After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Two hours remaining in this work week of hours but we launch you forward right into a full and busy sports weekend and it's still weird to me that we don't have any game fives in the division series which means there's no baseball until Sunday night.

This is not what MLB officials had in mind. We're getting no winner take all games through two rounds of the playoffs. So credit the teams that are still standing.

And I'm sure you've heard this or seen this or maybe recognized it on your own by now. There are no teams left with more than 90 wins in the regular season. The Braves, the Dodgers, the Orioles, all done. The Rays, they had more than 90 wins, they're out. The Twins said 94 I think, don't quote me on that, but they're gone too. Division winner. Milwaukee, same thing. What you have left, eerily enough, similar to last year in the National League where you have the wildcards from the NL East and the NL West.

And then of course Houston, the one division winner that's still standing against the team that it edged out for the AL West title via tiebreak on the final day of the regular season. I am so geeked up. Jazz hands! Woohoo! Spirit fingers! I got Jay off guard. He's searching for the music.

He can't find it anywhere. Jazz hands! The only time I like being a cheerleader is when I can throw up the jazz hands. And actually I look like such an idiot. I'm so glad you can't see me throw up jazz hands. Because I don't do it in some cool, sophisticated, cheerleader type of way.

I just have my arms flapping all over in hands. Prepare for total domination. Domination.

Domination. Anyway, I'm really excited about Rangers, Astros, and I can imagine the way that these two teams and their fan bases do not get along. It could be as spicy as what we got between Braves and Phillies, though that'd be saying something because it was pretty darn spicy between the two NL East rivals. So we're down to the Final Four in Major League Baseball. And again, no games tonight or tomorrow. It's two Fridays in a row in October where there have been no baseball games.

It was just odd. So at this point we had no winner take all games. Now we move to seven game series in the championship rounds. And I guess there's still hope for you, Rob Manfred. There's still hope for these playoffs.

Not that there aren't great storylines, because there definitely are. The fact that it's Frank... Frank, oh lordy. I just looked up and somebody named Frank was on the screen, sorry. The fact that it's Nick Castellanos who becomes the first major leaguer ever to hit multiple home runs in back to back games in the playoffs. It's Nick Castellanos. Nick Castellanos.

Baseball sometimes sucks. Did you find some Liam for me? I couldn't find the video. I think it came up on my Instagram feed or something one time.

I was just scrolling and I just saw Liam on his dad. Jay loves Instagram. No. As much as YouTube? Do you scroll as much on Instagram as you do on YouTube? I'm not even sure we're allowed to call it Instagram anymore.

What is it now? I think it's just Insta. IG? Oh, whoopsie.

What about the threads? Is that still a thing? I actually just this week saw someone on Twitter say, follow me on threads. I think it was Seth Davis, the college basketball guy. I think it was him. But yeah, it was really weird.

It was so random. I thought, how old is that tweet? Follow me on thread. Is thread still alive? I don't know. I don't either. I've never threaded. You never? Threed. Careful.

Okay. We can so quickly get off of the topic and that's usually my problem, but that was Jay. This time it was Jay. Anyway, I love the dynamic between Liam, Nick Castellanos son, and the way that we saw the cute expressions and the the glee and the joy, but also the just the shock and awe of seeing his dad hit four home runs. And apparently he wasn't able to watch, right? Like he wasn't able to go to a bunch of games because school had started and he couldn't be at the ballpark anymore. But now this is special. No, this is special.

It's the kind of experience that may never, never be duplicated or replicated. So it's a good thing that Liam is there and into house. It's after hours here on CBS porch radio. We'll let you hear from the Atlanta clubhouse because there are no attaboys going on in there. It was sober, not that different than the Dodgers a day ago. And while the Dodgers have a couple of guys that I think we're taking it really hard, certainly Clayton Kershaw for the way he got blown up in the opener by the Diamondbacks. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman going and combined one for 21 at the top of that lineup. There's plenty of blame to go around, but Lance Lynn gives up four home runs, right? They, the starting pitcher was abysmal for the Dodgers. It wasn't terrible for the Braves. So the max freed start obviously didn't go well. That was quick. She remind me who started game three, Bryce elder, Bryce elder.

That's right. He got, he got torched as well by a red hot Phillies offense, but the pitching wasn't as bad as the Dodgers were just saying something. It's just that generally the Braves, they can cover up a glitch, a blip, a bad inning for their starters because the offense is so potent. And yet they managed only eight runs in four games, eight runs in four games against the Phillies. Left eight on base on Wednesday. Oh, Thursday night, Thursday night, Thursday night.

