After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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For important information, visit principle.com slash disclosures. I am so tempted to say happy Friday. Not because I'm mean, although sometimes I suppose I can be a little bit vindictive. No, it's because it feels like a Friday to me. It really does. As I was driving into work last night, I kept thinking it was a Thursday night and I was a little bit befuddled because I was expecting much worse, thicker, more congested traffic jams. And actually it wasn't terrible until I got into lower Manhattan when it's always a cluster. But then I remembered it's Wednesday night, not Thursday night. And according to the news reports that I've heard, who watch out Thursday afternoon, wherever you are, if you're near a big city, especially, it's getaway day to getaway day. It's getaway before getaway day, if you know what I'm saying.

Going into the final holiday weekend of the summer, really the unofficial end, the farewell to summer, milking the last ounces of summer sunshine over your Labor Day weekend. There are going to be millions and millions of people on the roads, also at the airports, which is where I am headed in five hours. Five hours. I don't care. Sleep at this point.

It's a back burner. Just want to get out of Dodge. And so my flight is a little bit earlier this time. Headed back to Houston.

Oh my goodness. Leaving glorious weather behind in the New York City area in the Northeast. Glorious weather for the next few days. But you know, the heat will be nice in Houston.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Thanks so much for hanging out with us off tonight, but then back with you on Tuesday night. So taking the last few nights from the show until Thanksgiving week. That's my pledge to you.

I will be here with you until Thanksgiving week, barring some illness or disease or growth off the side of my head or something like that. Maybe football. A football grows off the side of my head.

I look good and I know it. Oh yeah, of course. We are one week away from kickoff and I'm not sure what's crazier, that we're one week away from the start of the NFL season or that one week from today is September 7th. What?

No. I don't even know. It feels like the summer's taken forever because I'm waiting for a lot of big plans this fall and waiting for football. But now that it's here, oh my goodness, it's about to be September.

Friday is in fact September 1st. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, our show Twitter After Hours, CBS. If you haven't joined us on Survivor Island, well, you've got some time, but don't think about it for too long.

We've got plenty of room for you on the island. All you're doing is picking a winner each week. The link is pinned to the top of our Twitter page, but also pinned to the top of our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Now it was a rare Thursday. It's not Thursday. See what I mean?

This is what I'm talking about. It was a rare Wednesday in which I was doing a bunch of work from home, different kind of work, was able to connect with a pair of guests that we were trying to accommodate their schedules. We wouldn't have been able to have them on the show at night time just because of their practice and their work and their families and all that jazz. Haven't done this in a while, but connected with Antonio Gibson of the Washington Commanders, running back who will tell you all the reasons why he believes in Sam Howell and why Eric Bienemy is good for the offense and more. The defensive line, the NFC beast, all of that. You'll hear that conversation with Antonio coming up in 30 minutes here on After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. But because DeMar Hamlin continues to be an inspiration, eight months after he suffered cardiac arrest on the field for all the world to see, eight months after his miracle recovery in a hospital in Cincinnati and then in Buffalo, he is on the Bills active roster. 53-man roster does include safety DeMar Hamlin. And coming up on CBS tomorrow night, so CBS on Friday evening, eight o'clock Eastern, five o'clock Pacific, DeMar Hamlin in a way that you've never seen him before.

He's home in Pittsburgh to deliver a priceless gift to a special family member, his grandmother Portia. I had a chance to watch this episode of Secret Celebrity Renovation. It's sweet, it's emotional, it's poignant, it's terrific. I loved it.

I've never seen the show before, but I am now hooked on it because of DeMar Hamlin who continues to impress and continues to inspire. And every time this young man opens his mouth, I find myself rooting for him, but also believing that he can change the world. My whole life I wanted to stand for something bigger than myself. And I wanted to truly have a purpose to be able to be an inspiration and stand for certain things, courage, perseverance, the list goes on. It's not always easy. It's tough at times. Sometimes it's like, might have my doubts in like, why me? But God don't put us in no places that we can't stand in. So I'm confident, I'm faithful and I'm just here to live out his purpose.

