After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Hey, is that the new iPhone 15 Pro? Yeah, it's made with titanium and the Pro camera is epic. Just got it at T-Mobile. Nice. Yep, and I got their Go 5D Next plan, so now I have the freedom to upgrade my phone every year. Whoa, I gotta get to T-Mobile. Get our best deals on iPhone 15 Pro at T-Mobile.com.

One year upgrade requires Go 5G Next plan, financing new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Well, speaking of cooking, it's one of my favorite things and I have a surprise meal that I will be throwing into the crock pot for one special visitor coming up on Thursday afternoon. I can't tell you what it is though because that special visitor will probably be listening to the show before he gets on a plane, but in 12 hours he will be on a plane and so I'm excited. So yes, I have to stop at the grocery store after work so I can pick up a couple more items that I need, but I can't tell you. But how about this?

I'll take a picture when it's in the crock pot, as it's in its final stages of marinating and cooking. Jay, you're gonna love, ah shoot, should I send you a text and tell you what it is? Because you're gonna love it and I absolutely would bring you some, but I can't tell you what it is right now because somebody listens and cheats. This is cruel.

And gets intel. I'm dying to know. Well, good thing.

They're hyping it up. Good thing that we work in the same place and I can tell you without telling the whole world. It's gonna have to wait till tomorrow night's show for me to reveal, unless of course I share the photo and people check it out on social. I just don't generally share photos of food, cookies every now and then, but you know, I'm not a big food photo person. No, I don't think I've ever shared a picture of food actually. I don't know.

How often do you actually share anything? That's true, but in my days where I did used to like post and was active. What happened to that person? I don't know. It was like a chore.

It became. Absolutely, it is a chore. I will say that people ask me about the prep work that I do and social media time on social media is always included because it does take time to block all the idiots.

Okay, not the idiots, the people who are being idiotic and have a repeated habit of doing it. I let it go for a while, but if you become someone who is a troll and the only thing that you do is take potshots at me or accuse me of things that aren't actually accurate, well then eventually I will block you. So that, but also just removing inappropriate posts and then some of the different stuff that we share on our social links to the podcast and different interviews and well, even now you're still responding to my posts about mom's birthday this week. So thank you. It was fun to put that up and to share a little bit about her. Yes, you all know she teaches math and that she loves calculus, but I gave you some other info about mom and things that she loves like her daughter, but no, that wasn't on the initial list.

So you're still sending tweets and Facebook posts about mom. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. It's very kind of you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. Producer Jay and I had to make an executive decision about the TD of the week. We didn't have time for it. We would have shoehorned it in at the top of our last show and so instead we are deciding to bring it back tonight.

It's not Tuesday anymore, but we start the polling on a Tuesday and so sometimes the polling takes a little longer. So producer Jay, are you prepared to give the peeps what they want? The big reveal about their choice for TD of the week? Boom!

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The people have spoken and one score stands above the rest. Here is your TD of the week. The Minnesota Vikings. Cousins on third and six.

Big blitz like Pete said. So Cousins fires over the middle and it is caught by Addison. 2010 touchdown! That time Jordan Addison stole it from Tarvarious Ward and it's a 60-yard touchdown and the Vikings strike in the shadow of halftime and they lead 16-7. The unmistakable voice of one Paul Allen on Vikings Radio and despite the fact that we had a couple game winners, essentially walk-offs in the, well they weren't quite walk-offs, but close enough. 12 seconds for the Patriots, 15 seconds to go for the Browns. We also had the game-winning touchdown for the Steelers.

All of those teams have very active fan bases, but instead you all chose what was a wow moment, a jaw dropper at midfield just before halftime. Turning point for the Vikings and the Niners in their Monday Night Football game. Jordan Addison who is quickly becoming another favorite target for Kirk Cousins. He and Tarvarious Ward, they have a ball that, almost like a jump ball, looks like Ward is going to intercept it for the second time in the half. Instead, Addison has this funky move where he almost does a somersault and his momentum, he's got his hands on the ball, his momentum as he's flipping over carries that ball with him.

It was pretty incredible to see and just the shift in momentum from that moment as the Vikings go on to beat the San Francisco 49ers. Oh my gosh, I did not say that. Hand them their second consecutive loss and by the way, when here's something really funny, there is a well-known TV show that airs every weekday morning. I will not identify said TV show, but there is a well-known TV show in the sports industry that airs every weekday morning. And yesterday morning, so this is now Wednesday morning, Maggie and Perloff who follow us into the studio, it's our brand new morning show here on CBS Sports Radio, Maggie says to me, Amy, this show, she identified the show, stole your idea.

I said, what? Yeah, she said, I was watching it on Tuesday morning. So it would have been Tuesday morning when we did the question of which team is more worthy of worry, which team had a worse loss, which team has got you more concerned. It was all kind of that concept wrapped into one poll, Niners or Bills. And she said, this prominent TV show asked the question very similarly, very similarly, is it Niners or Bills who've suffered the worst loss, the worst losses in this past week? She said, there is no way that on the heels of you asking that question and making that comparison that the TV show randomly did the same thing. Get out of here. How about that, Jay? Some producer and or host was driving into the TV studio that morning, listening to our show, listening to the idea that we threw out there.

And I don't want to say stole it, but copied it. You know, I feel like this isn't the first time I've seen something like that happen. It's definitely not.

Definitely not. It happens fairly frequently where there are shows that go on the air later in the day and we'll have ideas that are eerily similar to what we have done on The Overnight Show. And, and we know that, and I know this because of the business, but, but you all should know that many morning shows that air on TV or radio, whether it be six o'clock Eastern time, whether it be six o'clock Pacific, often these producers, more so than the host, but sometimes host too, but producers are getting into work for a six o'clock AM show, are getting into work at three 30, four o'clock in the morning, which means a lot of times we're what they're listening to. We're one of the live shows that is across the country. There are some shows, other shows on other networks that are airing, but they're not live. I know because I used to work at one of them and I know how it works. So our show is live for better or for worse.

No, just kidding. It is live, which means you get all the stupid things that I say and the words that I make up as well. It's not going to be a perfect show, but I prefer that over taped any day. I'm not the same when I'm taping something. Plus it's a waste of time. It's a waste of time to tape a show when you can do it live.

Who would want to tape it and then go back and have to edit it down for time purposes and all that jazz. But also this is how we have fun. The show is, I actually use this, what would you call it? Example, I guess, but I use this metaphor when I, well, that's not really a metaphor.

I just use this example to the class that I was teaching on Tuesday afternoon about science class and amoeba, how it's a living thing and it's constantly changing shape and adjusting to its environment. I mean, that's what we do here. We get breaking news.

We have international events that are taking place overnight and we're reacting in the moment. Now it's not improv. It's not off the cuff. Somebody asked me recently, do you improvise your entire show? Well, improvise to me would be without preparation. The idea would be that if you improvise it, you just like make up headlines. Well, no, you go on the air and you're just off the cuff.

You don't, you're not taking notes ahead of time. You're not formulating ideas. You're not talking about storylines and topics.

No, that's not how we do it. The show is very calculated, but I'm not calculated. The show itself is, and you know, we have a very specific way that we prepare for the show. I do myself as well at home when I'm taking notes, but I don't write down what I'm going to say.

I have notes about the games and then I've spent time thinking about the various topics and the various themes that I want to bring out and I use the stats and the notes that I take to kind of formulate those and to back up what I'm saying, to underscore what I'm saying. So it's not improvised. It's not just off the cuff and stream of consciousness, but it is definitely live. I don't know if you could listen to the show and ever believe that it wasn't live. We have things blow up. We have equipment issues. I mean, it's all kinds of crazy stuff that happens here.

If it wasn't live, it would be perfect, which would be impossible. Thank you for voting for the TD of the week. Now come this time tomorrow, we'll already have the after hours game of the week poll. And Jay, have you had a chance to look at the schedule? First of all, it's Bucks and Bills coming up on Thursday evening. So Bucks and Bills. And then if you're wondering, the World Series does not start until we get to Friday. So there is no conflict with baseball on Thursday night, but you do have a couple of marquee basketball games as well as whatever is taking place in hockey, which I haven't looked at the schedule.

I suppose I could. But coming up on Thursday, it's the Sixers at the Bucks with Damian Lillard. Wow. Sixers at Bucks, Suns at Lakers. So the Lakers are actually going to play their second game as are the Suns.

Those are two pretty high profile matchups right off the top on a Thursday night on TNT, a doubleheader. So as I was talking to Bob on Wednesday evening, he said, oh, you have football on Thursday night. So I'm picking him up from the airport and then I've got a surprise meal for him.

A couple of other kind of fun things that I've been saving for him at the house. And then he said, you have football. Yes, yes, I do. Yes, I do. And then I waited for a second and was like, should I tell him?

Should I not tell him? It's also day three of the basketball season. So I've got that too. Oh, okay. Can you talk in the quietest time?

Yes. So the game does not start. The games don't start until 730 Eastern, but in Milwaukee at 630, the football game doesn't start until after eight o'clock on Prime. It's going to be one of those nights, Jay. I will have basketball on TV and on my laptop we'll have football. This is what we do now, right?

This is how we do it. And so poor guy, I'm going to have a laptop in my lap and basketball on TV. Bob, can you hold my laptop? No, I need to watch it. What are you doing?

Well, you can hold it just the other way. Oh, nice Jay. No, I wouldn't ask him to do that, but it is one of those evenings where we're going to have to get back from the airport. Of course, there's Penny to take care of, right?

Because the poor soul is still recovering from her very traumatic hotspot experience. So there's Penny, but there is dinner. That's the thing. I will assuage him with dinner. I will make sure that he's buttered up with some special dinner that I made just for him, a surprise. And so then after dinner, I won't let him do the dishes.

Those can wait till Friday. Hey, I got to go work. Sorry. Have a good night. Welcome back to New Jersey.

All right, later. Oh, the good news is we don't have to go through LaGuardia Airport and that whole mess. When I picked him up the last time we spent an hour sitting in traffic and I was trying not to spontaneously de-combust because the football game's on.

I'm listening to you on the radio. The car, we're not moving. Princess Leia and her force did me no good in this traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge.

We were stuck for an hour. It was brutal and it got very silent in the car. How is Bob in traffic? Bob is fine in traffic. It's me that's trying not to say something embarrassing, get road rage and embarrass myself in front of him. He's calm?

Well, yes. I mean, he was not driving. I was, but actually we weren't driving. We were shitting. I would never be able to stay calm in that. Well, what are you going to do? We couldn't go anywhere.

I don't know, freak out. We legit just sat there. I will say he was very helpful because he kept going to his two different maps apps on his phone. So he kept looking at both apps to see if there's a different way we could go.

Yeah. So he was trying to help. It's just that he is not a multitasker.

He's like a lot of men that I've known in my past, not great at walking and chewing gum at the same time or talking and looking at his phone at the same time, which would be more of the modern day version. And so for that reason, it got very quiet in the car because I was trying to keep my road rage to myself. I was trying to keep my road rage contained, which is not healthy for you, by the way, to keep it all bottled up inside. I was trying not to embarrass myself and get really like angry. And he was trying to be helpful, but since he doesn't know the area and really has no idea, it wasn't all that helpful. I felt so bad for him. Welcome to New York, babe. This is, yeah, this is fairly typical. It was not a good day.

Anytime I have to go to Long Island, it's not a good day. And sorry, Jay, that's where you live. Did you see the post, by the way, on our Facebook page? Someone asking me where you live for asking me anything? I'm like, that's a little creepy. It's a little creepy. Not only are they, do people ask where I live?

One of the creepiest tweets I ever received, actually it might've been a Facebook post, but either way, it was social media. I've Googled you. Is this your current address?

Stop. No, I swear it was, it freaked me out to the point where I'm very careful now. I've Googled you. Is this your current address?

Why would you need to know where a radio or TV host lives? Was it? No, it wasn't. But either way, like, I don't know why you would need to know that. No, that's very creepy information. And if you did know it, what was the expected answer there? Like, oh yeah, that's me.

Like, come on over. I have no idea. People are asking for ways that they can send cards or gifts for the wedding. And really, we don't want gifts.

We have two of everything. We're trying to consolidate anyway. But people keep asking, where are you registered? Or where can we send gifts? And that's very sweet, but you do not have to do that. But I know people want to send cards. You can send them here.

You can send them to CBS Sports Radio. How about that? That works. Okay. We have a mailbox. We do.

It might take a couple weeks. But I do appreciate that you all are very sweet and you want to be part of it. People have even talked about having a shower, like a bridal shower, but some kind of an on-air bridal shower. An on-air bridal shower. For listeners, like listeners have suggested this. Can we do something fun for you? Can we send things?

