Rob Long | 105.7 The Fan Baltimore Host

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When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself, because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash positive. We're pleased to welcome Rob Long, who's co-host of The Big Bad Morning Show, on our Baltimore affiliate, 105.7. Now, he's not working this morning, so I appreciate it even more that you are awake early to hang out with us for a couple of minutes and maybe vent some of your thoughts after that game, thoughts and emotions. So, Rob, what was your reaction to that moment for Sam Hubbard? My reaction was, why are you running the quarterback keeper from the two-yard line? Amy, if you get beyond asking me about the Ravens offense, it's going to be the Greg Roman show at Get All Over, which is the case on The Big Bad Morning Show with me. Third one, you run your tight end. Right there in that situation, you don't run your running back. Earlier, he had a goal-wise situation to throw on the football.

I don't understand what Greg Roman is thinking most of the time. You look at football from a lot of other teams, you see plays that are ran. You don't call the plays before they run them, but after they run them, you understood why they called that.

I don't do that a lot with a Washington Ravens offense in football. Sometimes I know the plays are coming and I can't understand why they ran it. I didn't know that tight end handoff was coming, but when you have two running backs who are doing pretty good on third and one, why hand them your tight end? Why hand them number one, because he's not a running back.

Number two, why put him in that situation where he's unfamiliar? Ravens do some things offensively sometimes that have me scratching my head. Does it make you feel any differently to know that according to Jon Harbaugh, the play was actually not for Huntley to go over the top, it was for Huntley to go low?

I didn't understand why he went over the top. It makes me feel a little better, but I still don't understand why not hand him your running back who's picking up positive yards anyway. Your franchise quarterback is out, he's not even in town. The next quarterback, you've seen him play before, you're not happy with him. Why are you wanting him in that situation?

It just doesn't make sense to me. You're running back or gaining positive yards. Yes, so JK Dobbins actually vents to the media after the game that he did not have a carry in the red zone. What's your reaction to what he had to say? He believes not only that he would have probably gotten into the end zone there, but that if they, he actually said if we had Lamar, we would have won. He spoke out on the Mar thing, because Lamar's not here, it's not for him to speak out, but not having a carry in the red zone. Again, it makes you scratch your head the way they play offense on this football team.

Some of the things in high school life, some of the things are funny, are laughable. JK Dobbins, I didn't even realize that. He didn't have a carry in the red zone. He ran a lot of plays in the red zone, and you're running back and stealing positive yards.

In that situation, should I have the right, should I have the football, try to score a touchdown? Rob Long is with us from Baltimore in the wake of what was a very competitive game, I think more competitive than a lot of people around the country expected, as the Ravens were able to run the ball and stop the run, and honestly, the Bengals offense looked abysmal. For most of the second half, just really bad.

Couldn't put together anything. Even after a roughing the punter penalty, they go another three-and-out, so it was like a six-and-out that I've never seen before. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I know we've talked about the potential change at offensive coordinator, but what about quarterback?

And you've mentioned it, I already told my audience, I was going to ask you, and I told them I was going to phrase it exactly this way, Rob. What the hell was Lamar Jackson doing in Baltimore and not in Cincinnati with his team? It's telling. I don't know whose decision that was, his decision, the team's decision, whoever made that decision, it tells you the relationship, in my opinion, between the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson. Fans in Baltimore are very protective of the organization or Lamar. It's kind of polarizing to be honest with you, Amy.

It's either Team Lamar or Team Ravens. So when you speak of things like that that aren't said, you're speculating people get defensive, but come on. When your quarterback doesn't make it on a playoff trip, when he has the type of injury that's not going to stop him from traveling, it doesn't make you wonder what the relationship is between the team and that quarterback. It makes me wonder the relationship in the beginning.

So that just makes me wonder even more. Something's not right. Either Lamar Jackson said, I'm not going to Cincinnati, which makes me very disappointed in him, or John Harbaugh called me and said, hey, Lamar, why don't you stay in Baltimore, which means the Lamar saga has been a distraction one way or the other. It seems, it appears to be a straight relationship between he and the Baltimore Ravens. There were a lot of players, former NFL players, who were coming out criticizing Lamar for not putting a brace on and playing, not playing through pain. According to his tweet, his knee is unstable and he's not ready to go. But you know what it reminded me of, Rob? That whole situation with Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs in his last year there, where his doctors were saying he's not ready to go.

He was away from the team rehabbing in New York, I think, and the team's doctors are saying he's good to go, we don't know why he's not playing. And then ultimately the relationship broke down to the point where the Spurs had no choice but to trade him. It's starting to feel more like that to me. That's a great comparison.