Nope. We're not going backwards. It is Thursday night. They were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. So it was a night where you can understand why they'd be tight, why they'd feel the pressure. It wasn't any different all series really, except for game number two. But even then they didn't, it's not like they blew the Phillies out. Game number two, if that ball drops in the outfield, Michael Harris doesn't catch it. We could still be playing actually. So yeah, there were no blowouts there.

It was some pretty incredible defense and a historical double play at the end. So we'll get back to baseball a little bit, but yeah, nothing until Sunday night when the ALCS begins. It's almost like the NBA playoffs.

Large, large stretches where nothing's happening. Months between games. I think the first round's still going on. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. You can head to our show Twitter. Show Twitter is where we originate all of our polls. In fact, I think I've only ever done two or three polls in my entire tenure on Twitter, and it's now been 12 years. 12 years.

That's a long time. Anyway, we've got a poll up for the after hours game of the week, and right now, I'm not kidding you, exactly the same number of votes for Lions, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Chargers, which comes up on Monday night. So yeah, it's going to be tough for Texas sports fans. Trying to think of, oh, like it was for Florida sports fans going back to the spring, right, when you had the Heat and the Lightning, no, not the Lightning, sorry, Heat and the Panthers, who were both still alive deep into the playoffs. So Monday's going to be tough because you've got game two of the ALCS, an all-Texas affair, and then you've got the Cowboys on the road in Los Angeles, and you know what happens. The Cowboys fan base might spontaneously combust if they lose another game, and this time on the road in LA, where last week they were on the road in San Francisco. Alright, so we'll get to more of week six and your preview, but you can take that poll.

I did promise to let you know what I'm up to this weekend, even though you're going to be jealous, I'm just telling you you're going to be jealous. A lot of you, of course, like me, and I'm not sure how right now you could be ignorant of what's happening in the Middle East, and by ignorant I don't mean stupid, I just mean uninformed, about the war that's taking place right now in Israel with the terrorist organization Hamas and the Gaza Strip and everything else. And certainly it's a war-torn area anyway, but going back to last Sunday and the stunning terror attacks and, gosh, the atrocities, and the number of interviews that I have heard with family members who actually see and can see on video their loved ones getting kidnapped is just, it's almost unthinkable, except it's happening.

I know when I'm not watching sports, and for me sports is work, it's not so much the entertainment and the escape that it is for a lot of people, but when I'm not watching sports and the second I get out of the building in the morning, I get in the car and I turn on the news so I can hear what's happening. So I'm listening to local news and the local perspective, but also listening to the national news as well, and it's heartbreaking the way that families are being torn apart and in some cases have no idea if their loved ones are alive, if they're dead. You can only imagine what they could be going through if they're being held hostage, and there are Americans who are unaccounted for and Americans who they know are being held hostage.

Last I heard it was, and the number may be different by now, but the last I heard it was 24 Americans who had been killed. And so again, if the number is off, please forgive me, I know it's a fluid situation, but you can imagine how right now there's no sleeping, it's that type of not just danger and the threat, the fear, but even if you are out of harm's way, thinking about loved ones there, especially if you can't get in touch with them, and for a while, that was the situation that Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone found himself in, and this kind of hits home with me, not because I have family there, but because people ask me all the time, what's a bucket list destination where you want to travel? And for the last five years, I've really been thinking about, almost to the point of planning it, talking to people that I know will go with me, a trip to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. And there are churches, there are all types of organizations, I mean, gosh, it doesn't even have to be religious, but there are all types of organizations and people from the United States and other countries who make that trek to the Holy Land or make that trip to the Homeland for young Jewish boys and girls here in the United States.

They have that option. In fact, Isaac, when Isaac was working here on the show, he took that journey two weeks and went to Israel and spent time there in Jerusalem and came back with incredible stories. And so there are frequent travelers from all over the world who end up in Jerusalem and in that part of the country in the Middle East. And so you can imagine maybe putting yourself in that situation, but how Alex felt his parents were part of a trip, about 50 people from their Naples, Florida church who were there in Israel and in the Holy Land when the fighting broke out on Sunday.

And he is waiting, waiting, waiting, and I'm sure scared to death at times about his family trying to get out of the country. You could probably imagine. I feel like yesterday was tough, just especially you hear stuff just still escalating over there and then I'm not sure if their flight's canceled or what's really going on, what their plan B is, what their plan C is.

