11-9-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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For all terms and limitations, visit FelixCatInsurance.com slash terms. Always get a pick me up from one Mike Tomlin. Can we get Salty Mike Tomlin from Tuesday?

Because that was fun. If you missed it, he was being asked about George Pickens and George being emotional and feeling as though he wants to be more involved in the offense and this is not a unique challenge for a wide receiver in the NFL. We've seen AJ Brown in that same space. There's a lot of frustration among highly intelligent and highly active wide receivers and we do see some of these guys.

Maybe it is the way that they're built. We see some of these guys on a fairly frequent basis over the course of a season just get frustrated because they feel like they could do a lot more and they're not getting the opportunities. So as it turns out in Pittsburgh, not only is Mike Tomlin answering questions about George Pickens and some of his offensive outbursts, but apparently teammates of George Pickens, older teammates, and George is in his second year, are trying to help him through this frustration. So, Najee Harris apparently pulled Pickens aside during the course of the victory over Tennessee last week and that was a Thursday night game, right? That was a Thursday night game and Najee talked about it Wednesday to the media, but he said the fact that you're getting so much attention from opposing defenses is a compliment. They're trying to find ways to limit you, I'm paraphrasing, they're trying to find ways to limit you.

So when that happens, well guess what? Somebody else is open and that's always the case. It doesn't matter what sport we're talking about, but from my background, my background of basketball playing college hoops, I mean that's the case.

If you're drawing double teams or if any of your teammates are drawing double teams, well somebody else is open. So Najee Harris trying to come alongside with George Pickens and encourage him that what he's doing is still helping the team. Like this is going to be a part of the NFL.

I mean, you know, I talked to him at halftime. Whenever you're a key player in the offense, they're not just going to let you blow up the statue. That's why I think that people fail to realize, I mean, they're not going to let you be a game worker. That's what we call it.

So they're going to find ways to minimize that player and when you find ways to minimize that player, it creates somebody else's opportunity to eat. That's the part of the team. So I was telling GP that it's okay, there's nothing wrong with being frustrated.

It's just how you handle things when you're frustrated. You know, there's a, obviously he's a talented guy. All types of people to minimize him, but I was just telling him in the middle of the game too, that you got a few people in closure, man. Just know that you're going to have an opportunity. You're going to have an opportunity to play.

So, you know, GQ's a talented guy. Like I said, I talked to him before half. I talked to him at halftime.

I was telling him to focus and stuff. That's leadership from Najee Harris. Now Pickens was frustrated for not the first time, not the second time, but he was frustrated because he had minus one yard of offense.

Two catches minus one yard. And the cameras found him, as will always happen. The cameras found him on the sidelines. Now it's too easy to jump to, he's ticked it. Can he pick it? He's mad at his quarterback who can't deliver the football or isn't delivering the football.

That's too easy. And according to Mike Tomlin, it's also a story that's generated, like reality TV, by something that happens on social media. So he was not thrilled with the way that narrative played out.

It is a pebble in my shoe. But he also pointed fingers at the media for contriving stories, essentially, for making it like reality TV. But Najee does the right thing, talks to George when he has the opportunity, and reminds him that what you're doing is still helping the team, even if it doesn't fill out a stat sheet. I mean, heck, think about offensive linemen. What they does, what they does, what that unit does, so often gets zero recognition unless somebody screws up, unless the quarterback gets plastered. Now I'm just making up words, gets blasted. That was a cross between plastered and blasted.

Oh dear, I should stop trying to come up with big words. Let's speak in four letter words from now on the rest of the show. When the quarterback gets pasted, there there's another one. When there's a fumble, something like that. When there's a hurry or a pressure, and the QB throws a pick. Well, then people talk about the offensive line. But how do they show up in a stat sheet? They really don't a lot of times. Same thing with defensive linemen. Now, some of them can be pass rushers, but not all of them are. It's over pickings as much as the yardage and the catches won't be impressive on a stat sheet. I like how Najee points out to him, hey, you're occupying two defenders. You're getting the yeoman's share of attention from the defense. Well, that's great for the rest of us. And Deontay Johnson.

I mean, I guess if anybody wants to be upset, it could be Deontay. His first touchdown in almost two years. Not quite, but almost two years. 660 days.