I thought about that as a great comparison, and I hope it's not the case because then people have already asked and it's done. But one athlete begged the different with everybody. RG3 put out a tweet with him with a knee brace on and collapsing in that Seattle Seahawks wildcard game and said this is why you don't wear a knee brace. RG3 straightened his knee against the Baltimore Ravens with a low B matter injured him and he went out and put the knee brace on in the playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks and the young Russell Wilson and we know the rest of the story. He was the offensive rookie of the year. Who knows what his career would have been without that injury. So RG3 spoke up for Lamar, put a picture with him being sacked with the knee brace on and said this is why you don't wear a knee brace.

It's easy for these poor athletes. If I'm not mistaken, Michael Vick was one of the people that said that. After he signed the $100 million contract. The situation was a little bit different.

You got paid already. We forget this. We forget it's a business. We want athletes to be so loyal to the team. But teams signed a contract with athletes to let them go before the contract is up. It's a business for the team, but it's not supposed to be a business for the player. Whether you agree or disagree with Lamar Jackson does, he's invested in Lamar Jackson, Inc.

It's like the Baltimore Ravens are moving in their best financial interest. I agree with you and I understand. I'm a team first person, so I would have done anything to be out there.

However, you're right. Lamar still has to get paid. But the whole idea that he's not with his teammates, that makes me angry. Unless I find out the Ravens told him to stay home, how much Tyler Huntley would have benefited from having Lamar with him to calm him down to say here's what I see, here's what you can do. Just in general, to have a teammate who's been in the arena, I think would have been such a help to Tyler, though he played very well. So just to circle back before we put this... Not only just a teammate, but these two have known one another since they were kids back in Florida. So it was a teammate and someone who was a friend who I'm very close to. So that adds to what Lamar's presence may have meant if he was there for Huntley. Rob Long with us from Baltimore here on CBS Sports Radio.

Just to circle back and then we'll talk about something else. You said it's become polarizing in Baltimore. People are either Team Lamar or Team Ravens.

What are you? Oh man, I guess I'm neither. I'm a huge Lamar Jackson fan, but I tell people all the time, I'm actually getting a little background on my broadcasting and sports management. So I went for the business of sports.

So I get both sides. I'm not a person who says, man, if Lamar's gone, I'm done. I get where Lamar's coming from, but I also get where the Ravens are coming from too. He's a guy who's missed a lot of games in the last two years. They want me to pay you all this guaranteed money.

You've missed some time. I've relied on the backup quarterback a lot in two years. So I understand that from the Ravens standpoint. At the same time, I understand Lamar who wants to get the guaranteed money and that's going to be the new wave of football. However, what I will be disappointed in is to know that Lamar voluntarily stayed home for the Cincinnati trip. That kind of changes things for me a little bit and the disappointment level of him will grow a lot. I'm a little disappointed in some of the things he decided already.

This will really make me disappointed in some of his decision-making. It definitely was injuries to Lamar that kind of derailed the Ravens the end of the last two seasons, but it's never just about one person. So we kind of talked about the OC and a possible change there. About 60 seconds, Rob, but what else do the Ravens need to address in the offseason? Wide receiver. I mean, they need wide receivers badly. You know, I don't know how you make wide receivers who are productive skills in their careers come here other than trade for them. They don't have a great history of drafting wide receivers over the years. You just look at it, but they need to make a move in wide receivers. If they can get Lamar, make a trade, draft pick, whatever. If not, it looks like Lamar may be a potential franchise trade situation. But I think for sure this team is in desperate, desperate need of some playmakers starting at the wide receiver position. Well, they're never going to get any free agents to show up if they don't figure this out, but with their OC and their quarterback, you can't tell a free agent, hey, come, come here. We don't have a quarterback yet, but you know, it'll be fine.

We'll find one eventually. They couldn't keep Hollywood Brown out of those situations. While Hollywood Brown wanted to be traded, he did not trust the offensive system, the passing game, and it had nothing to do with Lamar, I don't think, at the time.

Maybe he did know because they're friends, but it was largely this is a passing attack that's really not much of an attack. Look at the Ravens, go back and look at some games and see how many receivers you see in the same area, and you want the quarterback to make a good throw. Why are they in the same area? I don't believe in why he was always running the same route or the wrong route.

I believe it's designed that way, to be honest. It's crazy. It is, and there's a lot that has to be decided. So follow Rob on Twitter at Rob Long Sports, co-host of the Big Bad Morning Show on our Baltimore affiliate, 105.7 weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, though not today, so enjoy your day off, Rob. Thank you, we'll talk soon. You know, I'm a high school basketball coach.

We got 11 a.m. tip-off. Oh, oh my gosh. Win, coach, you got this. Thanks a lot, Amy. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive.