1-5-24 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get an instant offer today. I was not expecting the Jaguars postseason fate to still be hanging in the balance heading into week 18. And I think that's probably a fairly standard assessment. Thinking back to the beginning of this AFC South run, the Jaguars, of course, were coming off a real strong finish to last season, where they were the upstart winners of the South Division. The Titans had dominated it for a couple of years. They were dealing with quarterback injuries to Ryan Tannehill. The Malik Willis piece, their rookie QB, didn't quite pan out. And so they went back to the drawing board. Remember they fired Frank Reich and they were starting over.

That's the cult. The Titans, they were kind of figuring it out, bringing in Will Leviss for what would be the final, supposed to be the final year of Ryan Tannehill there in Nashville. Derek Henry didn't have a great season last year. And so they were sinking at the end of the season and the Jaguars were overtaking them. Jaguars end up winning the division maybe a year ahead of schedule, had that huge deficit in the wildcard round, but then came roaring back to stun the Chargers.

Although, if you know the Chargers, maybe it wasn't that stunning. So then, coming into this season, they were supposed to be building on that, getting better, more formidable, maybe even joining the likes of the Chiefs and the Bills and the Bengals as the premier teams in the AFC. Now, the Bengals are not in the playoffs. The Bills could miss the playoffs, though they could also be a division champion. The Jaguars, they're 9-7 and have the exact same record as the Colts and the Texans, which to me is a huge surprise. And I think partly because the Jaguars haven't been as good as expected, but also partly because the Colts and Texans weren't expected to be above 500 teams, still alive for playoff spots themselves. Heading into this final Sunday, well, the Colts and Texans play on Saturday, but the final weekend of the regular season. So what gives with Jacksonville? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, heading into a very fine football Friday.

For now, it's all a frenzy because we've got four different division titles still up for grabs, including that south in the AFC. We're pleased to welcome our friend J.P. Shadrach. J.P. is part of the Jaguars radio network and also does play-by-play for Westwood One.

J.P., I think the biggest question, easy place to start. What do we know about the status of Trevor Lawrence for Week 18? Well, let's begin Wednesday at practice where he didn't throw any footballs in the open media session. So that's about 20 minutes or so at the start of practice, and the other quarterbacks are going through individual drills. And he was going through them too, where he would go around these cones and these bags and things, and then he wouldn't throw the ball. Well, the other quarterbacks would.

Okay, well, that's not a good sign. Well, then Thursday rolls around and, okay, he threw a few footballs. He didn't really throw all of them that the other quarterbacks were throwing, but all right, that's at least a little progress.

So that's kind of where we are. I mean, talking to Doug Peterson on Thursday on his radio show that we host, you know, and he was still kind of, you know, we'll see. We'll see how Thursday goes. Let's really check on Friday, but, you know, just hearing Trevor talk on Wednesday, he always talks on Wednesday to the media. You know, he seemed a little more positive about it than he did certainly last week. So I don't know.

I mean, that's a long way to say nobody really knows. We'll see how the week goes. And if he can't throw the ball, obviously he just can't play.

However, this is a gotta have it game and Trevor being the competitor that he is, he's going to do everything in his power to be ready and cleared to play and, and be out there for a scene. So, uh, they did manage one last week without him. And again, it was the Carolina Panthers. It wasn't the Ravens cover the town.

So, um, okay. They, they got that done. Can they do it again against Tennessee on the road without him maybe? And then they ran the ball a bunch.

So that's kind of the idea. I think no matter who the quarterback is, I think that's the formula this week is run the ball, play good defense, don't turn it over and maybe you can get through it. Well, I'm glad you mentioned turnovers because that seems to be one of the major keys for the Jaguars and they snapped that four games kid against Carolina and were able to not turn the ball over. Whether it's fumbles, whether it's interceptions, what common theme do you see or what happens when they get into those ruts? You know, a lot of it is honestly, it's Trevor Lawrence fumble in the football. I mean, there were instances where he was just dropped the ball and he'd be running free.

And then, you know, Oh gosh, he just coughed it up for no reason. It's just kind of strange. And earlier this season in London against the bills, there were a couple of sack fumbles where they were kind of on the red zone or on the friends of the red zone going in and, you know, just didn't protect the ball or try to do a little too much, maybe roll blast when he could just throw it away and, you know, take the field goal instead of gets hit and bumbles it out. And there's some of that going on.

Um, you know, that's really the main thing. And, um, a lot of it does have to do with Trevor. I mean, there was a stretch there where most of the turnovers were him where their exceptions are fumbles and they just can't have that.

And, you know, Tom Coughlin, you'll take, where's that coach obviously called her the callous disregard for the football. I don't know if it's that extreme, but that's a little aggressive, but, um, you know, cause Trevor still trying to do some things well and, and play above the actions of those and do some things. Just sometimes does it work now? Sometimes it works well. And that's the part you love when he scrambles and does an extra something and then gets 15 yards or throws for a touchdown and a window.

And those are, that's the balance, right? And it's still young quarterback. I mean, the guy's 24, we just turned 24 in October and it's the third year in the league.

So you still have to be a little bit patient. I know everybody wants to hear that with him, but I think in time he will learn to protect it a little bit better. And, um, you know, maybe even actually seeing it on the sideline last week during a game for the first time, seeing CJ Beathard manage it and not force it and protect it and get down and do those things. It's the first time he's seen it from the sideline and not having to play.

So, okay, maybe that's opened his eyes just a little bit. Are you surprised the AFC South title is still hanging in the balance in week 18? Yeah. Considering the four game December losing streak for the Jaguars, I mean, who survives that? That is nearly impossible. And the Jaguars were on the other side of this thing last year, of course, when Tennessee had the epic collapse, they were so injured last year and the Jaguars made the run in December and were winning games and come from behind fashion and dramatic fashion. It just, the planets aligned last year. Well, this year, the Jags are trying to avoid that. So on the other end of it, but you know, even with the four game skid, they're still in first place and they've controlled the thing the whole way.

If they just get out of their own way and quit turning it over and quit with the pre-snap penalties and things like that, then I think they can hang with pretty much anybody in the league, but they've got to hang with themselves first before they worry about that. And, you know, maybe that, you know, last week was the cleanest game they played in a long time. I mean, their defense was fantastic, obviously the shutout. The offense ran the ball. That was the goal going in. They wanted to get 30 runs for the running backs. They got 29 in the game.

He had a long touchdown run and that was fine. They were low on the penalties and that was just what the doctor ordered last week to set up this week. And now they've got to go do it again. And, you know, there is confidence in the building. It feels, you know, even with that four game skid, they never really lost the confidence. It was always there on the practice field just to carry over to the game as the most important part, of course. You know that.

You can practice well all year long. So, that's where they are and I think they've maybe survived that December lull and now a win and they're the champs. J.P. Shadrach is with us for the first time in 2024 and that's because the Jags are on the cusp of a second consecutive AFC South title. He's a senior reporter with the Jaguars Radio Network. Also hear him on Westwood One.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Kind of neat to see that both Travis Etienne and Calvin Ridley are on the cusp of 1,000 yard seasons. How would you describe the addition, the wrinkle of Calvin this season with the Jags?

It's been a little inconsistent to be quite honest with you. There are moments early in the year where he would, you know, false start, which is kind of odd, right? And then drop a football and then false start again because he was thinking about the drop and then drop another.

There was that. So, it seemed like he could kind of spiral mid-game maybe the wrong way if things weren't going well. Other moments, he's nearly unguardable. I mean, he's uncomfortable.

He can't, he runs such great routes and he's open. And I think the frustration sometimes can get to him of maybe the rhythm is not there for whatever reason on a certain day. But when it's there, okay, he's got something.

There's certainly something there. The trick with this offense though, and they haven't had it since the Monday Night Football game back in early December against Cincinnati. Well, they haven't had their full arsenal of wide receivers out there. And that has affected Calvin, I think, in that four-game skit because Christian Kirk's been out for four weeks. He might be back this week.

We'll see. And Zay Jones has had a knee injury and a hamstring injury that he's been battling through all season. The hamstring's fairly recent. He could be back this week. So, it could be the first time since early December that they have all the big three back out there. And I think that could change some things for Calvin too, the way, you know, the coverage and things. And, you know, for a, it's a one-year trial, right?

Let's be honest. It's the last year of his deal and they traded for him last season. And hopefully he can get reinstated. He did. He's out there.