There's a reason why it was DeMar Hamlin. Not everybody would respond the way that he has. Love to hear him, love to see him and this episode of Secret Celebrity Renovation, awesome. Earlier on Wednesday, had a chance to catch up with the contractor from Secret Celebrity Renovation. You may know him. He goes by the nickname Boston Rob, Rob Mariano of reality TV fame, survivor, amazing race.

He's part of this show that airs on CBS and Paramount Plus. And I did get to see it. And as I connected with Rob, I told him I stopped short of the ending because I wanted to wait until I spoke to him first, but asked him what stood out about this episode of the show with DeMar?

Yeah, I mean, so you've seen more than me because I haven't seen the episode yet. But DeMar was just, you know, everything you'd expect him to be. He was so gracious in his entire approach to this whole thing.

You know, the premise of this show, the point of it is for different celebrities and athletes and, you know, television and music stars to see them in a different light. And, you know, DeMar is not a contractor. He's not a home improvement specialist. But what he is is someone that loves his grandma and wanted to do something special for her. So it was so cool just to see him jump in with both feet and do everything to make this a really successful and awesome project. I'm not sure the majority of the sports world even knew the name DeMar Hamlin before January. There were so many people praying for him and pulling for him. And now here he is.

He's on the Bills active roster. What do you remember about that moment in that week when DeMar suffered cardiac arrest on the field? Yeah, it's like one of those things that stands out in time for me. Like I remember where I was on 9-11. I remember exactly where I was when DeMar went down because I was at the Patriots game that day with my family in Boston. And I came home and I watched it happen. And I got on my knees and I prayed for him, which I think like everybody that saw it happen did. It's amazing like his comeback. He's playing now again and everything and the way everything worked out.

And even as a football fan and just a fan in general to see the story unfold the way it did. And then to meet him and to see, you know, just how awesome of a person he is is really special. Yeah, that's what I keep coming back to every time I hear him speak or see him interact and even watching the parts of the show that I did. He's so gracious. He's so humble. He's so determined to inspire to take his second chance and to share that life and that inspiration with other people.

Yeah, and I think you just hit the nail on the head. It's inspirational. It is to watch him to see him, you know, and we did this renovation a few months ago and you could tell it was still fresh, you know, everything. And he wasn't sure whether or not he was going to be able to play again. But now seeing him back on the field with his teammates and interacting and, you know, out there actually competing again. I mean, that's where he belongs. He loves it.

And it's just a great story all around. The episode is DeMar Hamlin and Secret Celebrity Renovation. It airs on CBS and Paramount Plus coming up on Friday night, eight o'clock Eastern Time, and we're spending a few minutes with the contractor.

You may know him as Boston Rob from Reality TV, Rob Mariano. Why do you do this? Why is this a project that matters to you?

You know, I love it. Like the one thing I've stayed true to the entire time is like who I am. And I grew up in construction. That was my background. Obviously, the Survivor stuff, the Amazing Race stuff, all the television stuff came after almost by accident. You know, I sent in an application to be on a show. The whole reason this started was because originally in the very first season, we did a renovation for my parents, and they asked me to participate. And then when they found out my background was in construction, they asked me to come on and join the design team full time. And it's been awesome. You know, it's so cool, because I love, I love working in construction, but also being able to give back and be a part of these inspirational stories.

Each and every week has been really, really cool. How emotional does it get? Or how emotional do you get when you're watching the reactions from family members? In real time, it's definitely emotional. I've been choked up on more than one occasion.

I remember in particular, last season, the finale with Nicole Scherzinger in Hawaii, she had her grandparents and, and I might have shed a tear there. But it's a special story. It's, it's nice to see, you know, these people that we put on a pedestal all the time just come down to our level. And notice that like, you know, they have mom and dads and grandparents too, and people that matter in their lives, even though we see them as our heroes each and every week on the field or on the stage or on the television.