Can you open them on the air? Like an on-air type of bridal shower. Jay's laughing because he's never going to be a bride. But it is very sweet.

Oh, I get it. I'm not actually having a shower. Is that weird? Am I the only bride in the history of the world who doesn't have a shower? I don't know.

It's because you're a boy. Yeah, I wouldn't know. Yeah, I don't know either. It's not something I would plan myself.

And to this point, no one's brought it up. Doesn't seem like a huge deal to me. I don't know. Oh, nice Jay, since you're not a bride. I don't know if my nieces or my little bridal party understands that that's kind of something they're supposed to be doing.

I have no idea. Yeah, but it's okay. I don't need one.

Could you like nudge them? No, no, you don't tell people to throw you a party. That's embarrassing.

And also, it's not authentic then, right? If you have to tell people, then it was... Yeah, it wasn't... How do you know it was genuine and from the heart if you tell people to do it? Well, that's why I said like nudge. But yeah, I get what you're saying.

I don't need a shower. I mean, it would be sweet if someone did it, but I'm fine without it. Jay, I love how you're like, I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal.

Set the man on the other side of the double pane glass. Well, more to your question was, were you the only one who doesn't have one? But then I said, is it weird? And you're like, I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal. I have no idea. This is like when Jay told me he could train for a half marathon in two weeks. In two, three weeks. He's like, yeah, running a half marathon. It might take about three weeks or so. Right.

So bridal shower, not a big deal from the guy's perspective. Training for a half marathon. I could do it in three weeks. I mean, why is it that you minimize all these special events in my life? I don't know. I thought I was trying to help. It'll be fine. It's totally fine. Totally fine.

Do you know how often I get that as a response on social media? It's totally fine. It's totally fine. Do you miss Aaron Rodgers? Admit it. Do you miss him? I mean, I don't know. I mean, I was sure I missed his play on Sunday.

He's a great quarterback. So, but do I miss his, you know, quips? I don't know. Do you miss his condescending responses? Not really.

Not really. I know that he's doing weekly broadcasts and we're just not using it anymore. Yeah, he's still around. So yeah, he has not gone anywhere. In fact, he's determined to get back to the Jets and play before the season is done.

It's going to be hard to cancel me. I don't think people even care that much anymore. This is what happens in sports when you're not playing you out of sight, out of mind, which is why he can't go out of sight.

How could you possibly say that? All right, coming up, we do have the latest on James Harden and I'm so bummed about this. Producer Jay and I might have to find a new fantasy quarterback this weekend. Jay, what did you do?

Okay, save it. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. When I got traded here, my whole thing was I wanted to retire a sixer. You know what I mean? I wanted to be here and retire a sixer.

And the front office didn't have that in their future plans. You know what I mean? So it's literally out of my control. It's something that I didn't want to happen and it's just being in this position.

But I got to make a decision for my family. I understand this is a business. You know what I mean?

So it's just as simple as that. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You can hear the basketball in the background. The squeal of the sneakers on the court and the dribbling. So you know that James Harden was actually at practice going back to October 13th, which was not even two weeks ago. But then he was away from the team again. And according to reports, according to people who were there on Wednesday, while he was with the team, he was with the Sixers, he is not expected to play coming up in their season opener at Milwaukee.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Here's the head coach, Nick Nurse. He was here. He was in some of the stuff early. Obviously, we're doing a lot of game prep stuff so that he didn't take part in much of that. And it was a pretty short practice at that. So he was in the practice at the start and he was there at the end.

But we had to get ready for our game tomorrow with the guys that were going to be playing. I just feel badly for him, like I did for Steve Nash in Brooklyn when he was having to handle all these personnel challenges and matters. He just wants to coach basketball. It's a brand new job for him. He obviously got let go in Toronto and wants to make an impression. There's a lot of pressure in Philadelphia where they seemingly can't get past the second round, regardless of whether or not they have an MVP on their roster. And now he's got to deal with this. He just wants to get ready for his first game as the head coach of the Sixers.

And instead, almost every question is about James Harden. He's been gone 10 days, so we are in ramp up phase again. So he will, like we would normally do, he will stay here, get on court work with our staff and with our players from the Bluecoats and our two-way guys and things like that, and try to get him ramped up as soon as we can.