He's got a lot to prove this year. And would, you know, is it the best year of all time? No. I think he'd probably be the first to tell you that.

Is it the worst? Oh, gosh, no. I mean, he's been a very good addition to this team. And I think with those other pieces around him, he becomes an even better piece to this team. And they might have that Sunday. What is the bigger surprise to you in the AFC South? A 9-7 Colts team that has a new head coach, a rookie, as well as Gardner Minshew as their quarterback. Or is it the Houston Texans with a first-year head coach in D'Amico Ryans and CJ Stroud, who is a rookie QB?

You know, of those two, just the Colts. I mean, they had, with the running back issues they had early in the year. And obviously the quarterback going down and their defense, one of their big keys on defense not being there now. And I mean, there's so much change in that organization right now.

And then Gardner Minshew, who we know very well, right? That one is really surprising to me that they are this much in the mix and on the cusp of a playoff. And they win the game, they're in the playoffs on Sunday, or on Saturday when they play against Houston.

That's a big one. And with all the change there and everything that's happened. And then the Texans, just the play of CJ Stroud, the numbers he's putting up when he's on. And I mean, that is fantastic to see for him. I mean, it's going to be tough in this division for a long time if they can settle in and get some more pieces around him. And really do it right. They could be formidable, I think, for a long time to come.

But of those two, to answer your question, I think Andy's the one. I mean, with everything that changed down there and continues to change. And the fact that they went away from a playoff berth is pretty remarkable.

J.P. Shadrach of the Jaguars Radio Network is with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Remember, last year, the Jaguars were a bit of a surprise, right? Where they really had that great surge toward the end of the season. They catch up with the backsliding Titans, who honestly haven't done a whole lot to fix anything in 2023. Were you expecting something more from the Jags this season? And I know with the four-game losing skid, that hurt.

But I don't know. At times, I'm not sure I felt like the Jags took a major step forward this season. It's an excellent point, Amy. And I think the brass around the Jaguars probably felt the same way. Hey, they made a playoff run last year. Not necessarily going out and getting a whole bunch of extra help to solidify or deepen the roster. They kind of counted on guys getting better.

The draft picks that they had already in, the pre-aging guys that they signed before last season, and then the addition of Wrigley. Okay, they thought, oh, all right. And they said this at the start of the year. This is a 30-point-a-game offense. That's what they felt it was going to be.

And it just hasn't clicked. It hasn't been that this year. The offensive line's been banged up.

Trevor's been hurt on the injury report four different times. The receiver ran out of the lineup. They just haven't had that whole group together for a run of weeks in a row to get that thing going. The defense has really carried it when it's been good. They've been stopping the run, at least for the most part of the season, until Baltimore comes to town. But that happens when Baltimore comes to town against anybody. And they were taking the ball away early.

They hit a lull where they weren't doing either one of those. And they're healthy now. I mean, all the defense is back, all the starters that were out there. There's no defensive players on the injury report this week, so that's a good sign.

Nice. So, you know, I think they felt like, you know, this was probably... At the end of the day, if they win the game, they're a 10-win team. I mean, that's pretty strong. And a lot of folks around here might have said, hey, 12, 11, 12 wins somewhere in there.

But they're not far off that at the end of the day. And has it been the cleanest season? No. How many seasons are the cleanest seasons? It comes and goes. And you have runs like this where you struggle at times. And when you have strong leadership on the team, you can kind of weather those storms. And I think maybe, just maybe, they have weathered this one in December.

And at the end of the day, if they win, all that talk doesn't matter anymore. They're in the playoffs and that's where they're at. How much excitement is there with the fan base, considering it's Week 18 and they are, in fact, on top of the South?

Oh, yeah, it's big. I mean, last year's run was wild. And I don't know if it would be tough to match that anytime until there's a Super Bowl around here, right? But, yeah, I mean, they're in first place. That's the thing when people didn't realize in this four-game skid, oh, there's a lot of criticism. There's a lot of talk around the team and around town about what's going on, who's pulling back next year, all this stuff. Well, the whole time they're in first place. Like, okay, well, they're still managing this thing.

People kind of forget that. So, I think people will be really jacked up for this game on Sunday in Nashville. And if they get it done, then home playoff game against the Browns. And, yeah, this place should be packed and overflowing with energy, I think, in the wildcard round. Not a bad way to start a brand new year.

