6-1-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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That's BetterHELP.com. So many fan bases are screaming it. Why can't I get no satisfaction with my team? Why do I bother? Why do I care? Why do I do this to myself?

Why do I torture myself? Oh yeah, there are plenty out there who could say that same thing. And that really is the catalyst for tonight's question. But it's sparked by a couple of things. Number one, we've got three teams in hoops and hockey still standing who've never won a championship in their franchise history.

These moments, well they're life changing. For the franchise, for the athletes to be sure. But even the athletes, they might move on, they might win somewhere else. I mean in the case of the Miami Heat, you've got multiple guys on their roster who already have rings. There certainly are guys on the Knights and the Panthers who have rings.

The franchise is never the same once it has a title. And not just because it's a talking point, but because it's revenue enhancing. Because you sell jerseys and you hold parades and you sell season tickets. You're more attractive than to free agents if they know you mean business. You get a lot of time on TV.

It works with your corporate sponsors, with advertisers. Not to mention, the guys who are part of it very often feel something special. And if you're really good at your job as a general manager, you might be able to keep some of those guys around. Something to be said for consistency. Laying a foundation and then building on it. Not just laying the foundation and then firing the coach three years later.

No. Constant change equals constant losing. What franchises need is to have consistency. To have faith. To have patience. To let it work.

To trust the process. Well, in the case of the Denver Nuggets, they've been working toward this for quite a while. Mike Malone was hired eight years ago. They were really reintroduced and rebranded as part of the NBA's bubble when they made it to the Western Conference Finals.

They haven't forgotten. They lost to the Lakers, but they were almost like artificial intelligence. The Nuggets were AI, using a lot of what they learned in that series to help them get better and to be a springboard moving forward. But even Mike Malone would say, all of this was a waste if we don't win the title.

Never even been to an NBA Finals before now. But they're not satisfied. They want to win it. And I love what Jamal Murray had to say because we certainly recognize the bright lights, the big city, the massive stage. The fact that all the spotlight is on them in the heat now. They were a top seed.

I mean, it's set up for them. They have home court advantage. But ultimately, where we can identify with these athletes, and I think the purest way, is that they're human beings with a dream. And this is a culmination of so much hard work, blood, sweat, tears, failure, one step forward, two steps back, disappointment. Ultimately, in the case of Jamal Murray, injury that kept him from being part of what his team was trying to do the last couple of years. And for Jamal, not only is he thrilled to be healthy and certainly has had a great playoff run for the Nuggets, but he remembers his days as a kid with a hoop at home.

Just wondering if this would ever be reality. I used to like write down the playoff seating and like put myself on one of the teams and then like play like, so we played the Detroit Pistons, I'd go against Billups and Rasheed Wallace and then just talk like Marv Albert and all them. So yeah, I was in, I was in, I was in deep. I was making shot after shot. Trust me. I do trust you.

See, those are the kind of stories that I absolutely love. So happy for Jamal Murray, same as I was for Klay Thompson a year ago. I know the Warriors had won multiple rings, but Klay had been out for two plus years. And now here's Jamal Murray in search of some redemption, having to watch his team go through it last year without him and not being able to help. And it's not just Nikola Jokic who poses a dangerous threat to the Heat.

Nah, you're talking about one of the best pick and rolls. You're talking about one of the most productive duos in basketball to be sure, but gosh, around sports. Mike and his staff have just done a tremendous job of building a system that fits perfectly around their two top players. And they do all the right things.

You're not going to have any kind of weaknesses or glitches or cracks in a culture or professionalism or anything like that. And we feel the same way about our group. So I just think it's set up for a great competition. Nikola Jokic was deserving of the MVP last round, fully deserving, average of triple-double. But if you really take time to look at what Jamal did in the Western Conference Finals in a sweep, 32 points, maybe 50, 40, 90 in terms of his percentages, six rebounds, six assists.

It was just incredible. What validation this would be for Jamal, for Nikola, certainly the others there. I love the Michael Porter Jr. wrinkle. I think the Bruce Brown wrinkle is fantastic. Boy, does he bring them an edge and a toad. He reminds me a little bit, now don't go crazy here, but he reminds me a little bit of the Draymond Green role. Now he's not as good as Draymond Green.

Draymond's the center cog in the wheel for the Warriors. But it does remind me a little bit of the fact that he brings that attitude. He does not back down, right? He's a guy that takes pride in his defense and wants to get in your face. And he'll take on LeBron James and does not care. Every team needs a guy like that.

You're a clown. And so Bruce Brown takes it personally. I like what we've seen from some of the other guys too, like Contavious Caldwell Pope.

Right? Jeff Green's been the kind of the guy getting the most minutes off the bench. He is a veteran. He's wily.

He's tough still. He's not going to score a lot of points for you, but when we're talking about a team that doesn't go deep. The Miami Heat, they're dropping players like flies. And so they don't go deep right now either. We know Tyler Herro's not going to play in the opener of the finals, which I wasn't expecting. Neither one of these teams has a lot of depth on the bench.

And so what you can get is really important. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Game one of the NBA Finals is coming up in mere hours in Denver where the Nuggets have not lost in the playoffs so far. The top seed in the West versus the eight seed in the East.

But you know what? It doesn't matter anymore. They both deserve to be there.

Seeding matters not even a little bit at this point. And please do not tell Nikola Jokic that they are the favorites in the NBA Finals. Who said that we are favorites? The media?

No. And Las Vegas tells us that we are not. We were underdog before. I mean, I think we are not the favorites. I think in the finals there is no favorites. This is going to be the hardest game of our life and we know that and we are prepared for that.

We are preparing and prepared for that. So I think there is no favorites and definitely I think we are not favorites in this series. Yeah, I don't think you should be playing favorites when it comes to the Miami Heat.

That seems like a really bad idea. Ask the Boston Celtics how that went. Ask the Milwaukee Bucks how that went. I'm still getting a lot of traffic on our social for our conversation with Sean Grandy about the Celtics exit in game number seven. I'm still getting text messages from friends about how badly they played and what a shocker it was.

Not that he won, but how the Celtics didn't even mount a challenge really in the second half. And so if you missed it, the post is up on both Twitter, ALawRadio and our Facebook page. I know many of you are going there to answer our question. Who needs a championship next? I said Angels.

At least be in the conversation for heaven's sakes with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. So going Angels, Bills in football. In basketball, I would agree with the Sacramento Kings. I think that'd be a great story, but also the Sixers for heaven's sakes. Mike, actually, I think they suck for firing Doc Rivers. And I don't really want James Harden to win a title, but he may not. I know, I know.

I can't help it. To me he represents a lot of what's wrong with professional sports. Certainly what's wrong with the NBA. But hey, you know he had two really good games in the playoffs, so woo! The Sixers purposely stunk though for a long time.

So I don't know. I don't feel sorry for them. They made some bad decisions. Although I don't think the Ben Simmons was necessarily their bad decision.

I just don't think they cut bait quickly enough. They tried to make it work long after it was not working. They stayed in the relationship far too long. Have you ever done that?

Oh, I'm the queen of staying in relationships far too long. So I can speak that Sixers language. But they fired Doc Rivers like it's his fault. So I'm not rooting for them. I don't feel sorry for the Sixers. I don't.

No, I don't either. I feel sorry for Doc. By the way, Monty Williams has agreed to the largest coaching contract in NBA history. And I've heard that it could be upwards of $100 million if he meets incentives, blah blah.

But it's six years, nearly 70 mil. And this is after the Suns saw improvement all four years that he was in Phoenix. I don't love that firing either.

It's just icky. The Nick Nurse. Nick Nurse is now in Houston, right? So Nick Nurse got hired in Houston.

Monty's... Wait, Nurse got hired in Philly? I didn't think Philly hired yet. Okay. Stop. Stop trying to screw me up.

Okay. See, I can't even keep up with a coaching carousel. We now know that in Golden State there's a prime opportunity, right?

Because they need to hire a new general manager. Yes, yes, you're right. Nick Nurse.

Who's in Houston then? E-May. Oh, that's right. It was E-May. Oh, goodness. I can't keep up with all you Eastern Conference coaches who've been fired and now landing somewhere else.

Okay. So E-May to Houston. Nick Nurse to Philly. I still think the biggest onus is on the front office there in Philadelphia, though. And then Monty Williams to Detroit. Still waiting for Doc to surface. Phoenix. It's after... Can you imagine?

It's like musical chairs. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk to Steven who's in Charlotte. Steven, welcome to the show. Hey, how you doing?

Thanks for taking my car. Of course. These Miami Heat, they driving me nuts. Like when they played Milwaukee Bucks, I'm like, okay, they overmatched.

I was saying they were going to be done in four. And when they played in New York Knicks, I was leaning toward the Knicks. Were you really? Yeah, I really was. But now I'm seeing this. Man, that coach over there in Miami is something different.

Eric. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, I'm a Phoenix Suns fan. But unfortunately, we got done by the Yankees. But I'm just looking at Miami.

Like that coach got to be like, this is something that we are witnessing we might not see again. Because when you look at the Miami team, you're like, okay, you got Butler. You got Bam. Okay. He's not a superstar, but he's a dog.

Like he gets in there, he bang with you and he give you what you got. But this Miami team, man, we are witness something special. I just want to say it. I agree. I think in the case of the Heat, their chemistry and their communication, the fact that they've been in the trenches together, that's produced a different type of a chemistry. It actually gives them an advantage. And I'm not saying that the Nuggets don't have it. I'm just saying it actually gives the Heat. It makes them better than who they are as individuals because they play so well together and because they believe so well together. And because they've got a Jimmy Butler with all that tenacity and that tune as their leader. It's just something different.

He gives them an edge. Right. And I see that. Like, can I ask you a question real quick? Okay. Like, all right. Denver played the Tea Wolves and Miami plays Milwaukee Bucks. Like, I'm just comparing the two. Right. Looking at the competition, like Denver played Milwaukee. No, they played, Denver played the Tea Wolves and Miami plays the Milwaukee Bucks and knocks out the Milwaukee Bucks.

Now, you can grant it. Like, you can say Giannis was hurt, but when he came back, he dropped 38 and 20. Like, that's great stats.

Like, I'm looking at it like, this is unbelievable. I cannot bet against them no more. Like, I'm with Miami. Well, Miami, they had to do this road, right? Because they not only were in the play-in tournament, but they lost the first game and they barely beat the Chicago Bulls. So, the fact that they've had to go through one, two and four, right?

Let's see, one, two, four. Yeah, it's because they were so inconsistent in the regular season that they nearly didn't make the playoffs, right? So, they've been playing and fighting for their lives for months now and so they're kind of comfortable living in that zone. And what I've said about them, Stephen, over and over, the Heat do not play well as frontrunners. That's not their MO. They actually do better. They play better. They play their best basketball when they have no other choice.

Right. They love being the underdog. They do. They relish that. I think I heard something with Haslam saying, like one of the reporters asked Haslam, like, Boston is like a 90% chance winner, y'all like 3%?

I'm like, he like, okay, whatever. They've been like that. I mean, I think they love that. It's amazing. And I think it's beautiful to watch.

I appreciate you taking my call, but it's beautiful. We're going to have a finals to watch. I love Jokic.

I love Murray. Like, that team over there is poised. But, Miami been there. Like, it got to be something there. Like, Miami been there before.

It's been a bubble, but I don't want to hit a bubble. I mean, it's basketball. You got to play. You want to win.

Agreed. I'm with you. I think, Steven, anybody who counts out the Miami Heat right now does it at their own peril.

You're just not paying attention. And I'm not saying they're going to win, because I don't know who's going to win. It's going to be a tough matchup with Jokic. I mean, many teams have tried. Anthony Davis tried, and look what happened there.

He wore himself out to the point where he was ineffective offensively for a good, well, for two of the games of that series. So, they just don't have, I mean, Bam Adebayo has great athleticism, and they're going to run different guys at Jokic. They're going to have to guard him by committee. The problem is, there is no one guy who can keep him kind of contained, if you will.

Right. And if I could say something real quick, like, with Jokic, man, this guy's amazing. I don't think we've seen nobody like him before. I could compare him to Dirk a little bit. This guy don't, like, when you look at this guy, this guy barely gets off the floor.

I mean, this, I mean, I don't think I never, I don't think I've never seen a center or a player that plays that way and is so efficient in his style of play. Like, that guy is something special, and I'm just happy I can see it. Me too. I like it, Steven. All right, enjoy the opener on Thursday. All right, thank you.