Wowsers. Football's a crazy sport. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Mostly my point is that I like Najee's leadership, and I like the fact that he is doing what he can to help his teammate through this. And Mike Tomlin has not been a great player. To help his teammate through this.

And Mike Tomlin has no problem with it. I actually haven't looked at the entire schedule, but I did look at it a little bit. Just in preparation for the show. And then I realized, rut row, I better go fix my fantasy team because I've got a lot of key players on buys. My top two running backs are on buys this week.

That's not okay. Raheem Mostert, one of those who's on a buy this week. Anyone to fill in on the waiver wire? Well, I had to. Yeah, there wasn't much.

There were some scraps. I had to pick up Latavious Murray. That was really all.

That was the best option. Let me just say that. Yeah, I think he's been the top of my running back waiver wire in my league for a while now. It's just at this point in week 10, I feel like all the solid options for this buy, we're about to enter. This is a name for when all the teams are on the buy in the fantasy season. I forgot exactly what it is, but buy them again.

And I think it's something like that. Yeah. I think that the Eagles are on buy this week too, right? So I had to pull Devante Smith from my roster. I do have extra wide receivers, but I don't like them. Mike Thomas had no points last week.

No, he really hasn't done much since those first few games. Yeah. And Kyle Pitts has been my tight end all season and I'm afraid to pull him really, but he's had one good game or one real productive game.

Yeah. Tight ends. Tight ends been a tough spot. It has been.

It really has even Travis Kelsey. He's had some phenomenal games, but he's also had some duds in terms of fantasy, right? What matters most is the team winning, but in terms of fantasy, Dallas Goddard has hurt now fractured his arm.

Yeah. Uh, George Kittle has had some, some productive games, but they've lost three in a row and the offense is, is scuffled a little bit. Darren Waller's on the IR. Darren Waller's on IR. Who else would you say would be? A top tight end. Yeah.

Honestly, right this season, La Porta on Detroit has been great. That's right. Sam, the rookie who could be in the running for offensive player. There should be in the running for Mark Andrews. Of course.

That's true. Mark Andrews. Yeah. And he's a favorite target of Lamar.

8 5 5 2 1 2 4 2 2 7. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The Packers are in Pittsburgh this week. And as I say, if you're talking AFC North, Cleveland is on the road in Baltimore, which is just juicy all around.

That one's going to be in our poll. Mark, my words, Sean is listening in Maryland. Sean, welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio.

Hey, Amy. Um, I just wanted to say with, with, uh, Pickens, if you've watched the film, usually when he's getting frustrated is like, because he does, he does get double teamed, but it's like, it's like whenever Johnson is in the lineup, they like force feed him multiple passes. But yet when you see Pickens get upset is because he's wide open, but yet Pickett keeps force feeding to Johnson when Johnson's like double teamed and whatnot. It's like, he's not seeing the entire field and he's always zoned in on one, one wide receiver. Hmm.

Interesting. I don't see it that way. I definitely feel like there are times when he does that same thing with Pickens, where he's trying to force it to Pickens and Pickens has got two guys hovering all up in his grill. Um, I mean, he's still a young quarterback and there's obviously still growing pains with Kenny Pickett. I know they want to work different guys into the offense. That's better for the offense.

Um, but yeah, I mean, I feel like there's times when he's trying to get it to Pickens regardless of what's happening. Yeah. Well, let's just hope this weekend with Green Bay coming in that they'll be able to work it all out. Are you a Steelers fan?

Yes. Gotcha. So what do you think about the offense in, and it really, it's just over one full year of Pickett starting.

It's rough. Um, I mean, I, I don't, I wasn't a fan of the pick when they drafted him. I was, I said they could have put, you know, whoever we already had in the lineup in and try to, if it failed and you could have got one of the better quarterbacks coming out and this year's draft, but everybody wanted the hometown guy and they got what they wanted.

So, but I root for this for my team one through 53, no matter what. So the thing is about the Steelers, never, ever, ever would it be part of their game plan to not find the best option. This is not a franchise or a team that would chalk up a year or two.

All right, let's just see what happens and hey, maybe we'll get a really high draft pick. That is not the Steelers. There are much higher expectations for the Steelers. So you would never get a team like theirs, especially not under Mike Tomlin, but there's high expectations.