2024 with infinite possibilities. J.P. Shadrach on Twitter, one of our favorites, senior reporter with the Jaguars. Your home on Westwood One as well doing play-by-play.

And here we go into Week 18 and beyond. J.P., happy new year to you. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes always. Hey, happy new year. I think the last time we talked I was in London. So, it's been a while. Let's not make it as long next time, Amy.

Always a pleasure. That sounds like a positive for the Jaguars. If it doesn't turn out to be another six months or so, it's crazy to think about the Jaguars and how that London trip started them on a win streak at the time.

Helped them get back to the top of the AFC South. But over the course of the full season, man, every team deals with a ton of adversity. And so, I love that the Jaguars have fought through that. It seems like a lot of the best teams, quote-unquote, in the NFL to start the year are the ones that we expected to be the cream of the crop. That instead they really struggled because of injuries or an assortment of other issues. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The problem is that you got to get into the playoffs to have an impact. That's still a challenge for the Jaguars. Got to get in.

You can't win if you don't get in. On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too, we're looking for you to share with us the after-hours game of the week. Gosh, there's a bunch of different places and directions that we could go.

Hmm. You know what? Why don't we get to the Trevor Bauer at the bottom of the hour so that you can hear from this, I would say, almost banished, former Major League Baseball pitcher after he did an interview with Fox News. And maybe straight ahead, let's look at or hear from, I should say, other AFC South contenders, right? So, you've got both Houston and Indianapolis that are hoping for the Jaguars to trip up. Maybe that division title is still available. Yeah, there's a lot of different scenarios for teams to get in this weekend. I'll give you those numbers too because I don't do the math.

I'm not the one who comes up with all of this, but yeah, there are a ton of possibilities heading into week 18. Our phone number, 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4CBS. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. When the whole family comes together to watch the game, nobody wants to miss a second of the action to run to the grocery store. With Instacart, you can get all your weekly groceries in as fast as an hour.

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You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Here's a pistol set with Henry behind Levis, first down tightens at their 25-yard line. Levis fakes the gift to Henry in the pocket. Here comes Jerry Hughes to bury the quarterback. Ball out. And here comes a score for the Houston Texans as Rankin runs it in. It's a 42-yard strike. A bomb from Gardner Minshew.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I think we've dropped this stat, I don't know, 25 times or so during the course of the regular season. Roughly half the playoff field turns over every year in the NFL. But would you have thought in your wildest dreams, and I suppose this refers to both you Texans and Colts fans, that both those teams could still be alive at this point and be above.500 and have the same record as the Jaguars?

What, what? Very different offense from Minshew. I mean, you don't even need to know his name at the beginning of the season and now here he is, he's starting QB for the playoff.

Minshew. And Colts. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio, 855-212-4227.

Love to hear your thoughts on what's to come in Week 18 eek. It's historic. That's the word that Tom Pelissero of NFL Network uses. And I'm going to share his name because this is where it came from. I didn't come up with this myself.

I don't want to take credit for it. I'm sure he got it from a research packet, someone at the NFL. 20 teams are still in contention for a trip to the Super Bowl, meaning 20 different teams are still either in the playoffs or could get in the playoffs this final weekend of the season. That ties for the most with one week left in the last 40 plus years. So going back to 1982 again, didn't do this research myself.

Let's hope this isn't AI. Going back to 1982. I was not watching football then. A record 22 teams then were still eligible with one week left in the NFL season.

But not since then. 20 teams. That's a lot. That's my analysis.

That's my no bleep Sherlock analysis. That's a lot. 20 different teams. But it does include three teams in the NFC South and three teams in the AFC South. We knew these divisions would be the weakest of the four in each conference. But I didn't have any idea that we'd still have so many teams from the South eligible for the playoffs.

There's a lot of different scenarios. We've talked about the Jaguars winning get in as the division champions. When it comes to wild card, gosh, okay, so Jaguars can still get in even with some other dominoes that would drop. The Colts have to win versus the Texans or get a tie and if the Steelers lose or tie, the Texans, who obviously are playing against the Colts on Saturday, they would need a win or they can tie at the Colts plus a Jags loss plus a Steelers loss or tie.