The Bluecoats, by the way, is the Sixers G-League team. He seems so uncomfortable. Did you hear the pause when he said we're trying to get him ramped up again?

Because they've already done this, and then he left the team for 10 days. Getting him ramped up again. No, no, it's the pause that matters.

You know what I mean? He takes this kind of pause like, well, it's not the first time. He's been gone 10 days, so we are in ramp up phase again.

So he will, like we would normally do, he will stay here, get on court work. Jay, what are you doing in there? You're having a little trouble with... All right, it's fine. Everything's fine. Right now, there's no way he's ready for the home opener on Thursday.

I can't even believe that's a question. It's still a standoff, essentially, between James Harden and the 76ers. And if you follow various NBA insiders, careful what you read, of course. But the reports out there seem to indicate the Clippers have put the pause on trade negotiations. And I don't know that they're not interested, but at this point, they're not in active negotiations with the Sixers. So if Harden truly intends to not play, then the Sixers are without a point guard. And as Jay said to me last night, maybe the Nets won the James Harden trade.

I guess we will see. Because Ben Simmons is claiming that he's going to have an MVP-like season. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. When we had Matt Moore on the show from Denver about 24 hours ago, I asked him what happened with James Harden. And his answer isn't just about James.

So this might surprise you. You know, I think he ends up a Clipper. I think eventually that deal gets one side or the other budgets and they get it done. I think there's a sense of resignation on the Sixers' side with a lot of things going on. And I think on the Clippers' side, there's a confidence that they can get him. Now, look, my understanding is that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have both expressed that they want that deal to get done. But that's something that they think the team needs to do. Typically, those guys get what they want with the Clippers.

And so, you know, I think it's very likely that he winds up there. Harden's away from the team right now with a personal family illness. And it is, like, for all of the jokes and all of the comments, and I understand why Harden has put himself in a position for those jokes to be made. But, like, my understanding is the situation is serious. And so I'm trying to have, like, empathy and care and not, you know, get involved in the kind of cynicism that Harden has honestly generated for himself.

And understand that he does have, you know, a family and personal life, and he's got some stuff going on. But long term, I think he probably goes to the Clippers. The bigger question in NBA circles I've talked to is very little about Harden, because he's not considered to be that much of an impactful, influential player anymore.

But honestly, the question is, what happens with Joel and Ethan? And there are a lot of teams that are keeping their cap sheets and offers ready in the event that Joel Embiid decides, you know what, you didn't get a star back in return, I don't want to waste the season, this has gone sideways, I'm out. And if that happens, we're just going to go from the Dame situation and the Harden situation right into the Embiid saga, and it will just keep on running. Because there's not a lot of confidence that things will calm down with the Sixers, unless Daryl Morey and the Sixers front office find a miracle trade for a true star running mate next Wednesday. So you hear what Matt Moore had to say.

Obviously, this was on Wednesday morning. And so at that point, James Harden was still away from the team. According to Brandon Robinson, who's an NBA insider, in fact, we follow each other on social, Harden is tending to his mother, who is ill, and that that was why he was away from the team for 10 days, but he was missing for most of training camp as well. So it's not as though he was gone solely for that reason, or that's the only time that he's been gone.

Don't know what happens if they move forward. And in fact, the Clippers have chosen to put the pause or put the brakes on any trade talks, because it seems like that's the most likely outcome. And there's not a real healthy market for him at this point, just like there wasn't for Kyrie Irving. Kyrie wanted out as well. He wanted a max deal somewhere else, and there were no teams willing to offer that. Even when he became a free agent by finishing up last season in Dallas, there wasn't a team that was willing to offer him much of a deal other than the Mavericks, which is why he stayed. He's long wanted to go to LA and reunite with LeBron James and play there. And yet even that deal wasn't available.

Boston hates you. I don't know whether or not the Clippers are going to renew these trade talks somewhere down the road. That seems to be what Matt believes. But either way, it's not happening right now unless something crazy changes. And yeah, the market for him is definitely tepid.

It's not an active hot stove, if you will. Here's the thing. If you're the Sixers side, I'm in total agreement on the idea of the Embiid. You have to figure out what Joel Embiid wants because you want to hold on to him.