There's high standards. There's no way they would ever sacrifice an entire season just in case they end up with a higher draft pick. And one, one more thing, everybody better start listening to, to JJ Watt.

TJ Watt is the defensive player of the year. I love that he can even be more vocal in his brotherly love now. It's awesome. Thanks, Sean. Good to talk to you.

All right, have a good one. Chris is in Jacksonville. Chris, welcome to After Hours CBS Sports Radio. Hey, Amy. Before I get my question, I heard you talking last night before about your wedding. Can I make a suggestion?

Please do. Is it outside or inside? Well, we're on a ranch, but the wedding itself is inside a little chapel and then the reception is outside. And then the reception is in a barn. Okay. Well, great because my brother, his first wedding was on the water and some drunk rednecks flew by on a jet ski with a beer yelling yee-haw while they're doing the nuptials. Oh, I'm just beginning. At the reception was outside, a bird swooped down and took off the bride and groom at top of the cake.

So if anything goes wrong, if anything goes wrong, just remember that Chris Jackson will call you to let you know that it could be worse. Wait. So did you laugh when that happened? I did, but I was 10 at the time. Everybody else Do you remember seeing it? Oh, it burned in my mind.

That sounds amazing. I'm sorry. If that actually happened at my wedding, I might laugh.

If a bird swooped down and grabbed the little bride and groom off the top of the cake, I think I might laugh. I don't know if that's a good omen or bad omen, but I digress. Anyway, I want to talk about the quarterbacks in the AFC South. So you got Trevor Lawrence, who's emerged as one of the top five quarterbacks in the league, if not more, depending on what mood Justin Herbert's in. You have CJ Stroud, who's pretty much wrapped up rookie of the year.

You have Will Levis, even though with a small sample size, the kid plays with Moxie. I think Tennessee has something to build around. And Anthony Richardson, who even before he got hurt, was doing extremely well. So could you see in the next two, three, four years where the AFC South is pretty much going to be a shootout every single time to have a divisional game? Well, I could see that these quarterbacks could all raise the level of play in that division because you recognize that the competition is so stiff.

Certainly not there yet, but not just quarterbacks too. Think about the number of coaching changes we've had in that division. So Doug Peterson in year two, Mike Vrabel's been around for a while in Tennessee.

I don't know how much longer that lasts because unless something amazing happens with Will Levis and stuff, I mean there could be a change on the horizon there. But the Colts, they are just starting out with Shane Steichen and obviously D'Amico Ryans is this revelation in Houston. So there's been a ton of transition with coaching staffs and with quarterbacks. And I do think that if they stand pat, right, so if there's not a ton of turnover moving forward in the next few years, the whole division is going to get better for that reason. But I think it's so cool that Jacksonville went from Urban Meyer to the second year and third year, second year with second year with Peterson, second year with Peterson, and they're already the class of that division. And the neat thing is that they started this last year, right, and the way they finished up in the second half of the year, they've picked up where they left off.

I know they didn't start out hot the way they wanted, but you can see now how the consistency benefits them over the rest of that division because Trevor and Doug have had a full year plus together. Okay, and there's also talks about if Belichick gets canned in New England, Mike Rebel's like a shoo-in for that, but you can talk about that off the air and good luck with your wedding and have a good day. Thanks, Chris.

Good to talk to you. Love that story. Now I'm going to be thinking about a bird swooping in and grabbing things off the top of any food that's left outside. We're getting married in the winter, so we're not outside just because we'll have older family members that it would be tougher for them.

But all our pictures are going to be outside, which is amazing. I can't wait. Okay, back to the the division. This stuff about Bill Belichick to me I still think is overblown. Do I recognize their major issues?

Absolutely. I do not love the turnover on his coaching staff either. There's been a lot of turnover, and what do I tell you? Constant change equals constant losing in sports, and they have had so much change on his coaching staff over the last couple years. Remember the loss of Brian Flores and Joe Judge and Josh McDaniels, but now getting back Joe Judge and Matt Patricia and also bringing in Bill O'Brien. And now there's talk that McDaniels ends up back there again. It's just been a revolving door of not just new guys but new responsibilities with those guys, which I don't love. And then you look at what's around Matt Jones.

There's not a whole lot of weapons around him either. I still can't figure out what their identity is on offense. Ramondre Stevenson had a great season last year, and yet he's still little used this season, so I don't know what they're trying to do on offense even. I do like their defense still, but they've also had some guys retire.

Their secondary has turned over in a couple of cases, so I believe that they're in a transition. I don't think you can all put this at the feet of Bill Belichick, though he does hire and fire the coaches, but he also signed a long-term deal, very clandestine, in New England in the last couple, I guess it was end of last season, so sometime in the off season he signed a new long-term deal. To me, that doesn't seem to be an indicator that his boss, Robert Kraft, was willing to pull the plug.

Do I think that there is a little bit of tension there? For sure, but I don't buy into this whole he's gonna fire him before the end of the year. Maybe there are other teams that come to New England and say, hey, we really like to make you a trade for Bill Belichick. Oh yeah, Belichick would be scooped up in seconds if he was available in a trade, quote-unquote.

It's weird. It's called a trade, right, but it's obviously so different than players, but I don't think that Bob Kraft is anxious to get rid of him. I'm certain the losing is grading, but I don't think that you give him a long-term deal before the season starts with all the uncertainty. More changes on the coaching staff. Don't know yet about Mac Jones.

The talk about whether or not Mac or Bailey Zappe should start, blah, blah, blah. If Robert Kraft was really hedging his bets about Bill Belichick, he doesn't give him a long-term deal. To me, that's a no-brainer. You make him play out his deal, coach out his deal, and then you decide. You don't give him a new long-term deal if you're concerned about Bill Belichick.

No. That's just my opinion, but like I said, if teams come to Bob Kraft or come to the Patriots, which is kind of funny because Belichick's in charge of a lot of the personnel stuff, right, so where would they go to? Would they go to Belichick and say, hey, we'd like to trade for you? We don't have time for that.

We don't have time for that either. Exactly, and Belichick is admitted. This is among the most frustrating seasons he's ever had as a coach. It's really, he said it's right up there. That was his quote on our affiliate WEEI. All right, who are your mid-season awards?

Who's your mid-season NFL MVP? And while you're on our show Twitter, After Hours CBS, you can send your guesses randomly. Number between one and a thousand, we're looking for a new After Hours Zoom room group of listeners, group of peeps, and so if you want to be part of the After Hours Zoom room, you're just randomly guessing to try to get as close as you can to my number. I swear to you, we're not going to change it. I took a photo. I dated it. Jay has it on his phone.

We cannot change it. If you're waking up on your Thursday, ouch, but also you're that much closer to the weekend. Good morning to you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Shohei lifts a high fly ball. It's carrying deep out in his center and that ball is out of here. It lands in the Angels bullpen. Otani has just hit home run number 42 of the season. That one goes 437 and right out of the blocks in the first inning tonight, it's showtime.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Terry Smith on Angels Radio. Man, it's been a long time since we've heard a Shohei Otani home run or seen a Shohei Otani home run and it could be a while before we see him pitch again too.

If everything goes according to plan, now he is a free agent, though the Angels have extended a qualifying offer. There are teams out there who are mounting their bids. They're getting together. They're scraping together the coins. They're checking their couches.

They're looking in there, the well in between the two seats in their cars. Anything that they're scuffling along on the sidewalk hoping to find a spare dollar or two. Anything that they can come up with to make a charge and to mount an offer for Shohei Otani. He is not expected to pitch next year but he will hit and he's an MVP candidate purely on his hitting. It's just so much more incredible when he's also pitching but finally ran out of gas and the wear and tear definitely made a difference late in the season and even though there's no scientific way of knowing this, the general idea or the general consensus is that it's wear and tear that led to the injuries and the fact that he really doesn't have the same amount of downtime but he is expected to hit next year.

Why does that matter? Well, the Angels may not even be able to come up with the best offer to keep Shohei Otani and one reason for that is because they just have not found a way to to win to be a winning team but also to get back to the playoffs in now a decade. It's been a decade since we've seen them in the playoffs. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I don't know whether or not this adds to their case or detracts from it but it will be a new manager for the Angels.

We knew that. Ron Washington. I hadn't heard the name Ron Washington in a really long time. He last managed in 2014. How ironic is that? The last time he was a manager and he was with the Rangers and they did go to two World Series under Washington but the last time that he managed was the last time that the Angels made the playoffs.

I just find that to be an ironic connection. Now he comes from Atlanta which certainly gives him a leg up and boosts his resume. He's been there for seven years as a third base coach and you know he's unique. There is no one like Ron Washington. He's a little bit like the Mike Tomlin of Major League Baseball with some of his quirky sayings and he's funny. No one talks like him.

Fear member. He's, as I say, a unique personality. He's also gone through and faced, stared down some personal demons in his own life and I hope that he's completely healthy. You could imagine that the Angels, the Angels, sorry, well the Angels did their due diligence but the Braves would have made sure, kept him on track.

But I hope that's all so completely behind him that it's not even a thought anymore. But I was just saying constant change equals constant losing in sports and he'll be the fifth manager in seven years for the Angels. Again, he brings a resume. He brings a winning record as a manager but it's been 10 years. The Angels are scuffling along looking for answers and I wonder, and I don't have any idea how to answer this question because I'm not there in the building, but I wonder how much they still have confidence that they can re-sign Shohei Ohitani.

If there is any confidence at all. So Phil Nevin, he was a first-time manager. They declined to pick up the option on his contract. Nevin replaced Joe Madden. Madden was fired after two and a half years but he came with World Series Championship experience. So they went from Madden to Nevin who had no experience and now they're going back to a guy who's got a ton of it. And Artie Moreno, he's the owner, he's pulling the strings if you will. He's the one who determined that they would not trade Shohei Ohitani and I agree with it at the time.

I did. So I'm not gonna say Moreno made a bad choice. They went all in. They made some moves at the trade deadline that blew up in their face royally. Who'd they bring in?

Lucas Giolito, right? And he was just awful. I don't know that he won a game but if he did, it wasn't more than one or two with the Angels. The moves they made did not pan out. They blew up royally and then they were without Mike Trout. They had a bit of a surge, won a few games, made some noise and then off a cliff they went. Which is pretty standard modus operandi for the Angels. At some point every season.

I feel like they were more relevant for longer this year but at some point every season over the last decade that's the case. They get their fan base to hope and believe and then and they explode royally. And what Shohei Ohitani wants us to play in October. What baseball wants us for him to play in October.

And we keep hearing a lot of rumblings. The Dodgers. They're a team that is potentially, not potentially, they're a team that wants to make an offer, that wants to make a run but could lure him because he wouldn't have to change time zones or really lifestyles or anything like that. And what have the Dodgers done consistently? Now they haven't been back to the World Series since 2020, right?

They won in 2020 and they flamed out the last two years, yeah. But they win a lot of games, they're always in the mix in the National League and could you imagine? And there's even kind of conversation around the Dodgers that the guys they're extending offers to or not extending offers to.

It's because they're trying to clear the way for Ohitani. But for the Angels, maybe they feel like also Rand's. Maybe they think internally there's no way they get him back.

I'm not sure if this helps or hurts. I just think it's fascinating that Ron Washington has been called off of the Braves coaching staff and is now the new guy in town for the Angels. But good for him. I hope that this is a resurgent opportunity and that he finds great redemption. And certainly he's got to be so thankful that the Atlanta Braves gave him a chance to be part of their coaching staff and to be part of what they were doing.

They won a World Series too with him there. So congratulations to Ron. I can't wait to hear him in front of a microphone again.

It's gonna be awesome. And yes, Ohitani. The Ohitani hot stove rumblings. They're getting louder and louder with every day that goes on. Especially with the winter meetings taking place in I don't know where.

Where are they? The winter meetings are somewhere. Is baseball gonna do the NFL thing and have meetings every single month in the offseason just so we have to talk about them? Did you guys see who was holding court on Wednesday? Doing his own press conference. He does this every time.

Scott Boris is talking about all kinds of crazy stuff because he just is. Yeah, he likes to attract attention. He's got Juan Soto on his roster. Cody Bellinger. Oh yeah, he's already warning the Cubs how expensive it's gonna be. Why do you think? Because he just saw the money that Craig Council is being paid. So now he's like, Oh, well, if the manager can make $8 million a year, then Cody Bellinger can break the bank.