But, you know, so I was on my phone all the time, you know, in between periods at practice, just checking in. So it was tough. Yeah, that's the type of fear and anxiety that puts a pit in your stomach.

And when you can't get information, it's even worse. And I'm sure you all have heard there were many flights, American based airlines, but many airlines that were either canceling flights altogether or were limiting the number of flights. And what would have been a mass exodus for people who were trying to get out of Israel and trying to get out of the area. And he said, Alex said that really the only option he had was to focus on football. Whether or not it was a true distraction, I highly doubt. But he had to show up and he had to go to work and he had to try to focus on what he had to do, but his heart wasn't there.

Probably his mind wasn't there most of the time either. And then finally the relief, actually his mom posted on social media that they had gotten out of Israel and had arrived home safely. Before practice, I talked to my mom on the phone when they landed. They were driving over from Miami to Naples where they live. So, you know, they're close to kissing the ground when they got home. Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone said a lot, that was the phrase that he used, a lot of weight was lifted off his shoulders knowing that his parents were back in the United States safely. Again, not just this family. This is one that happens to be intersected with the NFL and with sports. We've heard others.

As I mentioned, Dean Kramer, the Orioles, he was pitching of course with a heavy heart too. But yeah, a lot of people, a lot of Americans, a lot of people from other countries, tourists working there, whatever it is. Maybe you've seen some of the stories about that music festival that was going on and there was a German girl that I keep seeing popping up because her family has just been so devastated by the fact that she was actually again on a video being kidnapped. I don't know that there's any way to make it worse when you know that you have a family member or a friend, a loved one in danger in harm's way.

But the way that a lot of these crimes have been captured on video on purpose is just, it's a different level of sick and twisted and evil. And so I'm glad for Alex and his family. Yeah, there are a lot of families, American and otherwise, who are in the same boat waiting for some kind of news. So many Israeli families are waiting for some kind of news about their people, their loved ones, a lot of people still unaccounted for. And I guess the positive is you can still hold out hope that you'll be reunited and that they'll be alive. Great news about Alex. If we can only celebrate one or two of these stories, I'm glad that he was willing to share about his family.

On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, so we still have a bunch to get to this hour. The Braves, 104 wins and done. Misery loves company right now. The Orioles, the Dodgers, the Braves. Though let's be fair, it's different for the Dodgers and Braves. It is not the same thing as the Orioles who are a team on the rise with a lot of young talent who probably exceeded expectations this season. That was our friend Rob Long in Baltimore said to us earlier this week, as they got better and as they continued to stockpile wins in the regular season, the expectations grew. So yes, there was some disappointment there. But not the type of missed opportunity and the whole season is awash like it is for the Dodgers and the Braves when it's World Series or bust and that's what they're built for. Spencer Strider speaking out. Also Brian Snicker on what the heck happened to their offense in the series against the Phillies.

And also at least initial week 6 preview because we're off and running in week 6. How? How is it October 13th? Oh Jay, it's Friday the 13th. We better check our bank accounts. We better check our bank accounts and make sure we actually got paid.

It's payday. We need that. I need that. I need that.

I got cupcakes to pay for. Oh what? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Again the 2-2. He swings at a fly ball out towards deep left center field back towards the gap. Phillies trying to get there. A leap and a catch on the wall by Rojas.

He had just enough room. He went into the padded wall in left field. Went up into the air and brought it down and he robs the Braves. You mentioned he's out there for his defense.

And that's one of the best defensive plays he's ever made in the big leagues. And the Braves leave them loaded. 1-2 pitch.

Check swing. They appeal. He went strike 3. Silence.

Wow. The Phillies win the game 3-1. And with it, they win the series 3-1. And almost a month to the day after the Braves celebrated on this field after winning the NL East, it's the Phillies who celebrate as they will advance to the NLCS. And the story of the 2023 Braves comes to an unfortunate end here on an October night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. More than 20 seconds when the Braves radio network had nothing to say. It is shocking regardless of how much confidence you had in the Phillies or how much you believed in the Phillies or even if you've watched this over the past two post seasons, it's still stunning. 104 wins.

Am I allowed to say down the drain? It's not fair to dismiss the entire regular season because there was so much accomplished. Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna, both MVP candidates. In fact, Acuna is likely the NL MVP. His 70 plus stolen bases, the 40 plus home runs. Matt Olson with a new franchise record in home runs in a single season.

A lethal offense that for some reason disappeared in the playoffs. It's not like they've never seen these pitchers before. It's not like they haven't slugged their way out of difficult situations. But in this series, four games against the Phillies, they managed just three home runs. Okay, that's way out of character for this team because they also set a record in the National League for most home runs hit in a single season collectively.

