received nowhere close to that.

In 2019, better than $46,000. Again, the next highest donation from the Favre for Hope Foundation, Special Olympics, but only 11 grand. So $46,000 plus to Southern Miss for its sports.

And the other organizations were getting pennies compared to that. So his daughter was enrolled at Southern Miss and Favre's foundation was giving thousands and thousands of dollars to the Athletic Foundation. And actually, according to the Athletic and to ESPN, that foundation was giving money to her high school when she was playing volleyball there as well. Thousands and thousands of dollars.

Now, I guess there's a couple of ways that you can interpret this. Did he pay the school so that his daughter could play volleyball there? I mean, was it not that long ago that Lori Loughlin and others were implicated in paying for their kids to get into really good schools where they maybe didn't qualify and didn't get in? I don't know if that's the case, but was he paying for his daughter to be there?

Was he buying off these organizations or was he taking money that was donated for other causes, causes that people believe in that he used his name to raise and he's putting it toward building facilities, sports facilities, supporting sports teams? Oh, it just makes my skin crawl. And then you get back to the welfare money and how desperately people need it. Whatever you may think of the welfare system in our country, certainly there are people who abuse it, but there are people who need that money. It pays bills.

It keeps electricity on. It provides food for families. And here is Brett Favre, who's rich and who can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars just by being Brett Favre. And he's taking that money from the people who need it the most, if these accusations are true. I don't know how he's ever welcomed into any NFL circle ever again. In fact, I was half joking when I said to producer Jay earlier on Thursday, if I'm Brett Favre, I'm taking my money that I've earned, the money that I have, and I'm getting the heck out of the United States and going to a place that doesn't have an extradition policy.

And I've, again, only half joking. Time right now is on his side because he's not been accused of anything criminally. He's a free man, but it's coming. There's no way he gets off scot-free. He should be in jail if any of this is true. And so if I'm Brett Favre and I can see the writing on the wall, it's clear that if these accusations are true, the man doesn't have any scruples and was, was committing fraud for years. And if that's the case and he's part of this big scam and other people have gone to jail, then he's potentially headed there too.

I mean, again, I know it sounds like I'm joking, but I'm really only half joking. If he wants to avoid this, he better get the hell out of the United States because the other shoe's going to drop at some point. I hope he doesn't, I mean, I hope he has to answer for these crimes.

If they, again, if, if what he's accused of is these accusations are accurate and he was in fact engaging in fraud and stealing money from poor people in Mississippi, if he was in fact taking donations from people through his organization and using them for sports teams, well then he should go to jail. So I hope he doesn't get out of Dodge. I'm just, it just seems like there's no way he could not know this is coming. And as much as he tries to claim and has tried to claim now for months that he had no idea, it seems like there is more than enough evidence to indicate that he knew exactly what was happening. In fact, he might've been the driving force behind it.

It was despicable. So yeah, right now he's going to be persona non grata in any NFL circle. When I was at Lambeau Field in week two, Sunday Night Football, it was alumni weekend. And I remember thinking, wow, prominently Brett Favre is not here and no one's mentioning his name. He's got to be one of the most famous Packers of all time and no one is mentioning his name.

Highly doubt he's welcome anywhere right now. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. We'll do some week four QB news coming up and also on our Facebook page. What is the after hours game of the week?

The Packers and Patriots are not included. Brian Hoyer, by the way, will be getting his first start of the season with the Patriots, even though Bill Belichick would like you to believe it's day by day. Day by day. Here's our latest sports update.

That's not my job. What's up everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast.

What's up everybody? Guess who's hosting a new podcast? No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith. Listen as I pull back the curtain on everything beyond the world of sports. Interviewing influential guests, outspoken celebrities and thought leaders across the political, financial and social spectrum.

You know me, I'll give you my unbiased opinion. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, a presentation of Cadence 13 and Odyssey Studio available on the Odyssey app or wherever you listen to your podcast. A No Mercy episode drops every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Q.B. News on After Hours. Week four is upon us. In fact, week four is already underway. And yes, the injury to Tua Tungovoloa. Those scary moments when he was lying on the field in Cincinnati last night definitely overshadowed Thursday Night Football. But we are pleased to report that he was flying home on the team plane with the Dolphins hours ago.

It is After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. If you were watching the game on Amazon Prime, you know that the Dolphins were all out on the field surrounding Tua. Mike McDaniel didn't want to let him go, said that he heard Tua call for him when he was down on the ground and it shook him.

So here are the comments of Mike following the Dolphins loss to Cincinnati. It was a scary moment. He was evaluated for concussion and he's in the concussion protocol. He was at the hospital.

I believe he's about to get discharged. That is not part of the deal that anyone signs up for, even though you know it's a possibility in football to have something that you have to get taken off on a stretcher. All of his teammates, myself, we were all very, very concerned. Obviously very concerned and really overshadowed the rest of the game, though Teddy Bridgewater had the unenviable job of having to step in for Tua immediately. They were in the middle of an offensive drive and Teddy Bridgewater had to take over. That drive ended in a missed field goal, if I remember correctly. The Dolphins were not able to win this game and the Bengals had a big fourth quarter, but for Teddy Bridgewater to be a veteran and to know, okay, this is what's required of me, I have to lead the offense now.