And I'm not going to read you all of these different things that have to happen. But just that there are a lot of different ways your team could either get in or get eliminated. And we do have, just talking about Colts and Texans, a couple of games that actually pit teams who will be very edgy, very much a sense of urgency with some great tension. And that includes these Houston Texans.

And what a story they are, right? They've got D'Amico Ryans, this hot, young, brand new head coach who's a former Texan himself, but even in Houston, there's no way they would have expected it would turn around so quickly. And then considering some of the young players they've lost. CJ Stroud is back, which is great. But between Nico Collins and some of the other guys that they had get injured, it's pretty incredible that they're still on the cusp and, honestly, pretty incredible that they have a 9-7 record this year.

And what a turnaround for the Texans after a couple of brutal seasons. Just a group of guys that we put together had a morning mindset from the beginning. And I really feel like it wasn't ever in my mind I was like, man, I'm going out there to lose, or not to lose, but to try to win, like nah, we're going out to win. That's the mindset I think everybody in our locker room has. So it really was early on, probably even in rookie mini camp, being with the rookies, that's when my confidence started to build up. So it's been good because we've actually been able to win games. And it's never about what everybody else says, it's about what we put on the field.

That is true. And for C.J. Stroud, probably right now the favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year, though there are some others if the votes don't go to him. But I like the fact that he says it started way back in rookie mini camp. And certainly as he's grown into his role as a starting QB, he's now part of that. But Tomiko Ryans, we've talked to a former teammate of his who works for our Sports Radio 610 affiliate in Houston, he's always had that mentality.

Not only is he tough, and not only does he bring that intensity, but at the same time he's confident. And that confidence comes from inside, and certainly he's set the tone for the rest of the Texans. But it's got to be such a relief for a fan base that suffered through the end of Bill O'Brien and a revolving door with the rosters, the David Cully situation, and then Lovey Smith last year who was on David Cully's staff. And feeling like Nick Casario was a mess, not to mention the whole Deshaun Watson year in which he's paid to stand on the sidelines. They didn't want him, he didn't want to be there, but they had to wait for the right trade partner. So they were in limbo.

They kind of hit rock bottom, but then they were in limbo even. And now, courtesy of that trade, but also because of some of the draft picks that Casario has used to great benefit to the franchise, this is a great story. I love what the Texans have done this season, but also the trajectory they're on. Now for the Colts, a little bit different because even though they did draft Anthony Richardson at number four overall in the spring, he's not been playing for quite a while. So instead it's been Gardner Minshew. And I suppose you could say Minshew is a candidate for comeback player of the year as well, just by virtue of what he's done with this opportunity. And they've got a rookie head coach too. That's why these two stories are fairly extraordinary.

Shane Stikin has got his team in position to make the playoffs. We know it's at stake, so shoot, it's just with anything, right? When you got something great to go get, it's human nature, right? You're going to give a little bit more. I mean, that's human nature. And our guys have been giving, you know, they're all all year, but shoot, when the stakes are higher, obviously it's ramped up a little bit more.

You never know, man. You kind of take it out. Take it out, it comes. You know, obviously grateful for it. Excited for the opportunity we still have in front of us.

And I want to go finish it the right way. He even talks with that surfer vibe. Is it surfer? I don't know if it's surfer or not. It's cut off denim shorts vibe. Remember when he, it's cross country in a van vibe. You never know, man.

He's got his own vibe. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what I mean.

There's definitely beer involved and there's definitely some. How do you know that? Different looking clothing. Well, that for sure. Yeah. I don't know exactly what the vibe is for Gardner Minshew. You ever seen Joe Dirt? Yes. It's like a similar Joe Dirt vibe.

Kinda. I feel like that's what I'm saying. I think he's got something unique to Gardner Minshew. He's definitely unique.

But it's just that we're talking football. He may be a unique. I mean, Brett Favre was a, I don't want to say country bumpkin because that's not really fair. But he was total country from Mississippi.

Right. And all he ever wanted to do was hang out on his farm and you know. But he just happened to have just a brilliant arm. Yeah, but he's kind of like that typical jock type of feel. Gardner Minshew's got a different, got a totally different vibe. I mean, you wouldn't know what Gardner Minshew is.

Like Brett Favre, you could tell talking to him for five minutes that he's an athlete. Gardner Minshew, I don't know. I feel like you'd need a while before you figure out like, what do you do? I don't know. I feel like it's a different, it's a uniqueness.