So how do you figure that out? It's almost to the point where you wonder if there's actually adults in this room. You sit Joel Embiid down and you go, look, Harden's a lost cause. You know it.

I know it. This is not going to work out. He doesn't want to be here. Let's figure something out moving forward. We're going to have to dump him.

We're not going to get much in return. This is what we can do. What do you think? What do you want to do? What do you think we should do?

Let's talk together and see if we can work together to try to figure out the next step. And the other thing you do with that is James Harden. Do me a favor. Don't come back. Get away from my organization because you don't want to be here and you cause more problems with your presence. So go away.

But you're missing an All-Star player, though. Do you really have him when he's on the floor when he doesn't want to be there? Not really. No. So I'd rather... Look, I'd rather not have you than have you half-ass it. Okay? I don't want you anywhere near this team if you're going to bring that negative energy. And as much as... And I'm not going to take any... If your mother's sick, that's something that we all have to deal with our own personal lives and there's nothing that you're poking fun at.

However, however, you're an adult and we don't even have to have a conversation anymore in 2023. You can't send a text. You don't have 30 seconds. My mom's sick. I'm going to be gone for a while.

I'll get in touch with you when I can. Right. Boom.

Done. Stop it. Yeah. Stop it. That's the infuriating part. You're a child.

He refuses to let people know where he's been. So I don't have sympathy for that. No, me either. I'm sorry.

It's not that hard. If you want to be an adult, you don't want to be an adult, then I'm going to treat you like a child. Treat you like a child, you're not allowed here. You're not allowed in our building. I don't want you anywhere near any of our players because all you are is poison. And I don't want your vibes and your words out of your mouth being around any of the other guys here.

None of them. Yeah, I do understand that. I don't love that, though. But if he doesn't want to play and they don't want him to play, maybe it's a little more like the situation in Houston. And I do not mean with the lawsuits around Deshaun Watson. But remember, even before that, they had kind of mutually agreed that Deshaun wouldn't play while they were looking for a trade partner. He didn't want to play. They didn't want him on the field.

So I kind of get that. The only thing is, would the trade market diminish even further if he's not playing at all? There is no trade market. It's what the Clippers are willing to give you because it's the only place he wants to go. And no other team wants him unless he wants them again.

Not we're into the same boat. Like if nobody really wants James Harden. And if you do want James Harden, if he doesn't want you, do you really want this into your organization?

The answer is no. So the only way the Sixers you can convince me that you're going to get something, quote unquote, out of James Harden by having him around is if Joel Embiid is knocking on your door going, get him back in here. I need him. Get him back. Get him back.

Get him back. But I don't think Joel Embiid is doing that. Imagine Joel's doing that. He's too proud for that. I think his response is get him the hell out of here. He doesn't want to be here.

Go. Interesting. I mean, it's not like they're devoid of talent. He's not the only other guy there. We know that to be sure. He makes them better when he wants to. Yeah. And he makes them and he makes them worse when he doesn't. I mean, Doc Rivers was on. I mean, sometimes he just makes them worse because he's not very good anymore.

Right. But it's also the way he plays his game. Like he needs to be at this point.

He's not your number one scorer. He needs to be your point guard and facilitator. And there are times where he just flat out doesn't want to do that. He wants to shoot. He wants to take over the role. That's not your role on this team. He doesn't want to accept that. It doesn't make you better on a nightly basis. It makes you worse because your identity is lost and then you get griping with everyone else. At some point, you need to come together as a whole. If he's not going to be involved and he's not going to join in, it's best that he's not there. We'll see what the Sixers do moving forward.

The rest of that conversation with Matt, though, you can find on our podcast or the link is up on my Twitter, A Law Radio, as well as on our Facebook page. Straight ahead, we got a surprise from the San Francisco 49ers who are coming off of two consecutive losses. Who will start at quarterback coming up in week eight? We're talking about week eight. That's Cray.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. It's tough. You know, two in a row. It's the NFL. Every team is good.