I have to get these guys to be focused on football, as difficult as that is. Tough loss tonight, man. You know, it's tough walking away from a game like tonight, especially given the circumstances. Seeing Tua, hearing the news from Coach about Tua, his status, you know, we're looking forward to just seeing him flying back home in that moment. I think you saw how everyone felt about Tua.

He's, you know, a captain on his team and a leader, and guys have so much respect for him. Dolphins suffer their first loss of the year. Again, pales in comparison to the concern for Tua, but the Dolphins finished their first month at 3-1, while the Bengals now have won back-to-back games that are 2-2, and in the fourth quarter, putting 13 points on the board. Now, a pair of Evan McPherson field goals, but also the Hayden Hurst touchdown catch from Joe Burrow with under two minutes to go that sealed it, and here's something to note. Not only did Joe Burrow have a pair of touchdown passes, but he had more touchdown passes than he had sacks. Just one in each of these wins for the Bengals.

Unbelievable. All day, protection was awesome. I had so much time in the pocket to find the guys that I needed to find, and those guys are just going to keep getting better because they work so hard every day in practice. Joe Burrow praising his offensive line. So, one game in the books. We're moving forward into the bulk of week number four. Big game between the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens, and wait until you hear Von Miller rave about Lamar Jackson.

Early on in his career, they tried to say he was just a runner, and he did nothing but prove that he's a total package. He can throw the ball, he can run the ball, he can do whatever it takes to win games, to put his teammates in great situations to win, and that's why he should be the highest paid player in the NFL, and that's why he should have the biggest contract out of all the quarterbacks, which will make him the highest paid quarterback in the NFL, and he's done everything that he could possibly do to put himself in a great situation for that. Von Miller, with the highest praise for Lamar Jackson, should be the highest paid player in the NFL, so it's the Ravens hosting the Bills coming up on Sunday. Certainly a high-profile game, one of our candidates for game of the week.

That poll is up on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, and on our Facebook page. Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady will be on the same field this weekend, and you want high praise. How about Mahomes talking about the impact of Brady, and not only his career, but also their interactions since Mahomes got in the league. After the AFC Championship game, when we lost to him, I remember, I mean, obviously I'm upset, sad, and I'm sitting in the locker room forever, and I start to walk out, and he's there waiting, and he could be celebrating, he's going to the Super Bowl and everything like that, and all he said to me, and it wasn't a big thing, he said, hey, just keep doing how you're doing, you're doing it the right way, and as a young quarterback, you just go out there and play, and try to have fun, and do whatever you can to put your team in the best position to win, and when the GOAT's saying that, and he's saying you're doing it the right way, it kind of shows you that you are doing it the right way, and so that was big for me, and then after that, just the conversations of just how he does stuff in the offseason, versus how he trains in the season, and those little things like that, I mean, he won't give me all the secrets yet, but hopefully one day I'll get all the secrets, and kind of can put those into my game. Part of the elite group of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, that's Patrick Mahomes to the NFL on NBC, about Tom Brady, and that is the Sunday night game, it will be played in Tampa, the NFL has determined that after speaking to local officials. Tom Brady's former team, the New England Patriots, will be without its starting quarterback, when the Patriots and the Packers kick off in week four, instead it's Brian Hoyer making his first start of the year on Sunday. My approach is the same always, whether I get reps or I don't get reps, you always got to be ready to play, as we saw, you know, on Sunday you're only one play away, I mean, that was the last offensive play of the game, so it didn't really come up that day, but you just, I mean, it's the nature of your job, and the business that we're in, so always try to be as prepared as I can, whether I'm taking every rep in practice, or I'm taking none, so, you know, it's just a day by day, you know, process, and how we're handling it, and go from there. From Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon to another high profile matchup, in fact, a repeat of the NFC Championship game last winter, the Niners hosting the rival Rams and Matthew Stafford. They know us, we know them, you know, I mean, we just go out there and play, they've got great players, you know, I feel like we've got great players, so it's always a fun matchup, I'm sure for people to watch, it's a fun one for us to be in as players, you know, just go out there, execute to the best of our ability, play physical and fast, and, you know, figure out what the scoreboard says at the end of it. We actually had to leave out the Packers and Patriots as one of our Game of the Week candidates, though we're always open to your write-in ballots, so you can vote on our show Twitter or my Twitter, ALawRadio.

When was the last time the Jaguars were involved in any Game of the Week option, but it's Jaguars at the Eagles, Rams at 49ers, Chiefs at Bucks, Bills at Ravens. One hour to go, it's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. I'm Listening reminds you that you are not alone and that talk saves lives. There's a new national hotline for mental health-related distress, 988. When you call or text 988 from any phone, you will be connected directly with trained counselors in over 200 crisis centers nationwide.

They can get you the help you need anytime, anywhere. 988, the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Talk saves lives, and with 988, talking is only three digits away.

Find out more at i'mlistening.org. I'm Listening reminds you that you are not alone and that talk saves lives. There's a new national hotline for mental health-related distress, 988. When you call or text 988 from any phone, you will be connected directly with trained counselors in over 200 crisis centers nationwide. They can get you the help you need anytime, anywhere. 988, the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Talk saves lives, and with 988, talking is only three digits away. Find out more at i'mlistening.org.