Only eight runs over four games for Brian Snitker. That's a good question. I mean, you know, I thought we did everything possible during the delay. We recreated things as the best we could, you know, and we can do everything right and all that and you start a series and you know what, your offense doesn't get traction. You know, I mean, it can happen anytime.

It happens in series over the course of the summer. But I don't know that we could have done anything any better or been more thorough in what we did with our time off to get us ready to play. You know, other than the fact that, you know what, when you're doing that, the adrenaline and playing for something, all that's not there.

And that's, you know what, that's a big deal. I don't think anything in the offseason will help us with playoffs, but that's just something going towards the end of the season. You know, just being hot at the right time and I guess keeping that going through that first bye week. Obviously you're happy with the regular season winning the division, but to get to the part that counts and fall short hurts. After Brian Snitker, Michael Harris, echoing the same thing, playing games that count, staying sharp.

There's no magic formula to it, but you guys know I said this six weeks ago. I don't like this for Atlanta. I don't like this for L.A. And honestly, at the time I didn't love it for the Bruins. They were chasing history, but they weren't being pushed. They weren't playing games that mattered. And while I don't think that's the only factor in why the Bruins are upset after the best season in NHL history. I don't think it's the only factor in why the Braves and Dodgers are eliminated.

But I do think there is something to be said for feeling the pressure night in and night out and playing with something on the line. Talk about the Miami Heat last year. Teams that barely get into the playoffs, they're forced to play their best ball or hockey or whatever.

You know what I'm talking about. They're forced to play at their highest level, all of them, and pull together as a team. That builds chemistry. It builds synergy.

Where the sum is greater than the individual part. To be in that place where your team is all pulling in the same direction, it matters. You're not chasing individual stats. You're not chasing a franchise record and wins. Nah, who cares? We're just trying to get to October.

I do think it played a role. I don't know so much about the layoff, because if you're playing games that matter into September, well a layoff is kind of nice actually. It's a buy. Does a buy week mess with an NFL team?

Eh. These guys take off time during the All-Star break. Is that considered too long of a layoff?

I don't buy it. I think it's more about you're kind of languishing. And sure, maybe you can lose your rhythm for Game 1. You're kind of out of sync, maybe a little rusty, maybe. But you played four games.

It's not like it's one and done, which I do actually like in the wildcard format. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Spencer Strider heard his name chanted by the fans in Philly toward the end of Game 3 when it was apparent that the Braves would not be able to catch up. And we talked about be careful what you wish for, but boy did they put pressure on Strider from the very beginning. He actually was facing runners on base in each of the first three frames, then gave up the home run to Nick Castellanos in the fourth. The home run to Trey Turner in the fifth was still on the mound when Castellanos went deep against him in the sixth.

Then he was pulled. Three runs on three home runs on seven hits. He did have seven strikeouts, and he's nasty.

I mean, he's nasty when he's locked in. But I guess in this respect, the Phillies fans got it right. Or maybe the team felt like they had to validate the chance of the Phillies fans. We want Strider. I'm sure there's a lot of Braves fans out there that aren't happy.

They have every right to be that way. We've got nobody to blame but ourselves. For me personally, I wasn't good enough. You know the thing about baseball that I always felt like was tougher to stomach than the other sports? The season is so damn long.

You have put so much into it. Think about it. You start with spring training roughly Valentine's Day. If you're a pitcher-catcher, it's then. It's mid-February. Now a lot of families go to spring training, but not everybody's families go to spring training, but a lot of them do. So okay, maybe you go and you stay at an Airbnb or whatever. You find a place to live and your family is with you during spring training. But kids have school, so whatevs.

You start then in mid-February. The road trips, the grind, you spend way more time at the ballpark than you do at home. And you may not realize it, but these guys sometimes show up at one, two o'clock in the afternoon for a night game. And if you hear tell of, especially some of the younger players, they sleep until 1130. Get up, go right back to the ballpark. They're fired up, they're full of adrenaline following a game, so they stay up late.

Or maybe they do have family responsibilities. I mean, it's a grind. And it's 162 regular season games. Whether you're in the playoffs for a couple of games or you're in it for the long haul, you invest so much time.