I'm interested. He interests me. Well, this year seven wins to his credit. I don't love QB wins as a stat, but he has engineered the Colts to seven wins under his watch.

And if they get the eighth one in week 18 and they're in this playoff berth, can you imagine what do they do with Anthony Richardson? I mean, you can't really kick Gardner Minshew to the curb. Oh, yeah, you can.

Oh, yeah, you can. Anyway, I think it's great for him. He's got to be having the time of his life. Now with him, there's always the turnover component.

Right? He can be brilliant, he can make the throws, he can zing it, but he can also turn the ball over. And I would say that's kind of the difference between middling quarterbacks and the upper echelon. Not that any guy can't throw a turnover or throw an interception at any time.

Trevor Lawrence, we were just talking about it with J.P. Shadrach. He's had a fumble problem this year, so that's been an issue for him. But Gardner Minshew, sometimes the ball gets released, you're not really sure.

In a totally different way. But he's the new Ryan Fitzpatrick, where it sets the bar of if you have Ryan Fitzpatrick, you're never really bad, but you're never really good. I like it. And if you have Ryan Fitzpatrick, you're always looking for the better quarterback, but you could be a lot worse. That's Gardner Minshew. You can be worse than Gardner Minshew, no doubt. But you're always looking for better than him.

You're all right, but you want more. He's the new, and they're totally different. Harvard to Gardner Minshew, totally different. But that's the new standard in my mind.

That's where the bar is. That's the mediocrity line. Fitzpatrick was kind of the poster child for that. Now it's Gardner Minshew. He's going to be on a lot of teams in his career. You're always going to have a place for Gardner Minshew because you could be worse, but you're always looking for better. And maybe another way to talk about it, to evaluate a Gardner performance is if he doesn't hurt you. So a lot of quarterbacks, they raise the level of play of everyone around him. I don't know if you can say that about Gardner Minshew. What you most want for some of these middling quarterbacks is that they just don't hurt you. And that's the same thing you'd say about Ryan Fitzpatrick. He could go out there and he could make the gun-slinging throws, and he could lead a team to victory, but, man, it could blow up in a heartbeat.

And then you're thinking, what the heck? But that's why he played for, what, nine franchises in his NFL career? And why do I feel like Gardner Minshew's on the road to doing that? How many teams has he already been on now? Four? Five? He's only been in the league five, six years.

He's bounced around a lot, too. And he's going to continue to do that, again, because you can be a lot worse than Gardner Minshew. There are a lot of teams that would go, you know what? Sign me up.

I'll take that right now. But while they do that, they're looking at the draft, they're looking at free agency and going, can we get better than this, though? It's all right for now, but can we get better?

That's where Gardner Minshew's career is going to be. Because he's not going to be a whole lot better than this. There's no more. There's no growth. You don't look at him and go, well, he is what he is. It's not bad.

It's just not that good. Did you hear what Max Crosby called him? Yes. Numerous times.

Numerous, numerous times. Where does someone even come up with little ass boy? What does that even mean? What does little ass boy mean? I mean, boy, I'm assuming would be an insult because you don't call a fellow NFL player a boy, but little ass boy? Does that mean he has a little ass or am I just missing it? Little ass boy. Crosby's go to phrase calling opposing players little ass boys.

All right. And what is Minshew's response? Minshew's response is, dude, Max Crosby is so damn angry. Play angry. That's the thing. Producer Jay tells me he's got some fun.

Gardner Misha. Boy. Boy. The Max Crosby is so damn angry. Right. I know, right.

He just called. He keeps calling everybody little ass boy. Hey, little ass boy. I'm like, I'm little out here, but not always. I'm little out here, but not always. I love NFL films.

Mic'd up is fantastic. I feel like I'd want to go cross country with Gardner Minshew. I don't know if we make it the whole way. Didn't he do that a couple of years ago in the off season? He went cross country and it wasn't an RV. It was more like a little trailer pop up.

It reminded me of a pop up. I don't know if it was exactly. But and he remember he decided he was going to record videos and do it.

And I remember he was wearing cut off denim shorts. Yeah, I feel like that would be fun. I don't know if I would, you know, maybe like a month would be a bit much.

But for a few weeks, that would be hilarious. Sign me up for that one. Colton Texans, one of the candidates for after hours game of the week. The poll is on Twitter after hours, CBS or on her Facebook page.

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I'm excited to win with this with this group. I'm excited to interact with the Dodger fans and the community of L.A. I grew up here. I've been a long time. I spent 20 years here before I signed professionally. My parents are still here. I'm a member of the community. I still consider myself a member of the community. And I look forward to having a positive impact on the community.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Talk about a blast from the past. Trevor Bauer, his introduction after signing a free agent deal with the Dodgers February of twenty twenty one.

Wow. We're coming up on three years. Since that press conference, but two and a half years since he played baseball in the majors. After being accused of sexual assault and some of the disturbing accusations that came out in a civil lawsuit by a San Diego woman. In which he was accused of choking her and rendering her unconscious and then some other injuries that she described. A couple of other women spoke out or accused him of similar type of assault.

And even though these are civil suits and and he was never charged with anything criminally. It did damage not just to him, but it rattled the Dodgers clubhouse and they never let him pitch for them again. And he ended up serving a significant suspension, nearly 200 games.

Now, it was a lot more than that, but it got reduced by an arbiter. And so he is playing baseball again, most recently in Japan, and really does want another shot in the majors. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

He did an interview with Fox News, and I think the voice I hear is Bill Hemmer, who's mid-days. But we'll just start with the baseball part. He was asked whether there's a team that's interested in him right now. My agents are having those conversations. We've spoken with a lot of different teams. Free agency is a weird process that plays out differently every single year. The timing is different every single year. So we'll see. We had heard last year when he was eligible again that no one would touch him.

There was no team in Major League Baseball that was interested in bringing him on board. So he is not only trying to set the record straight, but also trying to share how his perspective has changed. I've never sexually assaulted anyone, never will, never have. It's not who I am as a person. It's been excruciating the last two and a half years being seen that way, because that's not my character. But yeah, no, I've never sexually assaulted anyone.

So not sexual assault, according to Trevor Bauer on Fox News. But he does admit that there are a lot of regrets over his actions. I know that I've made mistakes.

That's kind of what I'm trying to focus on. How do I get better from the experiences that I've had? I've made mistakes in my personal life.

I'm really detail-oriented when it comes to baseball and my training, but I didn't apply the same level of scrutiny to my personal life. And I made mistakes. I agreed to do things I shouldn't have done.

It was reckless. It hurt a lot of people along the way. I made things very difficult for Major League Baseball, for the Dodgers, my teammates, friends, family, people close to me. So I've done a lot of reflecting on that and made a lot of changes in my life to address that.

Not having casual sexual relationships anymore, for example. I also made a lot of people in the media mad. I was very immature with how I handled things when people would write things about me that I didn't agree with.

I should have just had a private adult conversation with someone. I was bullied a lot as a kid and don't really want to get into that, but at the time I viewed my responses on social media as standing up for myself and having a voice. I don't know if you all remember, there was an exchange with Trevor Bauer from our show on Twitter. We put some poll out about American League Cy Young years ago and he responded to it.

He wasn't included in it and he responded to the fact that he wasn't included in that poll. No joke. And that's neither here nor there, the social media part, though he has been relatively acrimonious in dealing with some media, but he says now he is a new person. I've grown up a lot for sure. You have? You've matured on this?

Yeah. My viewpoints now are drastically different than they were five years ago, ten years ago. Different things are important to me. He does want to get back to Major League Baseball. That right now is the goal. I'd love to play baseball. I mean, that's my goal, to play baseball here in the United States. I'm still one of the best pitchers in the world. I'd like to compete at the highest level. I'm also really passionate about helping people, being good for the game.

I think I've done a lot of damage, unfortunately, in the first half of my career, and I'd love a second opportunity to do things better. We'll see whether or not he is given another shot at Major League Baseball. Sometimes, even when accusations are not proven true, and when there's no criminal charges attached to them, the Dodgers just didn't want him in their clubhouse again, and no other team would touch him.

The Matt Ariza situation with Buffalo is another example where he was falsely accused, and is not playing. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. No, you don't have to buy custom window treatments in person, because Blinds.com invented a better way. Blinds.com is 100% online, so there's no showroom markups or waiting hours for quotes from pushy salespeople. A Blinds.com designer helped me pick the perfect style for free.

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