They're regular people too. And it just restores faith that there's a lot of good people in this world. I love the part where you give him the sledgehammer, let him pick one and he gets to start knocking down cupboards in his grandmother's kitchen. That was incredible. Notoriously, every, every season, we always do a few episodes with athletes. And I got to tell you, they make my job as a contractor, as far as the demolition part goes a lot easier because they're not going to let their buddies on the field see them not giving it their all.

And tomorrow was no, was no slouch. That's for sure. Boston Rob of Secret Celebrity Renovation on CBS is with us here after hours, CBS Sports Radio. If you don't mind, I'd love to hear a little about the logistics. What kind of effort goes into a renovation project like this in two weeks? Yeah, it's a large undertaking. We have a large team, you know, there's a planning process. There's, I'm part of the design team, which is myself and Sabrina Soto does the design.

Nichelle is obviously the host. And then we have a lot of, we have a large team behind the scenes logistically to make it happen. You know, this pre-planning with the construction, the permitting, all of that.

And obviously we have to figure out work with the celebrity schedule. I'm a small piece of a huge team that really works all together seamlessly to make it happen. But behind the scenes, a lot goes into it for sure.

Yeah. So seamlessly when we see the final of the finished project, have you ever, have you ever had something go horribly wrong? I mean, look like, just like on the island and survivor and construction, you have to adapt to your situation, especially when you're working on these older houses, you know, in particular in Damar's episode, it was an older house and the stairway going up the stairs was coming apart from the wall.

And we didn't expect it. We had no idea that it was such a huge issue, but structurally we needed to address it and we needed to repair it. So it definitely added time and of course money to the renovation that we hadn't originally planned for. But the number one thing is, you know, aside from cosmetically making it look great, we want the renovation to be sound structurally and be what the people want, you know?

So it has to be safe first and foremost. Without giving anything away, what do you remember about grandma's reaction? I wasn't in the house, but we were outside, Michelle, Michelle walks through with them, but we heard, we heard her reaction and she was pretty happy.

I can say the least. There was definitely, it was a joyful moment for sure. You have four daughters, you and your wife, Amber, do they enjoy watching you on TV in these different types of projects? Yeah, they absolutely love it for sure. I mean, I remember in particular, last episode we did an episode with Nathan, last season with Nathan Chen, where I actually got on the ice and figure skated with them and they were beside themselves laughing. But it's also emotional for them too, to watch them see it. And you know, it's tough because it's a sacrifice to be away from them sometimes, but when they see what daddy's doing, you know, and the difference it makes in a lot of people's lives, I think ultimately they're proud.

All right, so you can find him on Twitter at Boston Rob, and there's links there to secret celebrity renovation, but it airs Friday on CBS eight Eastern time with DeMar Hamlin also streaming on Paramount Plus. It's great to catch up with you for a couple of minutes. Thanks so much for squeezing us in. Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

I really appreciate it. I'm telling you this episode of the show is worth watching because you see DeMar in a different light. Not only do you get to see the interaction with his grandmother, which is special to me because of the, the relationship that I had with my Grammy Helen and knowing how much I would have done the same thing for her and how much she gave to everyone else in the family and took care of everyone else in the family and always thought about herself last. And that's how DeMar describes his Grammy Portia, but also because he takes time away from the home renovation, which happens over two weeks time. And he goes back to the first football field where he played, so high school football, and he interacts with kids there. And then I believe they're at a park or a playground also in Pittsburgh. And there are people who are coming up who are talking to him about watching him on the field in Cincinnati when he suffered the cardiac arrest and praying for him and believing that he would get better and now rooting for him.

His, his profile is so different now. As I said with Rob, even inside the sports world, outside of Western New York, very few people knew the name DeMar Hamlin, but now he's transcended his sport and this gives you a glimpse of him with his family and why, again, why he's so impressive and so inspirational. Secret celebrity renovation, it's terrific. Boston Rob, a big fan of The Amazing Race, so enjoyed catching up with him to ask him about this project. You got to catch it Friday, eight o'clock Eastern time, five o'clock Pacific. If you don't watch it live, you're traveling, fine.

Just set your DVR or catch it on Paramount Plus. All right, coming up, Chris Ballard talks about Jonathan Taylor and how it's gone so horribly wrong. Good morning, guys. It's no secret that classic dress shirts suck.