He's definitely a bulldog. So just want to say these are not. I didn't think I thought the official winter meetings were always in December. So these are the general manager meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I thought Arizona, but it wasn't. Now, December 3rd through 6th will be the official winter meetings in Nashville. So these guys will all be back together. Very much like the NFL.

Take a break for Thanksgiving and then get back together again. That's how you stay relevant. Sort of. I wouldn't say baseball is extremely relevant right now, but it will be.

It will be around Otani. And we still have other, well, I guess most of the managerial jobs have been filled now. Craig Council is the one that sent shockwaves around major league baseball. The Mets, they hire a guy off the Yankee staff. I wouldn't say it's, I mean, people knew him in New York, but nationally no one had any idea who this guy was, except Aaron Boone got kicked out of games like what, two dozen times last year. And so he did have to step up and manage when Boone was being a, you know, a punk.

The Astros with Dusty Baker retiring. Did we miss that? I don't, if they did hire someone, I missed it. I think that's still vacant. Cleveland has Steven Voigt, who is really highly respected as a player. He takes over for Terry Francona. I don't recall that the Astros hired anyone.

All right. So there's a vaca, a vacation. There's a vacancy is what I meant to say. A little bit of baseball, a little bit of sprinkle, sprinkle into your Thursday morning. But coming up, but coming up a little bit of this and that with quarterbacks, maybe we'll do NFC, AFC. And NFC is where we start week 10. You guys, I just, I want to warn you and prepare you for this. It's Panthers and Bears. If you haven't subscribed to Amazon prime, this is not the week.

Oh, I keep telling Bob, Jay, you're going to love this. You know how the old term dowry would apply to arrange marriages in many cases. Have you heard this term before? It's an old English term where the bride's family would have to put up something for the groom so that she would be more attractive.

It's kind of the old school or the old English version of she has a great personality, I guess. I don't know. Anyway, so it really was about what could the bride's family offer the groom's family. Anyway, I keep telling Bob that my dowry is he gets an Amazon prime membership. He doesn't have one. He's been using mine.

In fact, it's so one point when he was, this is really funny. He ordered a movie and I got the receipt. It was like, Hey, I didn't order that movie. First of many. Yes.

So my dowry in part is an Amazon prime membership in part. Yeah. He now he has YouTube TV, which I'm pretty excited about.

That's nice. Jay, this may be where I step off the cable truck. Step off the cable train. No, I don't think so, but I'm at least toying with the idea. YouTube TV is interesting.

I've actually never used it. The problem is there's a lot you can't get on YouTube TV. So like, like sporting events that you can't get. I'm a cable guy. You know that. I'm not a cable guy, but I like cable. You are the cable guy. All right.

My dowry Amazon prime. That's the best I got. That's all I got. Oh, and a dog and a cat. There you go. Hey, you like penny and sugar.

I love penny and sugar. It's after hours on CBS sports radio. You are listening to the after hours podcast. The homes fires for the end zone. Touchdown Kansas city. No, Herbert keeps it. Herbert with his second of the day.

Here's the snap. Gonna 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.

All right, let's jump right in. It's a revolving door. I mean, this usually is musical chairs in the off season, but it's become musical chairs in the season with the number of quarterback shifts and changes and substitutions and injuries, of course.

And that is the case for Justin Fields and the Chicago bears. He is not cleared to play in week 10 Thursday night football against the Panthers coach, Matt Eber flus. What's keeping him out. It's really just a, the clearance is, uh, just, you know, obviously he's got to be cleared to play with the medical staff, you know? And so it's really about him feeling good about it and the medical staff saying that he can go in there and function. And, uh, he's just not there at this time is an issue of grip strength or it's everything. It's, it's all, it's, it's all improving, you know, the grip strength, the accuracy that, you know, the, the ability to function as a quarterback, it's just, it's all right there. It's, it's getting close. Instead, it will be Tyson Bajant in the place of Justin Fields. And while we're talking about great stories, this is one of those from the category.

You can't make the stuff up comes from division two shepherd college or shepherd university. He was undrafted. He's gone out there and he's been aggressive. He's played with wild abandon. He's got nothing to lose and he's going to start his fourth straight game in place of Justin, who still has the dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. Now, Tyson, he's still learning on the job. And last week it was three interceptions when they lost to the saints.

So what did he take away? We're playing against a high caliber, uh, NFL talent and players every week at every position. So, um, if you're behind on a throw, while it could easily be in completion, um, you know, these, these players have the talent in order, you know, to make that a turnover. So being on time, being on target, uh, being locked in and be able to finish games, uh, all the way through.

So now we get Tyson Bajant and Bryce young, two rookie quarterbacks on prime time, the Panthers, they would love another win for some validation as Frank Reich and Bryce navigate their first year together. I'm not going to sit here and act like it's not a, you know, it's not a thing. You embrace it yet to the only game on it to, uh, on Thursday. And that's great, but you know, that, that doesn't, that's something we can't control that doesn't affect anything on the field. Um, so, you know, really, um, you know, it is what it is, and especially, you know, throughout the week and during the game, all your focus on is executing. So, yeah, there's a little bit of heightened excitement anticipation over a nationally televised game or in this case, the nationally streamed game, but what they really want is a win. The Panthers are one and seven, the bears are two and seven. So right.

Uh, maybe have another option on your clicker or on your laptop. You're back in the dumpers again. It's after hours, poor Al Michaels. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio, Tommy DeVito will become the 10th rookie quarterback to start a game this season. When he gets the nod for the giants against the oh no, the Cowboys this weekend, the quarterback position runs, you know, the team and to have one and two go down, like not, you would have never guessed that to happen, but again, it's a physical game injuries happen. It's part of it.

It's the worst part about the game, but, um, you know, it's the next man up mentality. And you know, like I said before, I'm going to rely on everyone else from Tommy is also fearless. He has a bit of the Tyson Bajan in him. He's a local guy too. He comes from New Jersey.

He played high school in Northern New Jersey, actually in a town not far from where I live. And so it's a really amazing story, but this is not what the giants need. And in fact, Brian Day ball when asked why Tommy DeVito deserves the chance. Well, injuries start with that. So the two guys that were ahead of them got injured.

Oh my gosh. So he's, you know, he's done everything we've asked him to do. He's prepared well, and he's got an opportunity.

Kick, save it a beauty there, Brian Day ball. Why does he deserve a start? Well, injuries, injuries. Cause the two guys that have got hurt. That's why he deserves a start. And then he tries to recover, but it's too late.

It's too late to save that. You could hear it in his tone of voice. Uh, you could hear the same thing from Daniel Jones, dejection, disappointment, his season, not anything like what he hoped. It's been a tough year, the injuries with the neck and this, and then, uh, you know, where we are from a record standpoint is tough too.

And you put a lot into this, uh, put a lot of effort and, and time into it. And to not get the results on the field is probably the most frustrating part of it all. I feel for him, the torn ACL, and now having to look at a potentially a full year of rehab. And there's a lot of speculation. The giants are going to cut ties because they can save money under the salary cap after giving him that huge contract.

Uh, and right now he has no answers to those questions. I'm focused on what I'm doing, doing right now and, and, uh, trying to get my knee ready for the surgery and ready for the process to come back stronger. So in terms of my future and what I'm thinking about, it's that it's to attack this process, you know, come back stronger and a better football player. Giants have got to be one of the disappointments at mid season. They were a playoff team last year. Brian Dabel was coach of the year.

Daniel Jones got a massive deal. Their defense is good. And now look, they're also two and seven.

The Falcons are four and five, but they've lost back-to-back games. And Arthur Smith has made the move from Desmond Ritter to Taylor Heineken. He says, we're not going back.

Got to live with the consequences of every decision you make. And so right now in the short term, we feel where we're at, everything we got going on right now, Taylor, it was the best chance. We're not going to play musical chairs. Um, goodbye.

Hopefully we can go get this win. Take us, take a second to really evaluate, you know, as we make that sprint towards the end of the season. There is more experience with Taylor Heineke.

So I understand that. And Heineke's used to going in and spelling or, or taking over for a quarterback who is not offering what they need. And Desmond Ritter had some, some high moments.

Here's the thing about Desmond. He's not even started a full year in the NFL. He took over late last season, right? For the Falcons. And so even though he's not a rookie, he's still really young. And it's hard to know what you have, but the turnovers are a problem. Six picks and six lost fumbles. If nothing else, rookies, if nothing else, young QBs take care of the football.

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