It doesn't matter who you're going against, what the record is or anything like that. We didn't come into the week taking this team lightly. We knew it was going to be a hostile environment. It was going to be a great challenge. Our defense was really good. Kirk Cousins is really good. So it's like, you know, for us, we came in with the right mindset. We just got to execute better. But for me, you know, the second one in a row hurts, obviously, but we just got to be better and got a big one ahead this week, too.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Rob Purdy coming off two tougher games, two of the toughest he's had in the NFL so far, but a little adversity can make you a better player. It can certainly make you a better human. And so I don't think that this is going to derail Brock Purdy, knowing what we know of him, knowing what we've heard from him away from football. The character that he has built on his faith and family. I believe that he's planning. He's planning on working at it until he settles back in, until he gets better, until he fights through this adversity and comes out the other side. You've got a Niners team hosting the Bengals this weekend.

So a little bit of history there, both recent, but also more ancient, quote unquote. And I'm looking forward to it. Both those teams desperate for a win. The Bengals would fall below 500 without a victory there. And for the Niners, they don't want to lose three games in a row. But who will start at quarterback? That becomes the question.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You may have heard by now that Purdy is actually a question mark for week eight. Starting getting symptoms on the plane.

So we found that out when we landed. We were all pretty asleep, but then he got all checked up today or yesterday. And now he's in the protocol. The protocol meaning the concussion protocol. So Brock Purdy may have a concussion. According to Kyle Shanahan, he had no idea they were all asleep on the plane. That's from Monday night flying home from Minneapolis back to the Bay Area. And he said he woke up and when he woke up, heard the news that Brock had self-reported some concussion-like symptoms. And so what does that mean for Sunday, considering that we are on the cusp of week eight?

Oh yeah, he does have enough time. Just got to go through the process. Yeah, there are certain steps that you have to go through. Certain hoops that you have to jump through.

Though I know that's not the best analogy when you have a concussion. But there are certain baselines. Well, there's a baseline that you establish when you are in training camp and in pre-season. And then you have to meet various requirements. You have to pass various tests before.

And they are related to your baseline before you can be cleared through concussion protocol. And it does take multiple days. It's not something you can do in one day because of the way the protocols are set up. They monitor you over the course of, well, they monitor you every day. But they make you clear through various tests that last, I think, at least 48 hours. And so it's not possible to go into concussion protocol on a Saturday and then be able to play on a Sunday. That's not how they work.

Not if you're truly in protocol. And so if there is no Brock Purdy, then Sam Darnold would make his first start for the San Francisco 49ers and his first start for a third different team, right? So Jets, Panthers, now Niners. If you're a backup quarterback in the NBA, at the NBA, oh my gosh, sorry. If you're a backup quarterback in the NFL, what happens in October? What I call the World Series, the Super Bowl, blah, blah, blah. It's all happening all the time.

October is the fulcrum. If you are a quarterback, period, well, then you are always one snap away from being out there on the field. And professional backup QBs, not just a young guy maybe who's not taking it seriously or someone who's just standing there earning a paycheck.

If you're not prepared, you can be in dire straits. I mean, you have to be ready to go because not only are there always the possibilities of freak injuries, but when it comes to concussion protocol, players and teams, coaches, even training staff members, they're not completely in charge. We know there are independent spotters and independent neurologists at every single game and they can pull a player off the field if they believe that there is a reason that he should get checked out.

Who was it recently? Was it Jamal Adams who freaked out when he got pulled off the field by the independent neurologist? Right, and he was in the blue tent and they wouldn't let him go back in. They declared him out for the rest of the game and he freaked out because he was so upset. He had just returned, had just returned and was so upset that he couldn't play longer than, what was it, nine snaps or something?

I think he was out there. Gosh, that's so tough, but it's better to be safe when it comes to head injuries, even if it means you're over cautious. And there is no doubt that players have been pulled off the field when they haven't had concussions, but it's, again, in the case of head injuries, it's better to be safe. It's better to make sure that a player is not dealing with a concussion than to put him back out there when he might have one and is at far greater risk for worse symptoms. And I'm sure you've heard this before, but if you haven't, you should know that once you get a concussion and then two concussions, the symptoms become compounded and can be even more dangerous. And after two concussions, you are more susceptible to repeat concussions or head injuries. That's something that they've established.

There's a lot they don't know about concussions, meaning the world of science and medical technology and doctors and research, everything they're studying, but it is true that when you've had multiple concussions, you become more susceptible and the symptoms, especially long-term, can be incrementally worse the more that you suffer. And so it's very important that they're taken care of now at the base. So I understand why they're being cautious with Brock.

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