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I bring you the people who bring you the game. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. According to you, it's only Thursday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Turns the hands off to Jonathan Taylor. Big hole. There he goes. 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, touchdown Jonathan Taylor. 78 yards to the house. Touchdown. I N D Y J T. 41 to 10 and the onslaught continues.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Matt Taylor on Colts radio, but will he be calling touchdowns for Jonathan Taylor? There's a couple of problems here.

Number one, according to the front office. He does still have lingering issues with the ankle after surgery, so if he truly is hurt, that's a problem. There's got to be some reason why the ankle is not healing the way that it should have when the surgery was way back in January. So that's an issue, but also it's a standoff. It's a stalemate, if you will, between the Colts and Jonathan Taylor, who is with the team but is on the pup list and will be unavailable for at least the next month or the first month of games.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports radio. Chris Ballard, the GM of the Colts, did not hold back when talking about the status quo between the Colts and JT. Even when it gets hard, I won't quit on the relationship.

I won't do it. I think too much of the young man. I think too much of what he's given our organization and how hard he's played for us and what sucks. I mean the situation, I'm not going to sit here and give you some rosy picture like, oh this is just, everything's okay. No, it sucks. It sucks for the Colts. It sucks for Jonathan Taylor, and it sucks for our fans. It just, it does, and it's where we're at, and we've got to work through it, and we're going to do everything we can to work through it. Relationships are repairable.

Yes, some are. Not sure Jonathan Taylor wants to repair it, but does Jonathan Taylor want to remain at odds with the team more than he wants to forfeit a year's worth of salary? That's the question. Not to mention a year in what is supposed to be the prime of his career. If Jonathan doesn't play this year, not only does he give up the money, but I don't know why he would expect that next year's contract would be any bigger.

We saw Le'Veon Bell do this. Why would the offers go up next season? I don't think they will. Not after he sits out a year.

I could be wrong. There could be a team that's willing to throw a ton of money at him, but the precedent, past examples, would indicate that this is not a smart decision for him to hold out. So why hasn't Jonathan received the contract extension that he seeks, Chris? The running market is what it is, but look, great players are what they are too. So I think that all works.

I think there's a great player. We won four games last year. We won four games. All right. That's interesting. I think that's the one that caught my ear along with the, it sucks.

He's right. They were not a good team last year. Taylor was banged up. The offensive line was hideous. It was a strength in 2020, but it was a disaster. It was their Achilles heel in 21. Oh, sorry.

Strength in 21, Achilles heel in 22. And he talks about great players, even as he reminds people, they only managed four wins last year. So I'm just reading between the lines, spitballing here. Is he equating the fact that, hey, we're not going to pay our running back like he's a superstar when it didn't equate to wins? Wow.

Again, this is the part that caught my ear. We won four games. And they are starting a rookie QB. So it's not like they're spending a ton of money at that position either. They really need a dynamic year from the O-line.

That's what they need. Maybe he's not saying specifically that Taylor, and I'm pretty confident, he's not saying specifically that Taylor is the reason why they only won four games, but enough that he didn't help stem the tide, that he was injured and the running game was not enough to make a difference last year. Am I close, producer J? What do you think? Somewhere in the ballpark with what Chris Ballard is attempting to say. Yeah, I think so. I don't think he's blaming Jonathan Taylor for the four wins. You don't think it's meant to diminish him as a player. Disparage him, yeah.

Right. I just think he's just saying, like you said, hey, if we play this guy this much, we still only won four games and we had him last year. Why are we going to pay him more? And how is that really going to equate to more wins with him if we give him more money? So I think he's just saying that. He's not disparaging Taylor specifically, but he is saying, yeah, we're going to pay a running back that we had last year behind an offensive line that was pretty rough, and that's putting mildly, and we still only won four games. I understand the wait and see approach, especially if he's injured.

That's the key. They're not going to pay him if he spends this entire season getting hurt or being hurt, and not on the field. To me, that diminishes his earnings power. Well, then why not trade him? Because they did allow Taylor's camp to seek a trade. Jonathan is valuable, and at the end of the day, we're not, you know, I'm not just going to let him walk out the building.

I'm not going to do that. It's not the best thing for the Colts. So he's valuable, and he's a great player, and you want a lot for him in return. Potentially a first round pick, but you still only won four games.

We won four games. And the whole situation sucks. It sucks for the Colts. It just sucks. Oh my goodness.

Chris Ballard. He's all over the place. Everything's okay.

No, it sucks. At least we know exactly where he stands. Oh goodness.

By the way, if you're wondering, this is something else we've found amusing this morning. If you're wondering whether or not the San Francisco 49ers are thinking about, even considering, right? So this is where the Colts were, I don't know, three weeks ago, and then it drastically changed. But are the Niners considering allowing Nick Bosa to seek a trade or trading him if they can't find any resolution to his contract? No. Yeah. I mean, I haven't talked to many people about that, but I know how I feel pretty strongly.

And I think everyone would agree that. No. Real simple. No. No.

As in hell to the no. No. No.

Read my lips. No. No. I don't know.

Isn't that what Jim Mersey said originally with the maybe if you wear him down a little bit. No. Wow. You play hardball.

Real simple. No. You idiot. No. Oh my gosh. All right. So maybe I'm a little bit goofy, but that's okay. It's a Thursday morning.

It's a Thursday morning. If you missed any of our conversations on this edition of the show, we also caught up with Mark Ross of NFL Network, in addition to Boston Rob Mariano about secret celebrity renovation with DeMar Hamlin. I'm telling you, don't miss it.

It's really worth it. And then Mark Ross, who joined us from Los Angeles and NFL Network. Good stuff in preparation for kickoff one week from today.

One week from today. The commanders were the only team in the NFC East to not make the playoffs last year, though they didn't have a losing record. They were feeling, they were feeling out the quarterback situation. Again. Again. It's crazy how many quarterbacks they've used. The Colts have used the Panthers and the Niners too over the last say four or five years. It's astounding.

Well, they think they've got their guy. He'll share a backfield with Antonio Gibson. I had a chance to talk to the commanders running back on Wednesday afternoon, and you'll hear that conversation next.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Here's our latest sports update. No. It's simple. No. Sorry, Marco. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Oh, that's our friend Kevin Harlan on Westwood One. I miss his voice. Looking forward to all of the iconic play-by-play voices during football season. We're getting closer. Just a week out from the NFL season opener.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're not going to forget about you, baseball or golf. Well, golf.

Yeah. Until the Ryder Cup. Tennis. U.S. Open going on. We've got baseball about to hit the stretch run.

How about enter Miami? Not winning for the first time since Messi arrived in town, and he did not have a goal or an assist. What?

Apparently he is human. Is that why they lost? Barely. They didn't lose. They played to a draw. They drew. They drew. They drew straws. They drew pistols. They drew swords.

They drew on a coloring book. Good morning to you. The reason why we've got an Antonio Gibson touchdown for your listening pleasure is because I spoke to Antonio Gibson on Wednesday afternoon after Commander's practice, and we want you to hear it again just because it's good stuff and it's SIP football. I started out by asking him about the emotions now that training camp is done and they're a week away from the season starting. Man, super excited. Seeing what the team finally put together at that long OTA training camp and seeing what we finally worked for to finally put that to work we won.

Man, it's exciting. Do you get tired of seeing your own teammates and going to get your own teammates day after day for weeks? No, I feel like we go against one of the best defenses every day, so you know that's just getting us ready for whoever we got to go against, but that might be me being a little biased, but I honestly believe that. No, how critical will that defensive line be for your success this season?

You're right. Oh, I feel like you know offensive line gets the best of the best every day, so you know that's just that just gives them a step ahead when you know we got to go out and you know compete against somebody else. Not saying that those guys aren't going to, you know, everybody get paid, but I feel like we go against some of the best guys every day, so that just gives us the upper hand. Even as you get ready to kick off the season, I saw some cool photos on your Twitter where you were taking pictures with fans and signing items for kids.