And it just seems so depressing to me that it could end like this. And I know for every team, except for the World Series winner, it does. But still, the Braves and Dodgers did not represent themselves well. This was not who they were during the regular season, and yet that is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

It always felt more agonizing to me, though, to talk about it with baseball because of the investment, the sheer time, the number of days that you will never get back. And in the case of the Dodgers and Braves, World Series are bust. That's why they're so dejected. We can't definitively ask the question about the Orioles and get a common answer. So some people would say the Orioles' season was a failure. I think that's too strong because this was their first time doing this. They accomplished so much with a young crew. So I wouldn't say their season was a failure. I would say it was a building block.

It was a step. But with Dodgers and Braves, abject failure. They're already veteran teams. They've been to this place before, and two years in a row, neither one of them get to the championship series. Oh, yeah. That's abysmal.

There's no other way to describe it except for failure, and they would tell you the same thing. Not Giannis, but definitely the Dodgers and Braves. Actually, I did appreciate the Giannis perspective last year, but still, that's half the number of games that baseball teams play.

Gosh, it's just that. It's the number of games, the number of days you spend at the ballpark. And for the Dodgers, they're out in three. They didn't even win one.

Not that the Braves were much better. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, what's the after-hours game of the week? We're going to go week six.

We're going to watch your six. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. ...back to throw, and it is. Is it lost?

Oh, my goodness. DeAndre Hopkins caught it. Touchdown L.A. Burrow back to throw, looking, firing deep for Chase in the end zone.

He's got it. Touchdown Joe Burrow and the Bengals. The Holmes fires for the end zone, caught. Touchdown Kansas City.

No, Herbert keeps it in zone. Touchdown Chargers. Herbert with his second of the day.

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. Week six.

What, what? Maybe it's just me, but it feels like the NFL season is flying by. So, of course, we do a little QB News to help you ease into week six in the schedule, and we've got the After Hours Game of the Week poll, so you can check that out on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, as well as on our Facebook page. One of the candidates, it's crazy, right, because last year this would not have been a thing, although I guess maybe because Tom Brady was still playing, but the Buccaneers were brutal last year. They were below.500 most of the season. Lions didn't get good until later.

Remember, they got flexed the very last week of the regular season, but no hiding. These two teams have a combined two losses between them. They're both on top of their divisions, so Baker Mayfield, he's reborn. I'm rooting for him.

Hi. How did you know that Tampa would be a good fit for you? Watching how they were over the years, knowing Coach Bowles and the interactions I had with him coming out of the draft, and just knowing the organization now, just knowing what the standard is, the culture, all the things that it takes a lot of hard work to have that groundwork laid. Just coming in here, they've always said from the beginning, just be myself and be the best version. When you allow people to be confident in that and believe that's more than enough to have success, good things will happen. They've been obviously really welcoming since the beginning. What did Todd Bowles call Baker Mayfield?

A warrior. They just want him to be himself. I like that. But how many times did he tell us at the beginning that he's not going to be Tom Brady? Just in case you were wondering, he wasn't going to be Tom Brady, part two. Alright, I love this storyline. The Bucks are definitely flying under the radar. They always come back.

Alright, why do you have to get creepy? The Jared Goff-led Lions are not flying under the radar. They're on the hype train. I've been hyping up Jared Goff as an early MVP candidate, and actually our resident GM Randy Mueller agreed with me, which I felt very validated by. He gets a chance to face that Buccaneers defense, of course, coached up by Todd Bowles. Extremely well-rounded, extremely well-coached.

Got a lot of veteran guys there, and have done a good job at running their stuff for a long time now, and it'll be another big challenge for us. Someone's going to pick up their second loss. Crazy that right now this is the front-runner for after-hours game of the week. Enjoy the sunlight. I know it was at night, but still. If you will. I know it's at night. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. By the way, Randy Mueller told me why Dan Campbell changed the culture of the Lions. You need to check out that conversation.

I swear to God, I'm not a lunatic. Well, there's that on both Twitter and Facebook. Alright, also in the NFC South, the Saints coming off the shutout in New England. Was that 34-0 in New England? And I think they only had a handful of points in the second half anyway. They were kicking butt and taking names at Gillette Stadium.

I really can't control that. Wow. Now they're on the road in Houston where CJ Stroud has a brand new NFL record for most pass attempts without an interception by a rookie. You said he broke the record.

That means it's never been done. He's doing things that have never been done and that is awesome. Any NFL player that does that, I'm a fan of and root for them and wish the best for them. Because as good as the good times are, hard times happen too. So just staying positive, staying in your process no matter what, as a quarterback especially. Enjoy those times. If you have a tough day, just keep going.

Just keep working and don't worry about anything. Again, I wish him the best. I won't give him too many secrets yet because I am the old guy that way long ago was a rookie.