Thank you. Well, actually, I laughed because he said he barely gets off the floor. I thought he meant, like, he can't jump, which is kind of the case. He's athletic, but sneaky athletic, right? But I think what he meant is he doesn't come off the floor as in his minutes. So I laughed because I thought he meant he couldn't jump, but what I think he meant is that he stays on the court. In fact, game, well, they swept the Lakers, so game four, he played the last 33 minutes.

He did not sub out in the second half. So that's an important point, I think, from Steven. All right, Mark will get to you. Mark listening in Modesto, California.

You can find us on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, on our Facebook page too. Let's just be fair, the Detroit Lions are the most popular answer to this question, but there are other answers too. Who needs a ship or is it a chip? Somebody tell me.

Is it a ship or is it a chip? What do the kids say? Because I am not cool. I'm not a cool kid.

I've never been a cool kid. Ship, I think. You think it's ship? I feel like I would say chip, but I think the in one is ship. Maybe you and I could say chip? Yeah, we'll go with chip. Who needs a chip? I could use a chip.

We do like chips. OK, either way, it's a ring. We're just going to go with who needs a ring. A lot of Cleveland answers, some Pittsburgh Pirates answers. I like the Orioles. Definitely the Toronto Maple Leafs. And actually, great point from a listener.

Josh sent this on Twitter. It's been so long since the Toronto Maple Leafs won. They're no longer on the Stanley Cup because those rings at the bottom have been removed. Meaning their championships were so long ago in the 60s that they don't obviously increase the base of the cup. They don't make it taller. And so when they continue to add champions around the top, that means the names on the bottom. Well, they disappear.

It is sad. They're not even on the cup anymore. Forget owning the cup. You're not even on the cup. Not even a trace. And those cups from the 60s are probably in some janitor's closet somewhere.

If they even know where they are. Tarnished. They've turned to bronze. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Another look at second base. Now the pitch. Swing. Line drive. Right field.

They should do it. Caballero's coming to third base. And he can crawl home.

This is all the way up to the wall. And Cal Raleigh wins it in the tenth inning for the Mariners. One to nothing. The Mariners take down the Yankees tonight in Seattle.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The Seattle Mariners able to put the gabosh on the New York Yankees win streak. So they end the win streak at four but also keep them scoreless. This game was scoreless into extra innings.

But you hear Rick Riz on Mariners radio. It's a Cal Raleigh walk off RBI single in the tenth. And they do it by shutting out the Yankees who the night before had ten runs on twelve hits if I remember correctly. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Get to know the name George Kirby if you don't. Man what a performance. Eight scoreless innings. He allows just three hits.

He has seven strikeouts. And yeah the bats go silent for the Yankees but the Seattle Mariners deserve a ton of credit. And they're in a good spot. In fact the entire AL West right now except for Oakland is real competitive. And so you look at where the Rangers are.

The pace they're setting. The Rangers have one of the best records in the American League. It's been a long time since we've been able to say that. Won seven of their last ten. The World Series champion Astros. They're finding their groove. And they are now in second place.

Nine games above five hundred. The Angels. My team.

They need. Well it's not my team but my pick for getting back on the postseason stage. For heaven's sakes. It's time for Mike Trout to be back in the playoffs.

It's been nearly a decade. The Angels. They're still hanging in there. They're still above five hundred which is more than what we can say for them a lot of the times in early June. And then the Mariners. Also a couple games above five hundred. They've won seven of their last ten.

And they want to capitalize and build on what they did last year to be sure. George Kirby actually got to face his childhood team. So maybe you don't know this but he is a New York native. And got to not just pitch against the Yankees but shut down the pinstripes. That seventh he almost got me.

He came out of the mound and smiled a little bit. But yeah you just got to attack him. You got to be super precise. Live on the edges and spin down.

Something like that. But I'm glad I got him today. When you think about the Mariners and ending their playoff drought that was great right? Except they've got to have bigger aspirations. They want to be able to win a series.

I know those fans in Seattle are definitely hungry to see the Mariners remain relevant. Let's talk to Mark who's in Modesto, California. Mark welcome to After Hours CBS Sports Radio.

Hi Amy. I just love coming home from work cracking the bear and listening to you. It's just a pleasure to hear your personality. I mean it's really cool to me.

Thank you Modesto. Home of George Lucas, American Feeding. I saw the first Star Wars in the 70s and I blew my mind away. So I'm a Star Wars fan.

Nice! Pre-Disney. But anyway.

Yeah of course. I feel like true Star Wars fans, legend fans have to be pre-Disney. Yeah I don't want to waste your time too much but I'm going Niners.

I want to see one of these quarterbacks, these young men bring this franchise to glory. I know people don't want to hear it but it's been like over 20 years. Yeah it's been a long time. That's where I'm rolling with that one.

Alright and I would agree with you. I think with the Niners if you remember they went to what was it three straight NFC championships going back to the Jim Harbaugh days and so they were close. They were close. That's not the one I remember though. The one I remember is when they played the Cowboys three times and finally Steve Young broke through and finally they won a Super Bowl. A long time ago. I know people don't want to hear it but it's been quite a while and it's okay to like a winner sometimes.

No I mean I agree with you. Again they were in the Super Bowl in 13 right and they lost to the Baltimore Ravens in that, well it was the 12th season but early in 13. That was our first winter here on CBS Sports Radio. We just started up the network but the last time they won a championship goes all the way back to mid 90s so it's been quite a while. Oh yeah so I don't want people to get against this guy picking the Niners but it's been a long time. It has.

I'm with you there. Marty Lurie he's saying the Giants are maybe going to be pretty competitive again possibly. Giants might be on the rise again so we'll see. Are we referring to the San Francisco Giants or the New York Giants? Yeah San Francisco Giants. Just wanted to clarify.

No I got you. I think the Niners, not only do they have an extended fan base now, you're obviously an iconic NFL franchise but as you point out it's been a while. I mean for them to be able, they've been close.

They've been to NFC Championship games they just haven't been able to capitalize and win another ring. Yeah I'm so happy. I just want you to know I love your show and your co-partner and I don't want to waste your time. I'm not going to try to call too often but I just want you to know I just love to come home from work and listen to your great entertainer. You could be on late late night or something. Oh yeah.

I think so. I know who. Or you already are. Anyway have a good night. Enjoy your weekend. Thank you Mark. Good to talk to you Modesto. Well those are cool compliments. My co-partner, producer Jay is my co-partner.

No he's really not. He's the lead producer. Let's make sure he gets his full credit and his full due as the guy behind the double pane glass that keeps us on the air for sure. I actually have done many shows in the past with co-hosts.

Little known fact about Amy Lawrence. When I first came to CBS Sports Radio I auditioned as part of a two and maybe even three person show. When I worked at my previous network I did do a bunch of shows with other hosts.

Sometimes one, sometimes two. What the bosses who hired me here at the network helped me to realize and helped me to see is that I am better as a solo host not because I don't play well with others or anything like that. In fact no it's because I play too well with others. The issue with me is that I'm a facilitator.

I want everyone to be included. I'm the one who generates conversation. I ask a lot of questions because I want. So this happens with my friends. It happens with my family. It happens with people I just meet. I'm always asking them questions. Happened with Bob our first phone call.

I think I asked 4355 questions. He was petrified. He was very nervous. And so for that reason I would ask a question. He would answer it and then stop talking.

And we would just sit there until I asked another question. And I didn't let the conversation wane because that's what I do. I want people to feel comfortable. I want people to feel included. I'm a facilitator. And so when I'm with a co-host on the radio what happens is I generally subvert my own opinions because I want the other person to feel important and included and I want the other person to make sure that he or she has the opportunity to speak his or her mind. And so what happens then is I don't share my own opinions as much and I just kind of make sure the other person is comfortable and is feeling fulfilled. So yeah, actually I'm a very different person or a very different host as a co-host. And so that's kind of what my bosses maybe realized or showed me which is why they wanted me to be solo as a solo host. It's been a lot of years now. I did a draft show with a co-host.

Oh gosh, I think it would have been 19. I did a draft show, NFL draft show here on CBS Sports Radio with a co-host and we really enjoyed it. Different kind of a show though because you're kind of talking through picks and giving analysis. I've done a lot of play-by-play. Now I've done some solo but I've also done a lot of play-by-play where I have an analyst and on TV when you do play-by-play you're actually supposed to talk less and have your analyst speak more.

Your analyst is supposed to be the star. And so that's kind of right up my alley when it comes to facilitating. So yeah, that's the reason I am a solo host with no co-partners. Did you hear Mark call you a co-partner? A co-partner, whatever that is. We co-partner.

It doesn't matter. Mark had great compliments that you missed because you were on the phone but he had great compliments. It was fun. Thank you, Mark. Yeah, he enjoys listening to the show after work, cracks open a beer and thinks that I'm highly entertaining. It's not an accident usually.

It's not even intentional. I like Mark's style. That's cool. Alright, so this is kind of funny. Speaking of entertaining, we asked you, is it chip or ship? Chip or ship? That could be a great, actually we could put that in a poll and see if anybody has any idea what we're talking about.

Do you think people would be able to figure it out if we just said after hours poll, chip or ship? Let's find out. Okay. Okay. At the exact same time.

Okay, so I'm not joking. We got out of our last segment. We asked, it was more rhetorical because I don't actually care, but we asked people is it chip or ship when you're trying to abbreviate or give a nickname to a championship? Because relationship is ship, obviously. So I feel like championship should be chip, not ship.

Anyway, exact same time. Richard sends us a tweet. It's chip. C-H-I-P. David sends us a tweet.

It's ship. Championship, not chip. I got to be careful how I say this. So right, David and Richard send me tweets simultaneously that say the complete opposite. Both very adamant about it too.

Very adamant about it in capital letters with lots of exclamation points. So as we head into June, we don't actually care. It's chip.

It's ship. Either way, which teams out there need one? Fan bases that are starving, tortured. We got Mark to talk about the San Francisco 49ers. Funny he says that because we've got news about Brock Purdy that's coming up straight ahead with a little QB news. The Buffalo Bills definitely need a chip and a ship and a ring and a bling.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. To throw, looking, firing deep for Chase in the end zone. He's got it! Touchdown!

Joe Burrow in the bagels. Touchdown! Kansas City!

No, Herbert keeps it in. Touchdown! Here's the snap. Josh going to 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. Did someone say San Francisco?

Did someone say the 49ers? Well, Brock Purdy has gone through his elbow surgery going back to March and I know Niner's fans are waiting for any update on the second year QB with baited breath. John Lynch. He's got the latest on Sirius XM NFL radio as we dive into a little bit of QB news to kick off your June here on After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Purdy working hard in rehab trying to get ready for the start of the season. How's he look, John?

He's hitting all the markers. You know, it's a little difficult in that this doesn't happen to NFL players as much as it does in baseball. You know, which his surgeon is a surgeon who primarily it's why he's so experienced in Major League Baseball. And I think Brock was smart and we kind of facilitated that, that he met with a bunch of different surgeons. Dr. Meister, the Texas Rangers doctor is the one that he chose because of his vast experience and expertise with this injury.

But, you know, there are certain markers that you hit. He was 12 weeks out and that was meant it was time to throw. He did, did so and responded really well.

He's just had one session thus far. But, you know, we're incredibly encouraged by that. Whoa, wait a minute. He threw, he threw the football.

That's fantastic. Again, music to the ears of Niners fans who want to see what he can do healthy with a full season stretched out in front of him. And John Lynch says, hey, this is what we expect from him. Brock's a worker. If you give him a task, he's going to, he's going to do everything in his power. You know, so these are just timelines and timelines are just that.

They're guidelines. But, you know, he's, he, when I say tracking, well, it's just he's hitting all his markers. And it doesn't surprise us because he's putting in the work. And as for best case scenario, we're just going to kind of take it as it comes. But, I mean, the hope is he's ready for training camp. The hope is he's ready for the regular season.

But what I can tell you is, you know, we've, I mentioned Trey, I mentioned Sam. We feel good about that position holistically. So we're not going to do anything to put, you know, Brock not in a, you know, in a situation where he's not fully healed. And that means not just getting back, but getting back, getting reps under your belt, the whole deal. So we'll take it as it comes as we're doing. He's working incredibly hard and the early returns are really good. So hitting all the timelines.

I like it. Hitting all his markers. John Lynch on Sirius XM NFL radio with the latest on Brock Purdy, who I think a lot of people are excited to see in year two. Hey, Justin Fields, another quarterback who people are watching. He's got new weapons around him. Of course, needs to stay healthy, but they're trying to change the offense to fit him in Chicago. So Matt Eberflus, what do you see with Justin? You can see him going through his reads quicker.

No reading the coverages on the snap and processing and where to go with the football. And again, it's been working with his footwork, you know, and his release. And he's been doing a great job with all those things. And we're excited where he is right now.

Sam Howell has fewer reps in Washington, but, boy, Ron Rivera is thrilled with how he's working so far. I mean, it seems like they're hitching their wagon to his star with the commanders. You saw it in the Dallas game, you know, coming to the sideline, communicating with the guys around him. You see the same thing even though it's practice, you know, communicating with the guys around him. You see the extra things that, you know, he's supposed to do in terms of setting the example. All the quarterbacks do that. They do the little things, the little details.

They do them really well. You see him taking responsibility for something that happens out there, for something, you know, goes awry. You know, he steps up right away and tries to get it corrected.

And if it's his fault, he'll let everybody know. You see him go over and talk to guys so you know there's a communication element that's important that, you know, that they're all on the same page. I do love communicators.

Communication is my business. So Sam Howell appears to be a big talker. And it also speaks to his leadership, according to Ron Rivera. They're going to give this guy first try. They're going to give him first shot. Man, they've had a revolving door quarterback, so I hope this one works out.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Derek Carr brings a lot of experience to New Orleans. General Manager Ricky, not Ricky, Mickey Loomis actually said that they were interested in dealing for Derek Carr if they had to, if that's what it took. We've all thought highly of him as a player over the years.

And look, an opportunity comes up. You know, we talked to Las Vegas about a trade initially, and I know Derek wanted to go through the process and explore all the options before he made a decision. And so we didn't end up getting a trade done, but it all worked out because we ended up with a player without having to give up any competition. Yeah, I would say that calls for a woohoo if you are an NFL team and you don't have to trade anything for a quarterback who's theoretically in his prime.

Sirius XM, NFL radio for Mickey Loomis of the Saints, and yeah, Derek Carr, nine years with the Raiders. This is a fresh start for him as well. Fresh start for Will Levis, but for an entirely different reason in Tennessee.

And he struggled in practice a bit this week, and he's honest about it. It's alright, I made some ups and downs. Operation went pretty smooth other than a couple plays.

You know, those things are going to happen. Just got to eliminate those as much as possible. But a couple missed throws and a couple things I could have done better to get us rolling a little bit more efficiently. But they're just going to keep stacking, keep working to get better every day. You look like you talk yourself out of smashing your helmet on that snap. No, I mean, I try to compose myself a little bit.

I know that I've got more opportunities tomorrow and the next day, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it too much. Anybody see the video of Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield competing for QB1 at Buccaneers practice recently? Hello.

Oh, please check out the video. Poor Kyle. He also had a rough practice. Hey, Mac Jones, he's speaking to you haters, you doubters about whether or not he's the true QB1. I'm going to run my race and hopefully everybody will run right behind me and we'll be able to push this thing along and learn from everything and do everything I can to earn the respect of everybody in this building again. And from there, go out there and win some games. Bill Belichick, you know, he gives us nothing. But he was asked whether or not he views that quarterback job as open currently. Everybody's out there just trying to get better.

Put me in that category, every other player, every other coach. We all got a lot of work to do and this is the time to do it. So that's what we're doing. All right. Sweet.

Thanks for the intel. We're always on a need-to-know basis with Bill Belichick. And according to Bill, we do not need to know. I appreciate the question.

I really do. But we don't have time for that. It's been a while since we've heard from Belichick. I really can't control that. He is taking responsibility for the fact that the Patriots lost a couple of OTA sessions. I mean, I started to read this and then I was like, I can't be bothered.

No, that doesn't have anything to do with it. He said, Buck stops with me. It's my fault. Although, rumor has it, it was actually Joe Judge's fault.

We don't have time for that. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The one to watch. If you'd like a description required, visit max.com. That's BetQL.com slash hoops.