Why is that important to you to do to connect with fans? Just to give back, that was something I didn't get a chance to do growing up and you know a lot of guys from my area like people didn't come back and and give back so I always take time out to to those who you know probably won't be able to get that moment every every now and then so you know they come out to support us so why not show a little bit of love? Oh my gosh, I think you made their life.

They were so happy some of these kiddos in the photos. That's awesome, Antonio. So we've had a major conversation around the commander's offense this year with Eric B. Enemy, so I want to know what's different with him as your offensive coordinator? Just the mentality, the expectations, the details, you know what he expects from us is just it's greatness so you know he picks at everything and you know for some it might be a little annoying but it's what you need from a coach and you know you have to take that coach and you got to be able to he's been on the team that has seen success and you know he they made it to you know where we want to be so you know I feel like it's what we need and I feel like everybody's been accepting it and you know that's that's why we where we are where we are now and you know we feel good about going into the season. Yeah, how much does it matter that he comes from a Chiefs organization that has hosted five straight AFC championships and has been to three Super Bowls in five years? Doesn't matter too much it's just the fact that he you know he knows what it takes so you know you know it's kind of like what he says you know it's like hey man kind of listen like you know he's been there before so you just want to listen but at the end of the day we still have to put in the work to get where we need to be so you know it matters to the standpoint of you know trusting a guy you know like just you know taking his word for a lot of things but on the other end at the end of the day we got to put in the work and we got to do our part to get there. I always appreciated when a coach pushed me or when a coach challenged me it made me feel like he expected or she expected more of me.

Exactly. So let's talk about your quarterback too Antonio because Sam Howell there's a lot of buzz around him we've been hearing about it from coach Rivera and others throughout the offseason OTAs and camp what tells you that he's ready for this job? Uh just the just the confidence he walks around with and where he plays with uh he's comfortable in the huddle uh he gets guys where they need to be um he's not in the huddle panicking fumbling words or you know telling guys the wrong thing and when you see that and when a guy who can sit back in that pocket step up go through all his reads and hit that last check down you know going through all his reason and still comfortable enough to sit in the pocket I feel like that's when you know a guy's ready and uh you know we're rocking with him and I can't wait for him to prove a lot of people wrong.

Yeah excited to see what happens we're spending a few minutes with Antonio Gibson from the commanders running back position it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Of course every running back in the league has been part of this narrative over the last month or so with running backs not getting paid or being franchise tagged so I want to ask you because you're in it every day Antonio how valuable are running backs in the NFL? I feel like very valuable we're we're in a position to where we we take blows every every play uh I know a lot of people saying running backs but I feel like every position out there like people got families man we're risking our lives to play a game that we love so you know what I'm saying I feel like you know pay pay the guys uh they especially the guys that you know who this mainly evolves around like I mean those guys deserve it right now so you know get those guys what they deserve they they've been some of the top backs in the league for for a minute now and they and they've proven that like they work for that so why not pay them you know what I'm saying so that's that's just a tough situation but I mean I'm not in that position right now so hopefully when that time comes you know no say that's your love but you know I feel like everybody you know deserves to get paid and not just us I feel like everybody should get paid. Right it's not like the NFL is hurting for cash.

Exactly. So Antonio you mentioned the pounding uh your position takes a ton of hits how do you try to stay healthy and try to stay fresh over the course of what's a really long season? Uh you just have to have a routine uh it could be from massage to having you know somebody outside of the you know to get extra work on when when the guys in the facility can't uh so I feel like just having that routine that you're used to and that you're comfortable with you know throughout the week throughout the season you gotta maintain that that's how you maintain throughout that long season. I keep seeing a lot of fantasy football buzz about you hey draft Antonio in this round or that round he's going to be a sleeper in fantasy do you play fantasy?

Uh yeah I'm sorry honestly I could care less about fantasy. It is a nice compliment though make sure you grab Antonio Gibson now you and you and Brian Robinson ended up splitting carries at the end of last year his story is incredible of course but how much does that help when you have someone else uh that you can share the load with? Um just being able to stay fresh uh and knowing that you know when not to wish this on anybody but when one guy goes down you know the next guy's up or when one guy gets tired you know you got somebody who can come in and do the same thing so that just uh you know to be able to compliment off each other and that helps the team to know that you got you know a couple running backs who can all run the ball and do what they need to do for the team so gotta love that. I hear about the fans in Washington uh the passion certainly the fact that they will be vocal and they'll express themselves uh how much fun is it to have a fan base that cares so much like the commanders fans?

Just to hear the positive feedback now uh you know um instead of the negative so this is something you know hopefully we'll get that support throughout the whole season and you know they'll come out for all the games and get it back to where they used to be. Not like I'm telling you anything you don't know but the commanders the only team in the division not to make the playoffs last year how tough is the NFC East? Oh very tough I feel like on the defensive side some of the best best defensive teams in the in the league if you ask me so you know that's tough for our offense but um I feel like this year uh we're gonna put it together with this new system you know we're gonna get it going but you know we gotta take it day by day game by game so we start with week one. How much does it prepare you though when you go up against division games and division opponents that are so tough? Yes you know throughout the season you know we play those guys five years so you know when we see those other guys you know we're already on edge because you know we play again some of the best uh as it is so I feel like you know once we once we play against those guys you know it kind of gives us a up or we're already coming into the game you know you know we're uh looking at so I feel like it gives us the edge. What I love is that in division rivalries teams are not intimidated by the crowds by the atmosphere and certainly by the opponent.

Uh yeah as I said at the end of the day we they bleed like we bleed they breathe like we breathe they walk like we walk so I feel like it's just no matter who comes out there and perform that day uh you know I don't feel like any NFL team is sorry so you know they just come to perform that day and you know you have to be the best on that day. Antonio Gibson with us here after hours CBS sports radio looking ahead to week one. What do you need to do to come out of the gate strong? Um just set the tone uh you can you can have those you know come out slow and then try to pick it up the second half you got to come out swinging and you got to keep it there uh so so that's the game plan you want to come out hard come out hard and finish strong uh you don't want to have those oh start strong and then second half you kind of fall off or start slow and then second half try to pick it up you you got to have that fight throughout the whole four quarters and that's the plan. All right well I'll be looking for that as we watch the commanders open up the season a lot of promise there a lot of buzz as you point out Antonio stay healthy first of all and thanks so much for a couple of minutes. All right thank you. All of our guests are podcasted separately and so we will have the link for you within minutes of the show being done uh three different guests on this edition of the show which is rare it's funny because when I I don't know if I first started in radio this way but there were stretches in the course of my career even when I first started my network career in which we would have guests every hour sometimes even going back to the shows I'd filled in on at CBS Sports Radio there would be multiple guests per hour and I understand the value of guests at the same time it's a lot of work to be to be ready for various guests and so I'm pooped after the three different guests that we had on this edition of the show not suggesting that I take the easy road no of course but I also have a lot to say and so when we have three guests it kind of cramps my style I'm kidding sort of uh wait can we just hear just for fun hear from Jamar Chase again because Joe Burrow is back in practice on Wednesday practicing for the first time actually since he injured that calf so we'd seen him out and near the field but hadn't officially practiced in over a month but is back out there on the field says he's good and Jamar Chase who's one of his BFFs is kind of teasing him about how he's hard-headed and he says he's good lalala but also I don't know who asked him this question but somebody asked him about Joe Burrow and the huddle hey guys that's how he walks into the huddle hey guys all the time or just all the time hey guys that's it I'm starting show meetings from now on that way hey guys hey guys that's how that's how he that's how he walks into the huddle hey guys hey guys all the time hey guys could you imagine it's the it's the heat of the moment it's an AFC championship and they need a late drive to take the lead trailing late Joe Burrow walks into the huddle hey guys hey guys and on that note hey you guys I am out until Tuesday night I'll be thinking of you while I'm doing wedding things in Houston hey guys talk to you after Labor Day it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio boom