But for him to do what he's done is really cool. Except you can imagine there is a bit of a rookie feel with Derek Carr because he's starting over in New Orleans the same way that Drew Brees did after he left. Do you remember Drew Brees with the Chargers?

Gosh, it feels like forever ago. Anyway, here's Derek Carr who spent a decade in Vegas. He was the longest tenured Raider, Vegas and Oakland. And now he's starting fresh with a new franchise and you can tell he relishes the opportunity. So that part at least has got to feel somewhat similar. But yeah, don't give away too many of your secrets there Derek because CJ, you don't want CJ to be leading his team in a victory against yours.

Crap. Okay, we're staying in the NFC so we'll hear from CJ Stroud coming up a little bit later on. Brock Purdy, so much buzz around him and it just continues to get louder because he still has not quarterbacked the team to a loss in the regular season. The only one being that NFC Championship last year and he feels like he's nowhere close to his full potential. When I step out in the field, man, it's like still trying to prove to myself that I haven't reached my full potential yet.

And so that's like that chip that I always have on my shoulder and no matter what everyone else is saying, I know that there's another level that I can get to. That's kind of funny because it feels like everybody else is on the Brock Purdy bandwagon. I don't know anybody who's not on the Brock Purdy bandwagon right now. He's steady Eddie. He can make every throw but he's not trying to do too much. And that to me is his greatest strength is that he does not need to go out there and fire the ball up and down the field like he's got to be a poor man's Brett Favre.

Nah, he's accurate when he does throw the ball but he also uses the weapons around him and he plays within the offense and he recognizes that if he does that, the offense will succeed. Browns hosting the Niners, the 5-0 Niners this week. Geno Smith, Seahawks coming off a bye and they hit the road in Cincinnati.

So two of these NFC West versus AFC North games. So Geno, what did you do with your time off? Big for me in terms of recovery, you know, just getting my body right.

Obviously, you know, took a little bit of a hit and had to leave the game. So just to be able to have a week off to allow my, you know, my knee to rest and my ankle to rest. So just recovery and also, you know, extra week, you know, to prepare, get stronger, study your opponent, you know, put some things in, you know, figure out some things, some ways to get better and, you know, doing a lot of self-scouting as well. So overall, it was really, really important for us to get that and I think we did what we were supposed to do on the bye week. Jay, why don't we get a bye week? I want a bye week. I suppose the weekend before Christmas when I will not be here on an NFL Sunday could be considered my bye week, correct? Technically, but you know, like the bye would be nice if it was like worked into like, it didn't require vacation days.

It was like, Oh, this is like your designated week off. True. Still get paid.

So everything. Yeah. Well, I'm still getting paid their vacation days.

I'm not giving them up for free. All right. You can take that as a bye week.

Maybe. All right. I might Daniel Jones and the Giants are not on a bye, but he may not be able to play still working through that neck injury. He suffered last week on the sixth sack against the weight. Shoot. Remind me who they were playing last week. The dolphins. Thank you.

Sack number six is the one that took out Daniel Jones. The goal is still to play Sunday. Um, that's certainly my goal. And, and, um, that's what I'm working on. So I'm preparing to preparing to play like I always would.

Um, and taking the advice of the doctors and trainers. Daniel Jones is a mini Eli Manning. I wonder if when Daniel gets out of the NFL, if he starts doing TV and all of a sudden we discover this incredibly fun, goofy personality. Does he have a brother by the way?

I don't know. So the giants are on the road at the bills. It's the battle of New York on Sunday night.

Tyrod Taylor, certainly familiar with Orchard Park, Western New York, and he would go if Jones can't. My mindset each and every day is to come in and challenge myself to be better. Um, lead. And when my opportunity is presented in front of me, to go out and make the best of it. The Buffalo bills are coming off that loss in London. Certainly want to get back on track. It's interesting too. Now, the way the chatter has increased around travel and how teams should approach the trip to London. Again, if you did not hear my conversation, wide range in conversation with Randy Mueller, former NFL player.

I asked him, what's the true feeling about games across the pond? I need to teach that to Roquan Smith. Mind the gap.

Well, that too. Mind the gap, but it doesn't sound so British. Roquan Smith is practicing his British accent. Anyway, Randy talked about what it's like when you get your first game in London versus when you get your first game in London. Anyway, Randy talked about what it's like when you get your first game in London versus when you get sent there over and over again. But we're in this London series and so now you've got teams trying to figure out how do we travel? When do we sleep? How do we stay awake? Time change. It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio.